Chapter 62: Secret Friends (3)
“They’ve got to be kidding me.”
The guardian of the first floor is a bit special because it’s the first guardian that the protagonist takes down in the labyrinth.
As such, various settings were added to highlight and make the protagonist special, and that was exactly the power guaranteed by gacha.
Originally, the party that captures a floor guardian for the first time has a low chance of obtaining a portion of that floor’s god’s power.
From the second capture onwards, it’s impossible, so they must capture floor guardians of other floors.
For example, if you defeated the Cyclops, the guardian of the second floor, but didn’t obtain the power, no matter how many times you defeated it again, you’ll never obtain the power of the God of War.
Still, if you desire the power of that god, you either hope to be born with good compatibility with the God of War, luckily find a place where divine power accumulates… or aim for the power of a god from another floor.
However, unlike the respawnable ones, if you defeat the first-ever spawned guardian of a floor in the labyrinth, you can definitely obtain a god’s power.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that everyone who participated in the battle will receive it; it’s limited to a few who contributed significantly. And what power you’ll get is completely random.
Still, it’s certainly much better than the already conquered floor’s guardian, which you might or might not get the power from.
Who and what kind of power one might receive is random, but the fact is it’s still guaranteed. Guaranteed!
Just like that! It’s like giving a guaranteed 5-star draw ticket to users who achieve the top 1 percent in competitive content in a gacha game.
It’s indeed a frustrating and unwelcome system, but how right it feels when I’m the one receiving it.
The protagonist, by a chance encounter, summons the guardian of the first floor and, somehow, ends up in a one-on-one situation without anyone’s help, manages to defeat it and gains an overpowered ability, growing immensely. This is the setting I intended for the protagonist.
…I haven’t thought of any important details, so it might seem incredibly convenient, but that’s okay!
After all, the protagonist is allowed to have it easy!
I might not know what the floor guardian of the first floor is like or how it’s summoned, but that’s exactly why I set it up this way.
The scene where the floor guardian of the first floor is summoned for the first time is essentially where the story really begins, so it requires more thought. For that reason, the scenario involves killing numerous monsters in front of the World Tree and not extracting their magic stones, leaving the corpses unattended.
I have no idea how they found out about this method. I wonder if there’s another possessor like me, but this person never even wrote the first sentence of the novel. Even if there were another possessor, it would have been impossible for them to figure out how to summon the floor guardian of the first floor.
So, it’s certain that One Who Devours the Twilight has something. And because of that something, it looks like the wish ticket, the prize of the bet, is going to fly away.
“…I don’t know what those guys are trying to do, but it’s clear they’re planning to commit something terribly horrific and evil, something that should not happen!”
“I agree with Sir Jonah’s words. That’s why they attacked us as soon as they saw Ian and me.”
I tilted my head at Karen’s words.
“So, are you saying they attacked without even knowing you two were inquisitors?”
“Yes, if the Goddess’s favor hadn’t become even stronger thanks to Sir Jonah, we both surely would have fallen victim to the first surprise attack.”
“Gasp.”
That means if Karen hadn’t met me, she would have died in the last battle alongside Ian.
It’s a crazy thought, but maybe the fact that Karen and I met and her misunderstood enlightenment was what the Goddess of Love intended.
“Could you please explain in more detail? I have a guess, and it seems to be quite important.”
“Of course. Let me start with when we first discovered them.”
Thisandthat, Perrytheblahblahblahplatypus
According to what Karen told me, it seems true that One Who Devours the Twilight is attempting to summon the floor guardian.
It’s just that they don’t know the exact method.
Even though they know that they must offer a sacrifice in front of the World Tree’s illusion, they don’t know what kind of sacrifice to make, so it’s almost like they’re just killing whatever they encounter.
“It’s somewhat a relief…”
“Could it be that what they’re plotting isn’t anything significant?”
“No. It’s definitely something huge, and if left alone, it might really become dangerous.”
That’s my wish-granting ticket!
“It’s just fortunate that they haven’t found the exact method yet.”
“…As expected, Sir Jonah has seen through the purpose of One Who Devours the Twilight,” Karen said with sparkling eyes.
Feeling ticklish from her sudden adoration, I poked Lydia’s side.
“Miss Lydia, Miss Lydia.”
“What.”
“How strong is Miss Lydia exactly? Can you win against those from One Who Devours the Twilight?”
“If they are just minion-level, it doesn’t matter how many of them there are, but from the Mentor class onwards, individual differences can be significant. Ah, as for what the Mentor class is…”
“It’s okay. I roughly know the organizational structure of One Who Devours the Twilight.”
