Within the next day, an audience was formed within the stadium but instead for another round of a tournament, it will be the showcase of Tempest's newest attraction, the Labyrinth
Sitting in the VIP seating consist of the same individuals of the prior arrangement merely indulging amongst themselves until the announcement comes
Rimuru: So how was last night with Masayuki?
Kaijuno: It went quite alright, we basically just hang out at the Jura Tempest Bar chit chats here and there
Rimuru: Chats about what?
Kaijuno: Well it turns out Masayuki think udon is just a bunch of carbs, can you believe that?
Rimuru: . . . But he's right
Kaijuno: Not you too!
Finally after a solid while of waiting, Souka and Mjöllmile stepped up to the stage for their presentation.
It was the first announcement of our newly established Labyrinth saying stuff like "One of Tempest's Greatest Achievements" and The Ultimate Challenge for Adventurers"
It quickly became a marketing showcase offering any adventurers that challenge it today to recieve free items like a couple of potions, a whistle that can be used to teleport you back outside the labyrinth, and most to make note of is the revival bracelet that can revive anyone that was killed in the labyrinth
I do question why this specific item ended up being optional to buy rather than something mandatory to have when you enter. Although I guess it could be of use to make an example out of any fools that think they didn't need it. We gain more of a profit out this as well
Mjöllmile openly challenged any adventurers to be the first to step into the labyrinth. There was an atmosphere of hesitation since this was all new to them
I actually told my new friend Masayuki the night prior about the labyrinth and got him and his party to take up being one of the few participants to enter in the worst case although they didn't end up being the first to step up
That would be another party that called themselves "Great Lightning". I didn't really recognize this party, I don't even think they were a part of the preliminary rounds of the tournament
And oddly enough for some reason their leader, Basson looked a lot like Kratos, he even has an axe. Unlike Kratos, his skin is still naturally peachy so maybe this guy still has his wife and kid alive for all I know
Basson: The demon lord's plan to gain the people's favor will not work! Not if my party "Great Lightning" has anything to say about it!
Kaijuno: (Ok are demon lords really not something to actually fear? For beings that supposedly terror to the entire world, everyone seem so casual about provoking us)
After the little showbiz from Great Lightning, Eren's party appeared to join in to the dismay of Erald
Following the Arrival of Eren's party was Team Lightspeed which was welcomed with extremely loud cheers from the audience
Audience: MASAYUKI! MASAYUKI! MASAYUKI!
With a already a solid handful of parties willing to participate Mjöllmile was about to go ahead and start the trial showcase but there ended being another person who desired to participate or more like another party of people wanting to join in
???: We'd like to join in too
Mjöllmile:?
The fourth party to suddenly appear was another that I haven't seen prior just like Great Lightning. All of them were wearing hooded that were removed as they made their precense known
Most of them haven't made an appearance prior except for one of their members who was revealed to be Gaiye who was one of the first to be knocked out in the tournament.
The one in front of them was the one to reveal the identity of the party
Mjöllmile: who might you all be
Daniel: They refer to me as Daniel, Daniel of Steal. And we are the "Hoods of Robins"
Kaijuno: (Hoods of Robins? Am I supposed to know these guys cause I'm really not recalling any group called the Hoods of Robins. Yagami does any of my sources mention this group?)
Yagami:( Negative, the source material made no mention of the Hoods of Robins)
Kaijuno: (Nothing? So these guys really came out of no where? Also what's with Gaiye being with them? It didn't look like he was with any party, did he just conveniently joined them overnight? Hmm probably not)
Yagami: (Notice, all proclaimed members of "The Hoods of Robins" are exhibiting the same brainwave pattern at once)
Kaijuno: (. . . And that's supposed to be mean?)
Yagami: (Answer, it means they are put under a mental influence from an outsider)
Kaijuno: (An outsider? Someone who can do some form of mind manipulation? Clayman is all bruised up and bored down in the facility area of the labyrinth, I doubt Michael would care enough to drop by and apply his dominion on a bunch of adventures, who else does- oooooooooooh . . . Ok now I feel pretty stupid I didn't immediately thought of her)
*Hidden within the audience*
Mariabelle: ( So this was the big attraction that Tempest was bringing excitement for, "The Labyrinth". If things played a bit more better than before I would've just sent Gaiye to scout within the labyrinth alone but with how miserable he flunked at the tournament I ended up having to make some quick last minute changes. Luckily I already intended to use my Unique Skill Greed to take anyone else for insurance of anything going unexpected.
