CH 10

December 28, 2022

I decided to cancel my planned sightseeing tour of the city. I decided to devote my time to attending the Explorer's Guild and limit my tour of the city to a meal and some shopping for a change.

The library was located on the second floor of the Explorer's Guild.

It looks more like an elementary or high school library, slightly expanded to be a library.

This library can be used as long as you are enrolled in the Explorer's Guild. or you get a permit, you can use it all day.

The books on magic are not as good as those of the Wizard's Guild, and the books on production are not as good as those of the Production Guild and its specialized guilds.

If what you have here is not enough, you can ask permission from the relevant guild.

Provided permission is granted, you can view books from other guilds.

The windows of the library are made of glass. Several desks were lined up next to the windows, probably to provide space for reading books.

Books are stored away from sunlight, as books must be expensive.

The number and variety of books is greater than expected.

Each one is sorted and stored on a shelf. There are not only books about magic and production, there are also about mixing medicines and blacksmithing, there are also books about everyday life.

There were also things About the types of weapons and armor and how to care for them.

There are also picture books for children and romance novels for women, which are probably entertainment novels.

The quality of the paper used for the books varies. Roughly speaking, the paper quality of magic books is good. On the other hand, the paper quality of books such as entertainment novels is poor. Some of them could even be described as poor quality.

After all, it seems that the papermaking technology of this world is considerably more advanced than other technologies.

The finest paper was used for maps.

Not only the maps of the kingdom, but even those of the very scarce demand for maps around this city were made of the highest quality paper.

Most surprisingly, there were even maps of other countries.

Is it okay to put maps of your country and other countries in a place where anyone can see them? Aren't maps military secrets?

I look at the map in my hand.

The map is amazing, but its accuracy is more than disappointing. Surveying technology is less than spectacular compared to the development of papermaking technology.

This is probably due to the lack of widespread development of mathematics.

As I felt while traveling with Mr. Dawn's traders, the people of this world have a low level of knowledge about calculus.

They can do simple addition and subtraction, but when it comes to people who can do all four arithmetic operations, they are a rarity. These are the so-called valuable human resources.

Even these valuable human resources have poor numeracy skills.

They would waste many sheets of paper to do written calculations for ledgers and to write down the food they consumed.

It could be profitable to manufacture and sell an abacus.

As he put the map back in place, he averted his gaze to a shelf filled with books about demons.

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In the end, I spent three days in the guild library.

You can only do so much in three days. I put common sense aside and devoted myself to cramming myself with knowledge about magic and demons.

Thanks to that, I should have acquired some knowledge about demons and magic that I mastered.

In the process, I discovered that the power of my magic is extraordinary.

I don't know why. I don't know, but ......

I stop thinking and assess Marielle, who flies a little dizzily in front of me.

Synchronization Level 5.

This is a special ability that Marielle possesses. The effect is "increases the effectiveness of magic on certain opponents".

I don't know anything more than that.

The other thing is that I'm a reincarnate, right? I wonder if being a reincarnate gives me preferential treatment, like greater magical effects than the people of this world.

I'll think about it later. Let's concentrate now on exploring the dungeon.

I'm here in the first level of the dungeon as an apprentice in Beck's group. No, it would be more correct to say that I was brought here.　

I look around again.

Is this the northern labyrinth? The dungeon corridors are quite wide. And the ceilings are high. Above all, the moss-like growths on the walls are bright.

We are on the second floor of the northern labyrinth, we walk around observing the surroundings.

The passageway is about eight meters wide and less than five meters high to the ceiling. This is enough to wield a long-handled weapon.

He looks again at the party members.

In the first row are Mr. Thor, Ms. Dalina and a temporary member looking like a warrior.

In the second row are the leader of this party, Mr. Beck, Mr. Schley and myself.

The third row is a group of ten, consisting of Lüri and Dita, a temporary hired man B who is an archer and a temporary hired man C who is a baggage handler.

All but the three of the temporarily employed men can use some kind of magic.

Even in the usual formation, six of the nine members can use magic. The proportion of people who can use magic in this party is high. The fact that there are more mages means that the attack power is much higher.

In fact, this party, with Beck at the head, has been recognized as one of the best parties in recent years.

I'm surprised at my good fortune. Suddenly, we are among the top and exploring the labyrinth. But what surprised me most was to learn that the four women were slaves.

When I was informed that they were slaves during the self-introduction, I honestly had no reaction.

