By the end of last month when we returned from the dungeon Kuro and Mary's levels had increased by another two and they had reached level 10.

If they continue like this then it's not just a dream to reach level 15 by the start of the next year but they should easily be able to make it into reality.

Matters such as the gathering terminal and denaturation device sleeping in the depths of the dungeon, things about the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, and about Miki and Lilus.

There were a lot of things I wanted to take my time thinking about but I told myself now isn't the time to be thinking about them as I almost mechanically concentrated on leveling up Kuro and Mary.

Also, after we cashed in the magic stones and I handed them their 1% plus a bonus they were making expressions that were somewhat grate and somewhat embarra.s.sed by how much it was.

After all I had them kill close to a total of 150 ogres.

Including the magic stones from monsters we obtained along the way the bonus was over 1,300,000 Z.

They were extremely surprised by this amount and seemed to be satisfied with it.

Ah, we didn't go into the ogre mage rooms.

After all, even if I freeze them just leaving their heads out of the ice they can still use magic.

And we didn't go to the 8th floor either.

In terms of efficiency to time for earning experience points(magic stones as well) it's certainly true that going further into the dungeon is more efficient.

However, whether it's the crickets or the praying mantises they're all pretty fast so it's difficult freezing them.

It's not that I can't do it but I end up needing to freeze almost the entire hallway that they're coming down as well.

Doing something skillful like leaving just a part of their body out of the ice is difficult so in the end I end up aiming to suffocate them to death.

In any case, while the two of them were surprised with gold coins in their hands I said, "Repay the 20,000,000 debt with each of you paying back 1 gold coin." and took back the 2 gold coins I just gave them.

They're gold coins after all.

They shrugged their shoulders as if accepting it while still reluctantly watching as I put the gold coins into my wallet as I suggested, "Even then you earned over 300,000 this time and you should still have the money I lent you before so how about going to play in the capital once?"

The two of them showed reservation saying it's unreasonable to take a break when they still haven't properly worked in the dungeon yet and if they're not going to the dungeon then they'll train but I said, "Since we were in the dungeon for a long period this time starting tomorrow is a five day break and the last day is of the break is combined training so it's fine as long as you return by then. And you two should have acc.u.mulated quite a bit of stress and exhaustion. Go and stretch your wings. Miduchi and I are just about to head there ourselves and we have horses so do you want to come with us?" and almost forcefully brought them along. It's because I felt like they wouldn't rest unless I did this.

Training is important but right now they've been constantly under stress so it's best for them to relax and rest their tired bodies.

Of course, Zenom, Ralpha, and Gwine all want to go shopping so they'll be heading to the capital on the days off as well.

It seems Rokko and Kevin are going to play and unusually it seems Binsu wants to buy something too.

Toris and Bel don't seem like they'll be coming to the capital this time. They plan to relax and spend their time in Baldukk.

Rodrick is bring his two combat slaves, Sanno, Ruttsu, Ginger, and Hisu as they go to a city roughly 40 km to the south of the capital to play, it's called Rasuho and has a population of about 8,000. Supposedly they started selling a new type of cooking using lamb meat this year so they're going to try some.

It seems Kamu plans to spend it sleeping and Kimu is excited about playing with her cat. Misu said she was going to do some running and Jeru plans to accompany her. Keep up the good work I guess.

When Basutoral came out of the dungeon Cathy was worried about Maru and Rinbi and waiting for them so just like Toris and Bel he's not going to the capital this time but going to watch over Jesu as he teaches Maru and Rinbi.

Out of my combat slaves excluding Zulu who wants to get along with the sister from Murowa, it seems they plan to go to the factory in the capital centering around Giberuti.

I told the members going to the capital that we'll be going ahead and sending Kuro and Mary to the inn they usually stay at in the capital. After telling them to help them out a bit in the capital, Miduchi, Kuro, Mary, and I all went ahead towards the capital.

Along the way we talked about various things as they opened up quite a bit with Miduchi.

After throwing the two of them into the inn, we immediately went to the dried goods store and bought some dried fish.

This time it's dried fish from the capital but it's pretty much attached to Baldukk so the products aren't all that different.

And then we showed our faces in my company once before taking the long route back around to Baldukk.

Thanks to that the month changed before we returned to Baldukk.

...................................

Year 7447, Month 9, Day 1

We went to the fairy village and met with Mila-s.h.i.+sho and Karl.

After feeding them dried fish until they're full as usual and before we started magic training I said I had something to talk to them about so I tried asking them about the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p and such right away.

However, I only figured out that the fairies didn't have any information at all in regards to this matter.

Also, when I tried asking about the method to recover the charges on {Magic.Items} they said, "The majority of {Magic.Items} are said to have been made by high order beings using special skills and magic so let alone how to make them we have no idea how to even recharge them".

This can't be helped.

In that case the things with no charges aren't useful for anything but bluffing..s.h.i.+t..

In that case it might be best to just sell them off while saying they can't be used.

Otherwise pretending not to know and just sell it like that..though I'm sure they'll figure it out in no time at all and beat down the price.

The only thing we figured out was the method of entering the fairy village from the 3rd floor.

They didn't know about the method of singing the j.a.panese national anthem that we heard from Lilus.

Previously, when we tried bringing up the topic we only ever talked about them knowing this much but I never confirmed what the method Lilus taught to them was.

Rather~ I didn't feel there was a need to bother asking about it.

Even if we knew we would still have to go down to the 3rd floor in order to use it so it would be the same...

The method they knew about involved grabbing the crystal rod before making a special symbol and then touching the top of the crystal rod before making a different symbol. After that if you grab the crystal rod once more then the incantation that appears on the surface will change. If you chant that incantation within one minute then it will transfer you to this area.

In the past, it seems that's the method Lilus taught the fairies when leading them into the dungeon.

