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Satou here. I’ve heard that in the Showa era, businessmen devoted their whole lives to their company in hopes of getting promoted. In the Heisei era, however, it seems they prefer to prioritize their own lives over promotions. 

“I’ll be back in a month or so. If you have any problems, just talk to General Erthal or any of the nobles I introduced you to last night.” 

“Thank you very much. Travel safely.” 

The next morning, I left the still-drunken labyrinth army trio at the bar and went to the airship landing area at the labyrinth army base to see off Viscount Siemmen. 

After my new employee Miss Miteruna and I watched his airship vanish into the eastern sky, she drove us back to the mansion by carriage. 

“Who are those children, young master?” 

“Ah, I hired them to clean up the empty plots of land.” 

It was still early in the morning, but the kids were already hard at work on our land, which had less weeds than before. 

Looking at them reminded me of the homeless kids I’d seen in an alley last night while I was playing chase. 

Maybe it was none of my business, but I at least wanted to make sure the people around me were happy. 

(Mostly so that I could enjoy my carefree sightseeing journey, but still.) 

“Miss Miteruna, are there any orphanages in this city?” 

“Please just call me Miteruna, young master. If you speak to your servants so politely, there are some who would think less of you or even try to take advantage.” 

“Thanks for the warning. I’ll just call you Miteruna, then.” 

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be called “young master,” either, but she said that was the standard for servants. 

“As far as orphanages go…” 

According to Miteruna, Labyrinth City had one orphanage at the explorers’ guild and one for each major temple, for a total of eight. 

However, as I’d seen the day before, the temple-affiliated orphanages took in only “good-looking” children, and the explorers’ guild orphanage took in only orphaned children of garnet explorers. 

“There used to be a royal orphanage as well, but the director was found to be embezzling the kingdom-provided funds, so he was executed and the orphanage destroyed.” 

Miteruna added that she had a friend who’d worked at that orphanage. 

According to this friend, the embezzlement itself was a false charge, brought about because the director refused to pay a bribe demanded by a government official. 

Of course, this official had already been dealt with by the noble in green, aka Counselor Poputema. 

“So it should be possible to rebuild the orphanage, then.” 

“…Yes.” 

Miteruna hesitation before agreeing prompted me to asked her why. 

“Well, the current viceroy does not seem to be too interested in welfare-related issues…” 

She said it would be all but impossible to revive the public orphanage unless the viceroy was replaced or a highly influential noble pushed for it. 

“Not yet, then, I suppose…,” I murmured, gazing at the map. 

 

“You were out all night, and now you bring a woman home with you?!” 

“Guilty.” 

As soon as we arrived back at the house, Arisa and Mia charged over, looking like they’d been up all night. 

They must have stayed up waiting for me, even though I told them I might not be back. 

“This is the new head maid.” 

“Huh? The one you mentioned yesterday?” 

“Mrrr?” 

I explained that we’d been seeing off Viscount Siemmen, then made my way inside. 

“Welcome hooome?” 

“Welcome back, sir!” 

Tama and Pochi scampered over and clung to my legs. 

As they were in the middle of rubbing up against me for head pats like usual, they noticed Miteruna and froze. 

“Mew?!” 

“Stranger danger, sir.” 

The pair scurried behind me to hide. 

“Don’t be rude to our guest, you two,” Liza scolded. 

“Welcome home, master.” 

“Master, your safe return is celebrated, I report.” 

Once the whole group had gathered in the living room, I did a round of introductions. 

“This is Miteruna, the head maid who’ll be in charge of the house.” 

“A pleasure to meet you. Humble as I am, I will work my hardest to keep the house running smoothly. Thank you for having me.” 

Noticing her ruler-straight back, the girls all adjusted their posture as well. 

“I am the youngest elf of Bolenan Forest, Misanaria Bolenan, daughter of Lamisauya and Lilinatoa.” 

“A-an elf?” 

When Mia introduced herself, Miteruna gave a little utterance of surprise. 

“I am Nana, I introduce. I belong to master, I declare.” 

“Are you the lady of the house, then?” Miteruna asked. 

“She is like family to me, but no, she’s not my wife or lover or anything,” I quickly responded, correcting this misunderstanding. 

Mia pointed at herself and announced “Fiancée,” but fortunately Miteruna took it as a joke. 

“Hello, I’m Lulu. I take care of cooking, cleaning, and such.” 

“So you have another maid?” 

“Ah, she’s like family, too, not a servant. Besides, I do some of the cooking as well.” 

Miteruna inclined her head to Lulu. “My apologies, Mistress Lulu.” 

“M-Mistress?!” Lulu quickly flailed her arms in front of her face, as if to wave off the title. 

It was cute to see a different side of her. 

“Tama.” 

“Pochi’s Pochi, sir.” 

“My name is Liza. We are master’s slaves, so if you have any jobs that need to be done, please call on us.” 

The beastfolk girls seemed nervous. 

“These girls are part of my family, too. Please treat them as such.” 

“Your slaves are…?” Miteruna repeated in confusion, but she didn’t seem to want to disagree with her employer, so she simply bowed in quiet acknowledgment. 

