Strongest Gamer; Let's Play in Another World Volume 2

by Shinobu Yuuki

  "I should admit defeat. Even with you handicapped by the lack of a shield, I'm not quite on your level. If you were fully armed, I wouldn't stand a chance."

  Even with my cursed sword channeling all my game experience, I was at a clear disadvantage. If I wanted to seriously fight with Mary, we'd have to both be prepared for it to be a battle to the death. I'd only seen Mary piloting her armor before, but I'd never dreamed she'd be this strong. Now I really wanted her for Labyrinth #228!

  "Are you satisfied?"

  Man, what a powerful unit! But as much as I wanted to recruit her, I tried to keep the enthusiasm from showing on my face. Play it cool, Aoi.

  "Yes, I've seen enough."

  Mary's smile told me all I needed to know. It seemed I'd gotten full marks on this event.

  "Well then, let me ask you one more time. Mary, will you come work with us?"

  "It would be my honor."

  Our combat trial concluded, Mary's face was aglow. Someday, I'd have to ask her what she thought about our fight.

  "Here is my offer. In addition to your duties as labyrinth guardian, I'll also be asking you to do chores periodically. In exchange, you'll be provided with lodging and meals, and you'll be paid 150,000 DL per month. How does that sound?"

  "I'll do it! Maybe it's just a temporary thing, but mind if I call you Boss?"

  She grabbed me by both hands and looked up at me, her eyes sparkling. It was harder to gauge her mood since she was human, but I was willing to bet that if she were a kobold, her tail would be wagging furiously. She was so excited she even stopped with the flowery knight talk. Huh. Would I have been able to skip the fight if I'd just told her how much I'd be paying her?

  "Just keep calling me Aoi, like you have been. Mind if I stay casual with you as well?"

  "Of course, Aoi. No need to worry about that. Even if I'm just a hired hand, it'd be strange for us to be overly polite."

  Helping around the house or working in the fields would probably have gotten her no more than her daily meals. She'd have been working herself to the bone to earn any money, if it weren't for my offer, so I supposed it was natural for her to be so excited? Any prisoner needed ransom money, but as a knight and a noble, she'd need to pay a lot. It made sense that she wouldn't be able to say no to a high-paying offer like mine. July was standing just behind Mary, holding a tray with cups of tea. When I mentioned money, her eyes turned predatory.

  "Oh, that's wonderful. I'm so glad you found a job."

  "Yes. I'm so glad to have finished searching, so I won't be idle anymore."

  Mayor Hopper looked sincerely happy, and Mary simply looked relieved.

  "Here, consider this your relocation fee. You'll be working on-site from now on, so you can use this to prepare whatever you need before moving in."

  I handed her a leather bag with about 200,000 DL inside. I expected it would cover the money she owed the mayor, at least, and have some leftover for whatever necessities she'd have to buy. I could get what she needed on Tundra, and the quality might be higher, but I was certain it would be far more expensive as well.

  "I'm grateful, Aoi, for everything, but there is one problem. Being the labyrinth guardian means I'll have to fight, correct?"

  "Well, yeah. That's what guardians are for."

  "The issue is, I had to sell my armor to a wolfman peddler to be able to afford staying here. Is there anything that can be done about that? I don't need the full Extended Knight Armor, but it would give me an edge against challengers to at least have my normal armor."

  "Ah, that must have been Fez. Gotcha. That said, was it okay for you to sell your armor? You're a knight, after all."

  "No, it was absolutely not okay, but my options were limited, and it was better to sell my armor than to sell my sword."

  Wow, talk about a choice of evils. Imagine being a knight and being forced to pawn either your armor or your sword just for living expenses. Talking with Mary never failed to make me pity her.

  "I'll have a chat with the peddler and see if I can buy it back somehow."

  "I'd be very thankful. Whatever the cost, it doesn't matter. You can take it out of my earnings. Though saying so makes me realize that all I've really done so far today is to increase my debt."

  Mary's shoulders drooped. True enough, buying back something you pawned tended to be pretty expensive.

  "We'll be waiting for you at the west entrance to the village, Mary. Come meet us whenever you're ready."

  "Absolutely. I'll try to settle everything quickly."

  Ann and I exited the house just as July laid her hands on Mary's shoulders, a malicious smile on her face. I heard a little shriek and looked back to see July dragging Mary into the back of the house. It looked like she was going to be squaring up with one of her debtors today.

  ◇

  "I suppose everywhere around the village is like this, but truly, this is a rather dreary place, is it not? There is hardly any greenery."

  Ann and I were headed back to Labyrinth #228 once more, this time with Mary in tow. Her purse was light once again after paying off her debts and buying necessities. This whole region was nothing but dry wilderness as far as the eye could see, so I had to nod in agreement. The tilled fields surrounding the village weren't an awe-inspiring sight by any means, but at least they were cheerier than the occasional dead tree or boulder you could look forward to seeing out here.

  "Daemon villages are usually in places like that. There's monsters all over most of the nice spots."