In doubt Miduchi and I immediately went to try it but we were able to teleport in using it without a problem.

s.h.i.+t. Did she think I wouldn't be able to remember this symbol so she said that the j.a.panese national anthem was the key...

Of course, what that Vampire Lord Tarubo.Fakuna, or, Masetto.Deioku said about Miki, no, about Lilus being the reincarnated person Kamira.Erisuna I don't believe at all in the slightest.

I wouldn't believe a single thing said by a person so obsessed with the delusion of returning to his hometown that he'd fall to become an undead. Though I think the records are the truth but that undead only said it with words. It was also on the list of crew members and their names after reincarnated but it's definitely some kind of mistake. That's obviously the case.

Seeing me feverishly insist that Miduchi was making a vague expression but in regards to this matter she didn't say anything.

Sorry.

No matter what you think, I think Lilus is Miki.

Didn't even Miduchi say it?

Chopsticks are used in Lail Kingdom and the entry sign to Lilus's bedroom under the palace is written in j.a.panese.

That's why, Lilus is Miki.

That's why, she was nostalgic for j.a.pan and looked at your memories.

That's why, she continued looking at your memories and searched for me.

..That's why, worrying for my sake and to apologize to Miduchi even just a bit she gave her various advice and helped her out...

Until she was about to run out of mana.

While I was grumbling to myself and organizing my thoughts and Miduchi had properly started learning some spells.

It seems it's a spell called {Enchant.Weapon}.

I look vaguely at Karl who's got his hand on his waist while holding his chest out as he arrogantly teaches Miduchi.

...

Karl.Milais/21/6/6811

Male/21/6/6811.Fairy Race.Baldukk

Condition: Normal

Age: 636 Years Old

Level: 12

HP: 22(22) MP: 241(242)

Strength: 1

Speed: 31

Dexterity: 25

Endurance: 1

Special Skill: Naming

Special Skill: Fairy Eyes

Special Skill: Water Magic(MAX)

Special Skill: Fire Magic(MAX)

Special Skill: Earth Magic(MAX)

Special Skill: Wind Magic(MAX)

Special Skill: Void Magic(MAX)

Experience: 239994(270000)

Other than his age I don't think it's changed much at all.

Well I don't remember every little of details everyone's status though.

...Ah. Come to think of it.

Baldukk: The Sixth Seed

Yeah..I remember checking it the first time I met Karl.

And, I let it go just like because I couldn't understand it.

The gathering terminal and denaturation device sleeping deep in this dungeon of Baldukk is the sixth one of eight units. It's full name was the, "Sixth Gathering Terminal and Denaturation Device".

Somehow I think there's some kind of relation between them.

Karl is different from his grandfather in that he doesn't know the outside world.

Starting from his parents generation they were born and raised in the dungeon of Baldukk.

Since it seems there's priests even among the fairies they're properly named.

Humans and monsters all have the information about their birthplace written on their status from the moment they're born. Like ** Race or ** Family Eldest Son and such.

I only know a general outline of things about the naming ceremony.

They say there's roughly three different types of the naming ceremony.

The first one is attaching a unique name to a living creature.

In most cases this is done when they're a baby. Though there are exceptions.

The amount of money you have to donate in compensation is fixed.

The next one is attaching a unique name to non-living things.

The amount isn't fixed but in this case the name doesn't always stop at just a single item.

There's times when the name changes for every instance of the item under the same group.

And then the last one doesn't change the unique name but adds or changes the details relating to origins and nationality.

When buying or selling slaves, marrying someone, or receiving invest.i.ture as a knight should be representatives of this case.

They put all three of these together into the single definition of the naming ceremony but it's not hard for anyone to imagine that the actual details of each of them are different.

Well that's exactly the case and it's said to be well known that, "there are priests who can do it and those who cannot", and obviously I knew about it as well.

It seems to be said that the {Special Skill: Naming} might have levels similar to the magic special skills.

Even if you ask the priests they'll supposedly never tell you so it's just rumored and there's no basis for it though.

I check all of the fairies flying around using {Identify} on them one at a time.

...

.......

Hmm.

"..s.h.i.+sho. There's a bit of something  I'd like to ask but?"

"Hn?"

I doubt that's the case though.

"How many priests are there here?"

"We only have a small shrine so it's plenty with just one."

Yeah. I'm sure the number of fairies in the fairy village is known, so it's just as I thought.

"What about the naming ceremony when you get married..."

I couldn't find a single fairy with the proof that they've been married like the ** Wife or ** Husband.

"We don't have one. The priest here can do that much after all."

Just as expected.

But, I want to confirm this.

"Why does s.h.i.+sho and the others origin come up as Baldukk?"

"Ah, that. It's said to be because we were born here."

Mwu..then, if a pregnant woman were to give birth to the child inside of the dungeon, what would happen?

According to the common sense that I know no matter where they're born they should come up as ** Family Eldest Son and such.

I wonder if that "Denaturation Device" or whatever has some kind of influence on it?

I tried bringing things like that up but s.h.i.+sho just said, "Even I have some things..that I don't know." But well, I guess that's exactly the case.

Switching gears and I started to learn a new spell as well.

It's a spell called {Blade.Barrier}.

It took me quite a bit of time to acquire this spell.

When it came time to leave the fairy village Miduchi and I courteously lowered our heads the same as usual.

"s.h.i.+sho. I'll come again four months later. Other than dried fish is there anything you want?"

"..No, nothing in particular."

"I see. Also, I have a request."

"What is it?"

"Most likely the next time we come will be the last time. It seems I'll be able to obtain a territory in the Spring of next year. If it comes to that then we'll be too busy so I won't be able to come visit here for the time being. There, I'd like you to decide by the next time I come but if it's alright with you would everyone be interested in moving to my territory?"

"Hou~n?"

