Chapter 546: Ghost (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 546: Ghost (4)
The morning after my visit to the community message boards, I felt a deep exhaustion in my bones as I opened my eyes and began running through my daily routine.
"Here, here. The food is here!"
Things had changed from back when our three groups were simply traveling together without a plan. We had group formations now, along with assigned roles for everyone outside of combat as well. For instance, a total of four people had been put on cooking duty and kept us all fed each day. Oh, and the one who oversaw this duty was Missha.
"How is it? Does it suit your tastes? Since it's breakfast, I put in a little less spice."
"Other than the fact that there isn't much meat, it's fine."
"Ah... meat..."
"I was joking. We need to ration the meat since we don't know what might happen."
After I was done eating, I approached Versyl, who was in charge of inventory, and asked her about our food stores.
"We have enough to feed all thirty-eight people for sixty-one more days. If we downsize everyone's portion sizes starting now, we might be able to increase that number by about four days."
"No, that's fine. If we reduce it any further, how will we have the energy to fight?"
We had about two months' worth of food left.
In truth, this was mostly thanks to the Armin Adventuring Group coming in with considerable provisions. The Hektz Clan, on the other hand, had been shipwrecked and had used up all of their remaining food in a panic. Meanwhile, our Anabada Clan had only come prepared with enough food to feed our seven members for four months.
It's the eighty-sixth day...
If we were on the seventh floor right now, it would have closed ten days ago. And yet we were still inside the labyrinth.
At this rate, there's no guarantee we'll get out of here before the two-hundredth day.
Of course, that didn't mean I was necessarily worried about our food situation. Soon, new adventurers would come down here with their own supplies, and if those weren't enough, we could hunt and cast distortion magic on the monsters, just like in Ice Rock.
"Got it. Anyway, besides food, feel free to be generous with our supplies whenever anyone asks for some."
"I'm already doing that. Ah, also..."
"Yeah?"
"...Never mind. I'll talk to you later when I'm a bit more certain."
I could immediately tell what she had been about to say. She no doubt wanted to warn me that there was an undercover evil spirit in our group spying on me. But to tell me that, she would need to reveal the fact that she was an evil spirit too, so she was hesitating.
"Okay. Then I'll be going."
"Okay."
After checking on our inventory, I went over to the head of security, Amelia, to ask if anything happened last night.
"Nothing special."
Although that was always what she said, I couldn't afford to not ask. You never knew when an enemy might pop out in the labyrinth. And we couldn't be sure we were safe even when we were hidden from the outside world. Inside this mysterious place where anything could happen, we needed to stay vigilant at all times, as you never knew when a new problem might rear its ugly head.
Case in point:
"However, the Hektz Clan's warrior, Vilkus, seems to have hit his limit. I don't think he's sleeping well these days."
The expedition team's security detail was honestly more of a patrol group that stayed awake at night to keep an eye out for any trouble while the rest were sleeping. It was made up of six people, and the old timer who had once been part of the palace's investigation unit acted as Amelia's right-hand man.
"Got it. I'll go and talk to him myself later."
"Then I won't worry about him."
"Huh?"
"You're like an idol to the warriors. And he seems to respect you even more than most, so if you talk to him, the problem should sort itself out."
After my morning chat with Amelia, I paid the wizard trio from the Armin Adventuring Group a visit.
"From what I heard from Emily, you were up all night doing research again. Were there any findings?"
The three of them acted as our group's research team. The monsters' corpses and essences, the library's books and summoning altar, the stone gates the monsters came out of, and so on—everything we had discovered inside the labyrinth so far was under their careful review.
"Uh... I wouldn't call it a 'finding,' per say..."
"We found something peculiar in the blood sample we collected from the Hipramajent..."
"If you give us a bit more time and funding..."
But for some reason, they always looked nervous whenever I asked them about their progress. I told them multiple times that I wasn't trying to rush them, but their reactions never changed.
Was it a leftover habit from working for the Magic Tower?
"Heh, you're our boss, though, Lord Baron."
"So even if you tell us that... it's hard for us to really relax."
"Exactly. Plus, if we're too comfortable, we won't get results on time."
Well, it wasn't like I could argue with that. In any case, listening to the research team's report marked the end of my morning to-do list.
"All right, if everyone's done with breakfast, return to your posts!"
