Published at 25th of March 2019 11:13 pm

Chapter 20: Day 191 to Day 200

Day 191

It's the second day of the opening sale.

It looks like the visitors that came on the shop's opening day spread the word even more, as we had a fair number of customers this morning.

However, the social class of the visitors seemed to lean towards one side.

To be more specific, while they weren't the kind of wealthy merchants that might be richer than a poor noble, there were still many people with fairly high positions in the Royal Capital there, such as aristocratic military officers and city officials.

Although there were nobles who visited the shop and brought several servants with them, there were also those that ordered servants, such as their butlers and maids, to purchase goods while observing the store.

Although the proportion of these types was roughly fifty-fifty, I'm personally more grateful for the former than I am the latter.

When the latter comes by to run their master's errand, they frequently purchase goods for their own use as well. The servants have a very high salary for a commoner, and there's a number of items they're able to choose from and buy themselves.

However, in the former's case, the attendants become baggage carriers as the nobles whimsically buy a large quantity of various items. Either that, or the items being bought are too expensive for the money to be given to a commoner. Of course I'm happy when situations like this occur.

Contrary to my expectations before the store opened, I'm quite pleased that the expensive products are selling better than I expected.

By the way, I think that the Tomboy Princess and the First Queen are the cause of this increase in business.

Either that, or it may have been because of the information that the First Queen's attendants brought back with them. I can't deny the possibility that they spread it through an information network, which would probably be a network of the [Five Great Gods Religion]'s hidden believers.

When I observed our customers, not all of the nobles and their servants were members, but I was able to identify quite a few people wearing accessories with carved patterns indicating that they're one of the [Five Great Gods Religion]'s believers.

In addition, I've recently gotten used to receiving customers, so I think it's safe to say that I can notice the way they gaze in my direction without saying anything.

Well, having said that, since it's highly likely that I won't have a lack of customers for the foreseeable future, the weight on my shoulders has decreased a bit.

Although the store just opened, I wouldn't be able to laugh if we had no business at all.

However, while this may be true, I'm still not relieved.

I'm assuming that most of our customers came out of curiosity the first time, which is useless if they stop coming. On top of that, I don't think they'll come back if we don't continue to improve the products and services that other stores don't have on a regular basis.

Also, because communication technology is still underdeveloped in this world, word of mouth is very important when it comes to advertising.

Since it's very difficult to recover once you get a bad image, I need to make an effort to create a good first impression.

For that reason, I received our customers with the most basic of things; a smile.

However, there was one problem with that.

Even though the rest of my group's members are fine with it, my smile appears to have had quite an impact on the customers that came by for the first time yesterday, to such an extent that they lost all strength in their hips. Of course, this excludes the people that have already gotten to know me, like the Tomboy Princess, our glorious first customer.

According to the people in question, they seemed to instinctively think that they were about to get eaten.

Since I was just being myself, their reactions hurt my feelings a little.

My personal feelings aside, this is a matter I should reflect on.

I went to Kanami-chan beforehand to get advice on how to uphold a good appearance, but because she was the only person who had become fully accustomed to being around me, there was a blind spot.

That's why I made use of my contemplation of this matter and tried various things to improve it.

The solution I found was to use my negative status ability, [Weak Intimidation], when I go to take care of customers.

The effect of [Weak Intimidation] is that it makes me weak to intimidation attacks I receive from an enemy. In other words, it's easier to scare me.

The ability is useless at a glance, but when I invoke it, it has a side effect that weakens the intimidating aura that I unconsciously release around me.

Immediately after noticing this, I tested the ability and examined the area. The fear the customers had because of my unconscious intimidation was alleviated, and the likelihood of customers becoming frightened was greatly decreased.

In my case, [Weak Intimidation] has become an effective skill when dealing with customers.

Honestly, I don't know where else it would really be usable.

With this, their anxiety disappeared for the time being, and we continued working.

An old butler came by to run an errand for a Noble, and I attracted his interest by selling quality goods beyond what he requested for less than he anticipated.

The many detailed demands that he made aside, when it came to paying, the fourth son of a Noble said, 『I'll pay you back when I get promoted ＝ I want this on credit』, so I took him to the back office and taught him the rules of society.

Because they were dressed up in pretty clothes and accessories, we used skillful words to entice the party of one noble's daughter into noticing the clothes that Kanami-chan and the others had designed and put out for sale.

As I had already anticipated, it didn't take long for a fair number of troublesome customers to come by, but we were able to smoothly deal with them for the most part.

However, there was still one particularly troublesome person.

The one who required the most attention today was a noble with a gentle smile, a well-trained body and a splendid, well-maintained handlebar mustache as his characteristics.

He holds the considerably high title of Marquis, and is one of the few influential people that was on the Tomboy Princess's side and didn't support the [Nobles Faction] during the recent coup d'état.

At the moment, the amount of influence that he carries has increased because of his achievements, and it's certain that he'll become an important person for the Tomboy Princess in the future.

I met the Marquis several times when I was working on her requests; I'll simply refer to him as Marquis Kaiser from now on since his real name is too long. He brought three young attendants with him, as well.

As for his attendants, they consisted of two [Knights] and one [Secretary].

Although the three of them were still in their early twenties, since the Marquis raised and trained them from childhood, their levels were high for their age.

Equipped with iron armor and a longsword, the two young knights were silently waiting behind him with an intense expression on their faces. Both of them had a good build and their muscular bodies appeared to be well-trained.

Their fighting prowess is probably only slightly lower than that of the Rusty Iron Knight.

For private soldiers, they're quite excellent.

In front of the two knights was the secretary, who was standing diagonally behind Marquis Kaiser with a sharp glint in her eyes and a hard to please look on her face. She carries the atmosphere of a woman who does her job well, but is hard to approach.

Although she skillfully hid it, the slight movements of her body felt out of place, so I'm guessing that she probably has various dark devices hidden in her clothes.

She'd probably lose if she fought the two young men behind her head on, but she might be able to beat them if she used back-alley tactics.

Although I don't have any concrete evidence of this, it's what my intuition is telling me.

Either way, Marquis Kaiser's guards are tough. It would be more difficult than usual to successfully assassinate him.

Marquis Kaiser, along with the excellent servants that he brought with him, asked about the origins of the high class items that were on display on the wall. These items were a portion of the magic items that I had collected from the late Minister. After that, he proceeded to look at the clothes the Leprechauns had made one by one.

I'm grateful that he's generously buying everything he's pleased with, without looking at the cost. As a result, the luggage that the knights have to carry home has continued to increase as time passes.

Before long, it had accumulated to such an extent that they couldn't see in front of themselves, but they continued to carry the luggage despite the fact that it continued to accumulate. Speaking of how much he was buying, one can imagine that even the arms of the two strong knights had started to tremble slightly, due to the weight increasing in proportion to the amount being bought.

It can be said that Marquis Kaiser is a good, lavish customer.

However, the secretary that was behind him was sighing heavily, but I intentionally pretended that I didn't notice it.

Since she's the one entrusted with her master's wallet, I'm sure that her worries will never end.

By the way, the number of items he bought became too much, so I arranged for them to be transported to Marquis Kaiser's residence.

As a kind of service for his bulk purchase, I decided to do this for free.

Seeing as I caused some grief before, the two knights' mood improved since they didn't have to carry the large amount of baggage anymore. As for the secretary, she breathed a sigh of relief as she thought about the expenses they saved because I had waived the delivery fees.

At any rate, Marquis Kaiser is very good at talking.

It might be impolite of me to say this, but contrary to his appearance, he possesses a wealth of knowledge. While he mixed bits and pieces of his vast knowledge into our conversation so it was easy to understand, we drew the interest of others.

Our interactions weren't like those of a salesperson and a customer, but more like normal friends socializing, which was a lot more interesting.

Still, I can't be careless around Marquis Kaiser, since his mind is brimming with thoughts that he wants to win us over to his side.

