Chapter 238: Does Not Apply
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 238: Does Not Apply
“What is it, Iris?”
The 59th floor of the Calax Great Labyrinth. I had piled up the corpses of hundreds of giant Snowfield Trolls into a small mountain and was sitting atop it to rest when I noticed Iris staring intently at me from the side.
The sun had set long ago, making the surroundings incredibly dark.
A Direwolf’s eye was still lodged in my left eye socket. Of course, I had consumed many eyeballs with far superior performance and night vision since then, but perhaps because I’d grown used to it, this one felt the most comfortable.
“Your expression.”
“My expression? Ah, well.”
Perhaps it was because I had been lost in thought, but Iris pointed out my expression and drew closer. Then, she did something quite unexpected—she suddenly spread her wings, fluttered up, and sat down right beside me.
“Iris, are there more bad people in the world than good?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I was just curious.”
I had figured people were hostile simply because we were strangers. After all, that hostility had steadily faded as we traveled together.
Even when someone attacked me under the guise of a mistake during the subjugation of the Snow Mountain Witch, causing their animosity to flare up, I had just brushed it off.
“You probably had expectations.”
“...Expectations?”
“Yes. The expectation that they would be good people.”
Iris might be right. It seemed I had been harboring expectations. The hope that there were many good people in the world—the kind of expectation that everyone I met would think well of me.
“Are there many good people among the Vampire Species?”
“I was the kindest of them all.”
“Sigh, it’s not easy here either, is it?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean it in a good way.”
Despite my words, I didn't deny that Iris was a kind vampire. She had lived among humans for centuries without ever feeding on them once.
While they don't die if they don't eat, vampires still have an instinctive craving for blood. Seeing as she hasn't harmed anyone even now that she’s regained her strength, it was clear enough.
“What kind of creature was the 6th Stratum Boss again?”
What I remembered was that it had a Mana Core in its chest called a ‘Flame Core’ that emitted intense heat. And that it was a dragon.
I thought I had heard the name, but I couldn't quite recall it. I remembered it being somewhat unique.
“Eldyokul.”
“Right, I think that was the name.”
The highest floor of the 6th Stratum. Eldyokul, who reigns as the boss entity of the snowfields, is a massive dragon. Because the Flame Core embedded in its body constantly generates heat, it supposedly has to live in freezing environments, or it would literally cook itself alive.
Just as Horus built its nest on a high mountain peak on the 50th floor, Eldyokul reportedly lives atop a massive, towering mountain located to the north of the 60th floor.
“It stays above the clouds.”
“That’s way too high.”
An altitude so high that the air is thin and ordinary people wouldn't even be able to breathe properly. They say you can find it by heading into the sky above the giant mountain known as Odin’s Spear.
“I can find it there?”
“It’s not that Eldyokul is always stationed there.”
It’s not like it lies down to rest on the peak; rather, it flies above the clouds, and if a person climbs up to that peak, it approaches and breathes fire to kill them.
“Is there a record of Eldyokul being subjugated?”
“There is.”
It has been about 200 years since Calax was formed. Among the stratum boss entities with a history of being defeated, Eldyokul is the second most powerful.
This also meant that the 80th-floor boss entity had never been defeated once in those 200 years. There weren't even any cases of anyone reaching the 90th floor.
There was a reason it was called one of the Three Great Labyrinths that were completely impossible to clear.
“If the air is thin, Horus’s power will be weakened.”
All monsters have specific environments where their mana becomes stronger. Horus seemed fine anywhere as long as there was plenty of wind, but once we climbed to the high altitudes above the clouds, the air Horus uses might be too thin.
“That’s why we’re practicing.”
“Practicing for a state where there’s no air?”
“Yes.”
I think I’ve hunted about 200 Snowfield Trolls in total. After coming up from the 55th floor, we climbed to the 57th without delay, and since arriving there, we’ve been roaming the entire stratum, wiping out every Snowfield Troll in sight.
I had obtained many organs with various special effects or decent abilities, but...
