Death March — Fixed

“Tek here, when I was younger, I remember taking part in a search for a child that was thought lost. Even now, I can remember the worried, serious faces of the adults. In the end, the child had just snuck out to play in the city--they scolded the kid quite harshly after he returned using the bus.”

 

“Should we head back immediately after we have renewed the booking at the inn?” Arisa turns to Pochi and Tama, who are walking beside her.

 

“We can’t!” Pochi enthusiastically shakes her head.

 

“Oh my, didn’t you say ‘I belong to the battlefields’?” Arisa asks with a grin.

 

“Walking the horses?”, “Horses!” Tama and Pochi explain themselves.

 

“Eh? They’re just horses, so we can ask one of the inn caretakers to do that.”

 

“No good, no good?”

“Arisa doesn’t understand.”

“Nn.”

 

This time it’s not only Tama and Pochi, but also Mia who disagree with Arisa.

 

I take no notice of their conversation, as my mind is occupied with what’s happening in the first hall just ahead of the passage. There are nearly 200 knights in full equipment, like they are going on a march.

 

I wonder if they’re on a mission to save an important person?

 

Since there are people, like the Prince of a foreign country and the youngster of an Earl’s house, inside the labyrinth, their target may be one of them.

 

Arisa, when she first entered the labyrinth had run out of breath on her way down the stairs, can now keep up a conversation while climbing the stairs. Level-ups are definitely great.

 

Pochi and Tama open the Labyrinth gate, and we walk through, exiting the Labyrinth.

 

There, I see the face of someone who I didn’t expect to see here.

 

“Viscount Shimen! It has been a while.” I say to him.

“Ooh! Chevalier Felspar, so, you’re safe!”

 

I can guess the current situation. Especially because the usually-calm older brother of Toruma hugs me.

 

I confirmed it after hearing his story.

 

It started with a rumour about some half-killed Adventurers who acquired Ant Nectar, that he had heard in a noble-only saloon when he was visiting the Labyrinth City to get a hold of rare Magic Cores the day before yesterday.

 

When he asked about the details, he heard that the Adventurers were saved by a black-haired young noble who had an excellent Mithril sword, and brought along Beastkin girls, one of which was a Lizardkin with a Magic Spear.

 

He seemed to figure out that it was me.

 

Then, just in case, he asked the Adventurer’s Guild, and the fact that we had become Adventurers, went to the Labyrinth, and had not yet come back, came to light.

 

At first, he requested that the Adventurer’s Guild Rescue Unit be deployed, but since they had said that they couldn’t dispatch it before the return date of our return had passed, it didn’t go too well.

 

Therefore, he directly spoke to the General of the Labyrinth Army, borrowed some elites to form a rescue unit, and asked some Adventurers to be his guides.

 

“Sorry for making you worry.”

 

“No, judging from your condition, I jumped to the wrong conclusion myself--I apologize for the commotion.”

 

“I already said that against a Magic Warrior who can defeat a Lower Demon, even if all the Monsters in the first four Areas ganged up on him, they wouldn’t even nick him.” The knight captain, who’s wearing full-body armour, entered the conversation and spoke politely.

 

This person seems to be an honourary Viscount.

 

Toruma’s brother has agreed to deliver some barrels of wine and five sheep to the soldier’s barracks, as an apology. Both he and I will visit the General tomorrow.

 

Since they’ve already made preparations to enter the Labyrinth, they decided to go eliminate the Lost Thieves. Which should be pretty simple since the ones I knocked out, should still be there.

 

Viscount Shimen is busy, so he left a subordinate to deal with the trivial matters, like stopping by the General’s place tomorrow. The subordinate is a 40 year old man.

 

***

After parting with Viscount Shimen, we go to the counter managed by the Guild’s staff.

 

“Congratulations on your safe return.”

“Thank you.”

 

That was a strange way of greeting me.

 

“What was the result?”

“We got Magic Cores, Labyrinth Ant’s materials, and Labyrinth Frog meat.” As I answer the female Guild Receptionist, I take them out of the satchel at my waist.

 

I take out more that 100 Magic Cores, 10 Ants Carapaces and Claws, and 100kg of Frog Meat.

 

“T-That’s a lot of Magic Cores.” The female Guild Receptionist’s face stiffens.

 

It seems that the number is within common sense, so I didn’t create too much of a commotion.

 

I think that it’s actually rather unexceptional, considering the girls’ levels, but maybe it’s unprecedented for first-time Adventurers, since the Guild only have their names.

