Published at 18th of September 2019 6:59 am

Chapter 55: Everyone’s Everyday

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

While Second was in his deathmatch against the Darkness Wolf, Silvia and Eko were going to the intermediate-class dungeon 『Limptfert』 as they were instructed.

　That’s right, this was their special training.

“Let me take it alone from here. Eko, you watch my back.”

“Oookaay! “

　Confidently saying so, Silvia stepped into the dungeon.

　What welcomed the bow-wielding Silvia were six「Rock Turtles」. Most of the time, inside the Limptfert Dungeon, monsters appeared in groups. And adding to that, there were many monsters here specialized in HP and VIT.

“……Uhh.”

　Silvia suddenly noticed that two of them were killed when she released a 《Rook Archery》 shot. Holding back is surprisingly difficult―― She thought.

　At present, all of Silvia’s 【Archery】 skills, aside from Dragon King and Dragon Horse, were at Grade 9, so she held a considerably high firepower. To the point where she could slaughter a Rock Turtle, prided on their high VIT, in a single shot.

　Therefore, Silvia was being arrogant. If I have this much firepower, there won’t be any enemies for me in Limptfert―― She thought.

　However. Until now, all the enemies had been pretty much target dummies that had been killed before they got close to her, the keyword being, until now.

“Uh, eh, er! ? “

　The remaining four Rock Turtles launched an all-out attack against Silvia. Silvia then tried to fend off the 4 incoming enemies using the knockback of 《Gold Archery》, but her decision was made too late. Although severely beaten, Silvia’s HP didn’t decrease that much. However, that was enough to make Silvia fly into panic.

“D-Damn! “

　Forgetting anything about strategy, she just decided to simply kill them all using 《Rook Archery》 at will. As one would expect, two of them were nearing death, but the two others came attacking her again. And since they were attacking from a closer range than before, she couldn’t avoid the Rock Turtles’ attacks, and neither did she have time to attack them with 《Gold Archery》. Then, after being continuously beaten black and blue, Silvia finally defeated the remaining two enemies using 《Rook Archery》. Rather than calling that the fight of an archer, it was closer to being the fight of an armored knight.

“Uuugh…… I showed you a shameful sight.”

　After finishing the battle and looking back at Eko, the little cat girl had a hand in her mouth, desperately holding back her laughter. Silvia had her head bleeding, yet, she couldn’t get angry. Just now, she had realized the importance of the role Eko played.

“……I think I’ll need to come up with some kind of strategy from now on.”

　And obviously, she also realized it.

　Suddenly, a thought crossed Silvia’s mind. If she thought about things so far, she had been doing nothing but following Second’s instructions without thinking too deeply about it. All she had done was to take down the enemies coming from the front from a safe zone. Almost like a fixed cannon, so to speak.

　She had been safe until now just because there was Second to issue accurate orders. However, she wasn’t sure this will still continue to be the case from now on. Particularly with upper-class dungeons, where a moment of neglect could be fatal. This training must be a message from Second saying, 「You need to be able to secure the minimum safety by yourself」―― Of this, Silvia was convinced.

　Her being aware of that could already be considered a win for this special training. All that was left was for her technique to catch up to that. As Silvia muttered, “I was naive”, she proceeded further inside to continue her special training.

——

　Later on, after fighting with Rock Turtles several times, she switched with Eko. Then, they alternately fought with groups of Rock Turtles and returned home by nightfall.

　As expected, or rather, as Second predicted, the fights of Eko alone took a considerable amount of time. But even then, she fared several times better than Silvia as she fought the monsters. However, considering that the 【Shieldmanship】 skill assumed a one-vs-many style of fighting, this was only natural.

“Somehow, I get the feeling I lost……”

“But I couldn’t finish them properly……”

　And as for Eko, she also realized the importance of the rearguard after she fought alone.

　While guarding off the attacks of the monsters with her 【Shieldmanship】 skill, she had to look for the chance to attack. Like that, it became a tedious process with no end in sight. And in addition to that, the irritation of “How long do I have to continue?” and the boredom made it easier for her to make a mistake. Adding the increased fighting time to that, her fatigue was many times greater than usual when she fought alone.

“……But.”

　She was tired, yet she noticed she had a lot to learn.

　Both Silvia and Eko noticed that “something”.

