Chapter 70: A Balance Patch is Needed

Being able to soak your body in warm water is a blessing.

If I hadn’t started living with Yuria in her house, would I still be pathetically washing my body with cold water at the well in the back yard of the lodging?

I realized anew how blessed it is to have a house.

‘Entering and leaving the underground city would raise my level quickly. But I can’t grasp how difficult it will be.’

I’ll be going into the underground city with the heretic hunting team to retrieve corpses, and if I help with hunting heretics, my level will rise. This is good.

The problem is how to survive among the heretics crawling out from all directions.

‘Is it possible to massacre heretics with six people?’

The party going down this time to hunt heretics is composed of six people in total, including the saint and me.

You might say it’s too few, but they judged it wouldn’t be a problem since each heresy inquisitor is a powerful person equivalent to a Gold Badge.

The saint suggested that we should sweep through with a small elite force, saying that adventurers with insufficient skills would rather end up giving sacrifices to them, and that it’s better than bringing many. It’s quite unsettling.

It didn’t seem to be just for the sake of protecting adventurers or such reasons. In my opinion, it seems the saint suggested going with a small elite force because she’s afraid of losing her prey.

That woman, her eyes seemed tinged with madness.

I don’t know how such a person holds the position of saint, but she still looked quite strong.

She’s probably a powerful person that even Moira can’t handle carelessly.

Yes, they’ll take care of the battles.

I should just do my job properly.

My job is to quickly retrieve corpses and properly prepare supplies so the party members aren’t inconvenienced.

First, since I have almost no supplies on hand, I should fill my inventory.

‘Since I lost all my possessions to the Observer.’

As a result of opening my inventory to draw its attention, all my belongings were ground up.

I did receive compensation from the guild for helping with the Observer subjugation, but it’s just enough to not be in the red, so it hurts my heart.

“Sigh.”

My heart feels very empty as the labyrinth conquest items I had prepared one by one with effort all disappeared overnight.

There were many items I had used for a long time and got attached to, but now they’ve all become waste and gone to the dump.

Still, I have some spare funds, so let’s prepare supplies with a fresh mind and determination.

I should go to the general store to stock up on potions and ask them to sell the ring of etherealization.

They said they would improve the side effects and effects anew, so I’m quite looking forward to it.

‘By the way, I need to prepare food for 6 people.’

The costs will be handled if I request them from the guild. Since I don’t know how long we’ll be down there, I should buy enough food for 6 adult men and women to eat for two months generously.

I should go around the grocery stores and restaurants I frequently visit tomorrow.

Sandwiches are good. I think I need to buy soup by the pot too, or should I buy ingredients and ask Marine to cook? That seems like a good method too.

Now that I have a housekeeper who can cook, since Marine is good at cooking, it seems I won’t need to buy from restaurants anymore.

“I’m busy.”

I soaked my body deeper in the bathtub.

I won’t die this time either, right?

Anxiety kept rising in my heart.

---

I went out as soon as the sun rose.

There was a lot to do.

I had to go to the guild, discuss future matters with the Young Lady, and place advance orders for various types of relief supplies.

Especially to buy ingredients in bulk, it was better to place orders in advance.

Because anything becomes difficult to obtain if you try to buy it suddenly.

Each of these preparations would increase the survival rate of my party members.

“You’re here!”

“It’s been a while, Edwin-ssi.”

“The Guild Master said to come up right away.”

“Right away?”

“Yes, she said to come see her as soon as Sion-ssi arrives. She seems to have something to tell you.”

At Edwin-ssi’s words, I immediately went up to the Guild Master’s room.

When I opened the door with a knock, Moira was buried in a pile of documents, reading some unknown report with eyes darkened by heavy dark circles.

“You’ve come.”

“Yes, I heard you called for me separately.”

“Yes. Fria said she wants to enter the labyrinth next week.”

Next week is only a few days away.

It seems I’ll have to move more busily than I thought.

“I understand. Can I know in advance who I’ll be entering with?”

“For now, the saint will definitely go in. Probably four heresy inquisitors under her command will follow. I don’t know the details, but they say they’re at least Gold Badge level. And this is my personal opinion.”

“Yees.”

“There are no normal people among the heresy inquisitors.”

“Oh… Is that so?”

I expected it, but it’s scary when she blatantly says they’re abnormal.

“I’m very, very worried that you might be influenced by them. Sending you into the underground city among madmen. I’m really uneasy.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Yes. It’s that bad. You might have to hold the reins.”

“No, they’re monsters of the church. You’re telling me to hold the reins? I’m already going crazy about entering a field of heretics. Do I have to do that too?”

