Smooth Sailing
Having remodeled the dungeon, we once again opened it to the public.
Personally, I thought we made it too easy following all of Masayuki's suggestion.
How was the reaction?
First, the idiots who wouldn't listen to the explanation (who only made it up to the 2nd floor at best) were able to get to the third floor.
But, they can't clear it.
Even so, they challenge it again and again.
What's pushing them so hard?
Their masters' orders? Pride?
Not at all. It was a far more practical reason.
Seems like Basson's acquired weapon, the longsword, was pretty damn good.
Compared to adventurer's equipment, that is.
Moreover, I had thought it was Kurobee's work, but it was one of his disciple's.
And this disciple's longsword, if ranked normally, would be a high class blade.
At best, it could be ranked as a Special high class blade.
On the market place, a high quality sword is ten times the price. A special blade is fifty times.
Of those who can acquire one, even those affiliated with the army may have a hard time.
So I can completely understand the sudden change in passion.
「Oi, rascals, behold! Doesn't this beautiful blade fit me!」
Thanks to Basson's shameless boasting, we have had more guests recently.
Unexpectedly, he is good publicity for our country, so I am thankful.
But, when it all comes down to it, he isn't one to plan these things.
Now, even those with half a brain-cell are listening to ur explanation and are using the first floor to practice.
Having practiced there, they return to arrange their equipment (which, of course, adds to our profit) and again challenge the dungeon.
And thus, we have those who were able to clear the third floor.
Floors 3-5 are easily cleared with proper mapping skills, so they were able to clear them.
The rest is all up to actual ability.
And by the time these adventurers left the labyrinth, the adventurers from various countries came piling in because of rumors.
Which led to a fierce race to conquer the labyrinth.
Some, of course, started selling maps, so we decided to announce that the labyrinth will be changing.
You have to draw your own map, or it's meaningless. Map drawing is a fundamental skill they all need to survive.
Based on their estimates, it takes 2-3 days to clear a floor; at best, a day.
Which is why all the adventurers tacitly agreed to hold a strategy meeting each time the labyrinth changes.
Adventurers affiliated with the Freedom Association were clearly on a different level.
They formed teams not composed solely of monster extermination team, but also of gatherers and scavengers.
So they are very adaptable. Having heard the explanation, they quickly understood the rules.
Perhaps it will be too easy for them.
And their clearing speed only proved the fact.
Particularly those versed in Elemental magic: they use spirits to select the correct path to the next floor.
It's cheating! Elemental magic is cheating!
I asked Ramiris about it, and
「Ah, yeah! Totally didn't think of that!
But, that just means they are really liked by the spirits, so they are trustworthy!」
She responded.
Well, not like all of them can communicate with spirits, and those who use elemental magic are few among them.
There's no need to act against them yet. In fact, I would rather commend their resourcefulness.
Moreover, ruin explorers are rather good at identifying traps.
They are able to carefully judge a treasure chest. They are worlds different than simple barmen, and are approaching this as their profession.
Thus, the labyrinth is slowly being cleared and the number of challengers is ever increasing.
We again gathered to discuss the current state of affairs.
Unlike last time, things are proceeding smoothly, so we are merry.
Basically: we are all smiles.
「Oi, Masayuki, did you say you were?
I had thought I saw potential in you, but you are quite the man」
Veldora haughtily praised Masayuki the moment we gathered.
「Ah, is that so? Uh, thanks…」
Masayuki replied, surprised at the sudden praise.
With a "Who the hell is this guy?" kind of look.
Yo, he was here last time, I introduced you two… did you forget who he was because of how nervous you were?
「Ah, this is my best friend, Veldora-san.
I introduced you last time, right?
This is Ramiris, the fairy master of the labyrinth」
「Ay, I shall recognize you, Masayuki」
「Yahoo! You're great. This success is all thanks to you!」
Unlike last time, perhaps due to recognizing his existence, they are smiling at him.
He returned their smiles.
「Ah, thanks. I'm Masayuki. Satoru… like Rimuru, I am a world traveler. They call me a hero, but that's just a joke so please ignore it」
Unlike last time, he properly introduced himself.
What a grand improvement. Unlike last time, they recognized Masayuki and are now able to hold a conversation.
「But Ramiris is a fairy, huh. To be able to create such an amazing labyrinth… you are amazing!」
Upon Masayuki's praise,
「Eh! You, I like you. I'll make you my follower.
And did you hear, Rimuru? He said I'm amazing!」
Coming at me with a drop kick, Ramiris exclaimed with great pride.
How annoying.
I easily evade the drop kick,
「Right, right. Amazing, amazing. That aside, if Masayuki wants to follow you, I have no problem with that, you know?」
I respond.
A demon lord and a hero. I guess that's fine.
「Umm, what kind of person is Ramiris-san?
And, what about Veldora…san? Rimuru's friend?」
「Eh, yeah. Did you not know?
Ramiris is one of the demon lords. And Veldora is a dragon」
「Huh, what? Demon lord and a dragon? EHH? Seriously~su?!」
Masayuki…
Considering his behavior last time, I thought he just had guts.
But he simply did not know. Ignorance is bliss.
