Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 10

by Hiro Ainana

  I’d made the headband for Tama and Pochi, but Mia and Nana had taken a liking to it, too.

  After I washed the younger girls’ hair for them, I had them warm themselves back up by counting to a hundred before getting out of the bath.

  We’d been bathing together every day in the elf village. At this point, I wasn’t even fazed by the sight of Nana’s bathing robe when the water turned it slightly transparent.

  If anything, that made me feel like I’d lost my edge a little, so I decided I would visit a red-light district sometime to get a bit of that spark back.

  “Tomorrow morning, I think we should go back up to the surface for a bit.”

  When I said this after the bath, everyone’s faces fell a little.

  “Awww, let’s stay until we hit level fifty!”

  “I’d like to, but we’re at the end of the exploration period we registered for at the labyrinth entrance, and our payment at the inn is going to run out soon, too.”

  I didn’t think they’d suddenly sell our horses and carriages and all, but I still wanted to be safe.

  “Besides, the horses will be lonely if we don’t check on them once in a while, right?”

  At that, Tama and Pochi exchanged looks of alarm.

  They must have forgotten about their beloved horses during our days in the labyrinth.

  “Let’s go baaack?”

  “We’d better hurry, sir!”

  Tama and Pochi hopped up in a hurry, so I patted their heads and gently sat them back down.

  “Oh, all right.”

  “Mm. Fair.”

  Fortunately, everyone else seemed to accept the decision.

  “Besides, I’ll set a seal slate here so we can come back anytime.”

  The group seemed to want to keep fighting, but that statement was enough to cheer them all up for now.

  I guess they’d taken a liking to life in our labyrinth vacation home.

  “Master, I’m heeeere— Wait, Mia?”

  Arisa opened the door and flounced into my workshop adjacent to the labyrinth vacation home.

  For some reason, she was wearing a sheer negligee.

  “Mrrr. Lewd.”

  Mia wasn’t wrong, so I produced a cardigan from Storage and had her put it on.

  “Aw, man, I thought for sure you were finally requesting my nighttime services,” Arisa grumbled.

  Sorry, but I’m not interested in little girls.

  “I called both of you here to help me with some work.” I looked at each of them in turn, making sure they understood before I continued. “Did you memorize the chants I gave you?”

  “Mm. Got it.”

  “Yeah, but all I can tell is that it’s teleportation-related and that it’s way too long.”

  Mia puffed up her chest, but Arisa just furrowed her brow.

  She was probably frustrated that she couldn’t understand the chant.

  “Don’t worry—you’ll find out soon.”

  I used Magic Mold to make two pedestals.

  Then I produced a jar from Storage marked with a triangle, filled with molten magic liquid, and placed it on one pedestal. On the other, I placed one of the bronze swords we’d gotten in a treasure box in the labyrinth.

  “All right. First, Mia, please focus on the triangle and start your chant.”

  “Mm, okay. …”

  Maybe right around now?

  Judging the timing, I called on Arisa next.

  “Arisa, start yours, please.”

  “Okey-dokey! …”

  Finally, both long chants started to come to their ends.

  “… Create Circuit 001 Kairo Zero Zero Ichi Souzou.”

  When Mia finished her chant, the magic liquid rose up out of the jar like a snake and began to create a circuit of its own.

  The circuits formed smaller and smaller branches, taking the form of a complex network of red lines that interwove in the shape of a sword.

  “Pretty,” Mia murmured.

  “… Import Circuit 001 Kairo Zero Zero Ichi Tensou.”

  When Arisa’s spell finished, the red circuits disappeared, replaced by bronze lines on the sword.

  “…It’s finished.”

  My AR display confirmed that the bronze sword had turned into a Magic Sword.

  Unexpectedly, the sword’s creator still read Celivera Labyrinth. That was perfect—now I wouldn’t have to falsify a name.

  “Hey, did we just…?”

  “Yep. The chants I gave you two were for creating a Magic Sword.”

  “M-Magic Sword?”

  “Wow.”

  The two of them jumped up in surprise, and I grinned.

  I’d made these spells for a very particular reason.

  The method I’d used so far, involving alchemy and the Liquid Control spell, could make Magic Swords with simple circuits like the kind sold in the old capital black market easily enough, but for more complicated circuits, swords like the ones I’d made Tama and Pochi were pretty much the limit.

  If I tried to do it with swords that had been cast in a mold, the heat would warp the metal, and if I used a pre-forged sword, I had to take into account changes in the circuits that were already carved into it.

  With this method, I didn’t think I could make a sword as good as the divine gift Holy Sword Claidheamh Soluis no matter what degree of mastery I achieved, so I decided to change my approach.

  First, I thought about using Water Magic to make the circuits while molding the sword, but it was too difficult to control to make any improvements on the old method.

  So this was my next thought: to use that Water Magic method to make the circuits on their own, then transfer them onto a sword using Space Magic.

  I explained all this to Mia and Arisa.

  “But that doesn’t seem right.”

  “Mrrr?”

  Arisa frowned, looking down at her written chant.

  Smiling at her, I returned to my own thoughts.

