Published at 25th of March 2019 11:13 pm

Chapter 22: Day 211 to Day 220

Day 211

Last night, I didn't fly back to the Royal Capital. Instead, I spent the night at the labyrinth city ≪ Aquarium ≫.

Because it took me a bit longer than I thought to come out of the dungeon, I decided to eat the local dishes here at the labyrinth city where the dungeon is located.

The name of the hotel I stayed in ≪ Bongiorno ≫.

While the room had a steep price, the service and facilities were up to the standard of being ≪ Aquarium ≫'s leading high class hotel.

The bed linens were made with materials coming from the dungeon and provided an extraordinary sleeping comfort. Their standard room features included a refrigerator filled with soft drinks and liquor, and beautifully crafted lighting. A vase filled with rare flowers and a painting of a beautiful woman that was standing still next to a lake served as decorations. Because of the hotel's height you could overlook the surroundings, such as ≪ Aquarium ≫'s night skyline.

While you do have to be able to spend a large amount of money comfortably in order to stay here, not only royalty and nobles did. It's also a popular hotel amongst the adventurers that can conquer the deepest recesses of the dungeon.

There's an exclusive restaurant at ≪ Bongiorno ≫ on top, and a luxurious supper can be brought to the room if I call an employee.

Since they're boasting that the menu is really delicious, it sets certain expectations.

However, with great reluctance, I decided not to eat at ≪ Bongiorno ≫. I walked further down the streets. They were filled with a unique liveliness because of the way they were illuminated by the street lights. I went to ≪ Aquarium ≫'s best and most famous haute cuisine restaurant: ≪ Pana Cotta ≫.

≪ Pana Cotta ≫ is a huge 5-story building, built of stone that's similar to marble. It can change in to 1 of 7 colors depending on the time of day and the temperature. The stone is called [Rainbow Rocks], which is mined in the dungeon. The interior design is further polished with a lot of magic items. The restaurant has a very refined atmosphere.

In order to enter the restaurant, it looks like you need to wear an appropriate evening wear. I had put on the clothes that Tomboy Princess had provided before.

It's very durable and has a smooth feel. Above all, the dress clothes boast a high elasticity and they rarely tear. It mainly consists out of [Demon Soul Cloth] sewn together with [Demon Soul String], of which they were only able to gather a small amount from the "Large Demon Silkworm". It's very comfortable. I like it because it's not just a single-use decoration.

As it's made out of scarce material and it can only be created by a specific artisans, it costs as much as building a house in the Royal Capital.

Even though I was a bit bothered by it, I decided to receive it because it was free. Now I feel it can become useful in similar settings in the future.

Putting aside the talk about clothes, if I had to give my opinion of the main dishes cooked by the kitchen staff led by Ririmur in one word: everything was simply put delicious. Ririmur Enberun is a famous, high level [Dungeon Cook] that uses high-quality ingredients from the dungeon.

There was roast beef that consisted of the well-tempered meat of the "Road Kill Gator". Its legs were well developed for striding, and it killed adventurers in the dungeon by running them over one by one.

When slicing the meat with a silver knife, the knife ran through without resistance, like cutting tofu. As I put a thin slice in my mouth and took a bite, my mouth was overflown with juices. The spices from the dungeon that were used to cook, enhanced the taste of the meat even more.

Their bouillabaisse looks like a jewelry box as it includes Golden Scaled Coelacanth and Silver Scaled Pirarucu that were caught from the lake, as well as Blue Armored-Tail Shrimps.

Cannon House Onions are also used for it, making the taste of the thick seafood soup more delicate.

The recipe used for grilling the highest grade meat that drops from the "Warpidron" floor boss is quite plain, but the taste of the meat speaks for itself.

The outside has been grilled crispy, but the inside is still surprisingly soft. The luxurious meat has the best smell and tickles the nose, while the juices play on the tongue.

My hands didn't stop until everything was finished and the taste disappeared.

Then came frozen yoghurt made from the milk of a peaceful water buffalo type monster "Big Stone Water Buffalo".

It's slightly acid, but the deep flavor and hint of sweetness is delicious.

For some reason, they made use of a "Golem" pseudo-lifeform technique to deliver the dish. Bowls the size of human hands were carried on top of a glass plate that came out of a massive freezer. They did various performances for the guests, such as a simple dance with umbrellas as ornaments. I finally ate this amusingly strange dish, and it was delicious.

In addition, I enjoyed fresh croissant that had a crispy texture and a buttery flavor. There was pizza with a crispy roasted texture and a variety of colored toppings such as rich cheese, fresh meat and vegetables. Vintage dungeon alcohol was lined up on the table.

Because all of these looked appetizing when I read the menu, I couldn't control myself and I ordered without looking at the prize. As a result, a table for six people was brought in and filled with dishes.

Because I placed a lot of additional orders, I needed several tables for space even while I was eating alone.

All the ingredients used are first class, and the cook preparing it was top class. The way they cook might be considered sort of an art-form.

The dishes were decorated vibrantly. I enjoyed the sight of it, and it set my expectations. The moment I ate a mouthful, my body shook more than I expected.

Once I started, I didn't stop. After I finished eating everything, only my sense of satisfaction and fullness remained.

Frankly speaking, by combining an artisans' best techniques, they were able to bring out the maximum of the best parts of the ingredients.

Could the one that made all this, Ririmur, be on the same level as the cook of the royalty such as the Tomboy Princess and the First Queen? He might even be better.

I shouldn't compare them because he used different ingredients, and even if the same ingredients were used, the freshness would be different based on location. However, that doesn't take away the fact that this world-class taste can only come from cooking with the highest quality ingredients.

After I finished eating all the dishes I order, I spontaneously called Ririmur.

Though I didn't wonder if could actually meet him; why should I worry about asking for him after ordering in impossible amount of food?

In any case, he came shortly after.

Ririmur arrived. He looks like a middle-aged man that is hard to please.

He has short light-brown hair streaked with grey, pale emerald green eyes and a slim but trained body.

