Strongest Gamer; Let's Play in Another World Volume 2

by Shinobu Yuuki

  Mary paused for a moment before continuing.

  "In human territory, especially in my country, the peasants are quite low. They're hardly treated better than the Daemons kept as property by the nobles and landed gentry. Children pay little heed to race, though, so you can often see human and Daemon children playing together. Much like here."

  Mary looked on fondly as the village children played. Humans, elves, dwarves, ogres, goblins, minotaurs, and so many more, mixed and purebred, all playing merrily. No small number of them were helping the adults working in the fields.

  "Are you worried about your hometown?"

  It had to have taken Mary more than two weeks to make the journey all the way to the Daemon territories. After the battle, she was then held in the village for some time. And it hadn't been a short time since she had come to join us in Labyrinth #228. Mary already felt like part of the family, but her situation was different from mine or Ann's. I could come and go whenever I wanted, and Ann lived only a short walk from her home, but Mary was a prisoner of war, a captive far from home.

  "No, not particularly."

  Her answer came quickly, but there was a hint of sadness in her voice.

  "I left the care of my hometown to my uncle's family. His child, my cousin, is younger than I, but my uncle and aunt are determined that she should succeed the territory's lordship. At first I lamented the situation, but it was a shallow wound. Now, I find myself glad that she will be able to take over without me in the picture."

  Nobles had such complicated family troubles. I hadn't been expecting such a heavy story, so I was at something of a loss for what to say, but I felt like I had to say something.

  "You don't get along with your cousin?"

  "We were not on bad terms, at least. She has always been a hard worker and sincere, though she depended on me, almost treating me as an older sister. She may still be young, but I'm sure she'll do a splendid job of safeguarding my hometown with my uncle's guidance."

  So even if she was released, she didn't have a position to return to. Maybe it'd been a mistake, bringing up her hometown.

  "Mary, would you like to stay here, even after you pay off your ransom? Ann loves you like a sister, and I'd have trouble finding a guardian to replace you..."

  No, that wasn't what I wanted to say.

  "...Aoi?"

  "...It would make me very happy if you stayed."

  I'd grown fond of this dignified, dorky knight.

  "Thank you, Aoi. I can't tell you how pleased I am to hear that. But I've chosen the life of a knight, and I have no intention of leaving that path."

  Mary answered me with a radiant smile.

  "I see. That sucks."

  Her gorgeous smile stole my wits, and before I knew it, the words were out of my mouth. So I guess the goal of this event was just for her to tell me more about herself. Oh well. Might as well enjoy it for what it is.

  "Yes, it truly does, doesn't it?"

  Mary and I didn't speak anymore until Ann returned from her work, but the silence we shared was a comfortable one.

  ◇

  "Hey, Fez. You have a minute?"

  When the market day rolled around, I paid Fez a visit, as usual. He looked a little annoyed when he found out I had some questions for him.

  "You only ever bring me headaches. Fine, fine, what is it this time?"

  "I feel like you could at least give me a smile and a nod. You're making a killing off me lately."

  A lot of Fez's wares were also available on Tundra, but it was cheaper to buy from him. Just as importantly, I could actually see the goods in person with him, so whenever possible, I bought from his cart. Ann, standing beside me, had been perusing the goods. She gave a little nod and handed Fez some money, then put a few things in her bag and handed the bag over to Mary. I felt like I was leaning on Ann too much, but I still wasn't a good judge of quality and price for everyday goods here. I had a lot of studying to do.

  "The one keepin' me afloat is this little lady here, not you, Aoi. Oh well, guess I can at least hear you out."

  "Remember how we're expanding the labyrinth?"

  "Yeah. Yer doin' some big business there. I'm a mite jealous of ya."

  "So, we've actually got a pretty compelling reason for doing that. Here's the scoop."

  I explained how we had to build up the labyrinth, lure in intruders, and fend them off to rack up points, otherwise the labyrinth was going to go out of business.

  "So you see, I need to bring in some Daemon hunters to challenge the labyrinth. You know any way to scare up some folks?"

  I knew the magic potions were my ace in the hole to talk people into it, but I didn't know how to find people in the first place!

  "Lemme think..."

  After I finished telling my story, Fez took out his pipe, filled it with his favorite herb, lit it, and took a long pull.

  "Let me ask ya somethin' first. Trespassing on a labyrinth can cost ya yer life. Yer not plannin' on killin' anyone, are ya?"

  Of course Fez was going to be concerned for the wellbeing of anybody who challenged our labyrinth. He may have acted tough, but deep down, he was a pretty caring guy.

  "No, we're working hard to prevent any deaths. All we need is for them to enter the labyrinth and then give up and leave. There will be traps, not to mention creatures for them to fight, so I won't promise there won't be injuries, but I'm giving it everything I've got to ensure there are no deaths on my watch."

