Chapter 261

Chapter 261: Born question, born hatred

Before Lorel existed as an union, there was a guild called ‘Apple’ that had unparalleled power in this land.

Whether this is true or false, this existence called Apple that was made up of a few elites was supposedly the model for the Adventurer Guild.

This part is probably the result of a mixture of various stories.

The Adventurer Guild is something that was created by Root, and the origin of it was his first husband.

If I remember correctly, it was created when he was involved with Elysion?

…Well, that’s only supposing Root isn’t lying at all.

In his case, he probably has a massive amount of truths he hasn’t spoken about, so I can’t trust him at all.

But if we base trust on that, who knows how much I can actually trust Shougetsu-san about what he is saying of Apple and Rokuya-san.

After all, the ‘adventurers of origin’ are words that denote the members of Apple. Even if you have met with people that have the same name, it is hard to believe that they are the same people.

In terms of how it feels, it would be like…on the same level as Momotaro is to japanese people.

Aznoval, Rokuya, Ginebia, Haku Mokuren, Hitsuna; it was formed with around 10 people, and their names are absurdly popular.

I heard there’s a lot of epics and anecdotes of them.

I was told that Rokuya-san has left numerous stories of being a chivalrous thief as an assassin.

“It is incredibly hard to believe that the said person is still alive though…” (Tomoe)

Tomoe’s comment is natural.

Hyumans don’t live that long.

When you reach a longevity on the level of Root, it is already to the point that you would question if they are immortal.

“Even if you tell me that he had the same age and appearance as the time when this Shougetsu-san over here received his training, its reliability is weak-desu wa.” (Mio)

Seems like the perception of Mio didn’t pick up much.

That’s true.

It would be more believable if I was told that the name Rokuya was being inherited every generation.

“Haku Mokuren and Ginebia…” (Iroha)

Iroha-chan seems to be groaning.

Looks like what Shougetsu-san said just now wasn’t something he has told her before.

Apparently, she was busy with politics and learning things.

Simply means that nobles have it hard in their own way.

Having a fiance at her age is already amazing.

Even though she is at the age where a primary schooler knapsack would still suit her.

“Apple huh. Lorel really is a country that has a lot of stories that don’t circulate to other countries.” (Makoto)

The Wise are the model example, but aside from that, I feel like this country is pretty secretive towards other countries.

Once you enter, the talks about it can be easily picked up, so I feel like it is a bit different from being secretive though.

Apple, the adventurers of origin, and then, there’s the reverence towards a dragon that’s not Doma, but one that’s name is Futsu.

It is truly a mysterious citizen nature.

“I truly have not met Rokuya-sama for several decades, but he said to go down till the 10th floor by tomorrow. It seems like his absurdities are still going strong…no, it has grown stronger with time. Hm, but his appearance was the same as in the past.” (Shougetsu)

Shougetsu-san has been looking nostalgic since a while ago as he reminisced Rokuya’s image.

As long as I am not kidnapped by Alt floors, we can reach the 10th floor by tomorrow.

That’s not a big deal, and if that’s his challenge, it overlaps with our original objective anyways.

Absolutely no problems at all.

“Hokuto, can you construct a route that reaches till the 10th floor?” (Makoto)

I once again confirm with Hokuto who has been the number one person looking after the map.

And in reality, the 10th floor must have several different types as well, and there would be no point if we can’t go lower than the 10th floor after that.

In other words, it would be best if it is a 10th floor that has good prospects of continuing onto the 20th floor.

“Yeah, there’s no problems. That grand labyrinth has a troublesome structure where the number of teleport formations and the amount of types in that floor increase the lower you go and it becomes more complex as well, but…there’s a certain tendency it inclines to that can be used as reference.” (Hokuto)

The first floor, Entrance, was crazy spacious place, but according to the Arke’s lecture on the labyrinth that even I can understand, the amount of floor types from the 2nd floor on increase steadily.

It is certainly true that if I look at Garden and the Alt floor that followed after, Entrance felt more spacious.

“Continue.” (Makoto)

“Yes, Waka-sama. Putting it plain, the higher the floor’s difficulty, the higher the possibilities of that floor to continue lower. If we take into consideration the words of that Rokuya person, it would be more likely to throw us into the Alt floors if we were to pass those said floors fast.” (Hokuto)

I see.

The more difficult the floor is the more likely it is that it will lead to lower levels.

Since we have to reach the 10th floor in one day, I thought that being abducted by the Alt floors would be pretty troublesome so I enquired about it, but…Rokuya-san instantly said he would turn them off.

With those words into consideration, Hokuto had deduced the concrete conditions of being thrown into an Alt floor.

Yeah, I didn’t read it that far in.

It seems like this time around we will be able to ignore them, so let’s just be happy about it.

I think that’s fine, yeah.

