Helios Orb Chronicle – Chapter 432

After reuniting with Dios and Ms. Lana of the Gracious Lynx on the 5th floor of the Krater Labyrinth, we headed for the Safe Area where the transfer array to the 6th floor was located.

The reason is that a large forest spreads nearby, and Royal Crawlers inhabit it in greater numbers than Grand Silk Crawlers.

While the number of G-U rank Silkest Crawlers decreases accordingly, there will still be a certain number, so we should be able to secure enough for Alice to form contracts with.

Alice has already succeeded in forming Summon Contracts with two Silkest Crawlers, with Mako and Meena acting as her guards.

“Alice, how many more do you think you can contract with?”

“It takes more magic power than I expected, so I think two or three is the limit. Oh, but my magic power will recover tomorrow, so I might be able to do a few more.”

When forming a Summon Contract, a certain amount of magic power is consumed during the contract with the summoning beast.

There is no such thing with Familiar Contracts, but by forming a Summon Contract, you can use the monster’s magic power as your own, and conversely, you can transfer your magic power to the monster’s magic power. It is thought that magic is consumed to create such a path or something similar.

The amount of magic consumed varies depending on the contractor’s level and the monster’s rank, but for Alice, who is level 34, and the G-rank monster Silkest Crawler, the magic consumption is higher than Alice predicted.

“It’s a clearly superior monster for you, Alice, and your magic power is said to be on the lower side compared to the human average, so don’t push yourself too hard, okay?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Alice bows politely to Mako, but her face is beaming with the joy of having finally formed a Summon Contract with her longed-for Crawler.

Alice is registered with the Crafter’s Guild and also holds a trainer’s license, but the Silkest Crawlers are planned to be raised freely in Alka Forest.

However, Alka Forest is of considerable size, so without the help of Kanto, the homunculus in charge of managing the wild lands, it will be difficult. Furthermore, Alice is also in charge of managing the Familiar Hall and taking care of familiars along with Nonno, the homunculus.

To top it off, when spring arrives, File will accompany Seras to the General Academy as her maid, so it’s inevitable that the burden will increase not only for Alice but also for Lumina and Laurel.

Therefore, when we return, I need to consider hiring more Butlers.

Ah, speaking of Butlers, I also need to seriously start hiring Butlers to manage the recently completed residence of the Fleidranthia Heavenly Noble House in Float.

I don’t have much opportunity to use it myself, but if I don’t hire Butlers, the equipment will deteriorate and dust will accumulate, and when my child inherits this place, it could become a ruin.

“Mr. Yamato, is something wrong?”

Aria, noticing me suddenly clutching my head, asked with concern.

“Ah, it’s okay. I was thinking of hiring Butlers to reduce the burden on Alice and the others, as we’ve been getting more familiars lately, but I just forgot about the Fleidranthia Heavenly Noble House’s residence.”

“Eh? Is the residence of the Fleidranthia Heavenly Noble House completely uninhabited right now?”

“It’s not normally uninhabited.”

I feel the painful gazes of Prim and Mako, who look on in disbelief.

Currently, the Fleidranthia Heavenly Noble House’s residence is only cleaned and maintained twice a week by the Butler’s Guild, and even that was arranged by Lumina, not me.

Moreover, they are only C-rank Butlers, so Lumina always visits the residence on the days of dispatch to oversee the cleaning.

Considering that we also have to maintain the Union Houses in Alka and Feel, adding the Fleidranthia Heavenly Noble House’s residence means Lumina’s burden is truly immense.

“We’ve been putting it off, but we really need to hire Butlers on a full-time basis.”

“The Esmeralda Tenchaku Family is also short on staff, so we’ll have to look elsewhere besides Float.”

To be honest, Mako and Prim gave me serious looks.

Since it’s about their own household affairs, they probably thought I had properly arranged for it, and they might have looked at me with a little contempt.

“Ah, sorry.”

