Jigglypuff's Diary

Change: last line in previous chapter -> And so, we decided to spend another night outside the labyrinth, and then make our way home.

When we got out of the labyrinth, the sun was high up in the sky. We couldn’t tell the time at all from inside the labyrinth. We then made camp, and then we rested outside the labyrinth as we had lunch.

“Ryouma-kun, how’s your magic power?” [Rheinbach]
“I spent much fighting, but I’ve already recovered 90% of it. It seems like it’s recovering faster than normal though.” [Ryouma]

There, Remiri-san explained why.

“Breathing the air or eating food which both contain magic power will instill the magic power found in those things within your body, quickly increasing the speed of your magic’s recovery. And right now, we’re here right next to a labyrinth which contains much magic power. So the recovery rate of magic power here is faster than other areas. There are wizards who intentionally go to labyrinths for the recovery bonus, so they can train faster.” [Remiri]

I see, so that’s how it is.

“Ryouma-chan, are you going to practice after eating? You’ve already recovered your magic power, so I think you could, but then again, you must be tired from the curse…” [Remiri]
“I’ll train. I’ve fully understood from the recent incident just how important anti-curse spells are. So please teach me, Remiri-san.” [Ryouma]
“Really? Well, alright. Let’s start with the light magic, ‘Dispel’.” [Remiri]


After eating, Remiri-san picked up a nearby stone, and chanted,

“’Illness’” [Remiri]

At that instant, Remiri-san passed me a stone she clad in magic power.

“Alright, hold this.” [Remiri]

I held the stone as she instructed, and my body began to feel feverish. When I removed my hand from the stone, the feverish sensation vanished.

“There are different kinds of curses. The curse afflicted on that stone is Illness. A curse of illness. When afflicted by this curse or when wielding an objected afflicted by this curse, you will experience the same symptoms as the illness imbued in the curse. And unlike normal illnesses, you won’t be able to recover from it with medicine.” [Remiri]
“So that’s where that feverish sensation was coming from.” [Ryouma]
“I started off with a simple curse to make it easy to understand. We’ll use that to practice ‘Dispel’.” [Remiri]

Like this I began the training on ‘Dispel’ which permeates a target in light attribute magic power to purify the darkness attribute magic power and remove the curse.

The darkness attribute magic power that’s used in curses is altered, and is different from the normal darkness attribute magic power. Which is the reason why the magic jewels did not lose the magic power imbued in them when the curse was lifted from them.

I practiced by recalling the sensation I felt when ‘Dispel’ was used on me back in the execution grounds of starvation. The result: I failed 8 times, and succeeded on the 9th try.

The next spell I was taught is the light magic, ‘Anti-Curse’. It’s a spell that creates a barrier around the body to protect from curses. I also succeeded at using this spell with the concept of magic battle technique.

Then in order to find out just how much I am able to defend against curses with the ‘Anti-Curse’ spell, Remiri-san casted curses at me with increasing intensity until I was able to understand my limits.

As a result, I found out that my ‘Anti-Curse’ wasn’t very strong. It immediately broke as soon as a slightly stronger curse was casted.

Thanks to my mental resistance and physical pain resistance though, I can actually endure quite a bit even after being afflicted with a curse. It seems I’ll be able to cast ‘Dispel’ on myself to remove curses afflicted on my body. The only problem is the fact that I’ll be left defenseless while I’m doing so. My defense against curses are weak too, so it’s bit worrying. A situation where a strong curse that I can’t defend is casted on me won’t be pretty.

There, Remiri-san suggested,

“If you’re that worried, you could try looking for a magic tool.” [Remiri]
“A magic tool?” [Ryouma]
“Right, a magic tool. Amongst magic tools there’s one that’s imbued with the ‘Anti-Curse’ spell. Unfortunately, people who make magic armaments imbued with curse resist spells are rare, so it’ll probably be a challenge to find. You’ll probably have to spend a pretty penny too.” [Remiri]

Then Remiri-san jokingly added, it’s because the hated nobles keep gathering those craftsmen.

I see… If I find one, I should buy it. But for the meantime, I should keep training at it until I’m good enough to defend myself.

With that conclusion we went on to the next magic. But Remiri-san was starting to get low on magic power, so we changed the subject from curses to the other spell that Remiri-san used before, ‘Hide’. We’ll study on curses again tomorrow.

The dark magic, ‘Hide’, is a spell that creates a barrier around one’s surrounding with darkness attribute magic power. That magic power is able to isolate one’s presence. It could also suck the surrounding area to blur one’s image.

This spell’s relatively easy to learn, and I was able to learn it by my fourth try. I decided the spell was good enough when Shiva-san, who was watching us train, told me he couldn’t feel my presence anymore.

Incidentally, Shiva-san had a match with five of my king scavengers just a while ago. The labyrinth search was too easy, so Shiva-san was feeling unsatisfied. And so he requested to train with the king scavenger slimes. Shiva-san thought it’d be good practice with the slimes’ physical attack resistance and ‘Enlarge’ and with all five of them attacking at the same time.

As for me, I thought it’d be a good way to get experience for the slimes as well, so I happily agreed.

As I was thinking that, a zombie came out of the labyrinth. Then looking at the setting sun, I thought to myself, Oh, it’s already time for the zombies to come out, huh? And so I thought to feed the scavenger slimes and have them split. I need to increase the scavenger slimes’ number in order to find out whether there’re still any more after King or not after all.

But I also want to leave some magic power for my training… so I decided to let only a hundred split today.

And so, I had a king scavenger slime split. And I had 100 scavenger slimes feed on the zombies. The scavenger slimes immediately chased after the zombies, and the zombies were annihilated.

After that, I gave the OK for the slimes to attack the zombies coming out of the labyrinth as well. And I spent the rest of time with the others, drinking tea as we chatted. A little later, 19 scavenger slimes entered the ‘Holy Space’.

As I was wondering why, the slimes suddenly began to evolve. Apparently, they wanted a place where they could evolve safely.

