Day 31-40/Day 37

Day 37
Two of my servants who were still goblins yesterday [Rank Up] to hobgoblins today.
While thinking “It's the second day in a row, huh?”, I gave them a congratulatory gift.
After morning training finished, while I was eating the lunch the sisters prepared for me, Gobue-chan who should have been in the depths of the mines came to me flustered.
She was embracing a small, brown humanoid with a bright red jewel on its forehead, sharp cuts could be seen all over its body. It was covered in blood, just like me some time ago. I could tell from its erratic breathing that it would most likely die any moment.
I'm calling it Carbuncle for the time being, since Gobue-chan told me to help it, I treated it using one of the [Job-Druid] recovery spells, [Heal].
It would have been beyond saving if I was ten minutes late, I felt relieved that I managed to heal it in time.
However even healing doesn’t return lost blood. Carbuncle fell asleep after I forcefully made it drink a potion I made with Alchemist-san, a [Hematopoietic Potion] (Prototype) made by blending various herbs that helped with blood formation. Luckily for Carbuncle I was sated after the meal so I didn’t feel like eating it. Besides, Gobue-chan asked me to help it.
Editor: Hematopoietic means blood producing.
A few minutes later, the 30-cm tall Carbuncle opened its eyes and explained its situation. “Thank you very much”, was the first thing it said after knowing that we helped her. According to the story it told us when I asked why it was covered in injuries, the Carbuncle’s name was Returner, and the reason it was covered in wounds was because it was attacked by some human adventurers.
The red gem splendidly mounted on its forehead, seems to be a super high-class item, if sold it would probably be worth a hundred million gold coins — after hearing the value of one gold I think it's equal to ten yen, by the way "gold" isn't gold coins, it's a unit to assess the value of coins — , that seemed to be the adventurer's objective.
When I thought that Returner must have had it hard, it went down on its knees and begged me to do something about the humans.
This is what I put together after hearing the story:
~ It seems like Returner is an artificial Carbuncle created by the legendary magician Velvet who lived in the ancient times and was well-known throughout the continent. Returner is the administrator of « Velvet's Hidden Treasury » — a structure recognized in this world as a man-made dungeon — that Gobue-chan and the others broke through when they were digging for Spirit Stones.
~ Though its superficial wounds that I healed seemed to have stabilized its state, but the fact was that its core — although Returner is a non-living artificial Carbuncle without a set lifespan, it seems like it would die if the core is broken — was deeply damaged when the humans attacked it. The healing just prolonged until its death.
~ Within the innermost parts of the dungeon, there are gems, elixirs and magic items that Velvet had painstakingly collected over his lifetime, there are even some [Legendary]-Ranked magic items. There was no way Returner could tolerate something like the treasure chamber getting savagely broken into by those greed-stricken nitwits and its treasures getting taken away.
~ Returner wanted to solve this problem on its own, however, its fighting strength is lacking and because its core got damaged its time is limited.
In the dungeon there are the magical creatures called [Skeleton Soldiers]s, and their higher rank [Greater Skeletons] who can summon and command skeleton soldiers, however, against the party of the adventurers they were worse than useless.
That’s why it asked us who seemed somewhat strong to drive the adventurers out and bury the entrances.
If we could help eliminate the problem, it is willing to hand over the contents of the treasure chamber to us as thanks. Velvet hated humans, so it might as well hand over the treasure to us.
After thinking about it for a while, I couldn’t think of any downsides, so I accepted it.
I called Gobukichi-kun, Gobumi-chan, Gobue-chan, then both Hobusei-san and Hobusato-san and ordered them to get properly armed. After that I asked Blacksmith-san to bring me the knife made from [ Spirit Stones ] alloy. Having a weapon is much better than going unarmed.
Also, because the Spirit Stone Knife is flashy in appearance, it seems like it would be useful as a deterrent. As I was giving instructions to the other, Blacksmith-san, Redhead, the two sisters and Alchemist-san looked at me, their faces full of unease.