“The blood of these Snowfield Trolls seems to be the best.”
“Troll blood is top-tier.”
“Does it taste good too?”
“I haven't tried it.”
“Are you sure you're a vampire, Iris?”
It was the blood of Snowfield Trolls, which possessed the strongest healing effects among all trolls. Furthermore, these creatures had monstrous base physical stats. Three weeks from now, when we move to crush the Antonio Brotherhood, a situation will arise where we need to overwhelm them quickly with sheer numbers.
When that time comes, I can release synthetic monsters made using the bodies of Snowfield Trolls as a base. Even if they are synthetic monsters, I could just attach a few more Evil Eyes to give them a field of vision that detects hostility.
Or perhaps giving the magic of a Skeleton Sniper to a Snowfield Troll would be good too.
“Shall we head out, Iris?”
“Yes.”
* * *
“Now, Yura...? You shouldn't blow Grandpa away with wind magic, okay? Understood?”
—Shake, shake.
Yura shook her head left and right after hearing Sera’s words. Watching from the side, Roland felt like he was going to lose his mind. He had been so happy to have a pretty granddaughter that he’d gently patted her head, only for her to immediately blast him away with wind magic.
The control of the magic was incredibly delicate; if he had gone straight, he would have hit the wall, but she twisted the direction of the wind like a current, sending him flying out of the inn like a piece of laundry.
“Oof, I’m dying. I think my back is broken.”
“A-Are you okay...?”
“Actually, it doesn't hurt that much! But I have to let her know she shouldn't do such things.”
When Tresha asked in a worried tone, Roland replied with a smirk. Then, he approached Yura, who was being held by Sera, and began to lie down on the floor and throw a tantrum.
“Waaaaah! It hurts! It hurts so much because Yura blew me away with magic!!”
“See, Yura? Grandpa says it hurts a lot.”
To others, it might look incredibly strange for a little girl who looked barely ten years old to be called a granddaughter by an old man.
But that was the situation, so what could they do?
“Now, let’s make a promise. If you do, I’ll give you a delicious drink.”
—Nod, nod.
“Good girl, well done.”
Only when the reward of a drink was mentioned did Yura finally nod. It was the drink Sera often had—dried and ground raspberries mixed with water.
Aside from meat, it was the first food Sera had discovered that Yura liked.
“It seems Yura still can't use magic properly! As her senior mage, I suppose I should teach her well!”
Ravi spoke boastfully, puffing out her flat chest, but of course, it wasn't that Yura couldn't use magic properly. It wasn't that she lacked control or that it went off unintentionally.
She had simply used her magic skillfully according to her will to blow Roland away. Looking at Ravi chattering away beside her, Yura just found her pathetic.
“Mom, what should I do in a situation like this...?”
“Make her stand in the corner or something.”
“What...?!”
How exactly was one supposed to discipline a child who had misbehaved? From the perspective of Sera, who had no memory of raising a child, giving a punishment was not easy, even if the child had done something bad.
In the first place, Sera had no memory of ever punishing someone or being punished herself, so she didn't even really know what a punishment was. Sera was always hardworking with chores and was kind and gentle; who would ever punish her?
“Um... Yura. Could you come here for a moment?”
Sera’s scolding lacked the force of Marta’s. Was it because watching this reminded Marta of her own days raising a child?
“That’s not how you do it.”
“T-Then what should I do, Mom...?”
“Yura, come here and sit down.”
Marta’s scolding had a completely different atmosphere from Sera’s. From her tone to her expression, it was a perfectly packaged, calculated anger. Yura looked left and right, and upon realizing her father had disappeared, her expression turned serious.
“Hurry up.”
Marta pulled a chair over in front of Yura, sat on it with her legs crossed, and spoke.
“Do you know or not know that you shouldn't hurt others?”
—Shake, shake.
“That doesn't get the point across. You have to answer with your voice.”
“M-Mom... isn't that a bit too much...?”
“No, it isn't.”
