Chapter 63
Change
Translator : PolterGlast
After placing the door
to the first floor, I headed towards Varietta-san's hut.
Before, Varietta-san
was glaring at me near the entrance of the floor, but it seemed he was not
there this time.
Looking at the sky,
it's still bright. Maybe he's taking a nap.
I stand in front of
the door and knock.
"What is it? We
don't accept magazine subscriptions here."
For some reason, I
smiled at the familiar refusal.
Maybe it's because I
came to see Varietta-san that I realized that the dungeon exploration is over
and I've returned.
If this were a light
novel, a cute girl would greet me, but unfortunately, it was an old man who
came to refuse the solicitation.
Well, this isn't bad
either.
I didn't dislike my
grandpa when I was on Earth either.
"Good grief, this
is why the Marufe newspaper solicitation is... Masaru!? You're alive!?"
"Yes, thanks to
you."
When I listened to the
story, it seemed that my MP had finally reached a level that even
Varietta-san's mana perception couldn't detect.
Mana that can't be
detected by mana perception, what on earth is that...?
While I was about to
be trapped in this philosophical thinking, I told Varietta-san about the
dungeon exploration after we parted ways...
"Hmm, I
see..."
Varietta-san was
listening intently to my adventure story with a high safety coefficient.
The massive
subjugation of Null Zombies on the eighth floor, and the Sorcery Wraith hunting
on the ninth floor.
And on the tenth
floor, the battle with the Elder Lich, relying on eyesight and intuition
without using Wind Search while hiding...
I tried to tell him as
carefully as possible without mentioning the gift of [Home].
Varietta-san's
interest became even stronger after moving to the tenth floor, where the
Knights barely escaped.
And when I finished
telling him everything I had seen, and finished telling him about how I had
defeated the Elder Lich properly... he grabbed my shoulders tightly while
tearing up!
I was flustered by the
sudden action, but when I saw Varietta-san looking down while trembling
slightly, I lost the will to say anything.
I just gently patted
Varietta-san's back.
"You did well,
Masaru..."
Varietta-san was still
looking down.
I can't see his
expression.
I don't know if he's
grateful to me for defeating the monsters who defeated his comrades, or if he's
thinking about the knights who were defeated by the monsters...
But after a while,
Varietta-san's face, which he raised, was somehow cheerful.
His eyes were a little
bloodshot, but they were sparkling so much that you wouldn't think they
belonged to an old man.
"Masaru... you
might really be able to do it. Conquering this [Knight's Holy Remains]."
"Of course, I
intend to. Well then, could you tell me your side of the story this time?"
"Ah, of
course!"
"For the time
being, I'm relieved that there's still plenty of time..."
I stroll through the
royal capital in a cheerful mood.
--Apparently, the
negotiations between the king and the Holy Church are not going well.
It seems that it will
still take a considerable amount of time before they start conquering the
[Knight's Holy Remains].
Apparently, the
education of the heroes is not progressing well, and they have not reached the
LV to challenge the [Knight's Holy Remains].
And apparently,
Varietta-san is also involved in that delaying tactic.
It seems that he is
also involved in the fact that the relationship between the king and the Holy
Church is quite awkward.
(I thought he was just
an old man who had decided to live in a comfortable retirement, but
Varietta-san is clearly no ordinary person.)
Thinking about it now,
there are several things that are clearly strange.
To begin with, he knew
about the gift of the hero, which is not generally known.
He was able to get
involved in the conquest of the [Knight's Holy Remains], which the kingdom and
the Holy Church are trying to proceed jointly.
The fact that he can
buy time means that he has roots in various places, including the Knight
Orders... maybe he was a very high-ranking person in the Knight Orders.
Even though there are
various suspicious things about me, such as the fact that I was able to explore
so smoothly that it would be impossible for a novice adventurer, or the fact
that I obviously became too strong in a short time and had MP in my hands that
was out of his mana perception, Varietta-san has never pointed it out.