There are no wrinkles in his spotless, pure-white clothes, and it has a unique vibe of being his favorite clothes that he has worn for years.

If you observe his everyday habits, you would get the impression that Ririmur is a docile cook. He bowed as I give off a smile that shows my satisfaction.

Since he has an imposing aura of being very confident in his work, I wonder what I should say.

Because I liked the dishes Ririmur provided, I intended to come back with Kanami-chan, Minokichi-kun and the others next time.

Since I asked if I could bring my own ingredients, let's bring the corpse of a boss class monster that we'll hunt right before we come over and cook it.

For now, I order what's on stock to take back home, in order to eat it with the rest.

Oh my, I enjoyed the dishes here so thoroughly, that I didn't really want to go back to ≪Bongiorno≫. I'll enjoy a comfortable sleep tonight. I tried out what I ordered last night as breakfast this morning.

After having eaten at ≪Pana Cotta≫, I was slightly unsatisfied. But the dishes of ≪Bongiorno≫ were so skillfully prepared, that it removed my dissatisfaction.

There's no need to buy any souvenirs, as I collected a lot in the dungeon. Since I finished all my business, I quickly checked out and left for home.

While I did talk to the others through my clones while I was conquering the dungeon, this was the first time that they've been on their own for ten days.

Because even a single demon can get into a lot of trouble after a few days, I was a little anxious this time around. I couldn't fly leisurely at the moment and I raised my flight speed without any concern for safety. And so, I arrived at the Royal Capital.

I went straight back to the mansion without stopping to spend pocket money on snacks at the stalls in the Royal Capital.

The moment I met Kanami-chan, I was passionately embraced.

Her arms were surrounding me and were slightly, but surely digging in to my body, creaking my bones.

If it wasn't me, would all my internal organs have burst out through my mouth? Or maybe I would have been divided in two halves? That's passion for ya.

[Vampire ・ Noble ・ Variant] has impressive strength.

However, even with such a passionate embrace there's hardly a problem. I realized that due to my level, my natural endurance was considerably strengthened by some mysterious power.

After I conquered the [Age of the Gods dungeon], my level went up greatly.

Since it's an [Age of the Gods dungeon], the dungeon monsters that spawn there are viciously difficult. Even the small fry offer considerable experience.

Various bonuses are added to the huge amount of experience that you get from floor bosses, due to their nature.

Would I get another [Rank Up] if I dive a [Demigod rank][Age of the Gods dungeon] again?

In a [God rank] one, it's likely that it might go even faster.

Speaking of [Rank Up].

I'm satisfied with my current state as [Apostle Lord ・ Extinct Species], but when I think about the future, I worry in a lot of ways.

I want to fight a [Wisdom Dragon], which has high intelligence, a huge amount of magical power and above all a huge, tough body.

Even Wyverns, like the Jadar Wyvern, are tasteful up to a certain extent, and the materials you can get from them can be processed in good quality magic armor.

It only feels natural for me to make an effort to eat one.

Up to now, I've been aiming for existences such as [Heroes] and [Great Heroes], but there's a possibility of fighting against other existences that have a high likelihood of owning different [Psalms] such as [Demon Kings], the [Demon Emperor], the [Beast King], the [Spirit Emperor] and the [Regal Order].

Of course, I'd probably still get decent experience from fighting [Heroes] and [Great Heroes], but I can't confirm that as I've never fought one. Then again, I did hunt the "Shark Head ・ Thunder Wyrm" while going easy on him.

There's the chance that as long as I'm an apostle lord, I'll run into a situation in the future where it's possible that I won't have enough strength to overcome it.

If I think about fighting the existence of the White Stag that I came across while I was going through the ≪Cluster Mountain Range≫ where the "Fomor" live; I'd say it might be possible if I strengthen myself.

However, now due to my [Rank Up], it'll be even harder than before to obtain abilities.

Though maybe there's no need for any concern because the current me is good enough, and I have a wide range of a lot of abilities and its uses. But umm, I'm still worried.

Oh well, I'll think about it when the time comes.

I've stopped to give it any more thought.

--

"Day 212"

Since yesterday, Kanami-chan didn't leave my side, aside from the time I went to the restroom.

With her arms around my neck, she clung to my back. I don't want to say that it currently looks like a child clinging to an adult, but it's hard to describe our current appearance in another way.

Well, I can't say anything about this scenario, I can't do anything but smile with satisfaction. "Is it ok like this?" I think to myself.

I guess so, as I'm not particularly tired and I do not dislike being embraced.

Seeing Kanami-chan like this, and with Argento and Auro on both my arms, I didn't have any problems with it.

I gave up because it was some form of physical contact.

And because I'm a father as well, I can be serious in some cases. Because I normally don't have a lot of time, I really do not have any reason to complain.

Aside from that, I decided to open the collected treasure chests today.

Even though I could have done it yesterday as well, I wanted to see how much the remodeling of the store had advanced yesterday. I also wanted to see how much the training of the leader of ≪ Solitude ≫ had progressed. I also wanted to check how much Redhead and Boy Knight had grown. On top, there were a lot of other miscellaneous duties, like arranging the pricing of the items on display in the store. Because of all that, I postponed it until today.

By the way, the one thing that was most troublesome to do yesterday, was the pricing.

The items that I got from the [Age of the Gods dungeon], were similar to [Artifacts] exactly because they came from an [Age of the Gods dungeon]. In other words, they were superior articles to items that showed similar effects.

Even if you take just one recovery potion for instance, its effect was several percentages higher than something with the same quantity and same size.

So among customers there are a lot of people that want and need recovery potions, such as soldiers and adventures.

However, when it comes to [Divine's Lost Legacy], because of their heightened effect, they're used the moment they're found by the person conquering the dungeon in most of the cases. Therefore, there's a considerably low quantity that is up for sale.

Even if you put something on the market from an [Age of the Gods dungeon] because the demand is high, they're often bought by other adventurers.

