NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20 - Forming the Underground City Conquest Team (3)
“Barrel. It’s me.”
“Huh? Sion! You’re alive too!”
A man with a plump impression.
It’s Barrel, the owner of the clearance weapon shop.
True to its name as a clearance weapon shop, it’s a store that sells things roughly in bulk at low prices.
There’s a reason why broke novice adventurers flock here in droves.
It’s more about quantity over quality.
It’s a shop I frequently visit.
It’s not a high-end weapon shop where dwarves make and sell weapons.
Just an ordinary weapon shop where humans make and sell weapons.
They’re cheap but break easily or the iron quality isn’t good, or there are some defects, but I use them well.
If one breaks, I can just take out the next sword from my inventory.
I’m not a warrior who fights monsters on the front lines.
Cheap weapons that I can use and throw away are enough.
“Mister. Give me all the leftovers this time too.”
“Did everything get smashed again in that short time?”
“Yes. Everything got smashed. And I lost a few.”
“You sure have an eventful life. Here, there’s plenty over there, take a look.”
Swords randomly stuck in wooden barrels.
There was no respect for weapons to be found anywhere.
This is why I like this shop.
Dwarf dwarves are excessively proud of their weapons, so they’re expensive.
“Will you buy this double-bladed axe I made recently?”
“A double-bladed axe?”
“Here, this. How is it? Try holding it. It should be heavy.”
As soon as I held the double-bladed axe, I could tell it was well-balanced.
This seems like a very good weapon for splitting monster heads.
It’s quite heavy so carrying it around would quickly drain stamina, but I have a spatial pocket, so.
“You made it well. I’ll take this too.”
“Hehe. Use it well.”
“Ah, give me a helmet and armor too.”
“Should I give you leather armor?”
“Yes. Leather armor and a shield too.”
“Hehe.”
Uncle Barrel’s face bloomed with a smile, probably because he sold a lot after a long time.
“I’ll come again next time.”
“Alright. Come back in one piece.”
With this, I’ve got all my equipment.
‘I’ve already spent 10 gold coins.’
After buying various items, I used about 10 gold coins out of the 30 gold coins I received from the young lady.
Replenishing what I lost and buying additional items as needed, 10 gold coins were gone at once.
‘I feel like I’m going crazy.’
It’s extremely difficult to earn 10 gold coins, but it didn’t even take a day to spend it.
If I had bought better equipment and better items at full price, wouldn’t it have cost almost twice as much?
Thinking about it that way, I felt like I bought things cheaply and well.
‘The remaining task…’
Now I just need to check in with the young lady and go back to the guild.
I headed to that luxury inn I went to yesterday.
Just like yesterday, I was filling my inventory with free sugar cubes and cookies in the reception room when the young lady and her party members came down.
‘They all look fine.’
The young lady, who had looked haggard due to her companions’ disappearance, returned to her lively self.
Rien, whose face had been streaked with grime from not washing, looked much cleaner.
The priestess Erika, who had been constantly whimpering with her mental state half-broken, was back to normal.
And the female knight Rika, who had died once in the labyrinth, was now alive and well.
“It seems like it’s been a while since we all gathered together.”
“That’s right. It’s the first time since the first day we entered the labyrinth. I’m glad everyone’s safe!”
I thought we’d just go around the labyrinth together briefly on the first day and part ways.
But somehow, it looks like I’ll be taking care of them continuously.
I didn’t want to get involved with nobles if possible.
How did I end up getting so deeply involved?
“Umm. Mr. Porter.”
“Yes?”
While I was lost in thought for a moment, the female knight standing behind the young lady bowed her head to me.
‘Why is this person suddenly acting like this?’
On the first day, she had quite a haughty attitude.
Now she’s calling me Mr. Porter.
No, if you’re going to add ‘Mr.’ anyway, why not call me Mr. Sion…
“I wanted to express my gratitude. I have benefited from your grace.”
