A/N: Happy 50th chapter! Thank you for reading this far! Please continue supporting me with your comments!
Also, 'Blessing This Chuunibyou Village With A Repopulation' Chapter 1 and 2 are now available on my P treon for members or purchase! There is also new Aika art there available to the public, so please check it out!
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Chapter 50: Blessing This Minotaur With a Labyrinth!
Part 1
After dinner, Iris asked me to come to her room.
The reason being, she was set to go to school tomorrow, and she wanted to practice her introductions.
"I am Iris Belzerg! The number one sword princess in the world!"
"...Don't ever ask Megumin for advice ever again."
I said, once Iris showed me her introduction.
"Eh? But Megumin nee-sama said that I will make an impression if I do that…"
She wasn't lying about that part, but I bet it wasn't the kind of impression Iris wanted to make.
"What kind of impression should I make, then?"
"First of all, why don't you introduce yourself as Satou Iris? Then, tell everyone about your awesome onii-chan…"
"...That's not gonna happen, onii-sama. Please be serious about this!"
I was serious, though.
"Don't worry too much about it. If anyone bullies Iris, I will just use my government contacts to have their parents get a new job at a different prefecture, so they will be forced to leave your life forever."
"Onii-sama! Stop saying such scary things!"
"...In any case, don't worry so much about your school life and relax. I know, how about we play some games tonight?"
"...! I'd love that! Maybe have some treats, too?"
"You might not be able to sleep, and you'll have trouble waking up before your first day of school."
"That's not a problem! Out on the battlefield, I was able to stay up for four days in a row with no sleep whatsoever!"
"Let's have some treats."
I really wanted to spoil this poor girl rotten.
Someone like Aika-chan always demanded to be spoiled, but Iris here asked for very little.
Even though I knew it wasn't good for her health, I gave her a bunch of sweets while we played games all night.
Now, I know that I told Iris not to worry about her first day of school.
But when we said goodnight and I went into my own room to sleep, I was suddenly filled with worries.
…What if something goes wrong?!
Iris is so cute, plus, she's a foreigner.
It's unlikely, but what if she becomes a target of bullying from other girls?
"Tch… Who does that girl think she is?"
"Just because she's a little cute, all the boys are paying attention to her…"
"Let's teach her a lesson, shall we? Ohohoho!"
And then those bitches will steal Iris's shoes, or put flowers on her desk, along with a framed picture of her.
…I'll kill those little monsters!
I accidentally tore my pillow in half while thinking about Iris getting bullied.
…
…
The next morning, I did something I hadn't done in a while.
I called my dad and asked him to call in sick for me.
"Eh? Kazuma… Don't tell me you're back to your old self…"
My dad asked worriedly, after I called him.
He was worried that I was returning to my lazy days of skipping school.
I used [Versatile Entertainer] to make my voice sound sick.
"Cough… cough… No, I really am sick… Cough…"
"Yikes. Alright, make sure you rest up, OK?"
I thanked him and hung up.
Now, as for the reason why I was doing this…
I decided to follow Iris to her school.
Using the [Disguise] skill, I took on the appearance of a janitor.
Please don't judge me for doing this.
I was just worried sick about my little sister.
If some middle-school brat dares to bully Iris, I will make sure that they regret it.
My appearance was that of a nondescript middle aged janitor.
With my stealth skills and disguise, I was able to easily infiltrate the school.
I then pretended to mop outside of Iris's classroom.
Meanwhile, I used [Espionage] to listen in on her introduction.
"...I'm Iris! I'm pleased to meet all of you! I come from England and my Japanese is not great yet… But I hope we all get along…!"
Her introduction was met with applause.
…They should be clapping more!
Those ungrateful brats are not clapping enough even though my brave imouto gave such an outstanding introduction?!
"Hm? Why do I hear clapping outside?"
Ah, I unintentionally started clapping as well.
I left just as the sensei checked outside the door to see what was happening.
When it was time for lunch break, I discreetly went into the cafeteria to follow Iris.
"Iris, over here!"
Kazuto waved Iris over when she arrived.
"Oh? You already know Satou-kun, Iris-san?"
The girls who were following Iris said.
"Yeah! He's a family friend!"
So that was their cover story.
"Fufu… Satou-kun sure is cute, isn't he?"
"Ah, you two would make a good couple…"
Iris blushed at the girls' words.
"Y-You think so?"
"Yeah, you two should date~!"
"Excuse me."
I interrupted by going through the group, pretending like I was going to take out the garbage.
"Ah, sorry, we should move out of the way."
The girls bowed to me, then went over to Kazuto's table.
Young girls talking about cute guys and dating…
How shameless!
Iris shouldn't date until she's 30 years old!
No, actually, she shouldn't date ever!
…OK, maybe I was going too far now.
Once classes ended, I waited for Iris and Kazuto outside the school gate.
"Ah, onii-sama! What are you doing here?"
Iris said, when she saw me waiting outside, after I changed out of my disguise.
"It's your first day of school, so I wanted to pick you up! Ah, how about we go get something tasty? My treat!"
"Oh, thanks, nii-san. Can we go to a family restaurant?"
For some reason, Kazuto was talking as if he was invited.
"Yay! Thanks so much for treating us, onii-sama! You're so generous!"
"Of course!"
I couldn't tell Kazuto to buzz off after that.
I took them to the family restaurant and let them order whatever they wanted.
While they were eating, I saw them having fun talking to each other.
…I'm kinda intruding, aren't I?
Not only that, I was being an overbearing brother by following her everywhere on her first day of school.
"Ah… I'll leave you two alone. Here's some money."
