**Side: Meena**
A week after Mana-sama’s Lapislazurite noble family’s Beast Carriage was completed, we arrived at the Krater Labyrinth.
Naturally, Mana-sama, who is pregnant, and Hilde-sama, Yuri-sama, Rika-sama, who have official duties, and I, who have work at Prada, did not accompany them. However, the purpose of this trip is to replenish our stock of Light Silk Cloth and Royal Silk Cloth, which has become alarmingly low.
Yamato-san is also busy, so we plan to return in three days. However, the other companions are Prim-san, Lydia-san, Ludia-san, Athena-san, Aria-san, and Mako. Our combat power is more than enough. Furthermore, from the Butler’s side, File-san and Alice-san, who wishes to form a Summon Contract with a Crawler, are accompanying us.
Crawlers are S-rank monsters, and the Silkest Crawler that inhabits the Krater Labyrinth is a G-U rank monster. The silk obtained from either is difficult for us to use, but if we succeed in evolving it, it becomes a P-R rank monster, the Grand Silk Crawler. If they succeed in the contract, I hope they will work hard to evolve it.
“The Multi-functional Beast Carriage is convenient, but it was too big for everyday use.”
“Especially after seeing Mana’s and Yuri’s Beast Carriages, I feel even more so.”
“This is high-performance in its own way, but we don’t use the guest rooms on a daily basis.”
After defeating the Amazoness Queen on the 3rd floor and entering the 4th floor, Athena-san, in her dragon form, carried the Beast Carriage, and we proceeded to the 5th floor.
The 4th floor is entirely a sea, but we know the location of the Teleportation Array, and it will take Athena-san less than an hour to reach it.
This time, we plan to hunt down Grand Silk Crawlers and Royal Crawlers on the 5th floor, so we don’t want to waste any time.
Light Silk Cloth and Royal Silk Cloth have become necessities for us.
Shortly after entering the 5th floor, where these Crawlers inhabit, Yamato-san, Prim-san, and Lydia-san began to talk about the size of the Multi-functional Beast Carriage.
Indeed, the Multi-functional Beast Carriage is large, and Yamato-san has imbued the Mirror Room with a 50x magnification, so it might be larger than our mansion.
The main reason for making it so large was for troop transport, which is very effective in wartime, but in peacetime, only we ourselves use it.
Therefore, more than half of the Mirror Room is unused, and since there are only 10 of us this time, there is plenty of space even if everyone goes out to the rear deck.
“However, even if we were to modify it, this Beast Carriage uses the Heavenly Tree, so that would be difficult, wouldn’t it?”
“If we’re going to do that, we’d use a Cherry Tree. Even so, I have an attachment to it, and I can’t imagine using any other Beast Carriage as the Wing Crest.”
While its size can be inconvenient, I, like Yamato-san, have grown fond of this Beast Carriage.
It has Tenma Stones, the hull, and belts to be carried by Athena-san and Eos-san, and it also serves us well when camping in the labyrinth.
“Huh? Yamato, look at that forest.”
“Hm? What’s wrong? …There are guests.”
You’re right.
That Multi-functional Beast Carriage is, if I’m not mistaken, a Gracious Lynx.
Since their leader, Suya-san, has evolved into an Ancient Lyx, they might have come for the same reason as us.
“Yo, Yamato.”
“Mako, it’s been a while.”
“Oh, it’s been a while.”
“You look well.”
The first to notice us were Dios-san, a male High Human from the Gracious Lynx, and Lana-san, a female Ogre and healer.
“Are you guys after Grand Silk Crawlers too?”
“That’s part of it, but this child wants to form a Summon Contract with a Crawler, so we came to try that too.”
“A Summon Contract with a Crawler? You mean those bugs?”
The first time I met Dios-san was at the Instant Labyrinth. At first, I thought he was the same age as me.
However, Dios-san is actually two years older than me and Yamato-san, at 20 years old.
Dios-san evolved into a High Human almost immediately upon reaching adulthood, so his appearance is not much different from ours. For this reason, he became close with Yamato-san.
Oh, and Lana-san is the same age as Mako-san, so she is now 21 years old.
