12-1 Part 1
The Forbidden Alliance
- To the Labyrinth of Stakes -
Translator : PolterGlast
Recap of the
Previous Chapter
The brothers'
vacation, joined by Alchemist Dulin and Consul Puis, passed in the blink of an eye. When that
vacation ended, Shinza decided to grow himself further before the
Emperor's life burned out.
When he went to the
guild for that purpose, unexpectedly, a message from Kachua of Corin
Village was waiting. Shinza changed his plans, headed to the
tavern-inn Yosuga, and reunited with Kachua, who had become an
adventurer.
Because he was
worried about Kachua, and because the Book of the Evil Dragon
demanded he make her a full-fledged adventurer, he decided to take on guild
jobs together with her. The next morning, the two accepted a pilgrim escort
mission and set out on a 10-day journey one way.
During that journey,
they encountered a landslide, but without getting stranded, Shinza
effortlessly demonstrated the removal of the obstacles. At that time, from the
old soldier Konz who was blocking the road, he heard about the history
between the fifth son Georg and the fourth son Yord.
During his military
academy days, Georg had the still-young Ashley taken hostage by Yord,
and had no choice but to choose defeat to Yord in a fighting tournament.
As the party
continued their journey further, they were attacked by starving disgraced
soldiers. However, there was no way they could match Shinza and Kachua,
and the enemies were repelled. The pilgrims' representative, Priest Yungwi,
showed mercy to those disgraced soldiers and escorted the wounded men to the
next town.
However, Shinza
showed no mercy. That night, he tracked down their whereabouts intending to
dispose of the disgraced soldiers. But when he asked, they were deeply
regretful. Furthermore, they said they were fired and lost their livelihood as
collateral damage because their superior officer voiced his opinion to a
frontier General.
It seems the
Imperial Army of the frontier and the Knight Order are trying to join hands.
There was room for rehabilitation for those disgraced soldiers. So Shinza
admitted his mistake, gave them a new job as soldiers of Erin, and left
the place.
The pilgrimage
journey continued. Eventually, the party arrived at the Town of Stakes, Ratatosk.
There, they engaged in battle with extremely dangerous giant ants called Abyss
Ants.
With Zirant's
covering fire during the battle, Shinza and his companion somehow
managed to defeat the giant ants while closing the door to another world called
an Abyss Gate. However, as a result, Shinza and Zirant ended up
catching the fancy of the Mayor and Guild Master of Ratatosk.
Furthermore, even the devout pilgrims and Priest Yungwi began to revere Zirant
and Shinza.
Rather than the
Absolute God Samael who doesn't reach out a hand, Zirant, who
prevented the great Abyss disaster beforehand, is far more divine. Ignoring Ashley's
plans, the meddlesome Zirant's intervention was added there. Zirant
named herself an ancient god and attracted the people with her divinity.
Due to this, the
Mayor, Guild Master, priest, and pilgrims easily became believers of Zirant
and promised their future cooperation. Shinza was deeply bewildered by
this result.
Thus, on the 10th
day since departing the Imperial Capital, the two completed their escort
mission to the Holy City Fimbul. While filling their stomachs at a
tavern, Shinza and Kachua decided to try challenging the
Labyrinth of Stakes in Ratatosk on their way back.
Then the Book of
the Evil Dragon reacted to this. According to the book, if he reaches the
7th underground floor of the labyrinth, it will grant him a 30x mining ability.
His hobby of excavation will make massive progress. He didn't want to meet the
Mayor and the others, but that bonus was too tempting for the excavator Shinza.
――――――― Forbidden
Alliance ―――――――
12-1 Forbidden
Alliance - To the Labyrinth of Stakes -
No matter how many
times I see it, it's a bizarre land. Innumerable white stakes pierce the earth,
completely encircling the center of the city of Ratatosk and its
surroundings. According to the knowledgeable Priest Yungwi, the stakes
appeared an incredibly long time ago, and since that day, this place has
developed as a labyrinth city.
In other words, it
is no exaggeration to say that this town of Ratatosk was born together
with these white stakes. And surprisingly, there are similar things all over
the world, which is astonishing.
「How's
this?」
「Mmm...
Let's take off that fake mustache. Because when a young guy like you, Shinza,
wears it, it just looks like a joke or a costume.」
Well, leaving that
aside. Since we arrived in the suburbs of Ratatosk, I decided it was
about time to disguise myself. Because if I'm found by those middle-aged men,
including that Mayor, it's not only troublesome but noisy.
「What a
terrible thing to say...」
I couldn't bring
myself to throw it away, so I tried wearing the fake mustache that Atomina-aneue
burst out laughing at the other day, but unfortunately, it was not well
received by Kachua either...
I really like it because I look manly when I wear this, though... Does it not
suit me?
「But I
think those glasses are good! You look, in... intellectual, Shinza! You
look intellectual!」
「That's
a slightly off-putting way of saying it...」
I reluctantly
removed the fake mustache and put the silver-rimmed glasses back on.
Furthermore, I donned a hemp robe for pilgrimage that I purchased in the Holy
City Fimbul. This feels rough and uncomfortable to wear...
「Yeah,
with that, as long as we don't unexpectedly bump into them, it'll be fine; you
don't look like Shinza. You don't not look like a traveling...
poor scholar?」
「There's
not a shred of adventurer-likeness left, though. Well then, shall we go?」
「Mmm...」
「What
is it, is there a problem?」
「No,
mmm... Well, isn't it fine? Let's go!」
Kachua stared
suspiciously at my Shovel for a while, and then ran off toward the outer
walls of Ratatosk. Once we get inside the city, I wonder if I should buy
a cloth bag and wrap at least the tip portion...
◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇
While doing some
simple shopping and getting some food in our stomachs, we proceeded through the
city and entered the Adventurer's Guild in Ratatosk. Unlike the one in
the Imperial Capital, this one looks exactly like a government office.
And perhaps because it's directly connected to the wealth called a labyrinth,
its scale is correspondingly large. No, that was exactly the problem
right now.
「A
seven-day wait, you say...?」
「Eeeeh,
we have to wait that long?!」
It seems that being
profitable means exactly that. The reservation list was tightly packed with the
names of men.
「If you
are someone with a proven track record, it's possible to move you up, but in
your case...」
Since I didn't want
the Guild Master to realize, I used the fake name Zanshi. Kachua
stared at my profile, and I feel like she's telling me to use that connection.
「Shinza...
Please, I can't wait seven days doing nothing!」
「But,
the precious disguise will lose its meaning... I don't want to be prayed to
again—」
「What
will you do? The people behind you are starting to get irritated...」
But it's better than
being held up for seven days...
「The
name Zanshi is a fake name. Check again under Shinza; I've
achieved a fair amount of results.」
They're both fake
names, though. Glancing sideways at Kachua next to me, she was directing
a sparkling smile at me. I feel like I'm going to end up spoiling her...
「Th-This
is...?! I apologize, Shinza-sama! I will make arrangements so you can
explore sometime tomorrow, even if I have to force it!」
「No,
I'd like you to do it quietly. It's troublesome if the Mayor comes out...」
「Yes,
then as you wish!」
「Ahaha,
all thanks to Zirant-sama, Shinza.」
「Well,
I suppose that's how it turned out...」
I felt like Zirant's laughter echoed in my ear. Well, because of that, we were to descend into the White Stake 7th Pillar Labyrinth right away tomorrow.
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