I knew slavery existed because it was mentioned in the game description. I was able to confirm that slaves existed while gathering information in the city.

However, the surprise was another when they told me again in front of me. In case you are wondering, Thor's slave is Dalina and the other three are Beck's slaves.

"Do many scouts include slaves in their group?"

I asked Beck, who was walking beside me, looking around with interest.

"Hmm? Yes, there are many. There are even parties where everyone except the leader is a slave."

He laughed and told me that even though it was a maze I should relax, it was probably because we were close to the entrance, and they didn't seem to be wary of their surroundings.

I seem to be the only one who is nervous or wary. Everyone is very relaxed. Marielle hums and flies by my side.

It's not just me who has brought fairies, but Thor as well.

Bringing fairies into the labyrinth seems to be a common practice, and it was accepted as normal.

I heard that fairies are welcome because they can use some kind of magic, and it increases the rate of object appearance.

Still, the appearance of objects in the labyrinth is like a game isn't it?

No, it's already like a game because of the use of magic and the different worlds. Until now, I had accepted it as normal.

Except for the leader, that means everyone is a slave except him, right? He's like the protagonist of a novel.

"Nowadays I usually come in with Thor, but depending on the schedule and content, sometimes I come in with just the slaves. I didn't bring them today, but I left a couple more at home."

There they are, there they are, there they are!　Here's the man I'm going for.

And he doesn't brag about it, he just talks about it like its small talk.

I can't help but look at Beck. I'm sure I'm looking at him with respect right now.

"Beck's slaves use magic to fight, are they expensive?"

I asked fearfully. Are you interested?　There are many places where you can arrange slaves to be your companions, without putting them at a party. Besides, slaves for scouts don't come on the market very often. If you want to increase your forces quickly, you'd better form a group with other explorers. Slaves that can help you in your fight are rarely available." That is also true. So why do you organize a party with slaves only? It's not because you want to change slaves every night, is it? Then you should have a dedicated slave for that. "The biggest advantage of forming a party with only slaves is that you don't get into trouble over the sharing of materials and items obtained during the quest." "I see, that's certainly a good idea." "Well, that's not something you think about while you're an apprentice. Well, that's not something you think about while you're an apprentice. Now all you can think about is getting out alive." Beck continues, having said something quite reasonable to me. "So, what kind of slave do you want?" "Preferably a pretty young woman who can do magic, combat and housework." I answered without reservation to Beck-san, who asked me with a smile. "What, you too? I thought you were content with having a fairy, but you're as greedy as Thor." After laughing out loud with a gahaha, he whispered so that those around him couldn't hear him. "Huh? Are there many people who are content with just fairies?". "No, not many. But those who bother women are satisfied. I thought you were one of them." You've hit the nail on the head. You're a good judge of character, Beck. I'm impressed, but Beck continues. "But the one you want now is wanted by everyone, which means they're few and far between and expensive. Now, take it easy and do what's best for you, ......." Beck's tone becomes confused, and then everyone draws their weapons at the same time. What, a bellicose stance? When I look at Thor-san, who is in the lead, he stops just before the corner that turns sharply to the right, puts away sword and shield with a nervous expression and takes cover by the wall with bow and arrow at the ready. Marielle had already taken cover behind my head. Indeed, she was in the wild. She seems to have good crisis-avoidance skills. Is she a demon?　From my position, I can't see the presence of a demon. I am also nervously alerted by the atmosphere of the others. Thor's fairy - Crystal - tells me to shut up with a block sign using her whole body. Dexterity, and it's helping. Is that an enemy you can kill in one hit from a distance if you use the bow and arrow? Thor suddenly moved. He shoots three arrows in a row when I thought he jumped out of the corner. It's a rapid fire I've never seen before. Did I finish it? Before Mr. Thor turned and gave a failure signal, Crystal was giving a failure signal overhead. "It didn't do any good. That's the third time in a row I've failed." He shakes his head and looks rather disappointed. "They use space magic, you know. Don't worry, consider it lucky if you can finish him off." Beck patted the dejected Thor's shoulder and urged him on. Space lizards? In this dungeon, it's a demon that possesses space magic. Besides, they appear on the lower floors. Even in the books, it was written that it was difficult to kill it, but seeing the exchange between the two of them now, it might be even more difficult than he imagined. There's no point in being greedy. First, I'm going to start by removing skills and progressively strengthening them. I advanced through the dungeon, remembering the knowledge about demons and magic I had learned in the past three days.