Chapter 399: Expedition (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 399: Expedition (4)
It was Day Eighteen of our quest.
Shaaaaaaaaa!
A medium-sized warship carrying thirty passengers sailed across the current. For reference, this was a warship supplied by the palace, and the owner's seal had been temporarily transferred to me, the leader of this expedition. While all our team members went to their assigned cabins to unpack their luggage, Amelia approached the sailor-slash-navigator at the helm.
"Excuse me."
"Oh... Ms. Raines. What can I help you with?"
"How long does it take to reach Ice Rock?"
"I'm anticipating it'll take about twelve days."
"Is Ice Rock closer than the Dark Continent, then? It took us fifteen days to reach it on the warship we took."
"The distance itself is similar, but the ship is different. This Class Seven warship we're on may be a medium-sized ship, but it has excellent speed."
"I don't understand how it can be all that superior if it's only a three-day difference."
"The Eastern Coast isn't a regular old sea."
"Hmm, I see." Amelia, who had recently shown a keen interest in sailing, nodded in understanding. "You seem to know a lot about warships, is that right?"
"Haha, I have to. I've sailed warships half my life." The sole sailor in our expedition was a member of Team Five who was originally a member of the royal military.
Hmm, when you take that into account, it makes sense that Kaislan's team arrived on the sixth floor last. He just did a speedrun with a navigator.
"Can you tell me more about how warships work?"
"I'm sorry, information on warships cannot be leaked."
"I see..."
"...But while we're on the same boat, I can't stop you from taking a peek at what I'm doing."
"I won't get in your way." While Amelia expressed her gratitude to the navigator for his kindness, I went inside the ship to a room located deep in the center.
"Oh, everyone's here."
"It was an order from our commander, after all. You told us to gather here once we were done settling in."
Inside the room, which was designed to host leadership meetings, each team's leader was already waiting for me. "Has anyone been to Ice Rock?" I asked, getting down to business right away. The only ones who raised their hands were Akurava and James Calla. "No one except these two?"
"It's not a region people often visit."
"Yeah. Aside from a few expeditions to earn achievements as a clan, we rarely went to Ice Rock."
True, it wasn't an environment conducive to hunting. I was sure not even half of the all-star adventurers on this boat had experienced Ice Rock firsthand.
"I see." I nodded and then launched into a brief explanation of the tasks I had for them. "James Calla, you'll be in charge of drilling the crew while we sail."
"What kind of drills?"
"Formations and things like that. We only had a few days together in the city. Since everyone is experienced, they should all be able to measure up in live combat with even a little practice."
"All right."
First, it was critical to increase the number of commands I could employ as the leader of this squadron. Otherwise, we might end up running into unexpected issues in unexpected situations. We didn't have a proper formation for flights or retreats yet.
"Since our destination is Ice Rock, I'll prioritize things that will be useful there."
"I'm glad you've saved me the work of explaining." Since he was from a large clan familiar with all types of formations, he'd be able to take care of it. "Titana Akurava, you will be in charge of managing supplies as soon as move-in is complete."
"Does that mean you're giving me full jurisdiction over the process?"
"Yes. I'll leave everything to you from now on."
I entrusted the management of expedition-related consumables and equipment to Akurava. If Jun, a member of a religious faction, or Kaislan, an inflexible soldier, took that position, there was sure to be backlash. On the other hand, Akurava was a legendary adventurer who was older and had years of experience, so she should be able to smooth over the occasional complaint from the crew.
"Melend Kaislan." Next was the knight. Perhaps because the two before him had been given missions, he gulped in anticipation.
He can be kind of cute sometimes...
"You are in charge of the cohesion of our unit. I need you to be the first to rush in and mediate disputes among team members, and if something goes wrong, you need to resolve it."
"So you want me to serve as your right-hand man. Okay. I'll do that."
Uh, how did you get a right-hand man from that? I guess soldiers have a different way of thinking.
"I guess I'm the last up." Once Kaislan was given his role, Paladin Jun smiled at me. "How can I help you?"
After our fight that day, he'd become strangely friendly toward me. Sometimes I even found myself wondering, Is this guy...? but I didn't voice my suspicions aloud.
"I heard adventurers often reach out to priests during and after expeditions."
"Yes, I've heard something similar. People accumulate mental fatigue in the labyrinth, after all."
"Hear the group out and keep your ears as open as possible. And if there is anything I need to know, tell me. That is your objective."
"The other races will not come to me."
Yeah, I figured. The Three Gods Church was a human religion.
"That alone is enough." But humans made up more than half of our squadron and were even distributed rather evenly across each team. Just listening to them would be of great help in understanding public opinion.
"Then are those all of your instructions?" When I nodded at Akurava, she cautiously asked if she could ask me a question.