Then, last and most obnoxious… 

“I’m Arisa. Lulu and I are master’s future wives!” 

The other kids all joined in on this declaration, too. 

Among them, I heard Lulu murmur, “Just five more years…” Evidently, she was taking our agreement to marry if neither of us was taken in five years very seriously. 

Miteruna smiled at everyone. “You all seem quite close,” she remarked. 

Once introductions were taken care of, I started explaining the mansion’s facilities to Miteruna. 

“This room—it couldn’t be…” 

“It’s a bathroom. The drainage system isn’t finished yet, so we’ll have to employ someone to take care of it soon.” 

Miteruna stared at the tub in surprise. Maybe she was a fan of baths, too. 

“You’re welcome to use it, too, of course.” 

“Th-thank you…very much.” 

Huh? Her voice sounded strangely stiff. 

Maybe it was just my imagination, but her expression seemed a little pained. 

“I can’t believe such a nightmarish contraption exists in a city where water is so precious…” 

She muttered under her breath, but I heard it with my “Keen Hearing” skill. 

Did she actually hate baths, then? 

“S-so, young master, where might the well be?” 

Miteruna pulled herself together, straightening her expression. 

As the head maid, she must be interested in the water source. 

I led her out the back door of the kitchen and over to the well. 

“The pulley is broken, so when I hire someone to add the drainage channels, I’ll ask them to repair that as well.” 

“The bucket and rope seem fine, at least. Is it all right if I take a look at the well water?” 

“I’ll get iiit?” 

“Pochi’ll help, too, sir!” 

As soon as Miteruna removed the cover and picked up the rope and bucket, Tama and Pochi zipped over to help. 

They probably wanted to prove useful to their new friend. 

“Oh, no, I couldn’t ask you young ladies to—” 

“Don’t worryyy?” 

“We can do it, sir!” 

Miteruna seemed uncertain, but with Tama and Pochi raring to go, I asked her to let them help. 

The pair pulled up the water in a matter of moments and handed it to Miteruna, who thanked them. 

However, she almost dropped it when they gave it to her. Maybe she wasn’t very strong. 

“Oh? You pulled up this much so quickly? What remarkable young ladies you are.” 

“Hee-hee?” 

“Aw, I’m blushing, sir.” 

Tama and Pochi wriggled bashfully. 

Miteruna scooped some of the water into her palm and sipped it. 

“This is very clean water.” 

It looked like our water quality had passed her test. 

“Next, the stove…” 

We went back into the kitchen. 

“It appears to be out of coal. Could you point me toward the storehouse?” 

“I’m sorry,” said Lulu. “We haven’t bought any coal yet.” 

Miteruna looked flummoxed. “I shall have to go and buy some before breakfast, then.” 

“E-erm, what is the coal for exactly?” 

“Why, the stove, of course.” 

At that, Lulu slid the movable countertop aside, revealing the heating magic tool within. 

The scent of warm milk filled the air. She must have been making milk porridge for our breakfast. 

“In our house, we use this for cooking.” 

“I-is that a magic tool?” 

“Yes. You can adjust the heat, too. It’s more convenient than the stove.” 

Lulu looked a little proud as Miteruna reacted in surprise. 

“A magic tool installed beneath the counter… Are the other cooking implements magic tools, too?” 

“Yes, this one is an oven magic tool, and this is a water-drawing magic tool. We use a magic tool to heat up the bath, as well, so I can show you how to use that later.” 

Lulu showed Miteruna each of the magic tools, and she reacted with surprise every time. 

Viscount Siemmen’s house probably had plenty of magic cooking tools, too, but these ones were my own design. They were modeled after the built-in systems of Japanese kitchens, so they probably didn’t look like most other magic tools. 

“A magic tool for drawing water…? You use such valuable water stones on a regular basis?” 

“It’s time-consuming to go to the well each instance, after all.” 

We used only about one pebble-size water stone a month; the daily cost breakdown wasn’t too high. 

My Well Bag was a Space Magic item, so it worked completely differently, even though the end result was the same. 

“There’s a water stone built into the tub, too. There’s no need to draw water for a bath.” 

I demonstrated how to fill the bath with water. 

“…Remarkable.” 

Putting magic into the circuits that made the water flow, Miteruna murmured in wonderment. 

So she didn’t actually hate baths—just the amount of work that usually went into bringing in the water and boiling it. 

Come to think of it, taking baths in the places we stayed in Seiryuu City and the old capital was such a production that it took several men to prepare everything. 

Aside from that, since this was still a newly bought house and all, the tour ended fairly quickly. 

I made sure to tell her not to go into the basement attached to my office, since that was for teleporting. 

“What a wonderful home you have. I’ve never seen a place so thoroughly cleaned and repaired. My predecessor must have been very experienced.” 

Miteruna gave a sigh of admiration. 

It was actually Lelillil’s magic that did all this, but I didn’t want to ruin the moment for her, so I kept my mouth shut. 

Instead, I handed Miteruna a pouch of silver and copper coins. She would probably need some capital with which to buy goods and supplies. 

“Young master, a home-owning noble can buy things on credit, resulting in no need to entrust such a large sum of money to your servant.” 

Oh right. I guess they’d had a credit system in the old capital, too. 

