Chapter 153

Chapter 153 \nDinner with Ophelia Dragange lasted for about two hours. After it was finished, we moved from the table to the sofa, drinking from the glasses as we talked about various things; including the situation in Dragrange, the northernmost part of the kingdom, located in a high-altitude mountain range that crossed into the neighboring Kingdom of Drak. There were several viens of magic ore within the mountains, which meant that monsters descended from the mountains and went on rampages within the territory. \n

Although a truce existed with Drak, they were unable to manage the mines properly because of the treaty. In turn, meant that the monsters to do as they pleased. 

The possibility of an undiscovered labyrinth within the mountain range border, which was called the Demon’s Mountain Range. In the Margraves territory they wanted as many people as possible to help maintain the security of the area, not to mention with a possible labyrinth subjugation.  As such, Ophelia asked me to include the Margrave’s :Labyrinth as a candidate if I would like to continue exploring labyrinths. 

As our conversation went on, the female escort knight from before ended. 

“Ophelia-sama, it’s about time.”

“Is it that time already? Shaft, I’ll stop it here. I have to go to the castle tomorrow morning. I still want to talk with you more, so let us do it another time.”

“It was fun tonight, next time, I’ll bring my treasured wine.”

“Hmm, I’ll look forward to it.”

After seeing off Ophelia with her escort, I was escorted by Koti back to my room. \n

“Shaft-sama, where would you like to have your breakfast prepared tomorrow, nyan?”

“Please prepare my meals in the room.”

“I understand. Please have a good rest, nyan.”

The next morning, I was woken by Koti who’d brought breakfast. I washed my face and then planned my activities for the day as the food was being prepared. The King Festival would start the day after tomorrow. It was a three day event, but I was only here for the last day so I would be free all before then. For the time being, I’d stay here today. I needed to plan and make preparations for confronting Nekoyanagi. The group said to be aiming for the labyrinth core I would be auctioning on the last day.

Since I’ve already promised I’d be going to Malta-san’s house tomorrow, I don’t have anything before then. It was probably a good idea for the buyer to see what to do when the festival started. 

I decided my plans, left the washroom, and sat at the table to eat. 

“Koti, I’ll be working from this room today, so stay away until I call for you.”

“I understand. If you need something, please call me with the bell on your desk, nyan.”\nKoti left after I finished my meal and cleared the table. Afterward, I started up the TSS, checked clothes and masks I’d wear on the auction day from the avatar menu. The auction had a dress code so I set-up a set list of costumes with tailcoats and black panther venetian masks so I could change immediately that day. The next thing was armaments. 

I knew that the group was aiming for the core. So, some kind of armament was required. However, before you could enter the auction, you had to check for weapons. Any edged tools was impossible. That said, firearms were too different, so they’d stand out. The first thing I took out of the many things in my inventory was the GPS tracking darts. 

This allowed you to shoot a GPS transmitter, and keep the target’s location on the map. The purpose of this was so I could find their hideout in the event they escape. In the event of a battle, I selected the FMG-9 that could be disguised, as well as a taser to prioritize capture. 

A taser was a type of stun gun, a less-lethal weapon that can stop the movement of the target by pulling the trigger, similar to handguns. It blew two-wired electrodes from the muzzle part that passed a current of 50,000 volts to its target… The range was about 8 meters, and it was necessary to replace the cartridge in the muzzle where the electrodes were stored after each shot. 

(Editor Kay note: FYI, Stunguns/tasers are often considered ‘Non-lethal’, as the author had put. However, that is horribly incorrect. They are ‘LESS-Lethal’, meaning less lethal than a firearm. You can still kill someone with a taser. Either by the electrocution, or the lock up afterward. Please do not treat them like toys. They are weapons.) 

Compared to other firearms, the taser hada modest firing sound. The target would pay more attention to the electrical current-induced flash at the moment of injection. While the actual real life weapon would not flash, the VMB version did. I wondered if people had already seen something similar in this world, and instead of it coming from a firearm, they’d think it was some magical weapon. I’d like to test it during the day. 

I took out the taser gun and FMG-9, spare magazines, and spare cartridge from the supply box. I prepared a gun holder and holster to attach to the back of my waist on my belt. I then wore a tailcoat and checked if it felt unnatural.

It bulged slightly, probably within the acceptable range, however, since I fell into this world; I had hardly practiced shooting to prevent my aim getting bad. It was a perishable skill that you could lose quickly if you didn’t practice it even a little. When I was in my old world, I had the time to stay in the VMB target range. I could not do that here. In the real world, it would be impossible to secure as many shooting exercises as you’d like without anyone seeing. \n\n“Ah! It’s really Shaft-sama!”

“Hey, Amy! It’s because Shaft-sama rarely comes!”

“It’s been a long time, Amy and Prisera.”

Two of them were ordinary human girls I had once rescued. Currently, they were working at the company and the residence of Malta as migrant workers. Perhaps they worked at the headquarters today as they wore outfits that seemed to be sales’ uniforms. Amy’s long brown hair had a brown three-netted catchusha, while Prisera’s blonde hair had a white flower corsage.

Both the items I bought once. 

“Yes, Shaft-sama. It’s all thanks to you that we’re both working well.”

“Shaft-sama, Malta is waiting for you. We will guide you.”

I was guided by both of them to the office.