Chapter 396: Expedition (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 396: Expedition (1)
After giving the knight a long, stony look, I let the tense lines of my face relax. "I guess that was my bad."
The knight seemed relieved to see me soften, yet he also seemed to be wondering what I was talking about.
"Ah, I'm saying I'm glad there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with your head."
Then, patting the knight on the shoulder, I checked to see if the other three had any objections to me being the leader. I didn't think they had the guts to break a promise made in front of the marquess, but you never knew. I figured follow-up treatment might be necessary.
"No."
"Me neither. Those were the terms of our agreement, after all."
"Since things panned out like this, please feel free to call on me any time you need help."
Surprisingly, the other three didn't express any dissent. I guessed they were cooler than I thought. Since this matter involved the interests of their backers, I figured there would be at least one greedy schmuck who refused to back down. Well, that was good since it meant less work for me.
"I'm glad there are no complaints. Then I'll be leaving now."
"Sorry? Leaving?" When I tried to turn around, the four looked at me with obvious bafflement. Now that the leader was decided, I guessed they assumed I'd want to talk to them more.
"I'm hungry. See you later." On that note, I exited the room, leaving behind four people with dumbfounded expressions on their faces.
This was a way of laying the groundwork. I wasn't going to live as Riehen Schuitz forever, right? All would be revealed in three months. So I figured I should show them this side of me in advance to make things easier for them later. No wonder he acted like such a barbarian. So that's why that was.
"You're here?" My next destination was the marquess's office. I figured I owed him a report before I left. "How did it go?"
"Nothing much happened."
"Are you saying everyone readily accepted it?"
"It's not like they had any other option."
"That... is true. Well, if you need my help with anything, let me know any time."
"How reassuring." Then that should be the end of my progress report—
"Ah, and one more thing. Now that the commander has been selected, we will be holding an inauguration ceremony soon."
"Inauguration ceremony?"
"All of you should have an occasion to get acquainted with each other before entering the labyrinth. The backers of this project will also want to meet with you."
"Then when will that be?"
"I will let you know the date as soon as it's finalized."
It was kind of funny. There were less than ten days until we entered the labyrinth. We were going to go from meeting at an inauguration ceremony straight to going into the labyrinth together? This was almost lightning speed.
What's their reason for pushing things forward in such a hurry?
The question occurred to me but it was very easy to guess the answer.
He probably wanted to make sure this all happened after the 15th. Since that is the easiest time for information to be passed on to people on Noark's side.
The higher-ups must have wanted to minimize the spread of information as much as possible. In fact, when I asked some questions about the ceremony, the marquess answered that it would be unfeasible for us to hold a grand event with hundreds of people for security reasons.
"Anyway, I get the inauguration ceremony, but what about the two people who are going to be on my team? Will I only meet them at the ceremony?"
"Of course not. If you want, I can make arrangements for you to meet tomorrow."
"Then can you send them to my house tomorrow?"
"Of course." The marquess readily nodded in response to my request.
Then I guess we've said everything we needed to say?
While I was looking for a way to end the conversation, the marquess suddenly broached a new topic. "I want to ask you something."
"What is it?"
"When you made that bet during lunch..." The marquess paused to take a breath before continuing. "Were you confident you could win against the four of them?"
"Why are you only wondering that now?"
"I've been wondering from the beginning. You must have seen the files I prepared on them, so you would have known their personal information in detail. That's why when you first made that bet, I thought it was because you were confident you could win."
"So?"
"But as I watched, I realized that wasn't the case. Do you know how many close calls you had?"
I thought I had a rough idea of what he really wanted to ask. Why would I risk making a bet like that if I was only going to win by a hair? I decided to give an honest answer. "Marquess, it's as you suspect."
The decisive factor behind my victory was stage seven of the Immortality Imprint. Restorative Power, the main stat it gave you, was a special stat that increased regeneration speed. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to last as long as I did with just my base healing factor. More importantly, I might've run out of MP earlier, as Restorative Power also applied to MP regeneration. In other words, thanks to my new tattoos, my MP recovery from Soul Dive also went up. With all that in mind, I figured fighting was worth a shot.
"Victory wasn't guaranteed."
Nevertheless, I wasn't 100 percent confident that I'd win. That was how fights were. There were way too many cases of lucky shots sending people to early graves to even mention.
"I just don't understand. How could you do something so bold when you weren't sure?"
I shrugged and turned to leave the room. "I don't know—why do you think?"
