Apparently, Sherry has given up on becoming Master Smith. I need to somehow raise her spirit. What should I do?
“Even if I become a Master Smith, it will only add to your troubles now that I’m already a slave.”
Huh? What was that about? So a slave becoming a Master Smith is considered troublesome? And because I’m pushing her to acquire Master Smith job, I might end up looking suspicious.
“Come on, don’t worry. I’ll manage it somehow, if it comes to that.”
So don’t say something like that. Sherry is worried about causing trouble to me, if she becomes a Master Smith. So I can’t be selfish now. I must not push it any further.
“If master says it’ll be alright, it’ll be alright. There won’t be any problem.” “Okay.”
Roxanne tries to encourage her as well. I wonder where this faith of hers is coming from. But that’s right, I will certainly take care of it.
“Well then, let’s get done with floor 6 and move on to floor 7. I’ll be wiping out the monsters. Sherry will not take part in the attack. You will coordinate with Roxanne, and focus on defending and dodging.”
Monsters on floor 6 can not be killed in one blow by a Villager Lv4. Having confirmed that, we proceed to floor 7. Because we have been going to floor 7 as of late, we have the floor map with us.
I open up bonus points distribution interface, and allocate points toward increasing Gained Experience option. Increased experience is equally distributed among all party members. It’ll help Sherry in leveling up quickly. At the same time, I lower Crystallization Speed option. Quick earning is not our objective for now.
I reduce jobs back to 5, and cancel Sex Maniac. Although I want to select Cook job, for the monsters here on floor 7 of Quratar town labyrinth being Slow Rabbits, Plating of Alchemist is indispensable.
“Sherry, approach from near the wall.” “Okay.”
Coordinating with each other, Roxanne and Sherry proceed per map. Three monsters appear. Roxanne takes on two of them while Sherry takes on one. There’s nothing for me to do here. However, because there are monster groups of four on floor 8, we can’t move on further up for now.
Against lone monsters or groups of two, Roxanne engages them from the front while Sherry attacks them from the side. Although spear would be better for situations such as this, it is difficult to change the weapon one is used to, so she’s still sticking to using hammer.
“I’m getting used to it somewhat.” “Yes, the more we spend time cooperating, the better it will get. I look forward to it, Sherry.” “I should be the one saying that. I look forward to it.”
Actually, it’s more comfortable being rearguard compared to vanguard. Because vanguard has to slash, stab, and hit from the front. The workload of both is uneven. Vanguard’s is more.
Every mistake is painful, for you receive enemy’s attack. If you’re not skilled enough, you might even die. There’s an enormous pressure from the responsibility of guarding the party. Being vanguard is really difficult.
Rearguard is not burdened with all that. If I’m in the rear, and there’s no danger of getting completely wiped out, I might even go to the top floor of the labyrinth. But there might be a strong monster there that attacks entire party at the same time with its magic.
If I go to buy a slave vanguard, even the Slave Merchant would be reluctant, for its scary capturing one. No matter how much I’m grateful to Roxanne, it’s not enough.
“Roxanne, thank you so much.” “Yes…?” “By the way, does Sherry know about various types of magic?”
Turning away from Roxanne, who is still confused, I ask Sherry.
“I don’t know the details of Wizard job, but there are three standard types of magic. Area of Effect attack magic, single target attack magic, and defence magic.”
Storm, Ball, and Wall are three different types of magic. So I couldn’t cast fourth type of magic because there wasn’t any?
“Master, the sun will be up soon.”
After Roxanne says that, we continue with the exploration. Roxanne’s body clock is pretty accurate. Because I have been dependent on clocks all my life, I lose track of it many a time. Especially when exploring floors, like now.
Status of early morning exploration so far. I open up party job settings interface, and check Sherry’s jobs out.
Villager Lv5, Explorer Lv10, Herbalist Lv1, Warrior Lv1, Merchant Lv1, Shrine Maiden Lv1, Swordsman Lv1, Monk lv1 (TL: I wanted to use Shaman instead of Shrine Maiden, but it would be mentioned later in the chapter that this job is female-only, so I went with Shrine Maiden.)
