Translated by airsblue

Edited by mranon

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Last chapter summary: the 34th floor boss proved to be easy thanks to petrifaction by Miria.

When the Kobold Jaeger dies and the smoke dissipates, a white fang was left behind.

It is the same white fang as the one Kobold and Kobold Kampfer leave behind.

Leaving a fang behind seems to be a Kobold family thing.

A tiger leaves skin behind when it dies, and a Kobold drops fang.

It is an ironclad rule of the Kobold family.

Oh, but a Kobold drops a knife, too.

When I try to use Appraisal on the dropped fang, it displays ‘Kobold flower’.

Flower. It’s a flower.

Why is that?

“Flower……”

“It is Kobold flour. Usually, a little of it is mixed with wheat flour.”

Explains Sherry when I was considering asking.

Oh, I see. It’s flour.

It’s not a flower.

“Wheat flour?”

It is white, certainly.

It’ll have to be *gorigori* ground like Kobold salt or Kobold sucrose.

It is bothersome.

“Apparently, it will not be delicious if you mix a large quant.i.ty. The limit seems to be 9 parts of wheat flour to 1 part of Kobold flour? Generally, the percentage of Kobold flour is lowered even further. 15 to 1 seems to be the ratio often used. The high-quality bread at Quratar bakery must be made this way, too.”

“Really?”

That bakery has a normal bread and a high-quality bread. Indeed, the high-quality was more delicious every time I bought it. So, was there such a difference?

Also, one more thing.

If the bakery uses Kobold flour, then they must buy Kobold flour in bulk.

I’ve found a customer.

30% Up will be effective there, too, since the person working in the bakery is a Merchant.

Even though I am not that troubled with money to rely on 30% Up.

Although they may figure out where we are fighting if sell Kobold flour, I don’t see any problem in particular.

The Kobold Jaeger drop is unexpectedly great.

My bad for thinking, ‘it is a Kobold, after all.’

It may be a good idea to repeat the Kobold Jaeger battle for two days.

Onward from 35th floor, the enemies will be genuine.

“Quratar’s 35th Floor monster is Palm Baum. There’s no attribute it’s resistant to and weak against. When it appeared as a lower floor boss, it was weak and lone; however, from 33rd floor onward, not having a weakness against any attribute will be troublesome.”

I listen to Sherry briefing as usual.

It will be troublesome after the 35th floor?

In any case, since the Drive Dragons are resistant to all attributes, too, I will have to depend a lot on Thunder magic.

Let’s go to the 35th floor and try an actual battle out.

At first, we come across a lenient group of two Palm Baums.

Palm Baum seems stronger than Kobold Kampfer. Probably.

Compared to the 34th floor, the duration of battle has lengthened in one go.

However, what would happen when the duration of battle lengthened?

“Did it, desu.”

That would happen.

Miria would end the battle by petrifying them all.

“Uun, will it not be better to fight once more and see?”

“I guess. This was then; there are monsters relatively close by. They seem to be few in number; just about right.”

“I see.”

We advance under Roxanne’s lead.

Seemingly, we will be fine fighting on the 35th floor and would not have any problem even if the number (of monsters) increased.

Appearing next is a group of three Palm Baums, one Kobold Kampfer, and two Drive Dragons.

In short, isn’t it a full spec (group)? No way!

Will we be facing the maximum number of enemies – 6 – on this floor?

Oh, 4 of them, including three Palm Baums, fall first to Thunder magic.

You could say I am thankful for the fact that the more the number of enemies, the more that get paralyzed by Thunder magic.

“Miria, stick to the Palm Baum. Rest of you hold this one down.”

“Yes.”

“Please.”

When the Kobold Kampfer and the Drive Dragon come to the front, Roxanne issues instructions to Miria.

Because paralysis could wear off, relying on it would be too risky.

I’d better leave it for Roxanne to decide.

Actually, when one Palm Baum recovers from paralysis, Miria falls back a little.

She seems to have noticed it perfectly.