The slimes began to release and absorb magic power repeatedly as usual, but unlike before, the amount of magic power they released was greater than other evolutions. At first I thought it was just because there were 19 of them evolving at the same time. But after looking at them closely, the amount of magic power was greater even individually speaking.

Shiva-san and Remiri-san gazed at the slimes with interest with me until the slimes finished evolving. Apparently, it’s their first time seeing a slime evolve.

This is something I heard from Robelia-san, but apparently, slimes won’t evolve unless they are at place where there’re no enemies, and they feel that they’re safe. So there’re actually little opportunities for people aside from researchers to see slimes evolve.

As I recalled that to myself, the slimes finished evolving. The slimes’ bodies have turned into the hue of blackish dirt, and their bodies were considerably bigger compared to other slimes, having a diameter of 60cm. A perfect height for sitting. Not that I’m going to sit on them though.

I used ‘Identify’ on one of the slimes, and I found out that they’re called, ‘Glaive Slime’.

Glaive slime… that weapon that’s like a spear or halberd? But why? Is what I was thinking, but then after looking at their skills, I realized I was mistaken.

Skills

• Attract Ghosts Lv1
• Absorb Ghosts Lv3
• Enshrine Remains Lv3
• Disease Resistance Lv7
• Poison Resistance Lv7
• Eat Filth Lv6
• Cleaning Lv2
• Deodorize Lv7
• Physical Attack Resistance Lv2
• Jump Lv3
• Digestion Lv7
• Absorb Lv3
• Split Lv2
• Taijutsu Lv2

Attract Ghosts, Absorb Ghosts, Enshrine Remains… Could it be, it’s referring to graves?

Come to think of it, grave is also written in English as グレイブ (Grave/Glaive). In any case, the cleaning skill seems to have gone down in level, and the deodorization liquid skill has vanished. In exchange, the slimes learned those three new skills related to graves. It’s good that they didn’t lose the skill they learned from my training though.

After that, I took a look at what attributes they liked, and they liked earth and darkness first, followed by dimension… Dimension!?

Well, that’s a surprise. It’s my first time seeing a slime that likes the dimension attribute.

I’ve tried feeding slimes with dimension attribute magic power all this time to no effect, but with this… Maybe, just maybe, it might be possible to bring out a slime that can use dimension magic!

Then while I was caught up in my own thoughts, Rheinbach-sama asked,

“What kind of slime is it this time?” [Rheinbach]
“Grave Slime.” [Ryouma]

Apparently, no one’s heard of it yet. A new type it seems.

Since there was no information whatsoever, I decided to try out their new skills. But before everything else, I had the scavenger slimes that were feasting on the undead come back first. I then found that 10 were eligible for splitting, so I had them split, and then I contracted them.

After that came the testing of the skills. When I had the grave slimes use the ‘Attract Ghosts’ skill, the grave slimes’ body faintly turned pale blue as they shone an obscure light. The undead outside the holy space suddenly started approaching us.

Then with the activation of the ‘Absorb Ghosts’ skill, the slimes took the gathered undead into their bodies. And over half of the undead meekly allowed themselves to be swallowed. It’s different compared to when the scavengers were fighting. During that time the undead were resisting and fighting… Could this be the grave slimes’ ability? Looking at the undead closely, there were also those that were heading on their own volition to be swallowed.

Regarding the last skill, ‘Enshrine Remains’, it apparently allows the slime to hide an undead body into their body without letting it rot. The slime can then expulse the undead from its body any time.

“A slime that catches undead… How strange.” [Remiri]
“It’s convenient for hunting undead. You can gather the undead in one area, and finish them off in one gulp. If there’re too many, then you could just imprison them within the slimes, and then gradually whittle them down.” [Shiva]
“It can also be used to tame undead-type magical beasts.” [Rheinbach]

The others gave their own opinions about the grave slimes, but it was Rheinbach-sama’s comment that piqued my curiosity.

“Undead can also be tamed?” [Ryouma]
“Of course. The undead are splendid magical beasts. Only… They’re not well liked, so there are no slave magic users that use them. Their regeneration is great, but the problem is that they’re too eerie.” [Rheinbach]
“There’s also the odor from zombies and ghouls. And they’re also weaker during the day, so there’s some downside in using them.” [Sebasu]
“The undead can’t stay at an inn too, so they won’t be able to enter towns.” [Remiri]
“Now that you mention it, there’s definitely plenty of reason for them to be unpopular.” [Ryouma]
“Right? Because of that, the only ones that employ undead-type into their service are researchers and slave magic users that don’t have any affinity for anything else but undead-type magical beasts. Because of that, there’re barely any that use undead.” [Shiva]

I guess the undead researchers are next to the slime researchers in terms of misfortune.

I wonder what those researchers would think were they to know that there’s a slime like this. You could just have the undead enter the grave slimes when it’s inconvenient… And there’s also the ‘Deodorization’ skill, so doesn’t this solve the problem?

I decided to tame an undead to prove my hypothesis. There were already a number of undead nearby because of the grave slimes, so I just contracted one of those, and–––

Buchi!!

“What was that just now?” [Remiri]
“What happened?” [Shiva]
“I just thought I’d try contracting zombie, but for some reason, it felt different than normal… It felt like the magic power line wouldn’t connect. Like it was being rejected…” [Ryouma]

It probably just failed, but it felt like a phone that was cut violently.

“Well, you could’ve just failed because it’s your first time. You might also just have poor affinity for zombies, so why don’t you try with other undead?” [Rheinbach]

Just as Rheinbach suggested, I tried contracting with skeletons and wraiths, but it was all the same. Apparently, my affinity for undead-type magical beasts is really bad.

The grave slimes being able to go in and out holy space is because they’re not undead, but I wonder what would happen if I had an undead-type slime.

While I was thinking that, I decided to retire for the day. We didn’t need to thin out the undead today, so I went inside my ‘Dimension Home’, and slept by myself.

The next day.

I readied myself, and then I went out of my ‘Dimension Home’.
And first thing in the morning, I received Remiri-san’s lecture on dark magic.

