Episode 30.16

"My bad. It looked to me two <Black Body> were ganging up on Lecan. So I just rushed in without thinking."

Those two <Black Body> were headless and it's not like Lecan was rushing headlong at them or anything.

Even though Bruska did it out of worry for Lecan's safety, leaving Yoana open to the line of fire was careless of him. Even if a <Black Body> didn't end up getting launched near Yoana, Bruska still failed as a bodyguard here. And above all, he was utterly ineffective as a leader in the fight just now.

Bruska himself must be fully aware of that, as are Tsuinga and Yoana.

(Fumu.)

(Guess I'll take leadership here.)

"We'll fight on this floor once more. But we're changing up roles this time around. Arios takes point, then it's Tsuinga, Bruska, me and Yoana."

"Eh? Lecan, you're saying you're gonna protect me?"

"Yeah. With this."

Lecan slightly lifted up the <Shield of Wolkan> in shield form on his left hand.

"<Shield of Wolkan> is it not. I had my suspicion, so it really is one."

"First time I've ever seen one."

"Huh what, what's up with that <Shield of Wolkan> thing."

"Yoana-san. <Shield of Wolkan> is an extraordinary shield capable of fending off physical and magical attack."

"Hee, really now."

"Tsuinga, Bruska, you two focus on defeating the <Red Body> first. Those beasts wouldn't hesitate attacking their brethren, leaving them for later is just asking for trouble. Never let them crowd around again."

"But then, there will be no one left to deal with the <Black Body>."

"You can let up to three of them slip past you. All three of you, focus on beating a <Red Body> each, before moving onto the next one. Whoever is the nearest gets to take care the last <Red Body>."

"What about me?"

"First, just do like you always do, beat a <Black Body> when you get inside."

"Gotcha."

"I'll take care of any other <Black Body> that gets near us. Afterward, use <Lightning Arrow> to lure in <Black Body>, one at a time. Aim at the trunks, not legs."

Naturally, aiming at trunks is easier than at ankles. Lessening Yoana's burden.

"Fine by me. You're okay with up to three slipping by? Lure in one at a time? You're pretty confident on yourself eh."

"Lecan's strength is shocking though. I mean he cut off those guards with the <Black Body>'s neck altogether. Is that sword a Grace Gear?"

"Yeah. Same with those axes of yours. Now then, let's get in some nearby room."

"Hold on a bit will you. Yoana is not done preparing yet. Mages, you see, cannot unleash their full power without a break inbetween fights."

"It's okay, Tsuinga."

"But."

For some reason, Arios is grinning as he watches over Yoana and the attentive Tsuinga.

"My mana is replenishing even now even though I just shot a <Great Flame Slash> earlier. Never experienced anything like this before. Lecan. That was a real Mana Restorative wasn't it."

"That's what I said."

"Is this Pijo's medicine for real then? This town's got many talented apothecaries thanks to Pijo, so there's no shortage of wound salve or remedy, but you just can't get your hand on mana restoratives. Did you have a connection with apothecaries in this town or something?"

"I don't know no apothecaries in this town."

<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka.com >

"Hee?"

Lecan has put <Necklace of Intuador> away. It'd just get in the way of Yoana shooting magic behind him.

Afterward the five went in a nearby room and fought there.

Lecan accurately saw through the magic beasts' positions and issued orders during battle.

Arios guessed which magic beast got Grace Gear, surprising <Grindam>.

At first Yoana was acting timidly, but Lecan's iron wall seemed to have reassured her, she ended up shooting <Great Flame Slash> twice even.

Bruska gleefully brandished his twin axes.

The three <Grindam> members were dumbfounded when Lecan used <Appraisal> on Grace Gear.

"Nice, this is nice! A five person party is just the best. It was so hard to shoot magic when we had ten people moving around, just annoying."

"Yup. I had it easy too. I just can't swing my twin axes around with ten people in the group so I got stuck with bodyguarding duty, it's been some time since I could fight freely like that."

