5th floor of Mohed Great Labyrinth
I took Liz to dive in the dungeon and came down here from the first floor.
“Thirty-fourth”
Liz, dressed in black with a cloth wrapped around her neck and covering her mouth, is facing a magical beast with a knife in her hand. She suddenly disappears, and the head of her enemy, a large cat, rolls to the floor. When I saw that, I thought she was an assassin.
“Weak. I’m bored.”
Liz emerges and then she pulls down the cloth around her mouth to breathe in the fresh air. She’s only been training for about three days but she’s growing unusually fast. I guess this only means that she is originally talented.
“Don’t let your guard down, you’re still a beginner you see. To start with, you have to reach the 10th floor and improve your skills.”
“Understood. But, what’s the point of this outfit?”
Liz looked puzzled at her black attire. What does she mean by that? Is she saying that she doesn’t understand the merits of the custom-made item that is made by a local tailor in the city?
Speaking of ninjas, they are dressed in black. It is a sublime costume that only the chosen ones are allowed to wear. Oops, Liz is a female so she is a kunoichi. Does that mean that red would have been better?
“Would it have been better if it was red?”
“It’s not about the color.”
She looks exasperated as she stared at me.
If color isn’t the problem, then what’s the problem?
Liz is now a perfect ninja no matter how I look at it.
“Well, forget about that. That’s all you need to wear.”
“……I get it.”
I nod in response to her obedient reply.
It would have been more perfect if there was a sword, but there doesn’t seem to be anything similar in this world. I can only give up on that part. It’s very disappointing though.
After she resumed slaying magical beasts, we eventually moved on to the lower levels. That said, I am just watching. All the fighting is left to Liz. It’s her training after all.
When we came to the sixth floor, we found a treasure chest in the passageway. Liz approaches it and tries to open the lid.
I hurriedly stopped her, “It’s a mimic!”
“Mimic?”
“It’s a magical beast disguised as a treasure chest. If you let your guard down and open the lid, it will eat you.”
Mimics are magical beasts that live in dungeons. Like shellfish, it forms an outer shell that resembles a treasure chest and feeds on humans who open the lid. It is said that beginners are deceived by this mimic and lose their lives every year.
“Ignore it?”
“No, this guy’s outer shell is golden. Let’s take a look.”
I pulled out a knife and then I thrust the blade into the back of the treasure chest. At this time, it is necessary to hold the lid with your hand. This is because ordinary people can be seriously injured if they are bitten. I am an exception of course. The treasure chest rattles and moves, but I hold it down as I twists the knife lightly. Suddenly, it became quiet and stopped moving.
“With that, this guy is dead. Let’s take a look inside.”
When I opened the chest, I found a row of sharp fangs from the edges. There is a hole in the center of it, and it is clear that meat is swallowed through there.
“It’s disgusting.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t look good. This guy has a good liver though.”
When I tore open the mouth part with a knife, the slimy internal organs inside are revealed. I then thrust my hand in it and then I pulled out something the size of a round baseball. This is the liver, experienced adventurers seemed to like to eat it. There are even stories that some stores are buying it at a high price. Its taste is similar to beef liver and it is sometimes eaten as a liver sashimi.
By the way, in Japan, eating raw liver is prohibited. This is because there is a possibility of food poisoning. This is a different world though so there is no such problem. However, it is an act that should be avoided in Japan. I then put the treasure chest and liver in the bangle. I’ll use it as a side dish for today’s dinner.
“Water”
Liz releases an aqua ball into the air. I thanked her as I washed my hands in the aqua ball.
“Alright. Let’s continue the training.”
“Yeah. Next”
She is expressionless as she quickly starts walking away. She said she wanted to be an adventurer so fighting magical beasts didn’t seem to be a problem to her. It can be seen that she has the aptitude. In that case, the first condition is clear.
After that, Liz was able to kill the magical beast without hesitation and we finally reached the tenth floor.
“Ninjutsu skill is really breaking the rule huh.”
“Oniichan has stealth too.”
“That’s true but I generally don’t hide and fight.”
“Why?”
“It’s a man’s pride.”
When I said that, Liz replied, “Oniichan is an idiot.”
That was really rude. Since I am a man, I should fight with dignity. Even if I had to ask for the help of my friends, I wouldn’t just hide and fight. This is my policy.
“Don’t mind mine. You just have to find your own way of fighting.”
“Hn.”
She gave such small reply and starts to move ahead. I immediately stopped her.
