Episode 5.1

Lecan saw a familiar man standing in front of his inn when he got there.

It's Chaney's messenger.

"My master would like to have dinner with you."

Lecan got back to his room and wiped his body with water before following the man to a high-class restaurant in the shopping district.

After being led to a private room and drinking the alcohol there, Chaney soon arrived.

Lecan is not fond of extravagant food and having to dine together in a private room.

However, today he had just been thinking of discussing something with someone that could be trusted in private, and Chaney wouldn't mind him acting frankly either. On top of that, they're accompanied by good food and good drink, there's simply no better opportunity than this.

"Hello there Lecan-san, I'm glad that you seem to be doing well. And it looks like you've managed to be Shira-shi's apprentice."

"I'm in your debt. Sorry for not telling you earlier."

This place is a high-class establishment in the shopping district.

Chaney entertained Lecan without holding back. Both the alcohol and the food were superb. The drink today stimulated Lecan's thought process and got him in a very good mood.

"Have you shown Shira-shi the strange weapon <Cold-blooded> Marakis carried with him?"

"To Shira? No."

"Then, I think it's a good idea to show it to her later."

This implied that Chaney knew about Lecan holding the same thing Marakis used to attack Chaney, but Lecan did not realize this fact at this time.

"Hou."

"That was something the lord here brought through Shira-shi as a middleman. Oh but this is a secret."

"What."

"It was made by Shira-shi's friend, a magic tool engineer who's living in the royal capital, so I heard."

"Is that so."

"Were there no such weapons at Lecan-san's hometown?"

"Nope, never saw something like that. But..."

At first, Lecan found those weapons very intriguing since he never thought that weapons could have such shapes before. However, in Lecan's world, wands that could cast red fireball, or white fireball or blue fireball existed. Or rather, he's got several of those in his <Storage>.

He was going to explain that to Chaney, but an alarm bell blared in his head.

Shira had warned Lecan not to let merchants and noblemen become aware of his <Storage>. Those who would do anything to make Lecan their slave would pop up everywhere if he did.

When he thinks about it, that's not limited to just Storage.

Even that Shira got bewildered by the magic gem of an otherworld dragon. Several items of that class are sleeping inside Lecan's <Storage>. Along with other valuable items. Even if they aren't of that much value to Lecan, that's not the case to this world's merchants and nobles.

He will be targeted if it's known that he possesses something like that.

It's one thing if him yielding those items would be the end of it. However, there is no way to prove whether there's still something or not in his <Storage>. Boundless greed will go after Lecan forever.

Chaney may feel indebted to Lecan, he may be virtuous, but he's still a merchant. He would likely find out quite a lot about Lecan's items and abilities were he given even a little bit of hint. And first-rate merchants are armed with the wiles to obtain something they want. On the other hand, Lecan is not good with words. He's bad at expressing himself. In short, it's a losing battle should he attempt it.

He must not give him any clue. Talking about his original world is prohibited in front of Chaney.

"Yes, and what would that 'but' entail?"

"No, it's nothing. Forget that, I was just thinking of seeing you."

"Oh that's nice to hear. Is there anything I can be of service with."

"Please teach me about dungeons."

"Dungeons? But Shira-shi would have been much more knowledgeable about such things."

Lecan explained.

Shira is tired, she's taking 10 days rest. In fact, she's currently sleeping soundly. He was told to [Go to dungeons] like getting chased out.

"Hahaha. I see. However, for Lecan-san, this will be your pilot opportunity to challenge the dungeons in this world. If that's the case, I shall tell you what I know. However, my knowledge about dungeons is fragmentary and not perfect. Also, everything is a hearsay, so there may be some unexpected part that's not true. By the way, as you're going to Golbul dungeon, would you like to get a map?"

"Map? Dungeons have maps?"

"Yes. They are a commodity. Some merchants that deal with them live in this town. I will have it delivered to you by tomorrow if you wish so."

"What's on those dungeons maps, what are they good for?"

"At minimum, sketches of each floors and the location of stairways are drawn on a map. Since Golbul Dungeon is quite spacious, knowing where the stairways are located is quite handy for adventurers who want to quickly reach a certain floor. Cheaper maps would only have one stairway among many drawn on them. And the slightly better maps will have information about spawned magic beasts and their locations. If you know which magic beasts will spawn, you can make all kinds of preparations beforehand. The best maps will have types of drops, and records about treasure chest spawns."

"What are stairways?"

"Eh? Since dungeons are divided by floors, you have to use stairways to go up and down between floors."

"You can go to the next floor without beating the boss?"

"Could you tell me what this 'boss' is."

<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka.com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>

"Bosses present in Boss Rooms."

"Well now, what are these Boss Rooms."

The disjointed back and forth continued for a while before Lecan learned about the outline of this world's dungeons.

First of all, dungeons have floors. Golbul Dungeon has 30 floors.

You can go down a floor through a stairway. If a floor has a small field, there will be only one stairway, but in case of Golbul Dungeon, the largest floor has five stairways while the smallest has two.

There are no prerequisites to use those stairways. Anyone can pass through it at anytime.

The lower the floor the tougher the enemies. What magic beasts spawn at which floors are mostly set. However, rare magic beasts do occasionally appear on dungeon floors, and sometimes you'd encounter tough ones.

