kscans

Chapter 106 - Labyrinth Castle

After visiting Mist's Mansion, Hayato, along with Ash and the others, had come to a place called "Labyrinth Castle" in the imperial territory.

It was a castle that had been expanded so much it had become like a maze, and it was now a den of monsters. The setting was that this castle was abandoned over a hundred years ago, so it was also simply called the old castle.

The purpose of their visit was an item called "Broken Dullahan Armor." This place was teeming with Undead-type monsters, and Dullahans also roamed here as part of the Undead category.

A Dullahan was a knight in armor without a head, said to be the ghost of a knight who was beheaded.

Hayato didn't care about such settings. What was important was the "Broken Dullahan Armor" that he could get from defeating Dullahans. By using the Blacksmithing Skill on it, he could create a piece of armor called Dullahan Armor, which reduced damage from Dark attribute attacks and Necromancy.

He had to mass-produce this armor for Ney's group and the mercenary group, which was why he had come here with Ash and the others.

Normally, Hayato, who was not a combatant, would not need to come here, but he had a skill called "Dismantling Knowledge." This skill increased the number and rarity of item drops from monsters.

The reason was that it was quite a hassle to get to this old castle, so they wanted to increase the item drops as much as possible.

The members were Hayato, Ash, Ren, and Relic, four people. It was unusual for Relic to be in the party compared to their usual lineup.

"It has been a while since I have come to a place like this."

"I'm sorry to ask this of you today, Relic-san. I thought I'd ask for your help since you have the gloves with the Undead Special Attack."

"Not at all. If this old body can be of any use, please use me as you wish. You have helped with the recovery of the Butler Guild, and the conflict with the Maid Guild has shown signs of improvement, albeit gradually. This is all thanks to Hayato-sama. I have been told by headquarters to listen to Hayato-sama's requests."

"It helps to hear you say that."

(Is the conflict with the Maid Guild really about to improve?)

He had heard through Esha that Relic and the Maid Chief had been dining together several times. Esha welcomed the Maid Chief being in a good mood and had even told Relic to invite her to dinner every day.

The real reason for the meals was supposed to be that the Maid Chief just wanted to eat with Relic, but the official story was that they were consulting on how to resolve the conflict between the Maid Guild and the Butler Guild. It seemed the lie had become a reality.

Hayato didn't care either way, but he let out a small sigh, thinking he could never tell them the real reason.

As he was thinking that, Ash looked at Relic.

"Diite isn't here today, so we don't have any recovery magic. Our only means of healing are the dishes or medicine Hayato made, so I want you to be careful. The same goes for me, but in terms of defense, there isn't much difference between you and Ren."

"Yes, I will be careful."

"I'll be careful too!"

The other members were out gathering materials for recovery support in other places. Diite's case was a little different. She was in the middle of investigating Veru and the Genesis Dragons, and had sent a voice chat saying she couldn't get away for a while.

Ney's group was out getting materials for musical instruments. The flute and trumpet used the Crafting Skill, but the material was metal. They didn't use Adamantite, so gathering materials for these two wasn't particularly difficult.

However, the violin was made with the Woodworking Skill, and in addition to wood, it required "Horse Tail." This item was sometimes sold in NPC shops, but due to the influence of the Stampede, it wasn't being sold anywhere.

So they had to defeat horse-type monsters and aim for the item drop. It wouldn't be good for their image to target ordinary rideable horses, unicorns, or pegasi, so the target monster was an eight-legged horse called Sleipnir.

This Sleipnir was a fairly strong type of monster, boasting strength comparable to the giant wolf Fenrir, but it wasn't very popular with tamers.

It wasn't as fast as Fenrir and didn't use magic. It didn't fly like a griffon or a pegasus, and for the simple reason that it was just a strong horse, its taming difficulty and strength were not proportional. In the tamer community, it was just a collector's monster.

Maris was indignant about this and had huffed, "I will definitely tame one later!"

With such thoughts, he walked through the old castle.

Basically, there were no zombie-like Undead here. The majority were the Dullahans they came to defeat, and ghostly Undead like ghosts.

Physical attacks were less effective against ghostly monsters, but it was still possible to attack them. Deeper in the old castle, or rather, higher up, stronger ghostly monsters appeared, but the area where the Dullahans were had only weak monsters, so physical attacks alone were not that much of a threat.

Still, Hayato and the others proceeded deeper, careful not to be overconfident.

In the great hall where Dullahans spawned in large numbers, there were two other parties who seemed to have the same idea. It was currently morning on a weekday. It would probably get more crowded at night.

Basically, when a monster was defeated, a new one would appear in a few minutes. The spawn location was random, but the general area was fixed. Hayato and his group moved to a place where they wouldn't have to fight over Dullahans with the other parties and made that their campsite.

Even though it was called a campsite, it wasn't like they were actually pitching a tent. It was just a strategic base from which they would hunt monsters.

Ash used a skill called War Cry, a sort of roar that gathered Hate Value, to lure the nearby Dullahans to this campsite.

And then they beat the approaching Dullahans to a pulp. It looked sad from an outsider's perspective, but it couldn't be helped. All monsters were equipped with AI, but it wasn't a high-performance AI like Diite's. They would charge in even if they knew they would be defeated.