Just my luck, a more fairly prominent party of adventurers was in town. This one is particularly well known within the mid west, consisting of Darvo the A rank dwarf archer, Minyel A rank elf mage, Astopho the A rank halfling barbarian, and Murt the young B rank human cleric. These four already made a solid party of but what tipped them over from other adventurer parties is their leader Daniel who is an S rank thief. Thanks to having an S rank member, the party was able to gain a prominent reputation amongst the guild
From my sources in connection to my position as a member of the Rosso's, they had also been suspected to have stolen riches from nobility as there news of breaking in entering of nobility households when the party was reported to be in the area, although as far as they could, nothing was concrete enough to confirm anyone
Gaiye made himself clear to be the reckless type so pitting him this kind of party doesn't sound like a good mix. But it doesn't matter as with good coordinations or not, they'll do what I want thanks to my greed. It's better to a party to to traverse and survive the labyrinth than having a lone warrior running around to only get overwhelmed
Also if this is meant to be open for later use to the public then it's better to have a head start then)
*back at the VIP seating*
Kaijuno: So even the first floors are ridiculously big?
Rimuru: Yep, you could easily fit a theme park in one floor
Kaijuno: Maybe we should build one in the labyrinth
Rimuru: Maybe at a later time, we still gotta see how the public would react to the entire labyrinth first
With the final cut of who'll be the first to enter the labyrinth, a gigantic pair of doors suddenly emerged from the middle of the arena floor to welcome the first challengers
Before they set off, Mjöllmile decided to showcase the usage of the revival bracelet in action to help ease the four parties and audience about any concerns on whether it works
Mjöllmile was the first to step into the chambers while having Soka's thread tied around his neck for a prepared kill
In the middle of this presentation Gaiye made a sudden dash straight towards Mjöllmile but before he gotten past Soka, he halted and jerked around by Daniel who grabbed a hold of Gaiye's hood in a split second
Kaijuno: (huh, quite the fast reflexes)
Yagami: (Notice, individual Daniel possesses qualities of a Unique skill holder)
Kaijuno: ( Is that so? That might explain why he is high ranking. I know I have a whole buffet of Unique Skill but those types of skills aren't actually that casual to obtain. To the public, a unique skill could be something to be seen as over powered. Guessing from what he just shown, it could be a speed related skill. Infact even with my thought acceleration, I didn't see the movement in between the actions)
Brushing off the shock, the pair proceeded as planned with the presentation. With one good pull from Soka, Mjöllmile was decapitated in full view of the audience.
Worry was made on whether the bracelet worked but in the next moment those concerns were sweated away as Mjöllmile appeared right outside of the doors completely fine, surprising the audience
Given the go ahead that things will be fine, all four parties set off into the labyrinth while being monitored by four dryads to provide the audience a view of their exploits within the labyrinth
Living up to their name sake team lightspeed blitz through first three floors within the first 30 minutes mainly because they keep falling into trap doors that sped up their progress to the dismay of rimuru. They only ran into a few monsters here and there. I was suprised Masayuki actually tackled some of them, I thought he was basically a copy and paste of King from One Punch Man, a guy who had no actual strength and was solely reliant on their luck. So I was kinda taken aback that he is capable of putting up a fight even if it's technically not on my level of strength
Great Lightning kept falling into traps and overall getting the worst luck out all four of the parties. They ended up being made the jesters for the audience. Truly quite an embarrassment
Eren's party was highly cautious and stayed within the first floor for majority of their time
The Hood of Robins were busy basically doing the Labyrinth's equivalent of a 100% speedrun. They're swiftly running around each floor collecting all the weapons from any chest they can find. It's clear they all are being driven by Mariabelle's Greed
This show definitely amazed the audience throughout the duration. It also went as planned as many adventures became encouraged to try out the Labyrinth later on
After a while nearing the end of duration of time, team lightspeed reached the 10th floor and clashed against the black spider boss. Although it wasn't much of a battle but it was basically Jinrai defeating the black spider in a single attack. At the end of the boss room lay a golden chest that had a good quality dagger. After obtaining the dagger and with very little time to explore the next floor, the party decided to conclude their journey and used the whistle to summoned them back to the stadium where they were welcomed back with intense cheers
Eren's party found a hidden room that was guarded by giant bats to which were swiftly dealt with, showing how strong the party had become in comparison to their strength a few years ago. Within the hidden room they found a non boss room golden chest where they found a unique level sword. Being satisfied with this outcome, they also decided to cut things short and whistled their way back to the stadium much to Erald's relief