He was completely devoid of an atmosphere of disdain because we had eliminated the Strong Grandson and his allies. The fact is that he's doing everything he can to win us over for the sake of the Tomboy Princess, or rather, the Kingdom. Some might call it fighting spirit, or maybe even zeal, but dealing with him directly wears me out.

However, it's not like I said that I dislike it. He's rather likeable, so he's not someone I can resent.

It's just that he's troublesome because he's difficult to handle.

Whenever I was about to say something untactful, there'd sometimes be a snake-like glint in his eyes.

To make sure that our deal isn't broken, I must think carefully before I speak.

Nevertheless, since he was trained to keep the society of Nobles in check, Marquis Kaiser was superior in verbal warfare. As expected of someone who smoothly avoided the dangers of the recent coup d'etat and survived.

Unfortunately, my experience was different.

Still, although I was mentally worn out by the end of it, I managed to pull through somehow. I guess it's inevitable that I was relieved when we finished.

After that, I served a small number of other customers before ending the day.

From today, I once again understood that serving customers doesn't suit my personality, after all.

This back and forth is fine when a contract is being signed, but in this case, it causes too much mental fatigue. Rather, perhaps I should say that repeatedly being exposed to their excessively enthusiastic gazes makes my shoulders stiff, after all.

Although it'd still be fine if it was a temporary thing, but it's extremely unlikely that I'll grow accustomed to it if it continues to occur.

Since I have other work that I have to take care of, I decided that I would entrust this job to those who are good at it starting tomorrow.

One by one, I should assign management to each area.

--

Day 192

It's the third day of the shop's opening sale.

I didn't work in the shop today, but instead focused my energy on the mansion's first floor renovations.

Since the foreman and the other craftsmen worked yesterday, I had some of our group members work with them as well doing odd jobs. It looks like things went better than I expected.

While it'll still take some time to complete the renovations, it appears that they'll be finished earlier than expected.

By the way, I appointed Female Samurai as the shop's manager and entrusted it to her.

Since she has the Humans (male and female) that possess the [Merchant] and [Peddler] jobs with her, as well as quickwitted Elves (male) that possess the good looks typically associated with their species that the Humans brought with them as their assistants, I think she'll be able to handle it.

The goods that we sold yesterday were restocked overnight, and we still have quite an abundance of them in stock as well.

There shouldn't be any particular problems.

Now that I think about it, it looks like business is doing better than yesterday. As I was working on the renovations, I thought I heard a voice calling for help for some reason.

However, I simply hardened my heart and remained silent.

Today was different from yesterday, as many [Alchemists] came to buy raw materials, and wealthy merchants came to check out the situation. A pretty large amount of goods was being exchanged at a time.

In this world, you essentially try to beat the prices of other shops, so we set the prices for our shop's goods a little low when compared to their quality, and they're even cheaper because it's a sale.

I wanted to keep the shop's prices fixed, but since there are many cases of people negotiating the prices in this world, I decided to tolerate doing so to some extent.

Therefore, since merchants were using their words to lower the prices, even Female Samurai appeared to be having a hard time. The tenacity of veteran merchants is quite amazing, isn't it?

In addition, the group members that possessed merchant system jobs had some ups and downs as well since, to be honest, there was a difference in their levels as a merchant. They were at an overall disadvantage and continued to lose ground the entire time.

It was constant haggling, and the battle of words unfolded on countless occasions.

However, they also gained experience every time this happened. I used my clones to keep watch over Female Samurai and the others.

Having said that, even if they're overwhelmed by the other party, most of the products being sold here are items we obtained in the previous war that we haven't made use of yet. There are also raw materials gathered in the Great Forest being sold as well. For that reason, there's no problem since we'll make a fair bit of profit just by selling them, even if the price is haggled down some from its cost that's already significantly lower than usual. With this being the situation, that was the conclusion that I came to.

As for Female Samurai and the other members, it seems they gained great experience from today's events.

However, contrary to my expectations, although they had lowered the prices, they weren't reduced below the expected values.

With this kind of effort, I think their work deserves some sort of reward.

In the evening, while I was thinking about such things, Female Samurai and the others closed the shop.

It looks like much of their fatigue is more mental than it is physical.

After the girls and boys of Solitude finished their training, I left the task of cleaning the store and restocking the merchandise to them. Then, I used the specially made aroma oil that Doriane-san gave me to do a practice run of giving oil massages on the shop group that had persevered in their work.

After the first floor renovations are completed, I plan to open a massage shop for nobles and wealthy merchants. To prevent any problems once it opens, I should finish training the talented members of our group that look like they'll be good at it while we still have time.

Of course, I also intend to use this as a reward for those working in the shop.

I'll be responsible for Female Samurai, the person that made the biggest contribution today. As for the others, it's up to them to choose their respective partner.

For some reason, Kanami-chan and Redhead didn't plan to get a massage in the massage shop. Instead, they began practicing with Auro and Argento as their partners, on both sides of me.

Since there are no laws in this world that say that someone needs a national license to be a masseuse, it's so easy that we just have to teach them the basic hand techniques and other points of note.

While suitable time and experience are necessary for someone to obtain skilled hands, I felt like they might be able to obtain some sort of [Job] like [Masseuse] or [Massage Specialist] if they continued practicing.

I asked Redhead about them, but it doesn't look like she's heard of any [Jobs] like these. However, it's possible that they exist and people simply don't know about them.

…Yeah, I've decided to think that it's a good find if that happens.

There were a lot of beds lined up in one of the mansion's rooms, and when we tried it out as we practiced for approximately one hour, the fatigue of the shop members was significantly reduced by the combined effects of Doriane-san's special aroma oil and the massage itself.

Since the room's temperature was being kept at a moderate level with a magic item, most of those receiving a massage had fallen asleep halfway through it.

When I asked the members that were still awake, it looks like the massages were fairly effective even though they were given by beginners. With more training, they should become useful in the future.

As we disbanded for the day, I told those I'm training to practice on their own when they have time.

--

Day 193

It's been snowing since morning.

Although it was snowing yesterday as well, it's heavier today. Nearly eighty centimeters of snow has already fallen as of this morning, and it's likely that it's going to continue to accumulate.

Since we have a magic item installed on the shop's door that uses a Wind and Fire Spirit Stone to periodically clear the snow from the area around the entrance, we'll have no problems opening the shop. However, it's unlikely that we'll get many important customers.

Unless they have important business to take care of, most people will just stay in their homes today. Since they need to clear the snow off their roofs, and most of the roads are buried in snow, the situation can't be helped.

As for the Foreman and the other craftsmen, I wanted them to take the day off because of the heavy snow, so I contacted them via the ear cuffs that I gave them before.

Having done that, I decided to keep the number of sales clerks to a minimum today, and had all the members that don't have work to do gather in one place.

After all, it's the perfect day to train them without reservation for the first time in a while. Also, the snow is just the right thing for this.

This training is so that they can move around perfectly in various environments, such as sprawling plains, meadows that are overgrown with grass, deserts with burning sandstorms, and humid wetlands, among other areas. For that reason, these natural conditions are perfect for us to train in.

With my abilities, I could emulate the environments to some extent, but I can't do it to this scale with my present self.

My abilities simply aren't enough. I don't have anything from the temperature reduction system yet, which includes freezing abilities.

I may be able to do it with magic, but honestly, even if it's possible, I don't want to do so since there'd be too much waste.

Anyway, after we finished our stretching in the mansion, we adjusted our equipment and left for the training grounds.

All of the members put on a heavy outfit designed to keep out the cold, as well as a thick overcoat that's highly water repellant, which was made from my thread and raw monster materials so that their body temperature won't drop because of the cold wind and snow. They're also wearing leather armor under their overcoats, a backpack on their backs containing weights, and they had their favorite weapons hanging on their waist or shoulders.

