Chapter 397: Expedition (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 397: Expedition (2)
The inauguration ceremony was held at an empty mansion in the imperial capital. Apparently, it was a building that some count once used as a villa, but put up for sale because he urgently needed the money. Since the building didn't require any particular repairs, it could host a banquet without issue. Just the thirty members of our new unit and their patrons were invited for a quiet ceremony.
It really went fast.
It took about thirty minutes for the marquess and other patrons to take the podium one by one and offer words of encouragement and support.
"Since everyone else already talked about saving the country and becoming heroes, I'll keep this short. Let's kill a lot and earn a lot." The last speech by the team leader (me) lasted about ten seconds. With that, the formal event ended, and we moved on to the banquet part.
The prime minister, Duke Kealunus, an alliance of small-time and medium-time nobles, the Three Gods Church, the Alminus Company, and the Adventurers' Guild—although the banquet was full of all kinds of influential figures and their supporters, you could argue the party itself was lacking for an event with so many big names in attendance. The food was plentiful but cold because it had been prepared in advance. There wasn't even a band to play music, servants to fill drinks, or crowds of spectators to watch the proceedings—things that were the norm for banquets. But not one person was displeased with this. Everyone knew this wasn't a place to get drunk on wine, laugh, talk, or shake their bodies.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Schuitz."
"I heard you fought those four. How did you win?"
"'Fought those four?' What's all that about?"
"Ah, you're a member of Sir Kaislan's team, right? Didn't Sir Kaislan tell you? About what happened the other day."
"It's been a while, Blood Spirit."
I was just sitting there quietly, but numerous members of our expedition came over to my seat to say hello first.
Whew, is this the life of a powerful man?
"Nice to meet you. I'm the leader of this mission, Riehen Schuitz. What's your name?"
"Ventis Gerrod. I hope we'll do good work together."
Instead of turning away those who came forward, I greeted them one by one and introduced myself to familiarize myself with their faces. I was going to be responsible for them from now on. I should at least know their names.
I had been greeting people for quite a while when a woman with a familiar face approached me. "I never thought I'd see the name Riehen Schuitz at this inauguration ceremony. Nice to meet you. Versyl Gowland."
Wow, I never thought I'd see you here, either.
"Riehen Schuitz."
"Was my introduction enough? I'm—"
"I know. The vice captain of the Larer Clan?"
The first time I met this woman was the day the first floor's Crystal Cave was turned into a war zone. The teleport to take everyone to the safe zone was fifteen slots short, and this woman had essentially flipped a coin to pick who to leave behind. Among the unlucky few was our team.
We almost died trying to make it through Noark's forces with fifteen people.
"I'm flattered you recognized me, but it seems your news is a bit outdated. I'm no longer vice captain." Versyl flashed a pained smile, her tone self-deprecating. "I guess I've been sleeping too long. By the time I woke up, my position was gone."
"Ah... I heard you were caught up in that explosion."
"Yes. I was asleep for over a year after that."
"Still, I'm glad you woke up."
"Yes... if it weren't for the Representative, I would still be in that state..."
"Representative" was the nickname of the Tovera Church's high priest. Apparently, no other priest could compete when it came to recovery-type divine spells.
But something about the way she worded that feels off.
To be exact, her complexion and the look on her face weren't so great. She didn't seem like someone who had recently been on the receiving end of an act of kindness.
"Versyl Gowland, what team are you a part of?"
"Team Four."
"Team Four..." That was Paladin Jun's team. I had been able to learn the identities of four of its members before the inauguration ceremony, and all of them were members of a religious faction.
But a random wizard is there too? She must be in their debt, then.
I could roughly deduce the situation this woman was in, and she seemed to notice the exact moment I figured it out. She looked at me with an unreadable look in her eyes, nodding. "...You are different from how you seem at first glance."
"How do I seem?"
"Don't be offended. Anyone who heard that speech earlier would have gotten the same impression I did."