For that reason, the amount that's being exported is very limited, considering the expenses can increase in various ways, by things such as tariffs and transportation fees. Even if, in the best circumstances, if I'd part way with a large amount of [Divine's Lost Legacy] that I got from the [Age of the Gods dungeon], people would need to come from the Labyrinth cities, or would need to send a subordinate to come and collect the goods. It'll be even harder if they do not possess the suitable financial assets.

These goods might not be sold straight away, even if they're highly desirable.

Regardless, if I consider the death toll of the enemies I crossed in the pathways and corridors as I advanced, I was able to collect a countless amount of treasure chests, and take their contents back home with me.

Looks like [Luck] and [Golden Rule] did their job, because the drop rate was high and there were a lot of items inside the treasure chests. It included items such as low-grade recovery potions, which I could still sell separately for a high price.

Even though the cost of acquiring them for myself was almost zero and I pretty much got them for free, the Famous Spring Eggplant is a high-value ingredient. One piece of ingredient is worth several silver coins. It's also common for magic items such as armor to reach up to value of a golden plate.

In other words, if I can sell them, I can make an easy profit. Even if I lower my prices and sell it, I'd still get a considerable profit.

However, that's what makes pricing difficult.

It'll still be difficult to collect the same amount on a regular basis in the future. Additionally, if I get carried away and rake in too much profit, more than necessary, I'll be resented by other merchants, which is troublesome.

If that resentment accumulates too much, it'll come back to bite me in the ass. Even if I could read their minds and conspire against from behind the scenes with my clones, it would still be a bit irritating.

Because I don't want to do a futile job, I better take as much time as I can.

And because Blacksmith-san wasn't sure on it, I contacted an experienced vice-manager.

The new vice-manager was the vice-manager of a corporate branch of the Farumeru company in the Fortress City ≪ Trient ≫ that we came across when we first came out of the Great Forest. His love of gambling robbed him of quite a few important items as well as all of his cash. This fat, bald, middle-aged man was excellent, despite his gambling problems that were giving him some worries.

Due to the cooperation of the vice-manager, we were able to save a lot of time. After that, we had some discussion on his remuneration.

After all, what you need is an able friend, with a big network. Though might they all possibly be connected through money?

Anyhow, should I personally scout the vice-manager for the future? There is his unpleasant gambling habit, but I am secretly thinking of taking advantage of that.

I pull myself together and start opening the treasure chests.

I collected a treasure chest after each boss fight, making a grand total of 10 chests. They are, as listed below:

The chest from floor boss "Warpidron" [Great Whale's Storm Horn]

The chest from floor boss "Skull Lizard ・ War Salamander" [Lizard's Corpse Sticky Liquid]

The chest from floor boss "King Crab ・ Crysora" [Crystal Crab's Bubble Poetry]

The chest from floor boss "Shell Turtle ・ Vortex" [Shell of the Vortex Mary River Turtle]

The chest from floor boss "Dominaria ・ Gillman Lord Rider" [Ancient Flower Petals of the Silvery Blue Fish]

The chest from floor boss "Grief Charybdis" [Maiden of Grief]

The chest from floor boss "Aquarium ・Ball Golem" [Pursuer of the Fleeing Ball]

The chest from floor boss "Lethal Dead ・ Blood Eater ・ Pochi" [Behemoth's Collection of Manipulated Corpses]

The chest from floor boss "Red Armed Geminyuvia" [Red Armed Lady]

The chest from dungeon boss "Shark Head ・Bolt Wyrm" [Lesser Dragon Shark's Placoid Lightning Scales ]

Each casket had particular decorations that were representative for the bosses that awarded them. Each one is something that can be considered a work of art. They're all a sort of magic item that holds a storage ability.

Seeing as I obtained a large amount of money and potions from the chests I collected before, I wonder what it'll be this time.

I thought it might be fun to suddenly open them all at once, making all the treasure spill out before me, but I was wrong.

There really was no reason to think like that.

And so I began to open the first five chests, going from [Great Whale's Storm Horn] up until [Ancient Flower Petals of the Silvery Blue Fish], because I felt it would be a waste to open them all at once.

I decided to leave the rest for tomorrow, and enjoy myself with what turns up today.

［Aporou obtained "[Weapon ・ Staff] Gold Tin Horn Stinger ・Lightning Whale"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Weapon ・ Sword] Water Shell Scaled Sword ・Water Scale"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Weapon ・ Hammer] Crushing Quake Hammer ・Crab Pincer"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Weapon ・ Spear] Cursed Four-pronged Water Spear ・Fish Fin"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Armor ・ Shield] Lightning Horn Whale's Meat Shield"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Armor ・ Shield] Water Thorn Shell Barrier"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Armor ・ Armor] Extremely Dense Water ・Vortex Turtle"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Armor ・ Back] Blue Mantle of Many Arm Bones"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Armor ・ Greaves] Crystal Grieves of the Conquered Crystal"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Armor ・ Boots] Crystal Sabatons"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Armor ・ Head] Horned Crystal Helm"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Armor ・ Gauntlets] Fin Bladed Blue Water Gauntlets"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Medicine] Small Bottle of Young War Salamander's Sticky Nucleus x 4"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Medicine] Powered Water of Barrier Defense x 5"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Material] Huge Bottle of High-Grade Whale Oil x 3"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Material] Vortex Turtle's Cure Disease Jelly x 10"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Material] Magic Armored Medium Ship Manufacturing Kit x 5"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Material] Blue Plant Metal Ingot x 10"!!］

［Aporou obtained "[Book] Magic Book containing the written principles of Water"!!］

Those are the 19 items that were included. Each box had three to five different kind of items.

To be honest, I expected there to be more because these came from the lowest rank of the 3 of an [Age of the Gods dungeon], a [Demigod Rank]. There were the items that I obtained for defeating the floor bosses and dungeon boss for the first time though.

"I have no base for comparison though, as I haven't done this kind of dungeon anywhere else yet. But I hope there'll be a little more?" is what I'm thinking.

But, seeing as the clearing conditions were hard, the obtained items were all useful.

