Chapter 66: Field Boss (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 66: Field Boss (2)
The Lords of the Floor were field bosses that existed on each floor. Their names, attributes, and fight patterns were all unique, but they all shared one thing in common: they were impossible to deal with as a lone adventurer. To subdue the Lord of the first floor, for example, you needed to organize an expedition of more than thirty people. Of course, this assumed that everyone was at least a fourth-floor adventurer at the absolute bare minimum.
That was what got me thinking. It would be game over if the two of us happened to run into the Lord of this floor because it was impossible to outrun them at a normal movement speed. So, where should we go? Rather than just trembling and hoping we didn't run into it, what could we do to improve our chances of survival even slightly?
The solution was to go to the Orc Colony, like the majority of adventurers here.
"Why are therrre so many people here, Bjorn?"
"Due to the presence of the Dzarwi clan."
The Dzarwi was a large clan that typically operated on the sixth floor and higher. Hikurod estimated that the number of members was in the hundreds. They couldn't all be in the same place at the same time, but at least ten parties must have come down here. Even though it was only the third floor, that was the number of people required to control a hunting ground. Even with this amount of manpower, however, vanquishing the Lord would be difficult.
Well, if you're willing to accept the consequences, it wouldn't be a bad plan... But that assumes you know the best way to fight it and have been planning your battle strategy for months. However, if we stay with them, we'll buy ourselves some time to escape, even if we run into the Lord of the Floor.
Having made an informed, practical decision, I drove Missha through the densely packed crowd of adventurers. An interesting scene was unfolding.
"H-Hey! I heard you have a high wizard among you! Please use portal magic on my behalf! I'll pay you anything!"
"You! You're the one who summoned the Lord of the Floor!"
"W-What will happen to us? They won't kick us out because they're a big clan, right?"
There were those earnestly begging for help, those refusing to accept reality and looking for a target to take their rage out on, and those calmly trying to come to terms with the situation. While this diverse group was clamoring, a Dzarwi leader spoke up.
"Calm down, everyone. This area is secure. Our priest has proclaimed the end of all evil here, and our scouts are already on the lookout in all directions. As the agreement between the royal family and the guild states, we, the Dzarwi clan, will do our best to keep as many adventurers alive as possible in this disastrous situation. But! If anyone does not obey our orders or starts a riot, please understand that we'll have no choice but to take removal measures!"
It seemed a little wordy, but it was a fairly straightforward announcement. And, considering the screamers were no longer shouting, the last warning was especially effective.
"We don't have to worry about being kicked out for the time being," I told Missha.
"Whew, I'm rrrelieved."
I found a suitable spot after looking around for a while and sat with my back to a tree.
"...Aren't you a little too rrrelaxed?"
"There is nothing else we can do." We needed to get some rest while we could. There was no telling what would happen in the future.
"Hmm, that's trrrue." Missha sat next to me after accepting my explanation.
"I'm asking just in case, Missha, but are you confident in your ears?"
"I'm not sure. People have purreviously told me that they like my ears."
What was she talking about? "I meant, are you good at hearing sounds from far away?"
"Ah, I'm prrretty sure of my ability to do that."
"Then listen carefully to the conversation over there. But don't look at them or make it obvious."
"Okay." At my orders, Missha leaned back and closed her eyes. Her triangular ears perked up as she concentrated. "I'm not sure, but they appearrr to be arguing."
"For what reason?"
"I can't hear the details because they're too farrr away. One thing's for sure, though: they're discussing the Lord of the Floorrr."
Okay, fine. What else could the leaders possibly be discussing in this situation? It would be too obvious to get any closer to them than this, though. This was likely the best we could do. "Please continue to listen in. And please let me know if anything else comes up."
"Okay."
I slowly looked around after setting Missha on eavesdropping mode to see how the crowd was reacting to our situation. Aside from a few minor complaints and some signs of anxiety, the vibe was now generally reassuring.
"I couldn't believe it considering I got kicked out of here earlier, but you never know what'll happen."
"That's exactly what I'm saying. Only a clan of that size could have a priest capable of such a widespread Destruction of Evil spell."
"The only explanation I can come up with is that the gods are on our side. The Lord of the Floor has appeared for the first time in ten years, but these guys are here at the same time? How?"
Whatever evil the Dzarwi clan had committed while occupying the Orc Colony, the majority of the adventurers were grateful for and content with the current situation. Though not all of them, of course.
"Are you two by yourselves?" A man approached me as I was taking in my surroundings. He couldn't be looking for trouble right now, could he?
"What exactly do you want?"
"It's nothing major, but shouldn't we all band together in times like these?"
"Get to the point."