Villager job is up to Lv5 now. But there’s still no Master Smith job. Was Villager Lv5 not one of the conditions? But for Warrior and other jobs, Villager Lv5 was the condition, it seems.
“What? There’s such a job as Shrine Maiden?”
Oops. I inadvertently say it out loud.
“…”
Sherry looks at me somewhat sad. Roxanne’s expression was contrastingly warm. What? Am I a pitiable child now?
Damn it! Not again. Not the same mistake again. To people around me, I might look like some crazy guy saying weird things.
Without any delay, I call for Warp in my mind, and escape to Adventurer Guild of Quratar town. Because we need to buy bread for breakfast, I didn’t warp directly to our home.
“Sherry, has your hair always been like that?”
We return home and take our equipment off. When Sherry takes her cap off, her hair was strangely soft. It look more fluffy now. It look light.
“That’s right, it seems to be more in volume than yesterday.”
Roxanne’s hand reaches out for Sherry’s hair.
“Is that so?” “Ah, it’s so soft.” “Thank you.” “Master, it’s so soft.”
I noticed it when I washed her hair last night.
“Can I touch it?” “Yes, please.”
Having received Sherry’s acknowledgment, I first caress Roxanne’s head gently. I don’t want to make same mistake a second time. Order is absolute.
“Ah~”
When I place my hand on Roxanne’s head, she gets bashfully delighted. Cute. Touching Roxanne feels so good. Perks of living in this world.
While my right hand is caressing Roxanne’s head, I place my left hand on Sherry’s head. So fluffy.
“Oh, it really is soft. Your hair is so good.” “Th-Thank you.”
Last night, it felt more stiff. I wonder if it became light after having been washed last night. If so, how long has she been amassing dust in her hair? Perhaps she never washed her head since she was born.
Now that I think about it, Roxanne’s ears feel more fluffy puffy as well. Before breakfast, I took my time playing with Roxanne’s ears and Sherry’s hair.
“By the way, is there any job called Shrine Maiden?”
During breakfast, I bring up the topic of Shrine Maiden. It should be fine now to talk about it.
“…”
Although I thought it was fine to talk about it, Sherry is looking down with a sad expression on her face.
“Ah, no, I suddenly remembered something from a while back.” “What I said back in the labyrinth?” “No, no. It’s different.” “…” “No, no, no.”
Even going to the extent of reacting like that?
“Because I failed to become a Master Smith, I wanted to be a Shrine Maiden. But…”
Sherry tells us in a low voice. She is still looking down.
I get it now. I get what you want to say.
She didn’t have Shrine Maiden job until a while ago. So she can’t expect herself to be a Shrine Maiden. Because she couldn’t become a Master Smith, she wanted to be a Shrine Maiden. But she failed even at that. The shock would indeed be great. To apply for a university twice, and fail both times.
“Oh, come on, there’s no need to be so sad.”
Most probably her Villager level was not enough at that time.
“Yes. Because I can work as an Explorer, it’s alright.”
Sherry says that and lifts her head up. Actually, she’s not even an Explorer right now. But this positivity is much appreciated.
Shrine Maiden Lv1 Effects: Small Increase in MP Slight Increase in Intelligence Skill: Group Healing
“Hmm? This shrine maiden skill-” “…” “…Do you know about it?”
Oh shit! I almost stepped on a landmine again. Anyway, talking about Shrine Maiden skill. It’s not ordinary Healing, but Group Healing. A Shrine Maiden can heal entire party.
“Recovery magic.” “So it’s female version of Monk.”
From the sound of it, Shrine Maiden is a female-only job. Actually, it would be funny if men could become Shrine Maiden.
“Male version of Shrine Maiden is Priest.”
Now that I think about it, Roxanne has Monk job, even though she’s a female. Sherry has both Monk and Shrine Maiden jobs.