[Gold Tin Horn Stinger ・Lightning Whale] was khakkhara that had six rings in its circular head. It had the shape of a golden horn attached on top. When shaken, it creates the sound of a thunderstorm.

[Water Shell Scaled Sword ・Water Scale] was a magic item that apparently closely resembled the organic sword of the Skull Lizard ・ War Salamander. It was made out of materials like scales, and it was so sharp that it could cut rock if handled properly.

[Crushing Quake Hammer ・Crab Pincer] was a hammer that looks like a huge crab's pincer and that was composed out of rainbow-colored crystals that could vibrate at high speed. It was able to crush rock merely by touching it. Because it was like a pincer, if you pulled a trigger that was close to your hand, it had a trick where its jaws started moving.

[Cursed Four-pronged Water Spear ・Fish Fin] resembled the spear Dominaria ・ Gillman Lord Rider was wielding, and had four abilities. It had a length and sharpness that was just right, and it felt familiar in my hands.

In addition, there was the [Lightning Horn Whale's Meat Shield], a bulky lump of meat shield that was halfheartedly hardened. The [Blue Mantle of Many Arm Bones] that had an outbreak of a countless amount of arm bones on the inside. [Water Thorn Shell Barrier] was a tower shield grown out of a huge shell that held a thorn which gushes out an infinite amount of high-pressured water. [Extremely Dense Water ・Vortex Turtle] was an armor that would cover your hold body like an exoskeleton armor. It was designed as a smooth blob that had many uses. Most of them were magic items of [Ancient] rank.

[Huge Bottle of High-Grade Whale Oil] and [Blue Plant Metal Ingot] could be used in a lot of different ways. And because it was an item that one would be rarely be able to buy, I planned to divide them amongst the various groups later.

For the time being, I decided to use [Cursed Four-pronged Water Spear ・Fish Fin] as a substitute for my halberd, until the former was repaired. I decided that the rest should be given to the Parabellum members that had earned it.

My war assets will definitely be increased with this.

After I finished my inspection, I decided to gift the [Magic Book containing the written principles of Water] to Supesei, who had expressed a desire in it. The [Blue Plant Metal Ingot], I entrusted to Blacksmith-san. I put the [Magic Armored Medium Ship Manufacturing Kit] in my item box for the time being. I wanted to use the [Small Bottle of Young War Salamander's Sticky Nucleus] to see what would happen.

Oniguma "Kumajirou" and Orthrus "Kurosaburou" will be my test subjects.

I could have prepared some disposable Black Undead Knights, but because there was a limited amount of small bottles, it would be a waste to let them consume it. I judged that as long as I read the information, there won't be any harm to the test subjects. And so I hesitantly chose my two pets under these circumstances.

The usage of the small bottles is easy. I applied the gooey contents, the sticky nucleus', to each of their chests. After that I poured spring water on it that I had prepared in a large bottle beforehand.

Then, the nucleus mysteriously absorbed the large amount of spring water, and immediately transformed into a viscous liquid. Now those two are wearing a slime armor just like Skull Lizard ・ War Salamander did.

Apparently, the sticky nucleus was permeated by this slime and became larger and crystallized. In addition, the form that appeared was now embedded in both chests.

The vicious liquid normally wraps around to silver nucleus to protect it, but when in combat, it covers the entire body.

Their attack power increased as well because of the tentacles. And the slime armor is a superior ability to provide simple defense. It looks like these two, that were already strong, will have their combat effectiveness improved by this.

What are they now able to do and what not? Either way, I gave them each a Warpidron leg as compensation for going to through the experiment.

They ate it with great relish.

When I stroked their heads, they gave off a different feeling from what they used to before. Looks like the gloss of their hair also improved. Did the effect even take to such an extent?

Seeing as this is a safe way to quickly obtain strength, I held on to the remaining two.

Though it'll take a while to get new ones, I wonder who I'll use them on.

Even though I was a little bit worried, I already decided on who to use one of the bottles.

--

Day 213

"Day 213"

I opened the remaining treasure chests today.

I will leave out the detailed explanation this time because it's irksome. In total, I received 31 items from the remaining five treasure chests going from [Maiden of Grief] to [Lesser Dragon Shark's Placoid Lightning Scales ].

Though the items had different classifications, each treasure chest had at least one item such as [Gold Tin Horn Stinger ・Lightning Whale] and [Water Shell Scaled Sword ・Water Scale]. They are symbolic magic items made in relation to each floor boss.

Each of the previous five items were strong and were a great hidden gem with their nasty abilities.

From the [Lesser Dragon Shark's Placoid Lightning Scales ]I obtained a [Legendary ] rank magic item which I was very pleased with, named [Lesser Lightning Dragon's Call ・ Shark Rope ].

[Lesser Lightning Dragon's Call ・ Shark Rope ]was braided in three different colors: black, blue and yellow. Because of its elasticity, it could be worn as an everyday belt. In case of an emergency, it's very practical because it can become a lightning whip.

However, its real value is that, in return for a huge amount of magic power, you can summon the Shark Head ・Bolt Wyrm - not with the dungeon specifications, but potentially strengthened by inheriting a part of the special characteristics or abilities of the user.

Though unfortunately the Shark Head ・Bolt Wyrm isn't able to display its real abilities on land. However, it'll greatly flourish in a sea battle. There's a chance to use it if you want to rage as much as you can.

And while I obtained a Magic Armored Medium Ship Manufacturing Kit yesterday, now might be an unnecessary time to use it.

What I understood from the conquering the dungeon, is that the contents of the treasure chests on the deeper levels are of better quality. It looks like the number of items gradually increased as well.

In a way, the improvement of quality is natural.

Because the deeper you go, the more difficult it will be. There should be a difference in rewards.

And the increase in quantity fits in as well.

In this particular case, the chests from the 5th and 10th floor held 3 different items, the ones from the 15th and 20th held 4, 25th and 30th held 5, 35th and 40th held 6 and the 45th and 50th floor held 7. In total, I obtained 50 different items from the 10 treasure chests.