“Where are you going? You’re objective is the 10th floor. Today’s training is over.”
“I was thinking of going to the cafeteria in the 15th floor.”
“Ah-, is that what you’re trying to do? In that case, it’s fine. I am getting hungry too.”
“Hn.”
We started training in the morning and it was already past noon. It’s time to eat. Diet builds the body after all. In order to build good muscle, you have to eat well. This is the truth of the universe. I’m sure Liz also knows that.
After we found the Temple of Teleportation in the 10th floor, we decided to transfer to the 15th floor. It’s not too far from the temple to the cafeteria so we just followed the usual path to the cafeteria.
“There are no enemies here.”
“That’s right. My familiars are patrolling around the fifteenth floor you see. By exterminating the magical beasts, the safety of this floor is ensured.”
“How many familiars do you have?”
“You mean to ask their overall number, not just the ones on this floor, am I right?”
“Yeah”
“About 400,000.”
Liz’s eyes widened in astonishment. I guess she didn’t expect it to be that many. If she knew that it was 700,000 until recently, I would like to see how she reacts. Well, I’m not going to say that though. I don’t like to brag too much.
When I opened the door of the cafeteria, I was greeted by a soft and appetizing scent. Inside the restaurant, several adventurers were eating and talking about their adventures today with mugs in hand.
Liz and I take a suitable seat, a waiter quickly arrives to take our order.
“There don’t seem to be many people today.”
“Katakata”
The waiter clattered his jaw slightly and replied, “It seems that many adventurers are taking a vacation today.” That means that there will probably guests coming at night. The homeless cafeteria also serves alcohol so it is also popular as a tavern. Recently, single dishes such as hamburgers have been selling like crazy.
“Salmon TKG set meal”
“Teriyaki hamburger steak set meal”
After we both placed an order, I took out a water bottle from the bangle. The cafeteria also offer free water but it’s just the usual water that could be bought in the city. I poured the water from the water bottle into a glass and offers it to Liz. Yes, it is saint water.
“Water?”
“If you want to be a full-fledged adventurer, drink it.”
“Understood.”
She gulped down the water. This will reflect her experience today in her body. It’s almost a foul training method but it has made Erna, Pero, and Freya stronger. Yeah, it is all thanks to Saint Water-sama.
“Delicious”
“It’s a special water. Don’t tell anyone else, okay?”
“Yeah.”
Liz nods, and shortly after, lines of texts appeared in my field of vision.
| 【Do you want to evolve Liz Schmidt?】 【YES/NO】 【Evolution destination option】 ・Human → High Human ・Human → Neohuman |
I was surprised that evolution had already come. It’s only been three days since she started training. I thought it would happen eventually, but it came so early that we can’t even eat calmly.
“You’ve got the option to evolve. Do you want to evolve?”
“??”
“It’s evolution. People in this world know that, right?”
“Ah!”
Liz seemed to finally understand as she clapped her fist on the palm of her hand. I told her the directions she could evolve to and she chooses High Human. I told her that she should pick neo-human as it is a safer option but she doesn’t listen to me, saying that high human would suit her better.
It’s not good to have the evolution in the cafeteria so we decided to return to the hideout first.
“Alright. Let’s start the evolution.”
“Yeah.”
Once we returned home, I clicked on the yes button and she starts to evolve in the living room. Her body began to glow dimly as she walked to their room and lied on her bed. Since I already know what kind of race the High Human is, I find it a little boring. A four-arm man is a more interesting evolution.
I took out some sake and decided to have a drink.
◇◇◇
“Hey, it looks like she has been sleeping all the time. What’s wrong with her?”
Erna asks as she peeks inside the bedroom. It’s already been six hours since Liz started evolving. I think it’s about time to end, but Erna, who doesn’t know the situation, looks worried.
“She’s evolving. She’s going to be high-human.”
“Is she going to be a high-human? That’s surprising. I thought you would choose a weirder evolution.”
“If you say that, doesn’t it seem like we’ve evolved in a strange way?”
“……That’s true.”
Apparently convinced, Erna sits down beside me. She lifted the liver sashimi I had been using as a snack to my sake, picked one up with a fork and brought it to her mouth.
“Ah!”
“This Erna-sama won’t allow you to eat delicious food alone.”
Damn, did my attempt to kill time by drinking until Liz finished evolving became her enemy as well? Pero and Freya, who were watching us, pinched a liver and brought it to their mouths.
“Even you too!”
“Only Father is sneaky.”
“This is pretty good.”
