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068 Royal
Capital Dungeon 7th Floor Exploration
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Translator : PolterGlast
One day, we had a
visitor.
"Though this is a
sudden request, I am filled with gratitude for your kind willingness to meet
me. I am Sharniini, the President of Golteo Trading Company," he
introduced himself politely. I motioned for him to sit on the sofa.
He looked to be in his
early 30s, with an appearance that made me want to call him "big
brother" rather than "mister." He was Golteo-san's son and
currently led Golteo Trading Company. He had Golteo-san's resemblance, so he
was handsome. Go explode.
"I hear my
father, Golteo, received a great deal of assistance in Kerniff. Today, I wished
to offer my greetings and thanks," he said, smoothly producing what looked
like a box of sweets. "These are popular sweets among the noblewomen of
the capital. I hope your ladies find them to their liking."
"On the contrary,
we were the ones who were assisted by Golteo-san. Thank you very much for your
thoughtfulness," I replied. The box was indeed a sweets box. The wooden
box looked quite luxurious.
Today was probably
just a courtesy visit, as Sharniini-san left without any specific business
discussion. This kind of meticulous greeting must be necessary for merchants.
It was a subtle consideration that I couldn't manage.
***
Today, I intended to
head for the 7th-floor boss room, but before that, I had Anneliese guide me to
a stall selling accessories. I had visited accessory stalls several times in
Kerniff as well, but good items were hard to come by. It seemed good items were
also rare in this royal capital. Then I found one.
▼ Detailed Appraisal result ▼
Magic Resistance
Earring
MIN +7, MDEF +15.
Durability 8/8.
The Magic Resistance
Earring was selling for 5,000 Grill, so I bought it immediately. It was a dull
silver earring, so its appearance was a drawback, but it was not a bad
purchase.
The building
surrounding the dungeon entrance, like the Parthenon, came into view. As we
walked closer, a carriage stopped in front of the building. I recognized the
group of black-haired people who disembarked from the carriage. My former
classmates.
"Could those be
the Heroes?" Gandarvan seemed to recognize them as Heroes.
"I heard a rumor
that many Heroes have black hair. So, perhaps that is them," Anneliese
added. The rumor had reached Kerniff, and even Anneliese had heard it. Since
even I had heard the rumor, everyone else must know as well.
I saw Sadao Doi, who
was one of Shinji Akaba's cronies. I also recognized the other five. I would
never forget how they tormented me in Japan.
"Master, your
killing intent is leaking," Gandarvan warned. I realized he was right; I
had been unconsciously emitting killing intent.
This must be why jobs
like Avenger exist, because people don't forget grudges. I had no intention of
seeking revenge, but it was different from forgetting the grudge.
"Is something
wrong, Master?" Anneliese asked, concerned.
"...It's nothing.
More importantly, it's Toi, not Master," I corrected her. I shouldn't make
Anneliese worry. I would never forget my grudge from Japan, but revenge was
meaningless. So why was I emitting killing intent? I had been subjected to
terrible things, but now I was happy to have met Anneliese and the others. As
long as they didn't interfere, I had no intention of doing anything. Yet...
***
Since I had a
close-call encounter with Doi, I entered the adjacent Explorer's Guild to calm
myself down. Come to think of it, I hadn't really looked around inside the
Explorer's Guild before.
The wall had the names
of representatives of explorer parties who had cleared the 4th floor.
"Are the ones who
are erased retired, perhaps?" I wondered aloud.
"Names that are
erased belong to those who have retired or died, or who have retired as
explorers for other reasons, such as becoming soldiers," Anneliese
patiently explained.
Other quests were also
posted. Among them, there was one offering to buy an Anti-Curse Potion for
50,000,000 Grill. That's less than half the auction price (laughs). Would
anyone take on an Anti-Curse Potion quest for that price?
I looked at other
quests, but most were related to grimoires or treasure chests. There were no
particularly noteworthy quests, so I skipped them. If I found items from a
treasure chest, I could check the quests then, and I could earn a considerable
amount of money just by doing boss runs, so there was no need to deliberately
take on quests.
"Oh... could you
be Anneliese-san?"
"Cecile-san. It's
been a while," Anneliese replied.
"It really is
you, Anneliese-san!"
The woman behind the
counter, a female staff member of the Explorer's Guild, had called out to
Anneliese. She was a beautiful person with golden hair, a dog beastman. I had
noticed it in Kerniff too; the female staff at the Explorer's Guild reception
were all beautiful. Was good looks a hiring criterion?
"She is someone
who assisted me when I was active in the capital," Anneliese explained.
"I am Toi.
Anneliese tells me you assisted her, for which I am grateful," I said,
conveying my thanks to her. It was only natural, since my Anneliese had been
helped by her.
"No, I couldn't
do anything for her..." Cecile replied. It wasn't her fault Anneliese was
cursed, nor was the subsequent accident.