“Making a comparison of difficulties of each floor types, as long as you go down the most dangerous floor marked in the map, you will be able to definitely find the teleport formation for the next most dangerous floor. Since we haven’t tested it yet, it will stay as a hypothesis, but I think it is plenty worth to try in tomorrow’s plan.” (Hokuto)

“Right. Then you are saying that we can continue on in the same route as today, and as long as we choose the most dangerous ones, it would be less likely to reach a dead end. What do you think, Tomoe, Mio? I am in favor of Hokuto’s proposal.” (Makoto)

“If it’s something that Waka has decided on, there’s no objections.” (Tomoe)

“Same here. If Hokuto has proved himself useful, it is an honor-desu wa.” (Mio)

“That’s great.” (Makoto)

From tomorrow on, there’s no worries of ending up alone, and we have established a route already, so I feel like we can advance to the 10th floor.

…No, I should head for even higher heights instead of being satisfied with only that.

The decision of which ones are the most dangerous floors can be done by Tomoe, Mio, and I.

We will probably experience several dead ends even with that.

There’s no need to waste time.

If possible, I want to return before an urgent message comes from Tsige after all.

“Hm? What’s wrong, Iroha-chan?” (Makoto)

I look at Iroha-chan who nervously lifted her hand.

“I probably have met two of those Adventurers of Origin-desu.” (Iroha)

“…Eh?”

“When I was betrayed by the adventurers I left together from town, I was saved by this person with a dancer-looking outfit named Haku Mokuren and a woman with a foreign country’s priest outfit named Ginebia.” (Iroha)

“…Princess… By the way, do you remember any other outward traits of those two aside from that?” (Yuduki)

Yuduki-san who has been silent up until now, opened her eyes wide when she heard the words of Iroha-chan, and asks her more about their outward appearance.

A dancer and a priest.

Rokuya-san was an assassin.

I wonder what kind of party were the Adventurers of Origin.

“The two of them have silver hair; Haku-san is cheerful and refreshing, but a graceful woman. Ginebia-san is prudent, composed, and a kind woman. Both of them looked like they got along incredibly well, and they called each other partner. Both were adult women.” (Iroha)

A dancer and a priest calling each other partners.

It is a grouping I wouldn’t be able to picture well.

Leaving aside the girl called Ginebia, I feel like the cheerful and refreshing part of Haku doesn’t coexist well with the trait of being graceful.

“I have not met those two, but it is certainly true that their traits are the same as the ones from the Ginebia-sama and the Haku Mokuren-sama from stories.” (Shougetsu)

“Yeah, also…it matches too well with the Haku Mokuren-sama and Ginebia-sama that saved my homeland 18 years ago.” (Yuduki)

“To think that the princess had met with them, moreover, you were saved by them.” (Shougetsu)

Shougetsu-san and Yuduki-san seem to be pondering something.

However, a great amount of question marks were floating over my head.

I was thinking: ‘Isn’t 18 years ago pretty recent?’.

They were talking about it as if that were something normal, and no one is retorting to that. What’s going on?

Is it really a succession of names?

“Uhm, I don’t understand how people that appear in fairy tales are able to appear 18 years ago though.” (Makoto)

I go ahead and ask.

“Ah, right. I haven’t spoken everything about that topic yet. To tell you the truth, the people of Apple continue to appear every now and then in Lorel’s history. Always, even in the present day.” (Shougetsu)

“They continue appearing in history? Always?” (Makoto)

“There hasn’t been any records these decade, but it is just as said. I have not spoken much about it to others and it isn’t an incident that has much to do with history, but the most recent records of Rokuya-sama is probably when I was trained by Rokuya-sama around 50 years ago.” (Shougetsu)

“…”

I don’t understand even more.

Are they really immortal?

“Sometimes, when there’s some sort of crisis, they declare their names as people of Apple and cooperate in resolving the matter without having any feelings of self-interest and once again leave. For some reason, it is only in this country. It is one of the mysteries in Lorel.” (Shougetsu)

“And you are saying their names and appearances are always the same?” (Makoto)

Everyone from the Lorel group nod except for Iroha-chan.

They don’t show any signs of joking. Instead, I sense a feeling that’s close to worship from them.

Unbelievable.

Isn’t this already in the boundaries of horror?