I left them some bills then stood up.
"Eh? Onii-sama, where are you going?"
"Oh, I got some stuff to do. You kids enjoy yourselves."
Yeah, I should just let her enjoy her new life.
"Heh, finally the third wheel has left. Ah, how about we go to karaoke after this, Iris…"
"On second thought, I'm not so busy after all."
"Eh?!"
I sat back down once I heard what Kazuto said.
"...Nii-san… What happened to that cool speech from earlier?"
Kazuto said, gritting his teeth as he tried to keep up a smile.
"Hm? It's better if there's an adult supervising you two, right?"
"Where's the adult?! You're a teenager yourself! Trying to act like you're our uncle is just cringey!"
I was aware that I was being a total clockblock right now.
If I was Kazuto, and my nii-san was constantly trying to get between me and my crush, I would be quite angry, too.
"...Nii-san, come with me for a moment."
I stood up and followed Kazuto to the drink bar.
"Oi… I thought you said you wouldn't interfere from now on."
He said, reminding me of my promise during the trip.
"...It's not like I promised anything. I just left you alone because you guilt-tripped me about Aqua."
"Well, are you telling me you're not feeling guilty now?! You're just being an asshole!"
"Oi, why would I let you take Iris to some shady karaoke, slip something into her drink, and do something despicable to her, while filming the whole thing to blackmail her later!"
"Do you really think I'm capable of doing something like that?!"
"Of course I would with that creepy face of yours!"
"We have the same face, dumbass!"
We quieted down when a waitress stared suspiciously at us.
"...Oi, just believe me when I say that I'm not gonna do anything weird."
I gave him a flat look.
"I wasn't born yesterday! You told me during those 'lessons' that karaoke is the best place to do lewd things with a girl!"
He averted his eyes when I caught him in his lie.
"F-Fine! I promise that I won't get past first base with her!"
"Forget first base, I'm not even gonna let you onto the field!"
"You're too damn strict!"
We both stared intensely at each other.
"...Iris is gonna hate you if you're too protective."
"Urk."
I let out a pained groan, knowing he was right.
Still, I refused to give up. I said,
"...You can go on dates with her, but you have to be in a public space! No karaoke, no abandoned buildings, no sneaking off at night to meet up in the park!"
He rolled his eyes and said,
"Tch… Fine…"
"...And no kissing. No hand holding, or hugging. And don't even breathe the same air as her. In fact, you shouldn't even exist in the same country. Pack your bags, you're going to Greenland."
"What the hell's wrong with you?!"
Well, I said what I had to say.
…I really couldn't interfere past this point.
If I kept watching them like a hawk, both of them would end up hating me at this rate.
Well, I was pretty sure Kazuto already hated me.
And so, after we finished our meal, we went outside and I said,
"Alright, you two kids have fun now."
"Ah, before you go, onii-sama…"
Iris went up to me with a smile.
"I was really nervous for my first day, but you helped me so much with practice last night. It would have been a disaster if I listened to Megumin nee-san and didn't consult you…"
"As long as you know that asking Megumin for school advice is tantamount to social suicide."
"I-I wouldn't go that far."
That was the truth, though.
Iris (Sword Princess), Bond Rank: 5
At Rank 5, although Iris didn't know about your creepy stalker behavior, she felt safe throughout the day, as if a guardian angel was watching over her. She is thankful that you gave her good advice regarding her introduction, and even more grateful that you aren't as strict with her as her guardians back home, especially regarding her friendship with boys her own age. Continuing to care for her as your little sister, while also giving her an appropriate amount of freedom, will deepen your relationship with Iris.
Bond Reward: 20 Potential
Part 2
My Potential doubled all of a sudden.
…Did I just drink the ultra divine water?
No, that sounds wrong, considering this upgrade came from Iris.
Not only that, but my golem farm has been running nonstop since I got the reactors.
I received 600 EXP throughout the day.
I wanted to go back to the dungeon with the others that night, but I was also looking to upgrade my armor.
My weapons received an upgrade, and now I even had a Magician's Cape that raised my mana capacity and regeneration.
My armor was due to an upgrade as well.
Of course, I had the max [Smithing] skill, but I still needed the materials for an upgrade. I couldn't just make epic-tier armor out of thin air.
And so, I had to go back to that stingy old man of a blacksmith.
When I went there, I was planning on showing off my maxed out [Smithing] skill, but…
"What do you mean you're Rank 6?!"
I said, unable to believe what the oji-san blacksmith was saying to me.
He shrugged and said,
"I used the money I made from that government contract and hired some app-users. They take me down to the dungeon and help me level up and gather rare materials."
"...What's with the sudden increase in motivation?"
From what I remembered from last time, the blacksmith only went to the dungeon to trade with app-users or retrieve materials.
He rubbed the back of his head.
"Well… You see, my daughter's birthday is coming up. I think I mentioned this before, but she's the one who got me this phone."
He briefly lifted his phone, before placing it back down on the counter.
"If I didn't have this phone, I would have never discovered the app. I admit, all this app stuff has made my life a bit less boring. So I wanna make it up to her with a big birthday gift… Oi, what's with that face?!"
I was trying not to chuckle.
That was because seeing this hardass of a blacksmith talking about his daughter so fondly was hilarious.
"Ah, well… I also get it, oji-san."
"...Eh? Why do I feel a sense of camaraderie with you? Do you have kids? At that age?"
Did I really give off that much of a fatherly energy, that other fathers could sense it?
Like how Stand users attract other Stand users?
Actually, this could be a good chance to build a bond with this guy!