With this, the circumstances for our basic march were completed.

Of course, the training grounds were dyed white by the snow that's fallen, which is why we prepared ourselves in this way.

When marching in these conditions, it's typical for those marching to advance while using magic items and tamed pets to clear the snow.

However, when that's not enough, they'll use manpower to dig and push their way through it. I did think about whether we should do this method first, though.

That said, I'm still uncertain about the stamina of many of the members of ≪Solitude≫, so I decided to pass on that thought this time.

The snow levels had increased too much, so I carefully used [Pyrokinesis] to melt the snow in the training grounds. Melting the snow in a wide area caused the level of cold water to rise too much, so I also used [Hydro Hand] to remove the water.

As a result, the ground absorbed a lot of water and became muddy, but I left that alone. While I might be able to more or less remove this water, I think the burden caused by the muddy ground is perfect.

Even if I had removed said water, the snow would eventually pile up again. Since this snow would melt when people step on it, the area would still end up in a similar state, so there was no point in me doing so.

After fixing the place up, I took lead of the members that had assembled in rows and columns.

Since we were still warming up, I had them continue to run for approximately thirty minutes, with the minimum objective of keeping their formation intact.

At first, their lungs were numbed every time they breathed in the cold air as they ran. However, the exercise was generating internal heat for them.

Although they were cold at first, it wasn't a problem because of the heat of the steam rising from their bodies as they ran.

Even though they weren't running very fast, the young members of ≪Solitude≫ were out of breath. However, they were still able to stick it out and continue running until the end somehow.

Having said that, it seems that this exercise was still fairly harsh for the young group to do. There were some members who vomited or simply fell down as soon as they finished running.

However, because they desperately ran to the end, this is acceptable for the time being.

As one would expect, their group showed no signs of moving, so I had them rest for a moment. As for the remaining members that still had energy to spare, I first had them form parties of two, and then had them start the actual combat training that was already the standard in Parabellum.

Of course, since they're training with real weapons, the chance of someone being injured is high. Actually, I'm almost 100% certain that there will be injuries.

Although their thick armor will protect them if they're grazed by the tip of a sword, the attack's impact will still affect their body.

If they're hit, it'll break their bones every time, and in the worst case they may be left near death. Thankfully, this has yet to lead to situations where limbs were lost, but there have been several instances of injuries that came close.

That said, since Seiji-kun and I healed them each time this happened, not one of them has had to deal with the after-effects of receiving a fatal injury.

I understand that it's a very dangerous training method to use, but I'm certain that real combat is the best way to quickly increase their overall abilities.

Actually, the members' tolerance for pain has improved since we started using this training method. As a result, their combat abilities have risen drastically, and their skill level when it comes to close combat is high.

Each member gets a growth modifying effect because of me, but as I thought, much of their growth is due to this type of training.

I don't intend for it to start happening, but even if someone dies from this training in the future, I probably won't stop using this method.

Anyway, this continued for a while, and then the members of ≪Solitude≫ recovered and started training at the same time for a few more hours.

Without eating lunch, they carefully moved their bodies at various speeds. Through this, we were able to get an idea of how their bodies react in cold climates.

After that, I tried some training by fighting on my own against all of the members present, which numbered at least one hundred.

I gave them a handicap by only using my bare hands and restricting my ability usage.

It started with me being surrounded by everyone, with Kanami-chan leading them.

As they came to attack me, their eyes appeared to say that they wanted to clear away their everyday grudges. It was quite impressive.

Well, as a result, we finished around an hour later and there was a mountain of bodies in the training grounds.

Other than me, only Kanami-chan was left standing. The rest of the members were lying on the ground, including Redhead, Auro, and Argento.

As for the degree of the injuries that they suffered, even the great fighters were heavily wounded.

Well, the members of ≪Solitude≫ are still young and inexperienced, so I easily blew them away with the wind pressure caused by my fists. As a result, they only suffered light injuries like scratches and bruises.

Before they could receive anymore attacks, they had become unable to stand.

As for one of the members that confronted me who was proud of their high fighting strength, one of their arms was broken sloppily. Their body was dripping blood due to the countless large and small lacerations that they suffered, and they were in quite a miserable state.

However, even though they took a certain number of attacks, they weren't defeated instantly. Instead, they were able to endure them.

Thinking about it now, maybe I went too far.

Well, since they would be dead if this was real combat, going this far should be fine.

Anyway, since I got to vent some of my accumulated stress, I was satisfied.

The members have improved more than I expected, and I had more injuries on my limbs than before as a result.

While some of these injuries reached the bone, even without using my abilities, they could already only be seen as thin red lines due to my body's high capacity for regeneration.

Though I can't say that the satisfaction is at a record high, I'm sure that it's very high.

Man, today was a good day.

Since I was in a good mood, I gave everyone a Life Potion that had my blood mixed in in order to cure their wounds. I then used Wyvern meat and other high-quality meats to make a late-night meal.

The Wyvern thigh meat steak is really yummy!

The thinly sliced marbled meat of the Jandal Cow is really yummy!

The roasted Benjal Bird is really yummy!

They were all delicious, but this is probably because all the creatures have a high price. However, the Wyvern meat was the best of them all.

The juices of the meat that bursts out on your tongue, as well as the melting texture when I put the meat in my mouth, they're irresistible.

Just a little, because I desire other dragon meat that isn't from a Jadar Wyvern, I want to go hunting for some if the opportunity presents itself.

Rather, maybe I should challenge the Age of the Gods Dungeon on my own…

When I get some free time, I intend to do so.

--

Day 194

It was snowing again today. Truthfully, it snowed much less than yesterday. There were also strong winds blowing, which led to banging sounds on the windows. Trees were bending in the wind, scattering the accumulated snow on them.

Such a storm mercilessly took away the remnants of heat from the body of anyone who dared to go outside. The chances of getting frostbite were increased significantly compared to yesterday. In my current state, I wouldn't be hurt, but I wanted to lock myself in the warmth of my house. A warm fireplace is the best. I like to sit and bask in the dancing flames in the hearth.

Although in the hot springs, it was warm and it felt better, once you are within it's warm grasp, you need an incredible amount of willpower to get out. A natural hot spring of the heavens. Once there, the body leaves from the comfort of the soul.

Ahh… I already want to go back to the base and have a good breakfast surrounded by children and Kanami-chan, I thought about it. But then, I had a sudden idea. What if, you make something like a taxi, which will work without rest and bring citizens of the city to their destination? If we were to do this, it would earn us a good amount of money.

One of my trump cards are the wagon [Skeleton Centipede] made of bone, designed from [Lesser Summoning: Undead] and with [Skeleton Combination] [Undead Chimera]. Comparing it with a simple horse, it is unmatched in speed, comfort and it did not need rest. Thus, I wish to easily create a whole bunch of them and the cost of production will not hinder us. It would complete almost all transportation dreams.

Among the shortcomings, under the sunlight they can easily turn into smoke. But, this disadvantage can be overcome by covering it with my clones, and by means of a metal frame. In fact, the Tomboy Princess has asked me to lend them a couple, but I refused, because I wanted to benefit as much as possible to maintain the secret method of their creation.

Now I have made something for few, or more, precisely the vehicle for 4 people in the likeness of a taxi. The operation of the vehicle would be much cheaper than conventional carts, and I planned to also make the fares lower. Because of the low cost, and how it drives nice and fast, it will certainly attract customers.

This will be a stimulus for increasing the economic activities, which in the cold season is usually "Frozen". And if it does stimulate activity, then there is a great chance that we will have an increased amount of customers. If this transport works in everyday life, the income from it will be a good increase for us.

It is not clear whether everything will go as planned, but from an economic point of view, the idea does not look bad. Fortunately, even if it fails, we will not lose anything.

