Mob Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni
Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #130
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 130: The Deal (2)
"Here is the list of goods and services
available for exchange."
The
next day. In the small room assigned to us.
I
was in trade negotiations with Shigeno-san for the Irregular Encounter Magic
Stones since early in the morning.
Taking
the thick binder that was offered, I asked,
"Services?"
"It's more like conveniences the Guild can
arrange, I suppose? The details are all listed, so you'll understand once you
look."
"I see."
"The Urashima Taro Magic Stone is valued
at ten billion yen. The Pied Piper of Hamelin Magic Stone is particularly
large, so we've calculated its value at 12 billion yen. Please choose within
that range."
Hmm.
I
pretended to flip through the binder, first checking if there were any Vouivre
Diamonds.
Yes,
there were. Only ten… but that confirmed my intention to trade.
The
question now was whether there was anything else I wanted within the remaining
value...
"...There are no B-rank cards?"
"I apologize. Since we've already provided
you with Artemis, a further reduction in B-rank cards would affect the Guild's
defenses,"
Shigeno-san
replied, bowing his head slightly.
I see. Well, I guess it can't be helped.
I hope there are some good magic items and
services...
First,
I looked at the list of magic items.
Hmmー
...... as I thought, there are a lot of high-priced magic items that are of
unknown use.
A
while ago, these items with unknown uses were often practically given away, but
since the discovery of Spiritual Recurrence, they had been valued considerably
in proportion to their rarity.
Pointing
at the list, I asked,
"Can I actually see these items?"
"Hmm, I'm sorry, there's quite a large
quantity, and some items take up a lot of space, so showing everything is a
bit... I think a few items would be fine though."
"Is that so?"
In that case, I wouldn't be able to show them
to my cards to determine if they were key items, huh?
Buying something without knowing if it's a key
item would be too much of a gamble.
As
I thought this, looking through the list in order, my eyes stopped on a
particular item.
『Great
Oni's Arm: Usage unknown. Drop item from A-rank monster Ibaraki-dōji』
Ibaraki-dōji.
Famously known as the most important subordinate of Shuten-dōji1,
one of Japan's Three Great Oni, and a legendary oni defeated2
by Watanabe no Tsuna. The sword used at that time was, Hige-kiri...
Hashihime, who is sometimes identified with
Seoritsuhime (Suzuka), is also identified with Ibaraki-dōji because she was similarly
defeated by Watanabe no Tsuna.
Thinking
of their relation, I had bought Hige-kiri from Anna before the Angolmois with "there
might be a chance" in mind.
After
Suzuka ranked up to Seoritsuhime, I tried showing her Hige-kiri in the
Tamatebako. Suzuka reacted to it, but it didn't lead to Spiritual Recurrence.
It
had crossed my mind that for an A-rank Spiritual Recurrence, Hige-kiri's
acquisition difficulty was a bit too low, and that Ibaraki-dōji3,
like Suzuka Gozen4, probably required
multiple key items. But to unexpectedly come across it here...
The price is, hmm, 2 billion yen. Even if the
use of the item is unknown, it's a drop from an A-rank monster, so that's about
right.
Confirmed, I will take this. As for other
promising items...
I
meticulously checked the entire magic item section, but there were no
particular items that stood out.
I
found a variety of useful items for less than 100 million yen, but none that I
absolutely had to have.
If I can turn the remaining amount into
Carbuncle Garnets, that will be ideal, but that would definitely look
suspicious…
Internally
sighing, I reluctantly moved on to the services page.
Let's see, let's see, what do they have? ‘Private
room usage rights in a Guild shelter’? Don't
need it. I have Mayoiga, and worst case, I'm fine with the hallway.
‘Priority facility usage rights’. Hoo, so Guild shelters have manga cafes and
movie theaters? This is a right to use them anytime I want without needing
reservations or waiting in line, huh. ...Sounds like it'll cause trouble with
other refugees. Rejected.
‘National secret dungeon maps and usage
rights’? Ooh, I might actually want this... But with space isolated, it's
pretty useless right now.
‘Rental of Black Card5 magic item’. ...What? Rental of a
repeatedly usable cardification device!? The price is, 10 billion yen!?
Oioi, for real? This...
It
was surprising enough that the Guild would rent out prohibited magic item, but
the price was equally shocking.
What should I do? Even
if it's only for ten uses a day, a repeatedly usable cardification magic item
is incredibly appealing.
But 10 billion yen is just too expensive.
