Chapter 61
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: 8th Floor - Lv. 159 Brigade Headquarters (6)
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The lord was a pot-bellied middle-aged man. He had a frail-looking impression, but his judgment was sharp enough.
Not a fierce warrior, but he'd make a fine virtuous ruler.
He promised our party generous rewards in very short, concise words.
He even seemed puzzled that I was satisfied with just the monetary compensation.
"I thought exiles were all terribly greedy."
"Doesn't it depend on the person?"
Unless you discover the Temple of Time or become a follower of the Time God, you can't freely choose where on the continent you'll drop—only roughly after the kingdom stage can you get some intel.
The continent's perception of exiles is, from their perspective, something that hasn't happened yet.
The atrocities committed by those who fell into even-numbered floors in the distant past, or slightly more recent even-numbered floors, have lingered and been passed down to this day.
Given that in every run, the continent's view of exiles is pretty much the same old crap, it's hard to see this changing.
On the way out after the audience with the lord, I explained this to the Girl.
"Is Uncle pretty unusual, then?"
"Yeah. The longer you stay an exile, the more you feel it—no, you have no choice but to end up that way. You realize how crucial it is to treat them not as mere NPCs, but as people: building trust, forming bonds."
This incident is a perfect example. If our party puts on a sufficiently impressive show, we'll leave a lasting mark in that pot-bellied lord's memory.
Or this battle itself might become a legend sung by bards.
If time skips even further into the future and I drop into an even-numbered floor in that scenario, I could end up as the legendary hero who saved this castle.
That's why building these relationships is so vital. It's like a snowball that starts small and unremarkable, rolling slowly—but eventually, it becomes useful.
Back when I, as a petal fairy, rebuilt the Fairy Empire, I was truly a hero from the legends.
No matter which era's fairies I met, they all served me.
In their legends, I lived on as a guardian deity who appeared in times of crisis to save the fairies.
It was absurd and nose-pinching stuff, but with faction affinity maxed out beyond limits, I couldn't abandon them—I kept those ties going.
You never know when a small act of kindness somewhere will come back around.
In that sense, it's actually more important to impress the continent's residents—NPCs from an exile's view—than other exiles.
"Oh..."
"What? What's with that ominous trailing off?"
"No, I was just thinking maybe I went a bit overboard. Some of the people who saw me seemed kinda scared."
Scary? Who'd even see her as human? She looks like she could arm-wrestle an ogre.
"No way I'd beat an ogre, though. I'm just a delicate high school girl."
"Right."
Still, instilling a bit of fear isn't bad.
Our party's already plenty distinctive as is—we just need to leave a strong impression while making it clear we're solid allies.
"I'll do my best!"
"Good girl."
I'd taken that mystery body-slam earlier, and a rib actually cracked, so I burned a bit of healing potion. Not much, but it stung. From what I heard, it was pure concern, so I couldn't complain.
* * *
The Hunter passed on that message to me on their behalf.
It was more a request to trust and rely on the party more.
I...
"Alright, get ready."
"How'd it come to this?"
"Senior, show 'em the power of a veteran exile."
You'll get it once you reach the kingdom. High-rankers or ranker-level veterans can easily crush newer exiles who just entered, no matter their tenure.
The Hunter's never even reached the kingdom, so it's no wonder he doesn't know. My thinking was a bit shortsighted.
The fairy mage shook her head but agreed to play along for a bit.
The Girl charges with [Dash].
Her stab is like a flash of light—normally, you couldn't even react.
It tricks you into thinking the whoosh comes late.
At normal levels, it's violence you can't counter even if you know it's coming.
But to me, it's an attack that's never landed a solid hit once.
The fairy mage, equally lacking in close-quarters finesse, calmly offered up one arm while channeling her spell.
The Girl aimed not for a vital spot, but the slight delay from the mage's arm exploding couldn't stop the magic from manifesting.
Lightning crackled from the shattered arm.
Electricity and smoke rose from the Girl's body.
Her muscles out of control, the inertial charge became meaningless.
The fairy mage effortlessly neutralized the physical impact with gravity magic.
Then, binding magic: [Bind].
By the time the Girl shook off the status ailment from the instant shock, the fight was already decided.
"See?"
"What was that?"
The Girl mumbled, her numb lips twitching.
The fairy mage grimaced at her mangled arm.
"Hurts like hell. That girl's no joke, huh? A surprise attack would definitely work."
"In other words, anything but a surprise attack is a total no-go."
"Exactly."
The Hunter and the newbie just blinked with mouths agape.
The fairy mage elaborated.
"She doesn't know magic at all. Doesn't grasp what kinds exist or their applications. In that last one, zigzagging to disrupt would've been better."
"But she'd still have to close in, and she'd eat lightning."
"No cast delay up close, so unavoidable. Lightning's the natural enemy of all warriors, right?"
The Girl looked utterly baffled.
"Um, can I try one more time?"
The fairy mage nodded.
After four more attempts, the Girl surrendered completely.
She tried zigzags, feints, superhuman dodges to evade the lightning range—but got shut down every time.
Now she wondered about something else.
"What if it was a veteran warrior?"
A fair question, since her opponent was a pure mage whose mastery was built solely on magic.
The goddess issued a divine proclamation audible to all.
「Hmm, even a human around level 50 could no-sell it while picking their nose.」
Agreeing, I drew my longsword.
Extended a hand to the Girl and beckoned.
"Come at me."
"Eek."
She made that noise but came anyway.
Until now, I'd treated her as a fellow assassin.
This was my first time as a warrior.
I didn't deflect and counter or steal her breath—instead, I waited, parried, blocked, and endured every attack.
"Wow, seriously! I'm faster, so why can't I land a hit? I'm so mad right now."
"Your moves are too predictable... Nah, that'd be too harsh. Your fundamentals are solid."
