While reporting on the Labyrinth Outbreaks of Gagun Labyrinth and Laofen Labyrinth to Emperor Reinhardt at Amagi Castle, Rex and his Order returned after capturing the Lord of Schreien.
It seems they attempted a futile resistance, but as Rosemary, Muse, and Saya were accompanying them, they were naturally suppressed and captured immediately.
While the Soldiers’ Guild might have jurisdiction over this area, the Order’s Guild stands above other Ritter’s Guilds, including the Soldiers’ Guild, and the Grand Order’s Master is at the apex. Therefore, Grand Soldier’s Master Delfina also doesn’t particularly mind.
The Soldiers’ Guild, which covers not only the old Solemne but also the Libertà region, is apparently also understaffed.
For participating in the recent Alliance, Holy Grave, Falcon’s Beak, Gracious Lynx, Black Army, Wise Rainbow, Snow Blossom, and Sacred Bird received their standard bounty. In addition, P-rank or higher monster materials and Royal Silk Cloth were provided.
I apologize that the Royal Silk Cloth has become one bolt per person for the Ancient Class, but even one bolt, being 40 cm wide and 30 meters long, is sufficient for underwear, and about two casual outfits can be tailored.
The Crawler species, including the Grand Silk Crawler, with the exception of the Catastrophe Species Imperial Crawler, which is nearly a meter tall, are about 50 cm in size. I was surprised when I learned that one of them yields enough thread to produce the aforementioned bolts of cloth.
Incidentally, Royal Silk Cloth made from the thread of the Royal Crawler is the same width but 40 meters long, and Imperial Silk Cloth made from the thread of the Imperial Crawler is 50 cm wide and 50 meters long.
Also, not as an addition, but I promised to help those who evolved into the Ancient Class learn Traveling with the assist of Multi-Edge, and they were extremely pleased with it along with the Royal Silk Cloth.
Not solely because of that, but I also informed them about issuing a hunting request for Orcs in the Mylight Mountains, and it was decided to proceed with it in one week.
That should be enough time for rest, and they can also finish tailoring casual wear and underwear using the Royal Silk Cloth, which should make their activities easier.
“So, His Highness, Princess Elis, and Princess Ciel will also be participating. I look forward to your cooperation.”
Unexpectedly, Emperor Reinhardt said something like that.
I couldn’t help but want to question him about what he meant by “So.”
“Big brother. What do you mean, ‘So’? Don’t say such incomprehensible things out of the blue.”
Mana, representing me, quipped back at the Emperor.
“Well, I haven’t been hunting recently, and Maruca has been telling me to go for it.”
Ah, so that’s what it is.
Princess Maruca should be in her eighth month of pregnancy, and her belly is quite large.
Therefore, hunting is naturally forbidden, but Emperor Reinhardt, Princess Elis, and Princess Ciel have also been refraining from hunting because of this.
However, ever since Princess Maruca’s pregnancy was discovered, His Majesty and the others haven’t hunted much, and Princess Maruca has reportedly told them many times not to let their skills dull.
When Princess Elis was pregnant, she accompanied the Trial Hearts and hunted about once a month, so it seems they want to do the same this time.
“If that’s the case, I suppose it can’t be helped. If you let your skills and instincts dull, you’ll just die, no matter how much of an Ancient Class you are.”
“Then, Your Majesties will be with us?”
“I’m afraid so.”
Well, it’s customary for His Majesty to go hunting, and since he is an Ancient Elf, I’ll rely on him purely as a combatant.
“That is fine and all, but Yamato.”
“Yes?”
Princess Elis looked like she wanted to ask something, but I could vaguely guess what it was.
“It’s ‘Yes?’ when you’ve evolved into the Element Class, haven’t you?”
As expected.
After all, no one had ever thought there was anything above the Ancient Class, and no one had even reached the suspected evolution condition of level 100, so it’s understandable to be curious.
“Yes. Lucas had briefly reported, so you know to some extent, right?”
“I heard the explanation ‘acquired Winged Tribe’ fits perfectly. And that it doesn’t affect your equipment for now.”
Indeed, according to what I heard from Prim, the Element Class can be described as an acquired Winged Tribe.
By simply extending my wings and channeling magic power, my physical and mana channeling strengths increased, and I could even use Wing Burst.
Wing Burst didn’t increase the number of wings, but rather made them larger, further strengthening their enhancement.
Naturally, my magic power also increased with evolution, and now I just need to get used to it in actual combat.
Regarding equipment, at present, there is no stagnation of magic power, meaning that even with the Element Class, alloy and high-rank monster materials can be used without issue.
Of course, there is no absolute guarantee, and verification is necessary, so I plan to make time later and ask Ed and the others for their cooperation.
“The scariest thing about evolving is the equipment, after all.”
“That’s true. I also felt that keenly when I evolved into High Class. However, thanks to the alloy developed by Yamato and Ed, High Class and Ancient Class are not as much of a concern, but the Element Class is a complete unknown, so it should be thoroughly verified.”
Before I transferred to Helios Orb, Emperor Reinhardt had evolved into a High Elf, and he had great difficulty with weapons.
The sword he is using now is made of Lapis Lazuli, and it has been working without any problems even after evolving into the Ancient Class, which shows he truly feels it.
“This is just my guess, but I suspect that if any of the strength, hardness, or magic transfer rate of metals is 5 or less, they won’t be able to withstand the magic of High Class or higher. However, Mako and Ed have different ideas.”