First was how to afflict curses, and after that was how to defend against curses.

The curse and defense against it that I learned were ‘Curse Transfer’ and ‘Return Curse’.

‘Cast Transfer’ isn’t a spell for releasing curses. Instead, it’s a spell that transfers a curse to remove the effect on the target. ‘Return Curse’ is a spell that protects the body, and returns the curse to the person that casted it. They’re both ways of dealing with curses, but they’re very different from each other.

When morning training ended, we were to go home, but…

Right now, we’re riding on the back of a reddish-brown, western dragon with a length of 50m from its head to its tail.

This dragon is Rheinbach-sama’s slave demon. It’s of the Ignis Dragon variety. It can breathe out fire, and generally lives in volcanoes. But it can live anywhere else too as long as it’s not cold.

It’s been decided that we’ll be going home on the back of this dragon. As for me, I’ll be dropped by somewhere close to Gimuru.

Apparently, they were originally planning to use the dragon to get to the labyrinth, but then they met me, and so they didn’t use it in order to buy time for my lessons. It also worked out well, as the walk going there was good experience for me.

They actually went out of their way to walk through that ravine just to teach me, I’m really grateful.

“Are you ready? Hold tight!” [Rheinbach]
“Yes!” [Ryouma]

We sat on what appeared to be a saddle on the back of the dragon, and hung onto the handles that were affixed to its body with metals. The dragon spread its giant wings, and it ran as it flapped them. Then it took off with great vigor.

“Wow…” [Ryouma]

It’s my first time flying since coming to this world. I’ve traveled many times on air before in my previous life, but this is a completely different experience. The rumbling strong wind blew past me, forcing my eyes to a slit as I did my best to resist its pressure. And gradually, the labyrinth down below became smaller and smaller as the great ravine filled my vision.

This dragon was quite terrifying when it was first summoned. I actually sweated a bit, wondering what was going to happen. But now that I’m riding on it, I have to say, it’s not bad. It flies safely, and the ride is comfortable too.

Rheinbach-sama did tell me beforehand that it’s safe, but the dragon’s menacing posture when it was summoned was a considerable pressure. My body froze in fear, and I couldn’t move an inch. I’d hate to actually make an enemy with one of these. Its claws are sharp, and its tail is thick like a log. Every single one of its attacks probably contains a force strong enough to kill in one hit. I’ll make a note to remind me to run if I ever meet one of these out in the wild.

After all, just because a magical beast has the same rank as another, doesn’t mean that they’re the same on the danger scale. The Ignis Dragons are A Ranked requests when put up, but they can also be S Rank depending on the situation. You could say that the Ignis Dragons are at the summit of A Rank magical beasts. I’d really rather not fight with one, unless I have to.

The labyrinth grew farther and farther as I quietly thought those things to myself. With this, my first labyrinth search and the training I needed for the Great Forest of Shurus has both come to an end.

With the ghouls and the zombies gone, we were able to freely go down the spiral staircase. We still did meet a few along the way, but there were mostly none.

When we finally got down to the execution grounds of starvation, we were greeted by a wide, empty area. The only things in there were the mossy surfaces, the glossless black grass growing directly in front above, and the Eternal Darkness that Remiri-san and I needed.

“There’s a lot of Eternal Darkness growing here, huh?” [Remiri]
“Well, there’s not a lot of people who would come here to gather them.” [Shiva]
“How’s the quality?” [Rheinbach]

I walked near the herbs, and checked the quality, and I found out that the quality was almost first-class.

“It’s pretty good. I can make use of this.” [Ryouma]
“Same, but I do want to pick out the ones that haven’t been stepped on by the undead.” [Remiri]
“There’re so many. I’m sure we’ll find something as look as we look.” [Sebasu]

Like that, we started looking for Eternal Darkness that hasn’t been stepped on. But as we were looking for and gathering the herbs, I suddenly felt a strange sensation.

“Mn?” [Ryouma]
“What’s wrong?” [Shiva]
“Ah, no… It’s nothing. Must’ve been my imagination.” [Ryouma]

I wasn’t sure what it was that I felt, and after a few moments, I started to doubt if I had even felt anything, so I didn’t bother to mention it anymore.

“If there’s really nothing, then it’s fine, but say something when something is wrong, alright? [Rheinbach]
“Alright.” [Ryouma]

After that, we continued gathering Eternal Darkness, but I didn’t feel that strange sensation again. But then just as we were about to fill all five of the bags we prepared beforehand with Eternal Darkness, I felt that sensation again. This time though, it was much clearer.

“Guys…” [Ryouma]
“What’s wrong?” [Shiva]
“Did something happen” [Remiri]
“Something the matter?” [Sebasu]
“Is something the matter? Wasn’t there something worrying you just a while ago too?” [Rheinbach]

Whispering, I said,

“I can’t say for certain what it is, but didn’t you guys feel something?” [Ryouma]
“Something? That’s a bit too vague, but no.” [Remiri]
“There’re no undead either…” [Rheinbach]

No one else felt anything, but since they believed me, we searched the area anyway.

In the end, although I still didn’t know what that something was, I did find where it was coming from.

“I think it’s somewhere around here. That weird sensation is coming from the ground here. [Ryouma]
“Here?” [Shiva]

Going over to a corner of the execution grounds, away from the spiral staircase, was a completely normal area. Absolutely nothing amiss. But it didn’t change the fact that that strange feeling I’ve been having since a while ago was coming from here.

I’m not sure either why I think so, but it feels really disgusting.

“I want to dig around here, is it ok?” [Ryouma]
“It’s not illegal.” [Sebasu]

I grabbed my iron slime sword, and ordered it to transform into a big shovel. Then cladding it in the ‘Break Rock’ spell, I dug the ground.

As I dug, the sensation grew stronger and stronger.

What is this? It doesn’t feel bad, but it doesn’t feel good either. It’s not the presence of a living being either. It’s something unknown, something I can’t understand. And it’s getting stronger. And the stronger it got, the more I became sure of its position.