Hmph, when it came to speeches, the shorter the better. This was a universal truth I reached while listening to my principal's lectures in middle school.
Erwen jumped into our conversation from the sidelines. "How long are you going to talk to him?"
"Blood Spirit..."
"It's been a while. The last time we saw each other was when you abandoned us, right?"
"...I regret what happened back then. Truly."
"As you should. The end result of you abandoning us was that, after all." Her sharp tone suggested she still harbored a grudge. Versyl glanced my way, bowed, and excused herself. "Did I do a good job?" Erwen smiled bashfully like she had done all that for me. I wasn't sure what to say to that so I just laughed it off.
"Um... nice to meet you. I'm Pyke Neldine." As soon as my conversation with Versyl was over, the team members wandering around nearby gathered around me again, and I introduced myself and held short conversations with each of them.
"You guys relax here a bit."
"Where are you going?"
"There are some people I haven't greeted yet."
"They didn't come up to you first, so why bother?"
"What are you so angry about? If they don't come to me, I can just go to them."
"It just... feels like you're admitting defeat, then, Mister."
Erwen looked dissatisfied but my decision remained unchanged. What would pride do for me? I had to do what I had to do and move on.
"You are..."
"Nice to meet you. Riehen Schuitz."
"...McKelly Rayothers."
I went up to the people who didn't approach me first and held brief conversations. There had only been twenty people in the file the marquess gave me. That wasn't because there was a lack of information on them but because not all the members of our squadron had been finalized at the time.
"Ah... I heard you were caught up in that explosion."
"Yes. I was asleep for over a year after that."
"Still, I'm glad you woke up."
"Yes... if it weren't for the Representative, I would still be in that state..."
"Representative" was the nickname of the Tovera Church's high priest. Apparently, no other priest could compete when it came to recovery-type divine spells.
But something about the way she worded that feels off.
To be exact, her complexion and the look on her face weren't so great. She didn't seem like someone who had recently been on the receiving end of an act of kindness.
"Versyl Gowland, what team are you a part of?"
"Team Four."
"Team Four..." That was Paladin Jun's team. I had been able to learn the identities of four of its members before the inauguration ceremony, and all of them were members of a religious faction.
But a random wizard is there too? She must be in their debt, then.
I could roughly deduce the situation this woman was in, and she seemed to notice the exact moment I figured it out. She looked at me with an unreadable look in her eyes, nodding. "...You are different from how you seem at first glance."
"How do I seem?"
"Don't be offended. Anyone who heard that speech earlier would have gotten the same impression I did."
Hmph, when it came to speeches, the shorter the better. This was a universal truth I reached while listening to my principal's lectures in middle school.
Erwen jumped into our conversation from the sidelines. "How long are you going to talk to him?"
"Blood Spirit..."
"It's been a while. The last time we saw each other was when you abandoned us, right?"
"...I regret what happened back then. Truly."
"As you should. The end result of you abandoning us was that, after all." Her sharp tone suggested she still harbored a grudge. Versyl glanced my way, bowed, and excused herself. "Did I do a good job?" Erwen smiled bashfully like she had done all that for me. I wasn't sure what to say to that so I just laughed it off.
"Um... nice to meet you. I'm Pyke Neldine." As soon as my conversation with Versyl was over, the team members wandering around nearby gathered around me again, and I introduced myself and held short conversations with each of them.
"You guys relax here a bit."
"Where are you going?"
"There are some people I haven't greeted yet."
"They didn't come up to you first, so why bother?"
"What are you so angry about? If they don't come to me, I can just go to them."
"It just... feels like you're admitting defeat, then, Mister."
Erwen looked dissatisfied but my decision remained unchanged. What would pride do for me? I had to do what I had to do and move on.
"You are..."
"Nice to meet you. Riehen Schuitz."
"...McKelly Rayothers."