Why are you asking such an obvious question? I picked the fight because even if I lost, I never planned to roll over and admit defeat in the first place.
You should never let other people know your Plan B.
***
Around noon the next day, our two new party members visited our home on the marquess's invitation.
"You must be Riehen Schuitz. It's nice to meet you. I am Riard Ashed, a rank-three wizard from the Lengman School." He was a friendly-looking man in his mid-thirties who was rather tall for a wizard.
"You're young. I'm Guold Aldidi." The magician in his sixties looked to be in much better shape than I expected.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Riehen Schuitz."
"...Did you used to be a soldier, by any chance?"
"No, why do you ask?"
"Because talking informally seems so natural to you."
Was this his way of asking me to respect my elders? The question came to mind but I didn't dwell on it. Whatever the answer, it didn't matter much.
"Aldidi, if you came here thinking this was going to be an ordinary team of adventurers, it's not too late to back out. First off, we will be working as members of the military for a while and for this to work, informal top-down communication is key." It was always important to set the tone in the first meeting.
"Anyway, I get the inauguration ceremony, but what about the two people who are going to be on my team? Will I only meet them at the ceremony?"
"Of course not. If you want, I can make arrangements for you to meet tomorrow."
"Then can you send them to my house tomorrow?"
"Of course." The marquess readily nodded in response to my request.
Then I guess we've said everything we needed to say?
While I was looking for a way to end the conversation, the marquess suddenly broached a new topic. "I want to ask you something."
"What is it?"
"When you made that bet during lunch..." The marquess paused to take a breath before continuing. "Were you confident you could win against the four of them?"
"Why are you only wondering that now?"
"I've been wondering from the beginning. You must have seen the files I prepared on them, so you would have known their personal information in detail. That's why when you first made that bet, I thought it was because you were confident you could win."
"So?"
"But as I watched, I realized that wasn't the case. Do you know how many close calls you had?"
I thought I had a rough idea of what he really wanted to ask. Why would I risk making a bet like that if I was only going to win by a hair? I decided to give an honest answer. "Marquess, it's as you suspect."
The decisive factor behind my victory was stage seven of the Immortality Imprint. Restorative Power, the main stat it gave you, was a special stat that increased regeneration speed. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to last as long as I did with just my base healing factor. More importantly, I might've run out of MP earlier, as Restorative Power also applied to MP regeneration. In other words, thanks to my new tattoos, my MP recovery from Soul Dive also went up. With all that in mind, I figured fighting was worth a shot.
"Victory wasn't guaranteed."
Nevertheless, I wasn't 100 percent confident that I'd win. That was how fights were. There were way too many cases of lucky shots sending people to early graves to even mention.
"I just don't understand. How could you do something so bold when you weren't sure?"
I shrugged and turned to leave the room. "I don't know—why do you think?"
Why are you asking such an obvious question? I picked the fight because even if I lost, I never planned to roll over and admit defeat in the first place.
You should never let other people know your Plan B.
***
Around noon the next day, our two new party members visited our home on the marquess's invitation.
"You must be Riehen Schuitz. It's nice to meet you. I am Riard Ashed, a rank-three wizard from the Lengman School." He was a friendly-looking man in his mid-thirties who was rather tall for a wizard.
"You're young. I'm Guold Aldidi." The magician in his sixties looked to be in much better shape than I expected.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Riehen Schuitz."
"...Did you used to be a soldier, by any chance?"
"No, why do you ask?"
"Because talking informally seems so natural to you."
Was this his way of asking me to respect my elders? The question came to mind but I didn't dwell on it. Whatever the answer, it didn't matter much.
"Aldidi, if you came here thinking this was going to be an ordinary team of adventurers, it's not too late to back out. First off, we will be working as members of the military for a while and for this to work, informal top-down communication is key." It was always important to set the tone in the first meeting.
When I firmly put my foot down, Guold Aldidi, or Old Didi for short, gracefully backed off. "Haha, of course not. I was just curious. I don't have any complaints about being informal with each other. I've been working as an adventurer into old age—do you think I've never worked under someone younger than me? I'm used to it."
"Then I'm glad. Wizard..."
"Riard Ashed. You can call me by my first or last name, whichever is more convenient."
"Then I'll go with Ashed. Ashed, do you think the same way as this old man?"
"Of course. Not only is being treated according to your abilities the norm in the Magic Tower... but this team is also an opportunity I don't want to miss out on."
"An opportunity, huh?"