After digging 4m down the ground, my body was completely fitted into the hole.

“Ryouma-kun, are you ok?” [Rheinbach]
“You’ve dug a lot, but what exactly is going on?” [Remiri]
“I’m getting closer, I know i––– Ah!?” [Ryouma]
“What’s wrong!?” [Shiva]
“Ah, no, I think I came hit something.” [Ryouma]

Shiva screamed out when I suddenly screamed. And so I told him that I was fine, and then I looked over to the area where I hit something.

“Could this be… A magic jewel?” [Ryouma]

There, in front of me, was the same magic jewel that we saw underneath the elder treant before. A jewel as big as two of my fingers with the attribute of darkness. After using ‘Identify’ on it, I found out that my conjecture was correct.

Apparently, the tip of my shove. hit this. And there are even more magic stones around the area I hit. Cladding my shovel in the ‘Break Rock’ spell, the ground broke, and more magical jewels fell. I even got one bigger than what I got just now. Is this what I sensed? In any case, I should report this.

“I found magic jewels! Dark attribute magic jewels!” [Ryouma]

As I said that, I passed to Sebasu-san a magic jewel. Sebasu-san used ‘Identify’, and with praise in his voice, he said,

“There’s no doubt about it. This is definitely a first grade dark attribute magic jewel.” [Sebasu]

The others made a fuss when they heard that. I didn’t know it was first grade though. My ‘Identify’ couldn’t tell me that much. Since it’s first grade, the quality’s probably good. But I wonder what the difference is.

Curious, I asked them what the difference was, and I found out that magic jewels are divided into three classes. 1st class, 2nd class, and 3rd class. And within those three classes are 6 different grades.

The attributes within the 1st class are: Light, Electricity, and Wood.
For 2nd class: Dark, Poison, Ice
For 3rd class: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Neutral

This division was decided based on the rarity of the magic jewels. Since the 1st class stones are the rarest, they are the most expensive. And naturally, the 2nd and 3rd classes are cheaper. As for dimension magic, no magic jewel has ever been seen imbued with its attribute, so it wasn’t included into the division.

Also, the prices of the magic jewel in the same division increase according to grade.

Using the 3rd Class as an example:
1st Grade = over 32,000 suits
2nd Grade = over 16,000 suits
3rd Grade = over 8,000 suits
4th Grade = over 4,000 suits
5th Grade = over 2,000 suits
6th Grade = less than 2,000 suits

The 5th grade is the lowest grade that can be used for staves. The 6th grade is the cheapest and can be bought even by the masses. Causing it to be commonly used in operating magic tools. Like a battery in other words.

There are some 5th grade wands that have 6th grade stones mixed with them during manufacturing, but the 6th grade is generally considered trash.

Next is the 2nd class. This class is rarer than the 3rd class, so they’re three times more expensive. But that doesn’t mean that as long as one is 2nd class it has to be more expensive than 3rd class.

The prices are as follows:
1st Grade = over 96,000 suits
2nd Grade = over 48,000 suits
3rd Grade = over 24,000 suits
4th Grade = over 12,000 suits
5th Grade = over 6,000 suits
6th Grade = less than 6,000 suits

As can be inferred from these prices, a 3rd class magic jewel can be more expensive than a 2nd class magic jewel depending on the grade.

But in our case…

”Umm… This magic jewel has the dark attribute. A 2nd class magic jewel under the 1st grade. Both the attribute and the quality are good, so it should sell well, right?” [Ryouma]
“Yes, it is exactly as Ryouma-sama has said. Magic jewels are luxurious, but difficult to find. So these jewels can be sold to craftsmen and magicians. Quality and grade on this level are rarely found though, so as long as these stones are sold in the right place, they should sell for two or three times more than the normal price.” [Sebasu]

2 or 3 times those prices just now!? But just rounding one of those to 100,000 suits would already get you a big gold coin! And 2 to 3 times of that!?

“Umm… Sebasu-san?” [Ryouma]
“What is it?” [Sebasu]
“There’s actually a lot more of those down here.” [Ryouma]

When they heard that, they were shocked. And so we decided to dig out all the jewels we could.

Opening my ‘Dimension Home’, I had the earth slimes and dark slimes help as well. I originally intended of only using the earth slimes, but the dark slimes wanted to go out as well, so I let them. The dark slimes apparently wanted to absorb the magic power in the area.

I do feed the slimes with my own magic power in different attributes, but that amount is realy no more than a snack to them. So they still need a natural source to feed from. And this place here is a great place to feed from.

As we dug, I had the earth slime use their magic to dig, while the dark slimes gathered the earth, and I transported it away. The other four who were outside of the hole would then use ‘Identify’ on the magic jewels.

After digging, our haul totaled to 22 dark magic jewels. But then suddenly, that sensation that I’d forgotten came rushing back.

“Tch! …” [Ryouma]

Immediately, I used earth magic, dug a hole. What I saw was –––

“This magic jewel is… huge.” [Ryouma]

What I found was an absurdly giant magical jewel, hidden behind various sizes of pillar shaped magical jewels. That magical jewel had a height of around 60cm.

“!?”

When I saw that I tried to touch it. But then a chill wrapped around my body, forcing me to immediately jump back, drenched in sweat.

What is this? Is this stone dangerous?

“Ryouma-chan? Did something happen? Eh? Wow, you’re seriously sweating! What’s wrong!?” [Remiri]

Yelled Remiri-san as she used light magic from above the hole.

“I found a really huge magic jewel just now. But when I tried to touch it, I felt that strange, disgusting sensation.” [Ryouma]
“Ryouma-chan, can you get back up here for a bit.” [Remiri]

They told me to go up, but I was really concerned about that stone. But when I remembered that chill I felt, I shook the thought away. And I left the hole along with my slimes. As soon as I got out, Remiri-san aimed her wand at me, and chanted,

“’Dispel’” [Remiri]

When she used ‘Dispel’, I suddenly felt better. Did I get cursed?