Nobody knows what to say about it in the matter of laws of the Sternbild Kingdom. If there were bans on that matter, we would be found guilty before even knowing it. Due to the high possibility of this, you need to dig into a lot of these laws. On this subject, I decided to contact Tomboy Princess. It has been decided and will do.

Thus, finished with breakfast, I went to the Royal Palace for a meeting with Tomboy Princess, to tell her about my new idea. Of course, I could take a walk from the mansion to the Royal Palace and turn into snow demon, but I decided to first, start mass production of a smaller version of the wagon of the [Skeleton Centipede].

I have all the materials in the Item Box, and because of preparation did not take a lot of time, not even an hour has passed before I had finished creating it.

The new creation is called [Skeleton Spider]. In contrast to the long bones of the body of the [Skeleton Centipede] capable of carrying a lot of cargo and passengers, it is designed to carry a small number of passengers. It has a small body and had a lower capacity, but the four spaces within it, gives all the comfort to stay inside even if there were four passengers (excluding the driver), and the roof could carry a surprising amount of things.

Even though it is significantly inferior to the parameters of the hundreds of bones, [Skeleton Spider] had all the necessary skills. The problem was in appearance. Imitating fashion, I made it look like a four-wheeled box, and this time, in front of the driver's seat, which was located ahead, I had enchanted my abilities to make a plow-like appendage to clear the snow. This made it so that it looked nothing like the [Skeleton Spider] that was initially created. The bones were encased in a corrosion-resistant metal, after that, it no longer looked like a strangely shaped steel trailer.

There was a high probability that the passengers will be interested in how the vehicle works, but I have prepared an excuse that it is made up of several magical items.

While they may not dismantle it, I think that deception will still take place. The interior was decorated with a dense fabric of my webs, as well as various trees growing in the great forest. Using absorbing vibration and shock, the tree species processed by the [Body Fluid Control] are added on top of the dense layer of my web. Another layer of wood is then deposited in the interior.

Thus, the inside was very warm and comfortable, and was not able to feel even the smallest shaking due to motion. Certainly not matching the wagon [Skeleton Centipede], the [Skeleton Spider] still offers good comfort while riding. Thus the bone spider was completed.

With the final prototype, I got to the royal castle located in the Amber Palace gates. Fortunately, I made an appointment in advance, so I was easily let inside. Sipping expensive tea while waiting, Tomboy Princess and Boy Knight finally came.

As usual, she looked cheerful when exchanging the usual greetings. The interior of the palace after the coup, was restored in a hurry, but some things still has traces of the coup and other things still needed time to remove.

After finishing a non-binding contract, we went to the purpose of the visit, the [Skeleton Spider]. The response was just spot on from the Tomboy Princess.

The Royal Capital was still the center of the Sternbild Kingdom, and because the area is normally densely occupied, traveling along it was quite problematic. To deal with it, they now allowed street carts, but their number was surprisingly small.

Although it was affected by many interests, horse carts were filled with various difficulties, but as a result of what happened recently in the coup, there still hadn't been much to establish routes or proper paths for them. Combined with the fact it is currently snowing outside constantly, most carts were just sitting idle.

Now it was time to go on stage with the [Skeleton Spider]. Their ability was not only to move on the streets littered with drifts of snow, but also move with ease even in the icy cold snow storm, and was most importantly, very cheap. It could be amazing for the citizens of the capital.

The final decision was to leave all the troublesome paperwork to the Princess all the while the Sternbild Kingdom would not receive a direct profit for this business venture. This was for the sake of increasing the economical activities of their citizens, and as a near direct result, their tax base.

Like I said, let's live together for common prosperity. Although her answer sounded really like "she will decide when she wants to," the issue has almost been solved, and she said it's because she wanted a ride. Looking at her, full of energy, typical for her age, a soft smile appeared on my face. Taking the [Skeleton Spider] for a roll herself, she really liked it.

"…Well, if this wagon… the…[Skeleton Centipede]was it? If you're sure if it will work and you can mass produce it, I'm curious as to how its made and how it works." she thus asked indirectly.

Well, that was to be expected. I gave her my general description that I had come up with beforehand and we left it at that. I noticed a slight hint of disbelief from her though. Honestly, she's a bit to sharp for her own good sometimes.

After that we decided how many should be prepared, which route they will move up to where, and other minor details. I wanted to continue to maintain a good relationship with the Tomboy Princess.

At the end of the affairs, I went back into the house and immediately started the mass production of[Skeleton Spiders]. Having finished the design, the manufacturing process has been to some extent, adjusted. The frame and the interior was entrusted to my comrades, thus reducing the manufacturing time.

--

Day 195

There wasn't much going on today, its still snowing though. The Royal Capital has been dyed in a white layer of fluff as the streets are congested with both snow and the various people working hard to clear the snow outside.

Meanwhile, a single Skeleton Spider is running through the Royal Capital. I'm putting up poster advertisement for the store as I test the Spider's full speed while clearing the snow around the store. Riding through the streets, the snow that touches the snowplow that was installed in the front ends up instantly melting, changing to water and flowing down into the drainage system installed on the sides of the road. The water in such mass also helps remove snow not directly in the plow's path as the water is heated after it comes in contact with the plow and melts the snow further. The width of the ground gradually extends and a definite road was beginning to form amidst the snowfall.

Just as a Skeleton Centipede is highly noticeable, a Skeleton Spider also will tend to stick out quite a fair bit. The peculiar look caused it to stand out sure, but the main cause of its attention was the ability for this peculiar item to clear the snow. People gathered on the roads that were cleared and began mumbling things such as "What's going on?" and the sort.

While confirming that there was a small problem with how it operates, I rode the Spider with Auro and Argento. If I was asked why, it is simply because they didn't mind training, or working in the shop, they simply wanted to spend time testing the Spider with their father. There certainly does need to be a certain level of physical connection between parent and child.

The two relished running around the Royal Capital on the Skeleton Centipede. We changed because the Skeleton Centipede operates better and suited the purpose of relaxing more. It wasn't a bad day, though, the trial run was over by noon and I spent a good portion of the day on various things. I think I'll be able to manage the mass production target of the Skeleton Spiders somehow.

--

Day 196

The opening flood from opening the store has passed for the moment. Since it's the last day of the discount sale, I had decided to help with the store.

Though I did release 30 more Skeleton Spiders before I went over there. Our companions were kitted up in the appropriate Sternbild Kingdom attire for a driver and were set in the driver's seat moving along their predetermined routes.

They were to move along the main roads as well as relatively busy areas of commerce and trade. Dozens of Skeleton Spiders were roaming the streets as they cleared the snow. By doing so, more people were leaving their homes and, as such, increasing the number of citizens who saw the ads on the sides of the spiders.

Thus, while clearing the streets clogged in snow, we can successfully draw the attention of potential customers at a steady pace through the advertisement.

I've already seen to the payment to the Tomboy Princess to allow this advertisement. I'm looking forward to receiving requests from the various merchants that see the advertisement and are drawn to the shop as a result, so a minor expense is fine.

Well, even if I don't have any immediate expectations for profits, I do expect for this minor cost to pay itself off substantially in the future.

When we had finished clearing the streets of snow, the people began to once more fill the streets. Normally the Royal Capital would be slightly quiet due to the level of heavy snow fall, but as it was now, a good portion of the liveliness had returned as a result of the cleared streets. It's a good thing I suppose, but not the targeted result.

As a result of the advertisement, we did have many more customers. The main reason was mostly because of the sale's last day though.

Since the goods were only remaining this cheap for today, news had already spread throughout the Royal Capital Osvel, causing it to become somewhat famous over these last few days.

The roads being cleared and the advertisement only served to further increase the business revenue. The store was blooming with activity.

At any rate, there are quite a few more customers today. It's certainly a good thing, especially since we will not need to close now, this can lead to new profits in the future.

However, since it's quite busy today, it's not that easy to manage since we're still inexperienced with it. It probably would get easier over time, but for now it's a semi-major pain.