While I thought in the beginning that there might be only a few items, now that I went through the dungeon up until the end and finished it for the first time, I obtained several magic items of good quality. If that's the case, I will need to change the way I think about it.

Rather, I would think such things might even be convenient, as long as I have the power to conquer the dungeon!

While I cannot say that this will probably be the same for other [Age of the Gods dungeons ]because there's a possibility they have a different mechanism, I still guess that the chances are high it's similar.

To make more profit, and to confirm my assumptions, should I go further with my conquering? And so, I start planning which dungeon to conquer next.

The training in the morning was finished around the same usual time, and after that I returned to our base in the Great Forest with Kanami-chan.

During this visit, I'd like the damage to my halberd to be repaired, but the main reason I came is to give the magic ores and plants I gathered in the dungeon to the group that stayed behind.

The results of the alloy will come out slowly, so I'll expect the halberd to be further reinforced by Blacksmith-san. I am convinced it will surely it will beat my expectations.

Blacksmith-san is being trained by a dwarven blacksmith, who excels in smithing by nature. Working alongside dwarfs and Alchemist-san, her technique will be nurtured. But her smithing knowledge will be even deepened by being taught by a member that became a Smith Half-Lord. Recently, her level and abilities rose abnormally.

The main reason that will make her able to deal daily with high-level raw ingredients such as spirit stones, might be because she's boosted by a powerful correction caused by [Demon's Mistress].

Blacksmith-san mentioned the interesting characteristics that the various magic metals had. It made me very anxious to see what she'd do with the halberd.

Though it's not likely that it'll reach [Ancient] rank, but there's the possibility that the halberd will be strengthened enough to reach [Unique] rank.

Additionally, the spear I obtained this time - [Cursed Four-pronged Water Spear ・Fish Fin ] will be handled at the same time, so that my battle-style can evolve from now on.

Because there'll be many more situations where I'll have to battle one-to-many after this, a style with two spears might be good.

By the way, I didn't mention that Redhead got the same [Demon's Mistress] title, which is similar to what Alchemist-san and the sisters have. It boosts a lot of their skills and abilities.

The medicine Alchemist-san currently makes is so high-quality, that it cannot be compared to what she made before.

By using the various materials from the Great Forest, the recovery potions had a healing power that was higher than the average value of those that were being sold. At lot of her poisons cannot be easily cured without a specific antidote and there are some that deteriorate someone's power as well.

If I sell them in the shop at the royal capital, they might be popular and give me more regular customers.

By the way, recently, she sometimes devotes her so much to her studies that it becomes somewhat of a frenzy, though I find her kind of cute in such a way.

The dishes the sisters cook also improved in quality. The treatment of the subordinates became very good.

In other words, for those who did not have command and followed orders, the taste changed considerably. I wonder if I'm getting the same changes that the subordinates got to their dishes.

If they increases their current abilities like that, they may one day rise to up to be as good as Ririmur.

Even though it's sort of a wish, it has started to become a little bit the expectation.

Fresh farm produce is being grown in the ≪Farmlands≫, which are being tended to by Dorian-san. On top, her massage skills have improved remarkably.

The vegetables raised by Dorian-san are being sold in the shop in the royal capital and are very popular, while the visitors to ≪Parabellum Springs≫ have become addicted to her massages.

If they don't receive her massage at fixed intervals, their limbs start trembling, they start having small hallucinations and their willpower declines. It acts like a dangerous drug, with the ones addicted showing withdrawal symptoms.

Seeing as I'm a friend of Father Elf, he decided to turn a blind eye and remain quiet about it.

Like in everything in life, it's not good to overdo it.

--

Day 214

After I requested Blacksmith-san to do the repairs, I advanced the preparations to send my products to the Royal Capital and relaxed at ≪Parabellum Springs≫. After that, I finished my overnight stay. I didn't go back to the Royal Capital today but decided to go to the labyrinth city ≪Purgatory≫ instead.

I've already sent some members to the labyrinth city ≪Purgatory≫ near the royal capital, and I bought an unoccupied three-story house. As I wanted to run an integrated company, I planned it to be ≪Parabellum≫'s second shop.

I might need to change the model from the shop in the royal capital, which deals in arms and medicine. The business in the labyrinth is distinctive in a lot of ways.

It will be [Dungeon Sherpas].

The business model will be extremely simple: it will take care of transporting the luggage for those that are conquering dungeons, but are unable to purchase anything useful that can store magic items.

There's a high demand for them, so the current items that can store magic items are highly priced. This decreases the source of income of the adventures conquering the dungeon, which is solely based on the items drops.

Even though the weight and volume differs for each and despite the fact that it obstructs your movements and increase your risk of dying, backpacks where you try to put in as much as possible in order to take home, are quite coveted.

Even if you distribute it among your party members, you'll have to tearfully throw away some dropped items in the end.

The quantity of dropped items that you need to throw away can be high. And for the people who make their living from processing and selling these dropped items, it really was a waste to throw away item drops.

It might also be that if the supplied quantity can become more constant, it can prevent the product from becoming exhausted and prizes from skyrocketing.

Because of my various assumptions, I founded a business in order to eliminate waste in dungeons - a [Dungeon Sherpa] that carries items drops for those that are conquering the dungeon.

Because there are a lot of potential customers walking around the labyrinth city, it was convenient that the damage won't be relatively high if there were any failures.

Of course, there are some pitfalls for this business though.

Adventurers, merchant, dungeon sherpas… The former's point of view is that the dungeon sherpas are the weakest.

A merchant can be as good as an adventurer, but to begin with, dungeon sherpas are persons are employed by adventurers.

Adventurers spend as much money as they can on their equipment, because you risk your life when enter a dangerous zone like a labyrinth. That's why the pay for dungeon Sherpas who run around carrying the heavy luggage is considerably lower than average.

On top, depending on the employer's intention, they may cut their fee every time they make a trivial mistake.

