Chapter 243: Familiar and different Parties (2)

Chapter 243: Familiar and
different Parties (2)

After
finishing my conversation with Lammel, I requested a meeting with the
Vice Guild Master through the counter clerk.

“Please
come this way.”

As
if permission had already been granted from the Vice Guild Master’s
side, the clerk led me directly to the Vice Guild Master’s office
without saying anything else.

Unfortunately,
I couldn’t bring Denshi along, so I left her in the lobby and arrived
at the Vice Guild Master’s office.

-Knock
knock.

“Come
in.”

Permission
was granted as soon as the female clerk knocked on the door.

Through
the door she opened, I faced Vice Guild Master Yonel Freya, a woman
with a young girl-like appearance who had a small yellow chick on her
head.

Like
last time, Yonel Freya was surrounded by various small animals like
sparrows, hawks, eagles, cats, and dogs, wearing a deep smile at the
corners of her mouth.

‘Did
something good happen?’

Although
the atmosphere was casual towards me, I don’t think she usually had
such a grinning expression.

While
thinking that, I first bowed my head.

“Thank
you for agreeing to meet with me, Vice Guild Master.”

“No
need to thank me. You’re here to receive the compensation I mentioned
at the banquet, right?”

“Yes.”

“From
what I saw, it seems you need a mage?”

I
did feel some gazes while talking with Lammel, both ordinary
explorers’ gazes and mysteriously profound gazes that far surpassed
mine.

I
noticed animals with golden eyes identical to Yonel Freya’s around
her.

Just
like last time, it seemed she could share vision with animals, like
the sparrow familiar that the Lust worshipper controlled.

That
must be how she knows so well about what just happened.

“That’s
true, but I could find one if I tried.”

It
was a lie. Honestly, the situation is a bit desperate, because it’s
not easy to replace high-level personnel like mages.

A
skilled mage who can handle various environments in the labyrinth,
additionally, a mage with the courage to venture deeper than the 15th
floor has value worth their weight in gold.

Still,
I maintained my composure as I answered.

There’s
no need to show others how desperate our situation is.

“Really?
These days everyone is focused on reinforcing their parties because
more and more disturbances are being heard from the labyrinth.
Finding a mage won’t be easy, you know?”

“Our
party is now somewhat established, so I think many mages would find
us attractive.”

“Hmm.
Is that so? That’s too bad. I happened to know a skilled and talented
mage who’s preparing to enter the labyrinth, and I was going to
introduce them.”

“…There’s
such a person?”

Yonel
Freya is the Vice Guild Master of the Explorers Guild.

For
someone with enough credit to attend Celsia’s birthday party and who
has seen many skilled individuals to recommend a mage like this?

This
was a rare opportunity.

“Interested?
Ah, this won’t count as compensation, so don’t worry too much.”

I
felt my guard lowering at her words.

When
the mage topic came up right after discussing compensation, I was
wary thinking she might try to settle it by making connections, but
apparently that wasn’t the case.

If
so, there’s no need to keep my guard up so high.

Good
intentions should be well received.

“Honestly,
I do need one.”

At
my answer, Yonel Freya’s mouth corners drew a deep curve.

“They
happen to be right nearby, want to meet them?”

Being
able to meet right away is even better. Just checking their status
window would be a great help in making a judgment.

“Yes.”

“Good.
Since it’s someone you know well too, they wouldn’t be bad as a party
member.”

When
I nodded, Yonel Freya snapped her fingers.

-Snap!

Right
after, sounds of commotion and hurried footsteps climbing the stairs
could be heard from below.

By
the way, someone I know well?

…No
way?

For
a moment, my head went cold.

A
mage worthy of the Vice Guild Master’s praise, someone who could be
right below her floor, someone I know well…

“May
I come in?”

“Yes.
Come in.”

The
brief thought ended there.

Someone
carefully opened the door and entered the Vice Guild Master’s office.

“Hik…!
W-why are you…?!”