Even though he has the potential to enter the dungeon, I haven't had any bonds with this guy yet.
I even had a bond with Vanir.
…Although that bond never increased.
In any case, I should shoot my shot.
…That sounds like I was trying to seduce this oji-san.
"Ah… Well… Yeah, I do have a daughter."
The oji-san gave me a look of sympathy.
"A single father, huh? Trust me, I know how that is."
…Why did he assume I'm a single father?
Still, there was a good connection happening here, so I didn't correct him.
"So, what'd you come here for, pal?"
He said, giving me a smile for the first time.
And also… calling me pal…
W-What is this pleasantness I'm feeling?
I finally managed to conquer the hard-to-get oji-san?!
"I-I made this sword for you… B-But it's not like I like you or anything, baka!"
…Actually, let's not imagine that, unless I wanna throw up the meal I just ate.
"Ah… I came here for an upgrade to my mithril armor. It's been a while."
"Hm… Well, with the materials I have right now, I can give you a Super Rare armor as an upgrade. You wanna upgrade your sword, too? I'll give you a discount if you do both."
"Ah, sure, why not."
"Great. Both upgrades will cost you 10 million Yen."
"What happened to the discount?!"
Does this guy like me or not?
"Hah? I'm giving you a total of 4 million Yen of discount! You gonna be an ungrateful little bitch or what?!"
Ah, crap, his affection points were going down.
In the end, I ended up paying him.
…Also, with how much money he was making, what kind of insane gift was he gonna give his daughter? A lamborghini?
He took out a block of red-ish ore. I recognized it as adamantite.
"Hm? Isn't that used in heavy armor?"
"Yeah, but it can be used to line your Mithril armor. And it's done."
"...I paid 5 million Yen just for you to line my armor with another metal? And it only took you a second to do! Oi, I could have done that myself if I had the materials…!"
"Obviously there are boosts that come with the Blacksmith class, so stop whining already!"
"...How do you unlock the Blacksmith class, anyway?"
I already had the [Smithing] skill maxed out, plus my creativity was very high. What else did I need?
"Well, you need to own a smithy and sell your goods to customers, of course."
I looked around at his pawn shop.
"...This is considered a smithy?"
"Got a problem with that?"
In order not to piss him off even more, I didn't comment.
Mithril-Adamantite Half-Plate - Medium Armor (Super Rare)
A set that includes a breast plate, pauldrons and chausses. The mithril has a light blue sheen, while the Adamantite lining provides a red lustre. Reduces incoming damage by 14. Applies -11 penalty to stealth related stats when sneaking.
Sells for: 4,200,000 Yen
I checked my armor out, then I had a thought.
"...My friend is a Crusader who uses Adamantine armor, but how come her armor doesn't look red?"
Her armor was white with a golden trim, providing the image of a real Crusader.
Even though the reality was far from it.
"Then she probably had a custom design applied."
I see.
So Darkness is one of those who wastes money on useless cosmetics.
"Let me change the design for this as well."
I'm also one of those people.
"Custom colors are 10,000 Yen, while designs will cost you 50,000 Yen."
…This guy was really shameless in terms of prices.
While I was at it, I also had my magician's cape redesigned.
I went for a green, black and white design for the armor and cape, similar to my tracksuit.
Those were my favorite colors, after all.
I didn't add any other designs on it, so I only had to end up paying 20,000 Yen.
Well, I say 'only', even though I would have freaked out at spending that kind of money back then.
Next up was the upgrade for the ever trusty Chunchumaru.
Like with the armor, he lined the blade with Adamantite.
Chunchunmaru (Unique) - Signature Weapon
Forged and upgraded by Legendary Blacksmith. Enchanted by Wiz. Named by Megumin.
Durability: 50/50
Weapon Accuracy: Dexterity modifier [One-handed Sword] = 140% chance of hitting
Weapon Damage: 8 slashing damage Strength modifier (10) Bonus (8) = 26 damage
Sells for: 4,940,000 yen
Fufu… The glee from seeing your weapons and gear increasing in power…
That just goes to show that I was still a gamer at the end of the day.
Even if it's a crappy game, the inclusion of cool gear will make the grind worth it. That was my mentality in those days.
After I paid for everything, I said,
"Ah, I hope your daughter has a good birthday."
The oji-san smiled and said,
"Thanks. Be careful on your way out."
It seems that I earned a lot of affection points for that one.
You have finally established a bond with the blacksmith oji-san…!
Sakamoto Daichi (Blacksmith oji-san), Bond Rank: 1
You never thought it would happen, but you actually managed to establish a bond with this mean, stingy oji-san. You've discovered that he loves his daughter very much, and he's planning something crazy for her birthday. Continuing to spend money on his shop and complimenting his daughter will deepen your bond with him.
Part 3
With my new gear acquired, I had everyone gather in the dungeon.
"Hah… Do we really need to come here so soon after the last time?"
Aqua said, not looking enthused at all.
"What would you rather be doing right now? Watching TV?"
"Duh! Even playing that MMO is better than this!"
It was true that it was a while since we had an MMO training session.
"Alright, we can play games next time. But for now, focus on the dungeon."
After we teleported to the 51st floor, Mitsurugi said,
"For this floor, the biggest threats are the Elemental Knights."
According to Mitsurugi's explanation, Elemental Knights were elementals who could not only equip armor and weapons, but even enhance them with their abilities.
Although they weren't completely intelligent, they were capable of adapting in combat.
However, before we could encounter an Elemental Knight, we came across a Goblin King.
Goblin Kings are goblins that wear a golden crown, as well as a luxurious robe that they wore over chainmail.