Still, it was only twenty gold coins’ worth, so I had her keep it just in case. 

The other kids didn’t seem to have eaten yet, either, so we went to the dining room for a late breakfast. 

“So it’s milk porridge for breakfast today, huh?” 

“Mm, with honey.” 

“It is sweet and delicious, I report.” 

There seemed to be a little bit of lemon juice mixed in, cutting the sweetness for a refreshing taste that was the perfect way to start the day. 

“We received a delivery of fresh milk this morning, so I decided to put it to use.” 

“It’s delicious, Lulu.” 

She blushed and smiled at my compliment. 

“Mistress Lulu, is this color all right for the gratin?” 

“Y-yes, that’s fine!” 

I’d invited Miteruna to join us for breakfast, but she politely declined; it went against her personal policy for a servant to dine at the same table as their master. 

She was every bit as serious as her appearance suggested. 

Though she had an uncompromising nature, she would make a very trustworthy employee. 

“Take this green plate to Mia, please.” 

“Understood.” 

Instead of bacon, Mia’s dish had mushroom slices and spinach. 

The beastfolk girls still seemed hungry after the porridge, so they dug in to the gratin right away. 

“Ouchie?” 

“Sho hot, shir.” 

Tama and Pochi started eating too fast and quickly reached for the water. 

They’d probably been careless because the outside of the gratin wasn’t very hot. 

“It’s hot on the inside, so be careful.” 

“Aaaye?” 

“Mr. Bacon is hiding inside, sir!” 

Keeping an eye on the beastfolk girls, I started on my own gratin. 

It was deliciously rich. Like with the porridge, adding fresh Celivera dullcattle milk seemed to make everything taste better. 

“I used the dairy we got from the ranch.” 

“It’s very good. Shall we make some pastries with it sometime, too?” 

“Yes, master!” 

Lulu beamed, so I smiled back at her, then set about finishing my breakfast before it got cold. 

While we were relaxing in the living room so Miteruna could eat breakfast, Nana came back from checking in on the kids. 

“Master, the larvae have awakened, I report.” 

They’d started to regain consciousness the previous morning, but I gave them some nutritional supplement potion with a sleep-inducing agent so that they’d recover more quickly. 

“Thank you for saving us, Mr. Noble.” 

“““Thank you.””” 

As soon as I entered the room, the kids all prostrated themselves and thanked me. 

Thanks to their youthful vigor and the magic recovery potions, they seemed to be all right to get out of bed now. 

At that moment, Miteruna rejoined us, having finished her breakfast. 

That seemed a little fast. She really ought to savor her food more. 

“Young master, are these children your family, too?” 

“No, we’ve just been looking after them here.” 

I briefly explained the situation that led to us nursing them back to health. 

“Please, Mr. Noble, let us make it up to you!” 

The eldest child gazed at me earnestly, but Miteruna stepped between us. 

“Know your place. Working in a noble’s mansion is not as easy as you may think. If you simply hope to make a living, seek work elsewhere.” 

“It’s not that! We just want to thank him.” 

The eldest kid responded strongly to Miteruna’s cold words. 

“Mr. Noble’s the only person who saved us from dying unwanted.” 

“He healed all our hurtful pain.” 

“He was nice t’us.” 

“He fixed my leg that wouldn’t work.” 

“We were happy!” 

The other kids supported the eldest’s statement with their limited vocabulary. 

Miteruna simply stared back at the children quietly. 

For some reason, my kids were gathered by the door, too, watching with bated breath. 

“…Very well.” 

Miteruna sighed and turned to me. 

“Young master, if you’ll permit it, I would like to temporarily hire these children for some odd jobs. I will take care to teach them the minimum level of proper manners, too.” 

Judging by her willingness to take on all this trouble, Miteruna was actually quite kind. 

“Sure, let’s hire them. We’ll have to get them some work clothes, though.” 

“Very well. I shall go to a secondhand store later to purchase appropriate clothing.” 

“Great, thanks.” 

Not long after, a bell rang at the door. Miteruna went to answer it and then returned with a letter. It was a message from the guild, saying that our bronze badges were ready to be picked up. 

Just as I was reading this letter, someone else arrived, so I brought them into the living room. 

“Ayaumeee?” 

“Mr. Kajiro, too, sir!” 

The new visitors were the Saga Empire samurai duo Kajiro and Ayaume. 

“Tama, Pochi. Have you been training?” 

“Aaaye?” 

“Your leg, sir!” 

“Oh, this? Yes, I’m afraid a monster in the labyrinth took a big bite out of me.” 

Kajiro chuckled lightly, but his left leg was missing from the knee down. 

“Does it huuurt?” 

“Pain, pain, go away, sir.” 

Tama and Pochi tearfully approached his leg, casting a little charm on his injury. 

“You’re both very kind. Don’t worry—it doesn’t hurt anymore.” 

Kajiro smiled gently at the pair. 

“As long as you still have your life, you can surely recover from anything, I declare.” 

“That’s right! I couldn’t call myself a samurai if I let a little thing like this bring me down.” 

He responded to Nana’s encouragement with bravado. 