There are a lot of people in different circumstances that can become a dungeon sherpa: children of dead adventurers, who end up having no relatives anymore and that want to do it out of protest, those forced to retire because of an injury or those that cannot match the power of adventurers

There are also quite a lot of problems that unified dungeon sherpas can come across and make them fail. For instance, even though they're below adventurers, dungeon sherpas risk their lives just the same. It is indeed, cruel work.

Naturally, I would get personally involved when they are mistaken for slaves and dues are not being paid. I won't permit something like that even as a joke.

If the promised amount of the official documents signed at the store is not being upheld, I am allowed to recuperate it in a different way.

In the beginning, there were a lot of idiots that jumped the bill, making me brandish the fist of retribution. Right now, it settled down.

As for those who'll work in the labyrinth city ≪Purgatory≫ branch: there are quite of hobgoblins and half-lords that finished their training up to a certain level already. All staff members are able to travel to a deepest level of a Derived dungeon in ≪Purgatory≫ on their own. Only powerful people can return unscathed.

Because they had improved equipment on top, it's a better option then the storage systems the adventurers have now for magic items.

Even if there are people who aim to steal the magic items in the dungeon, my people are quickly able to sense the ones with killing intent through the clones in the ear cuffs, so at least they can escape.

The base rate for transportation is around ten silver coins, which are each worth about 10.000.

If you want support such as information about how to approach the traps and dungeon monsters, it will also include 10% of the total earnings of the obtained items drops after you return from the dungeon.

If you want them to be involved in combat, the total fee will be increased to 20%.

Getting an additional lecture about battling the dungeon, it will increase the total to 30%.

Being rescued from a life-threating situation will increase the total sum to 40%. The rate increases rapidly.

Frankly speaking, the price to employ the dungeon sherpas does not even compare to what can be gained from successfully conquering a dungeon.

The employment cost of 10 silver coins, can turn into tens to dozens in returns of extra items.

Even if all options are chosen, that increases cost up to 40% for now. Still the adventurers who are not able to readily buy storage systems for magic items are likely to pick it.

However, looking at the size of customer base of the dungeon sherpas, it became unexpectedly popular when you consider the price to employ a person more powerful than yourself is rather cheap.

Our reputation spread by word-of-mouth, and there are already some regular customers.

We might even have possibly established close relationships with those who could become famous in the future, which is already having an increasing effect on the amount of customers who have come to buy the goods at our store.

Because the store also bought item drops, I will need to establish a way to export them. This will make a lot of things easier.

I plan to govern all dungeon sherpas in the labyrinth city ≪Puragatory≫. I've been working behind the scenes in a lot of ways already, and I'll expect some results in the near future.

--

Day 215

Remember the war that started around the 150th day?

In a country other than Kingdom or the Empire, another war was happening between countries that were far away from the Kingdom.

I left it unattended because I was recently busy over here, but it looks like the victorious nation was the ≪Lumen Holy Kingdom≫ ―― which I'll call the Holy Kingdom from now on. It makes my dealings a bit more troublesome, both on and under the table.

The Holy Kingdom that advocates human supremacy will now even be more powerful because it absorbed the defeated country ≪Erinbe Iron Forest Country≫.

This made an already vast country expand even more. It will even surpass the Empire, which in itself is more powerful than the Kingdom.

It's not only that, but on top, because of the war, they took in ≪Erinbe Iron Forest Country≫'s [Legendary Heroes]―― who are both [Heroes] and [Great Heroes]. Because the [Legendary Heroes] now also belong to the Holy Kingdom, their number has increased to a surprising amount of 24.

When you look at the Kingdom, it only has 4. And when I think about the Empire, they have about 12 of them. Isn't their remarkable war potential bizarre?

There's also the ≪East Grand Beast Kingdom≫, ruled by [Beast King] Lionel, that has a long-time bad standing with the Holy Kingdom ―― I'll call them Beast Kingdom from now on. Perhaps, if you would consider the allied forces of them together with the Demon Empire ruled by [Demon Emperor] Hyulton, it would be possible to balance the odds, which is something you'd want before any fight.

While I left out some details, you could say the Holy Kingdom is moving gears.

I've caught more spies and assassins than before in other countries, and while I assumed these cases were sporadic, they might have been happening for a reason.

Even though I'm not sure, there might be a high possibility that they also attacked Minokichi-kun.

Beastmen of low standing were trained and sent as assassins. It's a classic trick used by the Holy Kingdom in high-risk missions.

Looks like Minokichi-kun possibly came across one of their mission. They were probably assaulted because I am regarded as dangerous because of my actions in the Kingdom and they were only few in number.

But unfortunately, because they were annihilated, I don't know if that's true. Even for me, it was impossible to gather any more information on it.

I would have known in an instant if there would have been but one survivor, but I guess it cannot be helped that they were annihilated.

Should I provoke a fight in order to see if my assumptions are truly correct?

And if they have 24 people, would they notice if 12 of them disappear? I wonder…

If the Empire's [Regal Order] took in the four [Legendary Heroes], then there wouldn't be a reason for these [Legendary Heroes] to be part of the Holy Kingdom anymore.

Yes, it's highly likely they'd be hostile against the Holy Kingdom.

While I'm seeing signs that a Great War is not far off, my [Intuition] tells me there's "something" more behind this. Therefore, I ordered some clones to go to the Holy Kingdom for more detailed intelligence gathering.

What is in that country? There might be something relating to my [Psalms].

--

Day 216

After a calm day, there was nothing special about this evening either.

I finished the morning training, handled the store's paperwork and ate a delicious dinner.

Because I had a lot of things going on recently, it wasn't bad to end such a day in such a relaxed way.

It's good to take some rest and feel relieved. It looks like some of the built-up stress had disappeared.

And then, at night, an announcement resounded in my mind.

[World Psalms [Legend of the Black Eclipse Demon], [Sub-cast Member] Dodomeki has ranked up]

[Since the "1st" Condition [Rank Up] has been cleared, the title [Shiki Koukan] will be granted]

[World Psalms [Legend of the Black Eclipse Demon], [Formation of the Eight Demon Generals] has been completed. All abilities of the [Formation of the Eight Demon Generals] have been released alongside it.]