  "That's why they live in such arid terrain? I'd always heard that Daemons simply disliked greenery, and that they preferred to live in a less tame area. I never suspected they were forced into it."

  Mary looked somewhat distressed on hearing Ann's explanation. In a fantasy game, you'd kind of expect the Daemons to like rough places; it just came with being a Daemon, you know? But if there hadn't been supernatural monsters around, of course they would've preferred to live somewhere with more fertile land, where it was easier to get by.

  "Yep, that's what Auntie told me. She said the better the land is, the bigger and meaner the monsters there are. She also said that monsters will come make nests in the fields, if they get too nice, which is hard to plan for."

  Well, that explained why the hunters never ran out of work, if the monsters were attracted to developed areas. I'd seen my share of monsters and people like the Daemons in RPGs I'd played, but this struggle for survival between the two of them here seemed more painful than usual. Actually, I still had never seen one of these monsters, so I didn't quite know what was the difference between them and any old beast. I figured maybe they were just particularly fierce, like, more so than a wild boar or something.

  "Hmm. You say they tend to congregate where the land is particularly bountiful. Does that mean monsters are largely herbivores?"

  "Yeah. They like going into the fields and eating the vegetables, as well as weeds and stuff. But they have really big fangs and claws, and they'll hurt you real bad if you come too close."

  "I see. So when a monster settles in your field, the only solution is to exterminate it. That's when you would send for a knight like me, or maybe a soldier or an adventurer in human territory."

  "If you let too many of those vegetable-eating monsters gather, even bigger monsters will come out from deep in the forest to eat the littler ones. When that happens, you just have to give up and run away. The big monsters are super strong, and they hunt people too."

  This was a harsh world, even for those who only wanted to farm the land in peace.

  "This is a pretty scary place, seems like. Hey, Mary, how do you deal with monsters over in human territory?"

  Since these monsters were such a threat to Daemons, and Daemons were generally built sturdier than humans, I was curious.

  "Um, well, as far as I'm aware, though there are some pests which make the lives of the farmers more difficult, there are no threats great enough that they can't be defeated by a few men with basic training
. There simply aren't that many monsters to begin with."

  Mary's answer was somewhat troubled. It seemed like the peasants had an easier time over in the human lands.

  "You can certainly find large monsters if you venture deep into the forests. Their meat, bones, and hides are all useful and valuable. We have many adventurers, which seems to be a similar profession to your hunters, who take on requests to hunt monsters simply to collect those materials."

  Interesting. So they were valuable for crafting. The meat was probably nutrient-rich, and perhaps the organs and bones could be processed to make medicine. The durable hides were no doubt useful for making fine armor or clothing. If the bones were sturdy enough, you could even make weapons or tools out of them. They would be like whales or tuna back in my own world, where no part went to waste. Rich people must have been tripping over themselves to acquire monster materials.

  "However, in most forests, the monsters have been hunted to the brink of extinction. The feudal lords have already learned of this risk and have banned hunting, but poaching continues, driving the monsters further and further towards the inevitable."

  "..."

  Mary's last remark left both of us speechless. Jeez, humans were a scary bunch. I mean, sure, monsters seemed to be weaker over there, but even so, they'd nearly hunted them to extinction?

  "Ahem. On another topic, I couldn't help but notice how unusual your attire is, Aoi. What do you call those clothes? They look rather well tailored. Are you perhaps a noble?"

  Noticing our shock, Mary cleared her throat and attempted to change the topic. Well, yes, my business suit certainly did look out of place in this world. But what other option did I have? You couldn't be a Japanese businessman and not wear a suit to work. Maybe they weren't ideal fighting clothes, but that was beside the point. Mary had her sword strapped tight around her waist and a tattered cloth bag slung over her shoulder, which she must have bought in the village. Without any armor, she looked more like a regular village girl than a knight.

  "Ah, well, this is the standard-issue labyrinth manager uniform. And we aren't really part of the class hierarchy, so I'm not a noble."

  Admittedly, Karumi's office didn't actually have a dress code, so I wasn't required to wear a suit. And I could have just brought in casual clothes to wear around the labyrinth, if I'd wanted to. But this was my job, and I didn't feel right about it. Without my suit on, I wouldn't have felt like I was really working. Even when I slept, I still wore the slacks and the button-down shirt. That may have sounded a little odd, but I had my reasons. See, as long as I was in this world, I was still on the clock, awake or asleep. If something unexpected happened in the middle of the night, it was my job to get up and deal with it. Most managers apparently commuted to and from home each day, so they usually had their Daemon subcontractors deal with issues that arose during the night, but I didn't have anyone I could leave in charge like that. Not that there was much that could really happen to Labyrinth #228 in its current state. Maybe once we'd built up a proper labyrinth, then there'd be things to deal with. To be honest, the way I was racking up all this overtime by working all day every day, even though there wasn't anything to do over the night shift, made me feel a bit guilty about how much pay I was taking home. Come to think of it, the only other manager I'd met so far was Suzu, and she'd also been wearing a suit. I wondered if her reasons were the same as mine. I'd have to ask her.