“I have a friend who’s an excellent magic tool craftsman, so I’ll see if he can’t make a prosthetic leg for you, Sir Kajiro.” 

“Thank you. I’ll take you up on your kindness, if you don’t mind, Sir Pendragon.” 

I thought I caught a glimmer of something in Kajiro’s and Ayaume’s eyes as they bowed their heads, but I pretended not to have noticed. 

“I’ve requested Sir Kajiro and Miss Ayaume here to keep the house safe. Miteruna, could you show them to their rooms?” 

The children didn’t seem to need any more nursing, so surely three adults could keep an eye on the children we’d hired for weeding and cleaning. 

Because the carriage we had here couldn’t carry eight people, we decided to take a stroll to the explorers’ guild. 

 

“This is strange, indeed.” 

On a slightly elevated platform near the west guild, I spotted the noble in green gazing at the crowds around the street stalls. 

For once, he wore a peevish look instead of his usual smile. 

“It shouldn’t be this weak, indeed…” 

What was weak? 

We were fairly far away from him, so I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I was a little curious to find out. 

“Damn it!” 

A young explorer came from the direction the noble in green was looking in, scratching his head with one hand. 

“What’re you yelling about?” 

“Milinda’s sake is getting watery again.” 

“The sake there’s always weak, isn’t it?” 

“I’m tellin’ ya: It’s gotten even weaker!” 

The noble in green couldn’t have been talking about the sake, right…? 

I looked back in his direction, but he’d already disappeared into the crowd. 

Judging by the marker on my radar, he was heading over to the street stalls to investigate. 

“Unhand me, fiend! Thou art a brute!” 

My “Keen Hearing” skill heard Princess Meetia shouting from the direction of the west guild. 

Looking that way, I saw Princess Meetia flailing angrily in Sokell’s grasp. 

The squire was guarding her, but she was too timid to stop a noble like Sokell. 

I couldn’t just ignore a friend in trouble. 

Closing the map, I told my group that I was going on ahead, then sped toward the guild building, prepared for trouble. 

“Sir Satou!” Princess Meetia shouted my name shrilly when she noticed me. 

When our eyes met, Sokell’s face twisted with hatred. “You ought to treat a lady more gently, sir.” 

He had Princess Meetia’s slender arms tight in his grasp, so I pried off his hand one finger at a time, taking care not to break them. 

Distressingly, he left a hand-shaped mark on Princess Meetia’s arms. 

“Y-you violent little brat!” Sokell glared at me, nursing the hand I’d pried away. 

What a rude thing to say after I was polite enough not to break his fingers. 

“What’s going on here, indeed?” 

“L-Lord Poputema!” 

The noble in green had appeared. 

“I believe you are meant to be under house arrest, indeed.” 

At that, Sokell growled and stomped off furiously. 

“What a troublesome fellow, indeed,” the noble in green murmured, but he was watching him leave with a satisfied smile. 

Somehow, his words and actions never quite seemed to match his expressions. 

“I thank thee, Sir Satou.” 

“Not at all. I’m glad I was able to be of some help.” 

I smiled at the princess. 

“Are you all right, Your Highness?” 

“Mm, heal. ? ? …” 

When my group caught up, they saw the bruises on Princess Meetia’s arms and let out cries of concern. 

“What happened, exactly?” I asked. 

“Harrumph. The cur continues to propose marriage to me, though I have declined many a time.” 

As the princess sighed glumly, she was bathed in the light of Mia’s Healing Magic. 

“I thank thee as well, Lady Misanaria.” 

“Just Mia.” 

Once Arisa found out what happened, she scolded the squire until the stern-faced knight arrived from the direction of the nobles’ quarters and led the two away. 

 

“Hello, we’ve come to get our updated badges. Is this window all right?” 

Making my way to a service window at the busy west guild, I held up the letter we’d received. 

“No, please proceed to the guildmaster’s office. An attendant will guide you there.” 

“Yessss, it’s all happening!” 

Arisa got excited about the receptionist’s words, pumping her fists in the air. 

Her triumphant shouting startled the receptionist, who shrank away. 

“Arisa, try to keep it down when we’re in public, please.” 

I dealt Arisa a light bop on the head. 

“Ziiip?” 

“Arisa, you hafta zip your lips, sir.” 

Having been scolded by even Tama and Pochi, Arisa pouted, so Liza lifted her under one arm. 

She hung limp as a corpse, like Tama and Pochi usually did. 

“I apologize for all the fuss.” 

The guild employee accepted my apology with a wry smile. 

Before long, an official-looking woman in her thirties approached us. 

She was attended by two staff members, meaning she must have been fairly important. 

“Are you Sir Pendragon?” 

“Yes, that’s me.” 

“Hello. I’m Ushana, the guildmaster’s secretary. Please follow me to the guildmaster’s office.” 

Although Arisa’s reaction had been excessive, I didn’t think just anyone would get to meet the guildmaster just for earning their bronze badges. 

This was probably about the rumors I’d heard in the bar that we had acquired our spoils through some foul means. 

We followed Miss Ushana up the stairs. It appeared that the guildmaster’s office was in one of the spires of the west guild. 

“Guildmaster, I’ve brought Sir Pendragon and his party members.” 