Even
with the Pied Piper of Hamelin Magic Stone, I'd have to give up either the
Vouivre Diamond or Ibaraki-dōji's Arm.
Giving up the Vouivre Diamond isn't an option, that
leaves Ibaraki-dōji''s Arm.
That's a real shame. On the other hand,
exchanging both Magic Stones... maybe I should try to negotiate a bit.
"Excuse me, regarding the rental of this
cardification magic item..."
"Ah, as I expected, that caught your eye,
didn't it?"
Shigeno-san
gave a wry smile.
"Yes, this is a rental, not a purchase,
right? What's the rental period?"
"Until this Angolmois concludes. This is strictly
a special measure for outstanding contributors due to the emergency."
"So, it will be immediately confiscated
once this Angolmois ends... even if civilization hasn't recovered?"
"Yes."
"And if Angolmois starts again, will I be
able to rent it again?”
"No, this is a one-time only offer."
"...Isn't 10 billion yen a bit too much
for that? Even if I used it ten times a day, it would take a thousand days just
to break even... Couldn't you at least include this and this as a set?"
"Hmm, this price includes various
permissions for something that's usually prohibited... Let’s see, if we remove
this then..."
"Then in exchange for those, how about
these—"
"In that case, we can reduce the price a
bit—"
"And throw in this as a bonus――"
Incorporating bluffs along the
way, we continued to negotiate back-and-forth.
"Alright, then, the negotiation is concluded."
"Thank you very much."
We found a mutually
satisfactory compromise and shook hands.
In the end, in exchange for
Urashima Taro Magic Stone, I obtained the following items:
・The Black Card magic item
・Ibaraki-dōji''s Arm
・Ten Vouivre Diamonds (the
entire stock)
・Assorted magic items under 100
million yen, worth 1 billion yen in total
・National secret dungeon maps
and their usage rights
In
addition to my three main targets, I also acquired various handy magic items
and, as a bonus, the secret dungeon maps. I had achieved my minimum objectives.
Well, it felt like the cardification
magic item was set up high from the start, and I sensed Shigeno-san went easy
on me during the negotiation… but if the
results are good, then all's well that ends well.
After receiving the cardified items
from Shigeno-san, I returned to Ai's Mayoiga and immediately used the Vouivre
Diamonds.
"...Still some left."
The immense distortion of the
law of causality I incurred during the Pied Piper of Hamelin battle couldn't be
completely offset by even ten Vouivre Diamonds. Roughly two months' worth of
distortion remained.
Two months... that's a subtly tricky amount.
"Now, what to do? Should I wait for the
Day of Rest, or not?
Monsters had their own cycles
of activity during Angolmois, depending on their rank.
Unlike
in the dungeon where they were constantly active, the monsters that emerged
from dungeons were said to alternate between an active period of aggressive
rampage and a dormant period of conserving energy.
This cycle varied by rank:
『F-rank Monsters: Active for 27
days, rest for 1 day.』
『E-rank Monsters: Active for 26
days, rest for 2 days.』
『D-rank Monsters: Active for 13
days, rest for 1 day.』
『C-rank Monsters: Active for 12
days, rest for 2 days.』
『B-rank Monsters: Active for 6
days, rest for 1 day.』
This
dormant period for monsters was called a Day of Rest, and the day when all
monsters' Day of Rest overlapped was called a 'Complete Rest Day.'
These
Day of Rest weren't entirely reliable since discrepancies could exist depending
on when the monsters emerged from the dungeon. However, at least for the first Day
of Rest since Angolmois began, it was said to be fairly reliable.
B-rank monsters' Day of Rest
occurs once every seven days. Given the distortion of the law of causality as
well, it would be best to move during the Day of Rest to be absolutely safe,
but...
"I want to meet up with Mom, Anna, and the
others as soon as possible."
Only being able to move on a Day of Rest is
simply too inefficient. There's some risk, but if Suzuka can awaken her
Spiritual Recurrence, we should be fine... probably.
With that in mind, I summoned
Suzuka.
"Ma-Master! Hurry! Hurry!"
She
must have been watching from inside her card during the trade. As soon as she
appeared, Suzuka urged me like a hungry dog.
"Alright, alright, so calm down,"
I said, trying to calm her as
I uncarded Ibaraki-dōji's Arm.
Before me appeared a giant, mummified
arm. It was too thick and long to be like a withered branch; it was more like a
dry log.
"Oh! Ohhh!"
Seeing it, Suzuka trembled
with emotion, her eyes sparkling so brightly.
"A decade of hardship! To think that a day
would come when I, who was forced to be eternally the second or third-best,
would be the first to reach A-rank!"