They were also accompanied by regular goblins.
As for what made them more threatening than a normal goblin squad…
"Group A, flank from the left! Group B, flank from the right!"
Using [Monster Talk, I was able to understand the Goblin King's commands.
If one couldn't understand the Goblin King, they might get overwhelmed by the nimble and numerous goblins, who were given tactical orders by a competent leader.
The Goblin King was also capable of giving buffs to his soldiers, empowering them in combat.
Combining my new skills, along with my most reliable attack skills, I fired an ice arrow that shattered on impact from the sheer velocity of the arrow.
The crown was knocked away from the Goblin King's head, as his head burst in a bloody mist.
It was almost as if his head evaporated on impact.
Here's some quick calculations of the damage total of that attack.
Ice arrow: [Improvised Weapon, [Ice Magic Increase, [Magic Archery, [Enchant] = 12 damage
Archery skills: [Snipe, [Power Shot, [Headshot] = 9 damage
Green Wyvern Shortbow = 24 damage
Total: 45 damage
And that wasn't even the highest potential damage I could do with my archery skills.
…Perhaps I should just become a pure archer from now on?
Well, it wasn't like our team lacked DPS.
My utility and ability to learn a lot of different skills might prove more useful than raw damage.
It was something to consider, though.
With the King Goblin swiftly assassinated, the other goblins ran away.
I gained 600 EXP from the King Goblin.
I also picked up his crown.
It was a treasure type item, which meant it could be sold rather than used.
I ended up giving it to the others, since I didn't need any more money.
"Don't mind if I do!"
Aqua said, cheerfully taking the crown. She even wore it.
The others took turns against the other monsters.
I noticed that Megumin was getting a good use out of her Knight skills, especially [Challenge].
"Come face me alone, coward!"
Megumin said, before crushing an Undead Emperor's skull with her staff.
"Humu… Is the great Megumin enjoying the use of other skills that are not named explosion magic?"
I said, deciding to tease her a little.
"Hmph… It all results in an explosion from my staff, anyway, so it's all for the sake of explosion magic."
This girl sure was stubborn.
After dealing with mooks, we finally encountered the one Mitsurugi said was the biggest threat of this floor.
The one we encountered this time was a wind variant of an Elemental Knight.
It had magical steel plate armor that glowed bright green, and it carried a sword that had an odd spiral shape.
"Ah… This is bad. It seems this one has a Hyper Rhino Horn Sword."
Mitsurugi said, while eyeing the sword that was apparently once a rhino's horn.
"What's so bad about it?"
"...A Hyper Rhino Horn deals extra damage based on the momentum leading up to the attack. Hyper Rhinos are normally pretty easy to deal with despite their power, as their attacks are telegraphed. However, a Wind Elemental Knight has quite tricky movements… We should be careful to…"
"[Steal]...!"
I stole the sword.
"...Well, I guess you can just do that."
Now that [Steal] was at Rank 5, I didn't need to worry about it failing now.
However, even if it was disarmed, the Wind Elemental Knight was still powerful without a main weapon.
In fact, it produced wind blades out of its arms and attacked us.
Mitsurugi and Darkness engaged it as our frontline.
"[Decoy]!"
Darkness said, absorbing a slash from the wind blades, which Aqua healed.
That gave Mitsurugi space to attack, letting him leave a massive gash on the elemental's armor.
But he got blown back as wind escaped from the gash.
"[Challenge]!"
Megumin grabbed the elemental's attention next, giving Darkness the chance to attack it.
This time, she took out the Winter Shogun's sword.
With the elemental distracted by Megumin, Darkness was actually able to land a clean hit with the nodachi.
The elemental's armor broke apart, but the wind elemental's body was still intact, as strong winds protected the core that held its body.
"[Light Arrows]!"
"[Light of Saber]!"
Rin and Yunyun tried to break the core, however, the elemental merely flew away.
…This thing was actually much faster without the armor on.
It was like Polnareff shedding Silver Chariot's armor.
I was about to use my bow, since it ignored wind resistance.
But I got another idea on top of that.
I looked at the Rhino Horn.
Hyper Rhino Horn Sword (Super Rare)
Taken from the horn of a Hyper Rhino. Has an unusual spiral shape, used mostly for thrusting rather than slashing.
Hyper Charge - When this sword is used for attacking after momentum has been gathered, deal an extra 5 damage. This bonus damage ignores armor resistances.
Durability: 50/50
Weapon Accuracy: Dexterity modifier [One-handed Sword] = 140% chance of hitting
Weapon Damage: 7 piercing damage Strength modifier (10) Bonus (8) = 25 damage
Sells for: 700,000 Yen
Looking at its special ability solidified the idea in my head.
"[Smithing]!"
Using [Smithing, I changed the form of the sword.
With its spiral shape, it became a good form for a projectile.
Then, I loaded the spiral arrow into the bow.
…The stats and abilities from the sword transferred to its arrow form.
When I released it, the spiral arrow launched with a streak of angry, red energy trailing behind it, spinning as the spiral arrow immediately tore through the wind form of the elemental.
Then, its core shattered, ripped apart by the deadly spin of the rhino horn.
The arrow kept going, until it embedded itself into a wall.
…Ah, I came up with another scary exploit.
"[Retrieve Ammo]."
The arrow instantly teleported to my hand, and I turned it back into its sword form.
"What was that, Satou?! I've never seen anyone defeat an Elemental Knight that quickly!"
Mitsurugi said, as I put the sword away in my inventory.
"...Well, I'd like to say I came up with that idea myself, but that was just ripped off from Archer-san."