I went up to the people who didn't approach me first and held brief conversations. There had only been twenty people in the file the marquess gave me. That wasn't because there was a lack of information on them but because not all the members of our squadron had been finalized at the time.
What the—why is this guy here?
As I was walking around the banquet hall greeting people I hadn't met yet, a man caught my eye. "...Sven Parav." The vice captain of the Church of Reatlas's Second Order of Paladins.
The paladin, who was sipping his drink in a corner with a somewhat uncomfortable look on his face, seemed surprised to see me. "Do you know me?"
Of course I did. Not only had I seen him several times during my visits to the church as Bjorn Yandel, but thanks to certain events, I was convinced he was Goblin. "Don't underestimate the marquess's sources."
"...I didn't mean to underestimate him."
"Then I'm glad."
"If you want to sit here, I can move out of—"
"Let's talk for a moment."
"Sorry...?"
"Do you not want to?"
"No, that's not it..."
Are you sure? The look on your face definitely says you don't want to. Hmm, to be more exact, he looks extremely nervous.
"Did Jun tell you about me?"
"If you mean the bet... yes, he did." Ah, no wonder he looked nervous. It was because he heard about all that. "But why...?"
"What do you mean why? We'll be entering the labyrinth together soon, but we haven't even said hello yet. I hope to do good work with you inside."
"Yes, I hope so as well."
After a brief conversation with Sven Parav, I turned around, feeling a complicated mix of emotions.
Ha, this is funny...
Sven Parav was a goblin. In other words, there was a high chance he'd be leaking information from our squadron like a broken faucet.
Those religious bastards had to pick him?
Man, how could I keep his mouth shut? Maybe if I hinted that I was suspicious he was an evil spirit and made a point of monitoring him on the 15th of every month, I could force him to log out right away.
...I'll revisit this later.
Afterward, I continued to walk around the banquet hall and spoke to all the members I hadn't been able to learn anything about in advance. Sven Parav was admittedly a negative but there were still positives. I especially couldn't emphasize this enough: No Hans, No Problem. The absence of a Hans was a very encouraging sign.
***
The banquet went on until dinner finished, after which the inauguration ceremony came to an official end. We, however, remained in the mansion. Since the existence of our team was classified and most of its members were celebrities, it was decided we would stay here and work on our teamwork until the day the labyrinth opened.
Teamwork, my ass.
What difference would it make for the thirty of us to work together for just two days? Each individual party would be entering the labyrinth separately, and it would take weeks for us to all meet up on the sixth floor. It wouldn't be a surprise if everyone forgot everything we went over today in the meantime.
"I think our best option is to leave battles to each party's discretion and have everyone help each other out in emergencies." This was the conclusion we reached during our leadership meeting, after judging that forcing thirty people to operate as one unit would only be a recipe for disaster.
"Still, shouldn't we devise a formation just in case?"
We decided to come up with some ways of banding together in case of an emergency: wizards with wizards, healers with healers. It'd be easy to teach them their positions after we placed a mark on their chests to differentiate them.
"Warriors wearing shield marks will stand on the perimeter, and warriors with sword marks will stand right behind them."
"And the healers?"
"They'll be in the very center, of course. They have to survive to be able to treat the injured. Long-rangers wearing bow marks will stand in formation to protect the healers and any healer-type special ability users."
Yeah, that should be good enough for a two-day training session, especially since everyone already had experience working in group settings.
"Sir Schuitz, are you listening?"
"...Of course."
Jeez, I only rested my chin in my hand for a minute.
As captain, I really only had two commands anyway: "Fall out," to get the parties to split up and operate separately, and "Gather together," to bring the squadron together into one large group. Well, given time, my commands would expand to "Assault," "Concentrated Bombardment," "Shield Wall," etcetera. But for now, it was only the two, so there was nothing to memorize.
"Then let's leave it at that for now and decide on the rest of the formation when we reconvene on the sixth floor. We can train in our spare time there. I mean, if you think that's a good idea."