Her
eyes widened the moment she saw me.

Even
though I had roughly predicted who would come in.

“…What
is that…?”

When
I saw her fashion, I couldn’t help but gape blankly.

On
her uniquely mature body even among elves was a cute and bright
yellow…outfit like kindergarten clothes, a pacifier worn around her
neck like a necklace and a yellow chick hat on her head.

“U,
ungie…”

Dark
Elf mage Noir, a perfectly regressed baby-like mage was standing
there.

“……”

“……”

The
moment our eyes met, Noir silently covered her clothes with her
hands.

Apparently,
she seemed to know her current outfit was embarrassing.

Last
time it was bikini armor, and this time kindergarten clothes?

It
was really difficult to accept the sight of a mature dark elf who
must be several times my age walking around in kindergarten attire.

“Noir.
The healing wasn’t perfect last time, is this appearance also a side
effect?”

Noir,
who had been frozen like stone and just blushing with shame, nodded
her head frantically as if she’d found an escape route from my
question.

“Uh,
uh? Ah, yes. That’s right! I, I didn’t want to wear clothes like
this, but my mind only feels at ease when I wear these clothes. So I
had no choice but to wear them. Really. I truly had no choice.”

As
she spoke, a sweet and seductive scent unique to an aroused female
wafted from Noir’s body.

Despite
leaking such lewd dick-arousing pheromones that would anger any dick,
she dares to make excuses claiming she had no special sexual
preferences or desires?

Suspicion
rose up but I nodded for now.

Though
her outfit was questionable, there was no need to doubt Noir’s
abilities as a mage.

“But
why is Noir going to the labyrinth?”

Though
I don’t know much about her, I can guess what kind of person she is
from what’s happened so far and conversations with Idelbert.

Noir
must be one of the people Idelbert called shadows, who handle the
dirty work that happens in the labyrinth city.

Like
disposing of trash outlaws, or hunting demon worshippers like when
searching for succubi in the lawless zone.

Why
would someone who did such work now enter the labyrinth?

To
that question, Noir answered with a slightly less embarrassed
expression.

“You’ve
heard the news that monsters possessing magi started appearing in
large numbers in the labyrinth since last week, right?”

“Yes.
To deal with those monsters?”

“Yeah.
It’s rare for labyrinth monsters to suddenly get stronger and run
wild like this without any precursors. Someone must be pulling
strings behind the scenes. Magi resonates with magical energy, so
when a monster with dense magi appears, other monsters are also
affected, albeit slightly. We need to eliminate them as soon as
possible.”

-Thunk.

As
Noir finished speaking, a dog near Yonel Freya approached and held
out some documents.

“Read
this.”

It
was essentially the same as being handed documents by the Vice Guild
Master herself.

The
three or four pages of documents contained photo-like drawings of
monsters and information about them.

What
caught my eye first was a skeletal monster wearing a black robe.

A
body without a single piece of flesh, like a skeleton.

However,
black energy that gave off an unusual atmosphere was rippling around
the monster’s eye sockets and heart area.

“…This
doesn’t look easy.”

Moreover,
I’ve seen that energy before on the chimera monster I faced in the
relic warehouse on the 16th floor.

It
gave a similar feeling to the magi that was attached to that one.

Sure
enough, that name came from Yonel Freya’s mouth.

“Elder
Lich. One of the experimental monsters controlled by the Sloth
worshipper. It took up residence in the swamp cemetery on the 19th
floor two days ago and is gathering all the corpses in the
surrounding area. Since it’s also a monster that handles necromancy,
it’ll be troublesome if we leave it alone.”

“…Is
that so?”

I
deliberately responded with an indifferent attitude.

The
intention behind telling me this in person was obvious.

“What
a dangerous monster. What are the high-rank explorers doing instead
of catching it?”

“Similar
monsters have already appeared in the lower floors too. Four days
ago, a demon experiment subject appeared in the relic warehouse on
the 24th floor and we sent people to deal with it.”

