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Volume 11 Chapter 3 Part 2

For the Last Boss of a Labyrinth to have such a dangerous ability… facing something like that might prove to be quite difficult.

「That’s one of the reasons Brocken recommended you, Michio.」

The Baron nods to himself.

To defeat a labyrinth you must be able to avoid everything that it might try throwing at you, so if it’s Roxanne, then it’s possible that she might be able to do it.

The Duke recommended me to join the Empire Liberation Society, that much is true, but he probably did that after seeing Roxanne’s movements and thinking that they might be just what might be needed to defeat the Labyrinth’s Final Boss.

「So,you said that if you parry with the sword, it can break it? But in that case, is it even safe to attack it with a sword in the first place?」

Sherry asked about that detail, which seemed like a natural thing to do from the perspective of a Master Smith. After all, there shouldn’t be much difference between blocking a monster’s attack, and attacking it directly.

「There’s no problem if you attack it’s body directly, so you need to either aim your attacks carefully, or attack it with magic. There are a lot of Parties that bring a large amount of cheap swords and shields with them to the Last Boss battle because of how disposable they might be in that encounter.」

In other words, they formulated their strategy around the assumption that their weapons are definitely going to get destroyed.

The Last Boss really seems like quite a troublesome existence.

「Sorry to have kept you waiting, here’s the herbal tea.」

As the first part of the talks finishes, Sebastian comes with the herbal tea.

The Baron doesn’t seem to have made any particular evaluation of me specifically, but that is to be expected since I didn’t do anything too outstanding and stated that our performance is heavily equipment-dependent.

Another person comes along behind Sebastian while pushing a cart in front of them. Sebastian lifts a tea pot and pours it into cups on the cart, then places them in front of us.

He holds the tea pot quite high, and yet despite that, he pours the tea from such a height without spilling even a drop of it.

All of his movements are quite refined, flowing and sophisticated. He pours in six cups of herbal in total, including the Baron’s, but the people guarding him don’t seem to get any.

「Well then.」

Baron Ester indicates that we should drink, and he tastes the herbal tea. I also drink some. It’s a refreshing herbal tea with a slightly bitter taste to it, but it is not an unpleasant one at all.

「This is delicious.」

「Thank you very much.」

Sherry gave her impression of the tea, and Sebastian bowed to her in response.

「This lodge can be used by anyone that is a member of the Empire Liberation Society. You’ll get a full explanation of the facilities later. Do keep in mind that you will still be required to pay for the meals and drinks, and the prices here might be a little bit on the high side for a regular Adventurer, so I wouldn’t advise spending too much of your personal fundings in here.」

It seems to be quite an upper-class herbal tea. But then, who’s going to pay for what we’re drinking right now?

Maybe we won’t have to pay anything for it, since the first drink is free of charge to the newly-joined members of the Society?

That’s probably what the regular citizens might think.

「I’ll be careful not to spend too much here.」

「The enrollment ceremony will be done in five days. Come back here around noon on that day. For the admission of new members, you just have to come on your own. Your party members are included in the enrollment process, but they cannot attend the ceremony together with you.」

「I understand.」

It doesn’t seem to have been a bad thing to have enrolled into the Society’s ranks, but I wish that someone would tell me beforehand that there’s going to be an enrollment ceremony.

「In the Empire Liberation Society, the members shouldn’t allow things such as titles or social standing to constrain them. All the members who come into this lodge are to be considered your comrades. I want you to not forget that. There was even a time when his Majesty the Emperor was a member of the Empire Liberation Society, however, inside the lodge, he was equal to the rest of us, and that equality would also apply to the enrollment process. Even if the Emperor himself wanted to join the Empire Liberation Society but lacked the appropriate abilities that we require, we would have still declined him, because that is what is necessary for the Empire Liberation Society to remain a force to be reckoned with.」

Honestly, what Baron Ester said is terrifying, but it does not seem to be different from the Baron’s usual attitude.

So the Emperor was a member of the Empire Liberation Society as well, huh? And moreover, even the Emperor would lose membership if he did not have sufficient abilities to justify him remaining in the Society?

From what The Baron said, he seems to no longer be a member though. Was he adjudged to not be capable of contributing to the organization anymore? And was it because of him that they employed the rule about everyone being equal despite their social status in the world?

If more people joined because of members like the Emperor or the Duke, sooner or later, the Empire Liberation Society would turn apart because of internal strife and its hierarchy becoming a total mess, and that’s why they have so many rules. Because rules are necessary in order to preserve the power of an organization.

However, in the Emperor’s case, the admission test should be easy.

Nah, will there be equality if that were the case? It will be impertinent for them to expressly ask to be a member like a commoner. Equality can be maintained by only admitting those of high official position or social status.

Damn… it would seem that there are various things to be considered when running an organization such as this.

「I see.」

「Alright then, now that you know everything, please come back here in five days before noon. I will contact Brocken myself, so you don’t have to worry about it. It’s an admission etiquette to not meet with the referrer within the five days between the recommendation and the ceremony itself.」

「Really?」

It doesn’t seem to be necessary for me to go to the Duke and express gratitude for recommending me to join the Empire Liberation Society.

「Yes. It is recommended to go visit the one who recommended you about a day after the admission ceremony though.」

I don’t know if he read my mind or what, but Ester gave me further explanations. See, I knew that I should at least go and say thank you.

「Umu.」

「It was the same for me when I joined the Society. If you have any other questions or need any more explanations, then you shall receive them from the Society’s Secretary. I am counting on you from this point onward, Sebastian.」

The Baron addresses Sebastian directly.

Is Sebastian a secretary, not a butler?

「Understood.」

「He is the General Secretary, Sebastian. Ask him for any of the detailed information you might need.」

So his role was actually the General Secretary. I didn’t think much of it when he said Secretary. However, being General Secretary, he seems to be one of the most important people in the organization.

「Got it.」

「Well then.」

The Baron finishes his cup and stands up.

The Baron pats my shoulder when I was getting up and leaves the room. Before leaving, the Adventurer from the Baron’s Party opened his Item Box and handed Sebastian the payment.

The Herbal Tea wasn’t free, it seems. It was the Baron’s treat. That, or perhaps the Adventurer only paid the Baron’s share and Sebastian will collect ours from us later.

Anyways, since he had to open the Item Box, he probably paid in the silver coins. I am not sure how much though, since I didn’t see clearly but there seemed to be at least several coins.

Assuming it is 2 silver coins for 6 cups, it is an affordable price. It would be an outrageous price if it were only for one cup which the Baron drank.

I might really go bankrupt at this point.

「This is a rip off bar!」 I should say.

「Then if Lord Michio doesn’t mind, I would like to explain about our lodge in more detail.」