Foreigner Volume 5, Chapter 52

Volume 5 Chapter 52, Labyrinth ~ 10

　The next morning, after waking up, the search went smoothly.

　After he came up with the idea of using 【Clairvoyance】 to check for enemies before digging, they didn't have any unnecessary battles, and even though there were times when they had to fight, Satoru blew monsters away, so it didn't affect them at all, and they proceeded quickly.

　Finally, at last.

「The 68th layer - no one has ever entered from here on out. That's a new record.」

「It's a new record.... ......」

　He doesn't want to leave his name behind, and he have done a lot of cheating from the first eleven layers onward, so the word "Record" doesn't really ring a bell, nor does he feel much emotion. Noticing the strange expression on Satoru's face, Rico nodded as if she remembered.

「Oh, I see, I just remembered. Satoru shouldn't have stood out. ...... That's too bad.」

「Too bad?」

　"Yes," Rico replied, and looked around in a circle. The gloomy appearance and the labyrinthine atmosphere formed by the bedrock are almost the same no matter what floor you are on.

「Honor is one thing, but there's a bounty from a country near here for breaking through this labyrinth.」

　He remembered that there was a story about that, Satoru thought. He shrugged his shoulders.

「It's a shame about the money, though. I'm sure they'll make it difficult for me to live in the country anyway, so I don't need it.」

「You're right. It would be a source of unnecessary trouble.」

　If the person is fierce enough to break through the labyrinth, of course the country will want to keep them. That's why they prepare a bounty for them, and ask them to live in the country, so that they can put silent pressure on the surrounding countries. Satoru is only a traveler, and his goal is not to settle down. Honor is unnecessary at this time, so even if he could break through, he would have no choice but to remain nameless.

　Satoru suddenly had an idea.

「...... We can pretend that Rico has cleared this, get a bounty, and live in the country.」

「Satoru.」

　A stern voice, not unlike Rico's, came out of the blue. Her eyes that look at her Lord coldly have a bit of sadness in them.

「I'm going to be angry, even with Satoru. You're making fun of my determination, aren't you?」

　Of course, as long as a magical slave has a magic slave contract, the magical slave cannot defy their master. Satoru knew what she was prepared to do, but the fact that Satoru spoke to her in such a way made Rico sad and angry.

　There is a way to do this, I suppose. If the labyrinth was breached, the magic power of the labyrinth would be dissipated and its effectiveness as a monster's home would be diminished. So if Rico, as the only survivor of the party, comes forward to break through with some kind of item, she will of course be given preferential treatment. But that was not what Rico wanted.

　Satoru honestly admitted that he was wrong.

「 ....... Sorry. But you have to understand that I'm worried about you.」

「I know, but that's not what I want. The place where I want to live right now is on your side. And the place where I can live is also on your side.」

　Riko spun around and smiled at Satoru. It was a nice smile without pretense.

「I'm really fulfilled right now, you know? I'm not helping in the fight, but I'm helping, right?」

「Yeah, that's for sure.」

　Satoru nodded deeply. He wondered how useful this girl had been since he had welcomed Rico as a magical slave.

「In fact, there were several times when we would have been in danger if it weren't for Rico. You're really helped us.」

　Rico widened her eyes at Leia's words as she jumped down from Satoru's shoulder. Leia's words were generally harsh, and she didn't give many compliments. Even when she praised Rico, it was from above. Rico was surprised that Leia had praised her so straightforwardly.

「Ahaha, so Leia approves of me too.」

「That's of course. In any case, you're the first person other than my Lord to have touched the my body.」

　That's a little different from being useful, but he think Leia recognizes Rico as someone who is close to her.

「And Minerva?」

　Still clinging to Satoru's arm, Minerva looked at Leia's face. The only person other than Satoru who simply touched the Leia's body, the 【Immortal King】, was Minerva, before Rico.

「You're not a human, you're a flying dragon.」

　The three magical slaves looked at each other and laughed. Satoru gazed at them with dazzling eyes.

　They were a combination that would never have met in a normal life. And yet, through Satoru, they have met and formed a bond.

　For that reason alone, Satoru felt that his being called into this world might have been meaningful.

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「Please wait for a while in a village or town near the Deep Green Forest.」

　Raymond muttered boringly as he looked at the words floating on the message tablet. It's a good thing that he accepted the job of High Mentor of the Academy of the Wise at the behest of his fiancée, Sheryl, but as far as the job goes, it's pretty boring at the moment.

