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A Harem in the Fantasy World Dungeon Volume 7 Chapter 1 Part 1

Chapter 31: Mixed Blessing

『Equipment』:
Rod of Offerings
Hardened Leather Helmet
Hardened Leather Armor
Hardened Leather Gloves
Hardened Leather Shoes
Sacrificial Misanga

I feel like luck hasn’t been on my side that much lately.

Why is that, you might ask? Well, probably because across the span of the few recent days me and my Party have become a target of Bandit attacks not once, but twice in a row when we entered the Labyrinths in order to explore them and grind our levels, so if that is not being unlucky, then I don’t know what is.

I don’t know what I did to deserve being afflicted with such a string of bad luck. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that ever since I have arrived in this new world and began my new life here, I have rarely experienced what might be call true misfortune; and even if I did happen upon some bumps on my road I always managed to get out of them more or less unscratched?

But if I were so lucky up until now, then this begs another question: why have I suddenly become so unlucky – now of all times? Is it because the alignment of the stars in the sky that have been in my favor so far, shifted? Or maybe some kind of deity went and decided that since I had relatively good luck thus far in my life here, then I needed to have some misfortune in it as well in order to keep things balanced out?

The twelfth and thirteenth floors of the Labyrinths – the floors which we are currently exploring – are known as one of the spots in which Bandits, Thieves and other kinds of outlaws appear in order to prey on the weaker Parties that have just come from the lower floors. Their aim is to trap them when they’re least expecting it; then steal the possessions of others, kill the male Party Members, and kidnap and enslave the female Party Members. That is exactly what happened to us these two times: the Bandits took us for a weak Party worthy of targeting; and each time it was the same scenario of them wanting to lay their filthy hands on my girls while having me killed. Sherry warned me that the higher we are going to go in the Labyrinths, the more frequent such happenings are going to be; but still, I think that this was just too much! If that is how things are on just the twelfth and thirteenth levels of the Labyrinths, then how can I know that it’s not going to only get progressively worse the higher we are going to go?

There is this one famous saying that says: 「What happened two times is going to happen for the third time」, or its variant that says 「Whatever happened twice is going to happen again」, but personally I think that yet another saying: 「Third time’s the charm」 would actually work better here. And if we assume that there is truth in that saying, then that would mean that in the future we’re going to suffer yet another Bandit attack? Now, if that really were to happen then it would be the absolute pinnacle of a bad time, so I guess one of the only ways in which I can counteract that is to be even more vigilant in the Labyrinths than I was before, and quite literally have eyes all around my head the entire time.

The first ambush of the Bandits that we walked into was relatively simple, and I was able to get out of it with just the help of Roxanne and Sherry. We managed to defeat the ten Bandits who prepared the second ambush as well; but that second one was much more difficult than the first one. There were a multitude of ways in which things could have gone south very quickly if they played out slightly differently, or if I didn’t have access to Durandal or my Bonus Spells. Now, just the thought that the potential third ambush might be even worse than that is filling me with worry and dread, so I really hope for all our sakes that we are not going to be attacked by Bandits for the third time after all.

Well, even though it was pretty bad that we got attacked by the Bandits twice, I cannot say that it was all bad. Sure, the battles with high-level humanoid enemies are always scary, but now that I managed to defeat those strong Bandits and claim their Intelligence Cards for myself, all I have to do is to wait for an opportune moment so that I can sell them for a profit.

In that sense, I guess even the bruises or scars of battle can be the bringers of good fortune – not that I have any bruises or scars on me, thanks to the healing from Durandal’s 「HP absorption」 Skill. It also closes small wounds, mirror cuts and lacerations as if they were never there, so that might be considered a stroke of luck.

Yeah, let’s think of it that way and keep that positivity going.

I am not an unlucky man. I am lucky; but it seems that luck has simply not made its way towards me just yet, is taking its sweet time. However, it will get to me eventually – of that I have no doubt. And it might as well start with the money that I am going to get from the bounties I will get for the Intelligence Cards of the Bandits that I have slain…. although it has to be noted that quite some time may come to pass before I gather up my courage to bring them to the Knight Order of Hartz Duchy. So any 「What ifs」 connected to the money from their bounties are going to be like counting my chickens before they are hatched and….. wait! We got some Magic Crystals from them, right? Yeah, we totally did, so we can always sell those for money at the Adventurer’s Guild. So, all’s right with the world for now.

「All right then, I guess it’s time for us to go and buy the ingredients for breakfast. I also used our MP Recovery Medicine And Nourishment Pills, so if at all possible, then I would like to restock on those as well.」 I said.

「The raw material used in the creation of the Nourishment Pill is a Drop Item left behind by a Fly Trap – the monster native to the thirteenth floor of Quratar’s Labyrinth. So I would rather recommend hunting for it in Quratar’s Labyrinth than buying it from the Guild. That is going to be better for us money-wise.」

Sherry informs me about the raw materials used in the creation of Nourishment Pills, and thanks to her words of explanation I finally understand why the prices of the Strengthening Pills and Nourishment Pills are identical. It is because both of these medicinal items are made from raw ingredients that can be found on similar floors of the Labyrinths.

「By the way, what about the raw ingredients that are used in making Strengthening Pills?」 I asked.

「That material should be dropped by the Floor Boss of the floors where Animal Traps are the native enemies.」

Oh. In other words, they are also made from something that could be obtained from something as simple as grinding; so if we could repeat it consistently, we’d be able to save up that much more money, since it would be another thing I could obtain on my own instead of having to buy it from the Adventurer’s Guild all the time.

At the current moment, the highest floor that we can explore relatively safely is the twelfth floor of each Labyrinth, which means that if we want to start farming those materials, then we will have to advance onto the thirteenth floor – one floor above our current limit. However, we have been to the thirteenth floor before, during our visit to the Labyrinth of Tare where we learned more or less how tough the enemies there can possibly be. So when it comes the time for us to go there and explore that floor for real, we are going to need to be that much more ready.

Reaching the thirteenth floor shouldn’t take us that long, since the small hidden room where we found the Bandits was probably very close to the Boss Room. That closeness must’ve been the reason why they had set up their ambush there, so I think it is safe to say that we’ve probably cleared most of the twelfth floor of Haruba’s Labyrinth.