“Oh. That’s interesting.”
The reason I thought this is that iron, magic silver, and adamantine steel, which are representative metals used for weapons, have values of 5 or less in terms of magic strength, hardness, or magic transfer rate. When alloyed, they become at least 6 or higher.
However, Ed thinks it’s the overall value, and Mako believes it’s the average value, so we haven’t reached a conclusion among ourselves.
Verification should provide the answer, so I need to make time for it.
Ideally, I’d like Divine Metal as well, but its difficulty in acquisition is a drawback.
I believe the Orichalcum Puppet found in the Enigma Labyrinth of Alegria was the easiest to obtain Divine Metal, so it might be worth a visit.
“It seems troublesome, but it also looks like an interesting research subject for the Scholar’s Guild.”
“That’s right.”
Indeed, it could be considered research, so handing it over to the Scholar’s Guild might be an option.
No, when it comes to verification, it requires not only High Class but also Ancient Class, and we also need to investigate how it works with the Element Class, so in the end, we have no choice but to do it ourselves.
“Since Yamato has to be involved, we have no choice but to do it ourselves.”
Mako is right.
“I can only say, ‘Do your best over there.'”
“Yes. To get back to the topic, the mountain hunt is scheduled for next week. Can you make time for it?”
Fortunately, all the Unions I contacted accepted the request, and the date is set, so no matter how much His Majesty wants to participate, the schedule cannot be changed now.
“It’s alright. Fortunately, the old Solemne is stabilizing, and the captured Schreien lord has been decided to be punished. Even so, we can participate for at most three days.”
Well, that can’t be helped.
This mountain hunt is scheduled for about a week and will involve a thorough search of the Mylight region from end to end.
Those who have evolved this time will learn it from now on, but all other Ancient Classes have learned Traveling. We will return to Feel at night, and lodging is planned at Arca’s guest house.
For transportation, we will initially be taken to the planned location by Athena or Eos’s Beast Carriage, and then use Traveling with the hunter magic Marking as a marker, which will significantly shorten the travel time.
Therefore, we can investigate a considerable area even in a week.
However, His Majesties also have their duties, so a full week of participation is difficult.
While it’s good that the old Solemne region is stabilizing, that doesn’t mean the number of documents decreases, and we can’t be sure that other Labyrinths won’t experience outbreaks. We also need to consider how to respond to those.
Still, since His Majesty is an Ancient Elf, his help for even three days is appreciated.
As a Hunter, he will require compensation, so I will prepare the same as for other Raids.
It is out of the question to provide no compensation simply because he is His Majesty.
And two weeks later, the mountain hunt in Mylight concluded successfully.
There were no Demise Species, but still, there were 43 Kings, 59 Queens, 102 Princes, 89 Princesses, 414 Giant Orcs, 794 Grand Orcs, and 2,043 Orcs – a truly staggering number.
While not all Abnormal Species and Catastrophe Species had individual settlements, many settlements were home to multiple individuals. We destroyed nearly 100 settlements, so it was truly dangerous not only for Feel but also for Amister and the Lichtenfels region on the opposite side.
Due to the overwhelming number of Orcs, we couldn’t inspect them all, but with this many Orcs eliminated at once, Mylight should be stable for a while, and periodic checks should be sufficient.
With this many Orcs alone, most participants evolved into High Class, and some even evolved into Ancient Class.
Princess Elis also evolved into an Ancient Elf at level 63, and Lucas and Lyra of Wing Crest evolved into Ancient Tigari and Ancient Harpy at level 65, respectively.
The Magic Stones, which were the spoils of war, were practically given away due to the sheer volume.
Amister, perhaps due to its mountainous terrain, has a large Orc population, and this mountain hunt completely oversaturated the market. This is unavoidable.
Demi-humans like Orcs only yield Magic Stones as material, and it’s dangerous to leave them unchecked, so it seems to be a troubling issue.
We hunted other monsters as well, but the biggest catches were the P-C Rank Demon’s Drake, taken down by Wise Rainbow, and the P-I Rank Storm Falcon, taken down by Sacred Bird.
Both the Drake, a Catastrophe Species, and the Wind Rock, an Abnormal Species, had high priority for subjugation. However, since both were P-rank, they were usable even by Ancient Classes, so both raids were very pleased.
Regarding the Wind Rock, Aria rescued an individual that was being attacked by a Winger Drake, and it became inexplicably attached to her, leading to a taming contract.
The Wind Rock is a subspecies of the Ice Rock, which Mana summoned and is now Frosted Bird after evolving, and its body length is similar.
That Wind Rock was named Ferk.
Perhaps because it’s close to its own kind, Ferk has become friends with Mana’s summoned beast, Frosted Bird, Sirius.
Seeing Ferk, Lydia and Ludia seemed to have rekindled their desire for a taming contract, but it’s hard to say, as it involves not only compatibility but also luck.
Well, at any rate, I believe the concerns for the Esmeralda Baronetcy have been significantly dispelled, and it has become safer.
For a while, the development of the Amatista Marquisate will be prioritized, but a short trip for the pregnant Mana wouldn’t be bad.
She is five months pregnant, and Mana’s belly is noticeably getting bigger.
If things go smoothly, will the due date be right after the new year?
I can’t quite grasp it, but at the same time, I can feel myself getting nervous already.
I don’t know if I’ll be a good father, but I’ll try my best to study from now on.