"What are you talking about, now?"
That's right, I introduced Mitsurugi to manga like Dragon Ball, but I hadn't introduced him to the Nasuverse yet.
I figured out what his next homework should be.
Part 4
Once I explained how it worked, Megumin said,
"Oh, so does that mean you can transform my explosion staff into an arrow?"
As expected of Megumin, if it was explosion related, she was quick to come up with ideas.
"Yeah, I suppose so…"
"Sweet. Let's try that and blow up the next group of monsters."
I knew it was gonna be like that.
"Ah, senpai… It seems like the armor the Elemental Knight had is just normal steel plate armor."
Rin said, as she was using the [Lore Reading] skill to look at the armor.
This ended up being sold.
By the way, the Elemental Knight gave a good yield of 1,000 EXP.
Thank you for the meal.
Since the strongest monster in the floor ended up being taken care of quite easily, we advanced through the floor with ease.
"...With how strong you guys are getting, I don't think you need us escorting you anymore."
Mitsurugi said, as he saw Darkness use the Winter Shogun Sword to cleave through another Goblin King.
"Well, how's the boss of this floor like?"
"Hmm… Well, the boss is tough, but not exactly deadly…"
"...What does that even mean?"
Seeing my confusion, he clarified,
"The boss area on this floor is a labyrinth."
"Eh? Another one?"
The only relief that boss areas added was a change in scenery.
The rest of the dungeon was already a labyrinth, so seeing more labyrinths was pretty disappointing.
"The goal isn't to kill the boss monster, but to solve the challenge it presents. You see, the boss monster is actually a minotaur that works as a test maker. He determines whether an app-user is qualified to move on to the next floor, or if they should stay behind for more training."
A monster that actually trains the app-users…
What an interesting concept.
Rather, I feel there would have been more monsters like this if monsters were disposed towards peace, like the Bark People.
"By the way, there is magic that blocks those from teleporting to the above floors unless you gain the minotaur's approval."
He said, as if I was even thinking about that.
OK, maybe I was considering it.
Since Mitsurugi and Yunyun already passed the test, they weren't going to come with us.
"Hmm…? Why is the boss room door different for this one?"
I said, noticing that it was rather stylized compared to the previous ones.
There was also a rather well-sculpted image of a minotaur flexing its muscles engraved on the door.
"I guess the minotaur designed it himself."
"He has good taste."
Of course Megumin would say that.
Mitsurugi and Yunyun stayed outside, while the rest of us went inside.
It was very dark inside, and I was about to use [Night Vision].
But then lights suddenly appeared.
And a voice rang out through the area.
"Welcome… To the Minotaur's Labyrinth…!"
Was the Minotaur really supposed to greet those entering the labyrinth?
"The rules of this labyrinth are simple… If you can reach the center of the labyrinth, where I am waiting for you, then you pass this test! However, this labyrinth is very hard to navigate, so…"
Megumin handed me her staff.
Then I transformed it into an arrow and fired it into the labyrinth.
"...O-Oi, what are you doing to the testing grounds?!"
We saw that the walls repaired themselves. I guess it was part of the dungeon after all.
"Hmm… Well, it was a nice try."
"I'm glad to see we're on the right page, Kazuma."
Megumin and I shared a smile.
"Um… Senpai, we should just try to do this properly… Minotaur-san sounds like he's getting mad."
Rin said, which made the disembodied voice of the minotaur let out a snort.
"M-Mad? Who, me? I'm not mad!"
"Maybe I should try just using explosion magic?"
"If you do that, I'll get mad…!"
If he wasn't mad before, he was mad now.
And so, we decided to play along.
"Hold on, let's get a ball of thread and tie it to the entrance first."
I said, but the minotaur angrily responded,
"Oi, do you think I don't know my own legend?! No balls of thread!"
I guess that wouldn't fly.
And so, we were forced to go into the labyrinth blindly.
It had been a while since I did this, but I took out my notebook and started drawing a map.
My drawings of the first couple floors were still on the previous pages. That sure brings back memories.
It was like seeing the notes you made in middle school, years after you graduated.
With this, we slowly explored the minotaur's labyrinth.
Part 5
"Bwahaha… You stepped on a teleporter trap! Back to the start with you!"
The minotaur's annoying voice rang through the labyrinth as we ended up back in the beginning.
"This guy is really pissing me off…"
Megumin said, clutching her staff.
Rin uneasily chuckled and touched Megumin's shoulder.
"Now, now, Megumin-chan… Don't let him get to you. We have to play by his rules."
Darkness sighed as she asked to see my map.
"...There's so many deadends and traps… And the traps don't even harm us…"
Why did she sound disappointed by the harmless traps?
Most of the traps just set us back or disorient us, and some of them were teleportation traps that send us back to the beginning.
By the way, when I tried to send golems forward to scout for them…
"Uh-oh, that's cheating!"
The minotaur will come rushing out from his position in the middle to destroy the golems, swinging a giant battle axe at them.
This guy…
It was like joining a D campaign against a power-tripping dungeon master, who makes up rules on the spot whenever it looks like you're about to conquer their homebrew dungeon.
In fact, that was how my first campaign went, when I tried to play in middle school.
"Well, I guess we don't have a choice but to just try again."
The others wearily nodded as we entered the labyrinth once more.
We followed my map, avoiding the dead ends and turns.
"Oh, I think we're making good progress this time… Arrghhh!"
The ground underneath us opened and we fell down.
After going down a slide, we were dropped at the entrance again.
"Bwahahaha! That one's always a classic! Wanna see your pictures?"
