Chapter 234: A Bizarre 6-Member Party
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 234: A Bizarre 6-Member Party
It wasn't as if I’d decided to tag along with a party of four total strangers just because I was craving human company.
Horus’s wide-range atmospheric magic was a devastating power, capable of slaughtering scores of people with a mere flick of the wrist. And since I was a human being, not some mindless beast, I couldn't exactly go around massacring everyone in my vicinity.
Naturally, if my proficiency in using this mana was so low that I couldn't control it properly on the surface, I wouldn't be able to make proper use of the power I’d worked so hard to obtain.
In short, I was doing this to ensure I could wield Horus’s immense strength without accidentally harming those around me.
“I see. So it’s to craft a Battle Attire?”
“That’s right. You know what a Battle Attire is, don't you? I heard most Cobalt-grade explorers have at least one.”
The young lady with the blueberry-colored ringlets, Kanna Belfos, apparently needed to hunt a monster called the Snow Mountain Witch here in Calax to obtain a cooling function for her Battle Attire.
I’d heard that the Snow Mountain Witch possessed a part called the Ice Tear, which held incredible chilling properties.
“What about, you know, a Frost Core?”
“What? Do you have any idea how expensive those are? Honestly, you commoners... since you’ve never owned anything of value, you lose all sense of scale once the numbers get too high.”
“I see.”
It seemed the Belfos family, whom Lady Kanna claimed would be "mortified" by such a suggestion, wasn't quite that wealthy. They were still rich, mind you, but it raised the question of why a high-born lady was personally climbing the Labyrinth.
“For the score, obviously. You’re not an idiot, are you? We’re funneling points.”
“Ah... I see.”
It was something I’d heard about quite often during my time as an explorer. You bring a monster to the brink of death and then let someone else deliver the final blow.
By doing so, that person becomes deeply involved in the causality of the kill, allowing them to reap the benefits of the supernatural mana settlement that occurs within the Labyrinth. Essentially, it tricks the system into thinking they were the one who killed the monster, granting them the lion's share of the mana and the points.
I didn't recall ever seeing anyone actually do it, but that was likely because everyone kept it a secret. Given how much of an issue it was among explorers, there were probably plenty of people doing it.
“Now, go get your party member.”
“Yes, ma'am. Um, but my partner is a bit... unique. Her words and actions might be a little unpleasant for a lady like yourself.”
“What? Why are you hanging around someone so rude?”
I was sitting on a sled pulled by summoned sled dogs, perched between the back seat and the luggage area, talking to Kanna Belfos. At my words, she turned her head back with a look of immediate distaste.
“Because her skills are the real deal.”
“Hmph. A mage?”
“Yes.”
“Then it’s fine. That’s just how people who use magic are.”
Kanna Belfos didn't hesitate to make such a shocking generalization. But then again, that was just how the blueberry-ringlet lady was. A foul mouth was the default, accompanied by a tendency to look down on others and a mountain of prejudices—not to mention the mandatory illegal achievement-hunting.
“Please wait a moment.”
“Make it quick. Don't keep me waiting.”
Leaving the nagging noblewoman behind, I made my way toward a jagged rocky peak where an armadillo shell had been placed.
“Iris.”
“Mm.”
“Four more people have joined us. I think it’ll be helpful for your magic practice.”
“Mm.”
“Let’s go with them.”
I shook Iris awake as she lay sprawled on the ground, half-asleep. I explained the situation, but she barely seemed to be listening. She must have understood the gist of it, though, because she let out a small groan of annoyance when I mentioned traveling together.
“You said you needed precision control.”
“Sigh.”
“Oh, this person knows how to sigh, too.”
I draped a coat made from the hide of a snowfield monster—excellent for insulation—over the semi-hibernating Iris and hoisted her over my shoulder.
“Alright, Iris. Here’s your coat, so put it on.”
“Mm.”
The way she was dragging her feet... Tsk.
‘Maybe I should just eat her.’
It might be easier to just tell the other party that my partner froze to death and go on alone. Iris didn't seem to have much motivation anyway, probably because of the cold.
“Ugh, no. I should still take her.”
* * *
“My Lady, what were you thinking, letting that fellow into the party?”
Of the two male explorers sitting in the front of the sled, the older-looking one directed a question to Kanna Belfos.
Even if people were scarce on the 6th Stratum, they already had one Palladium-grade explorer and one Cobalt-grade explorer in the front. Even the maid assisting her in the back was a Cobalt-grade explorer.
