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Volume 13 Chapter 5 Part 1

Chapter 65: Overdriving

『Vesta』
Current levels & equipment:
Dragon Knight Lv.44
Equipment:
Orichalcum Sword
Orichalcum Sword
Steel Plate Mail
Hardened Leather Hat
Steel Gauntlets
Steel Demi Greaves
Sacrificial Misanga

「Ah, the Boss Room. 」 We’ve reached the Boss Room on the 50th floor.

In case you didn’t understand, let me say it again: we’ve reached the Boss Room on the 50th floor. There, now you should fully know what we did. I was brought here by Roxanne, and I’ve gotten a taste of something far more terrifying along the way.

「Y-Yeah. 」

「Un. As I thought, it took a while to find the Boss Room. Conquering the Labyrinths is hard. 」 Roxanne said, not looking like someone for whom conquering the Labyrinths was hard at all.

In fact, Roxanne was probably the only one who thought that it wasn’t hard at all. I, on the other hand, thought it was pretty bad. I wouldn’t say it was hard, but it was definitely bad. Even in normal battles, it was taking us a long time to wipe out the monsters, so I was worried that another group of monsters would soon join the previous one.

In fact, one of the patterns in which people who enter the Labyrinths get killed by monsters is that while they are having trouble wiping out one group of monsters, another group of monsters rushes in and the number of enemies increases. That could happen to us too at this point.

But I think that before it gets to that point, Roxanne will warn us. However, in Roxanne’s case, there is a suspicion that she might gleefully rush into a place where there are multiple hordes of monsters nearby, and that’s what I am afraid of the most. It’s important to be mindful of this at all times.

So, will it be okay if it’s a Floor Boss battle where no monsters will intrude? Since a Floor Boss battle is dependent on Miria’s petrification, it’s worrying to think about what to do if it stops working. There is always something to be worried about here in the Labyrinths. There is no end to worries in this world in general.

It is said that in the past, the people of the country of Ki were worried that the heavens would collapse on their heads one day, so even my old world was not free of worries. Well, it probably won’t suddenly stop working, but it’s possible that we might be unlucky and not be able to Petrify every monster all the time.

No… Since we’re at the turning point of the 50th floor here, it’s quite possible that Miria’s Estoc of Petrification might not be working as well as it used to on the lower floors. Possibly, but that’s not certain yet. The chance of that happening is like one in a billion, and in the worst-case scenario at that.

I’m not sure if the 50th floor is even going to be a turning point for us. In the first place, do Labyrinths think in decimals? Since the Labyrinths are grouped into groups of eleven floors, if we think in decimal, the 56th floor should be more dangerous.

First of all, 50 floors are probably a turning point for Labyrinths themselves, something akin to reaching adulthood. But even for humans, even if 18 years old is considered a turning point, it’s not like anything actually happens to 18-year-olds. No, wait. That’s just what the law says. In countries where people become adults at 20, 20 would be a turning point, and in ancient Japan, there were people who came of age at 15 years old.

A Labyrinth is a Labyrinth though, and something might happen at the 50th floor. There might be danger. Something unexpected might happen. The possibility of that is not zero. So Roxanne. Don’t be so excited to charge into the Boss Room so soon after Sherry’s explanation. Have a greater sense of danger. Be prepared for the worst case scenario. Stay calm so you can face any difficulty. Stay calm. Be prepared to deal with any danger you may encounter.

I thought like that at first. However…
… The Floor Boss on the 50th floor was no match for Miria. As expected of her. It seems she’ll still be fine, and I can rely on her.

Well, even though it’s a boss battle, half of the enemies are just random fish that appear outside the Boss Room, so It’s only natural that Miria can petrify them.

Even if the Floor Boss can’t be petrified, as long as there are just two of them, Roxanne and Vesta can stand in front of them – so it should be fine. If it’s a Boss Room, there won’t be any additional swarms bursting in.

However, we’re approaching our limit. The monsters got stronger moving from the 49th to the 50th floors, but we haven’t gotten significantly stronger. We’re approaching our limit. My worries are deep.

「Vesta, were you okay with facing the boss on the 50th floor? 」

「Yes. I think I’m going to be fine. 」

「If you think it’s even the slightest bit dangerous, don’t hesitate to tell me, okay? 」

「Yes, I know. 」

Is she really going to be okay?

If Vesta okay, then that means she won’t have any problems with the boss on the 50th floor. As for the other person facing the boss head-on, it’s obvious that she’ll be okay. There’s no need to ask her. In fact, it’s better not to ask her, because she might say that the Floor Boss on the 50th floor isn’t a big deal to her at all, and then there’s a chance that she might demand us to go to an even higher floor.

Just thinking about that is making me tremble.

「If you managed to beat the Floor Boss room on the 50th floor, that means we are strong enough for 「that」. 」 Rutina butted in, instead of Roxanne. By 「that」she probably means the matter with her parent’s enemy, but she probably doesn’t want to talk about it too openly.

「Oh yeah. Well, we still need to go. 」

「He’ll introduce us to a Labyrinth that can be liberated by clearing the 50th floor, right? 」

Sherry, read the mood!

「That’s right. 」

「I’ve never heard of anything changing if the final floor is the fiftieth floor, but is there really a need to introduce us to a specific one? 」

「That’s true. 」

So that’s what Sherry was wondering about as well. I guess so. If there’s no difference, then we can just practice on the fiftieth floor of Quratar’s Labyrinth.

「That’s what you’d expect of a noble. 」 Rutina dismissed it. As expected, she was as dismissive of the Duke of Hartz as ever.

「I see. You can’t act big without even an introduction. 」

「Yes. No matter what kind of favor you’ve received now, I won’t let you act big. 」

Stern. Or rather, sending Rutina to me was the biggest and greatest favor I’ve received from Duke of Hartz. From Rutina’s point of view, though, it was practically no favor at all.

「In that case, should I not accept this offer so that he doesn’t get all big-headed? 」

「No. Let’s accept it. There’s nothing wrong with taking what you can get. In the first place, it’s laughable if you think he can get all big-headed with just this. 」

「I see. 」

It seems I can accept the introduction from the Duke of Hartz. I can also relax, since he won’t get all big-headed because of it. But even if he does get big-headed, what will he do? I wonder if he’ll say that I was raised up by him? In that case, I feel like I don’t mind being told that.

‘It’s all thanks to His Excellency the Duke of Hartz that I was able to conquer the Labyrinth! What’s the secret to my strength? Of course, it’s the result of His Excellency Duke of Hartz’s guidance! There are no special skills, special Jobs, special weapons, or anything special. It’s just the result of my efforts under His Excellency Duke of Hartz’s guidance! I’m sure His Excellency the Duke of Hartz himself has the secret to training.’ Yes. This is good. Let’s go with this.

The next morning, I went to Bode to report to the Duke of Hartz. Good things come quickly. Evil things come quickly. I’ve heard that soldiers are hasty, but they have yet to see the results of their actions.

「The Duke in his office with the commander. 」

At Bode, I was told to go further inside as usual. Could this also be considered hasty?

「Come in. 」

I went to the office and knocked, and the commander of the knights, Gozer, called out to me. I felt safe with Gozer there.