In the end, the snack for my sake were all eaten by the three of them. It looks like I’ll have to go hunting Mimic again.
“Noisy”
The door opened and a blue-haired ghost slithers out. Kidding, it’s Liz. Apparently, her evolution is over. Her pale blue hair stretched down to her feet, and Liz’s eyes peered through the gaps.
“Erna, cut her hair.”
“Yes.”
After she cut Liz’s hair with a knife, her figure was finally exposed. She used to have a well-shaped face, but after evolving, she had transformed into a beautiful girl. But what I am more concerned about is the black mass that floats around her. It is about the size of a basketball ball and it floats as if it is alive.
“What’s that?”
“I don’t know.”
I tried to touch that black thing. However, as if I’m grasping the clouds, my hand just cut into the air. I want to know what the meaning of this black mass is.
| 【Analysis: Liz Schmidt: The third daughter of the Schmidt family. Has extreme aversion to troublesome things. She thinks that if she marries Shinichi Tanaka, she will be able to spend the rest of her life lazing around. Considers Erna as rival. Rarity: A, Overall Ability: B】 |
| 【Status】 Name: Liz Schmidt Race: Dark Human Age: 15 years old Magic Attribute: Water | Darkness Magic: Aqua Ball, Aqua Arrow, Aqua Wall, Aqua Cure, Shadow Skills: Shinobi’s Vessel, Telepathy ▹Advanced: Swordsmanship, Taijutsu A, Taijutsu B ▹Intermediate: Ninjutsu, Body Strengthening, Eyesight Enhancement, Physical Enhancement, Danger Detection Evolution: Conditions are not met <Evolution Condition: Sword King Technique(Beginner), Ninjutsu (Special), Fist King Technique (Beginner)> |
Skills that I had never seen before were added. What kind of skill is telepathy?
“From what I can see, I don’t see any skills that have anything to do with that black thing. Maybe it’s a racial characteristics.”
“I don’t know.”
As she said this, Liz is gently touching the black ball. With that, I can add that it can be touched by Liz. It’s still a mystery.
Line of text then appears in my field of vision.
| 【Evolution has been changed by the skill, Shinobi’s Vessel】 |
As expected, it seems that Shinobi’s vessel, like the King’s vessel, has changed her evolution destination. I had a vague feeling that way. This world is not so simple that she could honestly be turned to high-human.
“Dark Human…”
Liz is in a daze when she sees her status.
Is she disappointed by the unexpected evolution?
I thought but,
“Oh-, nevermind.”
She readily accepted it.
She must have gotten tired of thinking about it. I feel like I’m gradually understanding Liz’s thoughts. I then gave her food and water. She began to gobble the food, probably because she was hungry. It’s a lively meal.
All the while, that black orb hovers around her. I’m still curious about it. I can’t help but pay attention to it.
“Can you move it?”
“Hn.”
With the chopsticks in her hand, Liz pointed in a direction and the black orb float there lightly. In other words, it can be manipulated. When she moved her chopsticks again, the orb changed shape and became long and thin. Swimming through the air like a snake, it wrapped itself around my arm.
“I can feel it…”
The black thing is soft and it felt weird to the touch, like touching a memory foam pillow. I have the urge to hold it forever. I decided to call this mysterious thing as “dark cloud”.
“Maybe you can ride this?”
“I didn’t think about that.”
Liz turns the dark cloud into a cushion shape and lowers it until it almost touched the floor. After she sat on top of it, the dark cloud began to float and move around.
“This feels good.”
Liz begins to sleep on the dark cloud. I stopped her.
“Don’t sleep in a place like that. Sleep in the bed.”
“Stingy”
“I’m not stingy.”
Liz got down the floor and reluctantly went back to the room. Then Erna hurriedly tries to close the door of their bedroom.
“You don’t have to close it in such a hurry.”
“Eh? Ah-, Y-Yes. That’s right.”
When I stared at her, Erna’s eyes start to wander around. I feel like she’s hiding something.
“Let me come in for a moment.”
“N-No! That’s not good. Don’t go inside the girls’ room!”
I pulled Erna, who was desperately clinging to me to stop me, and opened the door to the bedroom. I haven’t been in the bathroom or storage room lately because I don’t have any use for it. I have to check how the bedroom that I rented to the three of them has changed. It is the duty of the landlord after all.
“What is this!?”
I looked inside the room and exclaimed.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
Previous ⚜ Table of Contents ⚜ Next
Yume Neiji's Works 