"I think I'll be able to provide you with a reasonably sized area. If you live on the surface then you'll be able to eat as much dried fish as you want everyday and..That's right! I can even make the area everyone lives a protected area and prohibit any entry! I'll guarantee the peace in your lives."

Mila-s.h.i.+sho replied after making the first gentle thinking face I've seen since I met her.

"..Thank you. But, we'll restrain ourselves from that. We like this place.."

"However.."

"It's fine. It's plenty just to accompany the people who occasionally wander in like Al. We want to live quietly...And it's been said since our parents generation. This land is the final paradise given to us...We can't afford to waste Lilus-sama's good will."

"..Is, that so.. However, if you ever have a change of heart then please tell me. In that case I'll come to get you near the end of next year."

After saying that we temporarily said our farewells with Mila-s.h.i.+sho and the others.

As expected it's starting to get sluggish.

What is you say? Kuro and Mary's rapid growth.

Even then it's true I had them earn experience at the terrifying speed to where they're one step away from level 14 within a mere three months.

If we maintain this pace then they'll reach level 15 by the end of the year, or at least it's not just a dream.

Everyday on the 7th floor after defeating ogres I confirm there's about 200 meters that are before we do 50 laps of running for a total of 20 km. Just in case to be on guard I have them wear their armor so at first it took around three hours to complete.

Now it's been shortened to around 2.5 hours.

Ah, of course, I'm not forcing them to run.

The two of them are running of their own free will.

On the side of them running with expressions as if they're about to die I'm running together as well but keeping up with a considerably slow pace is pretty tiresome.

I also wonder about having to take a close to 30 minute break after running just to be able to move properly.

They're still lacking quite a bit in basic stamina.

..Though I guess they're still better than Bastoral was at first.

I never had Bastoral wear armor after all.

On our days off and such when everyone is running together the only one who wears their armor is me though.

Putting aside the running, let me talk about everyone in the {Slaughterers} over these past three months.

Don't be surprised? Of all things each of the parties obtained a different {Magic.Item}!

When the {Exterminators} defeated what seemed to be a leader individual among a group of hobgoblins wandering around the 3rd floor they obtained a wrist.w.a.tch magic tool that let alone being super high cla.s.s could be considered top cla.s.s, worth over 10,000,000 Z. And in an altar on the 5th floor they obtained something like this.

In great antic.i.p.ation with Ralpha as the leader, Rodrick and the eight of them brought this thing for me to use my identification spell on it.

Since there was a chance that it could be e a {Cursed.Item} they didn't try equipping it and just confirmed the name before bringing it to me.

Of course I was excited as I used identify as well.

Sword of Light {Light.Saber}

Bashuto Steel

Condition: Normal

Manufacture Date: 18/10/7447

Value: 1

Durability: 4096

Ability: 89-159

Effect: A sword with a powerful light spell contained within it. If you properly hold on to the grip while pulling it from the scabbard and the entire blade gives off a white colored light. This light is brighter than 10 large braziers.

I don't know what Bashuto Steel or whatever is. After checking the sub-window and it's considerably better than the average cast iron but it still seems to be just at the level of steel that doesn't reach the level of stainless.

It seems like something somewhat unusual. Well, you can still expect it to be at the level of a sword from the middle ages on Earth it seems.

By the way..a light spell? If it's the mana of light then is it not Light Magic?

Could it be it's only got the spell Light cast on it with no duration to the effect?

There's not even an explanation about it having any sort of magical effect other than giving off light.

But, a magic sword is a magic sword.

"I can feel mana and it seems to have a spell of light cast on it so it's certainly a magic sword. What do you want to do with it?"

By asking them what they want to do with it, of course I mean confirming if they want to sell it or someone wants to use it.

If they sell it then excluding my two combat slaves, the final price will be split up among the seven of them including myself.

"Wouldn't it be best to keep it?"

Ruttsu agreed with Ralpha saying that.

"No, it doesn't seem very impressive as a {Magical.Weapon} so wouldn't it be better to sell it?"

And Sanno agreed with Rodrick and his combat slaves Denda and Karimu.

Even if I were to agree with Ralpha the majority would still be for selling it.

Rather, there's no point in holding onto something like this and it's appearance is flashy so it's possible it'll fetch a good price.

"If you're going to sell it I'll act as the middleman?"

In the end it was decided that it would go to Sandak Company together with the wrist.w.a.tch.

And then the item that the {Butchers} obtained from an altar on the 6th floor was.

{Poison.Dagger}

Mithril Steel

Condition: Normal

Manufacture Date: 2/11/7447

Value: 1

Durability: 25000

Ability: 28-52

Effect: When the user succeeds with an attack(in the case that over 2/3rds of the blade enters the body of the target) a powerful poison is secreted from it. However, in order for the poison to take effect there's a relations.h.i.+p between the levels of the user and the one being attacked. If the one being attacked is the same level as the user then the poison has a 50% chance of taking effect. For each level that the one being attacked is higher than the user the chance of the poison taking effect is reduced by 2% and for each level that the user is higher the chance increases by 2%. In the case that the target is poisoned, they'll be attacked by a strong fatigue, chills, a fever, and due to the effects of those they'll suffer a decrease of 1 HP every 10 hours from both their current and maximum HP. And then if an effective recovery method isn't used by the point where their HP reaches half of it's original maximum value the target will lose consciousness and be unable to take any actions. In order to recover you either need to use a spell that removes the effects of poison or have a spell which removes the effects of poison cast on the target.

Since the name is what it is I was pretty nervous when they asked me to identify it.

"It doesn't have a curse on it..Hmm, it seems that it has a 50/50 probability of poisoning the person stabbed with it. But, in order for it to take effect you have to stab it in up to about here it seems. Just a scratch is no good. Also, it seems the poison is the type that slowly deals damage over time. It seems after being hit by it you'll survive for a pretty long period of time. Even a normal person should be able to survive for about a month but after that point they'll collapse and be unable to do anything so without curing it they'll probably die from starvation before the poison. In order to recover from it supposedly using the spells {Neutralize.Poison} or {Remove.Poison} is fine."