...It hasn't even been ten years since I met
you, has it?
Ignoring my internal exasperation,
Suzuka grabbed Ibaraki-dōji's Arm and shouted,
"Finally, my time to be number one!"
The mummified arm began to
melt and integrate into Suzuka's right arm.
"Uwooooh! ...Huh? I can't transform,
why????"
Suzuka, who tried to
immediately undergo [Spiritual Recurrence] with that momentum, tilted her head
in confusion when she couldn't transform.
I said with a sigh,
"There's still Hige-kiri, you know?"
"Oh, right."
"And don't transform yet. We have to go
investigate the stairs after this."
Aww... I-I got carried away. Sorry,
Master."
Seriously, it's a good thing I didn't bring it
out with the arm just in case.
I thought like that in relief
as I pulled out Hige-kiri.
As Suzuka took it, Hige-kiri
crumbled away from its edges as if decaying.
Simultaneously, her card began
to glow.
[Race] Seoritsu-hime (Suzuka)
[Combat Power] 1400 (Initial Combat Power 750 +
Growth 450 + Spiritual Recurrence 200)
[Inborn Skills]
• Purification by Flowing Water (Haraedo no
Okami): Allows the use of the divine power of Seoritsu-hime, a water deity who
governs the flow of water and a purification deity who washes away defilement.
• Purification Water Ablution: Rains purifying
water, thoroughly cleansing all defilement from the area. Cures all status
ailments for everyone, allies and enemies alike, and forms a space that
nullifies status ailments for a certain duration.
• Principle of Water that Embraces Both Purity
and Impurity: Encompasses the power of the simultaneously identified Hashihime,
allowing her to be summoned as a subordinate. This is an infinite summoning
type, and it includes all of Hashihime's Inborn
Skills6.
• Advanced-level Wizard
[Acquired Skills]
• Blindfolded Demon
• Martial Arts → Hunter (CHANGE!)
• Judgment
• Good Wife and Wise Mother: Contains Cooking,
Cleaning, Childcare, and Sexual skills.
• Deceit Detection: See through the deceit of
the target.
• Friendship linkage
• Presence Concealment → Hide and Seek
(CHANGE!)
• Zero Existence → Spiritual Recurrence
(CHANGE!)
• Swordsmanship
• Appraisal
• Chant Shortening
• Knowledge of Survival
• Tactics (NEW!)
• Weakness Nullification (NEW!): Nullifies the
effects from attributes of weakness and special attacks.
"Ooh! It’s [Spiritual Recurrence]!"
Her formerly degraded [Intermediate-level Wizard]
has upgraded to [Advanced-level Wizard]. Several skills have been ranked up,
and the [Knowledge of Survival] skill has been unlocked, huh? Is [Weakness
Nullification] an effect of Hige-kiri?
As for Ibaraki-dōji’s abilities, I guess I'll
have to wait until I actually try using them.
...Well, now we're all set.
Finally, it’s time to investigate the stairs,
but before that, there is just one more task.
I
sent Suzuka, who was still ecstatically celebrating, back, and then headed
towards Ai.
"Ai, can I talk to you for a second? I
have something to tell you."
"W-what is it?"
When
I called out to Ai, who was looking at her card on the futon quietly, she
seemed to sense a bad sign and her face clouded slightly.
Feeling
a slight pang in my heart at that, I sat down in front of her and began to
speak,
"Ai, things are a bit strange outside
right now. There's something like an invisible boundary, and we can't go beyond
it."
"Un..."
"Starting tomorrow, I'm going to
investigate if there's any way to reach Mom and the others, so Ai, you wait
quietly here--"
"NO!!"
Before
I could finish, Ai stood up and gave a little shout,
"I'm coming with you!"
"Ai..."
"It's safest with Onii-chan! I'm
DEFINITELY coming with you!"
"Uhh- uhm.."
At
Ai's rebuttal, I involuntarily groaned.
True,
it was hard to say that waiting at the Guild would be safer.
The
Guild had a record of having children kidnapped by the Pied Piper of Hamelin,
although it was inevitable. And among the parents who lost their children,
there would surely be some who resent Ai.
It was uncertain whether the
Guild staff would protect Ai from them. And worse, there was even a possibility
they might use my sister as a hostage against me.
I
had shown too much power in front of the Guild to laugh it off as paranoia.
After
all, just by taking Ai hostage, they could gain the combat power capable of
defeating an A-rank Irregular Encounter and its Magic Stone, a teleportation
ability that could substitute their lost transfer gate, and on top of that,
even reclaim Artemis, whom they had given me as support.