Great Lightning just kept continuing to their bad luck streak. Mainly only finding trapped chest and getting knocked back to the stadium until all their time was used up
Hoods of Robins had mostly been mapping out each floor before moving to the next in rushed speed. Finding any loot to claim along the way. It was when they reached the boss room was when they halted
Instead of the black spider, it was simply a large empty room full of webs
Most of the party were left confused and unsure, except for the frustrated Gaiye. Confirming the lack of a boss, he immediately turn to the monitoring Dryad, demanding for the boss to be summoned, only to be more frustrated that the cool down time would exceed their remaining time in the Labyrinth
Becoming more aggressive, Gaiye grabbed hold of his sword in anticipation to threaten the dryad. Before the blade could be released, another hand locked his in place
Without being able to detect it, Gaiye was suddenly halted by Daniel's sudden position behind him
For the next minute, the two kept arguing while the rest of the party felt uncomfortable and the dryad kept a neutral expression throughout it all
At the peak of frustration, Gaiye clenched his other fist in anticipation to throw a punch at Daniel. Before he could land a punch, Daniel already knocked Gaiye unconscious. It wasn't visible that he thrown the strike, one second he was only using one hand to hold Gaiye, the next Daniel already let go and used his other fist slam Gaiye into the ground, as if he stopped time
With one of their members not able to continue and being able to traverse further into the Labyrinth with no boss to defeat, they decided to use the whistle to summon them back to the stadium
Mariabelle: (Maybe getting such a fool under my control was a bad move to make, even if he was vulnerable to my greed. A pawn is a pawn either way I suppose. Now I'll have Duke Meuse start getting Tempest to be in debt to us. Surely an event like this, there would be some mishap in regards to finances. Especially with it being such a young country, merchants wouldn't likely accept their currency. Even a demon lord's ambition is no match for my endless greed)
Having all parties finishing their time, this offically concluded the remaining scheduled event of the founder's festival and the showcase that'll bring great benefits to Tempest's economy
I and Rimuru also had to do some final public speaking as a send off, also Rimuru had to add in that if anyone were to defeat Veldora, they'll have the right to challenge me. Still pulling stuff up under my nose but thankfully, nobody haven't actually defeated the labyrinth in the story
With nothing more to busy with, everyone went off on their own for the remainder of the day . I myself dropped by to check up on Masayuki at the inn he's staying out
*door knock*
Masayuki: ?
Kaijuno: Heyo!
Masayuki: Oh hey! What's up
Kaijuno: Nothing much, what's up with you
Masayuki: Nothing at all
Kaijuno: Nice, what did you thought of the labyrinth? Was it fun?
Masayuki: It was alright, I did felt a bit uneasy at first about it but it went off better than I was worried for
Kaijuno: and plus you got a pretty sweet dagger out if it too
Masayuki: I know right! I'm suprised by the quality of this
Kaijuno: (I'm sure it would be hard to believe that all of this are extras that our blacksmiths kept in storage to collect dust. I'm kinda hoping my commission for a new set of duel blades are even better. Although maybe I should've thought of something more specific of the defensive blade of the pair. But I'm sure they could think of something creative on their own)
Kaijuno: So with the festival on it's last day, what the plan now?
Masayuki: I don't really have anything to expect after this. Maybe just head back to Ingraccia and do some guild quest as usual. Although to be honest, I'd much rather live here
Kaijuno: then why not?
Masayuki: They don't have a freedom guild here, that's where I get my main source of income from as an adventurer
Kaijuno: I wouldn't worry about that all too much, my sister is actually buddies with the guild master himself so I'm sure they're already planning to set up a location soon.
Masayuki: really?
Kaijuno: Yeah, and even then with the Labyrinth offically opening in a few days, I think you could still make a profit by adventuring in there for a while
Masayuki: Can you make a profit from Labyrinth!?
Kaijuno: I'm sure that's the case. Heck if you don't want it, you can go off selling that dagger at a pretty good price. You're finances wouldn't be a problem if you're worried. Would you still consider living here?
Masayuki: then absolutely! I only been here for a couple of days, I still have yet to try out all the food I haven't had again after suddenly being transported into this world
Kaijuno: Sweet! I should let my sister know that the hero is taking residence here. Maybe she'll even offer you a job and a place for residency even
Masayuki: Your sister? You mean princess rimuru?
Kaijuno: yep! You haven't actually talked to her have you?
Masayuki: No I mainly know about here from those Monster Royals stories that the guild publishes. I was kinda suprised she didn't wear a princess dress as she did in the books
Kaijuno: You sound like you kinda hoping she was wearing one weren't ya?