Miss Ushana entered, while the rest of us waited outside the door. 

Then, before long… 

“Sir Pendragon, do come in. Alone.” 

…an old woman’s voice that must have been the guildmaster’s invited me into the room. 

Then a cane came flying toward me. 

It was as sharp as a spear on the end, jabbing toward my eyes the second I opened the door. 

The strike was sharper than even Liza’s spear, but I parried it lightly with one hand. 

The attacker swung the deflected cane around and attacked me again from the opposite side. 

What is this, extreme cane fighting? 

The long cane kept coming at me, so I kept blocking and parrying. 

What was this person trying to do? 

The unprompted attack finally stopped when Miss Ushana appeared from the next room over. 

“Guildmaster! If you don’t stop this mischief, Lady Sebelkeya will scold you again!” 

“Tch, and it was just getting interesting… Right, Satou?” 

The person who’d been attacking me with the long cane was the guildmaster. 

She was an eighty-seven-year-old woman, which was why I’d just been dodging and blocking her attacks without striking back. 

She was a level-52 magic user, with the “Blaze Magic” and “Light Magic” skills. 

“My apologies, but I don’t particularly enjoy being ambushed.” 

I wished she would follow the example of the serenely composed head priestess of the Tenion Temple instead of acting so immature. 

“Oh, come now. Surely a man who spent days in the labyrinth on his very first trip and recovered more than a hundred cores must be a lover of battle?” 

Excuse me? 

The number wasn’t the problem. It was the fact that she said I did it. 

“My party members are the ones who did the fighting. I was just watching over them.” 

“Ha! Who would believe such rubbish? Even if that was true, the monsters must’ve been too weak to be worth fighting them yourself, right?” 

No, that wasn’t why I didn’t fight. I stayed out of it because I knew they could defeat those monsters without my help. 

“Besides, isn’t that sword made by old Dohal? That geezer wouldn’t give a sword he crafted himself to just anybody. If you want to hide your strength, you’d better cover that seal with some cloth or something.” 

I was already hiding enough of my strength. I didn’t want to have to hide my sword, too. 

“Elder Dohal is a drinking buddy of mine.” 

I couldn’t tell her that I had made the sword along with Elder Dohal. 

As soon as I said “drinking buddy,” the guildmaster’s eyes glinted like a predator spotting its next prey. 

“Is that right? Then perhaps you and I should be drinking buddies, too?” 

“Certainly. I’d be happy to provide some drinks and snacks, if you like.” 

I wasn’t thrilled about her battle-crazy nature, but she did seem to have the same air of likability as Elder Dohal. 

While I wouldn’t want to deal with a complaining geriatric, I had the feeling I’d get to hear a lot of old stories about Labyrinth City if I drank with this person. 

In short, I’d made my second drinking friend in Labyrinth City after General Erthal. 

Still, I’d like to hang out with some men my age, to trade stupid stories with once in a while. 

“All right, let’s party!” 

“Hold it.” 

The guildmaster’s excitement was halted by Miss Ushana, who’d returned carrying a box. 

“First, please award these guild badges to their recipients.” 

“Tch. Fine, fiiine.” 

The guildmaster grumbled as she accepted the box from Miss Ushana. 

At that moment… 

“Guildmaster! That Pendragon fellow is here, they say!” 

A haughty-looking woman burst into the room, shrieking hysterically. 

I’d seen her face somewhere before. 

“Knock before entering, please.” 

“Pendragon! This is the brat Lord Sokell spoke of!” 

Ignoring Miss Ushana, the haughty woman pointed at me and shouted. How rude. 

Her words jogged my memory, though: She was the staff member I’d seen with Sokell in the west guild before. 

“Guildmaster! Why is Pendragon receiving a bronze badge after he committed fraud?!” 

“Because you’re the only one who claims he committed fraud, and you have no proof.” 

The woman protested loudly, but the guildmaster was dismissive. 

“If you didn’t commit fraud, then prove it by submitting to the analyzer’s test! You’ll do that, right, Pendragon?! If you didn’t lie, then you have to prove it!” 

The way she was repeating herself was annoying, but I’d undergone a similar analysis from an assistant secretary after I saw a hydra in Kuhanou County, so I didn’t mind as long as it didn’t take too long. 

“All right, I can—” 

“Just a moment, Satou.” 

I was about to agree, but the guildmaster stopped me firmly. 

“You’re asking a noble, with a title no less, to undergo an analyst’s examination? Do you have any idea what you’re saying?” 

The guildmaster was so furious that I could practically see flames burning in her eyes. 

The haughty young woman turned pale and took a step back. 

“But… But… But…” 

While the woman repeated the same word like a broken record, the guildmaster continued. 

“Your request is an insult to a vassal of another lord. I presume you are prepared to crush your family’s trading company’s reputation?” 

The word insult reminded me of something I’d heard in the class for new nobility in the Muno Barony. 

Having a noble to undergo an analyst’s examination meant that you didn’t trust them even if they swore on their family name and the name of King Yamato, making it an insult of the highest order. 

“Or is it that you’re trying to provoke young Satou into setting the dishonorable precedent that he has taken an analyst’s examination? Are you setting him up for an even bigger trap?” 