This time the one who was acting as leader was Zulu.

However, after Rokko whispered, "It seems like it'd be pretty useful for torture when you capture someone during war" everyone agreed on not wanting to sell it.

Hearing that I thought, torture indeed..but didn't say anything.

Everyone has a decent amount of leeway when it comes to money so as long as they accept it that's fine.

Since he was the one who said it, I told Rokko to hold onto it and forced it on him.

Rokko seemed pretty happy.

Even as a joke don't lick the blade?

I think you'd probably be fine but still.

And then the {Saviors}.

During September they finished making the teleport crystal room on the 10th floor into a base and then the 11th floor during October. On the occasion where we made the 11th floor into a base Kuro and Mary joined the {Exterminators} for the first time with Toris as the leader, so I was able to return to the {Saviors} for the first time in a while.

Just around that period Ginger had her period the night before they were supposed to enter the dungeon so a big part of it was that there were two openings in the {Butchers}. I dispatched Angela and Basutoral as leaders to the {Butchers}.

The Wyvern still hasn't resp.a.w.ned on the 11th floor as the fog is still just whirling around.

Without the lightning bolt cage coming down, the rainbow colored pillars rising up, or encountering a single monster we arrived at the teleport crystal room.

And we just took a peek inside of the 12th floor.

I'll talk about the 12th floor later but during that time we found three 10,000,000 cla.s.s magic tools, one 30,000,000 cla.s.s magic tool, and one magic tool that's worth more than 100,000,000. Also, we obtained one {Magical.Weapon}.

{Sword.Of.Aiming}

Mithril Steel

Condition: Normal

Manufacture Date: 3/11/7447

Value: 1

Durability: 65000

Ability: 90-160(+10)*

Effect: It looks like a completely normal long sword but it's made with an extremely good balance making attacks easier to hit exactly where it's being aimed. Through making attacks easier to hit where they're being aimed there's a high chance that it will deal a lot more damage than normal.

You could say this is another item worth a good amount.

However, because of the craftsmans.h.i.+p of the hand-guard, once again it didn't seem like it would fit into the holding s.p.a.ce of my bayonet.

Miduchi is already using a magic sword on top of it almost definitely being more powerful than this.

Zenom and Ralpha are both using magic axes.

And putting aside Zenom, Ralpha is bad at using the sword.

Bel doesn't use the long sword and already has the infantry-use short sword, and that's a magic sword as well.

The {Flame.Tongue} Toris is using is probably more powerful than this as well.

Zulu normally uses a b.a.s.t.a.r.d sword with one hand so I feel like it might work as a low-grade replacement but if the reach changes by 10 cm I'm sure it would be difficult, and if he can't make two-handed attacks when he the time calls for it then...

Since Angela is using a broad sword I guess it's possible to exchange them just like that I guess...

Rather since the knuckle guard will disappear she should be able to change to a slightly better right gauntlet..I guess the weight would change by quite a bit huh?

Gwine and Basutoral use spears as their main weapons and haven't even properly tried using swords.

Kamu uses a small sword and Kimu uses a spear as well.

Using it in the {Saviors} is a bit awkward.

Then in that case I guess we could use it in the {Butchers} or {Exterminators}?

I wonder who would be good?

The ones using long swords are Rokko, Binsu, Rodrick, and Sanno. Also my combat slaves Henry and Mekku I guess.

Taking their skill into consideration and Rokko is two or three heads above the others.

Or rather, among adventurers who stand at the front lines in the dungeon his skills are close to Zenom.

If it's against monsters then he could put up a good match with me though only limited to when I'm using just a long sword and not my bayonet.

The only one among the members that stand on the front line and have enough leeway to swing a sword is Rokko.

Of course, the other members attack as well but the front line usually focus mainly on defense and the sword is mostly used in defensive ways.

In comparison because of how high is skills are Rokko is good at creating openings and attacking with a pretty high ratio.

No matter how I think about it Rokko would be the best.

When I handed the long sword to Rokko he accepted it with trembling hands as if he never thought it would go to him.

"It's a {Magical.Sword} you know!? Is it really okay for me to use it!?"

I just said, "protect everyone with that". Including the combat slaves almost everyone else said similar things and pat Rokko on the shoulder. However, Zulu and Angela were both making unsatisfied faces.

Since it seemed like they had something they wanted to say I asked them about it later and,

"I think that master should be the one to use that magic sword this time."

"Letting that elf lacking in brains use it..Even though those 5 {Troll.Kin} were powerful opponents."

and said things like that.

No, I wanted to use it too you know?

But, if I don't use my bayonet it's a power down right?

It can't be helped~

"However..!"

"Even then..!"

They were stubborn.

I'm grateful that you're willing to say that to raise me up and worry about me but you know~

Isn't it something I said before?

Do I really look so weak to you that I need to use something like that magic sword?

"But, it's a magic sword!"

"That's right! Didn't the madam say it as well! There's monsters which attacks don't work on unless you use a magic sword!"

If an opponent like that comes out then it's fine because I'll just use magic...

Since it seemed like they'd never give up I,

"What is it? Do you have any complaints about something I decided on?"

said that and they finally shut up.

..minus one point for each of them.

Though I don't know what the points are for.

..However, permitting my slaves to speak back to me like this so many times, I guess I'm still to softhearted right?

....................................

Year 7447, Month 11, Day 29

Once again this time I left Kuro and Mary to the {Exterminators} to have them experience the uncouth battles of the 5th floor. The leader of the {Exterminators} is Bel. Kim is taking care of the {Butchers}. And, I've returned to the {Saviors}. We've already finished making the 11th floor into a base so this time Giberuti went to the factory.