"Question? Go ahead."
"Why are you handing so much power over to us? We're not even your deputies."
I couldn't help chuckling at that.
I thought you were going to ask something big.
There was no reason to even think this through, so I answered immediately. "Because it's most efficient that way." After all, we were already in the same boat.
***
Passing through windless waters, we crossed Grand Rock, the reef-filled region in the far east, and finally arrived at our destination. In total, the voyage took twelve days and seven hours. We were able to follow the schedule the navigator laid out to a tee thanks to the fact that we took the shortest route possible without stopping at any islands along the way.
A warship is definitely nice.
Aside from being able to cross through the Windless Zone in an instant, the way the ship sailed forward on the eastern coast—the way we were able to trust in its durability as we drove it straight through the reef—was very impressive. The icebreaking device attached to the front also looked very sturdy.
"Since our destination is Ice Rock, I'll prioritize things that will be useful there."
"I'm glad you've saved me the work of explaining." Since he was from a large clan familiar with all types of formations, he'd be able to take care of it. "Titana Akurava, you will be in charge of managing supplies as soon as move-in is complete."
"Does that mean you're giving me full jurisdiction over the process?"
"Yes. I'll leave everything to you from now on."
I entrusted the management of expedition-related consumables and equipment to Akurava. If Jun, a member of a religious faction, or Kaislan, an inflexible soldier, took that position, there was sure to be backlash. On the other hand, Akurava was a legendary adventurer who was older and had years of experience, so she should be able to smooth over the occasional complaint from the crew.
"Melend Kaislan." Next was the knight. Perhaps because the two before him had been given missions, he gulped in anticipation.
He can be kind of cute sometimes...
"You are in charge of the cohesion of our unit. I need you to be the first to rush in and mediate disputes among team members, and if something goes wrong, you need to resolve it."
"So you want me to serve as your right-hand man. Okay. I'll do that."
Uh, how did you get a right-hand man from that? I guess soldiers have a different way of thinking.
"I guess I'm the last up." Once Kaislan was given his role, Paladin Jun smiled at me. "How can I help you?"
After our fight that day, he'd become strangely friendly toward me. Sometimes I even found myself wondering, Is this guy...? but I didn't voice my suspicions aloud.
"I heard adventurers often reach out to priests during and after expeditions."
"Yes, I've heard something similar. People accumulate mental fatigue in the labyrinth, after all."
"Hear the group out and keep your ears as open as possible. And if there is anything I need to know, tell me. That is your objective."
"The other races will not come to me."
Yeah, I figured. The Three Gods Church was a human religion.
"That alone is enough." But humans made up more than half of our squadron and were even distributed rather evenly across each team. Just listening to them would be of great help in understanding public opinion.
"Then are those all of your instructions?" When I nodded at Akurava, she cautiously asked if she could ask me a question.
"Question? Go ahead."
"Why are you handing so much power over to us? We're not even your deputies."
I couldn't help chuckling at that.
I thought you were going to ask something big.
There was no reason to even think this through, so I answered immediately. "Because it's most efficient that way." After all, we were already in the same boat.
***
Passing through windless waters, we crossed Grand Rock, the reef-filled region in the far east, and finally arrived at our destination. In total, the voyage took twelve days and seven hours. We were able to follow the schedule the navigator laid out to a tee thanks to the fact that we took the shortest route possible without stopping at any islands along the way.
A warship is definitely nice.
Aside from being able to cross through the Windless Zone in an instant, the way the ship sailed forward on the eastern coast—the way we were able to trust in its durability as we drove it straight through the reef—was very impressive. The icebreaking device attached to the front also looked very sturdy.
Kakakak! Kakakakakak!
Although this place wasn't classified as a special area like the Ice Sea, the ship plowed forward, smashing floating pieces of ice along the way.
"We're really here..."
The crew gathered on the deck and exhaled as they watched the continent gradually grow closer. Whether it was leather, sheet metal, or cloth, everyone was wearing thick clothes over their equipment. These were also supplies given to us by the palace.
Hmm, I'm someone who does better with heat than cold...
Like the other crew members, I finished mentally preparing myself as well.
"Hold on tight! The ship is now entering the portal!" the navigator shouted at the top of his lungs right as the blue light of the portal enveloped our ship.
[You have entered Ice Rock on the seventh floor.]
Well, even without the portal's light making it clear that we were moving someplace else, it was immediately, physically obvious to everyone when we arrived in Ice Rock.
[You have entered a special area. Field Effect – Ice Rock has activated. Your Cold Resistance decreases by -100.]
As our resistance stats dropped drastically, the chill began to creep in. For now, that was the only change we could feel, but those damned status effects would surely have been applied to us as well by now. They were what really made adventurers avoid Ice Rock.