Somehow, a monitor came down from the roof and showed us pictures of when we were sliding down. We were all making unflattering, surprised faces.
"You can pay 5,000 Yen for a copy of the picture!"
Was this an amusement park, or a labyrinth?
Just like a savvy cheapskate, I just took my phone out and took a picture of the screen.
"H-Hey, taking pictures with your phone is not allowed! You need to pay!"
"Gahhh! I'm tired of this minotaur! I'm just gonna flood this whole place!"
Aqua waited to see if we would stop her, but at this point, none of us wanted to.
Even the normally calm Rin was giving quite the murderous grin.
"...Yeah, this minotaur needs to be taught a lesson."
I guess we were all at our limits.
"I don't know… I think he's got the right idea…"
Of course, Darkness would slowly become fond of him.
The reason why she wasn't completely enamored was that all his traps were like harmless pranks from a child.
"H-Hold on, that's against the rules!"
"So what?! You keep saying it's against the rules, but what's the punishment, huh?! If the punishment is that we'll end up in the entrance again, then how is that any different to what you're already doing?!"
Aqua raised a good point.
Sure, he said that doing such and such was against the rules, but were there even any consequences from breaking the rules?
"Alright, I'm flooding this place!"
"Wait, Aqua…"
Somehow, it was Megumin who stopped Aqua.
…Could it be that Megumin was going to be the voice of reason for once?
"Kazuma, you can use your golems to ride the waves of Aqua's flood, so they can see more areas of the labyrinth."
Rather than stopping Aqua's plan, Megumin only wanted to enhance it.
"Oh, good thinking. Alright, I'm ready, Aqua."
"Let's drown this bastard! [Sacred Create Water]!"
I used [Golem Manipulation] to turn the golems into little boats.
They then rode along the waves that flooded the labyrinth.
"Gyaaaah?! Stop it! You naughty little…!"
The minotaur must have turned on a drain system, as the water levels slowly dwindled.
I also saw him stomping around in the draining water as he destroyed the golem boats that were floating around.
…This guy sure acts fast.
By the time he destroyed the last golem boat, the water was completely gone, leaving mud on the ground.
"Hah… This guy is too prepared… I guess we should just leave for now."
I grabbed Aqua's shoulder as she tried to leave.
"Wait, look at the ground."
The ground that was inundated with water turned into mud.
And the minotaur was just stomping around in that mud.
Meaning that he could have left footprints.
We hurried to where the last golem was destroyed.
And my suspicions were correct.
His footprints remained on the ground.
The dungeon normally repairs damage or alterations done to the dungeon by app-users.
Such as when the walls were repaired when Megumin and I exploded them.
However, just like we learned with the kobolds who were digging tunnels in the dungeon…
The alterations of monsters are left alone by the dungeon.
And so, even as the muddy ground became replaced by solid dirt, the footprints remained.
Like footprints that remain on dried concrete.
And that idiot stomped back to his place in the middle like the NPC he was.
We all grinned evilly, as we followed the prints.
With a track to follow, it didn't take too long to find him.
However, instead of having him tell us that we cheated and had to do the whole challenge all over again, we saw him smiling proudly.
"Congratulations! You figured out the true challenge of this dungeon!"
"Hm? Aren't you just saying that to save face?"
Megumin said, not looking convinced.
The minotaur gave her a blank look, then said,
"Absolutely not! The whole point of this labyrinth is to teach you to think outside of the box. If you had just stuck to the 'rules' I gave at the start, you would have never found me."
The minotaur explained that he would have kept coming up with more ridiculous rules to keep us away from the middle.
The key was to realize that there was no sense in following his rules, which Aqua recognized.
"Good job, Aqua. You were the MVP this time."
She smiled, sticking her chest out.
"Hehe… I did promise that I'll try to be a little bit smarter from now on!"
I thought that was just something she said on a whim, but she really was making an effort.
"Megumin, good job on coming up with the golem idea, too."
She struck an arrogant pose and said,
"Fufu… Well, I am a genius, after all."
"By the way, how do the others pass this trial?"
I asked the minotaur, who rubbed the back of his head.
"...A lot of humans just get frustrated after failing to get through this labyrinth. Then they use powerful weapons to destroy the walls faster than the dungeon can repair. It still falls along the lines of the lesson I want to impart, but…"
As expected of those cheat-item users. They rely on their cheats for everything.
The minotaur awarded us with a skill potion each. I hurriedly drank it to gain the extra skill point.
You have leveled up from completing the labyrinth challenge!
You have qualified for the 'Knight' class!
Met requirements: 70 Strength and 70 Bravery
Part 6
We met up outside the dungeon with Mitsurugi and Yunyun again.
"Oh? You guys solved that faster than I expected."
Mitsurugi said, when he saw us.
The minotaur asked us not to disclose the nature of the trial. It was probably the same for Yunyun and Mitsurugi, since they didn't tell us ahead of time.
"By the way, what did you two do to solve that?"
"...I just lost my patience and destroyed everything with Gram."
Mitsurugi blushed as he admitted he resorted to the same methods as the other app-users.
As for Yunyun, she fidgeted around and said,
"Um… I had a lot of free time, so I just tried to manually solve the labyrinth by itself… I think the minotaur felt sorry for me at the end and stopped interfering."
…So even the minotaur eventually felt sorry for Yunyun.
We went back to the mansion for dinner.
Iris was telling everyone about her day. Thankfully, she didn't notice my disguise as a janitor, or else everyone would be staring daggers at me by now.
"...And onii-sama even picked me up after school!"