The guildmaster glared at the haughty woman with enough intensity to turn her into stone. 

It looked like the woman might faint from the stress at any moment. 

“N-no, that’s…” 

“Out with it, then! If you are truly in the employ of this guild, you should prioritize the interests of the guild over those of your lover!” 

That was the final blow: The woman collapsed to the floor, practically frothing at the mouth. 

“Get her out of here. She’s being dismissed from her post. Ushana, make up some reason on the paperwork, please.” 

“Yes, ma’am.” 

I guess in a feudal society, you could fire people for any reason you wanted. 

“What? Hurry up and file the paperwork.” 

The guildmaster frowned at Ushana, who smiled and didn’t budge. 

“I shall go as soon as you award Sir Pendragon his new guild badge.” 

“Oh, fine. We’ll party after that.” 

The guildmaster opened the box, producing enough guild badges for our whole group. 

“Satou, take this garnet badge.” 

Huh? I thought we were getting bronze badges? 

“Oh, don’t look so surprised. That straitlaced noble has been talking up your achievements to anyone who will listen.” 

Oh right. Viscount Siemmen had gone to great lengths to get a rescue party together for me. 

“I believe he called you the ‘Savior of Muno City’ and the ‘Demon Slayer of Gururian City,’ no? One of our best men was there in that Gururian City incident. Do you remember him?” 

Nobody came to mind. It must have been one of the people who were fighting the demon before we showed up. 

Could it be the warrior with the big shield who was fighting alongside Sir Ipasa? 

“We got a report from him, too. Lesser or no, a party that defeated a demon without a scratch deserves more than a wood or bronze badge.” 

“Still, a mithril badge would be too much,” Ushana added. “You’d have to at least defeat a middle-grade demon for that.” 

“Hmph, if only the guild board of trustees would’ve agreed to it, you could’ve set a new record.” 

I guess the guildmaster had planned to give us all mithril badges instead. 

Silently, I thanked the trustees for their good sense. 

I heard Arisa mutter, “Tch, damn trustees!” as she peered in through the crack of the door, but if you ask me, we were better off this way. 

“Now, about the garnet badge…” 

Miss Ushana explained our new badges. 

Of course, the entire group received their garnet badges, not just me. 

Normally, they were awarded only to bronze-badge explorers who brought back high-quality cores to the guild over a long period of time, but they’d made an exception for us. 

It often took five to ten years, so just getting these garnet badges seemed like it would attract trouble. 

“Are you sure about this? We’ve only gone into the labyrinth once.” 

“The guildmaster has the authority to give out garnet badges and lower as she wishes. It must be within reason, of course, but we’ve yet to award any this year. I’m sure there will be no complaints from the royal capital.” 

Miss Ushana went on to explain the benefits of our new garnet badges. 

There were all kinds of little perks, like getting half off all guild handling charges and rent through the guild. 

I had no shortage of money, though, so I didn’t really care about that. 

“Finally, and this is the most important point…” 

Why didn’t you start with it, then? 

“…anyone with a garnet badge is considered a quasi-noble. Unlike your title of hereditary knight, it does not come with a noble’s special privileges, but it does grant the holder social status equivalent to that of a knight. This is guaranteed by the Shigan king, so it applies not only within the kingdom but in other kingdoms as well.” 

Of course, this applied to demi-humans as well as humans. That meant that inns and such could no longer refuse service to the beastfolk girls, even in a prejudiced place like Seiryuu City. 

“That’s quite remarkable.” 

“You may already be aware of this, but although we are called the explorers’ guild, we are actually managed by the Shiga Kingdom department of labyrinth resources. The guildmaster also takes on the role of the minister of labyrinth resources, which grants her the status of an honorary count, allowing her the authority to grant such privileges.” 

I thanked Ushana for her explanation. 

I’d already known the first half of that, but the fact that the guildmaster was considered a minister was news to me. 

I had assumed the position was something like middle management, but it was actually much more impressive. 

Out of curiosity, I asked about the mithril badges and learned that they granted the holder an honorary noble title on behalf of the Shigan king. 

“By the way, Satou. Is tonight a good time for that party?” 

“I have a prior engagement this evening. Is tomorrow night all right?” 

I had already made plans to throw a welcome party for Miteruna and the samurai pair that night. 

“Tch, fine. I’ll allow it. By the way, a little birdie told me that young whippersnapper Erthal got his hands on some extremely good liquor…” 

Can you really call General Erthal a “young whippersnapper”? 

She was probably talking about the rum and fairy wine, both of which I had in plentiful stock, so I had no problem giving some to her. 

However, I was a little concerned that she’d given us a special promotion just so she could get her hands on that liquor. 

“Wh-why are you looking at me like that? It’s not what you think. The promotion and the liquor are totally unrelated!” 

I was still a little suspicious of the shifty guildmaster, but Miss Ushana backed her up, so it seemed safe to assume that it was a genuine promotion. 

After I promised that we’d have a drinking party the following night, we left the guildmaster’s office. 

“Yahoooo! We got a special promotion from the guildmasterrr!” 

Arisa jumped in the air, raising both arms triumphantly. 

