Volume 6 - CH 1.01

『Player Name: Kaga Michio』

『Current Character Levels & Equipment』:

『Jobs』:

Explorer Lv.35

Hero Lv.34

Mage Lv.36

Monk Lv.35

『Equipment』:

Wand

Leather Helmet

Leather Armor

Leather Gloves

Leather Shoes

Sacrificial Misanga

「At the request of the Duke of Hartz, I will be exploring the newest Labyrinth that appeared in the territory of the Hartz Duchy.」

While having breakfast, I talked to Roxanne and Sherry about the request to explore the newest Labyrinth that appeared in the territory of Hartz Duchy that Brocken North Braun Anhalt, the Duke of Hartz himself, had given me recently, and that request is exactly what it sounded like: to explore the Labyrinths of Hartz Duchy and aid the Knight Order of Hartz Duchy in clearing them up as fast as possible.

The Duke of Hartz is the free-spirited ruler of the Hartz Duchy whom I had met by chance while in the midst of a commission to aid the Hartz Duchy with the delivery of disaster relief supplies to their villages that had been cut off during the spring floods as a result of rapid snow melt.

Most of the time he is friendly and open-minded, but I just can’t shake the feeling that he might have a careless or short-sighted side to him due to his tendency to always rush into things as soon as he hears about them. He is also an Elven pretty boy, and probably because of that he managed to score himself a real beauty of a wife, a fellow Elven woman named Cassia Nordbraum Anzelm. She is a beauty that might be even prettier and more elegant than Roxanne is, and for that fact alone, I will never forgive him.

But you know how it is, right? As much as I might hate the guy for being a chick magnet and a killer looker, a request is still a request, so I have no choice but to put my personal grievances away and just do it.

「And since I will be entering the three Labyrinths in the Hartz Duchy, it means that we will not be going to the Vale and Quratar Labyrinths for a while.」

「I understand. If that is what the Duke himself requested, master, then I have no reason to distrust your judgement since you have chosen to accept that request.」

「Do you know the precise location of the Labyrinths, or should I look them up for you at the Explorer’s Guild?」

At the current time, my Party consists of myself, Wolfkin Roxanne and Sherry, a Dwarf. Of the two of them, Sherry is more of an intellectual type who asks all sorts of questions whenever something pricks her interest. As for Roxanne, she might not be as inquisitive as Sherry is, but she is capable of fighting pretty much any opponent due to her Godly dodging abilities allowing her to evade the attacks of even the most vicious of the monsters within the Labyrinths.

「I have already been told where they are, so there is no need for that. They are located near Bode, Haruba and Tare.」

I informed Sherry about the locations of the Labyrinths that the Duke disclosed to me.

「Bode, Haruba, and Tare. Roger that. Do you have to go to a specific one, or are you free to choose wherever you want to go?」

「According to the Duke’s words, I am free to enter whichever one of these three places I feel like, meaning that I am going to have free access and transport to the highest possible floors of all the Labyrinths that are within the Hartz Duchy, because the Knight Order of Hartz Duchy has already been directed to treat me as one of their own and not charge for the teleportation services.」

「Oh really? Is that the case? I see. If that is really how it is, then fine.」

「Also, the Duke told me that my help with the Labyrinths will be appreciated, even if I’m not involved with exploring their highest floors and advancing to new ones.」

「Now that is a curious decision. Is that really true? That is what the Duke of Hartz told you?」

「Um, oh, y-yes, I am pretty sure that this is exactly what he told me.」

For a second, Sherry had a pretty strange look on her face. Because I am not originally from this world, I have no idea what things are in line with this world’s common sense and what goes against it, which makes me somewhat on edge worrying about what people might start thinking of me if I accidentally say something suspicious or that I should not be saying in public.

Just now, Sherry looked as if she could not believe that I was granted access to all of the Labyrinths within the territory of the Hartz Duchy, so could it be that according to the laws of this world, the laws that I do not know even though I should be familiar with them in Roxanne and Sherry’s eyes, maybe it is that not everyone can freely enter all of the Labyrinths of a given territory? And if it really is like that, then how does anyone know which of the Labyrinths can and cannot be entered?

「I see.」

「Y-Yeah. Why do you ask about it, Sherry?」

「Because for the Labyrinths, people who enter them are nothing but prey that can feed their growth. The Labyrinths which Adventurers frequent will be less active, while the Labyrinths where Adventurers are not common will become more active, because when the Labyrinths start getting hungry they produce increasing quantities of monsters so that they can seek out that which they require to fuel their growth process. This is why it is encouraged to enter the Labyrinths with no fewer than three people, because that is the countermeasure to the Labyrinth’s carnivorous instincts. When bigger groups of people enter it, the Labyrinth becomes a significantly safer place, so what the Duke of Hartz probably desires of you is to keep the Labyrinths of the Hartz Duchy somewhat in check as a result of being entered on a daily basis.」

「Oooh, so it is like that, huh? I had no idea.」

「Yes, that is how it is, or at least that is the relationship that has been observed between the number of Adventurers entering the Labyrinths and the number and ferocity of the monsters dwelling within. For example, the Labyrinths near the cities and villages do not have as many monsters within them as those that are located in the more remote regions, and those are actually rather weak and less aggressive than you would have expected. On the flipside, however, Labyrinths located in the countryside or a wilderness will have a larger number of strong monsters that are more aggressive towards those entering them.」

So the Labyrinths can have such differences between them, huh? Well certainly, if you think about it that way, then it really would seem that the Duke wants me to go to the Labyrinths that will also be explored by members of the Knight Order of Hartz Duchy to act as potential food, or perhaps a way to keep the aggro of the Labyrinths off his boys while it is going to be busy sending monsters after me, since my Party only has three people in it, so it is definitely going to be an easier target to pick off than the groups that are going to most likely be composed of full, six-people teams.

Later, when I arrived in Tare, I made my way to where I had delivered the relief supplies during my commission: to the house of the village chief. As for Tare as a whole, there is not really that much to say about it. Since it was the capital of the entire Duchy, Bode, even if it was a small town, at least had walls around it to protect itself in the event of a monster or bandit attack.
RECENTLY UPDATES