68 Episode 67 Demon Net and The Championship

We flew as we were told, and in less than a day we arrived at what seemed to be the city we were looking for.

It was a city that jutted out into the sea and had a wall built against it.

With its red brick roofs, it's easy to spot.

...... at first glance, it looks more peaceful than Photoren and less like a frontline city.

As I descended to the ground and passed through the city gates, I realized that the city was strangely bustling.

There were people everywhere, and people everywhere.

I've never seen so many people even in a relatively large city like Photoren.

There were also food stalls, and it looked like a festival of the earth.

Is it always like this at ......?

No, I don't think so.

If there are always this many people here, there should be stores, not stalls.

It might be a real festival or something, and I wonder if I can find a place to stay.

I found a suitable inn and went in, where I found a well-dressed woman working as a shopkeeper.

I asked her.

"Excuse me, can I stay here?

"Hmm?　Oh, the room is not open yet. 　Didn't you make a reservation?

Reservation?

Well, you can't get a room at a hotel the day before a salvage festival without a reservation.

A salvage festival? ...... No, I didn't even know there was a festival. Well, if there's no accommodation, I'll just stay out in the open.

I don't think it's dangerous for me to stay out in the open, and if it's the wrong time of the year, it can't be helped.

But you came here to see the sights, and you're camping out? ......

I would welcome a festival, because it would be more interesting for sightseeing.

You should do that. 　I recommend you to stay on the flat land side because it's quite safe. 　I'm sure there's plenty of room in the Riviera, but ...... it's not possible.

The Riviera?

You've never heard of the Riviera? It's a very expensive hotel for aristocrats and wealthy merchants. 　It's so big and so expensive that not many people stay there, so even at this time of year there are rooms available. 　Even so, the cheapest rooms seem to be booked up.

...... How much does it cost per night, by the way?

"The cheapest room is about 300,000 yen. 　You can live for a year with that much.

All right, thank you very much.

Three hundred thousand, three large gold coins.

...... I don't know if my money sense is wrong, but it doesn't seem too expensive.

If you're a master lumberjack in Decibatore (but you don't cut down trees, you blow them up), you can make that amount in less than five minutes.

I heard that the cheapest room at that price is occupied, but you can stay in any other room for less than three million yen.

Okay, let's go.

This is necessary for rest and relaxation, a necessary expense.

I asked the guards for directions (I thought they would find me since I was wearing armor, but they couldn't due to the crowds, so I finally had to use my appraisal to find them) and headed in the direction they told me, toward the center of town, and a building that looked like it appeared.

It was as tall as a four-story building, and as wide as a block of land that had been cut through by more than ten houses.

The depth of the building must be equivalent to that of a four-story building.

It is probably the largest building I have ever seen in this world, excluding its exterior walls.

I wonder how much it costs to maintain.

It could be an entire suite.

The sheer size of the building makes me feel a little self-conscious, but I make my way into the front building.

Standing in front of the reception counter made of smooth bluish stone, which I had never seen before, I was asked what I wanted.

"Welcome. 　Are you staying?

Oh, the honorific.

I don't know if it's the correct honorific for a hotel on Earth, but it sounds like it.

It's not strange that it's different since we are not on Earth but on another world.

"Yes, I'm staying. 　I don't have a reservation, but are there any rooms available?

The Alpha rooms are occupied, but the Beta and Gamma rooms are available.

Type β?　Type β? Type γ?

I don't know the difference between them.

There is a price list at the counter, and it says 300,000 per night for Type Alpha, 500,000 per night for Type Beta, and 1,000,000 per night for Type Gamma.

In other words, from the bottom to the top, alpha, beta, and gamma.

The letters are not alphabetical (I can read them as such), which may be a combination of the adventurer's rank.

Well, I guess I'll go with beta for now, since it's a substitute for camping.

"Well, let's go with Beta.

The hotel's service was excellent, as the impression I got from the appearance, the front desk, and the price.

The room was larger than the Guild of Decibatore, even though it was for a single person, and it even had a bath.

The only drawback is that it is too big and uncomfortable.

It doesn't feel like a 'place to stay'.

Then I asked the innkeeper (I don't know what he was called, but he was an employee of the inn, something like a butler) what the salvage festival was, and I went to sleep to prepare for the next day.

Apparently, a salvage festival is a festival using tools such as "demon nets" and "big demon nets".

A "demon net" is a kind of seine net that is pulled by a small group of adventurers, who pull out the aquatic demons themselves and beat them to a pulp.

Because it is aided by artifacts for this purpose, it is said that it can pull out most of the monsters with the magic power of a normal person.

It is said that just one of these artifacts is enough to create a network of demons in a wide area.

The weight of the demons defeated by the magic tools by the day before the last day of the three-day festival will be compared, and the top party will receive a prize.

The big demon net is a bigger version of the one drawn by many people, and is used on the last day.

There is a record that once, a long time ago, a dragon was pulled out of the net and a disaster occurred.