“Uh. Yes. Well. The young lady said she’d pay me. And you don’t need to use honorifics.”
“Yes. I intend to serve the young lady to the end. And I will become stronger.”
“Excuse me? Ah. Yes.”
This person, while respecting me, wasn’t actually listening to what I was saying.
Just saying what she wanted to say, she was exactly like a typical narrow-minded knight.
“I tasted my powerlessness in the labyrinth. Monsters are different from humans. I want to overcome my own weakness that only realized this simple proposition after dying.”
“Ah… yes.”
Why is she suddenly making this kind of vow-like statement in front of me?
Whether the female knight serves the young lady to the end or not, I’m not really interested.
Yet the female knight seemed to feel something like a sense of mission.
She probably felt a sense of kinship with me, who agreed to help the young lady’s labyrinth excursions.
But one important thing to point out is that I’m not the young lady’s retainer.
I’m just thinking of helping with upper-level conquests so she doesn’t die helplessly after entering the labyrinth.
“Um.. Uh..”
“Yes?”
“I also… want to enter the labyrinth.. I’ve become interested in mana adaptation and abilities..”
After the female knight expressed her ambition, Rien also said in a timid voice that she would enter the labyrinth.
I thought Rien would never enter the labyrinth again, but it seems her desire for power was greater than expected.
Well, once you taste mana adaptation and abilities, you can’t help but be addicted.
There are many people who enter the labyrinth just to gain strong power without any other purpose.
“I also want to enter the labyrinth again. Because I feel like I witnessed the form of the Goddess in that deep darkness.”
The priestess suddenly clasped her hands together and prayed to the Goddess.
She probably thinks there was help from the Goddess in her escaping without dying.
There are occasionally people like this among priests.
The type whose faith deepens even more after returning alive from the brink of death.
These types keep entering the labyrinth to seek religious enlightenment and radiance.
They’re imposing trials on themselves. They’ve become ascetics.
“That’s right. They all say they’ll enter the labyrinth.”
They’re all out of their minds.
No matter how good their strength and mana adaptation are.
To say they’ll enter this crazy labyrinth again.
“You told them about the conditions I set, right?”
“Yes. They all said they agree.”
“I understand. I don’t know how long our journey will continue, but. Let’s do our best.”
I shook hands with the young lady.
I’m thinking of taking care of them until they can freely come and go in the upper levels.
We’ll talk about what comes after that later.
“By the way. When do we enter tomorrow?”
“We’ll probably enter sometime in the morning.”
“I see…. You must come back alive. Even if you happen to die, I’ll pay for the resurrection costs, so don’t worry.”
“Haha. Well, that’s good to hear. Then I’ll be going now.”
“Okay. Be careful. Ah, and this.”
The young lady handed me a scroll.
“This is..”
“It’s not as good as Lightning Bolt, but. It will be helpful.”
“The magic inscribed is… Fireball..”
“Did Rien make this?”
“Yes.. The young lady gave me the material costs.. It’s not very strong because I made it in a hurry, but..”
“Thank you.”
Scrolls are good.
They’re disgustingly expensive, but they’re good for creating variables in moments of crisis.
“May the Goddess’s blessings be upon Mr. Porter’s future.”
“Oh. A blessing.”
“Yes. It’s a blessing of physical enhancement. It should last about a day.”
The priestess bestowed a blessing on me.
Vitality returned to my tired body.
“I’ll lend you this. It’s a ring I received from my uncle.”
“Isn’t this imbued with magic?”
It was a heavy ring that seemed to be made of iron.
Judging by the unknown characters engraved on it, it seems to have magic inscribed.
“It has pain resistance magic imbued in it. It will alleviate pain.”
“Wow. This is good. Thank you.”
A scroll and a ring.
Thanks to the blessing, my fatigue is quickly disappearing too, it’s very good.
“Then I’ll really be going now.”