Masayuki: N-n-n-no! That was not it at all
Kaijuno: Ay it's no worries, but to be blunt with you, she isn't interested in dudes
Masayuki: So she's interested in women
Kaijuno: Yep! Guessing she your type huh?
Masayuki: Nope!
Kaijuno: Nah nah I can see it, blue hair, golden eyes, stunning beauty, . . . a great butt
Masayuki: A great butt!?
Kaijuno: yeah, what? are you more of a breast guy?
Masayuki: I say I like both but what reason would you think I was mainly interested in butts? Doesn't princess rimuru of have small hips?
Kaijuno: ( I mean the cover art of vol 14 of the light novel might suggest so)
Kaijuno: . . . No particular reason, just a hunch. Although you're not against the whole blue hair and golden eyes
Masayuki: I guess I'm not against it
Masayuki: (Actually I recalled seeing a beauty with such a description before I got sent into this world. She even had a great figure too)
Masayuki: besides, what is even your type?
Kaijuno: Easy! Tall, Muscular all over, especially rock hard abs! Thunder thighs to crush my head! Big Breast to suffocate me!
My dream lady is a lady that can give me snu-snu!
Masayuki: . . . Ok, I expecting more like a sexy Onee-san, nothing like that
Kaijuno: What can I say? I'm just another fella of great ideals and culture
Masayuki: Like what? The culture of masochism?
Kaijuno: I'm not a masochist!
Masayuki: back to the job offer, what job could I be offered?
Kaijuno: probably some sort of spokesperson role for the labyrinth given how popular you are
Masayuki: so not necessarily needing to involve adventuring?
Kaijuno: I doubt it would be
Masayuki: Finally! That's basically been all I've been doing!
Kaijuno: Really? You've been non stop adventuring?
Masayuki: Yes! At least if I'm busy doing spokesman stuff in a demon lord country, maybe I could get a break from getting caught up one ridiculous situation after another
Kaijuno: Like what?
Masayuki: Literally just before I came here, I got caught in some sort of war between a nation and an underground organization to then getting caught up to escort loads of elves from the west all the way to here
Kaijuno: Yeah I think I heard of that one recently
Masayuki: or that one time I had to fend off against a parasitic cult
Kaijuno: A parasitic cult? I recalled you mentioned it last night but I don't think I actually heard of that one
Masayuki: I'm kinda suprised that ended up being one of my lesser known adventurers
Kaijuno: well what happened with that?
Masayuki: Basically what happened was when it the party only consisted of me, Jinrai and Bernie, we accepted a quest from the guild to scout out various locations around the kingdom in Ingraccia. Turns out people were going missing left and right in locations like the city of Guratol and others. My team was mainly sent to scout out and investigate any clues onto why this would be the case.
Most locations were run down and abandoned warehouses that looked like activity was done recently before we arrived. It was like this until we finally found a spot that was still in use.
It looked like one of those small caves that would be full of bandits but there was none of that there. Instead, there were people that were heavily hooded, a sight that was definitely freaky to see
We caught them in the middle of some sort of ritual act with their recent abducted victim, we thought it was some sort of crazy sacrificial ritual but instead, some sort of worm hole appeared in the room. I didn't see anyone come out, but sudden the victim heavily shaking around like they were being possessed
After, they were released from their restraints and were given a hooded cloak lime it was natural
We were mainly there to investigate but Jinrai and Bernie decided not to inform the guild before doing anything and instead to immediately attack the cult members in hopes to freeing the victim. When our presence were known, all the members including the victim, morphed from their human appearance into some creepy and definitely wasn't human to say the least. It felt like I got caught in some sort of cosmic horror story
Thanks to Chosen One, Jinrai and Bernie's boost in power was enough to take on the group despite the bigger numbers on their end. Eventually when we finished them off, they all were consumed by the worm hole that the summoned, seems like they need to close it off soon after opening it but our sudden appearance got in the wag of that
Turns out that the cult members were also people that were reported to being kidnapped as well and that ritual was how they made more members for this cult. Turns out that these creatures that took over the bodies for their victim's bodies like some sort of spirit are called "Cryptids" and the name they went by were "The Children of Ivarage"
Turns out that these creatures that took over the bodies for their victim's bodies like some sort of spirit are called "Cryptids" and the name they went by were "The Children of Ivarage"
Kaijuno: Wait! Wait! Hold on! Ivarage?