It would truly be killing two
birds with one stone. No, four birds. Even for someone not evil, it would be sufficient
temptation to sway their heart.
Shigeno-san is a trustworthy adult, but not all
adults are.
If Ai is my Achilles' heel, not being wary of
this would be nothing short of foolish.
If the distortion of the law
of causality issue had still remained, it would have been a different story,
but that was largely resolved.
With Athena there too,
considering everything, being by my side wasn't necessarily less safe.
...Plus, there's the possibility that the
stairs are only one-way.
If
that were the case, there was even a risk of Ai and I getting separated.
"......I guess I have no choice,
huh?"
I
muttered softly, taking out cards from my Card Holder and offering them to Ai.
"This...?"
"Think of them like good luck charms."
They
were the cards of Sleipnir and the normal Kisshouten.
Of
course, there was a reason I gave her these two out of the several B-rank cards
I had.
It was because even Ai, a
complete novice, could handle these two.
Cards with innate mount skill,
like Sleipnir, often had docile temperaments that even amateurs could manage. In
addition, this Sleipnir specifically possessed the [Obedience] acquired skill.
As
for the normal Kisshouten, she didn't have the troublesome [Pride of Deity]. I
had confirmed that she was generous enough not to get angry even if used as a
mere healing item.
With its mobility, Sleipnir
could be used as a means of escape. While the normal Kisshouten, possessing
[Breakthrough of Limits], could serve as both a combat force in emergencies and
a lifesaver. Their abilities made them the perfect escorts for Ai.
"Listen to me and don't try to fight on
your own, okay?"
"Okay!"
Ai
nodded with a beaming smile as I wondered anxiously,
Is she really going to be okay?
Then we headed towards
the staircase for investigation.
――――Right
in the middle of the railway tracks stretching from Hachioji towards Tachikawa,
it was there.
A massive hole, large enough
for a big truck to pass through. Inside it, there was a staircase leading down.
Beyond that, lay a strange darkness, impenetrable even with light.
"This is, definitely a dungeon staircase......"
If it had been found on the
site of an apartment building or something, it might have been pre-existing.
But there was no way something like this could be in the middle of railway
tracks.
This
had, without a doubt, appeared after Angolmois began.
"Let's go."
"Mhm..."
I summoned all my regular
members, formed a protective formation around Ai and me, and cautiously
descended the stairs, step by step.
We must have descended for
about a minute? It was considerably longer than a typical dungeon's.
Eventually, light shone from
ahead, and as we emerged from the darkness――
"...A temple?"
The first thing that caught my
eye was a gigantic, white temple reminiscent of the Parthenon in Greece.
In front of the temple was a
plaza, where monsters of various races moved about.
Their gazes were directed
towards monsters displaying various goods on mats, and stalls that seemed to be
selling food.
This is... a market? No way, could monsters
actually be conducting business?
As I stood there, dumbfounded
by the utterly unexpected sight, a female monster approached us.
She
was a beautiful girl in her mid-teens, clad in ancient Greek toga-style garment.
From her brunette hair, ram horns sprouted, and her legs, from mid-calf, were
those of a beast.
She was a Maenad, the female counterpart to the Satyr, the
half-human, half-goat spirit of Greek mythology7.
"Hey there~! Never thought a human would
come to our market so quickly!8"
As the Maenad spoke to us
cheerfully, we naturally shifted into combat stance. She, flustered, quickly
raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Whoa~a! Hold on, hold on! I've got no
intention of fighting, see! This is a non-combat zone, ya know!"
"Master... This one really doesn't seem to
want to fight."
"What? Really?"
"Really, really! It's true!"
I sought confirmation at
Suzuka's words, who possessed [Deceit Detection], and the Maenad somehow
answered.
Unbelievable... Dungeon monsters sometimes used
deception or temptation, but there was always, without exception, hostility
towards humans
This is as if she is a card, not a monster…
But there's no sign of a master around this
Maenad...
What in the world is going on?
I tilted my head, wondering
what was going on, but kept my guard up internally. As I lowered my outward
combat stance, the Maenad visibly sighed in relief.
"Someone strong like you, Big Bro, with
all those impressive cards? A small-fry like me wouldn't dare pick a fight,
see! Unlike those other guys rampaging around, I've been freed from my shackles!"
...Freed from her shackles, she said?
"What do you mean by that?"