The reason as to why she fell back quickly is because she only had one monster to keep company.

Or so I thought, but Miria advances again.

“Did it, desu.”

Was it because of Petrifaction?

The Palm Baum’s movement seems to have stopped.

Not advancing after reporting it yet reporting it after advancing is bad for my heart.

However, it might not particularly be good since Miria was alone deep inside the enemy territory.

Meanwhile here, we are keeping the other monsters busy.

Firing Thunder magic continuously, I somehow defeat them before Miria could petrify them all.

As you would expect, it is impossible to petrify all 6 of them.

And yet, three Palm Baums and one Drive Dragon got petrified. It finished while she was on her way back here.

“In my opinion, on this floor, letting Miria fight the Palm Baums by herself seems to be better.”

“Wouldn’t it be a bit dangerous?”

“Only if all the paralyzed monsters began moving at the same time. In any case, there would not be much risk if she paid attention.”

I try to give Roxanne an advice, but she doesn’t take it.

“Umm. Will you be alright, Miria? You have to be really careful.”

“Yes, desu. Do it, desu.”

I urge Miria to be cautious just in case; however, it should be fine since she herself wants to do it.

“I am still anxious, though. So then, should we repeat the 34th floor boss battle today? Or should we continue with fighting on this floor?”

Miria will finish the battle with petrifaction whether it is the 34th floor boss battle or the 35th floor battle, so the difficulty doesn’t differ much for me.

I’m fine with either; therefore, I leave the decision to the rest.

With a number of monsters appearing on the 35th floor, there is high possibility for some of the monsters not getting petrified; but then, the boss may be difficult to be petrified, too.

A leftover monster on the 35th floor or a boss; which one is better?

Shouldn’t it not concern me, though, since Roxanne will be the one holding the remaining monster down?

It would apparently be dangerous in the labyrinth if we were late at exterminating the monsters as we could get surrounded by other groups; therefore, the boss battle, wherein there’s no chance for the monsters to increase, is safer in this respect.

Even though the difference may not be as p.r.o.nounced.

“Isn’t it better to fight Kobold Jaeger? In the boss battle, since we clash against each other immediately after it appears, we get to fight longer.”

“If the two battles don’t differ much, it will be more rational to repeat the boss battle.”

“Which one do you prefer Miria?”

Miria’s opinion should be honored since she will be the one to end the battle anyway.

Especially, the opinion of a fully motivated person shouldn’t be heeded.

How is it good to hear the opinion of someone who prefers protracted battles?

“Boss, desu.”

I didn’t think Miria’s opinion would tilt that way, too, but it’s fine, I guess.

“Which one of the two does Vesta think is fine? Isn’t the 35th floor better?”

“Yes, I think the boss battle is better.”

Vesta will be the one burdened during the boss battle since two bosses show up on the 34th floor.

I try to spark disfavor amongst those on the other side, but the boss battle seems to be favored.

Because only two monsters appear during the boss battle and Miria will immediately attack to petrify Vesta’s target, is that why?

Fighting the small fries on the 35th floor is perhaps more troublesome for Vesta.

Incidentally, the feeling that the duration of boss battle is longer may also be wrong.

“Is Rutina, too, fine with the boss battle?”

“Of course.”

Repeating the boss battle has received unanimous vote.

For Rutina, however the boss battle may not be as appreciated.

Miria ending the battle with petrifaction means Rutina is not being useful.

Especially, in a straightforward 34th floor boss battle.

If I killed the monsters with my magic, Rutina could stick her chest out with pride for helping decrease the number of my spells with hers.

Even if Miria finished the battle with petrifaction, I could say Rutina’s magic was useful if a few monsters died and the number decreased during the battle.

However, if Miria ends the 34th floor boss battle by petrifying the two bosses appearing together, I can’t say that.

Rutina doesn’t partic.i.p.ate in Miria’s petrifaction.

If we fight on the 35th floor, there is an option of Rutina joining the vanguards while Miria advances deep like in the previous battle.