“As I thought. I forgot because it doesn’t normally happen. But when digging for dark magic jewels, accidents sometimes happen. The dark attribute, after all, attacks mentally and indirectly.” [Remiri

So that’s how it is… That was dangerous. What would’ve happened if I was alone?

“You saved me. Thank you, Remiri-san.” [Ryouma]
“It’s fine. I’ll teach you how to deal with curses properly later. Just rest for now. Onee-chan will take care of that magic jewel down there.” [Remiri]

Said Remiri-san as she rubbed my haed. Then she jumped down the hole.

“Here’s some water, Ryouma-sama.” [Sebasu]

Then right after, Sebasu-san gave me a glass full of water and a towel from his ‘Item Box’.

“Thank you very much.” [Ryouma]

Using those, I wiped my seat, and quenched my thirst. Around the same time, light flashed down the hole, and after a few seconds, Remiri-san came out.

“Remiri, how was it?” [Rheinbach]

Asked Rheinbach-sama, to which Remiri-san replied with her eyes sparklilng,

“It was amazing! It was cursed too, but just as Ryouma-chan said, it was a magic gem!” [Remiri]

Magic gem? Isn’t that the same thing as the ruby in the necklace Elia lent me? It should be a super luxurious item.

As I thought that, Remiri-san asked me for help to get the stone.

We went down the hole again, and after taking a better look at it, I saw that it was a large cluster of black crystals. I’ve seen a crystal cluster before in the waiting room of a client company, but I’ve never seen anything this big. I wonder why I didn’t notice what it was a while ago? I guess my observational skills must’ve gotten poorer.

This is quite the luxury though… I wonder if it’d be too much to use it as decoration for the house? Hmmm… I kind of want it.

But although it’s been dispelled already, I still kind of don’t want to touch it. Because of that, I used ‘Create Block’, and I turned the earth surrounding to the cluster into one giant block.

I then ordered the earth slimes to widen the path, and then using Qi Gong, I carried the block out of the hole.

Outside the hole, I used ‘Break Rock’ to break the earth surrounding the cluster. And out came that large black crystal. When everyone saw it, everyone except me and Remiri-san was speechless.

Not only was this crystal a magic gem, it was also of the dark attribute with good quality. It was also big, so it’ll definitely sell for hundreds of times the normal price.

As for how much, I don’t know for sure. The price is just that big. Selling it would probably cost a commotion too, so I probably shouldn’t sell it. Let’s just leave it at home.

As I was thinking that to myself, Remiri-san asked me.

“Ryouma-chan, can you give me this magic gem?” [Remiri]
“Eh, this?” [Ryouma]

I thought of refusing her right away, but then I remembered that strange feeling I felt before. Huh? Then again why did I want to refuse her? If I sold it, it would make a huge commotion, and Remiri-san didn’t even say she was asking it for free… I’m not so attached to it that I’d refuse without even asking either, but… Maybe I actually want it deep inside. Well the again it is a luxurious object, can’t blame me, right?

As I was thinking that to myself, Remiri-san panicked, and quickly added,

“W-Wait Ryouma-chan, you don’t have to worry about it that much. You should actually be refusing me here, you know?” [Remiri]
“Eh?” [Ryouma]
“Sheesh… I wouldn’t actually ask you to just give something like this away. Rheinbach-chan told me you didn’t really care much for money, so I just wanted to test it is all. You don’t have to worry so much.” [Remiri]

Oh, she wasn’t serious.

“Ah, so it was a joke.” [Ryouma]
“Naturally. This crystal here is a huge fortune. It would have been normal to just refuse outright. And you can’t get a lot of money out of this either, unless you negotiate seriously, Ryouma-chan. But instead, you suddenly started to worry for real…

We’re adventurers, so it can’t be helped if disputes come out during times like these… If you’re like that, you’ll make me worry that you’ll get scammed somewhere.” [Remiri]

It’s true that I don’t care much for money, but I don’t think it’s to the point where I would be swindled.

“In any case, Ryouma-chan was the one who dug these magic gem and magic jewels out, so it’s yours.” [Remiri]
“Ah… The magic gem aside ,let’s share the magic jewels.” [Ryouma]

They did come with me after all, and they even taught me various things, and even looked after me, so they do have some right to it, right?

“Hmm… Then in that case, we’ll each take one. Any more than that is too much.” [Rheinbach]

Said Rheinbach-sama as he took out his own portion from the bag containing the magic jewels. The others also took theirs, and Remiri-san happily embraced me.

Remiri-san is apparently going to be using it for her new wand. There, I suddenly remembered the branch of the elder treant, so I took a branch and gave it to her. Remiri-san became even happier, and she hugged me even tighter.

It was almost as rough as last night, but at the same time, I was also a little happy.

After that, with nothing else left do to in the area, we left with the Eternal Darkness (herbs) and magic jewels in the ‘Dimension Home’. As for the magic gem, I turned it into a block again with ‘Create Block’, and then hid it in my ‘Item Box’. And so, we decided to spend another night outside the labyrinth, and then make our way home.

Emotional Resistance Skill/Mental Resistance Skill is the same. It just means defense against intangible painful stuff.

Volume 3 Chapter 29

The sun was beginning to set by the time we finished preparing our camp.

“Should be about time for the undead to come out.” [Rheinbach]
“Yeah… they should be coming any moment now.” [Remiri]

Said Remiri-san as she caressed my sleeping bag. I guess she really likes it.

“Hmm… This is a really good mattress.” [Remiri]
“I could make one for you if you want.” [Ryouma]
“Really? Then please.” [Remiri]
“Sure.” [Ryouma]

She’s teaching me magic after all, so this could be as  thanks. But just a mattress doesn’t seem to be enough, I wonder if there’s anything else I could do for her.

As I thought that to myself, I entered my ‘Dimension Home’, and began making a new mattress.

Carefully sewing the sheets together, I created a sack. Positioning and repositioning the sheets over and over, sewing even the ends, filling up the mattress with fluff equally, and taking measurements repeatedly. Doing all this by myself would take a lot of time, but I had the metal slimes’ help, so I was able to finish quickly.