It was time to get back to work. Everyone got to eat their fill this morning and even had time to digest.
"Summon the monsters!"
So let's get going.
My afternoon routine was just as simple as my morning one.
We gathered the books that we had selected the night before and hunted everything inside.
Splash!
Mana stones covered the library's floor, and whenever an essence dropped, we would stop summoning for a bit to find out what it was. We didn't even have to rely on eyewitness testimony like amateurs anymore. We had set up a recording crystal above us that was taping the entire hunting ground.
"It's a Katanda's essence."
"A green Katanda essence must be Prophane Prophecy. What do you think, Your Lordship?"
"We don't need it."
"I see. Then is there anyone else who wants this essence?"
Once we confirmed the identity of an essence, I had first dibs, but if I passed, then the next person on the list had a chance to take it. If no one on the waiting list took it, it was discarded.
"Isn't this kind of bizarre? We've got a rank-four essence sitting right in front of us, and no one wants it."
"We've even been discarding some rank-three essences lately, so it's not that big a surprise."
The expedition team's security detail was honestly more of a patrol group that stayed awake at night to keep an eye out for any trouble while the rest were sleeping. It was made up of six people, and the old timer who had once been part of the palace's investigation unit acted as Amelia's right-hand man.
"Got it. I'll go and talk to him myself later."
"Then I won't worry about him."
"Huh?"
"You're like an idol to the warriors. And he seems to respect you even more than most, so if you talk to him, the problem should sort itself out."
After my morning chat with Amelia, I paid the wizard trio from the Armin Adventuring Group a visit.
"From what I heard from Emily, you were up all night doing research again. Were there any findings?"
The three of them acted as our group's research team. The monsters' corpses and essences, the library's books and summoning altar, the stone gates the monsters came out of, and so on—everything we had discovered inside the labyrinth so far was under their careful review.
"Uh... I wouldn't call it a 'finding,' per say..."
"We found something peculiar in the blood sample we collected from the Hipramajent..."
"If you give us a bit more time and funding..."
But for some reason, they always looked nervous whenever I asked them about their progress. I told them multiple times that I wasn't trying to rush them, but their reactions never changed.
Was it a leftover habit from working for the Magic Tower?
"Heh, you're our boss, though, Lord Baron."
"So even if you tell us that... it's hard for us to really relax."
"Exactly. Plus, if we're too comfortable, we won't get results on time."
Well, it wasn't like I could argue with that. In any case, listening to the research team's report marked the end of my morning to-do list.
"All right, if everyone's done with breakfast, return to your posts!"
It was time to get back to work. Everyone got to eat their fill this morning and even had time to digest.
"Summon the monsters!"
So let's get going.
My afternoon routine was just as simple as my morning one.
We gathered the books that we had selected the night before and hunted everything inside.
Splash!
Mana stones covered the library's floor, and whenever an essence dropped, we would stop summoning for a bit to find out what it was. We didn't even have to rely on eyewitness testimony like amateurs anymore. We had set up a recording crystal above us that was taping the entire hunting ground.
"It's a Katanda's essence."
"A green Katanda essence must be Prophane Prophecy. What do you think, Your Lordship?"
"We don't need it."
"I see. Then is there anyone else who wants this essence?"
Once we confirmed the identity of an essence, I had first dibs, but if I passed, then the next person on the list had a chance to take it. If no one on the waiting list took it, it was discarded.
"Isn't this kind of bizarre? We've got a rank-four essence sitting right in front of us, and no one wants it."
"We've even been discarding some rank-three essences lately, so it's not that big a surprise."
"We can get even better essences by waiting a little, so there's no need to be hasty whenever one pops up."
"Heh, letting an essence right in front of us go and having it actually be a smart move. No one will believe us when we get out of here and tell them about this."
"We're not even putting them in magic vials, though. That's such a shame. These essences are really valuable..."
"The baron said we need to use our magic vials sparingly, and I think that's the wise choice."
Unexpectedly, my fellow adventurers seemed even happier whenever an essence was discarded. That was likely because our hunt was put on pause until the essence naturally faded away. However, that didn't mean they got to sit around resting.
"What are you doing? Go get more books while the essence is disappearing!"
I used even those windows of time efficiently, sending our troops to the bookshelves to gather more summoning books. Once our stock was replenished, we resumed our feast.