[When all members of the [Formation of the Eight Demon Generals] are joined in battle, they will be able to use united attack [Devastating Attack ・ Eight Demon Formation's Massacre].]

[When all members of the [Formation of the Eight Demon Generals] are joined in battle, they will be able to use formation effect [Unique Formation ・ Eight Demon Battle Formation].]

Apparently, Dodomeki was the correct assumption to be the last person, and not the five ogre squad.

Though I was worried what would happen if it was the five ogre squad, I put those thoughts aside for now.

I asked Dodomeki about it through the ear cuffs. She became a "Kugimeki variant".

Kugimeki, like her name suggests, is a kind of female ogre that has nine eyes. Though she has less eyes than when she was "Dodomeki", who had them all over her body. Unlike when she was a Dodomeki that needed her high number of eyes to supplement her intelligence gathering, her current number seems much more efficient as the quality of each eye improved.

The positions of her eyes are as follows: she has a pair of eyes in the same place as humans, another pair as part of her eyebrows, an eye bigger than the others in the center of them, a couple in her palms and a pair on the back of each hand.

Kugimeki, compared to Dodomeki-chan, has long, black, glossy hair held together by an ornate hairpin and she had the appearance of a beautiful Japanese woman with a thin veil of make-up. Though the others wouldn't know about that.

Her Japanese clothes are sort of an organic armor. The black cloth is embroidered with the image of a blooming cherry tree along with petals.

As she whirls around with her red Japanese umbrella, which is her organic weapon, her red geta makes a clip-clop sound.

If she went out on a night when there's a full moon, it would certainly be attractive.

As far as her combat abilities go, they were as unimpressive as before. At least she is able to self-defend by emitting mysterious rays from her eyes.

Like before, her significance is in the fact that she gathers intelligence and commands the army from the rear.

After having heard the general announcement, I quickly fell asleep.

I'll start work early tomorrow.

--

Day 217

When I got up, the belly of Redhead, who slept next to me, had grown.

It's the same thing that happened with the sisters, Blacksmith-san and Alchemist-san.

In other words, she got pregnant, and another child will be born.

Though I might have gotten nervous before, I've grown used to it after the fifth time. I didn't panic and quickly went on with the preparations.

Fortunately, we were in our mansion in the Royal Capital. I was able to prepare the necessary things immediately, no matter what it was. On top, we had a sense of security.

Will it be a boy? Or a girl? I'm starting to worry about the name now.

By the time evening was there, it was born.

While the evening sun was setting over the mountain range, my fifth child was safely born.

[World Psalms [Legend of the Black Eclipse Demon], [■■■■]the was previously locked, has been obtained]

[[■■■■]became [18 Demon Warlords]. The [18 Demon Warlords] will be chosen from Yatendouji's subordinates. ]

[The[18 Demon Warlords] will each be chosen and announced when the conditions have been fulfilled]

It was the second consecutive day that an announcement resounded in my head.

While I got it at the same time I unlocked the [8 Demon Generals] and [Demon's Wife] in my [World Psalms [Legend of the Black Eclipse Demon] ]. Now I understand that [■■■■] was [18 Demon Warlords], but it wasn't released at the time because the conditions weren't cleared. Since that mystery was solved, I can put it aside.

Redhead's child wasn't a [Mixblood] like Auro and Argento. Nor was it a [High Ogre] like Oniwaka or a human like Nicola.

It was an [Apostle Lord Variant]. Because it was a variant, it was born with a Divine Blessing. It got both the Divine Blessings of the [God of Jewels] and the [Demigod of Dark Beasts].

Seeing as I was from an extinct species, I did have thoughts about my child being of an extinct species as well. Did I became a variant because it no longer counted as an extinct species the moment I became it?

My fifth child was a girl.

Her hair was the color of the ash that is left behind after something burnt out. Her eyes were as beautiful as rubies. A pattern which resembled my tattoos was drawn all over the brown skin of her body with a material like diamonds. Apparently, part of her skin can transform as well. It might be a characteristic from the [God of Jewels].

Her forearms and legs were covered in dark red hair. I wonder if it's the influence from [Demigod of Dark Beasts].

Though the hair on her forearms and legs feel very smooth, they seem to be some kind of armor. Even if cut by a steel knife, not even a scratch is left behind.

A horn grew on her forehead, like the ones ogres have, with a hidden radiance like an obsidian.

The horn was soft at birth, but after ten minutes passed, it's so sharp that it can break a steel knife.

Luckily, her horn is still short, so there's no risk of her cutting anything unintentionally. But because it's still dangerous, I made a horn sheath out of the skin of a Jadar Wyvern and put it on in order to prevent any accidents, for now.

By the way, she has two ogre orbs that Lords also have. They are hidden in the bristles of her forearms. Her ogre orbs are like beautiful jewels, with a color that's a mix between blue and red.

Like her three siblings, aside from Nicola, her growth spurt sets in early. Her size cannot be compared to a common human baby anymore. She might already start to move after weeks, like Auro and Argento did.

Five children have been born. As for the name of my third daughter, I'll call her Opushi.

In terms of potential power, she might have the most out of my five children. She's a very lovely child.

--

Day 218

This morning, the remodeling of the first floor of the mansion was finally completed.

A strong wind is blowing snow around and it looks like it's very cold outside. Because the first floor is fully equipped with a high priced air-conditioning magic item, I didn't notice it was cold.

Many massage tables were lined up in a large room to be able to apply treatment to as many people as possible. I divided each by barriers so that one space could be separated from another, while still maintaining a sense of freedom.

I designed the interior in a way that it's not too showy and it gives off a sense of relaxation. But I still used accessories of considerably high quality, because my main customers will be the daughters of aristocrats.

I could have prepared a small private room for our guests, which would have been absolutely fine for the time being. However, I scheduled it to be done in the large basic room.

Aside from the large room, I prepared another room where one can enjoy sweets and a stone sauna.