  At first, I wanted to make a single Create Magic Sword spell that would create the circuits and carve them into a Magic Sword, but the chant came out extremely long and several times more complicated than even an advanced spell.

  It would be no use to make a spell that no one could use, so I shelved that idea and went in a direction that even an ordinary person would be able to handle.

  “Mia, let me see your spell.”

  “Mm.”

  Arisa took Mia’s chant paper and skimmed it quickly.

  I knew she was accustomed to my original spells, but it was still impressive that she could read it just as quickly as I could.

  “I knew it. It’s just like mine.”

  I nodded at Arisa, pleased she’d figured it out on her own.

  “So these were just to make this Magic Sword, right?”

  “That’s right.”

  There were no variations between the spells I’d given them.

  Technically, the difference was that the position of the triangle being used as the focus changed between them, but that was an exception, since it wasn’t part of the chant itself.

  “These two spells were just to put this specific magic circuit onto this specific bronze sword.”

  The sword could be a different one as long as it was about the same shape, but the magic circuit was very fixed.

  I’d set the coordinates for the teleport spell within the chant, so if the magic circuit changed at all, the teleportation wouldn’t work, either.

  “That’s so over-the-top.”

  “I know, but otherwise there would be too many settings related to the circuit shape and the teleport location.”

  A computer was one thing, but asking a person to set thousands of digits precisely in their heads would be impossible.

  “I wanna try.”

  “Go ahead. The blade makes fire, though. Be careful.”

  “Mm.”

  Mia put magic power into the newly made Magic Sword and lifted it, and a protective barrier similar to the Shelter spell formed
around the blade, emitting fire from the outside.

  Mia swung the now-flaming sword around with one hand.

  “Pretty.”

  “I guess it’d be good for a fire dance or something.”

  Mia looked gleeful, while Arisa made a rather rude remark.

  True, it mostly functioned only as a torch unless you were fighting monsters that were weak to fire or impervious to normal attacks, but I thought it was a fittingly fantasy-like Magic Sword.

  “Looks like its magic use is pretty efficient, too.”

  I accepted the sword from Mia, examining it.

  “Oh right—if you can control your magic well, you can even do things like this.”

  I manipulated my magic as I swung the sword, and a fireball shot out of the tip of the sword like a Fire Rod.

  “Whoa, now that’s the kind of sword you’d see in a manga!”

  Arisa clapped gleefully for a second, then turned serious again.

  “But is this really all that different from the swords you made for Pochi and the others?”

  “On the surface, no. But it has other features, like ‘Body Strengthening,’ ‘Sharpblade,’ and even the ability to restore the user’s stamina.”

  Otherwise, Mia wouldn’t be able to swing such a heavy-looking sword around in one hand.

  It even circulated magic power between itself and the wielder, meaning it didn’t consume too much energy.

  “Thanks, you two. Now I can get started on the next step.”

  “Mrrr?”

  “What’s the next step?”

  Mia and Arisa tilted their heads.

  “Making a Holy Sword with a legendary-class metal sword as a base, like orichalcum or crimson ore.”

  Blue liquid could make much finer and more detailed circuits than regular magic liquid, and it would create a more power-efficient sword.

  “Could you learn these ones next? No rush.”

  Taking a single look at the huge sheaf of paper in my hands, Arisa and Mia fled as if on cue.

  “I guess maybe a hundred kinds was too many?”

  Muttering to myself, I chased after the two of them and eventually convinced them to help again on the condition that I prioritize making personal weapons for them.

  Eventually, I’d like to make things like autonomous shields and floating guns, too.

  Yep, crafting in a parallel world really got the blood pumping.

  Reunion

  Satou here. There are times when you might think you’re doing well, but anyone watching would say you’re crazy. That’s why it’s best to listen to advice from more experienced friends.

  “Those soldiers back there seemed tense.”

  “Maybe some big shot went missing or something?”

  Arisa and I were discussing a group of soldiers, decked out like a mountaineering party, who’d been gathered in the space near the labyrinth entrance when we passed through.

  My map showed some important-looking figures inside the labyrinth, like royalty from a neighboring nation and a young count, so it probably had something to do with that.

  “Huh. That’s too bad.”

  “Hmm. Maybe next time we should put in for twice as much time in the labyrinth as before.”

  This time we’d come back right on the day we scheduled, but it was possible that some incident might prevent us from coming back on time.

  At any rate, I was impressed that Arisa could chat naturally as we walked up the stairs, considering that she’d been out of breath even coming down them on the way in.

  Leveling up must have really helped her a lot.

  “We’re heeere?”

  “The scary door face is smiling, sir.”

  Tama and Pochi opened the door out of the labyrinth, which was engraved with a slightly creepy smiling sun.

  “We’re counting on you, Captain Zeorun.”

  “Yes, sir. I promise to rescue your friend at any cost.”

  On the other side of the door, I heard a somewhat familiar, teacherly sounding voice.

  As we emerged from the labyrinth and into the light from the windows, I saw a familiar face.

  “Pe…?!”

  When our eyes met, he started to say my name and then stopped partway through.

  Ouch. I guess he forgot my name.