She had probably restrained herself near the office, since she got scolded before. 

“Hooraaay?” 

“Banzai, sir!” 

Tama and Pochi jumped up and down, too, so high I thought they might hit their heads on the ceiling. 

You have to know how to control your own strength, you know? 

“I’m happy they seem to have evaluated us highly.” 

“Agreed, Lulu.” 

“Mm, great.” 

“Our high assessment is worthy of celebration, I report.” 

The other girls were staying composed, but they seemed to be happy, too. 

I shared in their delight as we all headed for the exit. 

“Indeeeed?” 

“It’s the green man, sir.” 

Tama and Pochi had spotted the noble in green, who was accompanying some nobles’ children registering at a teller’s window. 

The most stuck-up-looking child was the third son of the viceroy and looked nothing like his older brother Rayleigh. 

There was a wide variety of other children, including a pretty young girl with a saber, an intellectual-looking young man, an exceedingly ordinary-looking boy, and a somewhat crafty-looking boy. 

I didn’t particularly know any of them, so we just proceeded home, discussing plans for the welcome party as we went. 

Then, after a lavish welcome party and the following day’s drinking party with the guildmaster that felt a bit like a witches’ Sabbath, we were finally able to go back into the labyrinth the next day. 

Oh right. I also slipped a letter into the guildmaster’s office with information about the demonic potion stash in Sokell’s basement, including the hidden door leading to the sewers, which I discovered with my map and the Space Magic spell Clairvoyance. 

While I was at it, I also wrote down information about the ghost town on the outskirts of Labyrinth City where demonic potions were hidden and the locations of a few criminal guilds’ stashes, too. 

The guildmaster hated demonic potions, so she would probably take care of the rest. 

 

“Kinda seems like it goes all the way to hell.” 

Arisa stared down into the pitch-black hollow. 

We were in the labyrinth, farther along the path from the barracks that only garnet-badge holders and up were allowed to use. 

In the center of the large cavern was a giant hole almost two hundred feet across, which led down to the middle floor. 

“Looks like you take that elevator below.” 

There was enough room in the elevator for all of us, so we decided to take it and check out the lower area. 

“We won’t get attacked by monsters while we’re on the elevator, will we?” 

“It’ll be fine.” 

Even if we were attacked, I could protect us, and if the elevator broke, I could use “Skyrunning” and Magic Hand to get us back up. 

“It’s a manual elevator?!” 

“Spiiin?” 

“Round and round, sir.” 

Arisa was alarmed, but Tama and Pochi gleefully started turning the crank right away. 

They got tired partway down, so Liza and Nana took over. 

Once we’d passed into a new map area, I used my “Search Entire Map” skill. 

It was a bit smaller than the upper floor but had a similar floor map. 

I picked a random area and investigated, but the only difference was that the average level of monsters was slightly higher, and there were more of them with special abilities. 

It wasn’t like a game, where the monsters’ levels usually went up drastically when you went down a floor. 

Aside from this pit, there was one other route that connected the middle to the upper floors. 

This pit also seemed to continue down to the bottom floor, so I figured I would check it out when nobody else was around. 

“There are a lot of people here,” Lulu observed. 

The elevator landing area of the middle floor contained a supply area for Red Dragon’s Roar members, where several explorers were working busily. 

According to my map, there were only two passages from here: one that was exclusively for the Red Dragon’s Roar party for defeating the floormaster and one that was being blocked by the doctors’ and alchemists’ guilds. 

“Are they transporting moss?” 

“It looks like that moss is a magic potion ingredient.” 

According to Trazayuya’s recipes, that moss could be used as is for lesser recovery potions or concentrated to make intermediate recovery potions. 

“Doesn’t look like we can go anywhere down here.” 

“Yeah, let’s head back up.” 

I might be able to convince them to let us through, but there was no need to do that when there were plenty of other monsters around. 

We piled back onto the elevator and returned to the upper floor. 

 

“Okay, slicing up tough enemies with Space Magic is seriously addictive.” 

Once we got back to the top floor, I led the way to some moderately tough areas, and we spent six days exploring them. 

In each area, we found a safe place to put a teleportation seal stone, as we were still spending nights in the labyrinth vacation home we’d built on our first visit. 

“Arisa, gemfish make good material for armor, so try not to chop them up too much.” 

“Oh dear, really? I’ll just cut them clean in half, then.” 

Gemfish were translucent fish as hard as diamonds. 

Their scales weren’t actually made of diamonds, but since they were transparent and around the same hardness, they were also useful for accessories, magic tools, and so on. 

“Turtle’s neeext?” 

“Bloodred turtles can be cooked and eaten, I report.” 

A gigantic turtle protected by a translucent shell the color of a pigeon-blood ruby followed Tama toward the group. 

This was the final target in the area we were currently conquering. 

“It breathes fire! Be careful! It can’t fly, but it’ll jump and try to head-butt you! And, Mia, its shell is impervious to lesser magic, so be careful!” 

“Mm, got it.” 

Once Arisa gave her orders, the battle began. 

It wasn’t a terribly strong enemy, but since only intermediate magic or higher worked on it, it could be fairly annoying. 