"Hmm... information is also a commodity,
so I should really get something for it, but if I don't say anything, I can't
do business, so I guess it can't be helped."
At
first, the Maenad showed some hesitation in response to my question, but in the
end, she answered honestly,
"This is Hermes-sama's domain, see. So as long
as we have the will to do business, even folks like us can be freed from our
shackles to some extent and live a normal life."
"Hermes-sama is the god of commerce, after
all," the Maenad added.
But our questions only deepened.
"See? Now you know we're harmless, right?
So, how about you buy something—"
“Wait, wait, wait, wait!”
I quickly interjected,
stopping the Maenad from moving on.
"What do you mean by 'domain’? And what
does 'freed from shackles' mean?"
"Brother, you're being a bit too greedy
now, see."
The
Maenad said with a sly grin,
"Information is a fine commodity. If you
want to hear any more details, you gotta put something up."
"...Put something up?"
"Magic Stones, of course. Bartering is
fine too, but that's easier to understand, right?"
Hmm, Magic Stones, huh...
"Is just the internal energy good enough?"
When I said that, pulling out
the Pied Piper of Hamelin Magic Stone, a commotion rippled through the
surrounding monsters— "WOAH!"
"Ooh!? Big Bro, you've got something
incredible there! If you have that, you can buy pretty much anything here!"
"Big Bro, you really are a big shot,
huh!" the Maenad praised me, while sharply eyeing the monsters slowly
creeping closer, keeping them in check.
"It's too noisy here to talk properly, so
why don't we move somewhere else?"
I looked around at our
surroundings and nodded in agreement.
[Tips] Tamatebako
A
cross-space type magic item dropped by Urashima Taro ・an Irregular Encounter.
It
contains an alternate space within it, and while you spend time inside, time
doesn't pass outside, and you don't age. However, the moment you step out of
the Tamatebako, an 'aging' effect, proportional to the time spent inside plus
interest, befalls upon the user.
The
interest is the square of the number of days spent inside: if it's 2 days (more
than 24 hours but less than 48 hours), you'll age by 4 days; if it's 30 days,
it results in 900 days worth of ‘aging’; and if it's 1 year, a staggering 365
years of 'aging' will hit you.
It
truly is a magic item that replicates the predicament of Urashima Taro from the
fairy tale.
If
you exit within 1 day, no interest is incurred, but you can only enter the
Tamatebako once per day.
Also,
if the 'aging interest' exceeds the user's remaining lifespan, they are
forcibly ejected.
Inside
the Tamatebako, perhaps as a side effect of 'you don’t age no matter how long
you spend inside' effect, stats also do not change. However, proficiency is
accumulated internally and is reflected the moment you exit the Tamatebako.
Skill
and magic item usage counts, as well as Spiritual Recurrence, are recovered,
but the distortion of the law of causality does not decrease no matter how much
time is spent inside.
There
are no limits to supplies that can be brought in (a clear intention to bring
them is required), but you cannot leave items inside (the moment you exit,
anything still inside will be haphazardly scattered outside).
Neither humans other than the owner nor the owner's cards alone can use the
Tamatebako.
***
Notes:
2 As noted in ch. 115, the tales mention how only the right arm was severed by Watanabe no Tsuna (a retainer of a samurai). Shuten-doji was able to retreat. ↩
3 Funfact: It isn’t even known if Ibaraki-dōji was male or female. Most stories and illustrations depict Ibaraki dōji as a kijo, or a female oni; yet other stories refer to Shuten-dōji’s deputy as a male. ↩
4 The name also dropped in ch 114. We’ll refresh the info for you in case you need it. Suzuka Gozen is a legendary figure who appears in various tales, often depicted as a powerful and skilled warrior. She is said to possess three sacred swords (Sanmyō no Tsurugi): Daitōren, Shōtōren, and Kenmyōren. ↩
6 • So Cute that The Hatefulness is a Hundredfold: Amplifies one's own negative emotions and converts them into magical power. Greatly increases the power of spells. The deeper the feelings towards the master and companions, the better the output will be. • The Hour of The Ox: A powerful spell attack that ignores the target's resistance to a certain degree. If an enemy sees it in use, the curse will be returned. • Ever-changing: The body of the demon can change at will. Not only the appearance, but also the presence, speech, and behavior can be imitated. Includes Toughness, Superhuman Strength, and Self-regeneration. ↩
7 In Greek myth, the female Satyr is actually called Satyress, while Maenads are the frenzied female followers of Dionysus, the god of wine and pleasure.↩
8 The Maenad uses Kansai dialect ↩
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