Chapter 8: Returning Home

It was now early August. A whole month had passed since the No-life Gamers cleared their first Rank B dungeon. Krena had managed to pass her general education exam, so the group hosted another party to celebrate. She had been all smiles from start to end, saying that she wanted another party after the next exam in February.

The dungeon delving was going smoothly: the party already had another Rank B dungeon under its belt and was currently working on the last one needed to access Rank A dungeons. For a group that started off not knowing anything about what dungeons were like, their progress was more than fast enough to make anyone do a double take. Krena’s personal growth was remarkable as well; it would not be long until she would be strong enough to handle a Rank B dungeon solo.

Allen had resumed posting his Rank D magic stone requests back in July. In a Rank B dungeon, clearing one floor netted around two hundred stones. There were always three Summon Squads out at any given time, gathering a total of six hundred magic stones each day. Unfortunately, there was no way to raise this number any higher, as there was a limit to how many monsters could spawn on a floor per day.

One way to circumvent this daily cap was to seek out the monster-summoning traps. Although the Squads would sometimes lose members when taking them on, each trap could yield up to a thousand Rank C magic stones. Naturally, finding those traps became a top priority every night. Once the clock struck midnight, both traps and treasure chests reset.

In one month, Allen had managed to earn 425 gold from chest drops and 34,760 Rank C magic stones with his Summons Squads alone. He traded the latter for 310,000 Rank D magic stones. Eventually, however, a stiffly smiling staff member at the Guild informed Allen that they were capping him at 10,000 stones per week, or 50,000 a month.

Everything that the party needed was funded through dungeon loot. This included a time-telling magic tool that was essentially a clock—for keeping track of time when sleeping overnight inside a dungeon—as well as a horse-drawn carriage to carry foodstuffs and other luggage on their shopping trips. Both had cost fifty gold apiece. The fifteen-year-old servant was in charge of caring for the horse, which was housed in the small stable on the premises.

At the moment, Allen was Sharing the vision of a Summon flying in the sky.

Ohhh! There it is. That was pretty far.

He recognized the rolling scenery below; slowly but surely, Krena Village came into view. He used to make this trip once a month using Bird G, but this time he was using Bird F, the pigeon Summon. It was holding a basket in its claws.

Summer break had arrived for Allen’s party. They had agreed to spend the time going dungeon delving rather than returning home. This was all for the sake of getting even just one day closer to entering Rank A dungeons—and their promise of MP Recovery Rings.

However, although he would not be going back to Granvelle, Allen still had business that required him to send a Bird F to the viscount. So while he was at it, he figured he would take the time to catch up with his family first. To make this a “three birds with one stone” kind of thing, this trip was meant as flying practice for Bird F too.

It was lunchtime when Poppo arrived. All of Allen’s family were gathered at the dinner table, digging into steamed potatoes. The bird entered the earthen-floored room and as it blinked, said in Allen’s voice, “I’m baaaack! Phew, that was a long flight.”

“Huh?” Myulla’s potato slipped from her hands. “The birdie just spoke!”

Rodin and Theresia froze solid.

Good, looks like they can hear me just fine.

Just like Bird F, Bird G could also speak. However, it could only speak in Allen’s voice and was not capable of imitating others.

Bird F’s Ability: Transmission

• Can deliver words in Allen’s voice to a radius of 3 km
• Can specify who hears the message; those not specified cannot hear
• The volume of the voice is uniform regardless of distance and obstacles

Bird F’s Awakened Ability: Messenger

• Can deliver words in Allen’s voice to a radius of 100 km
• Can deliver video footage of something that Allen had seen before
• The volume of the voice and quality of the playback is uniform regardless of distance and obstacles
• Cooldown: 1 day

The high utility of both Abilities made it clear they were designed for use on the battlefield. Similarly, Allen had learned a lot more about the Awakening skill once it reached Lvl. 5. The following were his notes on the Awakened Abilities of the other Bird-type Summons up to Rank D.

