Chapter 264: Plucky Guy
If I had been summoned as a hero while retaining my lifespan like how it normally goes and then told that I should save the world, I’d probably have rejected it and told whoever summoned me to do something about it themselves. But since Sis and her minions were also given lifespans, I want them to work like mules for all their lives.
Ah, I’m getting distracted, but in any case, I’m too scared to look at the fingertips of the guys being carried over my teammates’ shoulders like sacks. Just thinking about it makes me imagine the pain…Ack! The walls of the Labyrinth had horror-isque traces all over them, see? No matter how I think about it, their fingers must be in a terrible state, right?
It’s alright, Glasses will probably heal them. It’s terrible to the point that I’m almost tempted to cast 【Heal】, but I have to do my best to restrain myself. It’s not just me that’s going to bear the brunt of my actions, and I don’t want to waste the efforts of everyone up to this point.
Moreover, even though these guys are carrying two people each, their footsteps didn’t even waver one bit, nor did their pace change at all. Yeah, the influence of spirits sure is something, huh. It’s understandable for Dean and Khan given their physique, I guess. But look at Retze, isn’t he amazing? He doesn’t have any spirits, right?
I wonder if this level of strength is normal among the folks here? Come to think of it, the ancient Japanese folks could also carry a sack of rice weighing 60 kg as far as I know.
「These folks will be carried to the surface while they’re in the iron cage, right? 」
That seems so hard.
「Yeah, the Guild must’ve procured some supplies and goods, put them inside the iron cage and were about to lower it down to even deeper levels, huh — they usually distribute food, firewood and spirit repellent salves that cost an insane amount of money. They must’ve put the chains to help with that.
Oy, Retze, stop reading my mind, will you. The only things that I thought about were food and firewood.
「Even deeper levels? 」
「They usually hire someone possessed with a spirit to reduce and support the weight when they lower the iron cage. There are many folks who work as porters instead of being adventurers. They’re hired as porters and escorts of the adventurers, and it takes a lot of preparation to do that. The Guild must’ve wanted to take advantage of the situation and explore the Labyrinth even deeper while there’s only a handful of monsters around, even if it cost them money. 」
「Generally, the deeper the level, the stronger the monsters, and the items gathered fetch higher prices too, so there must be many porters now, and they’ll be out of the Labyrinth in no time. There are also cases when they pay a fortune to summon the priests. 」
Noth supplemented Retze’s explanation. Both of them seemed to predict the same thing.
「Ah, that’s right. A chance like this only comes once in a blue moon, so they’re probably going to conduct a large-scale search. 」
「First, they’ll create new shortcuts leading to deeper levels, and second, they’ll select the locations and update it on the map, and third, they’ll search for an iron vein! After discovering a new shortcut, more adventurers will come, and it might become something akin to a festival, perhaps. 」
Dean and Chris too.
That’s quite plucky of them, huh, or should I say logical? Adventurers won’t miss a good opportunity even in the face of danger. They’ll probably scramble for information that is worth money, or perhaps they’re going to plunge headlong in order to obtain materials.
Even the folks possessed by black spirits probably thought that since the hero came here, the huge monsters were already taken care of, so they hastily came right away after he left, probably overly optimistic about the supposed spoils they’re “gonna get” .
Retze would search for traces while marking areas if his purpose is mining and harvesting and not looking for materials from monsters. It’s hard to pinpoint where to search just by the light of the lantern unless you already know where to look, after all.
We continued walking steadily toward Glasses.
「You already found them? Pardon me, this way please. 」
Glasses seemed to be taken aback. We followed after him until we saw a magic circle drawn on the floor, illuminated by the lantern light.
Powder? Is there some sort of ink that I don’t know anything about, or did they have a pen and ink that you could use to draw directly onto the ground? I’m gonna laugh if he drew a line on the ground. The ink didn’t spread even when you stepped on it; the powder thingy look like it’s penetrating the ground.
「This magic circle is usually used to immobilize black spirits in battle. We have secretly prepared supplies and made arrangements with the temple before entering the dungeon, and the iron cages should arrive soon. 」
I thought it would take time to gather people, food, and supplies, but it turns out that everything has been arranged in advance.
「If the hero can move on quickly then we could act more openly. 」
「Just issue a commission directly to the hero. 」
Dean said this while putting the adventurer he carried on his shoulder down roughly.
「If we do that, we won’t be able to enter the dungeon for years until the wind spirits are all consumed. 」
Glasses said with a troubled expression.
Oh yeah, we’re gonna suffocate if that happens, right? I totally understand. Wind spirits are creatures brimming with curiosity and might be more than willing to lend you a hand proactively, but they’re also notoriously fast in slipping away. They would definitely flee the moment they saw one of their kin being consumed to death. Some spirits have obsessions with places so they won’t budge, but not the wind spirits.
「Frankly speaking, I do not wish to get close to that hero. It’s true that I’m concerned about Shrum’s movements, but being face-to-face with that hero feels like being swallowed up into a void…It truly creeps me out, at any rate.. 」
Hey, wait a sec! That thing is me in a sense, you know? Hey Fake Hero-san, isn’t your reputation way too awful?
NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
I Got Transferred in the Middle of a Mountain
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 80 hours
Thanks for the treat.