That is because they heard the request to kill humans. They would feel some unease, even if they are strangers. However, because what Returner asked for is to just drive them away I'll first try doing that, we will not try to kill them before talking first.
First, we will try to persuade them, if that doesn’t work, then and only then will we resort to the use of force. Since to protect ourselves we have to use deadly force, I’m afraid it will end with us having to kill them.
“If it’s for self-defense then it can’t be helped, otherwise we’ll get killed, right?” I said.
When I told them that talking is important and showed them my smile, they more or less relaxed. With the preparations complete, Gobue-chan led us to the route connecting to the dungeon that Returner managed. In the end, this is what happened. We killed all the 6 adventurers who entered the dungeon and tried to kill Returner. Well, I did try persuasion first.
Initially, to prevent them from getting anxious because of our superior numbers, I had Gobukichi-kun and the others hide and went to persuade them by myself. This was an act I did in good faith.
But the moment they saw me they said something flag-like, “This dungeon not only it has Greater skeletons, there is also an Ogre - Variant] here. This place has many monsters, but most of them are weak. This ogre is a little hard to deal with, however, it's not a match for us. Let’s just kill it quickly. We've to look for the tiny one that escaped too”, then attacked me full of killing intent.
I'm not an [Variant], but a [Rare Species]. They didn’t want to hear what I wanted to say, not even a little. That’s robbers for you, I thought.
Well, doing things like intruding on people’s houses - dungeons -, recklessly killing its inhabitants - monsters - while plundering the treasures inside… This is without doubt a murder-robbery case isn’t it!! Moreover, they’re not even aware of their crime, these people are beyond saving!!
Upon using [Appraisal], it seems like the robbers’ equipment were all high-class magic items, anyone can realize that they are quite strong from the air emitted by them.
The composition of the party was two vanguards, three rear rearguards and an assassin, the six's teamwork was also good.
However, I felt nothing like the despair I felt when I fought the Red bear. Because I'm an Ogre (Rare Species) my base specs are high, that's why I was having an easy time warding off the robbers’ attacks.
Their attacks were totally clumsy. Their aims are also relatively dull, not only were they unable to handle their weapons efficiently, there were hardly any unpredictable and complex feints mixed into their attacks to mislead the enemy.
Their slashing attacks were quick, and their weapons were of a superior quality, so if a usual ogre were to fight them he’d be slaughtered leaving only pieces of meat behind, however, in my opinion their combat techniques were not on par with their body’s specs, the impression I had of their attack was that it was crude.
And seeing their movement I felt something wrong, their bodies' movements and their attacks trajectories were slightly misaligned. Well, I don't have enough information about that now, I'll investigate it later
Considering the body reinforcement they gained from raising their [Job]s, they are certainly strong, but conversely, it could possibly be inhibiting their efforts to raise their potential. They were probably fighting without thinking of how to swing their swords, and just focused on raising the Levels of their Jobs.
So far they must have been raising their Levels by killing their opponents relying on brute force, thus they had naturally started to spend less effort training their techniques. I don’t mean to find faults in others affairs, but their current methods were excessively lethal for themselves.
If they had spent more effort training, they would probably have been able to fight me on equal grounds. That’s how high their base specs were. Having neglected their training they were not real opponents for me.
There was a margin of error allowed for me because they were weaker and all of their attacks were warded off by me and while this was happening I continued my attempt to persuade them.
Usually when robbers are trying to murder you, you don’t try to convince to leave.
As I was talking to them, while still being attacked, from the rearguard a young looking Magician fired a spell from [Lightning] magic system at me which was followed with a *bam* sound as soon as it struck my face.
I didn’t collapse, but all the same I stumbled a step backwards. The resulting damage was only to the degree that I felt sore.
