Death March — Fixed

“Tek here, I wonder why memberships are always so bad for my wallet. I could have quite a few memberships and subscriptions when I was a working adult--but there were quite a few times I ran out of money during my days as a student.”

 

“It’s a big solver coin.”

“Medal?”

 

“Yup, I got it from Giril.”

 

“Nn, Medallions of Attestation.”

 

Giril said the same thing too, if I’m not mistaken. He gave this to me, saying that I could borrow his mansion in Labyrinth City.

 

“Giril, mean.”

“Yes. He didn’t let us enter his home!”

 

“He wasn’t being mean. I was making some dangerous drugs in the mansion, I asked him not to let anyone in, for your own safety.”

 

Arisa begins banging on the ceiling--be moderate with your excitement, okay?

 

“Kyaa!”

“Hey, it’s a bit serious.” Arisa said in a slightly annoyed tone.

 

The carriage suddenly stops, and Lulu lets out a small scream.

 

The people ahead of us has suddenly become noisy.

 

I peak outside from the carriage’s window. The golems at the gate have moved several steps forwards and taken a knee, looking like retainers.

 

‘Master, we have awaited for your return.’

‘Master, we congratulate your safe return.’

 

Voices echo around the surroundings, the voices which come out of the medal at the same time.

 

“Don’t tell me, this is the reason?”

 

“Nn.” Mia rolls her eyes, before taking the medallion from me and holds it overhead, towards the golems.

 

‘I am acting for the master. I am happy for thou greetings. However, thou duties are important, thus thou should swiftly return to it.’

 

‘Acknowledged.’

‘Acknowledged.’

 

Mia spoke into the medallion, short replies came back from the golems before they stood up and returned to their original positions.

 

“You did well to know what to do.” I stroked Mia’s hair--she lent against me with a pleased smile.

 

“Nn. Aze taught me.”

 

Though, I would prefer if she warned me in advance. Giril didn’t tell me anything beside the fact that it was the key to him mansion, so he probably intended this to be a surprise.

 

He seems like he is hiding a playful side.

 

***

“Did you see? The gatekeeper golems knelt before me!”

“Ohii, raising your voice that high is unbecoming of a lady.”

 

I heard such a conversation from the luxurious white carriage that had stopped in front of us. According to the Heads-Up-Display, she’s a Princess of the Norooku Kingdom--I wonder if it’s anywhere near the Rumooku Kingdom. She’s the same age as Lulu, and a cute girl with light-brown hair. She is also wearing rather expensive-looking clothing.

 

I ignore them and line up in the queue to enter the city--if we get involved with them, it will happen, otherwise we won’t see them again, so I put them out of my mind.

 

There are soldiers wearing red leather armour, standing in front of the gate, who are checking the IDs of people who are entering the city. Looks like they’re checking the cargo that any merchants are carrying, but they’re relatively lax.

 

Unlike other cities, there isn’t any entrance tax. The queue is short, and we should be able to enter the city without using the privileges set aside for nobles, to skip queues.

 

“Welcome to Labyrinth City, official name of Selbira. Please show me your ID.”

 

I show my ID as requested.

 

“Please excuse me, Chevalier. Is this your first visit to Selbira?”

 

“Yes, it is.”

 

The gatekeeper then explained some common laws. Apparently, there is no prohibition for items that can be taken into Selbira, but there are various items that can’t be taken out. Especially taking Magic Cores without authorization is a serious crime, he made sure to warn me. In addition, it seems that carrying out Monster meat, or poison, are forbidden--but the penalty is a fine, unlike the imprisonment or execution for removing Magic Cores.

 

“And also, even though this isn’t a prohibited matter, the stalls around the west gate only sell food made from Monster meat, so it’s better not to eat there, even if they smell good.”

 

We enter the city as the guard gives us that last piece of advice.

 

Just like in the other large cities that I have visited, there’s a wide open space right after the gate. But there is a difference, which is that there is no singular main street that goes through the city. According to the traveler’s journal, this city was built with a Monster invasion in mind. The streets are designed like a maze in order to prevent the invading Monsters from reaching downtown.

 

Due to this, there are a lot of people who get lost, even if they have lived in Labyrinth City for a long time.

 

I change place with Arisa and join Lulu on the coachman stand, in order to guide her.

 

“Hey, first, let’s go to the guild and register as Adventurers!” Arisa says excitedly, poking me in the shoulder as I help her down.

 

Shouldn’t we get an inn first?

 

“And then, and then! First we’re going to register as F-Rank Adventurers! And then, an unpleasant Adventurer will pick a quarrel with you, ‘This isn’t a job for women, y’know?’, and then you easily beat him up!”

 

I don’t think there’s a reckless guy who will pick a quarrel with a noble, especially over something as simple as that.

