3 bar menu

The Otherworld Conquest Method of a Reincarnated Porter Chapter 93

The Melnard Family

　Late September, around the time the mornings and evenings are getting a little chilly, we finally finished mapping out the lowest stratum of the labyrinth. We also managed to obtain a number of high-grade potions, so there is no reason to stay in Astoma any longer. I want to show Mireia the outside world, so after taking our time and resting for two or three days, let’s depart.

While we are trading the materials at the Adventurers’ Association, a staff member puts up some posters on the bulletin board.

 

Subjugation Request:

Last Quarter Moon Bear, Rank 40 or so

Reward: 5 large gold coins

 

Investigation Request:

Northeast Forest, bear ecology investigation

Reward: 2 to 5 large silver coins per day, negotiable

 

That guy hasn’t been subjugated yet, huh. I head to the plain-faced girl at the counter and ask her.

「Excuses me, has the not bear been subjugated yet?」

「Ah, actually, that one is the third one this month.」

「The third one? Does that happen often?」

「No, I have never heard of such a thing. However, according to an elderly staff member, there was a time more than twenty years ago when a large number of bears appeared on the highway. At that time, a superior species of bear appeared in the forest, and the bears, defeated in the struggle for survival, were driven away and escaped all the way to the highway. It seems that in the end, all the bears were subjugated at the cost of a large number of lives, but there is a possibility that this time, too, something similar is happening in the forest. That is why an investigation request has also been issued at the same time.」

There is no way the adventurers of Astoma will be able to win against a superior species of bear. Adventurers in this town are equipped with equipment specifically designed for battle against the puppets, light clothing and sledgehammers. I don’t know what would be effective against a bear, but this should be the work of the knight order. What in the world is the viscount doing?

As I leave the Adventurers’ Association and head for home with Mireia, I see a man standing in front of the door. He hands Mireia a letter and leaves. I have a bad feeling about this.

「It’s from my father. It says he needs to talk to me, so he wants me to come to the residence as soon as possible.」

「Having left the family, you should have no relation whatsoever with Melnard, no, Mireia? Let’s ignore it and leave the town tomorrow.」

「For the time being, I’ll go and listen to what he has to say at least.」

「I see, but Mireia… Just know that no matter what he says to you, I’m going to take you with me and leave this town.」

「Yes, I also plan to do so. I will not waver in that commitment, so be at ease.」

I go into the house by myself, but I just can’t calm down. I have a really bad feeling about this. Mireia is too good of a person, after all. She is not the kind of woman who, if appealed to her emotions, can flatly refuse an unreasonable request. She is the kind of earnest and good-natured person who, when told to subjugate the giant purple spider, said, 「Yes, I understand,」 and put it into action.

I wait for Mireia’s return, unable to suppress my uneasy feelings.

◇ ◇ ◇

　The day before Mireia was summoned by the Viscount, in the Forest of Death. The knights were gathering medicinal herbs while expressing their dissatisfaction.

「Damn it, why do we have to do all this weeding work?」

「Tell me about it. Even though we’ve taken the trouble pick the medicinal herbs up, they say the picking method is bad, or they are of the wrong kind, I’m so sick of it.」

「Moreover, we can’t find any medicinal herbs unless we go this deep into the forest. Is it really safe?」

「They should just let rookie adventurers do it. I mean, it’s a job that anyone can do, after all.」

「From what I hear, it seems to be Arcs-sama’s arbitrary decision, you know? What in the world is he thinking?」

「It’s because of that incompetent fatty, huh. Damn, it would have been nice if the discovery of the path to the eleventh stratum of the labyrinth had been delayed for another six months.」

While the knights were swearing at Arcs, the second son of the Melnard family, who was in charge of the medicinal herbs collection, a huge purple-colored spider approached from the forest. Because of the common understanding that there were no monsters in the Forest of Death, no one was seriously watching out for the surroundings. Suddenly, the giant purple spider shot a series of web-like threads at the defenseless knights.