"The Dzarwi promised to protect us, but we have no idea what will happen. How about we work together?"
So he wanted a short-term alliance?
"Around thirty people have already agreed to gather. You appear to have lost a comrade in this incident, so it would be nice to have someone to lean on for a little while, I assume."
Before responding, I double-checked one thing. "My name is Bjorn, son of Yandel. How do I address you?"
"Jack Fletcher."
So long as it wasn't Hans. "Fine."
For the time being, let's just say okay. If it looks like things are going downhill, we can just back out. We're not signing a paper contract here.
"A barbarian with a cool personality. I'll leave for now, then. Get some sleep. If anything happens, I'll contact you later."
"Okay."
The man soon left, and the next two hours passed without incident. Even the elementals of chaos couldn't approach us because of the high priest's Destruction of Evil spell. There didn't appear to be any obvious issues, either. At least, that was how it seemed from the outside.
"I'm asking just in case, Missha, but are you confident in your ears?"
"I'm not sure. People have purreviously told me that they like my ears."
What was she talking about? "I meant, are you good at hearing sounds from far away?"
"Ah, I'm prrretty sure of my ability to do that."
"Then listen carefully to the conversation over there. But don't look at them or make it obvious."
"Okay." At my orders, Missha leaned back and closed her eyes. Her triangular ears perked up as she concentrated. "I'm not sure, but they appearrr to be arguing."
"For what reason?"
"I can't hear the details because they're too farrr away. One thing's for sure, though: they're discussing the Lord of the Floorrr."
Okay, fine. What else could the leaders possibly be discussing in this situation? It would be too obvious to get any closer to them than this, though. This was likely the best we could do. "Please continue to listen in. And please let me know if anything else comes up."
"Okay."
I slowly looked around after setting Missha on eavesdropping mode to see how the crowd was reacting to our situation. Aside from a few minor complaints and some signs of anxiety, the vibe was now generally reassuring.
"I couldn't believe it considering I got kicked out of here earlier, but you never know what'll happen."
"That's exactly what I'm saying. Only a clan of that size could have a priest capable of such a widespread Destruction of Evil spell."
"The only explanation I can come up with is that the gods are on our side. The Lord of the Floor has appeared for the first time in ten years, but these guys are here at the same time? How?"
Whatever evil the Dzarwi clan had committed while occupying the Orc Colony, the majority of the adventurers were grateful for and content with the current situation. Though not all of them, of course.
"Are you two by yourselves?" A man approached me as I was taking in my surroundings. He couldn't be looking for trouble right now, could he?
"What exactly do you want?"
"It's nothing major, but shouldn't we all band together in times like these?"
"Get to the point."
"The Dzarwi promised to protect us, but we have no idea what will happen. How about we work together?"
So he wanted a short-term alliance?
"Around thirty people have already agreed to gather. You appear to have lost a comrade in this incident, so it would be nice to have someone to lean on for a little while, I assume."
Before responding, I double-checked one thing. "My name is Bjorn, son of Yandel. How do I address you?"
"Jack Fletcher."
So long as it wasn't Hans. "Fine."
For the time being, let's just say okay. If it looks like things are going downhill, we can just back out. We're not signing a paper contract here.
"A barbarian with a cool personality. I'll leave for now, then. Get some sleep. If anything happens, I'll contact you later."
"Okay."
The man soon left, and the next two hours passed without incident. Even the elementals of chaos couldn't approach us because of the high priest's Destruction of Evil spell. There didn't appear to be any obvious issues, either. At least, that was how it seemed from the outside.
"Wake up, Missha." I jostled Missha, who had gone from eavesdropping mode to sleep mode, awake.
"Is there something wrrrong?"
"No, not yet. But, if my predictions are correct... There will be shortly."
"What exactly do you mean?"
"Take a look around; there are far too many people."
The Dzarwi clan had welcomed refugees wholeheartedly, and the upper limit of their hospitality had finally been reached. The area under the Destruction of Evil effect was only about twice the size of a school track field. We were also in the woods, not a clearing, and there appeared to be more than five hundred people here already.
"Hey... shouldn't we keep more people out?"
"Any more people, and we won't even be able to sit down."
"If a monster gets in here when things are like this..."
Selfishness was always driven by context. There was a growing sense of unease among those who had arrived first, and claims like that gradually began to emerge.
"What are we going to do now, Bjorrrn?"
"Well, that depends on how the Dzarwi choose to react."
Whether they accepted people until they reached their limits, or whether they stopped accepting people and closed the doors, the clan would have to make a decision.
