The Otherworld Conquest Method of a Reincarnated Porter Chapter 53 Part 2
「Let’s start with the labyrinth. The labyrinth of Mahra, also known as the Frog Labyrinth, is home to many frog monsters. Meat is its local specialty. The details of the monsters that appear in the labyrinth can be found in this document, so you can just make a copy of it later. The labyrinth has a total of 14 stratums, and the maximum rank of the monster is 17. On the seventh stratum, there is the stratum lord, rank 25 two-tailed giant scorpion, and on the eleventh stratum, there is the stratum lord, rank 30 armored giant centipede. And then, on the fourteenth stratum, there is the labyrinth lord, the water spirit magic frog, its rank is 45.」
The stratum lords are as strong as the labyrinth lord of the Magt labyrinth, while the labyrinth lord is as strong as the strong-armed baboon that routed the knights of Amberlius, huh. I guess it is impossible for me to defeat them.
「Is the labyrinth lord subjugated regularly?」
「Silver- or gold-class adventurers stop by the town every now and then, so there are times when we subjugate it, but not usually. The Mahra warrior order would subjugate the stratum lords, but they don’t seem to touch the labyrinth lord.」
As expected, it seems that even that battle junkie woman doesn’t touch the labyrinth lord. Well, the ones who will be in trouble if they touch it will be the warriors around her who will be made into a human wall, though.
After that, I ask him about the main facilities in town, the state of the surrounding forest, and so on, and take notes. I feel like I have obtained the bare minimum quality and quantity of information.
「Come to think of it, it seems that good quality medicinal herbs used to be gathered in the past, but why isn’t it being done now?」
「Yeah, there’s a lake to the northeast of this map, no? It would take a whole day if you head there on foot. Around here, you can gather good quality medicinal herbs, especially the high quality propagating magic moss from the rocks in the lake, but since a dangerous monster is inhabiting the lake, no one can get close to that area.」
「Rather than defeating them, can’t you just lure the enemies somewhere else and then gather the medicinal herbs in the meantime?」
「Apparently, that is what they used to do in the old days. The monster is a huge snake, and I heard that they fed it a large amount of monster meat to satisfy it and then gathered the medicinal herbs. Even so, there were casualties during each occasion, and as it was judged that the risk was not worth the profit, it resulted in the current situation.」
「They came to a conclusion that they could earn money more comfortably by safely hunting frogs in the labyrinth, huh.」
「That’s how it is. Although the quality is low, you can also get propagating magic moss in the lower stratums of the labyrinth, after all.」
「Hoh, can I ask you where I can get it?」
「I’m not knowledgeable about that. The adventurers don’t disclose information to the public, after all.」
True enough, no one would be so good-natured as to go out of their way to disclose information about their source of income. However, with this, I have managed to obtain the bare minimum information I need. After getting the card that waives the city entry tax, I buy some lunch, and decide to head for the labyrinth right away. The labyrinth is located on the north side of the town, and the surrounding area is well maintained. It is already lunchtime, and the figures of adventurers can be sparsely seen in the area around the entrance to the labyrinth.
I put my equipment in order and step into the labyrinth. I can feel how humid it is with my skin, so there must be a watering hole ahead. Just in case, let’s make a map. The paper I am carrying is a plant-made one I bought at the Hinomoto Trading Company, and if it is the same as Japanese paper, I think it can handle a little moisture.
The first stratum is overflowing with rookie adventurers. The labyrinth is a cave-styled one, but each room is pretty large, and there is what looks like a large pond at the back of the room. Frogs that are about 20 centimeters in length are peeking out of it, and rookie adventurers are getting into the water until the shallows and thrusting their swords and spears at the frogs.
The passageway is located above the water, so it looks like you can move around without getting wet. You enter the water only when defeating enemies, but there is the drawback that it is difficult to use instant step or instant movement there, which effectively limits your movements.
When I appraise the frog monsters, the name water bullet frog pops us, as mentioned in the Adventurers’ Association’s documents. Their only attack is to use water magic to create bullets and shoot them off. The bullets seem to pack enough strength to send the shields of rookie adventurers flying. They have no means to attacks the frogs in deeper places than the shallows, so the rookie adventurers can’t help but one-sidedly suffer from their water bullets. Parties that assign some members to repel the water bullets and some others to defeat the water bullet toads in the shallows are taking the frogs down efficiently.
Black rats also appear in the passageways and shallows, but they have low rank, so they don’t pose much threat. First of all, I decide to go to the deeper part of the stratum where there are few people while making a map. I want to bring back some frogs for dinner.
I continue walking for a while and pass through several large rooms, but they are all full of adventurers. Well, it must be because a lot of people have gathered here, given that it is to earn money in this place. Among them, there are also some adventurers who lose consciousness as they get hit by the frogs’ water bullets in the head.
After walking for about an hour, I finally get into a large room with no one around. It seems like this room is unpopular among the adventurers because of its narrow shallows and vast deep areas. On the other side, about fifty meters away, there is a bank, which is swarmed by a large number of frogs. The frogs that notice me attack me one after another with water bullets. Given that there is some distance in between, it is easy to dodge them.
I survey the surrounding area and study whether or not I can run along the wall to the opposite bank. Well, even if I were to fall off the wall, most likely, I would only get soaked and would not die.
I put my sword, which would hinder my movement, in my storage and move along the wall using body enhancement. Porter’s storage skill is extremely convenient in such a situation. Taking a closer look at the wall, I see that there are places where I can probably put my feet on here and there, and I succeed in making it to the opposite bank with surprising ease. The startled frogs are shooting water bullets at me, but given how high my level is and how good my equipment is, they pose no problem at all. I take out my sword from my storage and cut off the heads of the frogs one after another. On a closer look, I see that this side of the bank has a wide shallow area, so I go into the water and hunt the frogs. No one must have come here for a while, as I can see two treasure chests. I attack the frogs first and manage to kill 13 in total. Their ranks range from 2 to 4, so this much should be good enough for the first day’s hunting. The water temperature is low, so preservation of meat doesn’t seem to be a problem either. I take out the magic stones, put the frogs in storage, and open the treasure chests. I get a low grade red and green potion. There are poisonous frogs in the lower stratums of the labyrinth, so they will surely be useful.
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Otherworld Conquest Method of a Reincarnated Porter
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