[The status effect Frozen World is now active. All Space-type items have been disabled.]
Sub-space included, this status effect made even expandable backpacks useless. This short bit of code drove everyone who came up here up the wall.
"Now, now! Don't just stand there, let's unload our supplies first!" Akurava, who was in charge of supply management, oversaw the unloading of the supply boxes enchanted with preservation magic onto land. From now on, we would have to drag these things around. No, that wasn't all. There was even a ridiculous added effect we'd have to contend with.
[The status effect Starvation is now active. The effects of any resources you consume are reduced by 3 times.]
Here, even if you ate the same food as usual, your stomach emptied three times faster. That was why you needed so many supplies. This was the biggest reason why most adventurers didn't consider this place as a hunting ground. Even if you could withstand the cold, you couldn't withstand the hunger. Because food was limited, the time you could be active here was as well.
With our supplies, we have one month. Of course, that's assuming nothing goes wrong.
"Mister! They told me to tell you that we're ready to leave."
Anyway, with our crew members moving with a single-minded purpose, it didn't take long to unload all of the supplies from the ship. The five sleds we had laid out on the frozen ground were soon loaded up with boxes.
"Then let's head back quickly."
Once the supplies were unloaded, the navigator and I split off from the group and took the ship back to the sixth floor. Transferring to a small boat, we reverse-summoned the warship.
[You have entered Ice Rock on the seventh floor.]
After that, we took the smaller boat back to our previous location. The process was a little cumbersome but ultimately necessary. After all, we couldn't just leave the warship here, could we?
"What are you going to do with this boat?"
What do you think? Of course we're going to leave it here.
Just in case, we hid it in a secluded area so it wouldn't drift away. And with that, all preparations for our mission were complete.
"Each team in formation!" The members of our squadron, who all seemed well-trained now, moved in perfect formation. "Depart!"
At my command, the first march of our expedition began.
***
The squadron traveled in a wide, flat formation, and its arrangement was simple: us, Team One, in the front; Teams Three and Five on our left and right; Team Four in the rear; and Team Two, which was in charge of supplies, following us in the center.
Boom, boom, boom!
Heavy thuds followed us.
"Mister, those are Ice Trolls, right?"
Dragging five sleds piled high with supply boxes, three Ice Trolls followed the march. They were the handiwork of the summoner on Akurava's team. Without them, we would have had to pull the sleds ourselves.
"Halt!"
Just as we were marching east and about to leave the beginning portion of Ice Rock, Team One stopped. There was no need to explain why.
Dddddd.
What looked to be a cliff made of ice split in half, and a giant monster emerged from the gaping hole.
"It's a Stone Winter!" The rank-three monster Stone Winter was classified as super-large, and there were a whopping three of them in our path.
Booom!
Huh, this may be Ice Rock, but... Rank-three monsters crawling out from the woodwork right at the beginning?
"All troops prepare for battle!" I shouted.
The squadron mobilized fast and took up battle formation. Thankfully, no one froze in fear. With this much manpower, rank three should be a breeze, right? I led the battle with that thought in mind, but it didn't take long for my expectations to get shattered.
[You have defeated a Stone Winter. EXP +7]
Even after the first battle ended, there were no cheers from the team—only a funeral-like silence.
"...Damage report," I asked the leaders of each team, trying to swallow back the wretched feeling in the pit of my stomach. They cautiously answered.
"Four lightly injured and three seriously injured. We're treating the seriously injured first."
People getting hurt was fine. Yeah, that happened. This was our first time fighting together, after all. It was understandable that there'd be some growing pains, considering we had been faced with three rank-three monsters at once. All they needed to do was get treated by a priest, and they would be fine.
"And?"
"...One of the sleds is destroyed, and the supplies loaded on it were lost."
That was the far bigger problem. A super-large monster had succeeded in getting to our supplies, and unfortunately, the ground below the sled collapsed, unable to withstand the load. In an instant, one-fifth of our supplies were gone.
"What percentage of the load was food?"
"...All of it."
The moment the words I least wanted to hear came out of Akurava's mouth, a curse leapt from my throat. "God damn it." This was only our first day in Ice Rock. "We're speeding up from here."
An arduous march began.
Kakakak! Kakakakakak!
Although this place wasn't classified as a special area like the Ice Sea, the ship plowed forward, smashing floating pieces of ice along the way.
"We're really here..."
The crew gathered on the deck and exhaled as they watched the continent gradually grow closer. Whether it was leather, sheet metal, or cloth, everyone was wearing thick clothes over their equipment. These were also supplies given to us by the palace.
Hmm, I'm someone who does better with heat than cold...
Like the other crew members, I finished mentally preparing myself as well.