As it happened, the clan's cadre made another announcement shortly after. "Because of the Proclamation of Destruction of Evil, this is the only safe zone on the third floor. This is truly a miracle that will never be repeated. However..."
The contents of the announcement made it easy to edit out the unnecessary bits.
"The priest would like all of you to express your respect for God."
Reverence. It should be noted that this did not imply any religious values like prayer, conversion, or worship.
"Each individual must pay one million stones immediately, on the spot. Mana stones or items may be used."
Nobody believed this was actually the priest's request. Well, there must have been an agreement reached with the priest, but the clan must have suggested it first. At first, they had pretended to be honorable by emphasizing their pact with the royal family, but in the end, they chose their own interests. If they prevented the refugees from entering entirely, they would be condemned for their decision, so it seemed they had decided to instead make money while they were at it.
Of course, there was inevitably backlash.
"We don't have that many mana stones!"
"You're suggesting that we give up our equipment? In a situation like this, that's the same as telling us to just die!"
Jack Fletcher was the one who raised his voice the loudest. "Your tyranny will not be tolerated by our one-hundred-man squad!" Jack looked around. Having anticipated this, I avoided his eyes. Were the other one hundred people in the group doing the same? "Uh, um... Everyone, please speak up. We won't be able to resist their tyranny if we remain silent!" Jack stuttered, taken aback.
The short-lived protest had come to an end.
"One million stones are a tribute to the gods and the price of your protection. You may not have some of your equipment for the time being, but what are you worried about? You're with us."
We're worried about you bastards, of course.
Even though the Proclamation of Destruction of Evil was an overpowered skill, to the Lord of the Floor, it was nothing more than a flimsy piece of paper. Of course, these complaints remained safely in my head, because I was a barbarian who could accept reality.
"Missha, leave the consumables like potions alone and only give them what we don't need."
"Okay."
Like the other adventurers around us, we rummaged through our backpacks, looking for items that could be converted into cash. We didn't have to remove our clothes because we had some equipment that we had looted from the plunderers earlier.
Whew, a million stones to sleep on a dirt floor...
The price was exorbitant, but it was well worth paying the fee for the Proclamation of Destruction of Evil. Plus, he said it himself: this included the cost of our protection.
"If those guys don't intend to lowball the prices, this should suffice."
We had gathered a few pieces of equipment from the religious freak's team and were ready to distribute them, but not everyone was doing as well as we were. For a third-floor adventurer, giving up the gear they were wearing should add up to one million stones, but...
"Are we supposed to starve to death without this?"
"Would you give up a million stones just to live one day? It's ludicrous."
Many people refused to give up their equipment and instead chose to leave. The clan didn't hold them back, either, and continued to demand payment from the newcomers and a minimum of three hundred other people.
Have they made three hundred million stones since they started? All in a single day...
This was basically copy-pasted money. In the end, power truly made you invincible and a god. At the end of the day, though, these guys were praying to the same gods as everyone else. If the Lord of the Floor arrived, the market would plummet immediately.
Those people would have paid the protection fee if they had figured that out.
These cretins, as usual, lacked imagination. Of course, I was sure they had reasons for their decision. Because the third floor was so large, they probably believed their chances of running into the Lord of the Floor were slim. Because today was the fifteenth day, they also believed that they only needed to get through today. With the amount of combat power they had, it should be possible.
I was sure that was what they were thinking, as enthusiastically as possible and as much to their advantage as possible. But they had to know. They clearly never imagined ending up in a situation like this, with the Lord of the Floor summoned and all adventurers on this floor forced to stop hunting.
Well, the same could be said for me.
But, at the very least, I always imagined the worst thing that could happen to me. Of course, these scenarios didn't come to fruition more often than not, but... How about this time?
I guess I'll have to find out.
I closed my eyes quietly. After that, time passed like a stormy eve. Suddenly, it was 19:07, five hours until the end of the fifteenth day.
Tap... tap... tap.
Rainwater fell through the trees and wet the ground black.
[The area has deteriorated. Destruction of Evil has been deactivated.]
In an instant, the pure white pattern covering the ground lost its light.
"Kwohhh!"
And outside the forest, a massive beast howled.
"Wake up, Missha." I jostled Missha, who had gone from eavesdropping mode to sleep mode, awake.
"Is there something wrrrong?"
"No, not yet. But, if my predictions are correct... There will be shortly."
"What exactly do you mean?"
"Take a look around; there are far too many people."
The Dzarwi clan had welcomed refugees wholeheartedly, and the upper limit of their hospitality had finally been reached. The area under the Destruction of Evil effect was only about twice the size of a school track field. We were also in the woods, not a clearing, and there appeared to be more than five hundred people here already.