This was a different issue. All veteran exiles transcend mastery in body control.
Artificially forged geniuses, maybe?
No matter how high Labyrinth stats go, they can't surpass your race's limits.
But within those racial bounds, they forge you into an endlessly honed superhuman.
Strength's muscle and stamina boosts, Agility's precision, Intelligence's mental composure and cognition.
The result? Martial arts masters—at a level unprecedented in outside-world human history.
Wouldn't beat a troll arm-wrestling, but you could block and redirect its punch.
If you've hit thousands of levels, you've been that master—and that memory lingers even after death and reset.
"Usually, Strength is the issue. It doesn't carry over at all."
"But Agility and Intelligence buffs stick through training—they're not impossible to regain."
Experience as a master, in other words.
But that's not all. Gotta be precise, so I asked.
"Plus, you've never died, right?"
"Yeah..."
That's a huge gap. Techniques ingrained risking life vs. preserving it are worlds apart.
"Veterans don't fear death. It's just annoying. You?"
The Girl pondered, then answered honestly.
"Scary."
"Normal. Hunter's probably not much different."
The Hunter groaned but replied.
"Yes."
"Turning fear to annoyance takes forever. Not just dying a ton—takes time to accept it all. It's a mindset thing."
An exile's time limit is subjective time spent.
No matter how time warps, it's the years of suffering, agony, exhaustion in the Labyrinth.
That's the metric.
"That's why veterans get respect. You see it in the kingdom: 70-year, 60-year vets spat out by tutorials. Wouldn't know without going."
"Tsk tsk, yeah. Total culture shock at first."
「Such adorable little chicks.」
The goddess chimed in happily too. Must feel like watching hatchlings more than ever.
The Girl was totally deflated.
"Then even if I teamed with Hunter Uncle and Newbie Uncle, I couldn't win?"
"You'd hurt me some."
"I'm a mage, so I can lose a limb or two."
That's the problem. As long as you don't die, exiles are immortal till potions run dry.
Knowing the line between dying and surviving at death's door is pure instinct.
And that instinct? Forged by dying a ton. Low tenure means you don't know your damage-soak limits.
Where else but the Labyrinth to hone death-sense? Outside, one death's game over.
So unless stats and gear are absurdly mismatched,
veterans are invincible in exile duels.
The Girl moped, mumbling stuff like "I'm useless."
Whoops, killed her spirit too hard? Planned to teach this post-kingdom.
Patted her back and said,
"But out there, none of those noisy bastards are like that."
The Girl wiped tears and asked,
"We won't lose, right?"
"Watch out for named great shamans. Trdongt might be there."
"Ughhh."
"Nah, at this point, even Trdongt's doable. Relax."
While coaxing her, dawn began to break.
The watching civil official's expressions were a riot—from puzzled, to angry, resigned, then terrified.
They've only one life.
Exiles learn that feeling after 100 years.
"Wait, hold up. Thinking about it, I die for real now—and what if I'd messed up against that girl and died?"
The fairy mage finally realized and grumbled at me. See? To high-tier veterans, death's just that casual a concept.
You can even forget.
"Then exile life's wasted, right? Just die."
"Too harsh on someone else's life, no? Heh."
* * *
Regrettable from an exile's view, but no matter how vital [Racial Mainstream] is, war's still someone else's problem.
The continent's just a farming ground.
Worst case, other servers exist.
Even I think that way, so no wonder locals hate exiles.
If your life's not truly on the line, you can't fight desperately to defend.
In that sense, the east gate captain's initial reaction was spot-on. Exiles ain't reliable.
He got drafted to nominally lead our party.
"Uh, well. Anyway, do your thing. No interfering from me."
The whispering east gate brain turned out to be the vice-captain. Didn't peg him—looked too green.
He approached with a wry smile instead.
"Our captain got burned by exiles as a kid, so yeah."
"Who here hasn't got a story? I get it."
No real interest, but nodded solemnly.
The vice-captain said,
"Me? Good memories. Lived in the woods pre-enlistment. Family trade: hunters."
The Hunter smirked at his title used as a common noun.
Watching that uncle, he cracks me up lately.
Started off all stern middle-aged, but he's loosened up big time.
"Family all died to wild goblins, but an exile saved me—barely survived."
Common tale: heartwarming yet tragic.
No reason for exiles to rampage needlessly.
Curious, I asked,
"What was the exile party's setup?"
"Female archer, girl mage, two male warriors. Still remember. First time realizing not all exiles suck."
Ah, I know 'em. But two warriors surviving? Pre-floor 5.
The Girl whispered, catching on.
"That party, right?"
"Probably. Floor 4 for them, I think."
"Whoa... So this is time-skipping."
"You didn't get it before?"
"Getting it and feeling it are different."
"Fair."
The vice-captain bowed one last time.
"Heard about last night's heroics. Please, take care of us."
Sincere plea.
We all nodded. Even if it doesn't hit home as "our" fight, a direct ask changes everything.
Mutual prejudices are the issue, after all.
We headed out to man the walls.
The vice-captain led us right above the gate—judged our strongest asset.
The fairy mage followed with a chuckle.
Other placements left and right of the gate: black-hooded figures.
Night Crows are key too. State-sanctioned, must have defense duties. Monster hunters ain't weak.
Stormhowl Brigade banners flew, battle cries echoing.
Those faith-fueled roars actually buff allies and debuff foes.
The fairy mage lowered her voice.
"Last night's raid? Probably delayed 'cause I siphoned the vampires."
Oof, guilty. Without that mess, more might've survived. Vampires counter assassins well.
"Uh... I killed all those clan guys, though. Cool?"
"Vampires are basically clan master's property anyway."
"True, but."
Then, the opening horn blared. The Greenskins' assault began.