 

“Then! After attracting attention, the newbie, who has entered the labyrinth produces an unbelievable result--the young receptionist gets drawn to him.”

 

That last one is a worrying possibility--I do seem to attract women in this world. Well, alright, I am not actually complaining about that; especially because I never got girls back on earth and the affection, attention, is pretty nice.

 

“Then, a rare or peculiar species is found, and you get called to the Guildmaster’s room. They specially rank you up to C or B in one go.”

 

Tama, Pochi, Lulu, and Mia are all listening with undivided attention to Arisa, who’s speaking fervently. Lulu has a warm, affectionate smile on her face as she watches her sister having fun.

 

“Master, if we’re going to the guild, should I ask the gatekeeper the way?” Liza asks as she gets down off her horse.

 

I tell her that it’s alright, because it’s obviously the white three-story building in front of us.

 

It can’t be helped, if we go to an inn like this…the overly excited Arisa will attack me--and not in the good way. It’s still morning anyway, so I sighed and directed Lulu to the Adventurer’s Guild ahead.

 

***

I tell Lulu to bring the carriage to the parking lot behind the Guild. A guild worker, who seems to be a stable-hand, guides us to a free space.

 

“I’m going first!”

“Wait?”

“Wait.”

“Sly.”

 

Lured by Arisa, who couldn’t keep calm, Pochi, Tama, and Mia ran towards the front door.

I leave the horses, which have been unhitched, to the stable-hand, and tell Liza and Nana to go ahead. And go together with Lulu, at a normal walking pace, to the front door of the Adventurer’s Guild.

 

The inside is nice and cold, it seems that they use some kind of cooling Magic.

 

The floor is marble, and it feels like the lobby of a big company or hotel.

 

There are counters along one wall, but only two of the eight counters have receptionists. The receptionists are a woman and a handsome man both of whom look to be twenty-five--which is the usual age for people, because of the relation between levels and lifespan.

 

Somehow, Arisa and the others are talking with the woman. Since there aren’t any other customers, the male staff member is looking at Arisa and the others in amusement.

 

“Quickly, quickly!”

“Master.”

“Here!”

“Here.”

 

The girls are calling out to me, the others are getting carried away by Arisa’s excitement. As I walk over, the receptionist looks at me with amusement.

 

“Nice to meet you, Chevalier. Please allow me to be the one responsible for you today. My name is Kena. I take it that you will registering today. Will you be doing the normal registration? Or the special registration?”

 

I didn’t hear about that from Sir Zotol and the Adventurers who I got along with in the Duchy Capital?

 

“What’s the difference?”

 

“For a special registration, the Adventurer ID that you would get is the Golden Plate from the beginning. Of course, the charge is different from a normal registration, but it’s a Magic Tool that sends a signal of its specific location at fixed intervals. When you’re entering the labyrinth, you have to write down the time that you plan to return from your exploration. If you don’t return after the grace period, the rescue team will rush to the origin of the signal.”

 

Yeah, no thank you--I don’t want you knowing my location at all times.

 

“Since I’m not planning to go that deep into the labyrinth, the normal registration please.”

 

“I understand. Then, please write everyone’s name here.”

 

I was going to show her my ID, but is it unnecessary?

 

“You don’t need my ID?”

 

“Yes, it’s fine with only your name for your first registration. Although there are a few, some Adventurers who register, use an alias or House name.”

 

Hmm, it looks like the management of this Guild is quite loose, even though they’re letting people into a place that’s basically a national mine…is it really fine without control?

 

After we tell her our names, she gives us wooden plates with strings attached.

 

The wooden plates have 9 digits on them, the first five digits on our plates are the same, the last four digits seem to be in sequence. Apparently the first five digits are for years and months.

 

“These wooden plates are your IDs. Wood plates are the mark of apprentice Adventurers, and after you bring back five Magic Cores from the labyrinth, we will give you the true Adventurer plate of bronze.”

 

There are five ranks of IDs: Wood, Bronze, Red Iron, Mithril, and Gold. Everything up to Red Iron is given to Adventurers who supply a certain number of certain rank Magic Cores. Mithril is only for first-rank Adventurers who have defeated the Floor Master. It looks like the Gold plate is only for wealthy people like nobles, or someone who has paid a huge amount of money.

 

“Hey, can we enter the labyrinth once we get this?”

 

“Yes, it’s alright.” The female receptionist answers Arisa’s question with a smile, and then warns them, “however, make sure you have prepared equipment first.”

 

“Yes!”

“Aye.”

“Yes!”

“Nn.”

 

Following Arisa’s excited reply, the others respond like her.

 

I can understand her excitement, I have wanted to see a large labyrinth--and it’s surprisingly easy to get caught up in her excitement.

 

Well, let’s enter the labyrinth.