Chapter 232: It’s Hard Keeping a Secret
「Labyrinth, huh. I do wanna try going there. 」
It’s a little far from Canum and you have to pass through the fortress city on your way there.
「I noticed this before, but you seem to hate the fortress city, huh? 」
Retze’s query wasn’t a question, but a probing. How the heck did you find out?
「Eh, I’ve never heard of Jean going to the fortress city before, so did something nasty happen to you there? 」
Dean seemed surprised as he turned to look at me.
「The food there is far more palatable than the ones here in Canum, so why? 」
Hey Chris, don’t talk as if my basis for everything is food!
「We won’t drag you to brothels, you know? 」
Dean followed up.
I don’t feel like going to the brothels, but it’s not like I’m gonna stop them from going too. The women over there had to work or else their apprenticeship won’t end, and they have to earn money or else they will just keep getting resold to lower-class brothels with each condition worse than the previous one.
Well, I do think their situation is a teeny bit better — kinda lesser evil — than the slave market after seeing the latter. Even the relatively better slave market in Nalluahdid still turned me off big time. Particularly the slave market for food grade meat — thank goodness the Magical Woods are nearby so Canum doesn’t have that here. Even so, folks there have a harsh time barely surviving.
I don’t have any intention of meddling with their affairs, so I won’t interfere or deny anything.
「It’s hard not going there, we have to replenish food stocks after all. Count me in, I’ll check it out first before taking the kids there. 」
Dinosso said as he flipped the onions and sipped his beer.
「Oohh, hurray! 」
「Thank you! 」
Dean and Chris were thrilled when Dinosso said he’ll come.
「Eh, are strong folks allowed to tag along? 」
Is that okay? But aren’t rich folks that don’t have any ability still able to rank up as much as they want?
「I have the ability and the connections so it’s fine. 」
Dean poured another tankard of beer for himself.
「The designated target floor to reach changes depending on the number of participants in the rank. 」
「I see. 」
I got it thanks to Chris’ explanation.
「That’s what he says, but actually, the Guild can’t confirm who helped who when folks meet up in the labyrinth, so they’re lenient about it, can’t help it. 」
「Are Adventurer’s Guild really fine with that? 」
I got confused again when Dean continued talking.
「An adventurer just gotta finish his commission and come back safe, that’s all. 」
Hey, why are you giving an ultimatum, huh!? You’re probably drunk, aren’t you?
Dean becomes happy and overly relaxed and loose with his words and behavior once he gets drunk. He easily gets drunk but it takes a long time before he crashes. Chris is the type of guy who slowly enjoys strong wine so he’s still sane longer, but he collapses at roughly the same time as Dean.
Dinosso’s tolerance is high, so it’s very rare to see him happily drunk, and he doesn’t collapse. Retze often gets drunk when Dean and Chris are around, but he limits his drinking whenever he has to do a commission the following day; he even chooses the right time and place before he gets overly drunk.
「You can also choose a different Labyrinth. So Jean, are you the only one going a different route? 」
「Uh… I’ll go with you guys. 」
We decided on the departure date, then continued enjoying our meal as usual. The meat being grilled was quite thick, and Dean was slicing it. The thickness of meat here is usually 2cm or more. I mixed in some Japanese cut since thin slices the marbling is consistent and it’s nice grilling it because it cooks quickly.
They all get the meat, and I put some corn in place of dessert on the empty spot.
「These corns are packed with kernels, huh. 」
Retze stared intently at the corn.
He usually pops anything that is blatantly different from the food he’s used to into his mouth without any further ado, but he does spend a lot of time observing something closely if it looks quite similar. Or maybe he’s just waiting for the food to finish cooking.
The shishito peppers are in the way so I moved them to Dean’s plate. You’re just gobbling meat and alcohol so eat some veggies, okay.
「Even the vegetables look tasty when I think about how I won’t be able to enjoy the food for a while once we go to the Labyrinth. 」
Dean munched on the shishito peppers I placed on his plate.
「Will Ash, Butler and Khan come with us too? 」
Ah, but I think Khan might be more interested in traveling through cities and learning how trips are done. He did say it’s the first time he rode a horse, which he experienced after coming here.
…But he might say something like ‘I can ride camels’, though.
「I’m about to ask them too, but what should we do about Khan’s boss? 」
Dean tilted his neck.
「I think he’s powerful enough that he won’t have any problems even if he were to get into the Labyrinth, but I guess he’s more interested in city living than in fighting monsters and engaging in battles. He’ll probably turn you down even if you invite him. 」
Chris shrugged.
「Yeah, everything in the city is novel for a thousand year-old guy like him. 」
「 A Thousand years old? 」Chris.
「It doesn’t sound like a joke when you’re the one saying it. 」Dean.
But it’s true, you know?
「Well, he does make me wanna reflect on my past self a little bit more, you know? 」
「Yeah, absolutely. 」
Dinosso and Retze said when they saw the duo’s condition.
「Wait a sec, that reaction… 」
Dean looked a bit uncomfortable.
「Give it up. 」
Retze lazily muttered while averting his eyes from Dean and Chris.
Hey, it’s not my fault Khan’s already over a thousand years old, you know? He was already that age when I found him, alright?
NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
I Got Transferred in the Middle of a Mountain
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 80 hours
Happy Holidays!
Thanks for the treat.