"Your curse has
been lifted, Anneliese-san. That's wonderful," Cecile said.
"Yes. Master Toi
here gave me an Anti-Curse Potion, and I was able to successfully remove the
curse," Anneliese explained.
"An Anti-Curse
Potion!?" Cecile exclaimed, clearly surprised by the expensive item.
We talked for a while,
but then Cecile's superior cleared his throat, signaling our departure. The
Heroes were probably gone by now, so we headed to the dungeon as well.
We used Dungeon Move
to teleport from the 1st floor to the 7th floor and began our exploration. Bath
took the lead, guiding the way. Our destination was the 7th-floor boss room.
Having Bath was truly helpful, as he could guide us to our destination via the
shortest route. And if I set Explorer as my sub-job, I could see the path we
took on my map. I could even draw a map.
Now, for the monsters.
"What is
that?" Anneliese asked. It seemed to be a monster she didn't know.
"Gandarvan, do
you know what that is?" I asked.
"No, it's a
monster I've never seen before," he replied.
It was completely
black, and at first, I thought it was a shadow, but it seemed to be the actual
body. Its shape was amorphous, constantly changing as it floated.
"Is it a
ghost?" I blurted out.
"A ghost...
Indeed, it doesn't seem entirely unlike one," Anneliese commented. It
seemed ghosts also existed in this world.
"If that monster
is not really a ghost, so perhaps a Wraith?" Gandarvan suggested. This was
the perfect time for Detailed Appraisal!
Hmm, hmm. It was
definitely a Wraith. Its level was 25. It seemed difficult to defeat without
magical attacks, as physical attacks were mostly ineffective.
"I've never seen
a Wraith before. This is troublesome," Gandarvan noted.
"It seems to have
a life-draining attack, so Gandarvan, please be especially careful," I
warned.
"Understood,"
he replied.
Then I had a thought;
I wanted to verify something, so I offered to handle this one monster alone.
"I will intervene
immediately if it gets dangerous," Anneliese stated.
"Alright, that's
fine," I conceded.
I changed my main job
to Reincarnated Hero and my sub-job to Assassin. "Holy Sword Summon!"
I then activated Stealth and approached the Wraith to see if it would detect
me. Wraiths reportedly react to life force. I figured life force meant HP, so I
was checking if my HP would be detected despite Stealth.
I slowly approached,
but the Wraith didn't react to me. However, up close, its form was truly
amorphous. It squirmed and wriggled. Once I confirmed it wouldn't react, I
swung my holy sword widely. Slam! The Wraith vanished, leaving behind an
unpleasant sound.
"Wow, the holy
sword is really effective! The holy sword is the strongest against
Wraiths!" I exclaimed. The Wraith was defeated in one hit by the holy
sword and a Vital Point Strike from Stealth.
"Splendid,
Master," Gandarvan and the others commented as they approached.
"I wish I could
keep the holy sword out all the time, but it's time-limited. If we struggle,
Lin and I will take turns summoning the holy sword and holy spear to fight.
Anneliese's magic is also available, so we should be fine," I decided.
With that strategy, we
defeated the Wraiths without a problem. Since the Wraiths' levels were low, we
didn't struggle at all.
On the other hand, as
expected, physical attacks dealt almost no damage. Gandarvan and the others'
normal attacks only dealt 1 to 5 damage. At this rate, it would take all day to
defeat them.
As we proceeded,
slaughtering Wraiths with my holy sword, Lin's holy spear, and Anneliese's
magic, our levels increased.
"Ah..."
Anneliese's gasp of surprise made me turn around, her cheeks flushed.
"What's wrong?
Are you hurt somewhere?" I rushed to Anneliese's side.
"Um... my job
evolved," she stammered.
"What!? Really,
Anneliese!?" I exclaimed.
"Yes. It
evolved," she confirmed.
"Whoa!
Congratulations!" I cried, lifting Anneliese and spinning her around. She
was light and soft.
"T-Toi-sama.
We're in the dungeon," she said, blushing.
"Oh, right.
Hahaha," I chuckled, putting Anneliese down, but I was still delighted.
"So, what job did
you evolve into?" I asked eagerly.
"Yes. The evolved
job is Sage of Love," she replied.
"Whoa!" (All
of us exclaimed)
I was surprised, but
so were Gandarvan and the others.
What's a Sage of Love?
I understand "Sage," but what does "Love" mean? That's what
I'm really curious about.
The Sage of Love job
was a comprehensive Mage who could use not only offensive magic but also
healing and support. It specifically stated that her healing magic was
excellent. Why the meaning of "Love" isn't written there, Detailed
Appraisal?
"Congratulations,
Anneliese!" I cheered.
"Yes. Thank
you," she replied. Anneliese and I were both beaming with joy.
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