And now that he knows, that they are a dragon and a demon lord, it seems his soul has escaped his body…
To have been recognized while yet ignorant, this guy is seriously lucky.
Does it have anything to do with his 『Heroic Disposition』– that is, are his surroundings themselves affected?
Thinking of these things, I decided to ask of Masayuki.
「Ah, well, I did plan to disable the skill, but…
『You negotiated with the demon lord and decrease the difficulty of the dungeon… as expected of our hero!!!』
My comrades said, praising my name.
And, well, they are inside that dungeon, so let me say my thanks…」
Is what he said.
So his luck is not related to a skill but is rather his natural disposition.
I'm honestly surprised.
Having thus finished our self-introductions, we turned to the matter on the table.
Our sales are going well.
Myormiles is very happy.
The challengers drop out and challenge the labyrinth again and again.
They come buying our items again and again, so we easily service a thousand people a day.
Now, as per Masayuki's suggestion: drops.
We need to figure something out about monsters dropping items and unidentified equipment.
But, drops are a surprisingly difficult topic. Normally, monsters would drop raw materials or stones at most…
「Why is this necessary?」
Veldora asked.
The response,
「Huh? Well, there are those who don't naturally recover and would suffer a defeat as a result, right? So, I thought: wouldn't it be nice if monsters dropped potions? And, as for unidentified equipment: when they pick it up, they'd need to leave the labyrinth to have it appraised, right? And by providing such a service we could make a bit more money. We could also mix in some poison with those potions…」
I see.
Getting treasure from treasure chests and some trash from monsters, huh?
Unidentified, huh; that does excite me. I'd be very excited while having it appraised.
Maybe we'll also raise difficulty in parts where there are such drops.
And I bet there will be those who pack up full of trashy drops to sell back in town.
「I see. Well, that be as it may, shall we shift labyrinth around now?」
I ask. Overall, I'm rather satisfied with how things are going.
「Sounds good」
Ramiris said, like a know-it-all.
Hey, do you seriously understand what I just asked? I sent a glance at her, but she averted her eyes.
So she was just going with the flow. Crafty rascal.
That aside,
We all nodded, having come to a general consensus.
Having monsters swallow trash proved very easy, in fact.
Trainee and the Dryad helped with that.
After space magic to place trash in front of them the monsters just swallow it.
Monsters spawn randomly on the begining floor, so there's nothing we can do about that, but floors past 6 have monster rooms, so those we can prepare in advance.
By delivering magical energy via pipes we can control when a monster will spawn, and in front of them we can then drop an item.
Of course, some of the items will be held by trap-monsters, but there's nothing you can do about that.
Managing the spawning of all the monsters would be a pain, if not for just having them spawn in a single room.
We fill a room with monsters, distribute the times, and release the monsters.
Thus, we are able to quickly fill the dungeon with drops.
And thus our dungeon is nearing completion.
The 95th floor we made into a city.
For the elven women who clean, cook, and manage our inns.
They are a wonderful workforce, and I'll have them leave in that city.
Of course, not just the women, but also the men.
The treants and the dryads already took root there, building a city of trees.
And thus a beautiful town appeared amidst the floor.
A city of Fairies.
The elves will surely be calmer living among the trees.
Accordingly, they expressed their joy with gratitude. And immigrated their with hearts full of hope.
Of course, they are able to manage inns and bars by themselves.
There are a number of man-made inns on that floors, just as there are at other save points.
Managing it all is an elder treant.
Oh, and as there is a chance that treants spawn in this labyrinth, we decided to have them guide and support adventurers along.
Of course, they gladly accepted.
Thus we finished remodeling the labyrinth, and our workload decreased a level.
Seems like the time to refresh the floors came again.
By the time we finished the dungeon, someone had broken throughthe tenth floor.
According to the announcement, the guardian of the 10th floor, the Ogre Lord had appeared.
The town was rather festive
The group to have broke through that far was Hero Masayuki's group.
『Ma~sayuki, Ma~~sayuki!!』
They cheered.
Though his expression was a cramped smile, it must have appeared dazzling to the onlookers.
The Ogre Lord was a "B+" ranked monster, but clearly no foe for Masayuki's group.
In fact, his comrades are rather skilled, and able to escape even tough situations unscathed.
Ogre Lord drops items from the ogre series.
The drops this time were: ogre axe and oxe shin guard.
As part of a series, it's a rare item.
Weapon choice is random. Try your luck again if you didn't like it.
But just a look at this weapon made the adventurers' eyes change.
Up until now they had aimed at marginal profit but all of that changed now.
A boss appears once every hour and if he gets defeated one needs to wait another hour.
And when a boss gets defeated, a save point floor appears.
Once you cross beyond this floor, you can never return to this boss fight.
That's to prevent people from monopolizing the boss.
This boss drops an item box.
So you don't know what kind of gear you get before you open it. Regardless of the type, though, it will be part of the ogre series.
And as a "B+" ranked boss, it certainly can be defeated by a well-prepared team of six.
News of this quickly spread among all the adventurers.
Greatly increasing the number of challengers.
Just as planned.
By now, there is not a single person in the world who has not heard of Tempest, the city of the labyrinth.