Using that approach, we continued to farm diligently. And ten days after our arrival on Library Island, we got an incredible drop.
"...Lord Baron?"
"We'll take this one."
Our clan had finally obtained an essence after passing up on dozens of others.
Spear Dipper.
It was a rank-three monster that had an extremely low probability of spawning in a special area on the sixth floor's Great Sea.
Naturally, I already had someone in mind for it.
"Ainar."
"Oh! Nice!"
As I called out to her, Ainar, who had been eyeing the essence since it appeared, quickly ran up to it. She'd had an expectant look in her eyes since I declared we were taking it, which made sense considering she was a spear user now.
However, just giving it to her wouldn't be fun.
"Wait."
"Ugh—! Why? Why are you making me wait? You're going to give it to me anyway—"
"Hm?"
Her mouth snapped shut.
Yeah, that should have been your response from the start.
"All right, take it."
"Yahoo!"
As soon as I gave her permission, Ainar ran right at the essence. Even though her Aggression had bottomed out, it seemed her Greed was still pretty high.
[The Essence of Spear Dipper has sunk deep into Ainar Fenelin's soul.]
The light of the essence sunk into Ainar's skin. Her eyes went wide in exhilaration, and she sounded like an addict as she shouted, "What is this? No way! It's been a while since I've felt so much stronger...!"
Well, that made sense. This guy's stats were all on the physical side. That said, the skills were where this essence really shined.
[(P) Speciesist—When attacking a target that isn't of the same species as you, the damage you deal increases relative to the amount of time spent in combat. When attacking a target of the same species, damage is instead reduced.]
One was a perfect passive to go with Ainar's Slayer Imprint.
[(A) Trident—When using a spear to attack, you deal the same amount of damage to two additional enemies within range.]
"We can get even better essences by waiting a little, so there's no need to be hasty whenever one pops up."
"Heh, letting an essence right in front of us go and having it actually be a smart move. No one will believe us when we get out of here and tell them about this."
"We're not even putting them in magic vials, though. That's such a shame. These essences are really valuable..."
"The baron said we need to use our magic vials sparingly, and I think that's the wise choice."
Unexpectedly, my fellow adventurers seemed even happier whenever an essence was discarded. That was likely because our hunt was put on pause until the essence naturally faded away. However, that didn't mean they got to sit around resting.
"What are you doing? Go get more books while the essence is disappearing!"
I used even those windows of time efficiently, sending our troops to the bookshelves to gather more summoning books. Once our stock was replenished, we resumed our feast.
Using that approach, we continued to farm diligently. And ten days after our arrival on Library Island, we got an incredible drop.
"...Lord Baron?"
"We'll take this one."
Our clan had finally obtained an essence after passing up on dozens of others.
Spear Dipper.
It was a rank-three monster that had an extremely low probability of spawning in a special area on the sixth floor's Great Sea.
Naturally, I already had someone in mind for it.
"Ainar."
"Oh! Nice!"
As I called out to her, Ainar, who had been eyeing the essence since it appeared, quickly ran up to it. She'd had an expectant look in her eyes since I declared we were taking it, which made sense considering she was a spear user now.
However, just giving it to her wouldn't be fun.
"Wait."
"Ugh—! Why? Why are you making me wait? You're going to give it to me anyway—"
"Hm?"
Her mouth snapped shut.
Yeah, that should have been your response from the start.
"All right, take it."
"Yahoo!"
As soon as I gave her permission, Ainar ran right at the essence. Even though her Aggression had bottomed out, it seemed her Greed was still pretty high.
[The Essence of Spear Dipper has sunk deep into Ainar Fenelin's soul.]
The light of the essence sunk into Ainar's skin. Her eyes went wide in exhilaration, and she sounded like an addict as she shouted, "What is this? No way! It's been a while since I've felt so much stronger...!"
Well, that made sense. This guy's stats were all on the physical side. That said, the skills were where this essence really shined.
[(P) Speciesist—When attacking a target that isn't of the same species as you, the damage you deal increases relative to the amount of time spent in combat. When attacking a target of the same species, damage is instead reduced.]
One was a perfect passive to go with Ainar's Slayer Imprint.
[(A) Trident—When using a spear to attack, you deal the same amount of damage to two additional enemies within range.]