"It is the same for me. Having enough space to fight is simply superb indeed."

"And that mana restorative Lecan gave me is super amazing! My mana is still welling up even now. Lecan, how long will this last?"

"This period is when it's at its peak, it'll gradually wear off. Still gonna work for half a day though."

"Half a day! My word. This is amazing, you know. I see, I see. No wonder the <Other Side> bunch would buy them by loads. Must be expensive innit?"

Lecan didn't know what this <Other Side> mean then, later on he found out it's the term to refer people who have gone beyond floor 100.

"I made it myself."

"Oh come on now. Knock it off with that. You could live lavishly if you could make this thing, no need for all this adventuring business."

"Are Mana Restoratives by this Pijo apothecary expensive?"

"They are. But the lord and <Other Side> guys would buy them up by the bulks, so only very few gets sold on the market. More importantly, let's hurry up and get to the next battle. I'm at peak performance right now."

Thanks to how enthusiastic Yoana was, guiding <Grindam> was simple.

The five challenged floor 90's giant variants and easily beat them. Then they went and fought floor 92's and even floor 93's giant variants.

What took the longest was walking down the stairs. They had to walk from floor 92 to 93, and then again from floor 93 to 94 after beating the giant variants.

The three <Grindam> were awfully envious when they found out Lecan could pin down giant variants' rooms without a <Rat>'s guidance. There's only a few <Rats> that can guide on floor 90s, and you've got to make a reservation to hire one. You can buy maps but getting to the right room in these vast areas while referencing a map is a tall order. Dungeon maps often contain quirks of the makers which sometimes get lost over multiple transcriptions, so it's all very much understandable.

At the end of the day, their joint party fought one battle on floor 79, two on floor 89, one on floor 90, one on floor 92, and another on floor 93, six in total. And the last three were against Giant Variants, it was a dense day full of fighting all in all.

They got five Grace Gear.

It was late when they left the dungeon, yet they went straight to trade facility nonetheless.

The loot was sold for one platinum coin and two big gold coins.

<Grindam> were downright elated.

Lecan was impressed by the appraisal at the trade facility.

When you put an item you want appraised on the counter, the appraiser on the opposite side will immediately appraise it and write a report right away. That report gets passed to an official sitting behind them who will then fetch the amount of money written on the report. Then it's returned to the appraiser who will write the sum, and inscription or grace if it's got one on a paper that is then given to the client.

If the client wishes to sell the items, they will bring the amount of money prepared behind the appraiser.

Client can request to have the appraisal report transcribed. Which will cost them. The cost is one silver coin for shallow floor items, one big silver coin for middle layer, and one gold coin for depths. These prices are extremely fair since you're told the prices before you can ask for appraisals. However, they will charge you one tenth of the fee in advance if you ask items gotten outside Dungeon Tsubolt for appraisal. They don't offer free price assessment for items brought from outside.

All appraisers on every counter were very quick on the job. There are even reserve appraisers standing by in the back.

Appraisers must not touch the appraised items. They have to ask the owner when they want it moved. This too impressed Lecan.

Later on he found out, the majority of those appraisers are not working under the lord, they're dispatched by merchants. More dungeon items get alloted to merchants with more dispatches.

Lecan was very satisfied with the cooperative diving.

Combats have become a lot easier now.

Two on ten was a bit much after all.

Yoana would eliminate one <Black Body>, and Arios takes care of one <Red Body> right after they get in a room, turning it into a five on eight.

It's a pain when <Black Body> and <Red Body> mix together and shoot magic, but Arios, Tsuinga, and Bruska can take on <Black Body> while impeding four <Red Body> no problem. Lecan would then kill magic beasts lured by Yoana with a single stroke of <Sword of Odo>.

<Sword of Odo> is highly powerful, but one cannot unleash that power without angling and swinging it right. Which is easy to achieve in a five person party.

The booze that night tasted so good.