Manuke FPS Chapter 18

 Going back a little in time, one week before Schwarz promotion taking place, Ashley had come to the general guild in Mairal village.

「Schwarz Powder……?」

 Senior Remi, hearing the full name of Schwarz san, has an expression just like me like having heard it.

「Yes, inquiry by the office crest of the royal capital, as well as Kurt Merga kingdom, received  confirmation of noble lists from neighboring countries, but presently both royalty and titled nobility the Powder house doesn’t exist.」

「I see, he didn’t necessarily have fled from Baishuban empire……」

 Remi senior was surprised only a little that her own thought was above all off the point, so where from comes Schwarz san? Before thinking about that question, there’s a point that couldn’t be reported yet.

「Well maa, a bloodline skill because of 『Manuke』? However, we can leave him unattended as the general chief says that it can happen.」
Yet, with the investigation of the new labyrinth I discovered in the west of Mairal village, I can’t afford to leave here, for Ashley continuously close to Schwarz to see how things are, and when there’s something I ask to report it.

「Yes, I understand. But…… he is in no way a bad person, rather……」

「N? What, did you fall in love?」

 With a single word of senior Remi I opened my eyes wide, my face became exalted as if in fire, I felt oppressed as if my the inside of my chest tightened. However, I stared straight at senior Remi’s smirking and smiling face……

「It’s… it’s wrong! It’s not that sort of thing!」

「Fuu, for the sake of one unknown woman taken away into a goblin’s den, a man that isn’t an adventurer coming for help alone, I would end up falling in love in that case too.」

「B… but, the me now is a general guild investigator…… I’m an apprentice. I can’t receive a request as an adventurer and travel together…」

「Won’t Schwarz be handling the requests? And there’s the timing when you can go together.」

「Th… that’s……」

 I understood what senior Remi was trying to say, that day I prepared for the return to the fortified city Barga from Mairal village within the same day, to check the state of Schwarz san  at the general guild.

 The appointed day of the promotion test, when going to the main building of the general guild, Milimaria san and Ashley san were waiting.

「Good morning Schwarz san. Ashley san was appointed as today’s promotion test examiner. Please listen to the details of the test from her, with this excuse me since I have my normal duties.」

 Saying so, Milimaria san immediately went to the other side of the reception counter. When passing by Ashley san, my ear pads picked up her whispering “Do your best”, there’s something too for Ashley san with this test?

「Good morning Ashley san. My best regards today.」

「Good morning Schwarz san. As the examiner of the D rank promotion test today, please treat me well.」

 Test contents are amounting to run the first floor underground here, reach the second floor underground, and to return to the fortified city Barga.
Fight ability inside the labyrinth and survival ability, ability to gather information and so forth, are evaluated in more than one aspect, and tested whether or not there’s a problem as a labyrinth explorer.

 All my preparations are complete, Ashley san too says there’s no problem, we then promptly went toward the labyrinth. I’m asked by Ashley san “what you do for transportation?”, first riding on a tour carriage, I decided to go in front of the east forest.

「Schwarz san, did you prepare the map of the first floor underground of the Wolf’s Fang Labyrinth?」

「Yeah, at the Archives I ask if I could read the basic information of the labyrinth, yesterday I went and checked it. Even if I say it’s a map, is it all right with something of the level of a scribble?」

「The map of the Wolf’s Fang Labyrinth was drawn, yet how many years ago, also labyrinth’s map doesn’t change?」

 When an explorer sells to the general guild a labyrinth’s map he drew, also for an explorer that excelled in cartography, there were situations for requesting drawing up from the general guild. However, in both cases, basically because it’s drawn by the explorer’s sense within the labyrinth, it becomes distorted.
In this other world, still measurement technique doesn’t seem to truly make progress, surely didn’t also go for exploring the labyrinth as craftsperson, still it says explorers possessing measurement skill are also nothing but negligible.

 While exchanging idle chat inside the tour carriage, they carried out the check of presence or absence and so forth of goods, tools, provisions for the labyrinth exploration due to Ashley.

「Well I won’t fight in the labyrinth’s first floor underground. If I’m attacked I’ll deal with it, basically Schwarz san will go and deal with it by himself, is that all right?」

 Today’s Ashley was wearing a leather armor like when we met the first time, she’ll battle most likely when attacked, she was carrying a luggage bag that’s considered as tool bag, and hasn’t taken out arms. (TL: not sure if last two sentences are about her or him)

 In these three weeks, I accepted many requests, I was outstanding going in many places displaying different apparent small arms, powered suit and magazine belt. Hence, nowadays above my usual equipment, with a new customized avatar I configured, I was wearing a black napoleon long coat.
When I was playing VMB, yet I ignored this sort of image for fashion items that dress up an avatar that will collapse, in reality I also didn’t go out with combat uniform anywhere, on the other hand I was anxious going out without carrying weapons. Also luckily because I could remove and install one long coat easily when managing the TSS, I can take it off immediately in battle times.

「Of course. But I would like to hear one thing, way of fighting and ability of the adventurer observed in the test, to what extent it is recorded and is the information shared in the guild? I think my way of fighting is a type considerably different, and I don’t want to spread it too much.」

「Please be relieved there. Because the result of the test it entrusted by an examiner, what is observed during the test isn’t told to other guild members. Moreover, this D rank promotion test isn’t a test to drop, since it’s close to training, it doesn’t investigate too much deep.」

「Basically…… is it? I got it. I feel relieved.」

 Getting off the tour carriage, we go towards the entrance of the Wolf’s Fang Labyrinth walking on the highway. Situated in the middle of the east forest is the Wolf’s Fang Labyrinth, even if we get off the carriage tour, from there it’s even more necessary to walk not less than 30 minutes. With Ashley san, when advancing while having an idle chat not related with the test, at last the building managing the in and out of the labyrinth came into sight.

「The administrative building of the Wolf’s Fang Labyrinth has appeared. First we’ll carry out the exploration registration in there, don’t forget to buy there the white light grass seed.」

 Well the labyrinth administrative building can control the ins and outs of explorers, and can carry out sorting of exploration schedules and labyrinth information. There’s also rest areas and shops, selling restorative medicines and white light grass seeds. Taking the records of explorers who enter the labyrinth, from the number of explorers who passed away inside, it seems they can to some extent predict the periods magic beasts and sub races overflows from the labyrinth.

 Ashley san and I submit the exploration plan of the test at the administrative building, and receive the exploration approval to the labyrinth through the check of the guild card, and we stepped forward an artificially opened large hole in the ground in the middle of the forest.

Chapter end