Bird G’s Awakened Ability: Warble

• Can simultaneously play multiple lines learned through the base Ability, Voice Mimic
• Cooldown: 1 day

Bird E’s Awakened Ability: Farsight

• Can see clearly within a radius of 100 km
• Cannot see through obstacles
• Effective only during the day
• Cooldown: 1 day

Bird D’s Awakened Ability: White Night

• Can see clearly within a radius of 100 km
• Cannot see through obstacles
• Effective only during the night
• Cooldown: 1 day

“I-Is that you, Allen?” Rodin asked with apprehension.

“Mm-hm! I’m home! There’s lots of stuff today, so I came with this bird instead of Pippi.” Though Bird G’s real name is Chappy, not Pippi.

The pigeon carefully lowered its basket to the floor. It contained, among other things, Keel’s, Dogora’s, and Cecil’s letters to their respective families. As Krena’s father could not read, Allen planned on reading the letter aloud for him through Bird F.

Then Allen proceeded to catch up with his family. He told them that this Summon, just like Pippi, was a part of his power. He also told them that he was doing great at the Academy, and that he was having fun living with everyone. Then he also shared details about Summoning.

“Ah, so that’s what it was,” Rodin nodded, not looking all that surprised. “Well, I’d thought it was something along those lines. The way that bird acted with Mash and Myulla had you all over it.”

Oh, he’d figured it out? As expected of my father.

When Allen was finished, it was his family’s turn to share their news. Myulla had undertaken the Appraisal Ceremony the past April, which had sadly confirmed she was Talentless.

Wow, she’s already six years old. Time really flies.

“Also, uh, a messenger came from the feudal lord saying they’re appointing me as a village chief.”

“Ohhh! You’re becoming a village chief!” Took them a while. There was talk of it back when I was eight. It’s been more than four and a half years since.

“Seems like it. Even I’m at a bit of a loss.”

In order to produce more food and resources to support the war effort against the Demon Lord Army, the king of Ratash had issued the Land Reclamation Decree, which obligated the lords of fiefdoms to establish new frontier villages. Back when Allen was eight years old, the head butler at the Granvelle mansion where he had served had told him that Rodin was being considered for founding and leading a new village.

When the matter of the mithril mines in the White Dragon Mountains suddenly kicked up, talk of the new villages was relegated to the back burner. However, now that mining operations were largely underway, the frontier village project had resumed. Rodin was expected to strike off and establish a new village next April, after the snow thawed. The location was two days’ walk from Krena Village. Krena’s family would be joining Rodin’s.

Well, with father being thirty-two and mother turning thirty this year, this is actually a pretty good time for it.

Establishing a new village was a ten- to fifteen-year commitment at least. If the village chief was too young, they would have trouble getting the villagers to listen; too old, and they might become unable to meet the physical demands of the position. In light of this, Rodin’s current age was just right.

I should think about how I can help once the village construction starts in earnest.

Allen still had another place to go after this, so he stayed to chat for only a little while longer. All right, next is Granvelle City. I should thank the viscount for making my father village chief on top of everything else.

“Okay, make sure you get those letters delivered!”

The pigeon that Allen was Sharing with turned around and flew out the door, heading for the fiefdom of Granvelle’s capital city.

＊ ＊ ＊

Before long, Poppo reached Granvelle City and landed in the garden of the mansion, the very place where, until five months ago, Allen had been working as a live-in manservant.

Tap, tap.

The bird used its beak to tap at a window. Inside, Viscount Granvelle noticed the pigeon with a basket. When he quizzically opened the window, the bird smoothly glided into the room and settled onto his desk.

“It has been a while, my lord. It’s me, Allen.”

“What?! Allen?!” The man jerked backward in surprise, but quickly regained his calm. He recalled the captain of his knights mentioning a parrot that spoke in Allen’s voice in a report before.

