Volume 12 Chapter 3 Part 7
After all, if they record the names of the people who enter the Labyrinth, they will be able to figure out who is on what floor and how much of a contribution did they make, so that might actually be for the best.
Being able to go to the highest explored floor right off the bat might seem like a privilege at first, but actually it might also be a trap set for me by Elder Cassandra so that she could extract my information and see whether or not I am going to be able to fight on the highest floors. In a sense, I guess you could say that this emblem is like a point card that also sells your personal information.
In order to remedy that, I guess we can try going to the highest floor and then descent to the lower floors and cheat the system in such a way, but from a financial point of view that’s not going to the best decision, because the drops from monsters on the lower floors are not going to be worth as much as the drops from the ones on the higher floors.
Honestly, I feel quite troubled about what we should be doing here, but at the very least such a degree of deception should still be within the margin of error.
「Yes, I do know what this item is, because I have received a similar one from the Duke of Hartz. 」
「Oh? So he trusts you that much, hmm? Well, I should have expected as much since he decided that the best course of action with Rutina was to entrust her to you. 」
Is this the true meaning behind this emblem? Is it something akin to a badge of trust? Well, I guess it must be, since it’s certainly not something that you see being given left and right to just about any Adventurer capable of going to the Labyrinths located within a any given territory.
Also, I feel like I need to correct you on one thing, lady: it wasn’t that Rutina was entrusted to me for safekeeping or anything. She was given to me as a reward for helping in taking down the Earl of Selmar.
「I have no plans to return it. 」
Right now I could probably return the Duke’s emblem to him, since at the current moment it’s not really helping me all that much anymore. This old lady’s emblem might be similar to it, the only difference being that I was kinda forced into accepting it.
「Well…」
I glanced back at Rutina, and I noticed that he looked somewhat happy when I decided to accept the emblem, so if she’s feeling happy about it, then I guess it was the right choice to make after all.
「Hmpf. So you intend to feed the fish that you caught, huh? In that case, I think that Rutina should be receiving a small sum of money from time to time. 」
「Un, I see. 」
So that Rutina could slowly amass enough funding to eventually buy herself back? Is that what you mean by it?
「If you really wish to one day take an active part in the Lord’s Assembly, then the first thing that you are going to have to learn is to how to spend your money responsively. Different styles of negotiation, efficient allocation of resources available to you and appropriate assets management are also welcome skills to have. These might sound like exceedingly difficult words, but you are going to develop all of those skills naturally through the process of learning how to spend your money. 」
You might be putting it like that, but honestly, I don’t think it’s going to be that easy. I think it would be possible in the modern day Japan, but here? I really don’t think so.
One thing that I will admit though, is that here in this world spending your money responsibly and saving it up might actually be easier to pull off than in the modern day Japan, since here in this world you won’t be suffering from having to pay revolving bills, you won’t become addicted to online shopping and you certainly won’t be melting through your live’s savings just to spend it all on gacha games.
In this world, the only thing that you can probably get addicted to if you lose control over your spending impulse is gambling.
However, in my personal opinion, this world has one addiction that is even more dangerous than gambling: the addiction to battle which is a result of getting yourself addicted to exploring the Labyrinths.
Oh no, don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I have anyone particular in mind when I am talking about this, not at all. The image of a certain someone might be surfacing in my mind right now, but that is really not the case here.
Certainly, if Rutina wants to buy herself her freedom back someday in the future, then the best possible choice for her is to learn to not spend too much money on anything, even though she might be accustomed to doing just that since she is a noble’s daughter.
If she wants to reclaim her lost status, that is going to have to be the very first step for her.
「Hou hou? 」
「Well, I guess so. Rutina, make sure to come back here once you manage to save up even a single gold coin. If you do that, I will make sure to sell the clan’s treasure to you. 」
Elder Cassandra presented Rutina with a rather curious offer. But does that mean that even if I were to give Rutina the pocket money, she still wouldn’t be able to buy it from Elder Cassandra unless it would be with the money she made herself?
「Uhm, actually…」
「Yes? What is it? 」
「Actually… I have a gold coin on me right now. 」
Is she talking about the gold coin that her mother told her to keep sown into her clothes? Because if so then certainly, Rutina does have a single gold coin on her right now.
「Ohhhh? 」
「Because mother told me to always have at least that much on me at all times in case something ever happened to me. 」
「Ahh, I see. Come to think of it, I was there too when that girl was taught this particular piece of wisdom. So she did take that lesson to heart and made sure to pass it on to her own child, huh? 」
As expected of a lady who lived in this world for 107 years and counting. I have to wonder though: does Cassandra treat Rutina and her mother as separate individuals, or is Rutina simply an accessory, or an addition to her mother? Because if it is the latter, then that would mean that she has quite an unhealthy attachment to her, and I would like her to leave Rutina out of it.
「But I feel it might have been foolish of you to mention having it here of all places, because now that gold coin of yours might be taken away from you. 」
「Then you’ll be pleased to know that there’s no need for you to worry, because I already know about it. 」
「You know about it already? 」
「Ah, y-yes, because I told him about it myself. 」
Elder Cassandra was greatly surprised, so Rutina and I explained it to her.
Like I said, I am already aware that Rutina had a gold coin sewn into her clothing, and just like I told her, I have absolutely no intentions of taking it away from her.
「Hmm? Well now, isn’t that awfully sweet of you? 」
「Perhaps, but I didn’t claim it because I didn’t know who it belonged to. That was my reasoning. 」
「Here it is. 」
Rutina took out the gold coin and presented it to Cassandra.
「Oi, Ryuuto. 」
「Yes, my lady? 」
「From this point onward, this room is off limits to anyone. Make sure that nobody gets close to it until further notice. 」
「Understood! 」
Cassandra gave her order to the man standing outside of the door, who was apparently called Ryuuto. He must be someone akin to her personal bodyguard after all.
「Come here now. 」
Elder Cassandra got up from her seat and walked all the way to the end of the room while beckoning Rutina to come to her side.
「Of course. 」
After exchanging brief glances with Rutina, I nodded at her, encouraging her to do as she asked of her.
Then Elder Cassandra moved to the thing that looked like a screen placed by the wall and she proceed to move it around, revealing that there was actually a door hidden behind it.
NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
Harem in the Fantasy World Dungeon
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 50 hours
So gacha is bit gambling Michio? That’s what EA says, but legislation and justice beg to differ…