"Hold on tight! The ship is now entering the portal!" the navigator shouted at the top of his lungs right as the blue light of the portal enveloped our ship.
[You have entered Ice Rock on the seventh floor.]
Well, even without the portal's light making it clear that we were moving someplace else, it was immediately, physically obvious to everyone when we arrived in Ice Rock.
[You have entered a special area. Field Effect – Ice Rock has activated. Your Cold Resistance decreases by -100.]
As our resistance stats dropped drastically, the chill began to creep in. For now, that was the only change we could feel, but those damned status effects would surely have been applied to us as well by now. They were what really made adventurers avoid Ice Rock.
[The status effect Frozen World is now active. All Space-type items have been disabled.]
Sub-space included, this status effect made even expandable backpacks useless. This short bit of code drove everyone who came up here up the wall.
"Now, now! Don't just stand there, let's unload our supplies first!" Akurava, who was in charge of supply management, oversaw the unloading of the supply boxes enchanted with preservation magic onto land. From now on, we would have to drag these things around. No, that wasn't all. There was even a ridiculous added effect we'd have to contend with.
[The status effect Starvation is now active. The effects of any resources you consume are reduced by 3 times.]
Here, even if you ate the same food as usual, your stomach emptied three times faster. That was why you needed so many supplies. This was the biggest reason why most adventurers didn't consider this place as a hunting ground. Even if you could withstand the cold, you couldn't withstand the hunger. Because food was limited, the time you could be active here was as well.
With our supplies, we have one month. Of course, that's assuming nothing goes wrong.
"Mister! They told me to tell you that we're ready to leave."
Anyway, with our crew members moving with a single-minded purpose, it didn't take long to unload all of the supplies from the ship. The five sleds we had laid out on the frozen ground were soon loaded up with boxes.
"Then let's head back quickly."
Once the supplies were unloaded, the navigator and I split off from the group and took the ship back to the sixth floor. Transferring to a small boat, we reverse-summoned the warship.
[You have entered Ice Rock on the seventh floor.]
After that, we took the smaller boat back to our previous location. The process was a little cumbersome but ultimately necessary. After all, we couldn't just leave the warship here, could we?
"What are you going to do with this boat?"
What do you think? Of course we're going to leave it here.
Just in case, we hid it in a secluded area so it wouldn't drift away. And with that, all preparations for our mission were complete.
"Each team in formation!" The members of our squadron, who all seemed well-trained now, moved in perfect formation. "Depart!"
At my command, the first march of our expedition began.
***
The squadron traveled in a wide, flat formation, and its arrangement was simple: us, Team One, in the front; Teams Three and Five on our left and right; Team Four in the rear; and Team Two, which was in charge of supplies, following us in the center.
Boom, boom, boom!
Heavy thuds followed us.
"Mister, those are Ice Trolls, right?"
Dragging five sleds piled high with supply boxes, three Ice Trolls followed the march. They were the handiwork of the summoner on Akurava's team. Without them, we would have had to pull the sleds ourselves.
"Halt!"
Just as we were marching east and about to leave the beginning portion of Ice Rock, Team One stopped. There was no need to explain why.
Dddddd.
What looked to be a cliff made of ice split in half, and a giant monster emerged from the gaping hole.
"It's a Stone Winter!" The rank-three monster Stone Winter was classified as super-large, and there were a whopping three of them in our path.
Booom!
Huh, this may be Ice Rock, but... Rank-three monsters crawling out from the woodwork right at the beginning?
"All troops prepare for battle!" I shouted.
The squadron mobilized fast and took up battle formation. Thankfully, no one froze in fear. With this much manpower, rank three should be a breeze, right? I led the battle with that thought in mind, but it didn't take long for my expectations to get shattered.
[You have defeated a Stone Winter. EXP +7]
Even after the first battle ended, there were no cheers from the team—only a funeral-like silence.
"...Damage report," I asked the leaders of each team, trying to swallow back the wretched feeling in the pit of my stomach. They cautiously answered.
"Four lightly injured and three seriously injured. We're treating the seriously injured first."
People getting hurt was fine. Yeah, that happened. This was our first time fighting together, after all. It was understandable that there'd be some growing pains, considering we had been faced with three rank-three monsters at once. All they needed to do was get treated by a priest, and they would be fine.
"And?"
"...One of the sleds is destroyed, and the supplies loaded on it were lost."
That was the far bigger problem. A super-large monster had succeeded in getting to our supplies, and unfortunately, the ground below the sled collapsed, unable to withstand the load. In an instant, one-fifth of our supplies were gone.
"What percentage of the load was food?"
"...All of it."
The moment the words I least wanted to hear came out of Akurava's mouth, a curse leapt from my throat. "God damn it." This was only our first day in Ice Rock. "We're speeding up from here."
An arduous march began.