While I was creating a new bedding in the past, the metal slimes suddenly learned the sewing skill.

The metal slimes would extend their bodies, turning the extended portion into a needle. And after inserting a thread into that needle, they would pierce it into the cloth. The needle would exit, and then enters, delivering the thread. Exiting, and entering, the process would repeat itself over and over resembling a wave.

Naturally, surprise took me when I first saw that scene, but brushing that shock away, I taught the slimes many things. And nowadays, the metal slimes can backstitch or even do a loop stitch. And through the help of such metal slimes, I was able to quickly complete the fluff slime’s fluff mattress.

However, I found myself with too many fluffs, so I made some mattresses for the other as well. Unfortunately, the materials weren’t enough for all four, so three was the most I could make.

As soon as I finished, I left the ‘Dimension Home’. When I got out, I noticed that there were now undead outside the holy space.

Looks like the undead have finally started coming out, I thought. But powerless, the undead could only stare at us as from a meter away, unable to enter the area of the holy space.

Staring blankly at the undead, I heard Remiri-san call out to me, so I turned towards the voice. There, I saw them drinking tea peacefully.

“Ah, Ryouma-chan. Did you finish making the mattress?” [Remiri]
“Yes. I also had more materials than expected, and I was able to make two more on top of yours.” [Ryouma]
“Two more?” [Remiri]
“I thought to make one for everyone, but unfortunately, I didn’t have enough materials.” [Ryouma]

Although I was talking with Remiri-san, I couldn’t help but look back to the surrounding undead.

“Are you worried about the undead?” [Shiva]
“Yes, I haven’t had much opportunities to drink tea with monsters nearby who aren’t slave demons.” [Ryouma]
“I guess it can’t be helped then. But still… do try not to worry yourself too much. It won’t be good for your health, you know?” [Rheinbach]

After Rheinbach-sama said that, Remiri-san suddenly burst out loud, saying,

“Exactly!” [Remiri]
“What is it all of the sudden?” [Ryouma]

When I asked that, Remiri-san laughed loudly as if she’d just thought of something good. Then she puffed her chest out, and said,

“Since we’re lacking a mattress, Ryouma-kun, you should share a mattress with me and sleep with me instead!” [Remiri]

…Haah!?

“What do you mean?” [Ryouma]
“You don’t have enough mattresses for everyone, right? Well it’s not very nice to leave one of our friends without that comfy mattress of yours, so in order for us all to have a good night’s rest, Ryouma-kun and I should sleep together!” [Remiri]

Wait, wait… That might be true, but…

“If I recall correctly, there’s an old saying that goes, ‘girls and boys at the age of seven shouldn’t sit on the same chair’ right?” [Ryouma]
“No problem!” [Remiri]
“What do you mean, no problem!?” [Ryouma]

This isn’t working… Someone please help me, I thought, sending a glance at the others as I did. But to my dismay, the other three only quietly shook their heads.

“Ryouma-kun, Remiri sometimes acts like this, and it’s a little difficult finding out whether she’s serious or not… She seemed to be joking this afternoon, so I stopped her. But she looks to be serious this time around, so unfortunately, we won’t be able to stop her… sorry.” [Rheinbach]
“Just sleeping together shouldn’t be that embarrassing though, so isn’t it fine?” [Shiva]

But that puts me at a bad spot… In my past life, I had little interaction with women apart from my mother and the women in the office. There weren’t any beauties on the level of Remiri-san either. It’s not like I’ve had zero interactions with the female workers in the office, but they didn’t really like me either, so the most interaction I’ve had with them was the absolute minimum when we had to communicate for work.

In my private life, the only contact I had was my mother. I’ve never had any relations with the women in my office either. So naturally, I’ve never had any experience sleeping with women. And of course, that includes just sleeping together. I’ve never even dated… Actually, forget dating, I haven’t even so much as held a girl’s hand. Ah, actually I think there were one or two times back in elementary school because of an event, but the girls hated it so much, I can still remember the look of unwillingness on their faces.

While I was caught in my own thoughts, thinking of stuff like that, Remiri-san suddenly proposed this.

“No matter how much you dislike the idea my decision stands… But alright how about this then? More undead will be coming out of the labyrinth soon, so how about we compete in who kills more undead? And naturally, should I win, we sleep together. Alright?” [Remiri]

Somehow the discussion’s finally progressing… Although I’m not really that against it. It’s just that stimulation I’m not used to will cause unnecessary burden on my mind, so… Sigh… I’m supposed to have an emotional resistance skill, but it’s not doing its job at all, is it? Even though this situation is something I would normally be happy about when thinking of…

Wait! This isn’t the time to be thinking of stuff like that! Aren’t I the one in a disadvantage in a magic showdown!? Remiri-san can wipe out the undead in one shot!

“Isn’t this duel too favorable for Remiri-san?” [Ryouma]
“Then let’s decide on a rule. How about we both only limit ourselves to using ‘Light Ball’ in this fight? This way there won’t be that big of a difference between us.

And then let’s add a time limit as well. You have too much of an upper hand if we make it until we run out of magic power, and the opposite would be true if we limited the number of shots we could make as I have more experience than you. So a time limit would be the fairest, right?” [Remiri]
“True, that’s definitely the fairest.” [Ryouma]
“Good. As for the referees, Sebasu-san and the others will be the ones to count how many undead we’ve each killed.” [Remiri]

Ah! Did I end up agreeing to her!?

Like this, I was partly-forced to enter a match with Remiri-san.

We needed to wait for the undead to gather first, so we sat there in the holy space, drinking tea peacefully. One hour passed, and Sebasu-san mentioned that there were enough undead.

We will be fighting the undead from inside the holy space. Currently, there are zombies and skeletons in every direction, while souls and semi-transparent human-shaped bodies and mist-like bodies could be seen floating in the air.

The balls of flame floating are known as wisps, and the mist-like and human-like bodies are called wraiths. They’re both weak to light magic, but the wraiths can attack mentally and haunt and possess humans.