Masayuki: Yeah, they kept yelling stuff about how their great mother will be the one to bring destruction to this world. There were even some flags and pieces of cloth that had an image of a dragon. So I'm guessing it's some sort of powerful dragon that they worship in high regards. Kinda like what you guys have here with Veldora
Kaijuno: ( I swore I heard that name before. Yeah, the name Ivarage was mentioned in the light novel but I think its just the name I know of. I don't think I actually heard anything much in regards to ivarage just that they spawned the cryptid race. Actually I don't know much about the cryptids in general, mostly that Vulprower is apparently a cryptid. Yagami, I really don't got much on Ivarage huh?)
Yagami: (Negative, the most that is provided is that Ivarage is the World Destroying Dragon that was sealed away by Veldanava)
Kaijuno: (Jeesh there really was nothing about Ivarage, I wonder if the next volume was gonna reveal more about Ivarage. Although sounds like their introduction would've been rushed if volume 22 was meant to be the final volume, maybe they should've extended it to 23 volume instead. It sounded like Ivarage was being set up to be another antagonist for the end game. Also if the cryptids are saying about Ivarage being their great mother is true, then does that mean that Ivarage is a woman? I was kinda expecting Ivarage to be a guy honestly)
Kaijuno: And you didn't do anything?
Masayuki: I didn't do anything
Kaijuno: That's really seems to be the case most of the time huh?
Masayuki: It's not like I'm really that strong compared to everyone else in my party. It's basically because of my Unqiue Skill Chosen One that I'm effective in battle
Kaijuno: But are you really gonna let that be the case?
Masayuki: What do you mean?
Kaijuno: What I meant is that are you gonna keep relying on Chosen One to get you out of tough situations? I get that suddenly being summoned into this world, you'd have a tough time getting your footing, take it from someone who got sent to this world too. That said, you also had great fortune to obtain a Unqiue Skill, those things aren't actually that casual to get so you're already ahead of the majority in this world.
I know experiencing different elements of a fantasy can come across as overwhelming to someone isn't used to it but eventually you gotta be able handle those types of situations sooner or later on your own. It's nothing wrong to be weak at first but simply complaining about your struggles and not putting in the effort to change that won't do you any favors either.
Whether you like it or not, you'll find yourself in a situation that solely relying on Chosen One won't be enough. You'll have to end up taking the initiative on your own as the Hero you are
Masayuki: But I can't exactly say that I am one, it's just what everyone decided to view me as
Kaijuno: then prove them right
Masayuki: prove them right?
Kaijuno: Yep! You might not make the cut now, it doesn't mean you're incapable of becoming the hero they see you as. Even if it's not exactly by your intended terms, it's better go with the flow in these types of situations
Masayuki: I guess you're not wrong that simply complaining about it won't help, but are you really sure I have what it takes to be a hero?
Kaijuno: I say you have a good shot at it, infact for all we know you might become the King of Heroes
Masayuki: Now that's a joke, it's definitely an exaggeration to think that I'll be anyone like Gilgamesh of all people
Kaijuno: (Oh the irony in the words you just said)
Kaijuno: How about a promise, a PINKY promise
Masayuki: a pinky promise? For what?
Kaijuno: a pinky promise to swear that when you become a True Hero, we'll have a true match. No running nor excuses, a true clash between demon lord and hero, do you promise?
Masayuki: . . . I promise
Kaijuno: Do you pinky promise!
Masayuki: I pinky promise to kick your butt when I become a true hero!
Kaijuno: That's the spirit
Finally grabbing a hold our pinky fingers we officially made a vow to have an honest battle that we were fated to have
Kaijuno: This pinky promise
Masayuki: is a promise between
Kaijuno/Masayuki: Best Buddies!/Friends!
Kaijuno: huh?
Masayuki: what?
Kaijuno: Best friends?
Masayuki: Best Buddies?
Kaijuno: . . . Meh, same thing
Masayuki: Yeah sure
Wrapping my visit with my best buddy, I decided step into outskirts of the city to take a breather from the huge party that left no room for peace. Given how eventful the last couple of days, I felt the need to take a breather from the excitement, also some time to reflect
Kaijuno: . . . Huh . . . I . . . actually enjoyed this arc. A few hiccups but this was basically just one big party of an arc. No war, no intense battle, no big boss to worry about killing me. . . just a good time. I could see this arc being seen as more dull in comparison to what happened in season 2 but as someone who got to experience it, this more peaceful chapter of the story felt like a relief from all the action.
Kinda makes uneasy knowing this probably the most peaceful it'll get to be for the rest of the story, especially when the eastern empire and the tenma war eventually comes into the picture
I guess I'll just work on those when the time comes
In the darkest time of the night, the King of the Monsters along with his nations say their farewells to the celebration of the founder's festival