You may think that it's a weak spell when you hear that, however, I would’ve died from it if it weren’t for my [All Elemental Resistance] and [Lightning Resistance] abilities. It was strong enough to evaporate my head without leaving any trace behind if not for my two abilities.
That's why, as expected, when they used an attack of this level, my patience reached its limits. I sent a signal to Gobukichi-kun and the others who were hiding to commence their attack.
Apologizing to Returner in my mind, I cut off the retreat path of the adventurers by destroying a part of the corridor made of a mysterious opal-like material that made me want to remark “What is this, an ancient holy temple?”
In order to attract their attention, I attacked from the front.
I originally thought the ability of the Spirit Stone knife was only somewhat interesting, however, it actually turned out to be amazing.
The blade itself has absolutely no sharpness, but since the materials used were [Water Spirit Stones] alloy, water was being ejected from the blade with each swing. When I swung it a little seriously, the water coming out at high speed became a water blade, it cut an adventurer’s armor in half along with the contents while making a loud sound.
“Awesome! Awesome!” was what Gobumi-chan said, then I gave it to her to try it, however, although water came out, she couldn't cut with it.
It seems like it won't cut unless swung with a suitable speed, though it was still amazing.
After killing all of the adventurers, we stripped the bodies and ate them. I took the upper halves while Gobukichi-kun and the others got to share the lower halves.
【Ability learned: Job - Assassin】
【Ability learned: Job - Crusader】
【Ability learned: Job - Guardian】
【Ability learned: Job - High Wizard】
【Ability learned: Job - Priest】
【Ability learned: Job - Enchanter】
【Ability learned: Quick Thinking】
【Ability learned: Parallel Thinking】
【Ability learned: Riding】
【Ability learned: Anti-Magic】
【Ability learned: Shortened Incantation】
【Ability learned: Chivalry】
【Ability learned: Intuition】
【Ability learned: Conceal Presence】
【Ability learned:【Demigod of Compassion】's Divine Protection】
【Ability learned:【Demigod of War】's Divine Protection】
They were probably high-ranked even among adventurers, most of their equipment were of high-quality. I also found some useful magic items on them, I ate them immediately of course.
【Ability learned: Conceal Self-Status】
【Ability learned: Item Box】
In total, I ate 7 magic items from 2 types, [The Hermit’s Ring] that hides the status of the wearer and [Backpack Storage - Large] x6 which is a rare magic item that have a very large storage capacity, I stored the rest of the adventurers’ gear in my [Item Box] – when I tried to retrieve an item, a *pon* sound could be heard and the item appeared - .
It reminded me of the item transfer technology used in everyday life in my past life, I felt a sense of nostalgia when I checked the ability.
By the way, because I ate six of the same item, this ability allows me to store up to 1200 different types of items and the items of the same type can be stacked up to 99 times each which is just cheating.
After that, Returner guided us to the entrance of the dungeon that the adventurers entered from and we collapsed it.
Now there’s no other entrance here except for the one Gobue-chan made. After we collapse that passage, there will be no way to enter this dungeon.
Then, Carbuncle guided us into the treasury.
There were various valuable treasures, the adventurers' equipment that we got our hands on looked dull compared to the vast number of powerful magic items here. Amidst this treasury crammed full of items, in the innermost part there was a mummy with a strange left arm shining in silver enshrined in a throne.
Returner called this mummy its master, that meant that it's Velvet.
Returner’s time was about to run out and before that it wanted to tell us something.
A wide variety of [Spirit Stones] can be mined in our mine, that was the influence of this dungeon. Usually depending on the type of [Spirit Stone] it could be found in a location that corresponds to its attribute —— places with good ventilation have [Wind Spirit Stones], [Fire Spirit Stones] are found near hot places like volcanoes - [Spirit Stones] of different attributes aren’t usually found in one place.
However, because this dungeon was a place built by Velvet who excelled at handling spirits, spirits who do not belong to this environment remain here even now and thus it's possible to mine a wide variety of [Spirit Stones] in our mine because of this dungeon’s influence.