"Even just participating in this expedition promises many rewards. But I heard from Lord Tercerion that... you have become the commander of this unit, is that right?"
Ah, did the marquess tell him that already?
"It seems we've joined the right team. Being under the team of the commander will give us more opportunities to achieve great things. Isn't that right, Mr. Aldidi?" Ashed asked with a kind smile.
Old Didi cleared his throat and expressed his agreement. "Ahem-hem, you could say that..."
I studied the two of them.
Not bad, in terms of first impressions.
First, Wizard Ashed. Though we hadn't exchanged many words, he seemed competent. Well, I was sure there wasn't a wizard out there who wasn't, but intelligence and social skills were two different things.
The old man doesn't seem stubborn, either, despite his age.
Of course, Ashed deserved some credit for that as well. Calling the expedition an opportunity, he showed his lofty side to make the old man realize he wasn't top dog here.
"Then Mr. Schuitz, would you please introduce the two people behind you?" Ashed cautiously asked, and I glanced at Erwen and Amelia in a gesture for them to briefly introduce themselves.
"I'm Erwen Fornacci di Tersia."
"Emily Raines."
While they exclaimed "Blood Spirit!" during Erwen's introduction, they tilted their head at Amelia's name.
I'm sure they're curious who she is, but it's good they didn't ask any unnecessary questions. Hmm, it looks like our luck of the draw was pretty good?
"Now, come in." Once introductions were over, I brought the two men into the house. We prepared plenty of food for everyone to eat together. "Oh, I forgot to ask this. Have you eaten?"
"When I heard you invited us to your home, I didn't eat just in case."
"It's better to deal with important matters on an empty stomach."
So, they both hadn't eaten. "We didn't prepare much, but eat as much as you want. If you have anything you want to discuss, we can talk while we eat."
Once everyone was seated, we ate and chatted.
"I don't know who did the cooking but the food tastes great."
"Hehe, I prepared it. Thank you."
"No, thank you."
"Oh my, it's nothing special. Haha."
Ashed and Erwen's conversation served to break the ice, but I just kept my mouth shut and ate my food. That was because all the food was takeout. I supposed it wasn't a lie that she prepared it, though, since she went to buy it in the morning and set it out on the plates herself.
When I firmly put my foot down, Guold Aldidi, or Old Didi for short, gracefully backed off. "Haha, of course not. I was just curious. I don't have any complaints about being informal with each other. I've been working as an adventurer into old age—do you think I've never worked under someone younger than me? I'm used to it."
"Then I'm glad. Wizard..."
"Riard Ashed. You can call me by my first or last name, whichever is more convenient."
"Then I'll go with Ashed. Ashed, do you think the same way as this old man?"
"Of course. Not only is being treated according to your abilities the norm in the Magic Tower... but this team is also an opportunity I don't want to miss out on."
"An opportunity, huh?"
"Even just participating in this expedition promises many rewards. But I heard from Lord Tercerion that... you have become the commander of this unit, is that right?"
Ah, did the marquess tell him that already?
"It seems we've joined the right team. Being under the team of the commander will give us more opportunities to achieve great things. Isn't that right, Mr. Aldidi?" Ashed asked with a kind smile.
Old Didi cleared his throat and expressed his agreement. "Ahem-hem, you could say that..."
I studied the two of them.
Not bad, in terms of first impressions.
First, Wizard Ashed. Though we hadn't exchanged many words, he seemed competent. Well, I was sure there wasn't a wizard out there who wasn't, but intelligence and social skills were two different things.
The old man doesn't seem stubborn, either, despite his age.
Of course, Ashed deserved some credit for that as well. Calling the expedition an opportunity, he showed his lofty side to make the old man realize he wasn't top dog here.
"Then Mr. Schuitz, would you please introduce the two people behind you?" Ashed cautiously asked, and I glanced at Erwen and Amelia in a gesture for them to briefly introduce themselves.
"I'm Erwen Fornacci di Tersia."
"Emily Raines."
While they exclaimed "Blood Spirit!" during Erwen's introduction, they tilted their head at Amelia's name.
I'm sure they're curious who she is, but it's good they didn't ask any unnecessary questions. Hmm, it looks like our luck of the draw was pretty good?
"Now, come in." Once introductions were over, I brought the two men into the house. We prepared plenty of food for everyone to eat together. "Oh, I forgot to ask this. Have you eaten?"
"When I heard you invited us to your home, I didn't eat just in case."
"It's better to deal with important matters on an empty stomach."