From Sera’s perspective, Marta’s scolding was far too harsh and terrifying for a child born only a few days ago to handle. Even Sera felt like she would burst into tears if Marta scolded her like that.
Of course, that was because Sera had no memory of ever being scolded. To Marta, who had experience raising children, she had a sense of what Yura’s actual physical age was.
Around this age, they’re at their most mischievous.
“You have to answer with words.”
“....”
“Fine, I’ll wait here for a minute or an hour until Yura answers.”
At Marta’s firm attitude, Yura hung her head low and fidgeted with her fingers. Since Yura was currently standing and Marta was sitting in a chair, time was moving much slower for Yura.
And as is usually the case with young children, staying still was the hardest and most boring thing of all.
“...I know.”
“Good. From now on, you are not to use dangerous magic on other people. Understood?”
“...Yes.”
Watching from the side, Sera hugged Yura while shedding tears of emotion. Naturally, it wasn't something to make such a fuss over, but she could see the growth of Yura, who was her daughter even if she hadn't given birth to her.
“You did so well! Shall we have a drink a hundred times?!”
Just as Yura was losing consciousness, submerged in Sera’s overwhelming maternal instinct...
“Yo, you guys open for business?”
“What’s this? Why did it change so much?”
A group of explorers who looked delinquent by any standard entered the inn. They were large, their attire was threatening, and they had faces that could easily provoke hostility in ordinary people.
“Whoa! It’s been a while!”
It was Roland’s party—Gerick, Gadel, and Bontes, whose name he had forgotten.
“It seems like every time I come here, there are more runts!”
Despite their swaggering gait and rough speech, the WWE party carefully took their seats in a corner. Roland sat at the same table with them, grinning from ear to ear.
“You bastards, look at this! I even have a cute granddaughter now!”
“Whaaaaaaaat?!”
“No way!”
“Kiyooooooo—!”
—Strum, strum.
The three howling bachelors. Their gazes shifted toward Sera, who was patting the back of a slightly dejected Yura in her arms.
“That child... is your granddaughter...?”
“H-Hello...?”
The little girl in Sera’s arms was a bit too big to be called a granddaughter. Just as an explanation was about to follow...
—Creeeeak.
“Sera? The door’s open.”
This time, Dora had arrived. And she hadn't come alone; she had brought two companions with her.
“Alfi!!”
“It’s been a while, Miss Ravi.”
Alfi, a servant of the Lymain family and Ravi’s close friend.
“Ahem, I came to see if the construction was done well.”
And even Renart Lymain, who had rushed over in a hurry after hearing Theodora’s chatter about Horus’s egg hatching.
His excuse was that he had come to check if the expansion work on the inn, for which they had found the contractor, had been done well.
That child is Horus...! I see, what incredible mana.
He nodded as he looked at the little girl in Sera’s arms.
And then, a shadow fell across the door of the Mounted Goat Inn, which had become noisy with so many people.
“Damn, my shins hurt.”
“Why do they keep telling us to check on this worthless Southwest inn?”
There were four undercover explorers from the Antonio Brotherhood who had crawled into the Southwest without any proper orders, just instructions to scout the situation.
“When have we ever had proper orders? Just do what we always do.”
By ‘what we always do,’ they meant kidnapping someone who looked reasonably weak in the middle of the night to create a weakness. It wasn't something they had done much within the Southwest; it was usually something they did in the lawless zone between the Southwest and Southeast.
—Creeeeak....
The moment the four members of the Antonio Brotherhood entered as the door of the Mounted Goat Inn opened...
“Ugh, so noisy. Why are there so many customers at this hour?”
“Everyone, shut up. We’re just here to eat and leave.”
It was a group of no small rank, consisting of two Platinum Grades and two Gold Grades. In an inn located in the mere Southwest, they were beings who could perform the miracle of making their word law. Normally, once someone reached Platinum Grade, they would move their residence toward the Northwest.
“Hoh, watch your mouth!”
“What’s with this shrimp?”
Unfortunately, that did not apply to the current Mounted Goat Inn.