Darkness and Rin looked at me.
Ah, crap.
I forgot that they would have noticed that I didn't go to school earlier.
"Hm… I heard that you called in sick, senpai. But you were OK enough to pick up Iris-chan after class?"
"...Well, I do have a high 'Health' stat, now. I guess I just recovered quickly."
"Oh, that makes sense."
"Papa, your 'Cunning' went up by 1! Ah…"
Aika-chan covered her mouth.
…I guess she wasn't completely used to having a real body yet.
She thought that she was still in 'Appuri-chan' form and told me my stat update in front of the others.
"Eh?! Why did your 'Cunning' stat go up, senpai…?"
Yunyun blinked in confusion.
"...I didn't even know it could go up."
How innocent of Yunyun.
Meanwhile, that stat went up in the high 90s for me just from me telling lies everywhere.
"Kazuma… You really weren't sick, were you?"
Darkness said, eyeing me suspiciously.
"...Fine, you got me. I just faked sickness because I wanted to play around all day. Happy?!"
This time, I shot Aika-chan a warning look. She kept her mouth shut this time.
Although my 'Cunning' stat went up by another 1.
…
…
I hurriedly went up to my room after dinner.
That was close.
"Oi, Aika-chan…"
"I'm sorry, papa! But it's not my fault that you're always lying!"
Well, I couldn't really deny that.
Disciplining a child for not supporting my manipulative behavior is probably bad parenting.
"...You're right about that."
I patted her head, which made her smile.
I let Aika-chan read some manga, while I took out my phone and dealt with my new level up.
The Knight class, huh…?
I wasn't really the close-combat type, but I did want to unlock the weapon skills necessary to make full use of Beldia's sword.
I looked over the skill list again, and it really didn't seem that exciting, compared to what I already had.
[Challenge] overlapped too much with [Taunt, while [Charge] was too aggressive for my fighting style.
[Pledge] seemed pretty powerful because of the stat boosts, though.
In the end, I already unlocked all the exclusive skills of Sniper, and I didn't intend on using skill points to increase the rank of any of my maxed archery skills or stats.
So, I switched over to Knight.
"Alright, I guess I'll just pledge my allegiance to the group, like Megumin…"
"Hm? You're not gonna do it for Norse?"
"Gahhh?!"
The sudden appearance of a purple-haired loli goddess made me scream.
Right behind me was the smirking face of Regina-sama, the goddess of puppetry and revenge.
"Hm? Don't tell me you forgot that you promised to restore Norse, boya…"
"...Rather than that… Don't tell me you've been doing nothing but watching me this whole time?"
"What else is a minor goddess with no followers supposed to do with their time?"
Aika-chan set her manga down and pointed at Regina-sama.
"Enemy goddess! I should tell mama about you, after all!"
Regina-sama raised her brow at Aika-chan.
"Quiet down, child. Don't forget that it was my civilization that gave birth to the technology that produced you. If that goddess of water is your mama, then I'm your granny, got it?"
"...Uwaa… I didn't know I had a granny!"
Aika-chan smiled widely and embraced Regina.
…She was swiftly won over.
Regina chuckled and patted Aika-chan's hair.
"...Placing the 'soul' of an AI into a golem body… I do have to say you have the makings to be one of my disciples."
"Oi, the agreement was that I help you restore Norse, not to become one of your disciples."
"Don't worry, I do remember the nature of our agreement."
"...By the way, how do I even go about restoring Norse? It's not like I can head over to the other world."
Regina shrugged and said,
"I know. I'm not unreasonable. But you can start to make a… settlement in this world, can't you?"
That sounds even worse.
I wanted to restrict the influence of the other world on this one as much as possible, yet Regina was asking to make a settlement here.
But at the same time, I knew I couldn't anger her.
She could control me anytime she wanted, since she saved Megumin from being hit with Serena's damage reflect.
That was something I always had to keep in mind.
"Got it… I'll see what I can do."
"Perfect! Here, I made this for you."
She held out what looked to be a USB.
"You can plug it to the divine laptop, and it will show you data about the old Norse. Use that as reference for building the settlement. Oh, and make sure you pledge your allegiance to Norse! It won't be allegiance to me, so don't worry about being my puppet."
…As if that made any difference.
Still, I couldn't really defy her, so I just gave her a weak smile.
"Yeah, got it."
"I'm counting on you, boya! Ta-ta!"
She waved and gave Aika-chan a final pat on the head, before vanishing.
"Hehe… I can't believe I have a granny!"
Meanwhile, Aika-chan didn't feel any stress at all from that encounter.
You have pledged your allegiance to the Kingdom of Norse!
You receive a passive 5 increase to all stats while maintaining this allegiance!
You might also gain extra abilities after completing hidden faction quests related to your allegiance!
Part 7
You gained 10 Dungeon Points!
After I checked out the data Regina-sama gave me with that USB, I saw this notification on the divine laptop.
These points probably came from the soldiers staying in their rooms.
I switched to the [Dungeon Master] title to access the dungeon core.
Your dungeon's level is currently at level 1!
With your dungeon points, you can access these shops:
[Monster Shop, [Item Shop, [Trap Shop, [Floor Shop, [Core Shop]
I looked at the monster shop.
Available monsters:
Goblin - 1 DP
Kobold - 1 DP
Gremlin - 1 DP
Skeleton - 1 DP
And the list kept going with a bunch of monsters one can find in the first floor of the original dungeon.
Vanir's boss room was already prepared.
After all, he only wanted a big treasure chest, which wasn't actually filled with anything.
So his room didn't even take any DP to make.