Previously, since the Kobold Kampfer and the Drive Dragons collapsed, and the point was to reduce the number of enemies, she was of course useful.

Especially the Kobold Kampfer, that is weak against all four attributes of magic, has high affinity with the Wizard Rutina.

However, because there appear two bosses from 34th floor onward, I can’t make such an excuse.

To be frank, though, nothing would change even if Rutina weren’t here.

I would strictly tidy them up with magic or Durandal after they got petrified; however, after finis.h.i.+ng them off when they stopped moving, would I still be able to say Rutina was useful?

I can have her use magic after Kobold Jaeger gets petrified and defeat the boss slightly earlier. There is that option, too; however, the efficiency will not be markedly better.

I will never demand from Rutina, who is only a Wizard, to be more useful.

The problem, however, is how she herself feels.

Being the only one amongst the party members who is not useful.

If it were me, I would hate such an impression.

I try to observe Rutina’s expression, but it doesn’t seem to be grim.

Perhaps she herself hasn’t noticed yet?

But she may notice if we repeat the boss battle.

In any case, I will have to eventually instruct her as to how many spells should be cast on the 35th floor.

How many times should I have her cast spells on the 35th floor? I will do that after I check Kobold Kampfer Lv35.

To have her use magic as a counter for Kobold Kampfer in a 35th floor battle where Miria will end the Palm Baums with petrifaction; if you call that a problem, this is equally a problem.

“It is fine for Rutina not to use magic in the boss battle. Try other things out. Calculate the number of spells needed to reduce the number of spells I need to cast to kill Kobold Kampfer. I will have you cast that number of spells.”

“U-Understand.”

That much can’t be avoided.

I will have you put up with it.

Thereafter, we go to the 35th floor after defeating the boss, then return to the 34th floor and repeat the boss battle.

Miria has been performing stably, consistently petrifying the two bosses.

It may be thanks to putting the boss under Abnormal Status Resistance Down.

Incidentally, she fails to petrify a group of Palm Baums close by the entrance of the 35th floor before I kill them.

Considering all this and that, isn’t the boss battle easier?

It will be alright in the end.

Rutina seems to be the only one who’s anxious, but she isn’t showing discontent on the outside.

Without moving from her spot during the boss battle, she seems to be observing the battle properly and trying to comprehend it earnestly.

To begin with, Rutina is essentially a novice Wizard; therefore, she doesn’t know which spell to cast.

Although she doesn’t cast spells during the boss battles, she does during the small fry battles; thus, she can see her use.

My worries were unnecessary.

If Miria were to end the battle with petrifaction, there would be a chance to finish the petrified monsters off with Durandal. I could lend Durandal to Rutina and have her continue to cast spells against small fries, but there’s no need to go to that extent.

We keep repeating the boss battle until it was time for breakfast.

This much experience is enough for today.

After the breakfast, I ask of Roxane and the girls to clean up, and jump to the Duke of Harz’s place.

Not going is not an option since I have been summoned.

It will be something worthless anyway.

I hope it won’t be much of a business.

In the Bode castle, they let me in without authorization.

“Oh, Michio-dono. I am glad you came.”

“Then, I’ll excuse myself.”

When I enter the office, Gozer, who was inside, hastily leaves.

The Duke also rises from his seat and comes all the way to the entrance.

And then, he extends his arms without a word and grabs my shoulders all of a sudden.

Although it might not seem like it, he caught me pretty tightly.

“Caught you.”

“Eh?”

“Something bad happened. Something not so great. It’s not like I’m playing with you or anything.”

The Duke’s eyes are dead.

“W-What happened?”

“An elder of Ca.s.sia’s matrilineal family happened. She told me to bring you along.”

“Elder?”

“She has been informed that Michio-dono is Rutina’s owner. She is naturally concerned. It is alright, though. You don’t need to worry. At any rate, you will not receive as harsh a treatment as we do.”

The Duke’s eyes really are dead.