Through the bird, Allen informed Viscount Granvelle that there was a letter from Cecil in the basket and that she would be forgoing coming home this summer to focus on dungeon delving. The viscount’s brows twitched when the term “dungeon delving” came up, but he did not otherwise protest her decision. All noble families knew about the Academy students’ summer break assignment to go through dungeons as a way to push them to overcome Trials of the Gods.

“Thank you for going to the trouble of reporting back.” Even though Allen was speaking through a pigeon, the viscount still made sure to express his gratitude.

“And, my lord...I’m sure Lady Cecil will mention this in her own letter, but we’ve met someone from House Carnel.”

“What? House Carnel?!” Viscount Granvelle’s face turned into a blatant scowl.

Allen proceeded to explain how he had met Keel and accepted him as a companion, ending with, “And that is why he is now living with us.”

“Th-That means Cecil is also living with him, right?”

“Yes, my lord.”

The man turned to look out the window and sighed before massaging the bridge of his nose.

Oh? Is the summer heat getting to him?

“My lord, Keel said that the royal envoy told him he would be given the opportunity to restore his family if he served five years of duty. If this is true, I was hoping you’d know something about it. Have you heard anything relevant, sir?”

This question was the main reason why Allen had sent a Bird F all this way. He was banking on the fact that, as lord of a neighboring fiefdom—and also as the person who had spearheaded the House Granvelle Affair—any mentions of House Carnel’s restoration would have reached Viscount Granvelle’s ears.

“I...have not heard of any such arrangements.”

That’s strange. Now, what are the chances that Keel is the only one informed?

“However, if Keel’s Talent is Cleric, then I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Does this happen often?”

“I’m only speaking generally, but...Aristocrats in this country do have a track record of working Clerics to death.” The viscount went on to elaborate.

Both royal and noble families naturally wanted the best for their children. Though some were keen to send their children to the battlefield—for the honor and whatnot—it made sense that they wanted to ensure that their children came back alive.

However, on top of being quite rare, most with a healing Talent were quickly taken into the Church. Thus there was a constant scramble for any who had somehow slipped through the Church’s fingers.

“Are they really that rare?” Is it because there aren’t any healers that half of those who go to the battlefield don’t come back?

“Yes, they are. Because higher-ranked nobility receive priority, very few healers end up assigned to lesser nobles. Though of course, that’s where the elves come in; Rohzenheim sends healers as part of their agreement with the Five Continent Alliance.”

So, Baukis sends magic tools and Rohzenheim sends magic. The Central Continent is just on the receiving end for everything. Well, I guess if the Central Continent falls, the other two to the north would end up fighting a war on multiple fronts.

In other words, although it was true there was still a shortage of healers, measures had been taken to address the issue. However, the elves were there to help the war effort, not to listen to the whims and fancies of stuck-up children born with silver spoons in their mouths. A single elf was capable of maintaining several hundred soldiers. As such, there was no way they would be assigned to serve any single noble. If the Central Continent forces alienated the elves, they could very well just pack up and return to Rohzenheim. That would spell the complete collapse of the front line.

So, what were the aforementioned royal and noble families to do?

At first, they had paid off the families of commoners and serfs born with healing Talents with massive sums of money—in the eyes of the lowborn, at least—or by raising their social status, or sometimes both. Then, with the families’ consent, the aristocrats hired those healers as exclusive retainers. However, the Elmea Church vehemently protested what they called “exploitation of those with gods-given abilities for personal gain.”

“And the power of the Church is equal to that of the king?”

“Depending on the country, the Church and various Guilds, like the Adventurer’s Guild, possess varying degrees of influence. In Giamut, it’s close to zero; the emperor holds near absolute power. Here in Ratash, however, the Church has quite a bit of authority.”

The solution that the aristocratic families—at least, the royal and upper noble families—then reached was to recruit from the lower nobility. Since this could be framed as a matter between nobles, it was much harder for the Church to protest.

