Volume 28: Recollection Chapter 1 - The Day the Potion Disappeared
Author note:
This time it's a story from a long time ago.
It's about the time of web chapter 8, "The Great Revolution".
I think it will be around the fifth layer of the Labyrinth of No Return.
I'm planning to post once a week.
Prologue - Solo Adventurer
The vanguard group drew their swords in unison and rushed forward, charged at the enemy.
「The enemy are Kobolds!」
「There are eight of them!」
Meena, a white-haired dog-ear girl, uses her 【Keen Sense of Smell】 to identify enemies, while the red-haired JK heroine, Serina, uses her 【Enemy Counter】 to keep track of their numbers.
We, the 『Black Cat of the Wind』, rarely fail in our search for the enemy.
「Gaaa!」
The monster is swinging a club and jumping with great force.
The Kobold is a brown humanoid monster with glowing red eyes. Its ugly face, long claws, and long canine teeth on the underside remind me of an ogre. However, it is a small and poor demon.
Ione, the swordsman, stopped and calmly intercepted them, cutting them down with a single swing.
――But a kobold jumped out from behind him and ran along the edge of the corridor wall, so I gave him a command.
「Jouga, the enemy is trying to go to the right. Don't let them get around you!]
「Yeah!」
Jouga, the two-handed sword warrior, moved swiftly and matched his sword with the enemy's, cutting it down with a powerful counter.
「How about that!」
「Drop dead!」
Luka slashes at another one with a Kesagake. It's always erotic to see the way the abdominal muscles of a bikini armor move. I'm not going to tell her that though.
「Oh, sorry. One of them went that way.」
Serina said, looking to her left. When the vanguard moved to the right, the vanguard was overtaken by the kobold on the left, who took the opposite side.
「Nihihi! I'll take care of it! Eeii!」
So Lily, a member of the middle guard group, wielded the whip with glee and, lucky for her, hit the Kobold. Lily was holding a whip in her right hand and a magic lantern in her left. It's not a good idea for someone who's in charge of light to participate in an attack, but I'll let her do that for now.
I noticed that the Kobolds around me had already been wiped out and had turned to smoke.
「Clear!」「Good job.」
「Hell yeah!」「We did it!」
Everyone smiled. The strength of the enemy is not so strong at this level, and we can fight steadily.
However, this is the Labyrinth of No Return. It's best not to let your guard down because you think you've gotten used to it. There was a time when we were rather cornered by a skeleton hero in the first layer. I'm going to include that in my instructions.
「Let's get moving. It's an adventure until we get out of the dungeon. Keep your guard up.」
「「「Roger」」」
Meena stopped when she was about to reach the first layer, the exit to the ground.
「Master, the humans are coming. There's only one person.」
「One? Solo?.」
Solo is rare in this dungeon.
「Yes. There's no one nearby, so I think so.」
「Did he get separated or something? Well, it doesn't matter to us, same as always. Be silence. He'll think you're a PK.」
Luka did the same, so we waited somewhat nervously for him to approach from the other side.
「Hi, there.」
But the young man was smiling and didn't seem to be in a PK mood.
「Are you going to dive alone?」
Serina meddled and asked him.
「Of course, well, I didn't have any adventurers to partner up, to begin with.」
He shrugged his shoulders. He was equipped only with a knife and no armor. It was just cloth clothing, no different from the average person in town.
「Maybe it's none of my business, but if your level is low, you shouldn't push yourself too hard to dive into the dungeon alone.」
「That's right, but Can I ask to join your party......」
「Rejected!」
A pretty girl is always welcome, but I'm not going to let a man in.
Jouga was a fortuitous choice, and I let him in especially because he's a good vanguard, but this guy's not cut out for combat by any stretch of the imagination. He's pale, lacking in muscle tone, and looks like an indoor type. Besides, I don't like handsome men with beautiful blond hair and stylish ponytails.
「I guess you would reject it ......」
「Hmm, well, be careful.」
「Yeah, thanks.」
Serina, who approached me, didn't complain and didn't bite back, as if she thought it was useless to ask me.
「Even so, he doesn't have proper gear, if he's going to challenge the Labyrinth of no Return......No, he's a beginner, so why doesn't he just go out and collect herbs and do something else?」
That's what Luka says, and she's right. Or maybe there was a reason why he needed to make a lot of money in a short period.
「But if he was a beginner, wouldn't the gatekeeper have stopped him?」
Ione wondered, but Saki waved her hand.
「There are many ways out of that, you know? You can get a strong party to accompany you to the entrance, or if you have a C rank, you can get a guild to pay for it.」
「That's not a very good method, is it.....」
The rule is to prevent people from dying unnecessarily, but if they want to die, there is no way to prevent them.