“It can’t be helped, you’ve been busy, but you have a habit of trying to handle everything yourself, Yamato.”

“Rely on us a little more. We can make arrangements for that.”

I didn’t intend to, but I suppose I did think I had to do it all myself.

However, Prim and Mako are my wives, and they also hold the title of Lady of Fleidranthia, so I should have relied on them. It’s also a problem that I didn’t try to rely on them because I thought I could handle it myself.

“Sorry. I’ll go look for them after we leave the Krater Labyrinth, and after that, I’ll ask for your help.”

“We could go with you, but if we hire too many people unexpectedly, that would be a problem too.”

“It’s not that we can’t hire more, but we’d be out of work.”

It’s one thing to hire for Float or Feel alone, but that’s not the case here. If we set a limit on the number of people, it might be okay, but as Lydia said, it could lead to a situation where there’s no work for them. There are also Butlers with children, like Lumina.

“We’ll have to see how things go on that front. Well, let’s get back to what we were doing. We can discuss the rest after we return, but this is the priority now.”

“Yes. We can talk about it when we get back, but this is more important right now.”

The reason we came to the Krater Labyrinth this time was to replenish our stock of Royal Silk Cloth, which was running low. So, I apologize to the Butlers, but this takes precedence. After all, the Royal Silk Cloth we use is not only for us, but also presented as wedding gifts to the Celestial Emperor’s Family and various Royal Families, including the Bernstein Counts. It was also given as wedding gifts to Grand Order’s Masters and as reward payments to Raid, where Ancient Hunters are present. The overcoats used by MARS are also made of Royal Silk Cloth, so we should only have about two rolls left. One roll of Royal Silk Cloth can be made from one monster, and when we came to the Krater Labyrinth last time, we hunted over 200 Grand Silk Crawlers, but only about two rolls remain. Even with two rolls, we can make a considerable number of undergarments, and although we have over 10 rolls of Royal Silk Cloth from the M-I Rank Monster Royal Crawler, we don’t know how much time we’ll have in the future, so we want to secure our stock now. Alice has no aversion to Crawlers, and she has already contracted with two. If possible, I sincerely hope she can form Summon Contracts with about 10 of them and then evolve them.

Side: Alice

When I was contracted as a Butler for Wing Crest, I mentioned that I would like to form a Summon Contract with a Crawler someday if possible, but I never expected to be able to form a Summon Contract so soon. Crawlers inhabit the Haura Great Forest, but their strength is around the middle to lower end. Although they are S-rank monsters, they are small monsters, so I’ve heard they can sometimes become prey for some B-rank monsters. However, in the Normal Class, it’s said to be impossible to escape on your own if you get caught in a Crawler’s thread, and it’s dangerous even for High Class if you’re not careful. Therefore, even if the opportunity arose, I didn’t think I would be able to contract with them.

However, the other day, it was discovered that the supply of Royal Silk Cloth, which is essential for Wing Crest, was running out. That’s why it was decided to stay in the Krater Labyrinth on short notice, but I never expected to be invited to participate. Moreover, the reason was to form a Summon Contract with a G-U rank monster, Silkest Crawler, which is above a Crawler, so it’s impossible not to be surprised. Thanks to combat training after contracting, my level has risen to 34. However, among Humans, I have less magic power, and Silkest Crawlers are clearly superior monsters, so my limit is about three at a time. Therefore, I wasn’t sure if I could handle driving or preparing meals, but Lord Yamato had already taken that into account and also invited File, who will be going to Memoria General Academy as Seras’s maid in the spring. File’s level has also exceeded 30, but there’s a high possibility of getting involved in trouble at the General Academy, so she was advised to level up for safety. As everyone said, File, who was initially frightened by the monsters in the Krater Labyrinth, is now hunting monsters in a different location from me, with Lord Yamato and Prim escorting her.

“Alice, how is it?”