(If even the monsters around here had AI on par with Diite-chan's, the game would be impossible. Well, even if it's not AI, it's tough when the opponent is human.)

The previous event, the Clan War, had been player versus player. That had been tough in its own way, but this Stampede was also against Veru and the other dragons, who were humans, not AI. From Hayato's perspective, knowing the situation, this was also a player versus player battle.

It probably wouldn't be a problem if it were just fighting, but in Veru's case, he would come up with countermeasures outside of the Stampede battles. He made the moderate dragons switch sides and even told Hayato to back off.

For most players, it didn't really matter whether they won or lost this Stampede event. It was enough for them to earn contribution points and get prize money.

However, for Hayato, who knew the various circumstances, he didn't want to lose this event. And he had various questions and problems.

The existence of an administrator other than Diite, the secret of the treasure Veru mentioned, and the serious situation with Ash and Ren.

Many things were troubling.

"Hayato, what's wrong? You don't need to fight, but it's dangerous if you're just standing there daydreaming."

"Ah, sorry, I was just thinking. How's the progress?"

"Thanks to your skill, the drop rate is high. And with Relic here, we're defeating monsters quickly. I think we've gathered a fair amount, but there's still room in my item bag, so I plan to continue. We're taking a short break now."

"Got it. I'll cook something then."

The one who reacted fastest to Hayato's words was Ren.

"Bucket Pudding, please!"

"You really like that, don't you? But I didn't bring a bucket today, so I can't make it. You'll have to make do with regular pudding."

"That's a shame. If you didn't have regular pudding either, I might have cursed you, but you've been spared for now, Hayato-san..."

"I'd rather not have a life-or-death snack time... By the way, Ren-chan, why do you like curses so much?"

Hayato asked while making the pudding.

He knew that Ren was a collector of cursed items, but he didn't know the reason. That said, he had just brought it up as a topic of conversation and wasn't particularly interested in it.

Ren, who was asked the question, crossed her arms and thought for some reason.

"Huh? Is it something you have to think about?"

"No, I feel like there was some kind of trigger, but I've forgotten it. But I feel like I've been holding a cursed doll since I can remember. Where did I put that doll...?"

(Since she can remember? Ah, this is bad. Has she been a curse enthusiast since before she entered virtual reality? Then it's not good to stimulate her memory any further. Diite-chan said it should be fine unless something extreme happens, but since I don't know what could be a trigger, this conversation is over.)

"Hayato, can I have a word?"

Just as he was about to change the subject, Ash put his hand on Hayato's shoulder and brought his face close. He turned his back to Ren and Relic, taking care not to be overheard.

"Ash? What's wrong? You look a little scary."

"Ren is definitely cute. You could even say she's the cutest in the world. I understand being interested, but consider her age. She's too young for you, isn't she? Wait at least three more years."

"Pardon?"

"By the way, I won't give Ren to anyone who isn't stronger than me. I know you're strong even without combat power, Hayato, but you're not there yet. I need you to be able to defeat a dragon by yourself."

"That dragon you're talking about isn't you, is it? Anyway, that's not why I asked. It was just a conversation starter. On the level of 'nice weather today,' you know. Stop looking at me like that. Oh, right, Ash, do you know Noat Vabeck?"

He desperately threw out another topic to distract Ash, who was staring at him with serious eyes.

"Noat Vabeck? I've heard that name somewhere before."

Perhaps Relic heard Ash's words as well. Relic said, "Oh my," and approached Hayato and the others.

"I heard a nostalgic name. Do you know Noat, Hayato-sama?"

"Yes, actually, I was planning to ask you too, Relic-san. It seems Noat-san is staying at Mist-san's mansion."

"So she is staying there now. Then, the members of the orchestra as well?"

"It seems so. I've only heard about it and haven't met them, but they're holding a soiree when the mansion is repaired. They'll be performing music there. All the clan members have been invited, so I hope you'll join us then."

"That sounds wonderful."

Relic looked happy, but Ash tilted his head and muttered, "Noat Vabeck?"

Perhaps taking pity on him, Ren whispered to Ash in a small voice.

"Big brother, you know, the 'Prima Donna'."

"Oh, her. I've heard her sing once. I forget where, though."

"I know you're busy with the Stampede, but I think you need a break sometimes, so please come to the soiree."

Ash was a little surprised by Hayato's words. Then he let out a big sigh and smiled.

"You're right. My members have been telling me to relax more, so it might be good to take a break. But coming to a place like this is a pretty good break for me, you know? It feels good to just swing my sword without thinking about anything."

"That sounds a little dangerous when you put it like that, but I'm glad to hear it. Well, leave the preparations to me, and you can just focus during the Stampede, Ash. You should relax more on a daily basis. I think Esha's way of life is a good model."

Ash snorted a little at those words and said, "I'm going to tell Esha you said that," while laughing and patting Hayato's back. Thinking that Ash, who had snorted, was just as guilty, Hayato started cooking and served the food to Ash and the others.

Then the break was over, and they hunted more Dullahans.

After obtaining enough items, Hayato and the others returned to their base.