Doing a surprising amount of non-stop work until the evening caused most of our shoulders to go stiff with heavy levels of fatigue.

I would say that, rather than being tired, it was more stressful trying to service all of the customers today.

I want to use the hot springs…

--

Day 197

Today the group is staying in the Royal Capital. Sadly, there's not much going on right now.

Even after the sale ended, there are still quite a few customers coming to the shop and the construction within the building is still ongoing.

The snow is still falling and the [Skeleton Spider] transportation has become a full-scale business.

That's the story for today because nothing's really going on.

I suppose I'll focus on what the other groups have been up to since there's nothing exciting going on. To be more precise, the main group that's at the base.

First, let's go over the Female Knight. She had offered her sword in loyalty to me, just as the other people who were caught in the Forest invasion a few months back, such as the Clergymen and the Red Fencer, both of which are guarding the base back in the Kuuderun Forest.

She had participated during the recent battle in the coup by hiding her identity behind a mask and managed to slay several dozen officers, greatly contributing to the course of the battle.

As such, she was sent back on a tourist route and able to visit various cities.

Along the way, there were quite a few requests for Parabellum, though I still don't know where our name was leaked in the Sternbild Kingdom, but it's to be expected that our renown would spread.

I only chose members that can accomplish the requests to accompany me to go and accept them.

Fortunately, the Female Knight was presumed dead during their previous war with the elves, so even though she's the daughter of a high noble family, she won't be recognized easily. That said, the chances someone might recognize her weren't zero, therefore, her group had to keep their sightseeing within normal bounds and had returned to the base rather quickly.

She's recently taken up going on strolls through the vast forest of ours, either going alone or with several of her subordinates, gathering up various materials on her way. The forest is vast and is gradually spreading with a constantly growing vitality like never before. This is causing even more Spirit Stones to show up that are of an even greater quality. The quality thus also produces even better materials and is probably linked to the expansion and improvements of the hot springs. To know where good materials are depends all on information gathering. While she and her subordinates are collecting materials, they also were making a map with the locations of various materials marked. For this, I'm grateful. Once I return home, I fully intend to give her a dress that's an [Ancient] class artifact from the [Age of Gods] dungeons. Hmm, as for the other members, I suppose liquor and sake should be acceptable.

…

A certain Kobold that had [Ranked-Up] from a Kobold Footman to a Kobold Samurai went into the [Derived Dungeon] in the Labyrinth City. He had gathered up people who failed to achieve suitable achievements during the war and led them in diligently raising their levels while gathering magical items. If they are able to gather a certain amount of equipment, I'll probably give him a Falaise Eagle as a familiar.

Though I don't expect much from them, the dungeon capture speed was fairly faster than I had assumed, probably because of the strong devotion and loyalty from the Kobold Samurai that had taken command. Unfortunately, during their dungeon conquest, a few of their party were killed, which immediately made it clear that the dungeon they took on was dangerous and that the dangers of the dungeon only increase as you progress. Such things do tend to happen no matter how much you prepare for it. As such, I offered a silent prayer for the passed souls so that they may rest in peace. I don't hold the Kobold, Akita, responsible for the casualties. As for what happened, Akita had attempted to do just about as much as possible, but the abilities of those who were killed were simply insufficient for the difficulty of that dungeon. The fault is on those who attempted something they were not ready for.

The magical items were gathered smoothly for the most part. As such I have also begun the preparation for creating a branch designated for the operation within the Labyrinth City Purgatory. It will be convenient to open a branch within Purgatory since even though the official main office has been opened within the Royal Capital, a great deal of my business is with the Labyrinth City, so it's just as important from my point of view.

Anyway, after becoming a Kobold Samurai, Akita's intelligence is far higher than when he was a Kobold Footman. As long as his extreme loyalty doesn't cause him to become too reckless, he will end up becoming quite reliable.

There are many subordinates who end up working desperately to accomplish their mission if it's me giving the order. In that sense it saves me quite a bit of trouble in the end.

I wonder if I should reward Akita's efforts. There's the occasional sword that flows in from the east and they're fairly famous blades at that. I think one of those would serve as a good reward for Akita.

…

I wished Minokichi-kun and Oniwaka's group good luck as they continued their energetic genocide of monsters. This is because, rather than in a Purgatory dungeon, they are hunting monsters in a natural danger zone. Even though the probability of encountering monsters within dungeons is much higher, in nature there is a far larger variety of monsters. They simply cannot afford to be caught off guard during their escapades, because if they do, they'll face a significant counterattack as a result. The reason for this is because unlike the dungeons, the strength of monsters in nature is not uniform and can vary quite a bit.

The strongest monster within their danger zone is the [Wisdom Dragon] which is an unbelievable existence because of its humongous strength, and is even considered strong by the standards of mighty Giants. More often than not, monsters of such levels only exist in the depth of the countless unexplored mountain ranges, though there are still exceptions such as ones that live in areas like the waterfall near Mason Village.

I'd have to say that Minokichi-kun's group is lucky they haven't encountered one yet. They don't have enough time to delve into such depths though and are only capable of finding bosses on the levels of the Red Bear or Jade Eagle.

No, all boss class monsters are formidable enemies, but since both of the examples I used, the Red Bear and the Jade Eagle, have [Divine Protection], it makes them even more frightening than the usual monster.

For Minokichi and Asue however, considering their monstrous strength and unnatural good luck, the threat level is considerably lower than the norm. Knowing that they will assist when necessary, I hope that Oniwaka will have grown twice as strong the next time I see him. There might even be the chance for him to [Rank-Up]. As such, I impatiently wait for them to bring back materials and the corpses they've gathered along the way.

…

Avenger is doing a variety of requests along with Rusty Iron Knight and Scarface. The requests mostly consist of eliminating thief and bandit camps, or subjugating dangerous monsters causing havoc for towns and villages who offer up the quests to remove them. I'm guessing that most of the missions are taken up by Avenger because of his ruined hometown. The appearance of Avenger taking up said tasks was akin to a violent rampage with bloodcurdling roars. Combine that with the fact he's wearing a demon mask to hide his identity and it's enough to make people want to call him a demon. When they encounter him, the bandits, thieves, or whatever dangerous monsters it may have been, are all slain within the blink of an eye before they even have the chance to feel fear.

Without wasting time, using accurate information gathered by my clones, Avenger was able to understand the problems and immediately resolve them, thus earning the trust of his clients.

Even though currently they only get paid a few silver coins per request, in the future, they'll have gained much trust and reputation; so it's good for Avenger and the others to do their best even if it's only for chump change.

If I'm not mistaken, Avenger still hasn't met his companions, or rather, his [Sub-Cast] characters from his [Psalm] yet. As such, I pray that he will encounter the [Witch of Youkai Flames], the [Cavalry Defender], the [Usurper] and the [Holy Woman of Compassion]. Because I've already been informed that out of the four, both the [Witch of Youkai Flame] and [Holy Woman of Compassion] have already awakened their power, I thought it likely he'd encounter them if I sent him out on more requests.

Personally, I think it's alright since it's increasing Avenger's combat strength and overall profit for Parabellum; but Avenger's area of activity will probably need to expand to encounter his fated companions.

I feel rather good. Overall situation is generally favorable and the future of Parabellum looks bright - I think. Well, that's my feeling for the time being.

That night when I went to bed:

[World Psalms [Legend of the Black Eclipse Demon], [Sub-cast] character Seiji has ranked up.]

[Condition "1" [Rank Up] has been cleared, title [Merciful Father's Light of Salvation] has been awarded.]

[World Psalms [Legend of the Black Eclipse Demon], [Sub-cast] character Gurufu has ranked up.]

[Condition "1" [Rank Up] has been cleared, title [Rotting Guide of Severe Misfortune] has been awarded.]

Hmm, I was just thinking that it was about time to contact her, but I decided that sleeping was more important. Something to look forward to tomorrow then.