  “It’s good to see you again, Viscount Siemmen.”

  This was a high-ranking noble who ran a scroll production workshop in the old capital and who was the elder brother of my friend Tolma.

  Unlike the somewhat bumbling Tolma, this man carried himself like a particularly strict professor.

  “Forgive me, but I couldn’t help but overhear. If a friend of yours is missing, please allow me to assist you as well.”

  It might sound like bragging, but considering my unique skill, there were probably few people in this world as qualified to locate a missing person as I was.

  “No, erm… That won’t be necessary.”

  Viscount Siemmen sighed and shook his head.

  He probably felt that a civilian would only get in the way, since he’d already enlisted the help of the labyrinth army.

  Sadly, he didn’t know about my unique skill.

  Instead, I would have to withdraw for now, do a sneaky map search later, and secretly go rescue this person. This fellow had been very helpful to me with scroll creation, so I wanted to be of some use to him, too.

  “We’ve already found him.”

  Huh?

  Surprised by the normally calm Viscount Siemmen’s sudden embrace, it took me a moment to realize what was happening.

  “…Then this must be Sir Pendragon?”

  Startled, Officer Zeorun looked at me appraisingly.

  My “Keen Hearing” skill picked up a quiet murmur of “looking good.”

  At first, I questioned whether his eyes were working, but then I realized that he probably meant that I looked awfully clean and healthy for someone who’d been wandering in the labyrinth for days on end.

  Well, I took a bath every evening in our labyrinth vacation home, and I changed clothes every day.

  “Yes, that’s right. This is Sir Pendragon, an irreplaceable friend of mine and a highly beneficial client.”

  Viscount Siemmen finally released me, only to put an arm around my shoulder and introduce me to Captain Zeorun.

  I didn’t remember him being quite so touchy-feely, but he must be relieved that I was all right, so I decided to go along with it.

  Once I’d exchanged greetings with Captain Zeorun, the two explained why they had been about to launch a search for me.

  Apparently, it had all started the day before: Viscount Siemmen had come to Labyrinth City to buy some cores and rare materials, and he had been trying to acquire some ant nectar from a fellow noble when he heard that some explorers had caused a chain rampage.

  He then heard that the explorers had been rescued by a young noble with black hair and a mithril sword, who was accompanied by some small children and a scalefolk young lady with a monster spear, which led him to think of me.

  Then, when he sent someone to the explorers’ guild to inquire about the matter, he learned that I had become an explorer the day of the chain rampage incident and that I hadn’t returned from the labyrinth since.

  At first, he requested that they send in a search party, but the guild was unable to do so until my requested return date had passed.

  Thus, he went directly to the labyrinth army general, rounded up some elite forces who specialized in labyrinth exploration, and formed a rescue party of his own. They had just been waiting for their explorer guides when I arrived.

  Of course, the viscount himself wasn’t going to enter the labyrinth, but he’d come to speak with Captain Zeorun.

  Still, I was glad the explorers’ guild was such a by-the-books organization.

  If they’d sent in a rescue group right on the spot, it would’ve only made things complicated.

  “I am terribly sorry to have worried you.”

  “N
ot at all—it appears that I was jumping to conclusions, from the looks of you. In fact, I apologize for causing such a commotion.”

  I bowed my head to Viscount Siemmen, who responded in kind.

  Since the viscount managed to save face, perhaps we should both apologize to Captain Zeorun here, too.

  “I told you, if he’s strong enough to defeat a lesser hell demon, even a big bunch of area-4 monsters wouldn’t be able to put a scratch on him.”

  The newcomer to the conversation was an armored knight.

  According to the AR display, he was level 27 and one of Zeorun’s men.

  “Yes, you were right. You win the bet, sir. I’ll have a cask of wine and five sheep sent to the barracks later.”

  “Make it ale, please. We don’t drink that stuff.” The knight grinned crookedly.

  He didn’t have a proper title, but he was still of noble class, so I was surprised that he preferred ale over fancy wine.

  “Captain, shall I dismiss the men down below?”

  “Right. Let me think…” Captain Zeorun stroked his goatee, contemplating for a moment before relaying his orders. “Tell the general that our mission is complete, and we will fulfill our formal duties.”

  “Mission complete,” the messenger repeated. “Fulfilling our formal duties.”

  “Perfect. Go!”

  The messenger dashed away.

  “Formal duties?” Viscount Siemmen inquired.

  “Yes, the pretense for this mission on paper was that we were taking down plunderers,” he explained frankly. “Since the paperwork went through and we’re all loaded up with equipment, we’ll just go in and wipe out some of the plunderers who have overrun area 2.”

  Then the captain turned to the knight and grinned. “You lot must be sick of training anyway, eh? Gotta let loose on some scumbags once in a while.”

  “Heh, it’s nice having a superior officer who gets it.”

  After this exchange, Captain Zeorun and his knight excused themselves to the viscount and went into the labyrinth.

  Maybe they really did enjoy fighting plunderers, but I was guessing half the reason was so that Viscount Siemmen and I wouldn’t feel guilty for wasting their time.

  Once they got back, I’d have to deliver some food and drink to them as thanks, too.