The Labyrinth Raids of the Ultimate Tank

Chapter 21: Start of adventurer life

Translator: “Pink Tea” Editor: ”Ryunakama”

「My, what a surprise, I didn’t think that you guys would be this strong. Especially you.」

Having said that, the guardian donned a smile.

「Until now, no one was able to take so many of my attacks. You have quite an endurance.」

「That might be true, but it was thanks to everyone’s help that we defeated you.」

If they were too slow to attack, if my comrades didn’t believe in me, we wouldn’t be able to beat him.

「Anyway, you fulfilled my condition. I will give you this magic page. If you chant the spell written there, it might slightly cure the magic stone defect that that sister of yours has? Well, no matter what the wound, this magic page should be able to fix it.」

The guardian gave me the paper that he held in his hand.

The paper felt ancient.

It seemed that a bit of rough treatment could tear it right away…… But there was a mysterious power to it.

「What are you going to do now?」

He is a guardian and I’m an adventurer.

For the sake of this town’s growth, I don’t want to destroy this labyrinth.

The reason is unknown, but with the destruction of its guardian…… Which is supposed to be on the last floor, a labyrinth would disappear from the world.

The people that at the time were inside the labyrinth would be teleported to the vicinity of the area where the labyrinth was located.

If the labyrinth disappears, then the chance for the town to develop would disappear as well.

「If you let me go here, I’d be happy to live as a guardian a bit more.」

「Then…… There is no problem?」

I look at Nin and Lilia.

The church’s representative and the guild’s investigator.

Lilia tilted her head while Nin put her hand to the chin.

「……This is my first time encountering such a case. I remember hearing about a guardian that used the name of an old hero, but he turned into a monster…… And was consequently exterminated.」

「I think that if he will behave then there is no problem in leaving him alive.」

Though they are considered to be messengers of God, many guardians are monsters.

And there are plenty of people that don’t believe in the church’s teachings.

Some even say that labyrinths were made not by God, but by a devil.

In response, the church offers the following view.

God, despite being a god, might not be omnipotent. Is what they say.

Compensation is required to bring the dead back to life.

And part of it could be a complex layout of a labyrinth or monsters inside.

That could be still not enough to pay for the revival of the great heroes…… Which leads to them reviving as monsters.

The souls that failed to properly reviveーー Guardians, that turned into monsters, have to hunt the living.

……Most of the labyrinths are like that.

The two looked at me as if saying that they are leaving the final decision to me.

The guardian keeps rubbing his head on the ground.

「Shugor, what about the investigation?」

「It’s complete. For it, we only had to learn what kind of monsters appear on the floors up to the 10th and what kind of materials could be found here. Knowing that we are good.」

It’s possible to assign an approximate rank to a labyrinth from monsters that would appear up to this point.

……In that case.

「Can you make it so no monsters appear outside the labyrinth? There is a town near it, and it already suffered from the monsters wandering outside the labyrinth. I want you to get rid of that.」

「I see. If that’s all you want, then I’ll do it.」

I wasn’t sure if he could actually do that. Turns out, he can.

……With this, the town wouldn’t see any further damage.

For now, we won’t have to worry about this labyrinth.

「This concludes the investigation, right?」

「Yup.」

Lilia stretched and looked at Shugor.

He was carefully keeping records on this investigation. He then gave us a thumbs up.

We then begin our preparations for a return trip.

Before we noticed, the guardian disappeared, Nin held her head high.

「I thought it would turn more difficult, I’m glad that everything ended without problems.」

「……Yeah. And I’ve got a piece leading to Manicia’s recovery.」

This part made me a lot happier than the investigation of the labyrinth.

Stretching a bit, I see the twins approaching.

「There is only one thing we have to say.」

「Don’t forget the pie.」

「……I understand. Then, let’s go back.」

With the twins being that free I couldn’t help but make a half-smile. We then use the skill to leave the labyrinth.

〇

「H-Hey! Rude’s party came back!」

One of the militia members shouted and then ran up to us.

Then, grabbing my hand he sniffled a few times.

「Thank goodness! You are safe……! Everyone was so worried! After all, you went into the labyrinth where even the hero got defeated.」

「……I see. But we are fine. And…… We finished the investigation.」

I show him the results of the investigation, compiled by Shugor.

With a bit of obfuscation where it comes to the guardian. Were attacked, successfully fended him off. That’s pretty much it.

……Shugor is kind. He even didn’t mention the page of the magic tome that I received.

As I was told, the twins saw nothing as well.

「It’s a pain after all」they muttered, but I also pretended not to hear.

Since there is no telling how the guild would treat the guardian.

Looking at Shugor’s writings, the militiaman raised his voice.

「Rude came back, completing the investigation!」

「Luna-oneechan is also unharmed!」

「Phew. Your skills are quite formidable, well, for now, I guess, congratulations?」

「So he was pretty strong after all…… That is some amazing adventurer hiding in such a town.」

While some faces were familiar, there also were some unfamiliar adventurers.

Many people gathered at the entrance of the town, each voicing their thoughts.

Someone hit me on the head, shouting「Ain’t you pretty good」.

As soon as one of them showed such an attitude, others also joined with continuous attacks.

Telling them to stop, I with a smile brush off their hands, and walk through the town.

And arriving at the temporary tent, currently serving as a guild, we hand over the report to an employee there.