Most families of the young nobles on the battlefield—and there were a lot of them—would do whatever they could to secure a dedicated healer for their children. And even after those sons and daughters completed their duties and returned home, those families would naturally want to continue employing those healers. In some cases, they promised the healers rewards and support to make their families successful in exchange for their service; in others, they convinced the healers’ families to basically sell them off for the same. It was not uncommon to hear of healers being forced to stay and work on the battlefield until they literally dropped dead.

“And you suspect that is what’s happening to Keel, my lord?”

“Chances are high.”

So, there’s at least one royal envoy who’s facilitating this racket, plus a mastermind who’s giving them orders.

Within the past month, Keel’s Cleric skill had gone up again, reaching Lvl. 4. Healing Magic was dependent on the Intelligence stat. Although Allen was still in the middle of determining the exact formula linking the two, he did not need further convincing that Healing Magic was incredibly useful—if cast among soldiers standing in a standard formation, Healing Magic Lvl. 4 was capable of healing more than a hundred all at once.

Then again, I have my Awakening skill too. What it does is no less ridiculous.

After converting all one hundred thousand Rank D magic stones that he had gathered in July into Skill XP and raising Awakening to Lvl. 6, Allen now had a much clearer picture of the skill.

Grass F’s Awakened Ability: Herb

• The MP gauge of whoever breathes in the fragrance this gives off refills in 3-hour intervals
• Effect lasts for 24 hours

Grass E’s Awakened Ability: Frond of Life

• Restores 1,000 HP for all party members within a 50-meter radius

Grass D’s Awakened Ability: Seed of Magic

• Restores 1,000 MP for all party members within a 50-meter radius

Grass C’s Awakened Ability: Potherb

• Removes all debuffs from all party members within a 50-meter radius
• Effect lasts for 24 hours

In a standard formation, over 2,500 soldiers could stand within a circle with a fifty-meter radius. Presumably, all of them could be healed all at the same time.

After his talk with Viscount Granvelle, Allen decided to add Rank E magic stones to his monthly requests for Rank D stones at the Guild. He figured that he could never have too many recovery items on the battlefield—all the more so if he would be fighting alongside his former classmates. After all, he had no idea how many years it would take him to wipe out the Demon Lord Army and kill the Demon Lord himself.

Though I am getting a little ahead of myself. Let’s get back to the conversation at hand.

“So if I’m getting this right, the main gist is that, since Keel’s been completely stripped of his nobility, he’s no longer obligated to go to the battlefield. And whoever’s in charge realized that would mean losing a valuable healer, so they decided to coerce him into fighting for five years?”

Despite looking like a pigeon, the anger in Allen’s voice was palpable.

“In so many words, yes. Whoever’s behind this probably has a child of their own who will be attending the Academy later on. The reason why Keel was told five years is most likely so he could be roped into accompanying that child when the time comes for them to serve out their duty.”

“I see. I understand the situation now. Thank you for the information, my lord.”

“What do you plan on doing?”

“Oh, please don’t worry, my lord. I won’t cause trouble for House Granvelle.”

“Don’t do that. Be straight with me—what do you plan on doing?”

“I’ll ask His Majesty to restore House Carnel myself.”

“And what if he says no?”

“I’ll just have to make my request after I’ve achieved so much on the battlefield that he can’t say no.”

If he really turns me down, that’d spell the end of this kingdom; I’ll become the Demon Lord in the south! Ha ha...that’s a joke, obviously. But still, I’ve got to think things out and do it in such a way that he’d really have no choice but to say yes.

The several months Allen had spent with Keel had convinced him that the boy had a good heart. Although Keel was so obsessed with money that Cecil had christened him the “Saint of Fortune,” the fact that they could call him that to his face was proof of how well he now fit in with the party. What money he earned, he only ever spent on his family or saved up. He never splurged and instead lived as frugally as he could. He never said so himself, but he was most likely saving up so that his family could have funds to survive off of should he ever lose his life on the battlefield. Of course, Allen had no intention of leaving Keel’s circumstances the way they were.