“I can’t stand them either, but if I can form a Summon Contract with a Crawler, I can release it in the Alka Forest. It’s a lot of work to care for, but silk cloth is a popular product, and if it evolves into a Grand Silk Crawler, it will help us too.”
“Indeed, my aunt seems to have a lot of trouble after evolving too.”
In fact, Dios-san is the nephew of Suya-san, the leader of the Gracious Lynx.
Unfortunately, Suya-san has no children, so he dotes on Dios-san exceptionally.
“You say that as if it’s someone else’s business, but aren’t you close to evolving too, Dios-kun?”
“Well, thanks to someone.”
“Don’t blame me.”
“It’s thanks to Yamato-kun and Mako that I was able to evolve into a High Ogre too?”
Lana-san joined the conversation, and it seems she had also evolved into a High Ogre.
“Eh? Lana, you evolved?”
“Yesterday. I didn’t expect my magic power to increase this much, so it’s hard to get a feel for it.”
“That’s how evolution works.”
“Congratulations, Lana.”
“Thank you.”
When evolving into High Class, even Ogres, who are said to have the least magic power, surpass Dragonians, who are said to have the most.
I heard that Lana-san was on the higher end of magic power among Ogres, but even so, the increased amount of magic power is incredible. I also had trouble getting used to it.
“By the way, Dios, where is Suya-san?”
“In the forest. Naturally, we can’t enter with a Multi-functional Beast Carriage, so we’re staying behind as guards.”
“I see, that’s why you looked bored.”
“It’s not that I’m that bored.”
“That’s true. A Gale Bird appeared earlier, and before that, a Mithril Golem.”
The Gale Bird is a G-R rank monster that evolved from the Wind Rock, which Aria-san has a familiar contract with. The Mithril Golem is a subordinate species of the guardian Mithril Colossus of the Instant Labyrinth, a P-R rank monster.
We knew that Gale Birds inhabited this area, but we never imagined that a Mithril Golem would appear, so we were surprised to hear about it.
“A Mithril Golem too? I didn’t see one when I came before, so I never expected it.”
“We were surprised too. Well, in the Instant Labyrinth, I also fought against a Mithril Colossus, so it was easier to defeat than I expected because of that.”
Naturally, an A-C rank Mithril Colossus and a P-R rank Mithril Golem are not comparable.
However, since the Catastrophe Species of the Mithril Golem is the Mithril Colossus, we can create countermeasures as they are the same type of monster. Most importantly, the Mithril Golem is not as enormous as the Colossus, so it was probably easier to fight.
“That’s good, but I never expected a Mithril Golem to appear.”
“Right. Even up to the 10th floor, golems didn’t appear, so it’s really hard to judge whether they’re further ahead or if they’re only on this floor.”
As Yamato-san and Prim-san said, we have reached the 10th floor of the Krater Labyrinth.
Raids led by Ancient Classes have reached the 8th floor, but other Raids are limited to the 5th floor.
Moreover, since the 4th floor is entirely sea, exploration of the 4th floor is impossible without a ship.
Therefore, Torencia’s Hunters are troubled by how to secure ships, and the economic disparity with Raids that own ships is widening.
The Hunter’s Guild is in a similar situation, and I heard that they are currently negotiating with the Grand Hunter’s Master to consider lending funds for ship procurement.
“It didn’t appear even when you went that far. No, isn’t there also a possibility that you just didn’t encounter it?”
“That can’t be denied, but considering the floor, it’s ambiguous. If it were there, it would probably be around the 9th floor?”
“That’s about right. However, if we go that far, there will be A-rank monsters, so wouldn’t it be either a Gargoyle or a Colossus instead of a Golem?”
“That’s also a troublesome situation.”
As Mako-san, Prim-san, and Lydia-san say. The Krater Labyrinth’s 6th floor is a desert, the 7th floor is islands floating in the sky, the 8th floor is a forest, the 9th floor is a wasteland, and the 10th floor is a snowfield. A-rank monsters appeared from the 8th floor.
“Too troublesome…”
“My aunt isn’t thinking of conquering this place either, so I’ll leave the conquering of this place to you.”
