Author's Note
Will Jin accept the duel?
The hint is that the author has spread the story over multiple weeks.
My philosophy had been to steer clear of displeasing events and immerse myself in those that seemed fun. A duel event can go either way. ...Which event is this?
While I was at a loss for how to respond, Cougar held up two fingers and continued speaking.
"There are two reasons. The first is that I simply want to test my strength against you. If you're Claude's master, then you must have the skills to match. Your adventurer rank is low, but there are apparently some strong adventurers who stop at C-rank, so it's not that strange," Cougar explained.
Certainly, there was a term called "C-rank limit". Apparently, it was done by people who disregard the responsibilities that came with being a B-rank or higher adventurer. That would be me.
"As a strong man I've never met before, it's only natural that I'd want to face him, right?" Cougar declared.
"No, I don't know how that feels," I replied.
"That's a pity," Cougar said, not seeming too disappointed. If there was a reason, it would be a different story, but generally, I was not the kind of battle maniac who would go into a pointless fight. At the very least, "Because the opponent looks strong" would not be a reason for me to fight. However, what bothered me was that "Because it looks fun."
"And now for the second reason. I want to defeat you and show Lucia-san what I can do," Cougar explained further.
"I don't quite understand what you're saying, though?" I commented.
For some reason, the topic of Lucia suddenly came up. Lucia was not currently active as an adventurer, but she did work with Claude and his party for a while, so perhaps it was something to do with that connection?
"First, let me confirm. You are the master of Lucia-san, right? There's a high chance that you'll come up if I talk to Lucia-san," Cougar declared.
Lucia, aren't you much different outside...? That being said, Lucia and I almost never left the mansion, so I was curious as to how Cougar came to that conclusion.
"What makes you think I'm Lucia's master?" I asked him.
"From what Claude and his comrades said, I speculated that Lucia-san's master might be the same person as Claude's mentor. I had no proof, but judging from your reaction I guess I wasn't wrong, right?" Cougar said to me.
Perhaps, Claude had accidentally let it slip. When I looked at Claude, he had his head drooping and looked as if he had given up on living. His friends tried to comfort him. ...No, we don't mean to do anything cruel to you.
Now, how should I answer Cougar...?
Since I hadn't been asked to say anything for sure, I could insist that I was not Lucia's master, but the truth was that it was not something that warrants a lie. In fact, just as he had an outward relationship with Claude and his party, he also had an outward relationship with Lucia. The real relationship between me and Lucia was that of "master and slave," but our public positions were that of "employer and maid." This wasn't entirely wrong and it was probably best to use this term.
"Yes, I am Lucia's master. I am the employer who employs Lucia as a maid," I told him.
"I thought so. She didn’t tell me much about her master, so I didn’t know what she meant, but you're her employer as I thought. I didn’t think she was a slave, but…," Cougar replied.
Too bad! She was actually a slave!
"First of all, I'm in love with Lucia-san. I've confessed to her a few times already, but she keeps saying that she's devoting everything her master, and I've lost every time," Cougar added.
It seemed that Cougar was in love with Lucia. Well, Lucia is beautiful, so isn't it not surprising that people fall in love with her?
"There were some rumors about Claude's mentor that said he was already dead, so I was a little worried. If he was deceased, there was nothing I could do. But if his master was a living person, it would be different story. I still had a good chance," Cougar said that, then he pointed at me and declared, "I will duel you and win to show Lucia-san my strength! I will make Lucia-san see that I am stronger than her master, to whom she's devoting everything to!" I could see the strong determination in his eyes.
"This is an impossible assumption, but even if this man were to defeat you, Jin-sama, I don't think Lucia-san would have any sympathy for someone who had hurt...," Maria commented via telepathy. However, her comments told me that Cougar's resolve was futile.
Although it felt like I was spinning my wheels, I understood what Cougar was saying. There was no reason for me to be unpleasant, so I might as well accept the duel.
"Maria, I think I'll accept this duel depending on the conditions," I said to Maria using telepathy.
"Are you sure? S-rank adventurers are treated the same as nobles. Doesn't this fall under the category of "trouble related to nobles" that you dislike, Jin-sama?" Maria asked me as to confirm.
I see. Now that you mention it, it could be seen as trouble between nobles. However, he had never used violent methods like using his authority to forcefully challenge others to a duel and I had no aversion to him like I did to arrogant nobles.