  "Labyrinth managers aren't part of the class system? You handled yourself with such poise that I felt certain you were nobility."

  "I'm happy you think so highly of me, but honestly, these are just work clothes."

  I didn't really know much about the nobility, but I did know that Daemon nobles were appointed based on merit, not just bloodline, so it seemed education was a big differentiator for them. Perhaps, as a Japanese guy with a higher education, I could be considered nobility.

  "The stitching and the design are both rather good. I know I'm imposing, but would you happen to have a spare set of those clothes, Aoi? I would be more than happy to buy it off you."

  Oh man, Mary wanted a suit? A female knight in a business suit, what a combo!

  "I don't mind, but it's pretty expensive."

  Mary would be working as the labyrinth guardian, so a few items from my world here or there wouldn't be a big deal.

  "Oh. May I ask how much?"

  "The jacket and pants together would be about forty thousand DL, and the shirt another eight thousand."

  The exchange rate for labyrinth managers was roughly one DL per yen, so that was about what they'd cost me.

  "Unbelievable! I shall pass. I cannot afford to spend so lavishly on clothing."

  Mary looked crestfallen. Perhaps she was still scarred from her recent poverty, having such a hard time affording living expenses even at Milt's cheap prices.

  "Aoi, if you aren't nobility, why would you wear such expensive clothes?"

  "The place I lived before I came here was simply more expensive. If you were looking for a job there, it was common practice to wear clothes like this."

  The price of a business suit in Japan, on sale, hovered around 40,000 yen. There were no dry cleaners in this world, so you had to buy one that wouldn't get too wrinkled when you hand-washed it. And the price only went up from there if you wanted something decent.

  "Labyrinth managers are well compensated, it seems."

  She was right about that, at least. In part that was because my pay was calculated based on the cost of living in central Tokyo, but even for the location, it was high. Compared to the amount people were paid in a village like Milt, I was quite the high roller. Though they always direct deposited my salary, so it wasn't like I could use it in here anyway.

  "Labyrinth managers are thrown into difficult situations and expected to make tough decisions. Besides, it's a dangerous job. So I guess the salary reflects that."

  Yeah, right. Sure the job paid well, but they dumped me alone in the wilderness for six months, and then I had to go to battle against an invading force. And that was just the trial period! Suddenly I wasn't so smug about my pay anymore. Plus, if they'd at least put me in charge of a functioning labyrinth, I'd have been able to sleep through the night, rather than constantly waking up in a panic about my massive achievement deficit.

  ◇

  "Oh, those are the stairs. We're almost there."

  Labyrinth #228 rested at the bottom of the Great Saredo Rift. The only indication of the entrance was a signpost I'd made out of branches from a waterdry tree. We walked towards it until you could just see the dim glow of the bluelight moss lamps I'd hung around the entrance. The big staircase was easy to miss, since I hadn't put up a rail or a fence or anything. One time, I'd gotten lost trying to find it, and after that I'd slapped together those landmarks and put them up. Simpler times. As we descended the cut stone steps, the gentle reflection of the sun on the smooth rock walls wrapped us in its warm embrace. It may have only been the sun's reflection on stone, but the light glinting off motes dancing in the breeze made for a magical sight.

  "This view is breathtaking."

  The staircase was barely two meters wide and had no railing at all, so the view was the same as if you were walking down the cliff face. The sting of the wind that went whistling through the valley sent a thrill up my spine. Mary was hugging the wall as she walked down, and probably wasn't paying as much attention to the view as she claimed. Well, I could empathize. It'd taken me a while to get used to walking next to that sheer drop, too.

  "This is truly a hidden gem. I never thought there would be such a vibrant cradle of life at the bottom of a ravine."

  Mary stopped for a moment to appreciate the basin of the Great Saredo Rift. We heard the trickle of tiny waterfalls dripping down to form rivulets through the many varieties of moss that covered the ravine in a tapestry of green and blue.

  "Pretty amazing, huh? The air isn't so dry here, and the plants smell great!"

  Hearing Ann boast about o
ur home brought a smile to my face.

  "How is this possible? Surely a land this verdant should draw powerful monsters! And yet, there are none that I can see. Is this some kind of illusion?"

  "They probably just haven't realized yet, since you couldn't really get down here until we dug out this staircase recently. Also, it seems most of the vegetation growing in here is poisonous. It's all safe to touch, but many of the plants are dangerous if you eat them. So maybe that's also part of the reason monsters avoid it."

  Most of the vegetation growing in the ravine basin could be used as alchemy ingredients to make both magic potions and regular medicine. About half of them were considered legendary materials. And in retrospect, those two things were probably related. Plants that were raw materials for potent medicines or magic potions obviously wouldn't be fit for everyday consumption, whether for a human, an animal, or a monster. That kind of dosage would usually be toxic.