"Fine," I said. "Let's do that."
The structure of the meeting was one in which the others discussed things amongst themselves and asked for my permission at the very end. Once it was over, James Calla, a former vice captain of a clan, worked hard to instill the Fall Out and Gather Together commands into our squadron.
Two more days passed. It was time to enter the labyrinth.
***
[You have entered the Crystal Cave on the first floor.]
The Crystal Cave was filled with brilliant light. All team members moved swiftly while wearing robes that covered their entire bodies. It was best to avoid being seen as much as possible.
Dash, dash.
Although we had a wizard and special ability user on the team who weren't all that physically powerful, we made decent time. That was because they each had their own means of transportation.
[Riard Ashed has cast the rank-four mutation spell Fox Lantern.]
The wizard turned into a ball of light and followed us in the air.
[Guold Aldidi has used Lukberta's Pigeon Boots.]
The special ability user covered this with an item.
Amelia was visibly fascinated as she watched the old man keep pace with her. "Is that a Numbered Item?"
"Lukberta's Pigeon Boots is a Numbered Item in the 3000s. Though it's limited to non-combat use... It's very useful in the labyrinth for someone like me."
"If you keep going this fast, won't you run out of Soul Power?"
"Haha, you underestimate special ability users." It was essential for special ability users to maximize their Soul Power in the cultivation stage, so they had higher MP than most. "Don't worry. I normally only use this up to the third floor. The fifth floor is too narrow and the sixth... since I'm on a boat anyway, there's not much use for it."
Was it because he was a high-level adventurer? He seemed prepared for anything.
With this, we should be able to speedrun.
"Emily, increase your speed." I gave a new order and was promptly seized by a truly incredible feeling.
Whooom!
The light sphere rocketed forward like a comet.
Whip!
Old Didi floated slightly above the ground and sped forward in a lean.
"...Schuitz, why are you going farther and farther back?"
"Just in case... an enemy... comes from... behind..."
Ugh, I'm so out of breath. To think I'd be the slowest one out of the five of us.
What the—why is this guy here?
As I was walking around the banquet hall greeting people I hadn't met yet, a man caught my eye. "...Sven Parav." The vice captain of the Church of Reatlas's Second Order of Paladins.
The paladin, who was sipping his drink in a corner with a somewhat uncomfortable look on his face, seemed surprised to see me. "Do you know me?"
Of course I did. Not only had I seen him several times during my visits to the church as Bjorn Yandel, but thanks to certain events, I was convinced he was Goblin. "Don't underestimate the marquess's sources."
"...I didn't mean to underestimate him."
"Then I'm glad."
"If you want to sit here, I can move out of—"
"Let's talk for a moment."
"Sorry...?"
"Do you not want to?"
"No, that's not it..."
Are you sure? The look on your face definitely says you don't want to. Hmm, to be more exact, he looks extremely nervous.
"Did Jun tell you about me?"
"If you mean the bet... yes, he did." Ah, no wonder he looked nervous. It was because he heard about all that. "But why...?"
"What do you mean why? We'll be entering the labyrinth together soon, but we haven't even said hello yet. I hope to do good work with you inside."
"Yes, I hope so as well."
After a brief conversation with Sven Parav, I turned around, feeling a complicated mix of emotions.
Ha, this is funny...
Sven Parav was a goblin. In other words, there was a high chance he'd be leaking information from our squadron like a broken faucet.
Those religious bastards had to pick him?
Man, how could I keep his mouth shut? Maybe if I hinted that I was suspicious he was an evil spirit and made a point of monitoring him on the 15th of every month, I could force him to log out right away.
...I'll revisit this later.
Afterward, I continued to walk around the banquet hall and spoke to all the members I hadn't been able to learn anything about in advance. Sven Parav was admittedly a negative but there were still positives. I especially couldn't emphasize this enough: No Hans, No Problem. The absence of a Hans was a very encouraging sign.