“Are you ready?” [Remiri]
“Yes, I’m ready anytime.” [Ryouma]
“OK, let’s go.” [Remiri]
“The time limit is 10 minutes. Start!” [Sebasu]

The operation to defeat undead began. This is going to be a war of attrition so I fired a ‘Light Ball’ to the skeleton right in front of me.

“ ‘Light Ball’ “ [Ryouma]

The ‘Light Ball’ I fired went straight for the head of the skeleton, extinguishing it. But the light ball didn’t disperse there as it continued to fly in a straight line, piercing through a number of undead, and extinguishing them. The undead tend to crowd together, so it’s not that weird. I ‘ve also done it a number of times in the past.

“’Light Ball’ ‘Light Ball’” [Remiri]
“What is that!?” [Ryouma]

Remiri-san, who was behind me, chanted only once, yet immediately 10 balls of light were summoned. And she shot those 10 balls of light with deadly accuracy, destroying the heads of the undead.

“This is a technique called, Parallel Casting. Using a lot of magic power, and the right image, I can cast the same spell several times with one chant of ‘Light Ball’. But being able to do something like this takes a bit of practice.” [Remiri]

Remiri-san continued to fire off her spells while explaining, not even stopping once. And after finishing her explanation, she showed me a smile that seemed to say she’s won.

And it was then that I realized it. Could it be that the reason there’s no limit in the shots taken… was for this!?

Seeing my expression, Remiri-san spoke, saying,

“A bit too late to realize it now, ‘Light ball’.” [Remiri]

I knew it! Now that it’s come to this, I don’t have any choice but to use parallel casting as well. Remiri-san did teach me how to use it just now after all. Most likely because she thinks she’s won already.

“’Light Ball’ … ‘Light Ball’ ‘Light Ball’ “ [Ryouma]

Or so I thought… But what is this? It’s ridiculously difficult.

The first time I tried it, I used a lot of magic, and I was able to cast the magic several times. But the most I was able to make were five balls. Anymore and I couldn’t maintain the spell.

The second time, I went ahead with just the five balls, but I couldn’t move the balls in different direction, and they all attacked the same spot.

The third time, I only made two balls, and I was able to move them in two different directions, but it was hard to aim. One failed to kill the undead, and the other actually missed. It’s like writing with both hands at the same time. Remiri-san mentioned it herself too, but this really isn’t something I can do right away.

Since parallel casting won’t work, there was nothing else I could do but just cast the normal light ball. I’m able to kill the undead fairly fast with this method, but the difference in our scores just keep increasing.

Remiri-san fires 10 shots in one chant, but the most I can do in that time is fire two or three shots… I know there’s no point asking for it, but it would be great if I could sweep the surrounding area quickly… Isn’t there any way?

While thinking of that, I kept firing the light balls.

There’s no problem hitting with the light balls accurately while deep in thought.

After all, it’s safe since the undead can’t enter the holy space even if they tried. Then with my alertness lowered to the minimum, I ended up likening the situation to them time when I was playing in the arcades back in my previous life. And since the zombies aren’t even attacking, it’s as if we’re playing super easy mode.

What if I tried doing this like I was playing super easy mode? …Nah, that would just end up like those target shooting in festivals.

Ah… speaking of which, I haven’t played any games since coming to this world, huh? I wonder what happened to that series.

There was a point in time when I got into it quite a bit… But I didn’t have any money, so I couldn’t go to the arcade much. But there were some times when I really wanted to shoot at some zombies, so I would go there for just one round. If I recall correctly, it was important to choose the appropriate ammo for each area. I was bad at it, so I don’t know that much about the game, but I’m sure there was an explosive shell, a machine gun, and a shotgun…

My thoughts were getting further and further, but it was here that I suddenly thought of it. And I thought to myself, why not improve the light ball spell and turn it into a bullet?

Immediately I tried it out… I don’t understand the explosive shells much, and the machine gun would drain my magic power quickly, so… I guess shotgun would be for the best? The shotgun’s shells fires buckshot. Its small shell supposedly releases its contents in a scattered manner… So with that in mind, I visualized the image of the light ball into a small bullet that scatters itself…

“ ‘Light Ball’ “ [Ryouma]

The light ball scattered exactly as I had visualized it, but the damage was weak. The zombie in front of me was wounded, but it didn’t die. Apparently, I spread the light ball too much, causing the damage of every individual shot to weaken.

Since that’s how it is, I put 10 times more magic power into light ball than normal, and fired it. The result? Not only were the zombies in fan-shaped spread in front of me killed, even the wraiths in the air died. Since it’s not really needed for the light ball to spread even in the air, I guess 10 times is a bit too much.

I have enough magic power, but this time I decided to compact the area affected. As a result, the power required was reduced to half of the last shot, requiring only five times as much magic power as a normal shot. Then adding to that, I thought of how the shotgun shells also had different sizes for the shots inside it. Visualizing that, I visualized the essentials of holy space into each of those shots, distributing magic power at the same time… as a result, I was able to equally divided the five times of magic power into 50 different shots. Then I fired it.

“ ‘Light Ball’ … Ku” [Ryouma]

Not good, the magic power is hard to control, I thought. And just as the fired light ball shot towards the target, it dispersed before even hitting it. As a result, only two zombies were killed. Focusing, I tried one more time.

The match continued, as I continued to focus on my control, honing the new magic as I killed more and more zombies. Soon Remiri-san began to panic a little at my light ball’s newfound power as she would throw glances at me from time to time, checking up on me.

But then Sebasu-san’s countdown began.

“10, 9, 8, 7, 6…” [Sebasu]

It’s almost over! Then in that case, I’ll have to fire this new magic, ‘Lightshot’, now! Visualizing the image… I fired it! Fire!

“’Lightshot’” [Ryouma]

That last cast was the normal five times more magic power than normal, but all the zombies within 3m area in front were filled with holes, and exterminated. The power’s much lower, but having decreased the consumption to half, it’s not so bad.