As for Gurufu-chan, it's best to not joke about her [Rotting One].

--

Day 198

Well, because of the announcement last night, I had 2 people to contact to confirm the results.

Obviously enough, the two people to contact were Seiji-kun and Gurufu-chan.

Seiji-kun had [Ranked-Up] from a Half-Saint Lord to a Saint Lord Variant. The reason behind the variation was due to him receiving the [Divine Protection of the Demigod of Love] and his physical appearance is a somewhat adult-like form now. His current appearance is akin to a rather unhappy, yet rather handsome young man.

Besides the specialties of his class type, his own physical abilities are now higher than the average human, but it's still completely unreasonable to expect him to fight on even terms in physical combat.

It's highly likely that he would lose in terms with an average human that held a job such as [Job-Knight].

Because of his healing and defensive capabilities, combined with the fact his mana supply has grown remarkably, I fully intend to have him work even harder in the future.

Aside from that, he also gained a rather interesting ability which allows him to manifest weapons from his [Ogre Orbs].

He is fully able to manifest rustic silver weapons such as a silver mace, shield, and a small amount of golden lining that seem to be decoration.

The shield itself is roughly the size of a buckler with a reflective force field, which can expand according to Seiji-kun's intent.

He certainly didn't have such an ability before, and after some thorough investigations that I had requested, he seems to be able to expand the shield to become as large as Minokichi-kun's Fortress Shield. It also appears that even if it gets that large, the weight remains almost the same. This will certainly allow Seiji-kun to not only protect himself, but also a large number of his fellow comrades.

As for his healing capabilities, they are far stronger than even his defensive capabilities, allowing him to greatly reduce the strain on his compatriots.

As for the mace's ability, I need to say that it's above just being interesting. His mace is a considerably heavy blunt-type weapon that's roughly ten kilos and is far stronger than usual maces. This is probably due to it being a weapon manifested from his [Ogre Orbs].

When it strikes an ally, the mace seems to regenerate the ally's vitality proportional to the amount of damage one would normally receive. He was hesitant at first, but with a bit of force I persuaded him to strike to show visible results.

Of course the mace will still deal damage to the usual enemies and monsters, but the idea of beating a wounded or incapacitated ally with a large mace to help them doesn't sit right with him, or me for that matter.

Even if the blow doesn't result in pain, the impact is still there.

I finally managed to convince him to smash the head of an ally who was covered in wounds, it also took the person in question being directly ordered by me to stand still. The result, his wounds all over his body were more or less healed. We determined that if the blow would be akin to a fatal strike, the ratio of healing would be far greater than normal.

Yeah… It still doesn't really look right.

As for Gurufu-chan, she [Ranked-Up] from a Ghoul into a Fimerotto Variant. Similar to before when she was a Ghoul species, she still looks pale with lifeless skin and black hair, and her black [Ogre Tattoos] haven't changed. But you can certainly say that her physical appearance and body structure have become more elegant. It is almost as if she has become a beautiful doll.

She has gained a living body armor that is akin to a clean white dress with high heel shoes. It really makes her look like the daughter from a high class nobleman's family and suits her quite well.

She would have no problems gaining access to a ball. If I were to think about it, this should make her quite popular.

In fact, she would certainly make it into the top 10 most beautiful woman in Parabellum if not for the rotting flesh and nature of her class.

To mention, I have overheard gossip between other members that basically come out to be like:

"Gurufu-chan's misfortune by her abilities is nothing to laugh at…",

"She's beautiful when she's not active … though when she's silent, those dark eyes … rather unpleasant",

"I'm serious, the hobbies she has are lethal!",

"She's rotten…"

Such were the nature of most member's opinions on Gurufu-chan.

They aren't just bothered by her mentality, but also the fact that her race has the ability to corrode just about everything she comes into contact with unconsciously. Organic or inorganic, it doesn't matter.

I'm torn between pulling some strings to influence [Rank-Ups] to gather people of a similar species for her to interact with, or to step back because it would be favoritism…

This is a problem.

As for the names of the 2, I don't see a need to change Seiji-kun's name for the time being, but for Gurufu-chan, what could I change it to.

Furokusa-chan…?

No … she isn't able to enter the hot springs easily since she ends up causing the water to rot. Furo means hot spring, so I think it'd be a bitter name since she is bothered that she can only rarely use the hot spring after extreme preparations are made.

Ugh … I'm troubled, oh so troubled.

I really can't think of what her new name could be.

How about Irokusatta-chan which means various forms of rot … or possibly Kusattairo-chan … I suppose that one fits.

Though, why did I just name her the color of rotting flesh and then change it around to make it Irokusa-chan…

I can't help but sigh instinctively since, when I visit someone to pass on a new name, they always have an expression showing their wild delusions about their name. It can't help but cause me to feel miserable sometimes.

At any rate, I need to prepare their gifts for their [Rank-Up]. Since 2 more members of the 8 Demon Generals have been found, I should make their celebration even more luxurious.

Currently, only 7 of them are known:

Minokichi [Emperor of Shimmering Axe]

Kanami [Empress of Ice Kingdom]

Asue [Underground Thunder Hammer]

Supesei [Calamity Star Priestess]

Burasato [Frightening Blade of Dried Rust]

Seiji [Merciful Father's Light of Salvation]

Gurufu [Rotting Guide of Severe Misfortune]

The remaining one… I wonder who it will be.

So far, those classified to be part of the 8 Demon Generals are only out of those from the same generation.

As for the last person, I can only think that it will be one of the people from my generation in the [Goblin Community].

I think that it would probably end up being Dodome-chan that has the highest chance of gaining the spot, otherwise it will be from the 5-Ogre squad.

It will probably be her since she is fairly strong, but it can also be the 5-Ogre squad since they can be treated as if they were just one individual. As it stands, the 5-Ogre squad gives off the feeling as if they were a single organism, so the chance they [Rank-Up] into something unique is possible.

Well, it's best to be patient and wait until it comes to light. Since the amount of experience they gain will demonstrate their capabilities and their level. I'll probably find out soon enough.

This will be good.

Today's Synthesis result:

[Wyvern Scale Formation] + [Solid Armored Dragon Scales] + [Shell of Hard Dense Chitin] + [Sharpened Shark Skin] + [Black Demon's Impervious Hardened Skin Armor] = [Black Demon King's Laminated Dragon Armor]

--

Day 199

Today marks the first real holiday in quite a while.

Well, even if I say it's a holiday, the store is still open and everyone, including the Female Samurai, are still working. Though, because they work in shifts now, they are able to take breaks when necessary.

The same members have been passed off the charge of managing the Skeleton Spiders. While they may not be getting a day off, they are also operating on shifts, so everyone is able to have some time off.

Each person is free to choose how to spend their time. Some decided to simply train themselves as per norm while others decided to leave the Royal Capital on the Skeleton Spiders to sight-see or visit attractions in the surrounding area. There are even some people who have picked up side jobs or studying various materials.

Since it's worth mentioning, I decided on going alone to the Labyrinth City Aquarium. The purpose was to of course challenge the [Age of Gods] dungeon [Aquarium Forlia] once again.

Even though last time there wasn't enough time to fully explore and I had to stop at the very first floor, I had made up my mind to come back. Now I'm determined to head down to the deepest part of this dungeon even if it takes a few days to do so.

If necessary, I can always pass instructions to Kanami-chan through the ear cuffs. Even if something serious occurs and I'm deep within the dungeon, she'll be able to manage it, so there's nothing to worry about for the time being.

Additionally, since I had already passed off most of the bothersome and innumerable quantity of work to my subordinates, there wasn't much work that was necessary for me to complete. None of which needed my immediate attention, and thus I have found myself here.

I made sure to only give the work to those who proved themselves to be rather reliable, so I can relax as I challenge an [Age of Gods] class dungeon alone. I also take pleasure in knowing that the construction system that I set up will see progress and proceed without delay regardless if I am there or not.