From Cobalt Grade onwards, the gap between ranks began to widen like the distance between heaven and earth. With a Palladium-grade explorer already in the party, their chances of defeating the Snow Mountain Witch were quite high, especially with their thorough preparations.
Of course, Kanna Belfos hadn't invited Aven because she distrusted the two explorers she’d hired. It was simply because she’d taken a liking to his face as he approached from a distance.
‘He was quite handsome... and if he’s Cobalt Grade, it’s not like he’s completely useless. If I help him pad his score a few times, maybe he could reach Palladium...?’
To Kanna Belfos, who was of marriageable age, the Cobalt-grade explorer Aven she’d met in a strange labyrinth didn't look half bad. Aside from her female attendant, who had worked for her family for a long time, the two in the front were just mercenaries hired with gold.
Through the eyes of Kanna Belfos, who was a massive sucker for a handsome face, the two men in the front were painful to look at for any extended period. She could just barely tolerate the younger one, but the older one looked as if he’d traded his hair for his Palladium Grade.
‘That bald guy sure talks a lot. If the employer says so, then that’s that.’
Kanna felt her mood improve just by looking at a handsome face. Being confident in her own looks—rich, beautiful, and with a decent figure to boot—she believed that being a servant to a noblewoman like herself was every man’s secret dream.
‘I’ll save him when he’s about to die, make him indebted to me, and bring him back to the family... He’ll make a fine toy.’
He had a tall frame, a sturdy build, and a voice that was surprisingly deep compared to his youthful face. It was a bit much, perhaps, but this was often how noblewomen viewed commoner men who caught their eye.
She had no scandalous intentions of actually offering her body; she simply thought it would be fun to play with him for a while and then discard him.
Thud, thud, thud...
Someone was running through the blizzard in the distance. A black-haired man wearing a white fur coat—it was clearly Aven. He seemed to be carrying something over his shoulder, likely the party member he’d mentioned.
‘Wh-What is with those breasts?! They’re bouncing...!’
Kanna Belfos watched from afar in shock as he arrived, carrying an adult woman with an incredibly large chest.
As the two arrived—or more accurately, as she looked at Iris—Kanna began to grapple with a serious internal conflict.
‘A-A girlfriend?! His party member was a woman?!’
Furthermore, judging by her attire, she was no ordinary person. To come all this way in this freezing weather wearing nothing but a fur coat over thin clothes that looked more suited for a banquet hall...
“H-Hey... Aven. Is that your party member?”
“Yes. This is my partner.”
The two male explorers in the front were equally flustered. The female attendant didn't seem to care much. Kanna Belfos was pretty and had a good figure, but she was their employer and a noble.
As explorers who accepted gold for illegal acts like point-funneling, they weren't exactly burdened by a moral compass. Having spent weeks on a deep-floor expedition, reaching as far as the 55th floor...
‘She’s damn gorgeous... and that body is top-tier.’
In their eyes, Iris’s beauty was incomparable to the expensive prostitutes they usually frequented in high-end brothels. They had been skeptical of Kanna’s decision to bring Aven along, but now...
‘This changes things. Did he say he was Cobalt Grade?’
During the fight with the Snow Mountain Witch, it wouldn't be strange at all for an explorer to meet an "unavoidable death."
‘If she’s a mage, there’s no problem.’
To explorers who relied on physical prowess, mages were simply "beings you win against once you close the gap."
And this wasn't just a prejudice; in reality, over ninety percent of mages were half-wits who couldn't even exert half their combat power if there wasn't a tank in the front lines.
The two explorers in the front exchanged glances and nodded. Kanna Belfos, feeling complicated, decided to ask.
“A-Are you two... you know... dating? Or something?”
“With her? No, it’s nothing like that.”
The male explorers nodded inwardly even more fervently at the confirmation that they weren't a couple.
‘I’ll mourn the partner’s death. Nothing beats a good roll in the hay to drown out the sorrow.’
“Her name is... Ai.”
“Her name is Ai?”
At Aven’s words, the woman called "Ai" snapped her head to the side and corrected him.
“It’s Iris.”
Slap!
Aven facepalmed in frustration, while Kanna Belfos decided that as long as they weren't dating, he was still fair game.
And so, starting with the brainstorming of two men who were only thinking about satisfying their lower halves, a bizarre six-member party was formed to raid the Snow Mountain Witch.
“S-Shall we head out then?”
“Yes, let’s go.”
This was happening on the 54th floor of the 6th Stratum of Calax—one of the three Great Labyrinths, deemed absolutely impossible to conquer.