Manuke FPS - Chapter 41

Chapter 41

As expected of the A and B-ranked adventurer’s of Sasanqua . The Gatekeeper battle ended without any major hiccups, despite there being some close calls . The monster’s strength and the armor’s defensive power was great intel for future solo-fights . The only thing left was for the Labyrinth Conquest was to defeat the Dungeon Master, but I didn’t plan on pursuing that . We would return to the Spring where the Knight Order from Barga, the final party of this conquest, would be .

I managed to keep the General guild staff and the Rafflesia members stay silent about my mapping, but if we were to go to the Dungeon Master alongside the Knight Order, I would be revealing more information than just that . Remi-san had no influence over other organizations so I would have to make them keep the secret on my own . I watched the Gatekeeper’s body sink into the labyrinth’s floor while thinking . His war hammer wasn’t wrapped in the mist and remained behind .

“Seems like weapons* are left behind . ”

[*T/N: 生体武具, translated as “bio-arms” in an earlier chapter . I still don’t understand what they are (“living things’ weapons”? “bio-arms”?), so I’ll just use “weapon” from now on . ]

“Nya-“

Frau-san and Mitche-san were also next to me as we watched the ogre’s body disappear . Ruu-san and Lali-san were checking on Miranda-san . Though the last attack had missed, she was the party’s tanker and had already taken multiple hits before that – there was no way she hadn’t gotten injured .

“The weapons are used as proofs of the conquer . Schwarz, take it if you want . ”

Mitche-san went to collect the war hammer . Glancing at her, I refused Frau-san’s offer . Becoming a C-ranked adventurer meant I could receive nomination missions, I’d be qualified to enter labyrinths*, earn more money and live a comfortable life . But the promotion exam and the nomination missions were so troublesome I just wanted to avoid them . Besides, I wanted to conquer monsters in the wild, but my knowledge was still lacking . To acquire more knowledge, rather than studying, fighting in labyrinths would definitely be more fun .

[T/N: on his own]

Thanks to Lali-san’s magic healing, Marinda-san’s health was restored . We lingered in the room for a while and watch the white stone gate leading to the labyrinth’s Master once more before we headed back to the Spring . As we expected, there were people who wearing knight armors everywhere in the Spring . What we didn’t expect was rather than 1 party with 6 people, there were 3 parties with 18 people .

“Oh, Lapitilica-sama! You’re back!”

One of the knights busily working within the crowd called out . He was noticeably larger than the others, and even though his full plate mail looked similar to other knights, it was more detailed in it’s design . He was old, with his white hair swept back and his white beard neatly trimmed .

“Vice Leader Caymon! Did you come for the Labyrinth Conquest?”

The Knight Order’s official name was the West Barga Knight Order of Kurtmelga Kingdom . The leader of this dispatched group was Viscount Butler Caymon, Vice Leader of the Barga Knights . I introduced myself as a D-ranked adventurer who accompanied the Sasanqua group as a cartographer . Leaving the detailed explanation to Frau-san, I went back down to where the Guild Staff was . I received the map Will had made today and exited the Spring to draw my map .

On the way back, I had reminded the girls once more not to disclose anything related to my skills or my mapping ability . I also let them know I wouldn’t be accompanying them to fight against the Dungeon Master tomorrow . They easily accepted the non-disclosure request, but were quite reluctant to acknowledge the fact that I wouldn’t be going with them to fight the Dungeon Master .

For caution’s sake, I didn’t use the small room yesterday, but instead went further out to a hidden corridor . There, I summoned the Dorchester and drew up the map inside . It took about 1 hour to map today’s area . From the driver’s seat, I checked for monsters in front . I didn’t hear anything, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious .

I put the Dorchester back into the garage and walked back to the Spring .  When I got back, there were only 12 knights in the Spring . They couldn’t plan to continue with the conquer through the night, could they?

“Schwarz is back, nya-“

“I’m back . ”

Mitche-san and Ruu-san noticed me immediately . The others, Frau-san, Marinda-san, and Lali-san were at the knights’ side . They were sitting at a round wooden table together with Caymon, the vice-leader, and sipping tea… They even brought such a table here…

“There are less knights than before . Did they go into the labyrinth?”

“They went to sweep the area around the Spring . ”

Ruu-san answered . She was pouring soup from the pot that was heated on the fire into a wooden bowl for me . Taking the bowl from Ruu-san, our dinner today was… Vegetables, thinly sliced meat and… Was that rice?

My hands shook when I held the bowl… It was such a surprise attack… It had been a month since I came to this world . During all the meals I had eaten at the White Flower Pavilion of the Labyrinth in Barga, rice hadn’t appeared even once . I had thought about asking for it, but I was afraid that they would tell me it didn’t exist or they didn’t know about it . So I hadn’t asked . I had thought rice didn’t exist in this world and I would never be able to eat it again, but it wasn’t something I had paid attention to in my day to day life . Now it suddenly appeared before my eyes like that…

“What’s wrong nya? You don’t know rice nya?”

“N-No… J-Just that it’s been a long time since I saw it…”

[PF: apparently all isekai MCs are obsessed with rice]

[T/N: Rice is an irreplaceable component in the daily meals of many Asian countries, including Japan . A typical meal always = rice + some side dish . Rice also appears extensively in a number of snacks and desserts . So, suddenly being unable to eat such a staple of your diet like these MCs… It won’t affect day-to-day, but it surely will feel like something is amiss . ]

“Rice is expensive, nya . It’s not something you can have whenever you ask, nya . The knights brought it here today, nya . ”

“Rice is expensive? Is it something luxurious?”

“It’s brought here from the East of Orlando through transporting magic circles . The fee is high, so naturally it’s expensive . ”

“Is that so… I see…”

The soup was similar to congee . It was a bit oversalted .

After dinner, I got together with the Guild staff and Johan-san, the Knight Order’s scout . I handed them the map to this area as well as the map that lead to the Dungeon Master . We also discussed things such as the appearance rate of monsters and the expected versus actual arrival time .  Then Viscount Caymon came to our group .

“Johan, do you have an idea for our course tomorrow?”

“Yes . According to Schwarz-dono’s* map and his information, I believe we’ll arrive in 3 to 4 hours . ”

[*T/N: A honorific used by inferiors for their superiors . ]

“Can I see the map?”

“Yes, here it is . ”

The Viscount looked at my map . In the next instant, his eyes moved to me .

“Schwarz-kun, you said that you’re a D-rank? I wonder when you plan to move up to C-Rank . ”

“With all due respect, I have no other talent aside from cartography . I’m just scraping by shutting myself in labyrinths . I am saving guild points to take the advancement exam, but that’s still a ways off . ”

“Is that so? In that case, why don’t you join our Knight Order? You can have a better life than being an explorer . “

“I can’t use swords or magic . I believe I am not qualified to carry out a knight’s duty . ”

“Is that so… If you change your mind, come to our headquarters in Barga . ”

“I will, thank you . ”

The Viscount left Johan-san with some instructions before heading back to the Knights’ camp . The exchange earlier… To be honest, I wasn’t sure if it went well or not . It seemed like with just one glance at the map, he deemed my mapping ability useful and wanted to secure it, but was it just a light-hearted invitation or did he just reveal his hand…? If I joined the Order, I would work as a cartographer for real . This was probably another path, but for now, I still hadn’t changed my life’s goal here .

Wolf Fang’s Labyrinth would be the first . I will conquer it myself .