Based on prior experience, it would probably be a long battle, so I amused myself by checking on the house with Space Magic, chatting with friends in Bolenan Forest and the southern islands, and so on while still keeping an eye on the battle. 

Finally, the monster went down. 

“Ugh, leveling up past thirty sure requires a lot of EXP.” 

“Maybe it’s because there aren’t many strong enemies left around here?” 

We’d conquered three areas in the past six days, but the girls were still only level 36. 

Mia required more experience to level up than the others, so in order to keep her from getting left behind, Mia and I took care of most of the monsters in the third area. 

“Well, it’s almost our scheduled return day. Shall we go back up?” 

I’d registered with the explorers’ guild that we’d be back within a trimoon, which was ten days, but I’d told Miteruna and the others that we’d return within seven. 

Besides, since the Dragonpen Trading Company ship had arrived at the trade city Tartumina the day we entered the labyrinth, they would probably be reaching Celivera in the next few days. 

“Come on—let’s at least place a seal slate in the next area before we go back.” 

“All right. Does anyone have requests for our next area?” 

I looked around at the group. 

“Meeeat?” 

“I want some tasty meat, too, sir.” 

“Red meat is of course delicious, but bird meat would be nice, too.” 

“Mrrr, mushrooms.” 

“I’d like somewhere with a good balance between meat and vegetables.” 

“A frog area would be good, so we can bring back meat for the larvae, I request.” 

Um, guys… I was asking what kind of battlefield you’d like, not what kind of ingredients. 

“Master!” 

Arisa, at least, seemed serious. 

“Let’s put seal slates in all of them and then go around one by one! That way we won’t get sick of one kind of food.” 

That made sense food-wise, but it still wasn’t what I was asking. 

“Oh, all right. Want to check out each area in turn, then?” 

This might be naive, but since we were doing this level grinding so that the girls would be better able to survive, I figured they should at least enjoy the process. 

I’d already investigated each of the surrounding areas, so I looked for places that would fit everyone’s requests. 

“Sorry, but there don’t seem to be any areas that are mainly bird monsters.” 

“I see…” 

There was a cockatrice area, but I didn’t want to risk getting turned to stone just for some poultry. 

Still, Liza looked disappointed, so I searched for areas that had some amount of birds. 

“The ancient land beast area has archaeopteryx monsters and many kinds of meat, too. And the area next to it is partially underwater, meaning there should be plenty of plant and aquatic monsters.” 

“Ancient land beast?” 

“Judging by what I saw with the Clairvoyance spell, that seems to be the term for dinosaur-like monsters.” 

The mosasaurus I saw in the southern seas was called an “ancient sea beast,” too. 

The boss of the half-underwater area looked like a giant floating jack-o’-lantern, so we’d be able to make tons of pumpkin pie. 

Using shortcuts by way of Arisa’s and my magic, we finished setting teleport points by the following morning. 

When I opened my map to teleport us back, I saw that an acquaintance of ours was in trouble nearby, so we all went to help. 

 

“Th-thanks for your help.” 

“Try not to speak. It looks like you have a few broken ribs.” 

The people we’d helped were from the labyrinth army. 

Mia’s wide-range healing Water Magic spell rescued the soldiers from the verge of death. 

“Master, we’ve defeated the soldier mantis and the war mantis.” 

“Thank you, Liza. If there are any injured folks who can’t move, give them these potions, please.” 

“Understood.” 

Wearing armbands with a red cross symbol, my group went around calling out for surviving soldiers. 

“Sir Pendragon, you should get out of here fast. They’ll be back with more monsters soon.” 

It was hard to recognize him through the blood, but it was Captain Zeorun, the man who’d been on his way to rescue me at Viscount Siemmen’s request before. 

“Who is ‘they’?” 

“Ludaman and his plunderers.” 

Searching the map, I saw that the person called Ludaman was a little ways away. 

I didn’t think he would come here himself, but that didn’t mean we were safe. 

I saw on my map that there were plunderers running toward us with monsters following them in several of the passages connected to this cave. 

As I continued to watch the map display, I witnessed a number of the people disappear, and the monsters in two of the passages stopped in place. 

They must have been using their underlings as disposable bait for the monsters. 

“Liza, I’ll take care of things here. You and the others go defeat the chain rampages that are coming this way.” 

“Understood, sir. Shall we leave Mia behind to heal?” 

“No, the severely wounded have already been cured, so I can handle the rest with the potions I have on hand.” 

I entrusted my group to defeat the monsters. 

“Don’t be rash, Sir Pendragon. Perhaps they could deal with a handful, but there are countless monsters out there.” 

“It’ll be all right. They know how to fight when they’re greatly outnumbered.” 

There were indeed a lot of monsters coming this way, but they were so weak, they wouldn’t even count as practice for my kids with how strong they were now, so I wasn’t worried. Arisa’s Space Magic was especially good at defense anyway. 

I smiled at the concerned captain and started handing out potions and nutrition supplements so that his soldiers could move again. 

As I was keeping an eye on Ludaman, the Plunderer King, I noticed another acquaintance’s marker nearby. 

They hadn’t made contact yet, and she seemed to have plenty of strong guards with her, but I was prepared to go to her rescue at any time just in case. 





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