So a Priest can heal whole party while a Monk can heal only an individual. However, healing an entire party should require considerable expenditure of MP. Full recovery of MP should be slow, which might be a downside of this job. Currently, there’s no monster that uses Area of Effect attacks, so Monk should be enough.
“How can a male become a Priest, and a female become a Shrine Maiden?” “By severing ties. I-I couldnt.”
Indeed.
“Lets me guess… to get something you desire, let go of something you have.” “I went to Holy Orders Guild. Then I traveled to sacred grounds to undertake isolation training of striking through waterfall.” “Striking through waterfall?” “It is believed that when you strike through waterfall, your body and soul unify. In that moment of unification, appears a momentary flash of enlightenment. In order to gain enlightenment, I traveled all the way to the waterfall in sacred grounds, but…”
Sherry averts her eyes. No, she did gain enlightenment, for she has Shrine Maiden job now.
“But it’s alright. I have heard that only half of the applicants succeed in becoming Shrine Maiden. Even if I’m not a Shrine Maiden, there shouldn’t be any problem in exploring labyrinth.” “Of course, there’s no problem.” “Okay.”
Roxanne is comforting her as well.
“Still, they should mention at the time of application that you have to be Villager Lv5 or above.” “Yes?” “No, nothing.”
Even if you travel all the way to the waterfall. Even if you undertake isolation training. Even if you unify your body and soul, and gain enlightenment. If you’re not Villager Lv5, you won’t be able to acquire Shrine Maiden job. The tragedy like Sherry’s can be avoided, if they apply condition of Villager Lv5 or above at the time of application.
“…” “Master, you might not know because you’re an Explorer, but there’s no such thing as level in other jobs, unlike Explorer.”
Because Sherry fell silent, seemingly troubled, Roxanne explains to me.
“Eh? Is that so?” “Yes.” “The more experience an Explorer gains, the bigger his Item Box gets. That indicates his level. However, there’s no such indicator for other jobs, not to mention Villager.”
In my case, when I started in the village, I was Villager Lv1. Now that I think about it, the only way of knowing level is through using Appraisal and Job Settings. That, however, is not accessible to other people. Even Intelligence Card mentions only first job. There’s no indication of level on it. In this world, level is an unknown.
“I see. So it was like that.” “I-It’s alright. Even though master didn’t know that, he did great in the labyrinth, so there’s no problem.” “Exactly, there’s no problem at all.”
I’m being cheered up. Strange indeed. I hadn’t heard much about things like level from other people, but I didn’t feel anything out of place. I never imagined it to be like that.
“Master will remain master, even if you don’t know a thing or two.” “Even if a great scholar were to live a few years in a cask, there would be some things he wouldn’t know when he comes out.”
How can this be considered cheering up?
“W-Well then, let’s continue with exploration of floor 7 of the labyrinth after this.”
Damn it! Are they disappointed that their master is a child at mind?
Exploration of floor 7 of Vale town labyrinth proceeded smoothly. Because we are still not confident, albeit subconsciously, we are still not moving on to floor 8. After spending all morning in exploration of floor 7, the first thing we do in the afternoon is arrive at the boss room.
Because Sherry planned to go shopping in the afternoon, to buy some stuff for her personal use, we had to speed up our exploration. If we clear floor 7 now, we will move on to floor 8 tomorrow morning.
There are several people waiting next to the boss room. A party seems to be in the middle of the battle. Although there are relatively less people in Vale town labyrinth, it doesn’t mean there are no people at all. The boss battle is taking long. Because it’s daytime, there are many people, it seems.
Next to the boss room, there are six people in waiting. All men. Are they all one party?
I try to judge them from the look in their eyes. Their eyes were clearly on Roxanne. Filled with obvious, lecherous look.
Th-These guys! Should I turn them all into Durandal’s rust at this very spot?
But before it could happen, the ongoing boss battle finishes. The door to the boss room opens. After having one last, long look at Roxanne, those men enter the boss room.