“Okay. See you later. Make sure to come back alive.”
It was too fast to refuse, so I ended up receiving her hug in a daze.
Rika, who was watching us, looked very flustered, and Rien, for some reason, glared at me again.
Why is Erika making such a lewd expression?
Anyway, I left the inn with the young lady’s enthusiastic support.
Now I just need to stop by the guild to finish the final preparations.
“Sion, here. This is the payment for the monster corpses.”
As soon as I went to the guild, I was able to receive a pouch containing silver coins from Edwin.
This is the income earned through this labyrinth excursion.
I earned about 1 gold and 80 silver coins, huh.
The fact that I was able to receive over 1 gold coin in compensation despite only entrusting a few corpses to the dismantling shop is probably because the White Evil’s corpse sold for a high price.
I received 10% of the White Evil’s purchase price as transportation fee.
I guess one White Evil must be worth about 10 gold coins.
White Evils sell for a high price especially because of their skin.
“Ah, by the way. Sion.”
“Yes?”
“Tomorrow, maybe… the guild master’s daughter might join the conquest team.”
“Ah.”
I have a somewhat awkward relationship with the guild master’s daughter.
It’s nothing much, but she thinks I seduced her mother.
I don’t know why she came to have such a misunderstanding.
The guild master’s daughter thinks of me as some kind of casanova.
It’s better not to get involved if possible. It becomes troublesome if I get involved.
“Sion! Over here!”
“Ah, yes.”
When I went to the bar inside the guild, Rohan called me.
Besides Rohan and Hachi, three more people were gathered and sitting.
It seems they gathered team members while I was preparing supplies outside.
“Here. These are the people who will help us transport the corpses.”
A magician with a full beard, a healer with squinty eyes.
And a hairy druid?
“I’m Louis, an earth mage.”
“I’m Yata, specializing in healing magic.”
“Horaru, who serves the ancestor spirit.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Sion.”
All three were silver badge adventurers.
Perhaps because it was a hastily formed party, the atmosphere was awkward for everyone.
“If you have any items you want to entrust, please give them to me right away. I have a spatial pocket.”
“We’ll entrust the luggage tomorrow.”
“I prefer to carry my own things. Just take care of the food for me.”
“I don’t have anything particular to entrust.”
“Ah, okay.”
Everyone seemed to have no particular problems yet.
Louis looked a bit arrogant but didn’t say much.
Yata looked slightly gloomy but just seemed like a timid person.
I couldn’t read the expression of Horaru the druid.
‘Is it a bear?’
Horaru was a bear beastkin.
The fur color was brown and the body was quite large.
I’m not sure about the gender.
“Since this is my first time in the underground city, is there any information I should know?”
“There’s nothing particularly special, but according to the rescue team that returned yesterday…”
Rohan told me about the information he had gathered about the underground city after the Great Shift.
To summarize, the map of the underground city had completely changed, the number of monsters had increased dramatically, and monsters that weren’t seen before had started appearing.
How should I put it?
It felt like the labyrinth had been updated.
“And traces of heretics have been found.”
“Heretics?”
“Yes. Those bastards whose seeds were wiped out after the mass purge 4 years ago. For some reason, they’ve come back alive.”
The mass purge 4 years ago.
It probably refers to the massacre of heretics hiding in the underground city.
The heretics who had disappeared since then have returned through this Great Shift.
“We need to be careful. The fact that the number of monsters has increased dramatically means they have more sacrifices to handle.”
The earth mage Louis chimed in.
“Sacrifices?”
“Those heretic bastards gain power by offering sacrifices. Filthy creatures.”
“I see.”
This is my first time hearing about heretics.
Since they were completely eradicated before I was transferred to this world, there wasn’t much information circulating about them.
‘There’s too little information about heretics. I think I need to investigate separately.’
You need to know your enemy to come up with countermeasures.
I need to gather more information about heretics and the monsters of the underground city.