As soon as it finished talking, Returner showed a faint smile and its body disintegrated. Only the jewel was left behind. I picked it up and ate it.
【Ability learned: Golden Rule】
I gave a silent prayer dedicated to Returner. Then we took all the riches in the treasury. Really, [Item Box] is amazing. We crammed everything in the treasury inside it and I still have a large surplus of space left. This is thanks to the adventurers party from a while ago.
Only the mummified Velvet with the strange-looking left hand remained in the lonely treasure chamber, as I thought, I couldn’t bring myself to leave him as he is, so after recovering the gem-encrusted throne, I cremated the mummy.
Raising my face, I clapped my hands in prayer “Namu”, after the rumbling fire died out only the strange-looking artificial arm shining in silver remained in the mummy's place.
“What is this?”, I thought as I used [Appraisal].
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [Appraisal] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Name: Silver Artificial Arm – Airgeatlámh
Classification: Artifact
Rank: Legendary Class
Abilities:
- [Armblast]
- [Spellblast]
- [Self-Evolution]
- [Attribute Echo]
【Details: A divine artificial arm previously worn by Velvet who found it in the depths of a certain «Age of the Gods Dungeon». Those who lost an arm can equip it and perform any movement flawlessly with it.】
【By taking in other kinds of metal it can evolve and improve, it is possible to change its shape to a certain extent according to the owner's intent. Destruction of this item is fundamentally impossible.】
This is what I found out. Hm, is Velvet saying “I don’t need this anymore, so I’m giving it to you” to me who had lost his left arm? I thought of this as I picked it up brought it closer to my left elbow where my arm is missing. Somehow I was able to attach it. My impressions: it was incredibly painful.
Well, when I brought it close to my elbow, some small gaps appeared in the silver arm's armor, then metallic tentacles extended from them and covered my left arm up to the shoulder. Then the tentacles did something that felt like they were eating my flesh, the pain was so intense that I almost blacked out.
After I recovered from my pain, my left arm was already [Airgeatlámh] up to the shoulder. The silver arm that was the size of a human’s arm when I picked it up should have been far too small for me who was an ogre, but somehow it transformed into the same size as my right arm in both length and girth, it suited me well.
This might be the effects of [Self-Evolution]. There was no discomfort when clenching and opening all the 5 fingers. It didn’t feel weird at all.
Moreover, it had a sense of touch, but when I tried hitting a wall I felt no pain at all. Even though I could accept having no sense of pain because it was a prosthetic arm, I wondered how it was able to transmit the sense of touch.
I was incapable of understanding it, and since I have no idea how abilities work in the first place, I didn't think too deeply about it.
The elbow joint seemed to have an outrageously wide range of motion, and there were all sorts of gimmicks here and there. The hand and fingers could be rotated like a drill and even the whole arm, in addition, I can move the joints at angles impossible for the skeletal structure of an ogre. I didn't forget to confirm if I can properly use my abilities through the silver arm. I was able to spin thread and eject poison from the sharp pointed fingertips without a problem.
I have obtained an awfully good item. Although I was managing somehow with the prosthetic fingers - slime fingers - , but as expected, having a solid basis made dealing with problems easier.
After that, we returned to base and had a party. Since we completed Returner's request successfully and among the things we got from the adventurers party — this is important — there were bottles of alcohol, I informed the others that we'll have a party and we started preparing. We finally got some alcohol if we’re not going to drink now, then when are we going to? This is also for sending off the souls of Returner and Velvet.
In Velvet’s case, maybe it doesn't matter because he died a long time ago, but I didn't bother with such a petty matter, because I was in a good mood. I explained the details gently and thoroughly to Redhead, Blacksmith-san and the others to make them understand that I didn't have a choice other than killing the adventurers. Nevertheless, it's delicious, alcohol is delicious!!
Category:Re:Monster Volume 1
Category:Novel