  "Ya did say you got the most points for a kill, though, right?"

  "If killing is the only way for my labyrinth to stay afloat, I'd rather shut it down."

  "Aight, then you've got me on your side. I know we've got a history together, but I still had to hear ya say it. Sorry for doubtin' ya, mate."

  I couldn't fault him for wanting to make certain on that particular point, especially when he was so kind as to apologize for it.

  "Don't worry, I know you're just a big ol' softie under all that fur."

  "Oh, shut your lid. Now, tell me more about this labyrinth."

  "I think it's your typical affair. Like I said, there'll be traps, creatures, and a guardian at the end. I'm thinking hunters can use it as a training facility, and whoever breaks through will win a really good prize."

  "Hmm. That's a right good pitch, I'd say. If we sell it right, you'll get the people ya want."

  "Perfect, that's exactly what I wanted to ask you for."

  I didn't think I was going to get by just passing out flyers in Milt. I had advertising experience from a few sim games I'd played, but I didn't really have a handle on the details of how it would work in this world.

  "So, ya can tickle a hunter's ears with talk o' profit, but what really grabs 'em by the nose is when they smell easy money. Okay, how about this. I've got a few talented hunter friends back home. What say I invite 'em over for a test run as soon as the labyrinth's complete? Ya get some word of mouth going, and then the newbies will start floodin' in."

  Ooh, good idea. Do a big trial with the top-notch guys first.

  "That sounds great. Would you mind? But seriously, I can only pay you so much for the referral fees."

  "It's a deal."

  So now I had some advertisement, and even some beta testers. What would the real deal be like when I had my grand opening? I had to start planning ahead.

  Chapter Three

  "I brought ya some slackers, Aoi!"

  "Hey, I'm not a slacker! I just have a lot of free time, that's all."

  The labyrinth was basically ready, and we were putting the finishing touches on the main gate in the forest when Fez showed up with a few visitors.

  "This is Aoi, the manager of Labyrinth #228. Go on, introduce yourselves."

  "The name's Donnel. I know the jokers behind me look like they just popped out of their mommies' skirts, but don't let that fool you. They're experienced hunters, and I'm their leader."

  Fez had brought about ten grizzled hunters. Their weapons had all seen better d
ays, and they were kitted out in metal-reinforced leather armor. Every one of them had a hand near their weapon at all times and exuded an aura of wariness. I would've known what line of work Donnel was in even without the introduction. He was a beastman... probably? At any rate, he was a muscular guy with a confident smile and cat-like features. He wore thick leather gloves on his paws, and the effect was so odd that I had to take a second look to make sure I'd seen what I thought I'd seen.

  "This here's an old friend of mine, and he's worked from one side o' this continent to the other. He ain't the most social guy, so he's been havin' a hard time findin' long-term contracts."

  Aha, so they had a history, and probably not the good kind.

  "Now remind me again who's bad with people? I remember a story or two where you..." Donnel gently needled Fez, his voice melodic.

  "Ahh, well, I'll just save that tale for later. Now, I heard you're lookin' for labyrinth challengers. My crew's tough, and we've even got a medic, so you can do your worst, heh."

  He tried to smirk at me, but he couldn't really pull it off. Donnel seemed like a trustworthy sort, but he still had something of a villainous air about him. Fez wasn't kidding when he said Donnel was bad with people, huh? Some of Donnel's party were beastmen---basically humans with cat ears---but most of them were more like plain old cats, with furry faces and whiskers. They had an air of quiet dignity, as befitted battle-tested veterans, but at the same time they all looked so soft and fluffy that my heart was crying out for me to pet each and every one of them before I let them challenge the labyrinth.

  "Sounds great. We've just finished setting up, so if there's anything you think we should adjust, I'd appreciate hearing your opinions. And I will of course be happy to pay you for any feedback you have."

  "Thanks, sonny. Let's get right to work, then."

  After a handshake to seal the deal, Donnel tried to give me a friendly pat on the back. I was used to the fluffy sensation of Ann patting me, but instead I nearly got knocked off my feet. His paws packed a punch!

  We signed a contract, with Fez as our witness. Mary used the back door to head down to the guardian's room, and the challenge began.

  "Let's do this."

  I led them to the entrance, where we were still putting on the finishing touches. Donnel and his party divided into two groups of five, and they entered the labyrinth with torches in hand.

  "How long you plan to keep this thing open, Aoi?"

  "The whole thing is only one floor, so I was thinking maybe half a day? I'm planning to close it off by nightfall once we're doing this every day." Mary would need a lot of rest, so I'd settled on taking in hunters during the morning, and then not accepting any new ones after noon.

  "Wanna go get some tea while we wait for Donnel and his boys to come back? It's cold in here."

  "Sure."