“Stop casting!!” [Sebasu]

At Sebasu-san’s words, the match ended. And the result…

I lost.

I was able to take back the loss from the start of the match with the improved light ball, but, the last shot was a foul. I kept improving my light ball, and in the end, that last shot that I made was good, but at that moment, I called it ‘Lightshot’…

Rule 1: The use of magic other than ‘Light Ball’ is prohibited.
I thought it was fine at first since I was just improving light ball, and actually, Sebasu-san thought so as well. But at the last moment I called it a different name, so in the end it became a foul.

In other words, I lost because I lost myself in focusing too much in improving the new magic that I ended up forgetting the rules.

“I started to panic halfway through, but in the end, it’s my win! I didn’t expect you to come up with a new magic in this short time though.” [Remiri]

Said Remiri-san with a laugh. After that, she asked me how I did it, and I explained it to her. Having aroused her curiosity, Remiri-san tried it herself, and she understood. Then with a serious face, she said this,

“Ryouma-san, this magic is amazing. 100 magic power for one cast of ‘Light Ball’ is 500 for ‘Light Shot’, but although it’s only an elementary magic, it can actually affect a bigger area than the intermediate magic, ‘Exorcism’. It’s an extremely useful magic when fighting undead. But I think it’d be better if you don’t teach this to other people so freely.” [Remiri]

Why?

“Is there a problem? Like with the improvements I made?” [Ryouma]
“Nope, this magic is well-made. The problem isn’t the result, rather it’s the fact that it’s too difficult.” [Remiri]
“You mean just like how there are few people who can use advanced light magic?” [Ryouma]

After nodding once, Remiri-san explained. Light shot is a magic that requires high control of magic power. And because it’s a spell that tries to bring out much power at the cost of little magic power, only those that can use light magic at an advanced level will truly be able to bring out its power.

But because there are few people who can use light magic up to the advanced level, there are very few who would be able to learn the magic. And the people who can’t learn the magic won’t be satisfied with just accepting their own incompetence.

In other words, they will start blaming me, saying that I’m a bad teacher. They might also accuse me of hiding some secret that’s causing them to be unable to use the magic correctly. Apparently, this is something that commonly happens when trying to teach advanced magic to others.

Hiding the secrets behind a spell I made myself isn’t really something that would get me in trouble, but it’s still better to just keep quiet, and not risk causing trouble, so Remiri-san asked me not to teach it so freely.

At the same time, Sebasu-san, who was listening, also asked me to keep quiet about it.

Apparently, Sebasu-san has also experienced something similar in the past, causing his words to be heavy with emotion, and he said that depending on the person he’d rather not teach dimension magic. It’s rare seeing Sebasu-san show such negative emotions… actually, it’s my first time, so I couldn’t help but be shocked.

Anyway, let’s keep their warning in mind.

And then evening came.

We decided to take turns sleeping. And so me and Remiri-san entered the mattress to sleep. And since I lost, naturally, I had to sleep with her.

But… I can’t sleep…

The mattress is big enough so that there’s room even if I turn around, but I ended up becoming Remiri-san’s pillow. And because of the height difference, there are two soft things on top of my head right now.

Let me say it again. It’s time to sleep, and yet… I can’t sleep!

Seeing me like that, Remiri-san called out to me.

“Can’t sleep?” [Remiri]
“Y-Yeah…” [Ryouma]

As I said that, Remiri-san began to rub my head.

“What are you doing…?” [Ryouma]
“Mn? I used to this a lot for my younger brother before when he couldn’t sleep. And right after, he’d fall asleep immediately.” [Remiri]
“You had a younger brother?” [Ryouma]

As I asked that, Remiri-san replied.

Apparently, Remiri-san has a younger brother whose much younger than her. She hasn’t met him since leaving the dark elf village, but during that time, her younger brother’s height was around mine. And apparently he was also good at magic. I resembled him a lot, she said.

After that, I asked her what dark elf life was like.
The dark elves are few in number, but they live in villages. Amongst the dark elves, there are also those who cultivate land, and those that live as nomads. And although the actual frequency differs from each village, there are many villages that move every year.

When I asked her why they won’t settle down, she mentioned that cultivating and travelling are for the sake of teaching their children how to live. As for cultivating the land, it depends on the villages, but there are many reasons such as to make money or as trade in order to get something they need.

In Remiri-san’s village, they’re doing it both as training and a way to make money, but the villagers in her village are eccentrics, and they find satisfaction in cultivating lands that are difficult to cultivate. A village full of cultivation enthusiasts in other words.

Apparently, the dark elves are famous for cultivating lands. Be it asking them to cultivate one, or for advice.

Incidentally, the elves pass on their lands in the forest for generations, protecting their land as they live on it. The opposite of the dark elves. But of course there are exceptions for both, and there are those that leave their respective villages to become adventurers, and those that choose a place they like to settle down in.

As for Remiri-san, she became an adventurer, and because of her achievements, she was asked by the previous king to work for the kingdom. As a result, she became a royal court magician, but now that her contract has ended, she’s currently a freelancer, and is at a loss whether to go back to adventurer work or go back to her family.

As Remiri-san continued to talk like that, she fell asleep.

But I still can’t sleep. Why? Because the one thing keeping me from sleeping is still here.

Even if I’m like this, I’m a guy. On top of that I’m an old uncle, so this situation is quite difficult for me for various reasons.

For the meantime, I closed my eyes, enduring the softness behind me, and the almost painful beating of my heart. Like this I quietly waited, without waking Remiri-san, for the time to switch with someone else.

When the time to switch finally came, I killed lots of undead, and drove away all of my worldly desires. I managed to subjugate over half of the undead coming out of the labyrinth, but in the end, I couldn’t get a wink of sleep. I’m used to all-nighters back in my previous life, and I have sleep resistance, so it’s not really a problem, but if I were a normal child, I’d be tottering by now.

And then, dawn came. After breakfast, I took a peek at my status board, and I noticed that a new skill was there.

Charm Resistance Lv1

It’s the proof that I overcame last night’s trial.