「For how long?」

「It's not written down. Well, it'll probably be before winter.」

　It's just after the fall season now, and Raymond was prepared for about a hundred days, if not more. It would have taken him 15 days on foot just to get from the city of Ares to here. Raymond even assigned horses to his subordinates in order to shorten the travel time. As is the case with information, speed is of the essence in business. Raymond, under the tutelage of his father, who had risen from an upstart merchant to the aristocracy of Ares, knew the difference between what should be spared and what should not.

　A bandit-like subordinate of his unfolded a map of the area.

「Well, why don't we go to this town?」

　The man pointed to a town not too far from where they were. Raymond nodded his head lightly. It must have been a small town of two to three thousand people.

「Hmm? Is there anything over there?」

「There's a brothel. I heard that there are elven prostitutes there.」

　"Hee," cried Raymond. He had been given a bad deal at the World Tree Village, and his preference was basically for buxom women, but Raymond also had a desire to hold an elven woman at least once. In the first place, there are only a few elves in the world, and elves have very low sex drive. In addition, there are not many elven women who are willing to work as prostitutes.

「That's a good idea.」

　A subordinate elf approached Raymond, who showed interest.

「Raymond is a bit on the thin side, but you had a beautiful fiancée, don't you?」」

　Raymond shook his face from side to side with a grimace.

「I can't-I can't. That woman is very stubborn and I haven't had sex with her yet.」

「Not yet? That's a big deal.」

　A warrior-like man in leather armor laughed. All of his men know Raymond's fiancée. She is a member of the patrol squad of the Academy of the Wise, a beautiful woman who is a bit on the short side, but still has a scent of sex appeal.

　However, she also has a reputation as a stubborn woman, and according to some people, she used to be a noblewoman. As an ex-noble, her firmness may be unavoidable in the society of Ares, where there is a firm distinction between men and women.

　However, holding back sexual desire in front of a beautiful woman is, to put it bluntly, hell. A few people looked at Raymond with sympathy, but Raymond didn't care much. It doesn't matter how beautiful she is, there's a side of him that doesn't like the idea of holding a woman who isn't interested in him. If that's the case, then he doesn't have to restrain himself, and it won't be much of a problem if he eats a woman up in the sex trade.

「It was also my job to vent my excessive sexual desire in the brothel.」

　Raymond is also a member of the nobility. He has a small estate, and if he wanted to, he could have young women from his estate, but he doesn't. His father is surprisingly annoying. If you don't feel like it, buy a woman with money, that's what his father taught Raymond.

　With a sly smile, Raymond and the others set their sights on the town. The purpose was to provide comfort under the guise of waiting.

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　If there was a possibility of an enemy coming, Satoru would form an earthen wall and then dig in floor, avoiding unnecessary fights, and the labyrinth search proceeded quickly. He didn't get many items this way, but as the goal was not to search for items, Satoru didn't mind. Even so, once every four layers or so, Rico would search the area and pick up an item.

「Hey Leia, is this a magic stone?」

　When they took a lunch break on the 82nd layer, Rico, who was exploring the area, picked up a fist-sized gem. Leia received the stone from Rico with an admiring look.

「【Estimation】. ...... Indeed, it's not cursed, and it's a high-quality magic stone.」

「Speaking of magic stone, Leia is the only one who have magic stone」

　Leia has a large magic stone hanging from her waist. It was smaller than that, but the one Rico had found was also quite large.

「And it's an expensive magic tool. Well, Rico, you can keep this one.」

「Ueehh? Are you sure?」

　Rico turned to Satoru. Satoru nodded in silence. Leia already has her own, and she doesn't think Satoru needs a magic stone now. Minerva also has quite a bit of magic power, so even by process of elimination, it's best for Rico to have it.

　Leia said it was expensive, so it must be worth a lot of money.

「I-I'm scared. ...... By the way, how much magic can you fill this up?」

「About 300.」

「300. ...... Hieeeeee」

　A fist-sized magic stone is said to be able to hold the magic power of nearly two Rico's soul. Satoru just groaned, but Rico shivered in fear. Rico had seen magic stones with 10 or so magic power, but she knew that they were still quite expensive.

　Leia glanced at Satoru, then casually played with the magic stone that Rico had brought.