“Yes, I successfully formed the contract.”

I, too, am acting with Ms. Mako and Ms. Meena, who are escorting me while hunting Grand Silk Crawlers and Royal Crawlers, and I have just succeeded in forming a Summon Contract with the 10th Silkest Crawler.

Unlike Familiar Magic, Summoning Magic does not use spells during the contract. However, a magic circle needs to be deployed, and maintaining that magic circle is difficult. The process involves using that magic circle to familiarize the monster with the contractor’s magic power and then forming the contract. If you help it when it’s injured, the time to maintain the magic circle can be shortened, but otherwise, it takes a considerable amount of time. Furthermore, if there is a difference in the contractor’s level or the Monster Rank, it takes even longer and consumes more magic, so success also depends greatly on luck.

However, with Ms. Mako and Ms. Meena, who are Ancient Class, escorting me, even if a Silkest Crawler attacks, they can suppress its movements, and if it were another monster, it would be easily hunted, so I can form contracts very safely. Thanks to this, I have been able to form Summon Contracts with 10 Silkest Crawlers, but taking care of them might be difficult. I have permission to release them in Alka Forest, so I don’t have to worry about food, but Mana, who can use Summoning Magic like me, and Mako have advised that interacting more with summoning beasts makes it easier to evolve them, so I need to take care of them without being lazy.

“That’s the 10th one. Is your magic power okay?”

“Yes, thanks to the two of you protecting me, I was able to concentrate on the contract. So, I still have enough magic power left to contract with one or two more.”

“That’s good, but you’ve already contracted with 10, and you have to take care of them, so it’s better to stop here.”

“That’s right. There’s no point in pushing yourself, and since you’ve been able to contract with this many Crawlers, a few might evolve in a few years.”

Mina unknowingly puts pressure on me, but the reason I was able to accompany her to the Krater Labyrinth for the Silkest Crawler contracts is partly for that reason. Of course, they don’t expect me to force them to evolve, but without using at least P-rank monster materials, the Ancient Class would have trouble even with their daily lives. Monster materials below G-rank cannot withstand the magic power of the Ancient Class, and they mentioned that in the past, they often had to change their undergarments after every battle. Therefore, if I succeed in evolving the Silkest Crawlers I contracted with into Grand Silk Crawlers, we will be able to obtain P-rank monster materials regularly. Of course, evolving them is not easy, but it will significantly reduce the effort for everyone, so there’s no doubt they are counting on it. Even if I can’t evolve them, I won’t be fired, and if I become necessary, they assume I can come to the Krater Labyrinth.

“We’ve hunted a considerable number, and we need to release the contracted Silkest Crawlers into Alka Forest as soon as possible, so this is it for today, isn’t it?”

“That seems to be the case.”

We hunted over 200 Silkest Crawlers, even though I only contracted with 10. Royal Crawlers were hunted in almost the same numbers, and Grand Silk Crawlers were hunted in numbers far exceeding that, so in a sense, the ones I contracted with can be said to be lucky. Those Silkest Crawlers are being released into a tree near the Beast Carriage, and we plan to load them onto the Beast Carriage when we leave the Krater Labyrinth. While I could summon them after returning to Alka, the number of people hunting is increasing, so I cannot deny the possibility that the contracted ones could be hunted. Therefore, after leaving the Krater Labyrinth, instead of stopping by Krater, I will transfer to Alka, and then I plan to introduce the Silkest Crawlers to Nonno and Kanto before releasing them into the forest. For this purpose, the Fusang Tree in the Gagun Great Forest was recently planted, so I’m sure they will find it comfortable. Although the Gagun Great Forest has many powerful monsters and no Crawlers inhabit it, the Haura Great Forest also has Fusang Trees, where Crawlers live, so I hope they will like it. And if possible, I would be even happier if they evolved. Of course, I can’t evolve them if I don’t try hard, so I need to work hard to take care of them properly when we get back.