NBAA Vol. 8 Chapter 3 Part 1
CHAPTER 3
As usual, the scenery changed in an instant, and Honemin disappeared.
And just as they had been informed, a labyrinth made of brick walls spread out in front of Reito and the others. However, something was different from usual. There were no other adventurers to be seen in the places they had teleported to so far, but there were several people here.
The place Reito and the others had teleported to was a large hall.
“Oh!! You guys are lucky!! Did you teleport here?”
“Good thing you didn’t teleport to a place where monsters live…”
“Um…?”
“This looks like a resting spot. Look, there’s a pattern drawn on the ground, right?”
Shizune noticed the pattern on the ground and pointed it out. It seemed that this was the resting spot on the fourth floor, and they had been teleported there by chance.
“Hey guys, I’m selling some extra healing potions now.”
“Healing potions are good, but don’t you want an antidote? There are monsters here that use poison, so be careful because healing magic can’t cure poison.”
There was someone selling the goods they brought with them, like a street vendor. I’ve prepared some, but I think it would be nice to replenish them.
“By the way, does anyone have an antidote or something? I have some that I made myself…”
“I have some. I have about three just in case.”
“I have one too.”
“I have three too.”
“I have the skill ‘Poison Resistance’. I’ve been training to resist poison since I was a child, that I’m fine.”
They were fully prepared, but they decided to look around the street vendors.
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“Huh? Are they selling weapons here? But to be honest, they’re all pretty shabby.”
“Well, most of them are just things I found while exploring. They’re all things that old adventurers dropped or threw away. Wanna buy some?”
“I don’t not really need weapons…”
Reito stopped in front of a woman who had countless weapons and armor lined up on a carpet, and checked each weapon. However, Reito did not have the ability to “Appraisal,” and could only use his “Observation Eye” skill to check the appearance of the weapons. They were all damaged, or had broken or chipped blades, so they were all unusable.
“Huh? Is that a Japanese sword?”
“A Japanese sword? I don’t know what it’s called, but I found that one was lying around, too.”
“Can I have a look at it… it’s pretty rusty.”
Among the weapons was a Japanese sword with the blade broken in half. Hanzo picked it up and frowned. The handle was made of iron, so it was probably a long sword made to imitate a Japanese sword.
“This is a fake. It’s poorly made, and weapons from the land of Wakoku always have the name of the swordsmith engraved on the blade or handle.”
“Oh dear…”
“But the material itself isn’t bad. I think it’s probably made of an alloy of silver and mithril, but it’s a terrible product, so it must have been made by a third-rate craftsman.”
“Oh dear, that’s too bad. It has a unique shape, so I thought I’d found a treasure.”
The woman looked disappointed when Hanzo returned the sword to her, and as if she had not given up on selling it even after hearing that it was a fake, when she put it back on the carpet.
“But there’s a lot here… Did you pick up all of this?”
“Yes. I may look like this, but I’m an assassin, and I’m confident in my ‘Stealth’ skills and my ability to run away. I collected them without being seen by the monsters, and made it here.”
“It must have been difficult to collect so many?”
“Well, it wasn’t easy. There are a lot of people who buy even this much. This floor is home to even more vicious and troublesome monsters. There are a lot of people who want to destroy their weapons, or carry a backup weapon for convenience.”
“You’re good at business, aren’t you?”
“Not really, everyone who does business here does the same thing. Look, if you’re not interested in buying, then just go away. Small talk isn’t bad, but I want to sell half of my stuff by the end of the day.”
Hearing the woman’s words, he thought that he would be a hindrance to her business and tried to leave. However, Reito found something familiar among the weapons on the carpet and picked it up.
“Oh, this is…”
“Hmm? Are you curious about that?”
“Do you know how to use a spear, Reito?”
“No, that’s not it… doesn’t this look similar to the spear Mina used?”
What Reito picked up was a spear with a rusty blade. The color of the handle was different, but it looked very similar to the spear Mina had. I thought it was just my imagination, but I had heard that Mina’s father had challenged this Great Labyrinth and gone missing.
“Where did you find this spear?”
“Well… I’ve been going around a lot. I don’t remember.”
“I see… Um, how much is this?”
“Eh? Are you buying it? Well, thank you for shopping with us.”
Reito had no choice but to buy the spear and store it using space magic. After leaving the Great Labyrinth, he decided to ask Airis if it belonged to her father.
“Reito-sama, what are you going to do with that spear, that you are?”
“I’ll take it back with me for now. What about the rest of you?”
“We are ready.”
Reito turned around and saw that the other three had also made preparations and were already ready to leave.
It was fortunate that they had reached the resting spot first, but from here on out, even more dangerous monsters would appear, so they had to be on their guard.
“Okay, let’s go.”
“Yes.”
After materializing the Extermination Blade and the Reflection Sword from space magic and carrying them, Reito and his companions left the resting spot and moved along the passage. They couldn’t leave until they found the teleportation crystal that existed somewhere on this floor.
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“Well then, let’s go. Please lead the way, Hanzo.”
“Understood! Places like this are where my skills as a ninja will be put to the test, that I’ll be really excited!”
“I’m counting on you.”
“By the way, Shizune, if you have been here before, don’t you remember the way?”
“This labyrinth changes at regular intervals. So even if you make a map while moving around, it’s meaningless once some time has passed.”
“Seriously…”
According to Shizune’s explanation, the fourth floor of the labyrinth has a complex structure, and the walls move at regular intervals, changing the passages. Furthermore, the number of monsters that appeared on the previous floors was limited to one type, but it seemed that there were several types on this floor.
“I asked yesterday, but can you tell me what kind of monsters appear here?”
“Well… goblins, orcs, kobolds, trolls, and poisonous insects live here. I’ve never encountered one, but some people have seen a minotaur.”
“Insects, huh…”
It seemed that there were insect-like monsters. Even though they’re insects, they’re human-sized, and they often have troublesome abilities. Most insects have a strong poison, so if you were poisoned, you could only deal with it with an antidote. Some healing magic could cure abnormal conditions, but unfortunately, none of Reito and the others could use it.
“Hmmmm! I heard something in my ears… and I also sensed three presences approaching from the front, that I do?”
“Are they coming fast?”
“Aren’t they adventurers?”
“Their speed is unusual, that it is…. here they come!!”