Last month, when we were making the 11th floor into a base we took a look into the 12th floor but I wanted to try investigating it.

Well, just from a glance it was..that is, how do I put it. The 11th floor could definitely be said to be below it...

Yeah. It's the same in that there's no walls.

And after that it's almost as bright as daytime so the sight range is as good as the 7th floor.

Clouds can be seen above and in the distant central region we saw a pillar thinner than a toothpick.

Also, it's the same in that you always teleport to somewhere along the outer wall.

However, there's a much bigger problem.

Most likely, the 12th and 13th floors are stuck together.

No, stuck together might be a bad way of describing it..maybe I should say they're connected together?

The ground is shaped almost like a giant abura kiri where the inner circle of the dungeon is spread out like a cylinder...

In the air there's just something like a 10~100 meter or so wide esplanade or suspension bridge remaining(?) and the larger portion of it was a giant hole.

The hole is a distorted circular shape without a fixed form and the size was different on each side.

Also, the diameters of the smaller ones were believed to be at least 200 meters across while the larger ones seemed to be in the kilometers.

In regards to the esplanades the ground was dry and depending on the area there were some mountains and valleys with some lows and highs but there didn't seem to be any sudden slopes at all.

In various places along the walkway there's large rocks up to 5 meters in diameter similar to the ones we've seen on previous floors laying around.

Incidentally, in regards to plants we couldn't even find a single blade of Penpen gra.s.s growing anywhere.

And then, obviously from that hole we were able to see the floor below which is the base of the 13th floor.

Looking down on the floor below and you can tell right away but frighteningly enough this ground is only 10 meters or so thick in some of the thinner areas. Since it seems like it's attached to the outer wall with a width of about 100 meters it looks like an overhang so you can still relax feeling like you're standing on the ground. However, the gaps of the several holes that almost make the esplanades seem like a floating island attached by several slightly large suspension bridges is the problem.

The rear of the floating island is covered in something like stalagmites or stalact.i.tes and the ground is hanging down thicker than the other areas.

On those narrow esplanades with no thickness from one connection to the next between the holes if for some reason it were to collapse it gives off the impression that the entire island might fall with it.

And then, the best part is that you can see an artificially made structure stabbing into(?) the lower floor when looking down from the hole. It's diameter should be several hundred meters and it's height should be several times more than that.

Most likely that should be that gather terminal and denaturation device or whatever.

After all it seems it wasn't the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p as we couldn't see anything like engine nozzles coming from the back of it like a rocket.

Though they might just be below it.

Also, it's difficult to tell from the distance but the surface seems to be made of metal and it seems that there's some uneven parts and structures sticking out from it in some places.

After that the ground in the center of the 13th floor rises up almost like a mountain.

The location the gathering terminal is stabbed into is considerably high on that mountain.

Whether it's because of the impact from it stabbing into it or whatever else but the surroundings of it are largely collapsed and it almost looks like a large hole was being drilled into the mountain.

In the center of the circular dungeon there's a pillar that almost seems to be growing out of the center of the mountain.

Including the surface of the mountain a large portion of the ground seems to be covered in a deep forest and it almost looks like a green carpet is spread out.

I don't know if it's because there's a mountain on the lower floor so there isn't a hole opened up in it like this 12th floor but the difference in height from this floor is..even the summit of the mountain is too high so I can't tell.

10 km?

In that case it's higher than Everest.

But, considering the diameter of the dungeon is 10 km then it seems like it should be about that?

I guess the base of the mountain is about 10 km?

In that case the height of the mountain should be about 2 km?

But if that's the case then there should be clouds in front of our eyes..it's not the surface so what in the world am I thinking about inside of the dungeon.

Well, the 12th floor has this sort of feel.

The view is good so we tried meeting up again after teleporting in from the 11th floor.

If it's close then we can see each other.

Nothing happened when we walked along the outer wall so regathering itself should be easier than the 11th floor.

Even when it comes to aiming towards the center, the narrower areas of the suspension bridges are at least 10 meters so there shouldn't be anything like your legs stiffening up and not being able to move.

..This, should we bring along the {Butchers} and {Exterminators} as well?

It looks like there aren't any monsters around but there's no guarantee there isn't something like the Wyvern from the 11th floor.

If we a.s.sume there is something then would it be a smarter move to bring along more people?

"For the 11th floor and the 13th floor? that we can see below then that's probably fine. But I wonder about this area."

Miduchi said something that caught my interest.

"Why?"

"Somehow, just somehow you know? I don't have any basis for it but.."

"Stop putting on airs."

"I feel like there's a {Dragon}."

Hohou, a {Dragon} is it.

In that case it's greatly welcome so we can take it's heart right!

And what was it again, that's right, we can call ourselves "{Dragon Slayers}" right?

Isn't there no better achievement than that?

..And putting aside counting our chickens before they've hatched, something like a {Dragon}, I have to wonder about that?

There's nothing like a protuberance high in the sky along the pillar like on the 11th floor.

Even below there's nothing that stands out within the range we can see.

It might be on the opposite side of the pillar from where we're standing right now but even after teleporting over and over again in the end we still haven't found it.

There's no place where a {Dragon} might be?

Hearing our conversation before we realized it everyone from the {Saviors} had surrounded Miduchi and I.

"Normally, {Dragons} fly just like {Wyverns}."

I've heard about that before.

"Also, they spit out breath."

I've heard that too. But, isn't the effective range only about 20~30 meters just like the {Frost Lizard} and the {Lesser Yowie}?

If the distance is any further than that it should spread out and accelerate the speed it weakens right?

"Yeah, that might be the case. But, since we don't know the size of the dragon, I don't think we can make any guesses. Thinking about the size of that Wyvern and it wouldn't be strange for it to be several times larger than that right.."

In other words at two times larger a length of about 30 meters or so? If I think about the size of all the enemies that spit out a breath until now then you could say the effective range should be about five times larger.