「……To think you would really do it.」

The man that took the report, adjusted his glasses, and looked over the report.

「Sorry. Twins, Shugor. I want to return home for now. Can I leave the rest to you?」

「Yes. Sure!」

「……Sorry.」

「No no. Please go to your sister, she must be worried.」

「……Thank you.」

「Then, I will report to the militia headquarters. 」

「……Thank you.」

Having said that, Nin waved her hand and left us.

Luna and I went towards the house.

Checking the page in my pocket, I breathe a sigh.

「That was lucky, Master.」

「……Yeah, truly so.」

Arriving home we saw a flustered Manicia coming out.

She jumped to embrace me, so I caught her.

I tightly squeeze her.

That alone brought me to the seventh heaven.

「Nii-san, are you injured?!」

「No, I’m fine. And…… I picked up a page of the magic tome inside the labyrinth.」

I pull out the paper that I put into my pocket.

Manicia’s eyes went wide upon seeing that.

「The magic tome…… You mean…… The one that you’ve been searching all this time……?」

「Yes. Collecting them should allow us to eventually fully cure you.」

「……Nii-san.」

「……Sorry. It might make you angry, but the biggest happiness for me is to make you able to move freely. So I will keep searching for the magic tome.」

Patting her on the head I tell her what I think.

Manicia tightly grabbed me.

「……Nii-san, you are an idiot. Were you alone, you could do what you really want.」

「This is what I want to do. Sorry for being such a stupid brother. But…… From now on I will also consider what to do after you are cured.」

Manicia hit me on the chest.

「Manicia-sama, I think Master…… Truly treasures you. That’s whyー」

「Luna-san. We caused you a lot of trouble as well. ……I know. I know my brother better than anyone.」

Making a sigh, I gently brush Manicia on the head.

「Anyway. I will keep raiding labyrinths. ……It’s a lot of fun after all. Fighting monsters.」

It’s not like I’m lying, and I also want to put Manicia at ease.

Manicia closed her mouth and slowly nodded.

Then, I read to her the page that I had in my hand.

Then, the letters shone up.

And leaving my hand, the page flew towards Manicia.

「…What is going on?」

The page went inside her, and for a moment, Manicia swayed.

Manicia opened her eyes wide.

「A-Are you okay?」

「Y-yes. I’m fine. ……I feel like my body is lighter than before.」

Having said that, she then jumped in place.

Not once, but five times.

Then, she coughed.

……But even so, she managed to jump five times.

「Manicia…… You feel better…?」

「Y-yes. ……Only a bit. ……Only a bit…… But a bit of a movement is fine now.」

「……Manicia!」

I hug her with all my strength.

Though she says that it hurts…… I keep holding her anyway.

Thank goodness.

Doing this wasn’t a mistake.

From now on, I will keep exploring labyrinths as an adventurer.

Surely someday, I should be able to completely cure Manicia.

〇

Two weeks passed since then.

The traffic became a lot of livelier.

The militia turned even busier, and I was doing nothing but assisting them. I won’t be able to leave the town for a while.

Today, I dropped by the guild, since they invited me.

There, we saw a familiar face. Nin, who came with me, frowned.

「Isn’t that Kygras……」

「He looks very angry.」

With the guild’s employee turning to us, Kygras also noticed our presence.

「Rude……! You little, how the hell did you beat that damn guardian?!」

Looks like his wounds weren’t fully healed, but he recovered enough to walk around.

「Rude! ーcough coughー Hey! You damn! How did you……」

He grabbed me by the collar.

「All I did was protect others.」

「……Protect, you said?」

「Yeah…… After parting ways with you I understood the effects of my skills. ……My skills allow me to take over damage dealt to others.」

When I said that, Kygras’ grip on my collar weakened.

……Then, he bit his lip.

「The hell, is that…… ……… Then…… I……」

He kicked the ground with an annoyed look, and without saying anything, walked away.

……That’s a bit unexpected.

After seeing him walk off, I go to the guild staff.

「We’ve been awaiting you, Rude-sama. A letter has arrived from the guild’s headquarters, so I will give it to you. 」

A letter? For what reason?

I look through the letter given to me.

The contents were about promotion.

「What is this?」

「Oh my, rank up? Good for you.」

Leaned over Nin, who stood nearby.

Rank up?

Reading it from the beginning to the end, it looks like they are going to raise my rank.

Promotion from F to D. ……In one go.

「Well, if they want to raise it, then I’m not complaining.」

「Understood. Then, please present your guild card.」

I gave her the guild card and after a short exchange, the woman returned it to me.

The number of magic stone fragments on the card increased to three.

The number of fragments equals rank. Starting with one at F, the number increases by one for every rank.

Since we were done here I was about to leave, but then, Nin asked the receptionist.

「Why was Kygras so mad?」

「Ehm…… Due to repeated failures, Kygras-sama was demoted from S rank to B rank. That seems to have angered him.」

「Ah, I see. ……Isn’t that great? He certainly wasn’t S rank, and if he actually has the ability, he can climb back.」

Yes. Kygras is still young.

He should have plenty of chances to climb to S rank.

As I looked in the direction where he went, Nin grasped my hand.

「Then, Rude. Let’s go back to patrolling.」

「…Yeah. Tell me if something happens. I will help to the best of my ability.」

「Yes. Thank you very much. Hearing such words from Rude-san is very reassuring.」

The receptionist replied with a smile, after which we left the guild.