***
The banquet went on until dinner finished, after which the inauguration ceremony came to an official end. We, however, remained in the mansion. Since the existence of our team was classified and most of its members were celebrities, it was decided we would stay here and work on our teamwork until the day the labyrinth opened.
Teamwork, my ass.
What difference would it make for the thirty of us to work together for just two days? Each individual party would be entering the labyrinth separately, and it would take weeks for us to all meet up on the sixth floor. It wouldn't be a surprise if everyone forgot everything we went over today in the meantime.
"I think our best option is to leave battles to each party's discretion and have everyone help each other out in emergencies." This was the conclusion we reached during our leadership meeting, after judging that forcing thirty people to operate as one unit would only be a recipe for disaster.
"Still, shouldn't we devise a formation just in case?"
We decided to come up with some ways of banding together in case of an emergency: wizards with wizards, healers with healers. It'd be easy to teach them their positions after we placed a mark on their chests to differentiate them.
"Warriors wearing shield marks will stand on the perimeter, and warriors with sword marks will stand right behind them."
"And the healers?"
"They'll be in the very center, of course. They have to survive to be able to treat the injured. Long-rangers wearing bow marks will stand in formation to protect the healers and any healer-type special ability users."
Yeah, that should be good enough for a two-day training session, especially since everyone already had experience working in group settings.
"Sir Schuitz, are you listening?"
"...Of course."
Jeez, I only rested my chin in my hand for a minute.
As captain, I really only had two commands anyway: "Fall out," to get the parties to split up and operate separately, and "Gather together," to bring the squadron together into one large group. Well, given time, my commands would expand to "Assault," "Concentrated Bombardment," "Shield Wall," etcetera. But for now, it was only the two, so there was nothing to memorize.
"Then let's leave it at that for now and decide on the rest of the formation when we reconvene on the sixth floor. We can train in our spare time there. I mean, if you think that's a good idea."
"Fine," I said. "Let's do that."
The structure of the meeting was one in which the others discussed things amongst themselves and asked for my permission at the very end. Once it was over, James Calla, a former vice captain of a clan, worked hard to instill the Fall Out and Gather Together commands into our squadron.
Two more days passed. It was time to enter the labyrinth.
***
[You have entered the Crystal Cave on the first floor.]
The Crystal Cave was filled with brilliant light. All team members moved swiftly while wearing robes that covered their entire bodies. It was best to avoid being seen as much as possible.
Dash, dash.
Although we had a wizard and special ability user on the team who weren't all that physically powerful, we made decent time. That was because they each had their own means of transportation.
[Riard Ashed has cast the rank-four mutation spell Fox Lantern.]
The wizard turned into a ball of light and followed us in the air.
[Guold Aldidi has used Lukberta's Pigeon Boots.]
The special ability user covered this with an item.
Amelia was visibly fascinated as she watched the old man keep pace with her. "Is that a Numbered Item?"
"Lukberta's Pigeon Boots is a Numbered Item in the 3000s. Though it's limited to non-combat use... It's very useful in the labyrinth for someone like me."
"If you keep going this fast, won't you run out of Soul Power?"
"Haha, you underestimate special ability users." It was essential for special ability users to maximize their Soul Power in the cultivation stage, so they had higher MP than most. "Don't worry. I normally only use this up to the third floor. The fifth floor is too narrow and the sixth... since I'm on a boat anyway, there's not much use for it."
Was it because he was a high-level adventurer? He seemed prepared for anything.
With this, we should be able to speedrun.
"Emily, increase your speed." I gave a new order and was promptly seized by a truly incredible feeling.
Whooom!
The light sphere rocketed forward like a comet.
Whip!
Old Didi floated slightly above the ground and sped forward in a lean.
"...Schuitz, why are you going farther and farther back?"
"Just in case... an enemy... comes from... behind..."
Ugh, I'm so out of breath. To think I'd be the slowest one out of the five of us.