That means 150...

That's certainly makes grouping up something to think about.

If it continues to spit out breath while we're all gathered in one place then we might end up taking an irrecoverable amount of huge damage.

"It seems there's not many places on this floor where we can hide from an opponent flying in the air after all.."

Certainly.

"I can understand what Miduchi is saying."

After quietly listening with his arms crossed Zenom lowered his arms while saying.

"However, that's if we were to fight in this net-like area, right? If we were to fight on the floor we can see below then the trees should be in the way so I think it would be best to bring along as many as we can and regroup though.."

Certainly it's just as Zenom says.

If we don't fight on this floor but the one we can see below...

Suddenly I realized it.

How did that reincarnated Vampire Lord get to that device in the first place?

Did he coincidentally find that teleport plate on the 4th floor?

It can't be!? It's an astronomically low probability right?

Most likely, there's a high chance that he knew ahead of time the location of the device was in the dungeon of Baldukk.

After all it was supposedly something they fired in themselves from the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p they were on.

It's not strange from him to remember the general location.

If when he arrived in the nearby area he heard about the crater and the underground dungeon then wouldn't he realize it?

It's possible he was already a Vampire Lord by the time he entered the dungeon of Baldukk as well.

His direct combat power was high. And with that skill at using magic and his ma.s.sive amount of MP then wouldn't exploring from the surface to here be possible?

If that's the case then what did he do about the floor guardians...

Maybe only undead aren't considered as intruders from outside by the dungeon...

If that's the case then it's possible he might not have to fight against the floor guardians.

..Or at least I can't think of anything but that.

I dragged along Kuro and Mary up to the teleport crystal room on the 8th floor.

These two have have realistically entered the range of level 15 and beyond that they were already taught the fundamental combat techniques from the knight group.

They're not lacking to the level where they could join a second-rate party.

Well, the kinds of people who have received invest.i.ture as knights all have a somewhat decent level of combat strength so as long as they get used to the combat and actions in the dungeon then it shouldn't be wrong to hope they can manage this much.

However, this time raising their levels wasn't the primary objective.

The {Butchers} being lead by Zenom were already taking a break and the {Exterminators} were dragged up to here by Miduchi and Kimu.

Of course, everyone from the {Saviors} arrived long before and have all finished taking showers already.

"So this is what it meant by there being teleport crystals all over the place on the 8th floor.."

"Tomorrow is the 9th floor, so that will come out right?"

"That?"

"Crabs, the crabs."

"I'm looking forward to them right. I've only eaten them a countable number of times after all."

"By the way, I wonder what kind of price that {Light.Saber} will sell for?"

"Of course~ it's that flashy of a sword after all. I'm sure it'll be amazing~ right?"

Just from the conversations I can hear it seems the {Exterminators} are still able to take it easy up to here.

Although, they're normally active primarily on the 5th floor so in terms of combat strength you could say they're equal to the first-rate parties of a while back.

Furthermore, the matter of the {Light.Saber} came up so I'll mention it but I was told they still need a bit more time to get an estimate on the {Loincloth.Of.Daring} so it's still left in their care jsut like that.

Putting that aside, we all entered the dungeon this time the day before yesterday on the 13th of December.

On the first day we all regrouped on the 3rd floor.

And then yesterday, we all regrouped once again in the teleport crystal room on the 6th floor.

Today we cleared through the 7th and 8th floors.

Tomorrow we'll be clearing the 9th and 10th floors including regrouping in the teleport room on the 11th floor a.s.suming we don't encounter any combat and can make it straight to the teleport crystal there.

"In regards to tomorrow. Miduchi continue just like that, Kimu you reutrn to the {Saviors}. Kamu, you enter the {Exterminators}. They need a rear guard. Also, Sanno and Zulu you exchange places. After that Binsu and Jeru. Tomorrow the two of you should accompany the {Saviors}. In exchange Zenom, Toris..and also Gwine go to the {Butchers}."

As long as I have a map there's no problem.

The {Exterminators} will have Miduchi so they should have plenty of combat strength.

She's skilled at freezing things in ice with magic just like me so as long as they have the map they should be fine.

If the {Butchers} who I sent Gwine over to have Zenom there's pretty much no problem.

With Zenom and Rokko at the top I have Kevin and Henry acting as a.s.sistants.

Ginger, Gwine, and Rubi will deal a lot of damage with spears and then Misu can back them up with magic and her bow.

Toris normally fortifies the front line but if need be he can support them with magic.

Zenom can lead the front line unit and Ginger can lead the spear unit.

Of course Toris will take the overall command but if things come to it then he can move to the front of fall to back so it's possible for him to move in a fluid way.

The {Saviors} ended up with the lineup of Bel, Ralpha, Basutoral, Kimu, Binsu, Jeru, Sanno, Angela, and Giberuti so Ralpha and Sanno act as the front line, Binsu can act as a half front line similar to Toris, though even including the spear unit they technically have 8 combat roles so you could say their formation is pretty fragile but I'll be having Angela and Bel equipped with the rifle and net gun so there shouldn't be any problem with their combat strength.

Obviously all of us will regroup before battling the 7 Minotaurs that act as the guardians of the 9th floor.

It's for that reason we already decided on the gathering place ahead of time.

....................................

Year 7447, Month 12, Day 16

"Have you finished checking your equipment? Then starting from the {Exterminators}. Go"

"Alright, let's go. Zentomofu!"

Zenom is acting as the leader of the {Exterminators} but he's teleporting in bringing the newly organized {Exterminators} with Kuro and Mary included.

Several tens of seconds after they turned into beads of light and disappeared into the 12th floor the teleport incantation reappeared in the crystal.

"Then next up is us. We'll be going ahead~ Robukoniha!"

After confirming the incantation Miduchi and the {Butchers} she's commanding all disappeared teleporting over.