  I was bored out of my mind. If this had been a game, I'd have been able to watch the intruders' progress in the labyrinth, but we hadn't installed any sort of monitoring system to keep an eye on them in real time. Man, if only I could at least watch from the golems' point of view.

  In the end, we decided to just return to the workshop and drink some tea.

  A few hours later, just as dinner was being served, Mary returned, along with Donnel's party, their fur looking a little ruffled.

  "You did a good job. The place is well-constructed, and it should do well as a training facility."

  Donnel sat down and took a few spoonfuls of soup before continuing.

  "You've got some nasty trap locations in there. The traps themselves were pretty basic, but the placement was spectacular. You impressed our scout, let me tell you."

  Seemed like Barry had a good eye for setting traps for adventurers. What a random skill for a construction foreman.

  "Those golems of yours put up a mean fight. Taking 'em head-on is just asking to get your head handed to you. All in all, everything up to the guardian's room should be good training for bored hunters looking for something to do. The only problem is our lady guardian here."

  Donnel's turned his cat face to Mary.

  "What's the problem?"

  Mary seemed to be satisfied with her first fight in a while. In fact, she looked rather smug.

  "Your guardian's got some serious moves, and she puts her all into it. Makes an excellent guardian. If we hadn't been an oversized crew, she would've outmatched us easily. Thing is, that means she's too strong for a training labyrinth. Most hunters are in for a nasty surprise if they make it that far. There's no getting past her unless you put your life on the line."

  So she was simply too strong? I supposed I would've been mad if I'd gone somewhere with the goal of training and then ended up almost dead. Hmm. Tuning difficulty was harder than it seemed. If the goal of defeating Mary made the labyrinth too difficult, maybe I needed to change the goal. I had to think of both the hunters' safety and Mary's, or I'd be a failure as a manager.

  "Okay, what if I leave a certificate in the back of the guardian room? As long as you get it and bring it back, you can claim the prize. Rather than having to defeat Mary, all the groups need to do is make it to the guardian's room and hold her off until they can claim the certificate."

  Kinda like a test of courage.

  "Hmm, yeah, if you don't have to actually take her down, that'll make it much easier. Besides, hunters have a lot of practice at just holding off boss monsters."

  Donnel settled in to offer advice on a bunch of other smaller issues, like the location of traps and golem patrol routes. It turned out that proper QA was vital, no matter what you did. I gave Donnel a handsome bonus on top of the agreed-upon rate. His fur stood on end when he saw what I was handing out to him and his party: the same vitality potions I was planning to give hunters who passed the labyrinth's test.

  "Well, I'll be damned. You'll pull in every hunter on this side of the continent with prizes like this. Won't he, boy?"

  "Knew you'd say that, ol' man."

  Donnel stared in awe at the magic potion in his paws.

  "Fez, I've got an idea! You should open up a magic potion trading stall back in town. You'll make a killing when all the hunters come!"

  "And I knew you'd say that, too! Gonna have to change my schedule now, ain't I?"

  "Heheheh. I'll spread the word around, so cut me in on the action, eh?"

  "Chill out, Whiskers. I gotta make a profit for myself first."

  Every few minutes, Donnel would slap Fez on the back and offer up another business scheme. I felt a little bad for Fez, being told how to do his job by a grizzled old hunter.

  ◇

  I prepared a detailed plan for operating the labyrinth and presented it to Mary, Fez, Carla, and Donnel to get their opinions.

  ・All hunters who wish to challenge the labyrinth must register at the reception desk in Milt one day in advance.

  ・Hunters can challenge the labyrinth two times at most, regardless of whether attempting it alone or as part of a group.

  ・Hunters who manage to make it through the labyrinth, best the guardian, and bring back the stone slab enshrined in the final room will earn a prize.

  ・Participation in the challenge will be free of charge for the first three months.

  ・Entry begins in the morning and ends at noon. No entry past noon permitted.

  ・A special rescue team will be dispatched at sunset to assist any trapped and distressed hunters, and once the rescue team has completed their sweep, the labyrinth's doors will be closed.

  ・Anybody caught disobeying the rules or causing any disturbance in the village will be summarily banned.

  The only part I was worried about was the retry limit. There was a part of me that wanted to let them challenge the labyrinth as many times as they wanted so I could rack up more points, but that would let them get used to it and make it through to Mary's room through sheer dint of repetition. I wanted to keep the burden on Mary to a minimum. Mary would get a chance to rest in the evenings, but we also needed ti
me each night to rearrange the traps and to maintain the labyrinth, and for the rescue team to sweep through and rescue any injured or trapped hunters. Unlike most labyrinths, we had to keep the wellbeing of our intruders in mind.

  "Let's see now, we have the team leader's name and city of origin. No party members. Challenging solo, huh? And, yep, that's it, you're all registered. Make sure to enter the labyrinth before noon tomorrow!"