"Hey... shouldn't we keep more people out?"
"Any more people, and we won't even be able to sit down."
"If a monster gets in here when things are like this..."
Selfishness was always driven by context. There was a growing sense of unease among those who had arrived first, and claims like that gradually began to emerge.
"What are we going to do now, Bjorrrn?"
"Well, that depends on how the Dzarwi choose to react."
Whether they accepted people until they reached their limits, or whether they stopped accepting people and closed the doors, the clan would have to make a decision.
As it happened, the clan's cadre made another announcement shortly after. "Because of the Proclamation of Destruction of Evil, this is the only safe zone on the third floor. This is truly a miracle that will never be repeated. However..."
The contents of the announcement made it easy to edit out the unnecessary bits.
"The priest would like all of you to express your respect for God."
Reverence. It should be noted that this did not imply any religious values like prayer, conversion, or worship.
"Each individual must pay one million stones immediately, on the spot. Mana stones or items may be used."
Nobody believed this was actually the priest's request. Well, there must have been an agreement reached with the priest, but the clan must have suggested it first. At first, they had pretended to be honorable by emphasizing their pact with the royal family, but in the end, they chose their own interests. If they prevented the refugees from entering entirely, they would be condemned for their decision, so it seemed they had decided to instead make money while they were at it.
Of course, there was inevitably backlash.
"We don't have that many mana stones!"
"You're suggesting that we give up our equipment? In a situation like this, that's the same as telling us to just die!"
Jack Fletcher was the one who raised his voice the loudest. "Your tyranny will not be tolerated by our one-hundred-man squad!" Jack looked around. Having anticipated this, I avoided his eyes. Were the other one hundred people in the group doing the same? "Uh, um... Everyone, please speak up. We won't be able to resist their tyranny if we remain silent!" Jack stuttered, taken aback.
The short-lived protest had come to an end.
"One million stones are a tribute to the gods and the price of your protection. You may not have some of your equipment for the time being, but what are you worried about? You're with us."
We're worried about you bastards, of course.
Even though the Proclamation of Destruction of Evil was an overpowered skill, to the Lord of the Floor, it was nothing more than a flimsy piece of paper. Of course, these complaints remained safely in my head, because I was a barbarian who could accept reality.
"Missha, leave the consumables like potions alone and only give them what we don't need."
"Okay."
Like the other adventurers around us, we rummaged through our backpacks, looking for items that could be converted into cash. We didn't have to remove our clothes because we had some equipment that we had looted from the plunderers earlier.
Whew, a million stones to sleep on a dirt floor...
The price was exorbitant, but it was well worth paying the fee for the Proclamation of Destruction of Evil. Plus, he said it himself: this included the cost of our protection.
"If those guys don't intend to lowball the prices, this should suffice."
We had gathered a few pieces of equipment from the religious freak's team and were ready to distribute them, but not everyone was doing as well as we were. For a third-floor adventurer, giving up the gear they were wearing should add up to one million stones, but...
"Are we supposed to starve to death without this?"
"Would you give up a million stones just to live one day? It's ludicrous."
Many people refused to give up their equipment and instead chose to leave. The clan didn't hold them back, either, and continued to demand payment from the newcomers and a minimum of three hundred other people.
Have they made three hundred million stones since they started? All in a single day...
This was basically copy-pasted money. In the end, power truly made you invincible and a god. At the end of the day, though, these guys were praying to the same gods as everyone else. If the Lord of the Floor arrived, the market would plummet immediately.
Those people would have paid the protection fee if they had figured that out.
These cretins, as usual, lacked imagination. Of course, I was sure they had reasons for their decision. Because the third floor was so large, they probably believed their chances of running into the Lord of the Floor were slim. Because today was the fifteenth day, they also believed that they only needed to get through today. With the amount of combat power they had, it should be possible.
I was sure that was what they were thinking, as enthusiastically as possible and as much to their advantage as possible. But they had to know. They clearly never imagined ending up in a situation like this, with the Lord of the Floor summoned and all adventurers on this floor forced to stop hunting.
Well, the same could be said for me.
But, at the very least, I always imagined the worst thing that could happen to me. Of course, these scenarios didn't come to fruition more often than not, but... How about this time?
I guess I'll have to find out.
I closed my eyes quietly. After that, time passed like a stormy eve. Suddenly, it was 19:07, five hours until the end of the fifteenth day.
Tap... tap... tap.
Rainwater fell through the trees and wet the ground black.
[The area has deteriorated. Destruction of Evil has been deactivated.]
In an instant, the pure white pattern covering the ground lost its light.
"Kwohhh!"
And outside the forest, a massive beast howled.