Challenging the dungeon alone is the only way I can hopefully rid myself of the utter dissatisfaction caused by being only able to consume a single person of [Hero] level during the coup.

I had even had the first-class Water Hero meat sitting right in front of me after I had worked hard to beat him around to tenderize the meat, and I had to endure it since It was an order from the Tomboy Princess. That, and so that he could grow even stronger, but I certainly have no reason to hold back here.

After all preparations were complete, I delved straight into the [Aquarium Forlia] dungeon.

Just like the ones before it, the decorations in the long and wide passageways make it seem as if it were the interior of a sacred temple. A sacred temple with the floor submerged in ankle-deep frigid water of course.

Overall, the place does give off a certain majestic atmosphere that makes it feel difficult to invade as I am. The labyrinth gives off a pure and somewhat innocent feel that is almost akin to a work of art.

Alone, I slowly advance.

As I progress with a semi-carefree attitude the dungeon monsters continuously come flying at me without a sound. Most of them come from the shadows in my general vicinity the moment I get close enough. Like before, the main monsters that attack me are the Iolite Elementals, which of course I knock down quite easily. They look like round blue orbs clad in running water that makes them seem comparable to a flying slime.

Well, the Iolite Elementals clearly win out in terms of danger and pure fighting power if you were trying to compare one to a slime.

Not only does it have substantial movement speed and physical strength, but it also can use third rank ice magic as easy as if it were breathing.

The magic it uses is dangerous enough that the first shot it fires is likely to kill people. I catch the nucleus of the Iolite Elementals with my silver arm before it is able to do anything.

The moment I pull out the blue round orb from the surrounding water, the water that is approximately 8cm in diameter, loses its binding force and falls to the ground, where it merges with the water on the floor.

After seeing it, I ate the nucleus I caught.

The nucleus' texture and taste was just like a piece of slightly sweet candy. It might work well as a snack.

Ability gained: [Purple-Blue Iolite Liquid]

Together with the ones I previously ate, I seem to have finally gotten a new ability. Because I killed 23 of them last time and ate them after putting them in the item box, it seems the 24th gave me an ability.

It seems learning can be done quicker than expected, I'm relieved. I immediately used it to see what it does.

Apparently, [Purple-Blue Iolite Liquid] allows the user to cover themselves with flowing water just like the Iolite Elementals.

The running water is like an armor that clings to the surface of my body when I use it and it seems to have very high tolerance against fire attacks. On the other hand, it seems to be weak against lightning attacks, but it still seems to be a useful ability.

Currently, I'm in a good mood, so I went to hunt Armored Scissors which possess a very hard carcass and Dirotonis which is a gigantic fish in succession. I didn't stay on the first floor for that long, because I found the path to the second floor last time I came to the dungeon.

After I found some treasure chests along the way and opened them, lopsidedly hunted a great number of dungeon monsters, avoided some powerful traps and passed other adventurer parties, not even 1 hour had passed.

By the way, the structure of the second floor is no different from the first floor. The corridor of the second floor is a bit bigger than the one in the first floor and there are several monsters that didn't appear on the first floor that appeared here.

Water Anacondas are anacondas about 9 meters long and 30 centimeters wide, their bodies also release fluids that act as lubricants.

Evil Battle Frogman have muscular human bodies and exceed 2 meters in height. They have the head of a frog, webbed feet and carry a trident and a fishing net.

Mizumoridori are light blue birds that fly at high speed. They have harpoon-like beaks and sharp claws. They don't appear in passages, but instead in small rooms and they are about 60 centimeters long.

These are the main monsters in the dungeon because they are the ones that appear most often and give off a dangerous feel. There are also others such as devil insects and reptiles.

Although the monsters are larger and stronger than normal ones because they're strengthened by the dungeon, I can still approximately kill them with a single blow and by overlapping abilities. Their level is not high enough to have a chance to kill me. Nevertheless, capturing this dungeon is certainly going to be difficult. The chance of being attacked here is higher than in [Vesper Cave]; it is also more time and energy consuming to kill the monsters with a single blow.

The classic pitfall trap, where a lot of Water Anacondas gather, makes the dungeon especially difficult to capture. It's hard to spot because of its simplicity and the fact that once you've fallen in, it's normally impossible to get out.

In the first place, once a person falls in, the Water Anacondas immediately use their bodies to strangle and crush the person and due to the pit being covered by the lubricant made by the [Water Anaconda], climbing out is difficult as well.

I personally may manage to ward off the Water Anacondas if I equip solid armor over my whole body, but getting out of the pit is, in and of itself, another problem.

By the way, when I stealthily looked around a corner of the passage, I witnessed the state of a party of adventurers who got stuck in a pit.

The unfortunate party members seem to have all fallen into the several meters deep square pit and they did not have the ability to get out.

I only observed and did not help them because whatever happens in the dungeon is your own responsibility. The group of 5 that fell into the pit were all strangled to death by countless Water Anacondas.

The ones in the back lines immediately had their bones and equipment crushed, but the vanguard who wore magical armor from head to toe was able to hang in there for a while, but was also slowly crushed to death The pit swallowed the five corpses whole and slowly covered itself again. It was slowly and carefully waiting for the next victims.

After seeing that, I intentionally walked into the pitfall and fell too.

I could not miss the opportunity of hunting the high concentration of [Water Anacondas]. Normally, It would be a fight where I would be desperately struggling, but due to [Electromaster] spreading through the anacondas' body fluids, I was able to catch them all at once. Afterwards, I decided to solely eat them starting from the head. The power of [Electromaster] drastically raised the power of my lightning strike, but unexpectedly, the Water Anacondas did not instantly die. However, since I was able to eat them alive, I guess the results are acceptable. It's a good thing that they're tasty alive.

Ability learned: [Lubricant Body Fluids]

Ability learned: [Water Seeking Snake]

Since I already got 2 new abilities, I decided to keep the remaining [Water Anacondas] as souvenirs. [Lubricant Body Fluids] is similar to [Self Body-Fluid Control], but it had a better effect when I tested it with simple substances. The smooth skin is able to completely ward off attacks to a great extent.

Even if I get restrained by an enemy, I can very likely easily slip out.

Honestly, I don't think I really need it, since I can transform my body, but it might be useful for surprising enemies.

[Water Seeking Snake], simply put, is like dowsing. Its effect seems to be finding nearby bodies of water.

It is necessary for Water Anaconda to push water outside of its body, so it's likely that they use this ability for replenishing and maintaining their water supply.

Even though it has limited uses, it's a very convenient ability in many situations, since it'll help me find hidden water even in the desert.

I collected the accessories from the bodies of the dead adventurers, and I jumped out of the hole excited.

Because their dead bodies were already eaten by the dungeon, I was really grateful for the items.

Because I fell into the hole after the Water Anacondas ate their body, only an index finger was left at the bottom of the pitfall.

I feel I have advanced quite smoothly while capturing the dungeon.

I had a harder time finding the stairs to go down to the next floor because this dungeon is wider than the derivation dungeon, but I somehow managed to get down to the 5th floor in one day. I arrived in the safety zone just before the large room in the deepest part of the 5th floor which is where the boss awaits.

After having the dungeon monsters as a midnight snack, I decided to challenge the boss tomorrow morning.

In order to fight it tomorrow morning, I went to sleep early to get enough rest.

Because I took the Skeleton Centipede out from my item box, I was able to get a good night's sleep in the chilly cave.

--

Day 200

Mmm, perhaps this is a bit sudden, but I think I'll discuss the Paraberangers. The Paraberangers are made up of the 5 goblins that had decided it was a good idea to attack me in the middle of the night. They were repulsed quickly though and have worked themselves to the bone as my slaves since. On the day they attacked me it was with the good intent to help their starving comrades, thus they were only trying to get me to share my food with the starving.