The viscount rubbed his temples, falling deep into thought. After a moment of silent contemplation, he said, “Allen, allow me to confirm one more time: the envoy told Keel five years, yes? Not three, and not seven?”

“Yes, my lord. That’s what Keel said.”

“I see, five years...” the viscount murmured. “Apologies, Allen, but could you entrust this matter to me?”

“As in...you’ll take care of it, my lord?” Damn, I’d only called in hoping to get some info. Never thought the viscount would take action on our behalf.

“Indeed. The envoy did bring up my name, after all.”

“Thank you very much, my lord.”

The viscount said that the first thing he’d do was go to the royal court and take stock of the situation. He told Allen that this would take some time and to be patient. Through the pigeon, Allen conveyed his acknowledgment and gratitude.

After that, Allen informed his friends that he had left this matter in the viscount’s hands. Keel only responded, “Got it.” The boy had started entertaining his own doubts about the royal envoy who had visited him. Furthermore, he declared that he wished to continue going to the dungeons with the rest of the party, just as before. Regardless of what was to happen, the fact still remained that his family needed money.

＊ ＊ ＊

In the blink of an eye, it became mid-August. School was on break, so the No-life Gamers were going dungeon delving four out of six days each week. Thanks to all their extra time, they had finally cleared three Rank B dungeons. Today, instead of going to the dungeons, they were headed to the Adventurer’s Guild. Aside from picking up magic stones and registering another quest, there were a few things they needed to do there.

“Welcome. How may we help you today?” A staff member greeted them.

“We’re here for the magic stones requests and to update our adventurer cards. There are also some things we want to ask about.”

The guild staff directed them to wait their turn up on the second floor.

As expected, the place is packed with students. I guess everyone’s going dungeon crawling in the summer. It’s not all first-years here, though; I see quite a few from the upper grades too.

The number of students here made it easy to understand why the Guild dedicated a whole floor to serving them. Many of the students were third-years, most likely because Demon Lord history was taught in the semester after summer break in the second year. In about half a year’s time, the third-years would be heading to the battlefield. This was precious training time to get as strong as they possibly could before then.

Time passed by quickly as Allen was engrossed with his thoughts. Eventually, his party was called over to a counter. Because the No-Life Gamers came to this Guild office almost every week, they had all gotten very familiar with each other.

Like a waitress confirming a regular customer’s usual order, the woman at the counter asked, “Are you here to pick up your magic stone requests again?”

“That too,” Allen replied, “but we finished clearing our third Rank B dungeon the other day, so we also want to update our adventurer cards.”

The clerk looked a bit surprised, but then went on to ask for their cards and brought them to the back. When she returned, she said, “The process will take some time. Meanwhile, would you like me to process the magic stone requests?”

Allen nodded. “Yes, please. Also, on top of my usual Rank D magic stone request, I want to add a new one for Rank E stones too. Is there a limit to how many I can request?”

“Um, I’m sorry, please let me check.”

In preparation for joining the war in three years, Allen wanted to stock up on a large variety of magic stones. Soon, the Guild clerk confirmed that the greatest number of Rank E stones Allen could request a month was a hundred thousand stones, or twenty thousand a week. Allen asked the staff member to register the request on top of what he already had, making it a total of thirty thousand magic stones that he would be gathering each month.

When the guild clerk had handed over the magic stones from the previous quest and registered the new quests, talk turned to the Rank A dungeons. She warned them to be careful, explaining that very few adventurers made Rank A dungeons the focus of their activities. One big reason why adventurers raided dungeons was for the loot the boss monsters dropped. However, the bosses of Rank A dungeons were Rank A monsters, and the large majority of adventurers in this city knew fighting one was beyond their abilities. Due to this, Rank A dungeons held very little appeal—and far too much danger—for most.