“What a strange story-ja no. And they are calling themselves the ‘Adventurers of Origin’?” (Tomoe)

“No, that’s not it, Tomoe-dono. They don’t call themselves in that way. It is just that, from the information we have of them, we decided on calling them that way on our own volition.” (Shougetsu)

“…What do you mean by that-ja?” (Tomoe)

“For example; the leader of Apple, Aznoval-sama, was a former swordsman; Rokuya-sama who you met not that long ago, was a former thief; the dancer Haku Mokuren-sama was a former archer; Ginebia-sama was a former apprentice priest; the blacksmith Black Smith had a history of being a merchant in the past.” (Shougetsu)

“Fumu, and?” (Tomoe)

“The present jobs of the adventurers, it is said that the basic form of those jobs and the ideas of those were taken as a reference from them, and in truth, that’s exactly how it is…and there’s not a single one of the Apple people affiliated with the adventurer guild.” (Shougetsu)

“…Hoh. It is true that it is interesting…but that’s on the same level as saying ‘which one was first, the chicken or the egg?’ kind of thing, isn’t it?” (Tomoe)

“Probably. However, leaving aside things like a swordsman to a knight, and an ascetic practitioner into a priest; why is it that a thief grows into being an assassin, and why is it that an archer opens the path to being a dancer? Why is it that you can’t get the smithing skills unless you are a merchant? We consider that the adventurer guild used the brave people of Apple as a cornerstone.” (Shougetsu)

“…I see. Hearing that, it can serve as a decent explanation, and it would be pointless to hear all of it. But…it might be possible they used them as reference. The Adventurer Guild is not something that Root would be able to create from the memories of only one person after all. And it is not like he can do the same things as me anyways.” (Tomoe)

Tomoe does a short sigh and begins thinking about something else, she turns her view away from Shougetsu-san.

Shougetsu-san looked like he wanted to continue speaking, and I ended up locking eyes with him.

Well, it seems to be interesting, so let’s listen for a bit more.

“At present, in order to become a holy knight, you can’t simply be registered in the adventurer guild and turn from a swordsman into a knight, you also have to pile up a certain amount of religious experience. It would be too late by the time you are a knight, and conversely, if a priest that has gathered enough religious experience tries to learn the way of the sword, they wouldn’t be able to become holy knights. This is because the job branching alignments are different. That’s what they have told us.” (Shougetsu)

“The job branching…” (Makoto)

I remember the online games I played at Japan.

Like high ranked jobs and branching jobs.

It is truly that way of thinking.

Swordsman to knight or holy knight; ascetic apprentice to monk or priest.

In those cases, no matter how much an ascetic apprentice learns the sword, that person won’t be able to become a holy knight.

They wouldn’t be able to equip a sword to begin with.

But in reality, you should have the freedom to decide if you want to begin learning the sword or endeavour in religion. Whichever the origin, you should be able to become a holy knight. That’s what I think.

But that’s not the case in this world, moreover, an organization called Apple gave an explanation with words like ‘job branching’, and in truth, there’s a strange one way path in the jobs.

And then, there’s the human-loving Root.

…

Is that how it is?

“But well. Haku Mokuren is called a dancer, but her job is actually Muse Dancer; it is a job that the adventurer guild has not been able to confirm, an unknown job. Ginebia-sama’s job is similar in that sense, its name is Over Mash; the other members are also the same, and are said to possess incredible power.” (Shougetsu)

Yeah, it is true that I have never heard about those.

Or more like, Ginebia-san is a priest, right?

Her job doesn’t give me the image of praying though. Must be my imagination.

Iroha-chan did say that she is composed and kind after all.

“In that case, the abnormal presence of that Rokuya person, I should consider it a special skill? That technique that was on the level of changing perception itself. It was on a level I wanted to make it my own though.” (Mio)

Mio talks about that stealth of Rokuya-san.

Don’t joke around.

Please let it be a super special rare unique skill.

An ultimate attack would be perfect.

With only the imitation of Reft’s reflect ability, Shiki and Tamaki are already in tears.

“Okay! Anyways, I will be counting on everyone to work hard in the grand labyrinth tomorrow! And so, I won’t be able to take much care of you guys, so Shougetsu-san’s group, be careful. The whole town reeks of danger after all.” (Makoto)

“I will keep it to just the minimum information gathering. It is embarrassing to say, but we still haven’t decided on our plan yet.” (Shougetsu)

“Let’s at least be grateful that the hotel is safe.” (Makoto)

“That’s true.”

“Then, time to sleep—” (Makoto)

“It is obviously fine for us to be first to the bath, right Shougetsu?” (Tomoe)

Eh?

This pattern again?

“W-Well, of course. We are in your care after all.” (Shougetsu)

“Good. Then, Waka.” (Tomoe)

“Let’s go, Waka-sama. We will be missing Iroha, so…Shii, you come. I will allow it.” (Mio)

Huh?

“M-M-M-Me?!” (Shii)

Being suddenly thrown that, Shii fell into panick.

And I raised the white flag.

We two, who were being carried by Tomoe and Mio, were taken to the bath.

But Shii, if it were Eris who you respect so much, she would say ‘Yes, sir!’ without a single shred of hesitation.

As I thought, your roots are more similar to those of Akua.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“That face…did it not work, Rokuya-san?”