“Bastards!” “They were all one party after all.”
Sherry and I both are feeling disgusted.
Not just Roxanne, they were also staring at Sherry’s chest. I assure you, I won’t let it go just like that.
“Such filthy looking eyes.”
Roxanne finally speaks. Of course, it’s not possible for her to not notice it. But then, does she also notice the look in my eyes?
“Never mind.” “Okay.”
Putting Durandal away, I take Recovery Pills out, and pass on to Roxanne and Sherry for emergency situations. Also, I give a Copper Spear to Sherry.
“It would be better to use spear this time.” “Umm… is this for boss battle?” “It indeed is.” “This floor’s boss is Pan, a boss level Escape Goat. Pan is a magic using half-human half-goat. Its magic is considerably strong. Roxanne-san should attack it from close range, and dodge its attacks. Its weakness is its head. It’s considered fairly strong within lower floors. Previous party must have had skill type weapons too, I believe. Normally, it’s better to use skill type weapons with Incantation Delay skill when fighting against Pan.”
Sherry lectures me and I nod.
I see. It’s effective to gather information before fighting a monster. It really helps. Although the floor they appear on may differ from one labyrinth to another, same monsters appear in different labyrinths. So it’s easy to gather information on monsters, even if the labyrinth is relatively new.
However, we never gathered any information on monsters.
Oh well, it can’t be helped. Because I don’t want to disclose any information to others. If you use radar to trace enemy, the enemy can use that to trace back your position. When you can’t tell your left from your right, it’s useless to know what’s on your right.
“It’s great that you know about monsters. I knew Sherry would be a great help.” “Th-Thank you.” “I’ll be relying on you, please take care of me.”
I’ll ask Sherry to collect information from now on. It seems quite useful.
“Yes.” “It’s alright though, because we have a weapon with Incantation Interruption skill.”
I show her Durandal.
“Didn’t this sword have MP Absorption skill?” “It has Incantation Interruption skill too.” “…”
I withdraw it while answering. Sherry first looks at me, then looks at the sword, frightened.
Her gaze intensifies. I’m afraid it might become a habit.
“I-Is there something wrong?” “Umm… I know it’s not impossible for a weapon to have multiple skills attached, but to see one in real, that’s…” “Is it rare?” “When fusion of a monster card with a normal weapon fails, the weapon disintegrates into raw materials. However, when fusion of a monster card with a skill type weapon fails, previously fused monster card is completely lost.”
If fusing a monster card with a weapon that already has a skill attached to it fails, the card that was first fused with the weapon is lost, and the weapon disintegrates into raw materials.
Fusion of a monster card with a weapon results mostly in failure. And if you successfully attach a skill to your weapon, you will not take an even bigger risk for a second skill. Therefore, not many people try to get more than one skills.
Such a risk can only be assumed by a great challenger, who can afford such a big loss. If you try otherwise, you’re an utter fool. Her eyes carry such kind of expression Because I would try it, if there’s a Master Smith who is acquainted with Sherry, who can be trusted.
“Oh, the door is open now. Let’s go.”
Because the door to the boss room has finally opened, I decide to escape from this situation. This is first time someone is escaping to the boss room. I’m sure no one will experience such a thing.
“Very well.” “Okay.”
With the door now open, I rush into the boss room.
“Woah!”
When I’m in, I let out a surprised voice. Equipment are scattered all around in the boss room. On one side, there are swords and armors piled up on the ground. There are gauntlets and boots too, about 20 pairs.
In the middle of that pile of equipment is someone, looking not much different from a beast, standing on two feet, just like a human. A human?
It glances our way and scowls at us. It looks like a human wearing a mask. An eerie face. With two ominous horns growing on its head.
Pan Lv7
Half-human half-beast. A monster with legs and horns of a goat.
The boss moves out of the pile, and the equipment around it roll away. It means the party that went in before us has been completely wiped out by the boss.
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