There is no way to skip floors. You have to traverse through 29 floors to reach Floor 30, and then traverse back up through all the 29 floors again when you want to return to surface from Floor 30.

There are no floor bosses. Neither do boss rooms. There however exists a powerful magic beast on each floor, as if representing those floors, defeating them yield a relatively high chance of spawning treasure chests.

Defeating magic beasts net you materials and magic gems. They turn into sand if you take their magic gems out.

Sometimes a treasure chest will spawn if the body of a defeated magic beast disappears the moment it dies. Treasure chests contain rare items. Which are mostly medicines, protection stones, weapons, armor, accessories, jewels and other stuff. Medicines gotten from treasure chests are of superb quality and will never deteriorate. The highest peak of such medicine is <God Cure>, capable of healing any kind of injury and illness, dispelling curses, and even restoring lost limbs. One of it appeared in Golbul Dungeon around three years ago. However, that is one that appeared publicly, it is said that there's a not an insignificant number of <God Cures> circulating behind the public awareness.

A Dungeon Master exists in the lowest floor of every dungeon. The moment the Dungeon Master of a dungeon is defeated, all other monsters in the dungeon will instantly vanish, and won't spawn back until the Dungeon Master is respawned in a matter of days or weeks. As such, nobles that manage dungeons dislike having dungeon masters beaten. However, killing a dungeon master is an act of prestige, they cannot publicly forbid people from doing it.

When a new dungeon is found, the king will send out a noble tasked to manage it. In this country, towns are built around dungeons besides the royal capital one, the dungeon's name will follow after that town's name.

Some dungeons require entry fee, but Golbul Dungeon has none.

There is no qualification to enter a dungeon. This country has established that anyone can freely enter any dungeon. However, town lords are able to prohibit someone from entering a dungeon as long as they have a reason, and there are some dungeons that give advisories to those attempting it. In case of Golbul Dungeon, guards are stationed around its entrance, and they issue an advisory that discourage those who are too young or lacking equipment to enter the dungeon.

Murders and thefts are not counted as crimes if done inside a dungeon, however adventurers do not like to go after each other and tend to avoid each other as much as possible. However, adventurers that specialize in assaulting other adventurers do exist.

There are no advisories about groups, but most adventurers go in a group of five to ten as too many people will only complicate traversal and loot distribution. Since going alone or in a pair is too dangerous, if someone doesn't have a companion, they usually form a temporary group in the open space before the dungeon entrance.

"Most people do not attempt to enter a dungeon alone, but I'm guessing that Lecan-san will."

"Yeah."

"I suppose no magic beast nor adventurer could frighten you. But please be aware of the knights serving Earl Golbul."

"Hou. They're tough huh."

"Please don't look so happy. Rather than tough, they're more bothersome."

"So they gonna pick a fight."

"Oh they will. They will follow adventurers who've obtained themselves nice items everywhere and extort those items out at a cheap price after making up some faults about those adventurers. If you don't comply, they will spread rumors about you getting those items through unjust means."

"Killing or pilfering inside a dungeon isn't counted as a crime though?"

"It is not. However, if a really bad rumor spread, it will make it hard to do anything."

"Makes sense."

"Also, this happened last year. A nobleman who was related to Earl Golbul attempted to explore the dungeon with his subordinates. But then, they met a crushing defeat by the hands of floor magic beasts. That nobleman possessed a famed sword with Grace, and a certain adventurer picked up that sword. Everything found in a dungeon belong to those who picked it up."

"Grace?"

"Sometimes weapons, armor and accessories found inside treasure chests have special effects that increase your ability. Those effects are called Graces. Even if the weapon itself is mediocre, just having Graces alone will raise its value very high."

"What about that sword."

"The adventurer was going to use the sword as his own. However, after persistently being pestered by the earl subordinates who vehemently argued that stuff obtained in the dungeon should be put up on auction, he caved in to the pressure and put the sword on auction."

"Fumu. Must have sold for cheap."

"Yes. It was one silver coin."

"That's terrible. Was it the earl strong-arming?"

"Only the earl's reps could participate in that auction. The earl subordinates who were guarding the auction's entrance restrained everyone who tried to go in under suspicion of acting suspiciously."

"I see. I got a general understanding about the kind of person this earl is. I owe you one."

"Are you sure you don't need information about magic beasts?"

"No need. Less thing to look forward to then. But I'd like to reach deep enough floor without taking too much time, so can you get me a map with stairway locations."

"I understand. I shall have it delivered to your inn. And, if you don't mind me asking."

"What is it?"

"The earl considers items acquired in Golbul Dungeon, be it materials, goods, or magic gems, should be sold in Golbul Town. As such, you're required to sell a number of items at Golbul Town. However, please sell the really good ones to me."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Well then, I shall lend you this bag."

While Chaney was talking, he called his subordinate and instructed him something. Must have been to get this.

"This is... A <Box (Ruuf)> huh?"

"Yes. Please put a lot inside before returning it."

"Got it."

Lecan enjoyed his first relaxing sleep in a long time that night.

The journey with Shira was worthwhile yet also stifling.

No matter how kind and jovial a feral beast is, it's still hard to feel safe sleeping in the same cage as such beast.

Shira is far more terrifying than any feral beast. There was no way he could truly relax right next to such a being.