It's a terrible thing to do, but it's necessary because if you don't do it, the demons will accumulate in the sea and accidents are more likely to happen.

Well, the probability of a second accident happening when I'm here is close to zero, so there's no point in worrying about it.

The next day.

I had come to the guild's special registration desk to participate in the salvage festival.

There were about ten counters set up, but only one was in operation at the moment.

There was only one party in front of me at the counter.

"Next, please.

"Yes.

I go to the counter and show my guild card.

"Are you alone?　Even if you are a C-ranked wizard, it is highly unlikely that you will have enough magic power to prepare a net solo, so I don't recommend it.

There is no one I want to team up with. It's not like I'm aiming to win.

There is also the option of forming a stray party, but I don't think that will be necessary.

If I'm not enough, it probably won't be enough even if I gather the magic of everyone here.

That's why you have to have the dragons draw the net.

"All right. Registration complete. Good luck.

Okay.

There's still time before the festival starts, that is, before the artifact is activated.

We need to get a good spot before then.

On the part of the beach near the front of the city, there are already groups of adventurers standing at roughly even intervals.

The number of adventurers seems to be six, which is the maximum number for any group.

Even now, demons seem to be crawling up from time to time, and battles with demons are taking place here and there.

Well, it looks like it's all filled up, but there's still a good spot at ......

I found it.

Now that I've found a good spot, I'm going to set up there.

It's on the ocean.

There's no one around, and the artifact is in effect.

No one is doing it because there is no reason to fight on the sea, but it's not against the rules either.

"Hey, what's with the wizard?

"It's not like you can't use a net ...... on the ocean, but what's the point?

I've never heard of it.

I mean, it's a waste of magic power.

The adventurers tied up on the narrow land are talking about something, but it's none of my business.

It's not my fault that there's no room.

I thought about using an upside-down landslide to create a new land, but I decided against it because it might have a negative impact on the ecosystem.

The start is announced by the bell in the tower in the center of the town.

At the top of the tower is a large, glowing red jewel.

It seems to have been found in a burnt-out area a long time ago, and its glow used to diminish by the time of the festival.

The last couple of years, though, it has not lost its glow even during the festival season.

While I was gazing at the jewel, a fat man came up to the tower.

I wondered if he was an important person or something.

I wonder if he's a big man or something. He's going to say something like ......

"Let the salvage festival begin!

What, they're just going to start without saying anything?

There were cheers from the people around me, and they all started to prepare the nets at once.

And then there's the chanting of the spell to make the net.

"Demon net, deploy!

I also cast a spell, make a net, and pull it in.

The magic consumption seems to be at a level where it recovers before you can see your MP decrease.

The speed of the pull is comparable to that of a party of six, since it is forced by flight magic,.......

If you're looking for the best way to get rid of them, you're going to have to find a way to get rid of them in the air.

From hermit crab-like creatures to ordinary fish-like creatures, they all fall prey to the pressure magic.

They are stored in the item box.

Incidentally, it seems that the monsters cannot be stored alive.

"Demon net deployed!

Once you've decided how to deal with the demons, the rest is just work.

All you have to do is to move around as you see fit, efficiently pulling them up and down, then pulling them up and down again.

Your item box will fill up with demons in no time.

I wonder if this pace is fast enough.

The results were revealed the following evening at the end of the salvage competition.

The winner was Kaede, a mysterious C-rank wizard from Decibatore!　This is the first time in history that someone other than a party of six has won a tournament, and it's an unprecedented feat for a solo player to win by three times the margin of second place!　Now, Kaede, what would you like to say?

I made a mistake, I completely forgot about the honesty and the fact that if I win, I'll be conspicuous for nothing.

Well, there's no reason to avoid standing out. ......

Well, let's play it safe for the interview.

Let's play it safe for the interview, and I'll advertise it.

That's great, thank you very much. 　Thank you very much. It will be a good advertisement for our company.

"Oh, Kaede, you're safe!　What a boring interview for the results!　Can I ask you to redo ......?

He asked me to redo it.

I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not, but I think it's a good idea.

"Whether you're a dragon or a boat killer, you're no better than a killifish in my hands!　Come at me!

"Yes, thank you very much. 　Kaede will receive the first prize, a giant mithril harpoon, and a second prize of 100,000 Tells!　Let's have a big round of applause!

When I received the harpoon on the platform with one hand, I was greeted with applause and cheers from the people around me.

I wondered what was so funny about this huge harpoon that was three meters long.

Well, this was fun, so that's good.

The salvage festival seemed to be ending without a hitch.

But as we started to pull out the second main event, the big monster net, something strange happened.

I was in the back of the boat pulling the net, but there was a noise in front of me.

I listened carefully and heard, "It's Mr. Revere! There he is!" "There he is! and so on.

Mr. Revere...... sounds familiar.

I wonder if there is such a celebrity.

The scene ahead seems to be a reaction to something more terrifying than a celebrity. ......

While I was thinking about it, everyone around me was running away.

What the hell is going on here, Mr. Revere?