We returned to the ground, only a little concerned about the man we had just met.
The next morning, I was in a good mood after having sex with Saki, and I asked Ada, the innkeeper, for some soup as a guest.
「Soup, landlady!」
「It's after hours, Alec.」
「Maan ...... You think that's going to make you a first-class accommodation in Royal Capital?」
「I won't do this if you're a noble, but I'd like you to become a first-class guest before you start talking big. The only people who can complain to me openly are you, Murphy, and Letty.」
「Did Letty complain about something too?」
She said the other day that she had finally moved here from her house. Well, it looks like she was renting, so it's up to Letty to do what she wants.
「That's right. When I asked her what she was going to use the basement for, she said she was going to do alchemy. We're a customer business, and we have a kitchen and a dining room, so it would be unbearable if they mixed up some weird stuff and produced smelly smoke.」
I can understand the landlady's point of view. Or rather, she's right, in this case. You never know what Letty is capable of creating. She's a rather mad mage.
「I'll have a good talk with Letty about that later. So, landlady, soup.」
「Hmph, don't bother to be patronizing as a party leader. Well, Alec, I'm going to go out and buy some ingredients, so you can take care of the store while I'm gone.」
「You're going to give me some money?」
「Well, I'll give you one gold for each customer.」
「Oh? One gold?」
One gold is only a hundred Japanese yen. Who would take on a job that pays a hundred yen an hour, maybe even zeroes?
「I refuse. It's a violation of the Labor Standards Act to work like that. Don't underestimate another world heroes.」
「Then, I'm counting on you, Alec.」
「Hey, listen to me. I'm talking to you, Ada! Shit.」
「Ha-ha-ha. You've been asked to be the kid's errand boy, Alec. When Ada's about to go out, you're supposed to keep quiet and keep out of sight. You're still a naive customer, you know that?」
A warrior who was playing a card game with his friends at the table in front of the counter was trying to stir things up.
「Murphy, in your case. I'm afraid you're going to be cheating on your lodging bill, so you won't be asked to be so picky.」
「What! ...... Well, come to think of it, I haven't been asked to guard the store since I was caught cheating once before.」
「You're a party leader, but you're trying to make a few bucks.」
「Hmph, shut it, I don't care if you're a leader or not. But I'm going to make a killing today, too. Raise! You owe me a piece of silver.」
「No, Murphy. Until you pay me back, I'll only accept the real thing.」
It's a shame your party mates don't trust you.
「Ahh? I don't have anything on me right now. What do you want from me?」
「I want you to give me four high-potions. I'm out of them right now.」
「I don't have a choice, but I don't have four of them, and they're too expensive. One.」
「Three.」
「Two.」
「Three. Take it or you'll pay me back.」
「Shit. Alec, lend me the High Potion.」
「You shouldn't try to borrow everything from others. I'll consider it if you make me some soup.」
「I don't think I can cook. And a bowl of soup is gold at most. It's a rip-off.」
「Then you'd better give up, Murphy.」
I was about to walk out the door when I realized I couldn't deal with Murphy's nagging, but then I remembered that Ada had put me in charge of the inn. I didn't agree to it, so it's an invalid contract, but I don't think that kind of talk will work with that Ada. She's a level 39 ex-Yankee landlady, so she's a bit scary indeed.
「Damn it, let's call it a night」「Let's stop, let's stop」
Murphy threw the card, and his friends agreed.
「That's fine. I'm going to go buy some high potions. By the way, Murphy, what's with your hand?」
「Fufu, it's a pig.」
「Whaaaｔ!? I'll be damned. You even applied for a loan to bet on it.」
「That's what psychological warfare is all about, brother. You don't think I'd go into debt to bet on that?」
「Well, yeah. But if your opponent accepts and you lose, you're screwed.」
「That's a matter of probability. When a man is in a game, he has to go for it. Especially when you're playing poker with a woman and you're losing.」
「There's that stupid Murphy betting sermon again.」
「Don't listen to him. You'll start losing again.」
「And you'll never be popular. I was too young to believe it.」
「What are you saying? Goddess of luck smiles on those who don't give up until the end.」
「It's bad enough that you sometimes say things that sound sane.」
「Really」
Murphy's party was also on holiday today, so they went back to their rooms or went out. It's just me and Murphy left.
「Alec, how about a game?」
「I'll pass. You don't have any money to bet.」
「Ohhh, how did you know?」
「No, I've been watching you for a while now.」
「You don't get it. I'm the one who's got the money... oh, look who's here, Alec.」
Murphy says, looking at the entrance to the inn.
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