So, they both hadn't eaten. "We didn't prepare much, but eat as much as you want. If you have anything you want to discuss, we can talk while we eat."
Once everyone was seated, we ate and chatted.
"I don't know who did the cooking but the food tastes great."
"Hehe, I prepared it. Thank you."
"No, thank you."
"Oh my, it's nothing special. Haha."
Ashed and Erwen's conversation served to break the ice, but I just kept my mouth shut and ate my food. That was because all the food was takeout. I supposed it wasn't a lie that she prepared it, though, since she went to buy it in the morning and set it out on the plates herself.
If it were Missha, she would've been in a tizzy trying to cook everything herself since morning...
I was suddenly hit with the memory of Missha, but I didn't mean to belittle Erwen's hard work. I was always one for buying takeout because I didn't want to make anyone go to all that trouble. Missha had always been stubborn, though.
I wonder if she's doing all right...
Although we were only going to be working together for a short while, I felt weird about the idea of bringing on new party members.
"Schuitz, what are you thinking so hard about?" Amelia poked me in the side.
"Nothing. You were talking about your career, right?"
Tuning back in, I actively participated in the conversation and started scrutinizing my new teammates. They weren't too different from what I heard from the marquess.
"The last time I entered the labyrinth was seven years ago. After the clan I was a part of for five years broke up, I devoted myself to research at the Magic Tower."
"Why did you change your mind now?"
"The same reason why adventurers work so hard to climb the floors."
For a better life, for more opportunities—rather than strange personal conviction, this was a far more believable explanation. "What can you do in the labyrinth?"
"For a wizard, what's important is not what they can do, but what they can't." Ashed grinned at my question and gave me some insight into his bag of tricks. "I can only cast a small number of curse spells rank five and above. As for support spells, I can go up to rank four. Other than that, aside from magic unique to other schools, you can assume I know everything. Ah, I'm also very interested in the labyrinth, so you could say my other strength is I have significant knowledge about items and how to collect them."
Ashed was a kind of all-rounder. Although his curse and support magic were lacking, that wasn't a glaring flaw.
"If you asked what I'm confident in, I would say attack magic."
"Your attribute?"
"I wouldn't say I have a particular preference."
Wow, he's even balanced when it comes to different attributes?
"Does the Lengman School study combat magic?"
"No. They specialize in curse-type spells."
What? This guy's weird, then. He went to study curses but is the best at attacking? Sounds like there's a backstory there...
"Then if you don't have any more questions, I'd like to hear about Mr. Aldidi." Just as I was contemplating asking for his story, Ashed naturally passed the baton off to Old Didi.
...Did he do that on purpose?
Even if he did, it didn't bother me or anything. I wasn't going to ask since it sounded like a personal story in the first place.
"I am a healer."
Healers were a subcategory of magicians. Those who could mimic the healing power of priests became healers. Those who could replace a wizard's firepower were called special ability users, or benders. If they used poison, they were poison benders, and if they used fire, they were fire benders. If their main specialty was doping people up on buffs, they were a support sorcerer. If they did the opposite, they were debuff sorcerers. These were the rough categories. The higher you climbed the ranks as an adventurer, the more detailed and extensive this classification system became. In fact, if I were to submit my resume to the guild, I would have to write Guardian instead of Barbarian Warrior.
"A healer... we have a good balance." Ashed seemed pleased about Old Didi's job, as he kept nodding his head. After all, Erwen was famous for her archery and since Amelia wore leather clothes and carried a dagger even at home, it was obvious what her role was. As for me, the marquess would have filled him in.
"I've acquired mostly healing abilities but I also have two support-type spells under my belt."
Put simply, he also had a buff-type supporting skill. Old Didi filled us in on the essences he possessed and how they could be used, after which it was our turn.
Of course, since we were not magicians and understanding our every ability wasn't essential for the team, we didn't need to go into detail about our essences. Each person's role, what they could do, and mentioning Amelia's aura and Self-Replication and Erwen's Spirit of Darkness as key features should be enough.
"Then I think we've learned most of what we can learn through conversation. What do you want us to do next?"
"If possible, I want us to meet every day to establish teamwork."
"Okay, is there a training ground you usually go to?"
"There is, but it went bankrupt not long ago and disappeared."
"Then I'll find us a spot at a place I know. Ah, in case I need to contact you all in the future, will everyone tell me their address?"
"Here."
