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Volume 13 Chapter 4 Part 2

There’s apparently no way to know how many floors the Labyrinth has grown to before liberating it. If it’s a Labyrinth that has only just appeared, it’s probably the 50 floors one. If you just happen to be fighting the Floor Boss on the 56th floor and it happens to be the final one, that would be extremely inefficient. Normally, no one would do that. In that case, you can just do the 56th floor boss battle in a labyrinth that is definitely over 57 floors.

「Everything is an experience. If you liberate a Labyrinth in an easy place once, you’ll be able to fight without feeling intimidated the next time. 」

「Experience? 」

That might be the case. It seems like a forced excuse to me though. I wonder which is it going to be in the end. Well, it might be a widespread belief in the world of nobles. Even if it doesn’t have that much effect, it’s not something that can be completely denied.

「If that’s what you want, I’d love to introduce you to a suitable Labyrinth, Lord Michio. Good experience will surely be of use to you. 」

「The 50th floor is first come, first served, so it won’t work that well, right? 」

After all, once you defeat it, it’s over. You can’t force someone not to defeat the 50th floor’s Floor Boss, and you can’t forbid other Parties from entering the Labyrinth either. If you enter the Labyrinth in the middle of the night when no one is around, you won’t know that. It would be impossible to target and subjugate it like that, wouldn’t it?

「You mean, could it be liberated by another Party? 」

「Well, that’s certainly a possibility. 」

「I won’t say it’s impossible, but it’s not high. That would be the case if the Labyrinth had reached the 50th floor, but nobles aren’t assigned to subjugate Labyrinths that have been conquered that far. Usually, even if a Labyrinth has been liberated, it’s only at the 40th floor or lower. Once they decide to subjugate it, they won’t tell the Explorers at the entrance even if they have cleared a floor, so if nobles who can send in multiple Parties share information, other parties won’t subjugate it. 」

Nobles are a dirty bunch after all. Are they going to involve the Explorers at the entrance in their schemes? Talk about being petty.

Normally, if you ask the Explorers at the Labyrinth entrance for it, they will take you to the top floor where the exploration has progressed. That’s because when a floor is conquered, the Explorers at the entrance are informed of the new floor. If you don’t tell them that you have conquered a floor and moved on to the next floor, your rivals won’t enter the top floor.

On the first or second floor, it may be possible for another Party to get there first, but as the number of floors to conquer increases, this will no longer be the case. Which party is able to reach the Floor Boss room first is ultimately a matter of luck, so as the number of attempts increases, it will regress to the mean according to the law of large numbers. It will be difficult for a random Party that does not share information to continue coming out on top for several floors in a row.

At some floor, a Party under the command of a noble can be expected to conquer it in the shortest time. If one party can conquer a floor first, then on the next floor, all parties under the control of the same noble can reroll the dice at almost the same time, so victory is practically guaranteed. Or, even if it is not the shortest, the second or third Party to conquer the next floor and second to third will still be able to come out on top overall.

「Sounds tough. 」

「It often is, but conquering Labyrinths is the responsibility of the nobles. 」

「I see. 」

It seems like he really believes that, rather than just saying so. He said it so frankly and directly, without any hesitation. He said that it was the duty of nobles to conquer the Labyrinths, so it was only natural that they should conquer the Labyrinths. He said that it couldn’t be helped if some stray Party didn’t gain any experience because of that.

Duty always takes priority. It’s probably unavoidable if you want to protect the empire. After all, the empire is engaged in a back-and-forth battle with the Labyrinths.

What will happen to the areas encroached upon by the labyrinths? You can see that by looking at the Akishima Labyrinth we are currently in, and the nearby Talikau or Tachikau. If it’s a time of crisis, they can’t afford to worry about small things, and during a crisis, It’s probably natural to side with the nobles.

I see.

Gaining experience in labyrinth subjugations might really be useful when you look at it from such an angle. You could say that the system is set up that way because it’s useful… but it might not be. I wonder which it is, so that I won’t accidentally end up choosing something that’s not going to be useful to me in the end.

「So I’d like to provide you, Lord Michio, with an opportunity to gain experience. Of course, I’m not saying it has to be limited to Labyrinth raids on the fiftieth floor. Whether it’s the twenty-third, thirty-fourth, or forty-fifth floor, if you deem it appropriate, I’ll provide you with the information. On top of that, I’d like you to gain some experience in Labyrinth raids on the fiftieth floor someday. 」

In other words, he may also be trying to find out about my situation. If I ask him to allow me to experience the twenty-third, thirty-fourth, or forty-fifth floors, he will be able to assume that I have become capable of going to those floors.

He can send in any number of Parties for any floor other than the fiftieth floor or above, so we’re just getting the information. In fact, it’s more like I’ll be allowed to experience it while being made to participate in the raids for free.

It’s like a black company. Only one party can break through the highest floor, so it does cost a little. Even so, I don’t think it’s really worth a fight for a spot. He said that large-scale Labyrinth raids happen a few times a year. It’s not like it’s the big chance of the century.

As a noble’s duty, he has to defeat them after all, and some of the money from it will probably go to the Duke of Hartz himself. Is this a plan to make me grateful and thus indebted to him so that he could exploit me more?

「Hmm. 」

「Of course, that’s not all in terms of the reward that we want to bestow upon you, but please accept it as a temporary reward for all your hard work you have done for us so far, Lord Michio. 」

Perhaps sensing that my attitude was a little reluctant, Cassia pressed me a bit. Well, there’s no reason to refuse her of all people. It’d be hard to come up with an excuse to refuse her, after all. It would become known when I gained the ability to traverse the fiftieth floors, but I don’t think it would be that big a deal now

Hmm, I wonder… I wonder if there’s something else going on here? Maybe he’ll ask me to do something unreasonable if I have the ability to conquer the Labyrinth? It’s possible with the Duke of Hartz, but let’s hope that Gozer and Cassia will keep him in check.

It’ll be fine. It’ll definitely be fine. I think it’s not entirely wrong to judge it as being fine. Probably.

「Well, I’ll be grateful when the time comes. 」

「Thank you for accepting it. I can see that you will be active and famous in the future, Lord Michio, and if I can lend you my strength, it will be a great honor for the Duke of Hartz. 」

Oh. Now that I think about it, I seem to be part of the Duke of Hartz faction among the nobles. If he can take good care of the faction’s members and even give them the experience of conquering labyrinths, the Duke of Hartz will be able to show his appeal to those around him.

「I see. 」

Well, there are some people among my Party who are pursuing the Duke of Hartz as the enemy of their parents. I don’t know how motivated she is, but if she has a chance of winning when it comes to carrying it out, I have no intention of stopping her. It’s sad, but that is how it is in war.