"It's not that I simply dislike nobles, I just don't like their arrogance. If they weren't arrogant, I would be happy to accept them," I replied.
"I understand. I don't think there will be any problems, but please be careful," Maria gave me her approval.
Maria must have also checked Cougar's status and decided that he was no match for me.
Now, the next thing to check was each player's bets. Unless this was decided, I could not accept the duel.
"Assuming we're willing to give you the go ahead and duel, what are you planning to bet on it?" I asked Cougar.
"A bet, huh...? My goal is to fight a strong opponent, and if I win, I'll be able to show off to Lucia-san, so I don't want anything else, but that would mean you'd be the one losing out," Cougar replied, then he groaned thoughtfully, "Hmm."
"I’d like to say it’s simply ‘money’, but if you're not taking requests to the point that your adventurer qualifications have been frozen, then you're either in deep financial difficulty or so wealthy that you don’t need to take requests… I think it’s probably the latter, right?" Cougar tried to confirm.
"Oh, I'm not particularly worried," I replied.
Although I didn't take requests, I was increasing my personal assets by selling the things I obtained to the Chamber of Advanced Commerce. Recently, my pockets had been filled with the gems I dig up at the Gnome's Cave. Well, to put it in extreme terms, the Chamber of Advanced Commerce itself was like an asset to me, but there was something a little pathetic about calling the earnings of a trading company that I didn't even run myself.
"Ah, Cougar-san. Jin-sama has a hobby of collecting magic items. I don't think there's any problem with that thing you got the other day," Claude gave him a suggestion.
"I see……," Cougar replied.
At this point, Claude, who had been watching the situation, came to the rescue. Although I was not that enthusiastic about it, it was true that collecting magic items was my hobby. In a way, there had been a lot of things that gave me a playful feeling.
Seeing that I was interested, Cougar seemed to realize that it might be effective, but he immediately looked bitter.
"Ah, that's it... I'm sure that would be enough to cover the bet, but after all the effort I put into getting it...," Cougar said reluctantly.
Apparently, the magic item in question was something that even Cougar would be reluctant to bet on it.
Excuse me for a second.
Bell of Truth
Note: A sound will be emitted if a lie is detected.
"When magic items become a stake, we will no longer have a sufficient amount to bet. As a substitute, let's add the right to join the party that Lucia will be in," I said to him.
"Okay, I'm in! My bet is on this magic item. If you tell a lie in front of this bell, it will ring," Cougar replied.
"Cougar-san……," Claude muttered.
The magic items looked quite interesting, so I decided to raise the stakes a little and was able to catch quite a few fish. The effects of this magic item can be substituted with skills, so it's not essential.
"Well then, let's begin the duel right away," I asked him.
"Wait! There's no point if you don't call Lucia-san—," Cougar interjected.
"My Lord, sorry to have kept you waiting," Lucia entered the Adventurers' Guild just as Cougar was about to intervene.
"Huh!?" Cougar was surprised.
As soon as it became necessary to call Lucia, I'm sure she would be called, right?
Cougar looked like he wanted to ask something, but we ignored him and headed to the guild training grounds.
The training ground we arrived at was the kind of place you would expect from a guild in the royal capital, and it seemed to be quite well-equipped. We split up into two groups and began preparations at either end of the training ground.
"I expected it, but there are a lot of spectators," I commented.
"It's a battle between an A-rank adventurer's mentor and an S-rank adventurer, so it's no wonder it's attracting attention. But more than that, I'm sorry. It seems I've said a lot of unnecessary things...," Claude explained.
Claude, who had followed me, looked apologetic. Almost everyone who was near the entrance to the Adventurers' Guild earlier had now accompanied me to the training grounds.
"Don't worry about it. Things have changed since I first picked you up. There's no need to keep our relationship a secret anymore," I said to Claude.
At that time, I was working towards concealing my true identity because I was tired of getting embroiled in unnecessary trouble related to Eldia and the Heroes (especially Orihara). Now that the annoying Eldia was gone, I had the power to easily defeat the Heroes. I didn't want to stand out unnecessarily, but I didn't feel the need to hide my true identity.
"I'm relieved if you say that...," Claude muttered.
"I'm glad, Claude. Jin-sama forgave you," Lucia added.
"Yeah," Claude seemed relieved.
Coco and the rest were concerned about Claude. ...Do people think I'm that scary?