“Is
there a shortage of personnel?”

“Not
quite that bad.”

-Swoosh.

Yonel
Freya took something out from her bosom and placed it on the desk.

It
was not a wooden explorer identification tag for low-rank explorers,
but a sophisticated silver mid-rank explorer identification tag and a
heavy pouch of gold coins.

“I
was hoping the rumored explorer called the Knight of Light, who
showed remarkable skills at the royal palace, would lend his
strength.”

The
chimera monster was certainly a troublesome opponent, but because it
handled magi, it had clear compatibility with the Blessing of
Radiance and the Elder Lich shouldn’t be much different.

“This
is advance payment. The subjugation reward will be half of this
again, plus a necklace-type HP increase artifact. Though it’s an
artifact, it’s a high-grade item comparable to average mid-grade
relics.”

I
quietly examined the gold coin pouch she handed over.

Even
at a glance, it seemed to contain over thirty coins.

Considering
we received about 40 gold coins for annihilating the turf clan in the
back alleys, the fact that Elder Lich offers an even bigger reward
meant it possessed combat power exceeding their entire group
combined.

Moreover,
for a single monster to be worth that much.

“Ah.
By the way, since Noir was scheduled to be deployed to the party for
catching this one, party membership will be off the table if you
don’t accept the request. Instead, if you deal with the Elder Lich
this time, I’ll arrange a long-term party contract with Noir under
good conditions.”

At
the Vice Guild Master’s following words, I scratched the back of my
head with a bitter smile.

Until
just now she spoke like she would give Noir anytime, but now she’s
taking Noir hostage?

‘Did
I show too much interest?’

It
was a mistake. As expected, someone at the level of Explorer Vice
Guild Master isn’t easy to deal with but it can’t be helped either.

Although
we’re also a party with quite good skills and could find a quite
useful mage if we invested several months, we can’t be certain how
long it would take.

It’s
also unknown whether such a mage would show as much sense as Lammel.

“Eh.
Vice Guild Master. What about my opinion…?”

“You
don’t want to?”

“Ah,
no. It’s not that I don’t want to… u, uu… ttudda…”

While
hearing Noir’s “ttudda” sound, I fell into contemplation.

From
the party’s perspective, about 50 gold coins, a relic-grade artifact
and a long-term party contract with level 40-range mage Noir are
quite attractive.

Personally,
besides the chance to find traces of the Sloth worshipper, taking
down the magi-possessing Elder Lich could also aim for growth of the
Blessing of Radiance.

If
lucky, I might also get a soul stone imbued with magi to grow Bunny
but risks still exist.

As
a monster that appeared on the 19th floor, moreover, since it’s a
monster that handles necromancy, it was obvious that even just
meeting Elder Lich would be disgustingly tricky.

“I
don’t think I can make the decision alone. Would it be alright if I
discuss with my party members and give you an answer?”

“Of
course. But let me know within two days. If you refuse, I’ll need to
send another explorer party.”

In
the end, I decided to postpone the choice for now because the
labyrinth isn’t a place I can navigate alone.

If
I want to do something, getting party members’ consent comes first.

***

Explorer
District Guard Station.

“Please
come this way.”

I
followed the guard with a half-dead expression down to the
underground solitary cells.

“Save
me, save me…I want to get out, I want to get out of here…”

“It
stinks. It stinks. I hate the smell…I hate the breast milk smell…
I don’t want to get aroused by this smell…”

“Please
kill me. Either kill me or kill that bastard please…”

-Screech.
Screech screech.

Arriving
at a cell amid sounds of fingernails scratching cell doors and
prisoners’ lifeless pleas.

-Creeeak.

When
the guard opened the cell door, the woman inside came into view.

-Gulp.
Gulp.

“Kyahaa…!”

The
cow beastkin with an innocent country girl’s face, who had been
sucking on her own obscenely large milk tanks, put them down and
greeted me with a smile spread across her face.

“It’s
Balkan after all! You came to get me out!”