「.....Mainly if my Lord's 【Fill】 it, this magic stone is likely going to break because it will be overfilled, and I'll be the one who fill it――『Fill(Charge)』」

　Leia muttered a art as she held the magic stone. A golden light shone brightly and the magic power was put into the magic stone. The stone, which had been dull and sunken, now had a unique glow to it and appeared to be shimmering. Leia said, "Yoi" , tossing it to Rico in a carefree manner, and Rico hurriedly and carefully accepted the magic stone.

「Well, how do you use the magic stones?」

「You just have to have it. If you are just a little bit conscious of it, it will take the place of your magic power. In Rico's case, she's a little over 160 now, which means she can use magic up to 460.」

　Satoru impressed, "Wow" The average soul of people is 100, and tf you think that the magic power of those three people is contained in it, it seems to be very effective.

「Ohhh, Isn't this thing useful?」

「Of course. It's not often you get to see something this big. If it were to go on sale, it would probably fetch close to 100,000 gold coins in the general market.」

「1-100.000 gold coins...... Hieeeee」

　When Rico heard the approximate value of what she was holding in her hands, she became panicked again. Cold sweat poured down her face. 100,000 gold coins is equivalent to 5 billion yen in Japanese yen, according to Satoru's sense. He doesn't know if the monetary economy has developed that much in this world, but if you ask me that, I can tell you that it's quite an extraordinary amount of money.

　However, it is useless to Satoru, who has at least 100,000 soul. It would make little difference if he had 300 more.

「For example, can't you gather a lot of those things and use a big art?」

「Ah.......That's impossible. You can only use one magic stone for a single art.」

　Satoru nodded, "Well, that's given". This is why magic stones that can be re-filled are so valuable, and the price rises steadily according to the amount of magic power they contain. In this world where magic is widespread, if you think of it as 300 out of an average of 100, its effectiveness is quite good. It is not hard to understand why the price is 5 billion Japanese yen.

　"By the way", Leia added, flipping open her own cloak. The pink magic stone on her waist was at least a size larger than the one Rico had found.

「My magic stone is probably the finest in the world. It can hold about 500 magic power.」

　Satoru was surprised that it was still only 500. Leia's soul is 4600 plus alpha at the moment, one ninth of that is certainly a lot, and she can unleash 5000 magic power at the maximum moment, but considering the amount of soul Leia has, he doesn't think it's much. That's why it's the finest, a big soul is a weapon in itself.

　――No, that reminds me, there was something else I remembered.

「Come to think of it, the core of the magic tower that you had...」

「It's broken. That's a magic crystal, not a magic stone. I know that it can hold a great deal of magic, but I can't only tell you the numerical value.」

　Satoru exhaled in exasperation. If you think about it, the Magic Tower, had been a shoulder for the magic of the people of the Ancient Magic Kingdoms. If that's the case, it can't be helped that it's only in the realm of imagination how much can be stored.

「......So the 【Otherworldly Summoning】 art that brought me into this world takes that much magic.」

「Yes. After all, it uses all the magic contained in the core of the Magic Tower as compensation.」

　Theoretically, the power to transcend dimensions is required when trying to simply 【Otherworldly Summoning】. Leia can't speak for Satoru, because he doesn't have any education in this area, but Satoru can imagine that a great deal of magical power would be required.

　Once, Satoru asked Leia if it was possible to bring Alice into this world. Leia's reply, after some thought, was that it was almost impossible.

　The first thing is that even if Satoru can use the magic itself, he needs the core of the Magic Tower as the price of the magic, and the core of the Magic Tower does not exist in this world today. The other is that the existing 【Otherworldly Summoning】 art are not specific to an individual, but rather summon people who are on the same wavelength. Since Alice has the same blood as Satoru, the probability of matching wavelengths is high, but since there is no way to identify an individual in another world, it is impossible to identify and summon Satoru's sister, Alice by 【Otherworldly Summoning】. But after that, Leia said that she would try to study the art of 【Otherworldly Summoning】 a little more, but since she has been devoting herself to the composition of the art of applying it to equipment, she probably hasn't made much progress.

　Satoru smiled lightly at Rico, who was carefully wrapping the magic stone in her palm.

「Well, keep it, keep it. It seems there's no harm in having it.」

「I'm so scared~ I'm afraid it'll be stolen, or I'll drop it.」

　Rico is poor. She's close to Satoru in that area, but Satoru doesn't yet have an accurate understanding of the economics of this world, so Rico's symptoms are more severe. If he doesn't talk her out of it, she buys very cheap things. She has some discernment, so she is able to get away with it, but as the saying goes, if you buy something cheap, you lose money. It might be tough to ask Rico to carry around, much less use, an item that could be worth 100,000 gold coins.