"..Let's go. Meketeruho!"

And then leaving Giberuti behind all of us {Saviors} teleported into the 12th floor as well.

...

"Th..They're over there!"

Ralpha was the one who noticed first. I reflexively looked in the direction she was pointing but it was too far so I couldn't see anyone. It seems they're over 7 km away in terms of distance straight to them. Taking into consideration that the outer circ.u.mference is shaped like a circle and we're separated by 1/3rd of the distance around.

According to {Party-ization} and I can feel Zenom and the others from the direction Ralpha is pointing so that should be the {Exterminators}.

Even further beyond that I can feel the reaction for Miduchi and the others as well.

The distance between them and Miduchi and the others is pretty close, probably within 1 km.

"Miduchi-san is a bit further ahead..It seems like they're both pretty close to each other. It seems that we were the unlucky ones."

Bel said.

Certainly. We're the only ones who teleported into a place pretty far away.

We've already gone over what actions to take after teleporting into the 12th floor.

If the distance between the three parties is close to the same or at least 5 km apart then the {Exterminators} will remain in place while the others will try teleporting again.

If the distance is less than 5 km between two parties then those two will regroup while the remaining one will try teleporting again.

Doing that is more efficient in covering the distance after all.

This is the case where we're the only ones who have to teleport again.

Last week, without me the {Saviors} tried repeatedly teleporting into the 12th floor so at the very least they've already confirmed there's no traps along the outer wall.

And the 12th floor is just as bright as the 7th floor with the ground being close to a level surface so it's possible to walk a normal speed.

40 minutes later we were safely able to regroup with all the members of the {Slaughterers}.

After teleporting for the 12th time we finally were in a location less than 2 km away from them.

Now then, we've safely finished gathering together.

Next up is marching towards what appears to be a pillar towering in the center which should have the teleport crystal room inside.

We didn't change the member lineup of the parties.

Though it's a combination of three parties, it's because we decided that taking action all grouped together was too dangerous.

It should be fine to just keep an eye on each other's location using {Party-ization}.

Of course, all three of our parties are departing in order with a distance of about 100 meters between so we can back each other up with projectile weapons and magic in a few seconds if anything happens.

First off is the {Saviors} taking the lead.

In the case that the floor guardian comes out we should be the ones who have the highest chance of encountering it first after all.

If the lightning bolt cage appears it would be useless if the party with the highest attack power gets left behind after all.

Although, if it's a {Dragon} or a monster that flies like the {Wyvern} on the 11th floor then the lightning bolt cage shouldn't come out in a way that limits it's movements. 

In that case just as expected it should appear close to the outer wall just like the 11th floor and should at least be several hundred meters behind the party advancing at the front.

Which is why we thought there's not much to worry about with this kind of division.

............................

On the extremely large mid-air hallway leading across almost like an abura kiri net.

What can be seen of the 13th floor below is at best a hazy forest when straining your eyes.

If you gently look down even if you don't have a fear of heights it's enough to make your legs tremble.

Nevertheless even on the narrowest of the walkways they're over 10 meters wide and in the wider areas over 100 meters so it's possible to pa.s.s by without needing to look down at all.

There's nothing like the strong winds or snow storms that can hit you in the mountains on the surface either.

There's a slight breeze that's almost even comfortable gusting over the skin and the humidity is just barely slightly chilly similar to the other floors of the dungeon.

Normally it would be a tasteless sight that you could never experience but combined with the grand scenery and it's almost enough to make you forget this is in the greater depths of a dangerous dungeon.

Through that we continued walking for two hours while remaining cautious of any attacks from monsters including the guardian.

Without anything happening at all we arrived at the pillar in the center of the 12th floor that leads to the lowest part of the 13th floor.

The pillars in all of the floors up until now were at most 50 meters per side and shaped like a square but just from a glance this one looks even thicker than 60.

However, when looking at it from nearby the shape of this pillar is close to a circle and it's diameter should be around 100 meters.

Just as expected it's huge.

It's thick to the point where the Tokyo Government Office seems like nothing.

"The entrance is..on the opposite side I guess?"

While waiting for everyone to regroup we tried going around to the opposite side of the pillar and just as expected we discovered the same 2~3 meter wide and high cave opening as usual.

Just in case we remained on guard while entering and were able to confirm that it was the teleport crystal room.

It's still not even 10:00 am yet.

"I wonder why there wasn't a guardian?"

Miduchi asked in doubt but no one had an answer.

"Indeed I wonder why...It can't be because they were already defeated by that Vampire Lord enough times after all.."

I couldn't do anything but grumble in response.

"Could it be, because the period that no~ one came in was long that they all died of old age?"

Ralpha is still saying slightly odd things as usual.

"There's no way that's the case right. The floor guardians just remain standing in place without moving as long as they don't discover any opponents. Just like you've seen plenty of times up until now.."

Toris replied in amazement.

Since we spent a long time observing the Minotaurs on the 8th and 9th floor there's some things we've guessed.

For as long as they don't recognize an intruder or are meddled with from inside of the teleport crystal room they seem to be close to being in something like a deep sleep or hibernation.

Well, prior to even that I wonder if monsters in the dungeon even die from aging in the first place?

More-so when it comes to the floor guardians...

"Since it wasn't around it might be fortunate.."

Hearing our conversation Ginger said there's no way of explaining it so we cut off guessing why the guardian of the 12th floor wasn't around.

"But you know~ not being able to get our hands on the {Magic.Item} is.."

Everyone nodded to what Jeru said.

About half of the reason why we went to the trouble of coming to the 12th floor was to obtain valuable {Magic.Items}.

The majority of the other half was because I'd definitely like to defeat that {Dragon} or whatever and use it to raise our reputation.

We came based on calculations that we can defeat it.

According to what they say, if this many first-rate adventurers fight it in cooperating then it should be possible to defeat it.