“It can’t be helped. If you don’t hold the reins, you’ll die.”

“You say I’ll die?”

“Think about it carefully. The heresy inquisitors are all warriors who can use divine blessings. You know?”

“That’s right?”

“Then it means they’re entering an unlimited hunting ground in a state where self-healing is possible. Even if they get hurt, they’ll go berserk by slamming divine power into their bodies. If you get dragged along with them, you’ll die. The heretics aren’t the problem. They are. They might hunt heretics for a week without sleeping. Can you handle that?”

“…”

“Do you understand what I mean now? To survive, you must absolutely hold the reins of the inquisitors well.”

“So, I probably won’t die at the hands of heretics. To survive, I need to control the tempo of the inquisitors well, right?”

“That’s right. No matter how many heretics crawl out, neither the heresy inquisitors nor you need to worry about dying at the hands of heretics. They are experts in heretic hunting. They’re probably monsters who would beat demons to death and escape even if thrown into hell. But you’re not like that. Your crotch will split if you try to keep up with monsters?”

She says I’ll die from overwork if I don’t hold the reins to prevent the heresy inquisitors from going berserk.

“Ah, this is driving me crazy. I can’t grasp how to hold the reins. Please help me. No, please come in with me. Moira mama, help me.”

“Ma-mama.. Ahem. I’m sorry. I can’t go in with you. I want to help you too, but. There are various circumstances. Please understand.”

Magic eye, magic sword, and labyrinth assimilation.

Those three reasons are probably included in those “various circumstances”.

I know, but I end up acting spoiled because I’m scared.

Moira mama, please help me.

“I’m so worried about you too, so I ordered a set of armor, at least wear that when you go in. I spent some money, so it should be light and durable. I even added about 2 magic engravings.”

Armor with magic engravings?

No, to think she prepared all this…!

As expected of Moira mama.

She’s generous, befitting the person who seduced me.

“Mama..! Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. No need for thanks for this much. Rather, I’m grateful. Thank you for working for the city. I’m sorry for giving you such a difficult task.”

Moira hugged me tightly.

As I bury my face in her chest, I feel my heart calming down a bit.

Yes, this is the comfort that breasts give.

“Now then, cheer up. And if you need anything from these documents, you can write up a budget. You can give it to Edwin.”

“Yes. Then I’ll be going now.”

“Ah, right. Yuria said she’s coming soon. She’ll be here tomorrow or the day after.”

“Really!?”

“Yes. We received word that she located the transfer stone. The problem is…”

“What problem is there now?”

“It seems the Kingdom of Cayslan was already encamped in front of the transfer stone. The situation has become complicated in many ways.”

After executing all those who were in collusion with the heretics, the kingdom was stationed in front of the entrance connected to the 5th floor of the labyrinth.

They say that the transfer stone search team including Yuria is returning without even being able to approach the transfer stone, as they brought so many troops that it would be insufficient to push in, and even set up an encampment.

“I have a headache too. There might even be Kingdom of Cayslan troops inside the labyrinth, besides the heretics. They might have been dragged away as sacrifices for the heretics. The underground city is in a saturated state in many ways right now.”

“No, do we have to catch the kingdom’s troops now too? The difficulty keeps rising, doesn’t it?”

Fucked game.

Need a balance patch.

“No. That won’t be the case. Most of them are maggots who couldn’t adapt to mana, so they probably all died within a few hours of entering. So I don’t think there will be any need to fight the kingdom’s troops.”

“That’s a relief at least.”

“Still, be careful. The Kingdom of Cayslan must have veterans from the Labyrinth City too. We don’t know what tricks those guys might pull. It would be best not to encounter them.”

“I really hope we don’t encounter them. Haah..”

“You have a lot of hardships. Well then, go prepare now. Ah, if Yuria returns, stop by the house with her for a moment. I’ll boost your energy with Lin’s food.”

“Oh, yes. Lin-ssi’s cooking is delicious.”

“That’s right. I’ll prepare traditional dishes that suit an Easterner’s taste. You can look forward to it.”

An opportunity to eat proper Chinese food after a long time?

I should visit when Yuria comes.

The food of Lin-ssi, the Guild Master’s exclusive slave and maid, is quite delicious.

“Then I’ll really be going now.”

“Alright. I’ll send the armor to Yuria’s house.”

“Yes. Thank you. You’re the best, Guild Master.”

“What? I’m the best? Hehehe.”

Leaving behind the Guild Master’s lewd laughter, I went down to the 1st floor.

I saved on the armor cost. Sweet.