The only problem now was how to bait app-users into coming to this new dungeon.
And then, I realized…
Why not use Vanir himself as publicity?
After all, he was known as a Demon King general who beat up a lot of app-users, along with Beldia.
Surely, there were those who would hold a grudge against Vanir.
But just simply having one boss area, without any prior floors that lead up to it, goes against what Vanir wants.
If the app-users simply ended up facing Vanir at the start, Vanir wouldn't get the satisfaction of having them waste their time in a tough dungeon, only to troll them in the end.
It's also inefficient for absorbing DP from the app-users, if they just get trolled by Vanir at the start, only for them to quit immediately and never return to the dungeon again.
But there's the question of how to build challenging floors that would prevent app-users from reaching Vanir too easily.
Especially since I could only summon things like goblins.
But then, the minotaur's labyrinth came to mind.
…There was a way to make an incredibly difficult dungeon without using hardly any resources.
And without even summoning monsters.
That is, to make multiple floors that are meant to confuse and prevent app-users from reaching Vanir too quickly.
And to prevent app-users from simply brute forcing their way through the walls like they did with the minotaur's dungeon…
Purchase confirmed! You purchased the 'adamantite walls' material with 10 DP!
I would create the walls with pure adamantite.
Just like how the boss room dungeon doors were made with adamantite, I would make these walls nearly unbreakable.
And so, my devious plan began to form.
…
…
The next day, Lia came to check up on me.
"Are you OK, Kazuma-kun? The homeroom teacher said you were sick yesterday."
I smiled at her, touched by her concern.
"I'm fine. It was just a bit of a cold."
"Ah! You didn't get sick from cleaning my room, did you?"
The fact that her room was messy enough for that to be a concern should be a huge wake up call for her.
Rather, is an idol really allowed to be this slovenly?
Then again, I lived with a goddess who was much worse in that regard.
"No, I probably just caught it from someone on the train."
"I see… Well, next time you're sick, I'll come over and make you some porridge. Actually, can you give me your address?"
…I was thankful that she was being such a good friend, but…
I can't really explain the big mansion I live in right now.
Instead, I gave her my family address, hoping that she wouldn't come over one day unannounced, only for my parents to awkwardly explain that I live somewhere else.
In short, I kept piling up one lie after another.
During a break, I went to the bathroom to wash my face.
"...You gained 4 'Cunning' for all your lies yesterday to your parents, and your lies today. Do you feel good about yourself, papa?"
Aika-chan said, making me take out my phone and open the app. I watched her animated chibi model glaring at me.
"All superheroes need to lie about their secret identities, and their activities as a hero. That's standard, isn't it?"
"I suppose so… Oh, your 'Cunning' didn't increase this time. I guess you were telling the truth."
She was expecting me to lie to her, huh?
Well, that did happen before.
After school, there was going to be our first game tomorrow, so the coach told us to get some rest before our first game.
He was really trying to focus on resting us this time. I guess now that he saw what we were capable of in the last nationals, he focused on trying to get our bodies to last through the season, rather than pushing for skill development.
I used this extra time to go to Wiz's shop.
"Ah, boy. I suppose you're done with the preparations?"
Vanir said, when he saw me come in.
He was wearing an apron and was idly dusting a table, even though it was already clean.
I also noticed that there was a bottle of sugar water on the table.
"...You don't seem that excited, even though your dungeon is about done."
"Who said I'm not excited? Let's check it out, then…"
He said that, even though he wasn't smiling or celebrating as much as I thought he'd be.
We went through the dungeon door in his shop and I showed him his dungeon room.
"I see. You followed my plans exactly, huh?"
He looked around, eyeing his dungeon room. There was even a throne for him to sit on, right in front of the fake treasure chest.
"Yup. I followed your blueprint exactly… Did I miss something?"
"No… It's perfect, but…"
He sighed, while scratching his head.
"...Let me guess, you wish Wiz was here to see it too, huh?"
"...?! What kind of deluded ideas are going through your head, boy?!"
He turned to me and started yelling.
"You think I care about what that financially cursed shopkeeper does?! I finally achieved our dream… I mean, my dream without her always getting in the way! I should be happy!"
"Keyword is 'should be'."
"..."
He crossed his arms and said,
"Bah! This dungeon room design is all wrong! Boy, you did such a bad job designing it!"
"...You're the one who designed it, though."
"Terrible! It's simply terrible! …You know, that shopkeeper may have zero talent in business, but she did have an eye for design! Ahhh… I guess I have no choice but to have her return…"
What kind of one-man tsundere show is this?
It was as if he was trying to convince himself instead of me.
"Well, you're the all-seeing devil. Why don't you just look for her?"
"...There are such things as anti-scrying spells. Of course, that decrepit shopkeeper isn't dumb enough to not regularly cast those."
"Oh? Teach me those spells."
"Why would I?"
He sighed again and sat on his throne.
"...We have no choice. You will just have to get stronger, boy. Then, defeat the Demon King army and drag that foolish shopkeeper back to me! I mean, back to the shop!"
I chuckled, amused by all his justifications and excuses.
He could just say that he misses her.
"I do not!"
He read my mind and denied it.
"Well, that was always the plan, anyway. But in order to do that, we need to get this dungeon up and running."
Vanir grinned and rested his chin on his hand, crossing his legs.
"Then… I declare that Vanir's Dungeon is now officially open! Let all the misguided fools wander into this dungeon of deception! Then, I will taste their bitter tears! Moihahahaha!"
And so, the insanely difficult 'Vanir's Dungeon' was officially open to the public.
Let the tears and salt flow.