“Or rather, it’s impossible, isn’t it?”
Dios-san and Lana-san show no enthusiasm for conquering the Krater Labyrinth.
As Hunters, I find that questionable, but the difficulty of the Krater Labyrinth seems impossible to conquer with just a few Ancient Classes. Therefore, it might be difficult even on the 7th or 8th floor for Gracious Lynx, who only have Suya-san as an Ancient Class.
“I want to conquer it, but I don’t have enough time…”
“She’s a Heavenly Noble, and Mana-sama is pregnant, so that can’t be helped.”
“It’s the same for us, but since you and other Ancient Classes will frequently visit here, it’s fortunate that Labyrinth Flooding or even Labyrinth Ejection is unlikely.”
“If that weren’t the case, we would have conquered this labyrinth in a flash.”
The Krater Labyrinth is expected to be conquered quickly due to its difficulty.
However, because the number of floors may be more than expected and the Monster Rank is too high from the 1st floor, Ancient Classes are essential for conquest.
Not just one or two, but ten or more if possible.
The Hunter’s Guild even suspects that the Guardian might be a Demise Species.
Hilde-sama and her younger sister, Princess Brynhild, feel the same way, but Ancient Hunters visit frequently because it is easy to obtain Light Silk Cloth, which is arguably essential for Ancient Classes.
Therefore, it is thought that Labyrinth Flooding and Labyrinth Ejection are unlikely. Furthermore, the Krater Labyrinth is a young labyrinth that has not even been around for a year, so it is thought that it does not harbor that many monsters.
“I sincerely hope this place will be conquered as well. Well, if we keep talking here, it’s really bothersome, isn’t it?”
“It doesn’t really matter, but we don’t have time this time. I’m sorry, but we’re going ahead.”
“Nobles have it tough, don’t they?”
“I didn’t choose to become one.” “Well then, see you again.”
“Be careful.”
“You too.”
We ended up talking for a long time, but it’s been a while since we met, and I didn’t expect to meet them here.
We are already good friends, so I hope to see them again soon.
“If Gracious Lynx is here, someone else might be somewhere else too.”
“Light Silk Cloth has become a necessity for Ancient Classes. Especially for the Black Army and Falcon’s Beak, who have many members who evolved after the recent Labyrinth Flooding, the current Light Silk Cloth will not be enough.”
“It will be fine for a while, but it will be too late once it’s gone.”
The Raids that Lydia-san mentioned earlier saw several people evolve into Ancient Classes during the Gagan Labyrinth and Laofen Labyrinth flooding three months ago.
Their weapons are made of Jade Silver and Blue-Gray Iron, so they are fine. Their armor uses high-rank monster materials that we sold during the Solemn advance. While some adjustments may be needed, I don’t think they will need to rush to replace them.
However, the problem lies in everyday wear, especially underwear.
It has been proven that monster materials of G-rank or lower cannot withstand the magic power of Ancient Classes, so Ancient Classes necessarily require monster materials of P-rank or higher.
Among these, the most frequently used materials are cloth. The only materials that can be used for such high-rank cloth are cloth made from the Fusang Tree, high-rank spider species, and high-rank Crawler species.
The easiest to obtain is the Grand Silk Crawler that inhabits the 5th floor of the Krater Labyrinth. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Black Army and Falcon’s Beak have come here.
“If they’re here, we’ll just move somewhere else. At worst, we can go to the 8th floor and aim for Royal Crawlers or Imperial Crawlers. Well, there are many forests where Grand Silk Crawlers inhabit, and if we go near the Teleportation Array on the 6th floor, there are also forests where Royal Crawlers inhabit, so let’s aim for there.”
Indeed, when we came here before, we hunted without realizing we had overstayed our planned time in that forest.
Especially the seamstress Flam-san and the tailor Marina-san were overjoyed.
We are also expected to achieve results this time, so if possible, we would like to hunt on the 5th floor and secure a quantity.
Flam-san, in particular, had to give up this time with great regret because she has work at Prada.
Therefore, please let there be no people in the Royal Crawler forest.