When she was finished with her warning, Allen nodded thoughtfully. “Thank you for telling us all that. May I ask about something else?”

“Of course. What do you want to know?”

“Please tell us about the Auction.”

The gear that Allen and his companions were using had not changed much from what they had prepared before their first Rank C dungeon. Back then, Allen had put up two hundred gold to gear everyone out in weapons and equipment in the mithril price range. They had not come across anything better in the dungeons since then, so there had been nothing to exchange it with.

Equipment was as important as levels when it came to the pursuit of power. Local merchants were good and all, but it was about time for the party to consider items beyond what was commercially available. The Auction was where the truly rare and powerful equipment was traded.

Currently, everyone in Allen’s party was earning several gold every day, and this amount was expected to go up even more once they began tackling Rank A dungeons. The idea was to use those funds to get the very best equipment that money could buy. This naturally included MP Recovery Rings, but that was not all. The No-life Gamers wanted the most powerful weapons, the sturdiest armor, and all of the convenient magic tools. This was why they were now turning their eyes toward the Auction.

The guild staff nodded in understanding. “The Auction arranged by the Adventurer’s Guild, is it? Very well.”

Info on the Auction

• Held once every month
• The cutoff date for submitting items to be auctioned was the 20th of the previous month
• The Guild keeps 5% of the winning bid as service charge
• Agents hired to bid on someone’s behalf are owed 5% of the winning bid

I see. And if we pick up any good drops, we’d earn a lot more selling them through the Auction than to a merchant.

Allen continued taking notes in his grimoire as he asked, “How often do orichalcum items show up?”

“O-Orichalcum, was it? We’ve yet to see one. The most powerful weapon that’s been sold through the Auction was made of adamantite, and the winning bid was over one thousand gold. We don’t exactly see adamantite items all that often either.”

General Estimate of the Price of Swords

• Mithril: 30 gold
• Hihiirokane: 100 gold
• Adamantite: Over 1,000 gold
• Orichalcum: Undetermined

As Krena and Dogora’s weapons—greatsword and war ax, respectively—were much larger than swords, they were expected to be worth even more.

In his past life, Allen had sought all the best weapons and top-of-the-line armor. In many instances, obtaining them was not simply a matter of paying with money. Some could only be traded under specific circumstances, while others had stat or level requirements. Some items could only be obtained through quests. The reason why Allen was not all that fixated on money was because he expected that what he could buy with money would eventually become useless to him.

“Could you tell me what kind of items are usually sold at the Auction? Just a general idea.”

“Of course.”

Items Commonly in the Auction Catalog

• HP Ring
• Attack Ring
• Intelligence Ring
• Anti-Poison Ring
• Anti-Sleep Ring

In other words, there were, aside from weapons and armor, accessories that boosted stats and provided immunity to specific debuffs. Prices could range from dozens to thousands of gold coins, with the resistance rings generally costing around a hundred gold.

I have no idea just how much of a buff these items give, but those are some pretty hefty prices. I suppose the demand mainly comes from higher nobles with cash to burn to support their kids heading to the battlefield. The only reason why the price doesn’t keep rising is probably because the market also has medicine and potions that can cure and prevent debuffs.

The staff also mentioned equipment enchanted with resistance against magical and breath attacks appearing in the Auction. Items made with dragon materials were considered to be of the highest quality and went for over a thousand gold apiece. Although Allen would not be participating in the Auction just yet, just thinking of the possibilities it contained quickened his heartbeat.

“Thank you for everything.”

“I’m glad to be of service. Here are your new adventurer cards.”

“Yay, new cards!” Krena cheered as she accepted hers. All the talk about the Auction had apparently gone completely over her head.

“All right, let’s head to the reference room and figure out what we need to prepare.” Dogora proved equally as excited as Krena.

Heck yeah! We can finally challenge Rank A dungeons!

The No-life Gamers were going to step foot into a Rank A dungeon for the first time the following day.