They greatly simplified the organizational structure for one reason: everyone is equal under the Goddess of Love.
Mentees are akin to ordinary, lower-tier adventurers, still in the learning phase and primarily tasked with handling various chores. They pose little to no danger.
Next are the Mentors, possessing strength ranging from mid to high-tier adventurers. They take on the role of aiding the Mentees in their growth, having gone through it themselves…A title that can only be obtained by those who possess one or more powers or something equivalent. They are also the main force causing trouble in Pangrave.
The next position does exist, but… it’s more of an honorary title.
One Who Devours the Twilight is divided into small groups and operates as small organizations, and the heads of these numerous branches are called Masters.
It’s a title unrelated to power, typically held by mentors within the organization who are particularly skilled in management or are deeply devout.
The last title is Grand Master, or Sage, given to the old geezer from where the name of the organization, One Who Devours the Twilight, comes from.
There was the first apostate, Baneus, but… by now, he’s likely barely clinging to life deep within the labyrinth, so it’s unlikely he’d suddenly appear on the first floor.
Anyway, because the organization operates in this manner, it’s impossible to accurately gauge a heretic’s strength just by hearing the titles.
But we have Karen, who, though defeated, has fought them directly and returned.
“Inspector Karen, how formidable were the enemies?”
“The scale was small. There were only about a dozen at the mentee level and two at the mentor level. However, one of them was unusually strong.”
“It must be the one who left Inquisitor Ian in such a state.”
“Correct. I could handle the rest on my own, but that one was a cut above me.”
“…If they were that strong, weren’t their features or anything notably recognizable?”
Even those who excel at concealing their identities, like those of One Who Devours the Twilight, can’t help but be remembered if they’re seen often.
If you know their face, just remembering the face is enough, and even if not, gender, build, voice, abilities used, primary weapon, estimated age, etc.
Distinctive traits are noted, and something like a codename is assigned.
I didn’t set it up myself, but still, living in Pangrave, there are a few names you come to hear.
Owner of the Chimera, Battle Maniac, Whore, etc.
But Karen shook her head seriously as if he didn’t belong to any of those.
“I had no idea who he was. He was wearing a mask, so I couldn’t see his face, but his voice sounded very young.”
“A new mentor, huh? This is going to be troublesome.”
I sighed deeply and continued.
“Surely, you’ve also reported this to the temple. What did the Pope say?”
“…She said to prepare reinforcements and wait.”
“Ah, hmm. It seems like we’ll be waiting only to have them achieve their goal and go back into hiding.”
They seemed unsure of the exact method, but it was something similar. Probably in a few days, they might actually succeed in summoning the guardian of the first floor.
Karen nodded heavily upon hearing my words.
“I also think that…”
“Putting in a request to the guild… would be pointless.”
“Yes. The temple owns the entire guild. If, as Sir Jonah said, the Pope is aiding One Who Devours the Twilight, she must have already taken some measures.”
“Sigh. Then what should we do….”
There’s no way I’m going to hand over the power of the guardian of the first floor.
Not to mention, there’s the wish ticket, but wouldn’t this hinder the growth of the protagonist—who must be somewhere in this world—right from the very beginning?
If that happens, we will lose a national power-level talent who could splendidly resolve the countless incidents that will occur in the future.
Knowing how many foreshadows I’ve scattered around, that would be a bit troublesome.
The point is, we need someone stronger than Karen who can fight alongside us, risking their lives, and soon…
After pondering for a while, Lydia tapped my head and said,
“Jonah. Are you forgetting something?”
“Miss Lydia? I know that Miss Lydia is strong, but considering the atmosphere when you acted fiercely, it seems that you’re on a similar level to Inquisitor Karen. Maybe the two of you will be fine, but it seems a bit dangerous, so I’m worried.”
“…Although you’re right, it’s infuriating.”
Thump!
“Aaargh!”
Suddenly, Lydia gave me a noogie. Clenching my teeth in sharp pain, I looked up at her.
Just as I was about to protest this absurd violence with a voice welling up from deep within my belly,
Lydia shook her head and opened her mouth.
“There’s senior Ellie.”
“Huh?”
“Even without one arm, wouldn’t she be stronger than me or this Inquisitor?”
“…She’s that strong?”
“Yes.”
My goodness. Why would such a person retire…
“Ah.”
Right.
Ellie didn’t retire because it was hard to make a living as an adventurer. It was because she wanted to enjoy a decadent life, indulging in all the erotic experiences she never had before.
Though, it seems like there hasn’t been anything more erotic than her touching my stomach.
…Suddenly, I felt sorry for Ellie.
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