[Roughly speaking, I would say 60% respect and 40% awe.] (Alta)
What's that information...? Well, when I first enslaved them, she even used the compound skill ‹Fear› to intimidate them and thoroughly drilled into them the hierarchical relationship, so it was not surprising they still felt a sense of fear.
I grabbed my training weapon—a one-handed sword—and headed to the center of the training ground. Training weapons were magical items that felt just like normal weapons but had the special property of not causing any damage to the opponent. It would be no joke if an S-rank adventurer were to engage in a serious duel without insurance.
"Are you ready? This is your first time using that weapon, right?" Cougar asked me.
"Yeah. No problem," I replied.
I gave it a light shake and there was no problem. Currently I only used [Heroic Soul Blade - Unfinished], but in the beginning I used the Goblin Sword, so it was not like I couldn't use a one-handed sword.
"So, are you both ready?" the referee, or rather the witness, was to be Claude. For the time being, he was someone close to me, but Cougar was convinced that he wouldn't show any stupid favoritism. In fact, if he did, I would never forgive him...
"Yeah," Cougar confirmed.
"No problem," I confirmed too.
We faced each other and held our weapons. Cougar's weapon was a fairly large greatsword, which he handled with ease.
"Well then, let's begin!" Claude declared.
"Haaa!!!" Cougar screamed and charged towards me.
The moment Claude declared the start, Cougar kicked the ground and came charging in with a horizontal slash of his great sword. The speed, trajectory, and power of the sword all showed that it was a refined slash that had been slashed with years of training.
I aimed my sword at the oncoming great sword and swung it in a direction that would match Cougar's. Our swords clashed in front of us, making a high-pitched noise.
—Clank!—
"Whaaat?!" Cougar was surprised.
Unable to withstand the impact of the swords clashing, Cougar's greatsword was blown away. Without even seeing the outcome of Cougar's greatsword, I aimed the second blow at Cougar's stomach.
"Game over," I declared.
"Game over! The winner is Jin-sama!" Claude declared the winner.
The match ends with Claude's declaration. I ended it quite quickly, but there was a reason for this.
"Hah, I never thought I would lose in a simple test of strength. No, just looking at your sword technique I can see that you are at least as strong as me…," Cougar sat down in the training ground and humbly admitted his defeat.
It was fine to stand out to a certain extent, but I didn't intend to reveal my cards too much. So, I decided not to use any unnecessary skills and to win using only my physical strength and sword skills.
"Your slash was pretty good too," I praised him.
It was satisfying to watch a fighting style that focuses purely on slashing attacks, without any unnecessary tricks. When I saw Cougar's slash, I intuitively knew he was putting all his power into the first strike. So, I thought I had to counter that one blow and focused on landing the first blow (although technically it was the second blow that was the effective hit).
"It's good to hear you say that... As expected of Claude's mentor. Your fighting style seems quite different from Claude's," Cougar commented.
"Well, I have other cards in hand," I replied.
"I see. Tsk, so I wasn't able to bring out your full power," Cougar said with a frustrated look on his face. Despite that, there was no negative emotion in his eyes. …I wouldn’t mind a fight like this, if it was a fair fight with an opponent. It was a shame there weren’t many of them.
"Oh come on. S-rank Cougar lost."
"You've got to be kidding me! Even if he says he's only just become S-rank, his skills are the real deal!"
"And on top of that, he took down Cougar, who has the nickname One-slash-man[1]. That's no easy feat."
"So, the adventurer he's facing must be S-rank or above."
By the way, the surrounding spectators were starting to get noisy. Also, Cougar's nickname was One-slash-man. That sounded like him.
"I don't like making too much noise, so I'll be heading home soon," I said to him.
"I’d like to hear more, but… I guess there’s no other way. Look, this is what I promised," saying that, Cougar tossed me the magic item that was the bet.
"Sorry," I apologized.
"Don't worry about it. I was the one who rode it," Cougar replied, and then muttered, "...Hmm, the road to Lucia-san is long."
I left the training ground, leaving Cougar there laughing self-deprecatingly. I should add that to avoid unnecessary involvement, I had the Claude's party act as human shields. Those that managed to slip through were made prey to ‹Fear›. Come on, you're a grown adult, so don't leak this in public.
That night, a report came from Claude's group.
"I'm thinking of moving my base of operations to Estia Kingdom in order to gain the necessary recommendations for S-rank," Claude reported.
"It's relatively close to Kastal, and it's a country that has deep ties to Jin-sama," Yulia added.