「What the?! Threads?」

「Whoa, it’s the giant purple spider!」

「Run, run!」

「Not good, I’m tangled in the threads and can’t move, help me!」

The giant purple spider unleashed its lethal venomous bite on the knights, who were no longer able to move one after another. As the knights called for help from their comrades scattered throughout the forest, their cries echoed throughout the area. The knights who learned of the unusual event came to the rescue. It seemed that they were engaged in a battle with a giant purple spider in two locations. The knights who came to the rescue were also rendered incapable of fighting one after another by its thread and poison water attacks, and had their lives taken. The knights had an extremely strong sense of camaraderie. Not only did they eat out of the same pot, a lot of them were of the homophile kind, so they had a stronger bond with each other than they did with their families, preventing them from abandoning their comrades. On this day, due to two giant purple spiders that appeared all of a sudden, 11 knights ended up losing their lives.

The same day, at the eighteenth stratum of the Puppet Labyrinth. Led by the eldest son of the Melnard family, Walton, twenty elite knights and ten followers were challenging the stratum lord, the red iron magic puppet. If circumstance permitted, Walton was planning to monopolize the black iron, red iron, and mithril by making the tunnel leading to the twentieth stratum off-limits to all but the knight order. However, the knights who were not accustomed to fighting against puppets were forced to have a tough battle, which resulted in six people losing their lives, and many suffering serious injuries that could not be healed with healing magic.

「Damn it, we ended up losing six of our best knights. On top of that, there are also many knights who were injured so seriously that they couldn’t move. How should I apologize to my father? Damn it, damn it, by some chance, he wouldn’t make me take responsibility and let Arcs succeed the headship of the family, would he?」

「Walton-sama, there are many of us who can’t move. I believe we should rest for a while in a place where we can camp for the night, and then give them treatment with healing magic.」

「No can do! As if I can camp for the night at a place that has neither a bed nor a hot bath like this! Fortunately, puppets are slow. Just like this, we’ll go home while avoiding battles.」

As they walked for a while after making it back to the fourteenth stratum while carrying the injured people on their backs, they encountered the worst possible scenario. The Black Iron Magic Puppet, which had been subjugated by Sei and Mireia, reappeared and they ended up encountering it.

「Not good! We have to turn back.」

「Damn it, the stairs are just up ahead, no? Can’t we get around it somehow? 」

「Walton-sama. The red iron magic puppet had incredible mobility. We need to take into consideration the possibility that this black iron magic puppet is also the same.」

「Ah, damn it, even though we sent a bunch of scouts, they failed to discover this guy, didn’t they? Did you guys do your job properly?」

「…..」

As they ran from one place to another, the marching group encountered iron magic puppets over and over again, and by the time Walton made it back to the above ground, two more knights had lost their lives.

◇ ◇ ◇

　After waiting for Mireia while suppressing my uneasy feeling for two hours, she finally returned home. She doesn’t seem particularly upset.

「Mireia, how did it go?」

「Yes, father told me to participate in the subjugation of the bear and the investigation of the forest.」

「I refuse. It’s a matter that’s unrelated to you, Mireia. We’re leaving Astoma tomorrow.」

The heck is that guy, who made her subjugate the giant purple spider on the assumption that she would die just because she had been raped, saying at this point.

「I can’t have it that way. He said by all means when he requested it of me, you see.」

「That’s the job of the knights, no? It’s not our place to take action.」

「About that, because I failed to hunt some of the giant purple spiders, there were a lot of casualties among the knights, you see. I was told to make up for the missing fighting forces….」

「By that point, we should have hunted all the giant purple spiders. We didn’t manage to find even a single one after looking around for several days, did we? As expected, the only thing I can think of is that they’re naturally springing up from somewhere. It has nothing to do with you, Mireia.」

「But not only would it be difficult to subjugate the bear with just the remaining knights, it looks like the other adventurers will also be participating, so….」

After that, no matter how much I tried to persuade her, Mireia’s will to participate in the bear subjugation remained unchanged. It seems that she is participating not for the sake of her family, but for the sake of the knights. Since Mireia had joined and worked with the knight order in the past, she must have her own feelings about it. In the end, Mireia and I decided to participate in the bear subjugation and ecology investigation as adventurers.