Was this what it felt like to have a competent butler? Ashed took care of the trivial details that were necessary for coordinating team activities so that I wouldn't have to worry about them, and thanks to that, we were able to gather at the training grounds every day. Time passed...
"Schuitz, you have a message from the marquess."
...And the day of the inauguration ceremony finally came.
Just how do these bastards get anything done?
There were three days left until we entered the labyrinth.
If it were Missha, she would've been in a tizzy trying to cook everything herself since morning...
I was suddenly hit with the memory of Missha, but I didn't mean to belittle Erwen's hard work. I was always one for buying takeout because I didn't want to make anyone go to all that trouble. Missha had always been stubborn, though.
I wonder if she's doing all right...
Although we were only going to be working together for a short while, I felt weird about the idea of bringing on new party members.
"Schuitz, what are you thinking so hard about?" Amelia poked me in the side.
"Nothing. You were talking about your career, right?"
Tuning back in, I actively participated in the conversation and started scrutinizing my new teammates. They weren't too different from what I heard from the marquess.
"The last time I entered the labyrinth was seven years ago. After the clan I was a part of for five years broke up, I devoted myself to research at the Magic Tower."
"Why did you change your mind now?"
"The same reason why adventurers work so hard to climb the floors."
For a better life, for more opportunities—rather than strange personal conviction, this was a far more believable explanation. "What can you do in the labyrinth?"
"For a wizard, what's important is not what they can do, but what they can't." Ashed grinned at my question and gave me some insight into his bag of tricks. "I can only cast a small number of curse spells rank five and above. As for support spells, I can go up to rank four. Other than that, aside from magic unique to other schools, you can assume I know everything. Ah, I'm also very interested in the labyrinth, so you could say my other strength is I have significant knowledge about items and how to collect them."
Ashed was a kind of all-rounder. Although his curse and support magic were lacking, that wasn't a glaring flaw.
"If you asked what I'm confident in, I would say attack magic."
"Your attribute?"
"I wouldn't say I have a particular preference."
Wow, he's even balanced when it comes to different attributes?
"Does the Lengman School study combat magic?"
"No. They specialize in curse-type spells."
What? This guy's weird, then. He went to study curses but is the best at attacking? Sounds like there's a backstory there...
"Then if you don't have any more questions, I'd like to hear about Mr. Aldidi." Just as I was contemplating asking for his story, Ashed naturally passed the baton off to Old Didi.
...Did he do that on purpose?
Even if he did, it didn't bother me or anything. I wasn't going to ask since it sounded like a personal story in the first place.
"I am a healer."
Healers were a subcategory of magicians. Those who could mimic the healing power of priests became healers. Those who could replace a wizard's firepower were called special ability users, or benders. If they used poison, they were poison benders, and if they used fire, they were fire benders. If their main specialty was doping people up on buffs, they were a support sorcerer. If they did the opposite, they were debuff sorcerers. These were the rough categories. The higher you climbed the ranks as an adventurer, the more detailed and extensive this classification system became. In fact, if I were to submit my resume to the guild, I would have to write Guardian instead of Barbarian Warrior.
"A healer... we have a good balance." Ashed seemed pleased about Old Didi's job, as he kept nodding his head. After all, Erwen was famous for her archery and since Amelia wore leather clothes and carried a dagger even at home, it was obvious what her role was. As for me, the marquess would have filled him in.
"I've acquired mostly healing abilities but I also have two support-type spells under my belt."
Put simply, he also had a buff-type supporting skill. Old Didi filled us in on the essences he possessed and how they could be used, after which it was our turn.
Of course, since we were not magicians and understanding our every ability wasn't essential for the team, we didn't need to go into detail about our essences. Each person's role, what they could do, and mentioning Amelia's aura and Self-Replication and Erwen's Spirit of Darkness as key features should be enough.
"Then I think we've learned most of what we can learn through conversation. What do you want us to do next?"
"If possible, I want us to meet every day to establish teamwork."
"Okay, is there a training ground you usually go to?"
"There is, but it went bankrupt not long ago and disappeared."
"Then I'll find us a spot at a place I know. Ah, in case I need to contact you all in the future, will everyone tell me their address?"
"Here."
Was this what it felt like to have a competent butler? Ashed took care of the trivial details that were necessary for coordinating team activities so that I wouldn't have to worry about them, and thanks to that, we were able to gather at the training grounds every day. Time passed...
"Schuitz, you have a message from the marquess."
...And the day of the inauguration ceremony finally came.
Just how do these bastards get anything done?
There were three days left until we entered the labyrinth.