Basically they were indirectly trying to save the weak, a rather unusual desire for the average goblin since it is in the very nature of a goblin to submit to the strong and oppress the weak.

Well, I can't call them renegades or vigilantes, but the 5 of them just seemed to have gathered in one place and united under a single goal. For the Paraberangers, villains and enemies, no matter how they beg for mercy, will be slaughtered without hesitation. In normal circumstances, they keep rather cool heads, but if one of their comrades, women or children are threatened and failed to save them, they would get rather distraught.

Ogres that have a similar mentality to humans is rather unique, so I suppose it can just be attributed to their individuality.

Personally I don't see it as a bad thing.

First off, thanks to such a personality, the 5 have superior confidence and work hard and beyond on their abilities, thus becoming strength for me.

The Paraberangers were stationed at the border between the Sternbild Kingdom and the Kirika Empire. Just today they had saved an armed group under assault from some Orcs, saving the daughter of a Count from the Kirika Empire. They simply could not abandon the human party and thus rushed straight in to gallantly save them.

The Count's daughter was accompanied by a detachment of rather muscular guards and had not only delayed, but significantly reduced the number of Orcs. It would seem that the Orc horde were being led by an Orc Mage. The result of the Paraberangers joining the fray resulted in the total annihilation of the Orcs.

They then met with the Count's daughter who requested their escort since her current guards had been greatly depleted during the struggle. Being completely unable to refuse the pleading woman, the Ogre 5 are currently accompanying the Count's daughter as they go deeper into Sternbild Kingdom's territory.

It would seem that the Count's daughter was traveling under the radar, carrying documents from the Tomboy Princess. It smells like rather small business, so I wasn't rather interested in the details. Kanami-chan is in charge of the fees for our services so there was no need for me to get further involved.

Back to business.

After breakfast, I opened the door into the Boss room and began to wait.

On the fifth floor there was a rather broad, square-shaped room with walls that had to measure at least 100 meters. The walls were decorated just as the corridors, made to seem similar to that of a temple, the air pure. If there were undead monsters here, I think they might seriously take damage with such clean air.

Well, I couldn't just leave it there so I summoned a Black Skeleton to test it. It almost immediately turned into smoke as a result.

On the ceiling were the faces of countless gods, with 5 painted pillars in homage to the Great Gods in the middle of the room. The black pillar most likely represented the Great God of Origin and Demise.

On the pillar was a depiction of someone, it wasn't really clear whether it was a male or a female person. In their hands, a spear forged by misfortunes. It is probably because of the fact this person has the same divine protection as I that he looks familiar despite it being the 1st time I've ever seen him. There's a certain feeling of nostalgia.

Well, while I fell into a minor stupor staring at the depiction of the dark warrior, water began gushing out in massive quantities from the center of the room. The water quickly enveloped the entire floor of this huge room, raising the water levels up as high as my hips before it finally stopped.

The water was unusually cold, just a single step from it turning my entire body to ice. I have resistances regardless, but the cold still had an effect.

Just standing in this icy aura caused energy to leave my body. It was then that it appeared, throwing the water around it into turmoil as a huge horn shaped akin to a wave breached the surface as if it were a whale's head. The body was huge, 8 legs protruded from the massive hulk, it's 4 deep red eyes tirelessly watching its surroundings.

The entire body was covered by a dense skin that gave off a metallic, ultramarine sheen. The monster was simply massive, it was almost 15 meters long, stood 7 meters tall and was 5 meters wide. It was the boss of the 5th floor, the Warpidron.

The basic attacks it had were lightning attacks and strikes with its horn, the whale also spurted out torrents of water that had such pressure that it could easily cut through steel. It also had water jets to limit the movement of the enemy. Using its 8 feet and long tail, it was able to move through water at a frightening speed.

Normally adventurers would fight this beast in a whole group since he was far more powerful than the usual mid-boss of a dungeon.

When you think about how the water is up to the waist, the terrain is heavily to the Warpidron's advantage. For the enemy the sheer amount of water didn't hinder its movement as it was a marine beast, and thus only served as an advantage for it. Moreover, since it was a water style beast, the water only served to allow it to better reveal its power.

Well, I'm currently standing in front of this beast, numb from head to toe in this bitter water. The moment I felt the presence of a strong opponent, my appetite awoke deep within me. A sheer desire to eat this thing whole.

Since there was no need to suppress this intense desire, I took out the halberd from my item box and raised my battle cry.

With this I started the battle.

[Dungeon boss Warpidron successfully eliminated]

[Achiever Yatendouji has been recognized and the right to progress is granted]

[Achiever Yatendouji will receive the rare treasure [Storm Horn of the Great Whale] as a bonus for the 1st elimination of the [Warpidron]]

[Achiever Yatendouji has received bonus ability [Water Pulse] for the achievement [Solo Kill]]

After roughly 20 minutes the water had still not receded, so I pulled out the treasures from the Warpidron. It was a mix of various things such as gold, silver, precious stones, mithril, rare magical metals, and several pieces that appeared to be art. Well, if Blacksmith-san and the dwarves use these to work with, even they might start going overboard.

Well, the rewards this time were quite good, I won't complain.

In some party games there would be various ranked item chests that would have various rewards. In the largest box that I got from the Warpidron, the [Storm Horn of the Great Whale] ended up being the most rare of the items that I mentioned earlier. I decided to return later for more and put everything back into my item box.

Now I turned to the carcass of the Warpidron itself. The horn was removed, the skull divided and the eyes collected. The 8 giant feet were cut off, the body was cut to pieces and I kept the long tail whole.

The Warpidron had a rather serious vitality so every part of its body was rather heavily damaged before it died. The body was split apart and the organs spilled everywhere. The precious tail meat ended up getting rather damaged as well.

It looked like the Warpidron was a strong enemy, so I held back my stronger abilities and took my time with the fight, so I can't complain if the body is a bit roughed up.

I even ended up losing my living hand (Note: right hand), causing me to panic just the slightest amount. Truly as expected of such a high level boss monster, counterattacking the moment I relaxed. Though, once I began to taste his flesh, the hand was recovered without any problem.

The meat was simply amazing.

Ability unlocked [Carrying Lightning Horn]

With this ability, I'm able to shoot out lightning from my 3 horns. The flash is rather bright so it does make it hard for me to see for that instant, but the power cannot be ignored. It can also be used without any preparation or cool down, so it has a convenience factor to it. I can use it in conjunction with [Electromaster] to further increase the ability.

I was tempted and thus went to enjoy the brain. I had smashed it rather hard, so it was close to soup when I went to eat it. The sensation from eating it was as if the language of the beast was washing over me, though the taste was rather basic.

The skull was as tough as metal, though it had a rather intriguing salty taste to it. I ended up mixing various parts together and enjoyed my meal.

Ability unlocked [Whale's Whistling Voice]

Ability unlocked [Battle Cry]

Well, as expected of the mid-boss, the strength of the dungeon was intense.

After eating a meal of both quantity and quality, it was rather easy to gain a few abilities, so I'm exceptionally happy. Of course, I ate most of the remains, but left some to bring back.

Perhaps it will improve Kanami's mood a bit, and I'll need to treat my kids as well. They'll probably welcome something as enjoyable as this with gusto.

Well, it was harder than I thought to stop eating, so I had to force myself by putting the rest into the item box while I had the restraint. The risk of the rest of it being absorbed by the dungeon also played a factor.

After finishing I went through a gate that had appeared after my victory. Going through it, I came across a staircase. Going down, I noticed the familiar decorations and patterns on the walls of the corridors. The concept was the same, but the patterns were more complex if you will. The air was even denser than before as well; I can't afford to relax anymore.

I didn't even take a few steps before water blasts aimed at my heart shot out at me. Ten silver perch attacked me, though I swatted them away and chewed on their meat as I went.

Today's goal is the safe room of the 10th floor boss.

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