If that is the case,
it would be impolite for me to butt in on his situation.
There are many things
in the world that you might have been better off not knowing.
"But even at the
maximum, it's only up to the fifteenth floor... I can really see the end
now."
And the new fact I
learned today.
Apparently, the
[Knight's Holy Remains] only goes up to the fifteenth floor at the maximum.
Apparently, there is a
magic tool that can measure the depth of the dungeon.
It seems that they can
roughly estimate the depth of the dungeon from the mana concentrations on the
ground, the first floor, and the second floor.
Basically, the bottom
floor of the dungeon has only one of the strongest monsters in that dungeon,
which is called the boss floor.
Excluding that, there
are at most four floors that I have to conquer.
The end is in sight.
(The time I've spent
conquering the dungeon so far is about a month... in terms of pace, I should be
able to afford some leeway.)
I recall
Varietta-san's words from earlier.
[At most half a
year... no, five months. If you really intend to conquer it, you'll need to get
it done sooner than that.]
Thinking about the
monsters that will become even stronger in the future gives me a headache, but
in terms of pace, it's not impossible.
However, the biggest
problem is still the conquest of the boss, the strongest monster in the
[Knight's Holy Remains].
Usually, dungeon
bosses often have something to do with the name of the dungeon.
In other words, at the
deepest point, there is probably a knight's undead waiting.
It's called the Holy
Remains, so it's probably a holy knight's undead that can use light magic...
Well, let's put that
aside for now.
I came to the east
gate of Grisnia for the first time in a while.
There he was, doing
his checkpoint duty, looking as bored as ever.
"Banz-san!"
"Huh? ...Oh,
you're... who was it again?"
I almost stumbled.
But I guess he doesn't
remember every single person who passes through.
"It's me, it's
me! The one who got a copper coin!"
"...Oh, the
future great adventurer from that time! How's it going?"
"Still
Frank!"
"Oh, I see.
You're still young, don't get discouraged and keep at it!"
"I'll definitely
repay the favor from that time, so please wait!"
"Okay, I'll be
looking forward to it!"
Actually, I've already
decided what to give Banz-san.
But I'd prefer to give
it to him right before I leave, so for now, I'll just say the words.
I'll definitely repay
ppeople'sact of kindness.
That's my way of doing
things.
"Masaru-kun, long
time no see!"
"It's been a
while, Melissa-san."
I went straight to the
Adventurer's Guild and sold a large amount of Skeleton Soldier magic stone
fragments that I had hunted for camouflage.
Perhaps because I had
returned safely and they trusted me, they didn't seem too worried this time.
"You seem to be
getting stronger steadily."
"Regarding
that... yes, it's certainly going well."
"Oh, you are
confident, huh?"
"It's the truth,
after all."
After selling the
Skeleton Soldier core fragments and getting some pocket money, I wandered
around the city aimlessly.
I even tried some
street stall skewers that smelled delicious, but they were not satisfying
enough for me, who was used to eating at home.
But considering the
future, I have to get used to the food of this different world... I thought,
and suddenly realized.
(That's right, I've
become relaxed enough to think about the future...)
The sense of security
that I could see the end, and the confidence that I had become this strong.
I felt that I had
changed a lot compared to when I had just arrived in the royal capital a month
ago.
From tomorrow, I will
have to conquer the dungeon again.
But strangely enough,
I didn't hate it. In fact, there was a part of me that wanted to dive in again.
While feeling a
strange bewilderment at my own change, I wandered around the royal capital
leisurely--.
-----
Thank you for my Patrons !!
[Platinum]
Swagaraga
[Gold]
B random
DavidA
Nepheos
[Silver]
Creris
Fred A.
Frédéric Bertrand-Hudon
Matthew Fraser
Anton Lim
Ctdela
Curious Panda
Read Advanced Chapters only on my Patreon
-----