Seeing as it had special minerals in this world suitable for a stone sauna, I was so excited I wanted to try it for myself. I was lucky that I could obtain this at a cheap rate because of my connections with the Tomboy Princess.

Because I performed beekeeping with the bearbees, I have regular access to high quality honey. Our offering of sweets will become good advertising materials that can be offered at a low price.

Oh my, because the preparations were already completed to this extent, it will now be necessary to invite the Tomboy Princess or the First Queen for advertising.

There are still a ton of things to be done though.

However, I let it be for now, and decided to take the rest of the day off.

I did this because I wanted to spend time with Auro and Argento, who were taking care of Opushi, and Opushi, who grew very big overnight.

While I lovingly take care of my children, I noted to myself that I have great kids.

--

Day 219

Even though it has been snowing since this morning, and it kept on going, Minokichi-kun and the others reached the Royal Capital today.

The skeleton centipedes were camouflaged as carriages with our group flag shown as best as possible. The fact that I was currently waiting at the gate of the Royal Capital with the Tomboy Princess sitting on my shoulders didn't cause a big uproar, but the form of Minokichi-kun coming through on top of his Armored Big bear, that was as big as a house, resembled the incarnation of a Gokusotsu.

They've never seen a Minotaur species before, and now they see one leading his subordinates while approaching the Royal capital from afar. If I didn't make arrangements beforehand, it would have been a serious affair, forcing them to gather the [Heroes] to meet them head-on.

Thank god I handled this before any blood was spilled.

Minokichi-kun had returned to the Great Forest through a separate route ―― along with Asue-chan, Oniwaka, Supesei-san and Burasato-san. Now, I summoned all troupes to the Royal Capital in order to gather all my generals together.

Because I only summoned the executives and influential people to Royal Capital, they're not a high number. As for the rest that were in the Great Forest, I arranged for them to eat the ingredients I left behind.

By the way, there're five main kinds of ingredients I want us to eat together.

It included all bosses from "Warpidron" to "Lethal Dead ・ Blood Eater ・ Pochi", except for "Lizard Skull ・ War Salamander", which we've eaten before and "Aquarium ・ Ball Golem", which no one else can aside from me because it's a golem. I've also excluded "Shark Head ・ Bolt Wyrm".

I left out "Grief Charybdis" and "Red Armed Geminyuvia" as a precaution because they look similar to humans.

Because there were humans amongst the group members, there could have been resistance.

Since I'm going to eat these two corpses personally later, I'll conceal their existence.

The floor bosses are enormous, so there should be more than enough quantity. I cooked the dishes together with the ingredients I gathered in the dungeon. The dishes were huge and luxurious.

While it still wasn't enough because Minokichi-kun was a big eater, everyone was laughing with satisfaction and the residence was lively all day long.

Fooling around from time to time isn't bad.

[Ability learned [Parasitic Beast Injection]]

[Ability learned [Beast Corpse Chastising Technique]]

[Ability learned [Blood Eater Beast ]]

--

Day 220

Last night's feast left the corpses of drunk people lying about.

Even though I mentioned corpses, they weren't dead. Most of them were brought down by the bad side-effects of their hangover.

It was inevitable as we emptied several barrels of labyrinth liquor with a high percentage of alcohol. Even though it had nothing to do with me, I decided to make today a holiday. I started off the morning by doing easy dissection work. I cut open the "Shark Head ・ Bolt Wyrm" and took out the internal organs.

Dissecting in itself is not difficult because I've gotten used to it, but it still took a while due to its sheer size. Nevertheless, I completed it before noon.

After I took out any internal organs that were in its body, it took a pause from cutting up the meat. I was at a level where I was able to tell apart the fat from the flesh only by looking at it. I could easily imagine that it had the finest taste of anything I've eaten so far.

However, I didn't eat anything, I only dissected it.

While the internal organs that I extracted will be delicious for sure, its entire body is going to be the material for [Equip Exoskeleton].

The external skeleton [Red Bear Beast King's Prestige], which I obtained from the Red Bear, excelled in land combat; while the external skeleton [Jade Eagle King's Flight], which I obtained from the Jade Eagle, excelled in aerial combat.

Because I had an exoskeleton that was superior on land and one that was superior in the air, the only thing that was left was the one for the sea.

The material from "Shark Head ・ Bolt Wyrm" was ideal for it.

I immediately noticed its huge head. I leveraged my break to put on the body with [Equip Exoskeleton] and get some practice with it.

And so, the third exoskeleton was fine-tuned and registered without any issues.

The following information is projected in my head:

[Ability [Equip Exoskeleton]

Entry "1" [Red Bear Beast King's Prestige]

Entry "2" [Jade Eagle King's Flight]

Entry "3" [Lightning Shark Dragon Lord's Placoid Scales] successfully registered

Entry "4" [Empty]

Entry "5" [Empty]

It is still possible to register 2 additional exoskeletons

How many would you like to register? ]

It looks like the name of the exoskeleton had become [Lightning Shark Dragon Lord's Placoid Scales].

One of the characteristics of the exoskeleton was that it had an overall blue theme. It had a fluent form and there were few irregularities.

A countless amount of fins made out of lightning gems formed a line on the back, and there are sharp blade fins on the forearms as well. There is webbing between the fingers, and a big fin at the end of a long tail which grew from my hip region. The webbing and the back fin are support to the latter, as the tail is the main way of propulsion.

One could say the design is a compact human version of the "Shark Head ・ Bolt Wyrm". I personally like it.

While I check out the touch and feel while performing various movements, I found out that there was a transformation mechanism built into the exoskeleton.

During said transformation, the tail expands, and the lower part of my body becomes like a snake.

I imagine it like a lamia, which is half human, half snake.

Because I can make interesting movements even on land with this shape, it looks to be amphibious.

It was a very satisfying day, I obtained an excellent exoskeleton.

Starting from tomorrow, I'll put great effort in gathering more things. I am planning to challenge the [Age of the Gods dungeons] where I haven't been before.

I'm looking forward to it.

This time, I am going to choose a place where a mountain of ingredients can be obtained.

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