The other was an active skill with no cooldowns and barely any MP expenditure. That meant that the skill itself wasn't all that powerful, but if you built your characters with only powerful skills, they'd collapse like a house of cards.
Trident was the bread-and-butter skill that would replace her Repeated Slash.
All right, then that's Ainar done...
Of course, she still had a lot of essences that needed to be switched out, but since she didn't have any empty slots left, there was no point in worrying about her until after we returned to the city.
I have one left, Erwen has one, and Amelia has two...
These were the slots we could work to fill here and now, and if I factored in the number of magic vials we still had left, the number of essences we could secure for our clan increased. It'd be great if, after we erased Ainar's useless essences back in the city, we could immediately fill those slots with her new ones right after.
...If possible, I should look for Imprint materials as well.
The materials needed for the eighth stage of the Immortality Imprint were dropped by three different rank-three monsters. Not to say there weren't more material requirements, but...
Those I can buy in the city with money.
Unlike lower-grade materials, the materials from rank-three monsters and higher couldn't be bought at any price. Even Soul of the Dead, which I needed for the seventh stage, fell into that category. Although it was dropped by the rank-four monster Lich, only one of them had been up on the Central Exchange.
That was why, since I'd had no idea if or when I'd ever get the chance to get my hands on one again, I had used all my money to buy—
[Ainar Fenelin has cast Trident.]
Ainar had just about finished testing out her new essence and getting accustomed to the increase in strength when it happened.
"Captain!"
The only noncombatant among the thirty-eight people here, Navigator Auyen Rockrobe, rushed over to me with a huge summoning book bundled in his arms.
"I-I found it...! Finally!"
"Found what? Calm down before—"
"It's a book that summons Bellarios!"
As soon as I heard the news, I closed my eyes and let out a long breath.
Finally, it was time.
***
Bellarios was a rank-three monster that looked just like an eastern dragon, typically found in the Dragon's Mountains in the middle of the Dark Continent. However, that place was now a warzone, so while they were killable, no one had managed it in a long while.
"Versyl, call everyone at the bookshelves over here too."
I had been looking forward to facing one of these from the moment I found this library, so I quickly gathered our forces and held a short briefing about how we were going to tackle Bellarios.
Someone, however, wasn't all that enthusiastic.
"Excuse me..." In the middle of the crowd of adventurers who were listening intently to my plan, a hand carefully went up.
"What is it, Ainar? Are you hungry?"
"That's not it... I haven't really gotten used to the new essence I got..."
"So?" I truly couldn't understand what she was getting at. "What could be better training than a real fight?"
That was a sentiment any barbarian warrior would agree with.
"Well... I... Instead of fighting, just practicing feels better... And more effective? I think it's also more effective."
Ah, right. That damn Aggression stat.
"Can't I just practice here while you're fighting?" If there was even a sliver of a chance she could avoid a fight, she would try to do so.
Naturally, my answer was already set in stone. "No. You're joining us in battle this time."
"...Got it."
The pitiful look on her face suddenly made me feel like the bad guy here, but I coldly shut down those emotions before my resolve could waver.
"Mister..." whispered Erwen, coming up next to me. "It's a rank three, but there won't even be three monsters to fight, just two. Don't we already have enough people?"
I didn't know when the two of them got so close that she was willing to back Ainar up like this, but she wasn't wrong. Ainar not joining the battle? That didn't matter that much in this particular fight.
The problem is that other people will notice.
She was a member of my clan, and if I bent the rules and let her do whatever she wanted, members of the other clans would start to get resentful, even if they didn't outwardly show it.
"The decision has already been made. Don't try to argue."
"...Yes. Sorry."
After sternly vetoing Erwen's appeal, I continued the briefing. Only when I felt that every member of our group perfectly understood the information I was conveying did I set the summoning book on top of the altar.
Rumble.
The stone gate, which had opened over a hundred times today alone, slid open once more to let two monsters through.
Fwoosh!
One was a goat-headed creature that lumbered out with a hammer in hand and a bag full of what looked like lava slung over its back.
Hellsmith.
The previous chieftain, who had been nicknamed the Flame Warrior, had this guy's essence.
...And Bellarios.
As I stared at its smooth scales, I couldn't help but lick my lips.
[Bellarios has cast Scales of Greed. Bellarios is now immune to all magic damage.]
Give me that.