　And that was, be it a vanguard or a rear guard, the two of them worked as one. And neither of them could handle both of those roles alone. That was―― Like Second said it, “I need both a vanguard and a rear guard”.

　The two of them were needed by Second…… that fact made the two of them, who were quite tired, to smile broadly. And after finally becoming aware of that goal after struggling while fighting alone all this time, was the best stimulus for them.

“Alright, let’s do our best! “

“Let’s do our bestー! “

　In this special training, if they really worked hard, they would definitely gain results.

　After the first day of the special training, the motivation of these two girls gained by that hunch, was way beyond Second’s expectations.

——

——

　About two months had passed since Second had left to Isoreus.

　Three people were gathered in the east mansion, holding what was now a regular meeting.

　These meetings, held at a weekly pace, were just like a brief report. It was a place where the three of them would share information obtained during the week and consider the team’s future plans. In addition, since everyone sending different messages to Second would definitely get in his way, the information gathered in this meeting was then summarized, and later conveyed, as a weekly report using the team-only communication. Needless to say, this was Yukari’s idea.

“I don’t think we need more.”

“Me tooー.”

“No, I don’t think it’s necessary at this moment either. But eventually, we will need them.”

“Alright. Let’s get some male slaves then.”

“I agree, male slaves.”

“……I’d rather not get more male slaves though.”

“I don’t like that idea either. But it’s still better than getting more potential rivals.”

“Rivalsー.”

“Well, kind of.”

　The meeting was unusually heated. The current point in the agenda was about “Restaffing the servants”. It seemed like the three girls didn’t want more women to be close to Second.

　But, as if there was something weighing in her mind, Yukari opened her mouth with a face like she had eaten a hundred bitter bugs.

“However, it’s only a month and a half until the completion of the five remaining mansions, aside from Second’s Castle (temporal) in the center and south. If possible, I’d like to expand and improve the level of my assas–, excuse me, my all-purpose maid unit.”

“Why is that? “

“Currently, there are 10 in the all-purpose maid unit. This means that, although with a drop in quality, there will be only 10 other me.”

“Hiiiii, scary.”

“That’s rude, Eko.”

“I’m sorry! “

“U-Umu…… That’s certainly somewhat terrifying, but that’d also be reassuring.”

“Right?　After replenishing the personnel under them, then Master’s castle will be as solid as a rock. However, on the other hand, those girls aren’t enough subordinates.”

“It can’t be helped as there’s only one ‘commanding officer’, is what you want to say?”

“Yeah. Once we’ve gotten the workforce, they can be left with everything from education to leadership. However, the only education they can provide for now is maid education. That’s the reason why I think getting as many female slaves as possible is good.”

“I see, it can’t be helped then. Let’s make all the maid units be formed with female slaves. However, all other servants must be male slaves. This is all I can compromise on.”

“You’re right, I guess that’s fair. I’ll make arrangements for it.”

——

“……So, you’re finally getting a load off your shoulders?　How about you change with me now?”

“Ara, a bit jealous, aren’t we?　This is an important task entrusted to me by Master. Do you believe you can persuade me to thoughtlessly hand this over to you? “

“I’m not jealous, I’m just a bit interested. It’s just, I think it’s better not to show Second-dono every thorny thing you find. He’ll definitely be pulled in.”

“You don’t have to worry. I only show stuff like that to idiots like you, Silvia-san.”

“I’ll take it as a compliment. But hey, look at you, desperately trying to keep your act as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

“What’s wrong with that? “

“What’s great about looking good only on the surface? “

“And what about you? You seem to be breaking our agreement of once a week and are sending some pretty cute messages, right?　Ahh, that’s right, about that poem making a comparison with flowers the other day, that really made me laugh.”

“You too! Your idiotically loud voice at night is a bother. How about you try being a bit quieter?　AHH, MASTER, AAAAAAHHHH, HURRY UP AND COME BAAAACK.”

“……Muscle head.”

“……Aloof woman.”

“I knew it, you’re both scary……”

　And thus, the days passed by.

　　＊　＊　＊

“That was close! “

　It’s been about three months since I started on this.

　And finally, the “aforementioned pattern” finally appeared.

　As I prepared 《Dragon King Swordsmanship》 to counter the Darkness Shift―― Anko’s shadow disappeared.