「That's right. For example, getting pickpocketed.」

「Ugh!」

　Rico was choked up by Satoru's light words. Rico herself was a skilled thief, so she rarely encountered pickpockets. If she showed a hand sign that was known to the members of the Thieves' Guild, the thieves belonging to the guild would not target her for pickpocketing, but from the point of view of Rico, who got to know Satoru through pickpocketing in the first place, that line was too funny.

　"Kuku," Leia laughed at Satoru's sarcasm.

「Well, make sure you use the magic power contained in the magic stone on a regular basis. I will fill it up for you every morning.」

「I-I got it」

　"Good", Satoru nodded his head.

　It was inappropriate, but even if something happened to Satoru, Rico would be left with a fortune. It may not be 100,000 L (librahm), but it would be enough to eat for the rest of her life.

　Of course, she won't say anything about it, because if she did, Satoru would get angry.

　She have also picked up a few other items. Most of them are magic stones, but there is a candleholder with the magic of 【Light】 in it, and a glove with a pattern on the tip of the finger that has the effect of 【Clairvoyance】. The red crystal is a Flame crystal stone, a stone that creates flames when you say the word, and a Fireproof Talisman that reduces the temperature of fire by half. And then there are glasses. These are not very accurate, but they do give you 【Night Vision】.

　Satoru looked at these magical tools and was honestly impressed.

「Even though the origins of magic were different, the Ancient Magic Kingdoms still had a lot of technology.」

「Indeed. There are many technologies that have been lost in this world. The mission and reason for the existence of the Academy of the Wise is to collect these magical tools, analyze them, and return them to magic.」

　”I see," Satoru agreed. As long as you have the magic power, you can use super-advanced arts by chanting, as Satoru is doing now, but there is no one else who is blessed with a soul like Satoru. The only one art is meaningless if it is not given back to the whole world. That is why the Academy of the Wise researches and studies these lost Magic Arts and brings them down to the world. It will be a good business, and it will lead to the accumulation and development of the research institute.

　But even if it's such an institution, Satoru doesn't intend to show any mercy if they becomes hostile.

　In the 91st layer, Satoru picked up a small sword. After confirming that there was no curse on it, he entrusted it to Rico. Rico's current weapon is a knife. No matter how hard these sword isi, it's too weak.

「I'd like to have a spare weapon, too.」

　Satoru only has one knife other than the Giant Killer. He doesn't think the extremely sturdy 【Giant Killer】 will break down that easily, but there's a good chance that he'll let go of it by mistake. At that time, having only a knife as a backup weapon would be too much to bear.

「Then, why don't you take this little sword, Satoru?」

「My physique is too big for me to carry it.」

　Satoru shrugged his shoulders. Even a standard long sword felt too light and uncomfortable when he tried it in the warehouse of Leia's Labyrinth. Even if the quality is somewhat good, a small sword is too much for Satoru.

「...... By the way, in Leia's estimation, how much is this sword worth?」

　Of course, it's the kind of sword you pick up deep in the labyrinth. It has a certain amount of magic in it. Leia's assessment was that it was a magical sword based on water magic. There is always water floating in the blade. Depending on how you use it, you can splash water and increase the power of slashing, but you can't use those things with Rico, whose four-elemental qualities have been destroyed.

「I don't know what the price is going to be in the near future, but....... I think it's going to be 300 to 400L.」

「That's the same price as a class of mansions with gardens in Royal Capital ...... Hieeeeee!」

　Leia laughed bitterly at Rico, who once again shuddered at the sheer value.

「When I was still a human, the treasured sword that was auctioned in Haumeier was 30,000L at the start. If you think about it, this sword it's still cheap, cheap」

「Leia's sense of money is also strange. ......」

　Leia snickered at Rico's teary-eyed complaint and puffed out her chest.

「That's because I am ......」

　Leia gulped as she was about to say it. She glanced at Satoru and smiled deceptively. Satoru thought, "Oh, another story about Leia's past," and didn't make any comment. Although he had known Leia for a long time, she was still stubbornly reluctant to talk about her past. She must have a very heavy past. I'm curious, but since I've decided not to pry, I don't want to pry too thoroughly.

「W-well, that's over. Next time, next time.」

　Satoru only shrugged a little at Leia's blatantly deceptive changed the topic.

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