The other was an active skill with no cooldowns and barely any MP expenditure. That meant that the skill itself wasn't all that powerful, but if you built your characters with only powerful skills, they'd collapse like a house of cards.
Trident was the bread-and-butter skill that would replace her Repeated Slash.
All right, then that's Ainar done...
Of course, she still had a lot of essences that needed to be switched out, but since she didn't have any empty slots left, there was no point in worrying about her until after we returned to the city.
I have one left, Erwen has one, and Amelia has two...
These were the slots we could work to fill here and now, and if I factored in the number of magic vials we still had left, the number of essences we could secure for our clan increased. It'd be great if, after we erased Ainar's useless essences back in the city, we could immediately fill those slots with her new ones right after.
...If possible, I should look for Imprint materials as well.
The materials needed for the eighth stage of the Immortality Imprint were dropped by three different rank-three monsters. Not to say there weren't more material requirements, but...
Those I can buy in the city with money.
Unlike lower-grade materials, the materials from rank-three monsters and higher couldn't be bought at any price. Even Soul of the Dead, which I needed for the seventh stage, fell into that category. Although it was dropped by the rank-four monster Lich, only one of them had been up on the Central Exchange.
That was why, since I'd had no idea if or when I'd ever get the chance to get my hands on one again, I had used all my money to buy—
[Ainar Fenelin has cast Trident.]
Ainar had just about finished testing out her new essence and getting accustomed to the increase in strength when it happened.
"Captain!"
The only noncombatant among the thirty-eight people here, Navigator Auyen Rockrobe, rushed over to me with a huge summoning book bundled in his arms.
"I-I found it...! Finally!"
"Found what? Calm down before—"
"It's a book that summons Bellarios!"
As soon as I heard the news, I closed my eyes and let out a long breath.
Finally, it was time.
***
Bellarios was a rank-three monster that looked just like an eastern dragon, typically found in the Dragon's Mountains in the middle of the Dark Continent. However, that place was now a warzone, so while they were killable, no one had managed it in a long while.
"Versyl, call everyone at the bookshelves over here too."
I had been looking forward to facing one of these from the moment I found this library, so I quickly gathered our forces and held a short briefing about how we were going to tackle Bellarios.
Someone, however, wasn't all that enthusiastic.
"Excuse me..." In the middle of the crowd of adventurers who were listening intently to my plan, a hand carefully went up.
"What is it, Ainar? Are you hungry?"
"That's not it... I haven't really gotten used to the new essence I got..."
"So?" I truly couldn't understand what she was getting at. "What could be better training than a real fight?"
That was a sentiment any barbarian warrior would agree with.
"Well... I... Instead of fighting, just practicing feels better... And more effective? I think it's also more effective."
Ah, right. That damn Aggression stat.
"Can't I just practice here while you're fighting?" If there was even a sliver of a chance she could avoid a fight, she would try to do so.
Naturally, my answer was already set in stone. "No. You're joining us in battle this time."
"...Got it."
The pitiful look on her face suddenly made me feel like the bad guy here, but I coldly shut down those emotions before my resolve could waver.
"Mister..." whispered Erwen, coming up next to me. "It's a rank three, but there won't even be three monsters to fight, just two. Don't we already have enough people?"
I didn't know when the two of them got so close that she was willing to back Ainar up like this, but she wasn't wrong. Ainar not joining the battle? That didn't matter that much in this particular fight.
The problem is that other people will notice.
She was a member of my clan, and if I bent the rules and let her do whatever she wanted, members of the other clans would start to get resentful, even if they didn't outwardly show it.
"The decision has already been made. Don't try to argue."
"...Yes. Sorry."
After sternly vetoing Erwen's appeal, I continued the briefing. Only when I felt that every member of our group perfectly understood the information I was conveying did I set the summoning book on top of the altar.
Rumble.
The stone gate, which had opened over a hundred times today alone, slid open once more to let two monsters through.
Fwoosh!
One was a goat-headed creature that lumbered out with a hammer in hand and a bag full of what looked like lava slung over its back.
Hellsmith.
The previous chieftain, who had been nicknamed the Flame Warrior, had this guy's essence.
...And Bellarios.
As I stared at its smooth scales, I couldn't help but lick my lips.
[Bellarios has cast Scales of Greed. Bellarios is now immune to all magic damage.]
Give me that.