　This is the 《False Shadow》 state. If you attack during this state, the attack will be completely nullified. And you will surely eat some attack after leaving yourself open. All of Anko’s attacks are deadly for the current me. Therefore, I must never attack while she’s in False Shadow state.

　The active time of False Shadow is always 3 seconds. Cancelling the 《Dragon King Swordsmanship》 skill I was getting ready to unleash, I took some distance from Anko.

　And as soon as Darkness Shift was over, Anko used Darkness Summon. This skill summons a powerful weapon. And now that I couldn’t use 《Dragon King Swordsmanship》 in time, there’s no longer a way to stop the summon.

　Getting to this point, there’s nothing I can do but to pray. Please, don’t be the 『Dark Flame Spear』! !　I thought.

“……Nice.”

　This breaks the first barrier. What was summoned was the 『Shadow Cane』. From here on, Anko will rush using Jojutsu mode until she goes down.

　The question here is, how to take her down. Two critical hits of 《Rook Archery》 on her feet, or one critical and two normal shots, otherwise, it’s 4 normal shots.

　――And so, it came. Darkness Magic.

　It’s a vicious black fog that will force the HP down to one of whoever it touches. Moreover, it has a considerably wide range. “It’s no exaggeration to say that it all depends on luck whether you can avoid it or not”, is what the wiki said…… But the people who wrote in there were all amateurs. You should never believe what the Mobius wiki said. It was all laughable.

“（――What are you doing! ?）“

　I could hear the surprised voice of Angolmois, who was in possession state. While watching the incoming Darkness Magic in front of me, I used 《Rook Archery》 to attack Anko’s leg. Critical hit!　Nice development, isn’t it?

“（You won’t be able to avoid it!）“

　Yeah, it will definitely hit me. If you had the time to shoot it with 《Rook Archery》, you should have used it to avoid―― was probably what he wanted to tell me. From another person’s point of view, this might seem like a mistake beginners tend to make.

　But just you wait. I’ll turn that preconception upside down. In the first place, trying to purposely avoid an attack with this wide of a range is what’s a mistake.

“Transform! “

　With this, the second barrier has been broken through. Transform gives 8 seconds of invincibility.

　The drawback is that my insurance is lost. In addition, the next move is troublesome. But there’s no point in going with my hidden card. I must definitely end it here.

　Transform avoidance…… I think not many people had come up with an idea similar to this one for this scenario. Then, why isn’t this written in the wiki? Quite easy. Such people don’t visit the wiki page. If they were to have the time to teach people that “Transform should be used to avoid the Darkness Wolf’s Darkness Magic”, they would rather use that time to try for more Tame attempts.

　That’s what that online game was. After it went past a certain point, in an instant, thousands of people turned against one another. Be it their family, the blood of their own blood, it turned into a battlefield where blood was shed. And during that war, everyone tried to gather and monopolize information in order to outsmart their enemies. Everyone was a hated rival in the eyes of others and there were plenty of places to escape to. But once you ran away, it was over. And everything up until then was for that. Therefore, I absolutely couldn’t fold in. I spent all that time betting my life on it. Well, it was a never-ending, lonely battle, but that was okay. It was fitting for me. Therefore, I poured my everything into it. And nothing could replace the pleasure of reigning atop of that den of thieves, above everyone who had given up……

　……Six seconds were spent thinking about those unnecessary thoughts, then, as the shadow cane was quickly spinning through the air, I released a 《Rook Archery》 shot aimed at Anko’s feet. This one wasn’t a critical. I need one more shot to bring her down.

　However, I don’t have to worry anymore. There’s no problem even if I were to be hit by Darkness Magic since I know that in that moment, I can take her down with one more shot.

　Therefore, I shot 《Rook Archery》 at Anko’s foot the moment she was about to cast Darkness Magic. Then, Darkness Magic activated. Obviously, I ate it face on, and, in exchange for my HP becoming 1, I brought her ‘down’.

　Conventionally, this would’ve been followed by a shadow cane attack. But because she’s ‘down’, I can retreat safely and slowly recover. And with this, the third barrier has been broken through. I made it alive――

　Well then. When Anko gets up, she always uses Rush after Darkness Shift. I’ve already gone back to my usual position.

　And thus, the ‘wearing down’ battle started again. I wonder how long will this take……?

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