According to what they say, while they're still newcomers, Kuro and Mary aren't just true knights but these past few months they've been trained by Al using a special menu.

..And above all else, they say that I(Al), Miduchi, and the others are reincarnated people(though this just for the people who know about reincarnated people), so I(Al) am most likely a special talent.

Furthermore, all of the former members of the {Slaughterers} who can control powerful spells are here as well.

Everyone is thinking like this so when we discussed defeating the {Dragon}(a high possibility of there being one), everyone agreed without first or second thoughts.

In addition to that they've heard the story about how just Miduchi and I defeated the {Death=Tyrant.Kin} on the 14th floor. A big part of it is how Miduchi said that depending on how you think about it that monster might be stronger than a dragon.

Since it was that sort of powerful monster and we were able to defeat it with just the two of us, they probably think it's fine as long as Miduchi and I are here.

Also, Toris and Bel are thinking the same thing as me that the t.i.tle of {Dragon Slayer} will be an extremely useful weapon to us in the future.

If you ask me I want for everyone to be able to use that t.i.tle.

In the future, when the time that will definitely come where they have to deal with stubborn old men and women who say, "even though your just dirt adventurers who weren't even born as n.o.bles after all" I think they'll be able to gain some respect without being underestimated that way.

But, in the end that thought was useless..though I guess there's still the 13th floor.

However, it's also true that it was a bit of let down, it's only obvious but everyone has some desire for the reputation and treasures as well.

Obviously, going through all the trouble to come here without even having the chance to defeat a guardian and going back empty handed is unprofitable so we're still moving ahead.

Either way, I want to see that device from nearby.

In the end, after taking a short break we decided to teleport into the 13th floor.

..............................

The 13th floor was a dense forest just like the 11th floor.

This time we started off with the {Saviors} teleporting inside excluding Zulu and Angela.

It's just a measure we took since we didn't know what kind of monsters could be lurking near the teleport crystals there.

Immediately after teleporting we spread out and scanned the surroundings but we couldn't find any monsters.

As a result of carefully investigating the surroundings and just the same as the 11th and 12th floors we seem to have been teleported to somewhere along the outer wall of the dungeon.

However, it's not like we determined it by teleporting a number of times so it's not good to let our guards down.

We returned to the 12th floor where everyone was waiting and reported the details of what we saw.

After that just the {Saviors} continued teleporting over about 10 times.

All of the teleport locations were along the outer wall on top of not being able to discover any monsters nearby so we were able to guess that the 13th floor is most likely the same as the above two floors.

During the roughly two hours until lunch, our three newly organized parties repeated teleporting inside over and over to confirm but there was nothing outside of our expectations.

However, after investigating around the outer wall a bit away from the teleport destination and in most cases within 20~30 meters away there's a slightly large 2 meter wide path almost like a mountain climbing route and we were able to discover a similar path that seems to circle all around the surroundings of the floor.

Since this path exists it seems that we should be able to regroup relatively easy.

After having lunch, our three parties teleported inside and we all agreed to pa.s.s through the forest while climbing the mountain towards the central area after regrouping.

................................

The time is about 4:30 pm.

The location the 30 of us are at is in the middle of the outer circ.u.mference and the central area.

Roughly 2.5 km from the outer circ.u.mference.

Since either way I wanted to see that device from as close as possible we regrouped based on the location facing the device.

If you were to think of the lowest point along the outer wall as zero alt.i.tude then just from a glance the mountain towering in the center of the 13th floor should have an elevation of about 1,000 meters or so.

In that case it should be a steep hill with an average incline ratio of about 20%.

Though that's if there's a path that leads straight towards the center.

Well, the fact that it's a winding path is something we determined in the early stages of investigation so you could say it's a salvation that it isn't that much of a steep incline but for that portion the overall distance we have to walk increases.

In order to reach this point it took us close to four hours to regroup and start climbing but it isn't just because we've been careful in pa.s.sing through the forest.

After all the greatest enemy is the fact that the hill and it's distance are stretching out.

The path started out winding around but after that it started to slowly rise up almost like a whirlpool so it was pretty exhausting.

Also, there's some things we only noticed for the first time after starting the climb.

We took a bit of time in investigating those things as well.

Rarely a bit off from the path there's places with no trees growing.

We tried going to investigate those places a number of times but it's not like anything happened.

However, all of the bald spots scattered across the forest almost seemed like they had been somewhat dug up.

It's unknown whether or not a monster dug them.

Since it seems that giant stag beetle, the {Great.Underground.Vojanoi} specializes in digging tunnels so it might be that thing.

But, it wasn't to the extent of being a tunnel either.

A lot of the bald areas had large holes but even then the largest of them was at most 10 meters or so.

Even the depth was at most 30 meters.

Because of the time as expected opinions of returning once for the day started to come out.

Those opinions are quite right so we decided to return after everyone takes a short break.

We all stood up preparing to head back.

..............................

..And now.

We {Slaughterers} are facing the crisis of being wiped out.

There's still not a single person who's suffered any injuries but almost all of the members are in a state of panic from the fear and they can't stand up.

The ones who have fallen into a panic are all crawling along the ground as they try to hide behind the nearest bush.

However, I guess because of the fear, their bodies have stiffened up and won't move as they please so they're just trembling in place.

I can't say anything for sure but I think it happened shortly after a tremendously loud roar as if you'd think it was G.o.dzilla crying out reached us from the direction of the top of the mountain.

..I know this!

I've experienced it during the time with the {Horned Bear}.

But, when I used {Identify} to confirm their {Conditions} almost everyone has changed to the {Condition: Panic}.

They've completely skipped past things like (Small), (Medium), and (Large) and are suddenly in a complete state of Panic.

There's only a mere two people that didn't fall into a panic.

Myself and just one more person.

Incidentally I don't know of any method other than time to escape from a state of panic.