 

“Are these all, Chevalier Felspar?”

 

“No. Although I don’t know if they have a purchase request, I have the meat of a Strange Yellow Lizard.”

 

I already knew that it had no purchase request, but since the meat is delicious, I brought it up to make some treats for the children who are standing near here. There are only 20 Kilograms of the meat, but it should be enough.

 

“Strange Yellow Lizard? Is that the legendary ingredient?!”

“Oy, Huey, appraise this meat. It seems to be of the Strange Yellow Lizard.”

“Is that true? You did well defeating such a fast running lizard.”

 

Come to think of it, it was trying to run away from Tama’s surprise attack, so I caught it with Magic Hand. I had thought that the Market Price was too high…so, it was a rare ingredient, huh?

 

While they’re appraising it, I ask about the prices of other things.

 

The Labyrinth Frog meat is worth four copper coins per kilograms, so 4 gold coins for all 100kg. The Ant Carapace is 1 silver coin each, and the Ant’s claw is 2 copper coins each.

 

“It’s the Strange Yellow Lizard, without a doubt. It’s 10 gold coins if you sell it to the Guild. You can possibly sell it for more if you bring it to the city, but in that case the tax will be 1 gold coin to bring it out.”

 

I don’t particularly need to pay the tax, since it can be deducted from the materials and Magic Cores that I’m selling. Since the Market Price is 20 gold coins, it’ll be more profitable to sell it in the city, even if I have to pay the tax.

 

As for the Magic Cores, each one of the 103 Magic Cores of the Labyrinth Ants is one copper coin, the Strange Yellow Lizard’s Core is one silver coin, and the Labyrinth Frog’s Core is two silver cores.

 

The staff teaches me how to work out the price of Magic Cores.

 

“There are a lot of small Magic Cores that are between White 9, and Vermilion 1, so they are Low-Grade. Please note that it’s the lowest priced Core since there is very little use for them.”

 

I ask her to teach me the details about the grades of Magic Cores.

 

It seems that the deeper the red colour of the Magic Core is, the better.

 

There are four colour classifications, which are: White, Vermilion, Red and Crimson--each of which have 10 grades.

 

White 1 - Vermilion 1 are Low-Grade; Vermilion 2 - Vermilion 10 are Lower-Mid Grade; Red 1 - Red 10 are Intermediate-Grade; Crimson 1 - Crimson 10 are High-Grade. There is one more rank, which is called Blood Crimson, but they are very rare.

 

By the way, the Great Monstrous Fish’s Core is deeper red than blood--so I guess that it’s Blood Crimson, and huge…around the size of a small car. I am very curious how much it would sell for--but I won’t sell any of them, there are 7 of them.

 

The Guild Staff breaks down the total and shows it to me on a blackboard. I did decrease the amount of Frog meat that I wanted to sell, by 20kg.

 

“Do you agree with this price?”

“Yes, it’s good enough.”

 

The deal has been made and I receive the documents needed for us to rank up from Wooden plates to Bronze plates.

 

Strangely, they don’t check whether I’m carrying something out. I wonder if the security is lax.

 

I got permission from the Guild staff to borrow the BBQ stove that was near the counter. It seems that they’re loaning it, and fuel, for 4 coppers.

 

***

“Noble, so you’re safe!”

“I’m glad!”

 

The two women from Beautiful Wings shouted out and hugged me. The women seem to have thought that we were defeated and taken by the Ants to be eaten.

 

The soft bodies embracing me feel quite nice.

 

I gently pull the two off me, which makes them look a little surprised.

 

“I’m glad that you two are also alright.”

 

“It’s thanks to you, noble.”

“We were really saved by you.”

 

It seems that these girls seem to be the Adventurers who were going to guide the rescue unit. Apparently they received a fine for not only causing trouble for other Adventurers, but also for the Labyrinth Army. The fine was very expensive, so the prize money they got for the request wasn’t enough--They’re being vague about it, so they probably borrowed money to cover it.

 

The children who were treated to grilled Frog meat on wooden skewers come over to me to say their thanks, before going back to the wall, to enjoy the food.

 

Arisa had especially told them that I was the one who treated them, while she was distributing the meat. Everyone seems to be experienced from the Food Distribution at the Duchy Capital, so they can keep the children in line easily.

 

After everyone has eaten, the Beastkin girls finish off the little remaining meat.