“Sorry there! He was an interesting guy, you know? You definitely gotta meet him! I have turned the Alt floors off for a few days, so take care of that, okay?!” (Rokuya)

“O-Off. No well, I’m okay with that though. Trying to seriously manage them is a pain anyways.”

20th floor of the grand labyrinth.

For the people living there, this place has been called Rosegarden.

First floor Entrance, tenth floor Palace, and the twentieth floor Rosegarden.

These floors are floors that only have one type.

The light is taken in from the outside with a special method, so those floors are bright.

By utilizing this, you can do farming and also hunting.

That’s right. Rosegarden has no need for economic activity, it is completely self-sufficient.

If you wanted to, you would be able to continue living without influencing the world at all.

At a section of it, at the deep parts of the residential area, Rokuya was talking with someone.

“No well, I also think it is interesting. It has been a while since that has happened. But you know, at this time…it is just…”

“Even though he is a hyuman, he possesses power that surpasses that of humans. A pure breed Elf, a Superior Dragon and the Black Calamity disguised as hyumans, a child of the calamity, Iori’s favorite sword, and an Elder Dwarf. On top of that, one princess of Kannaoi.” (Rokuya)

“…Is this the feeling of a super big event?”

“I have stopped joking about those kind of things, but…well, in the past, I would have said that. The people above ground are in that state after all.” (Rokuya)

“More than half of that is because of the hero, right? If that’s the case, I am somewhat responsible for it, so I kind of want to do something about it though.”

The tone of the man that was talking about his connection with the hero was somewhat heavy.

“…What’s with that tone?” (Rokuya)

“If he is neutral, I would want to meet him, seriously. My standing right now is a bit complicated. Putting it plainly, if I were to meet Raidou, there’s one girl who would snap.”

“…I have not heard anything about that though.” (Rokuya)

Rokuya narrows his eyes at the words of the man.

From what Rokuya knows, the Kuzunoha Company and their employees have no bad connections with the members here.

“Right. It seems like the habitual actions of Raidou are not that good. Just like me.”

“It didn’t look that way to me.” (Rokuya)

“Do you know Pione from Rosegarden?”

“If I remember correctly, I spoke with her a few times. She was a diligent girl.” (Rokuya)

Rokuya digs out the memory of a girl.

He met her recently; a bright, eager about everything, and an adventurer that has worked hard.

She entered the mercenary group, and has begun fitting into the residents of the 20th floor.

His impression of her was good.

“Yeah, her reputation around was good as well. Her ability was also decent. That girl’s close friend…got her head crushed by Raidou. Not that long ago.”

“…Oh. And that has been known by this Pione girl?” (Rokuya)

“That’s right. Pione herself brought that girl here, and asked me to release the charm of the Empire’s hero from her. And yet…she escaped in the middle together with her companions. The event with Raidou happened while Pione was in the middle of searching for them.”

“…”

“Aside from the person herself, her other two companions were killed in an instant as well. Ah, the other two weren’t close enough to be called friends, they were more like acquaintances. Right now, Pione is…”

“Are you saying, not only will they not talk, they will end up fighting?” (Rokuya)

“I won’t ask for the assistance of the people of Apple, and I also don’t have the authority for that anyways. It will probably turn out as you say. We are at home here and the Marikosans have increased a lot in numbers. On top of that, Picnic Rosegarden and I will be meeting the enemy. I am sorry for them but…we won’t lose.”

“Are you and the Marikosans going to mobilize as well?” (Rokuya)

“When I was resting here, Pione took care of me after all. I am sorry for Raidou, but I will be taking her side.”

The words were said lightly, but it didn’t sound like a joke.

Even after hearing the battle force that Raidou possesses, he declared that he will be opposing Raidou.

“This must be what people call ‘Fate’.” (Rokuya)

“It might be exactly that. If I didn’t know her, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“…But this is interesting!” (Rokuya)

“Hah?”

“Wouldn’t that mean I will be able to see something incredibly interesting?! I don’t know about the others, but I will…right, let’s take the disadvantageous side. Hahaha!” (Rokuya)

“You say that with such ease.”

“I have been in worse situations than these after all. Also, I know about you, Raidou, and Vivi. Well, I don’t know much about Raidou though. But I can somewhat tell, you know. That things will settle somewhat harmoniously.” (Rokuya)

“You are saying things similar to Azu-san. Could it be, you have been influenced by that person? I have my hands full with just one, so please spare me more.”

“Hahahaha!! You really have your way with words huh. But I feel the same way!” (Rokuya)

A conversation that Raidou wouldn’t find amusing at all was being exchanged at the deepest parts of the grand labyrinth.

He will probably only notice that he was caught in an extra-large trap by the time he meets with his negotiation target who has already hardened their forces to attack.

The future of the Kuzunoha Company’s grand labyrinth exploration is still unclear.