"There aren't many adventurers in that country, so I thought it wouldn't be difficult to get a recommendation," Coco added more.
Yulia, a high elf; and Coco, a dog-human; added additional details to Claude's report. These three people had strong leadership skills among the adventurers and often reported on their behalf.
"Indeed, Estia is chronically short of adventurers, so this would be a good opportunity for Claude's party to get an S-rank recommendation," I said to them.
As an aside, the number of adventurers had increased since we first went to Estia. Of course, they were maids. Since Estia was the land I effectively managed, I had the maids under my command deal with any major problems that could have an adverse effect on the area. Since it would be a problem if adventurers were thought to be working for free, the Chamber of Advanced Commerce was the client. Normally, this was not a problem that the Chamber of Advanced Commerce should be dealing with, but this was considered part of their charitable activities.
The Chamber of Advanced Commerce would gain a reputation for charity work and maid adventurers would gain a reputation for completing requests. The Adventurers' Guild would make money through the middleman's margin. Also, the local residents would be kept safe. This was a perfect win-win relationship. Also known as match pump.
"I have some connections in Estia so there shouldn't be any problems. I also have a mansion in the capital, so do you want to stay there?" I asked them.
"Yes please!" All the members, eight of them, replied simultaneously.
Due to Claude's and his party members' fervent wish, they would be staying in my mansion while in the capital. For now, this would be until they could establish a separate base, but...
By the way, my connections referred to royalty (Cattleya) and the female knight (Elincia). In most cases, having connections close to the top of a country would not hurt, but it should be noted that it did increase the chances of getting into trouble.
"For now, let's call everyone involved with Estia," I declared.
I used telepathy to summon the people working at Estia.
"Did you call me? Munch munch...," Cattleya replied while munching food.
Cattleya came in first from the dining room. Are you at the Kastal mansion? Apparently, she was having a late dinner. She came here for almost every meal.
"We have come —nodesu!" Cynthia exclaimed.
"Excuse me," Karen and Sora greeted simultaneously, following Cynthia.
"Excuse me," Kate greeted using telepathy.
A little later, the Estia adventurer group consisting of Cynthia, Karen, Sora, and Kate were also teleported. In addition, several people from the Chamber of Advanced Commerce Estia Kingdom branch also came. I left the calling to Lucia.
"Have everyone involved with Estia been called now?" I asked.
In terms of people who were active in Estia, there was also a musical band that includes a musician (Feuille) and a Vampire (Mira), but there would be no reason to invite them to this gathering. For the record, the Crimson Empire Princess (Rouge) and her companions were also active in the labyrinth, though...but I didn't really care.
"Claude's party are moving to Estia Kingdom to achieve S-rank. We need your help," I asked Cynthia and her party members.
"So, what should we do —nodesu?" Cynthia replied.
"I'm sure you, Cynthia and your party, are also qualified as adventurers, right?" I said to them.
"Yes, everyone is. We only need to maintain our qualifications by doing collection requests though…," Kate replied.
In response to my question, Kate looked apologetic, but I felt the same way so I couldn't say anything. In fact, I had been recently frozen for failing to maintain my qualifications...
"I'm thinking of having Cynthia's group join Claude's group," I told them.
"I understand —nodesu," Cynthia replied.
"Yes," Karen and Sora replied simultaneously.
"Understood," Kate replied using telepathy.
"Well, what does that mean?" Claude asked.
The four of them nodded without hesitation, but Claude and his companions didn't seem to understand what it meant.
"Cynthia and her group recently broke through the 40th floor of the labyrinth. At the same time, they made the floor they reached public within Estia Kingdom and have become the most famous explorers ever," I explained.
"We are —nanodesu!" Cynthia exclaimed.
When I was sent to another world by Orihara, it seemed they fought a great deal in the labyrinth in order to secure my status. As a result, apart from the amount donated to me, a considerable amount of status was returned to the individuals involved. With my status now in check, they were able to speed up their dungeon exploration a little and eventually defeat the boss of the 40th floor, the Grim Reaper. Since Cynthia was a Hero, she was good at light-element attacks and apparently managed to defeat the boss without any trouble.
And by announcing to the world their great achievement of reaching the 40th floor, Cynthia and her party had instantly become some of the biggest celebrities in the Estia Kingdom. Apparently, they were summoned to the royal household and received words of praise directly from the king. The king's daughter was eating rice balls next to Cynthia though...
It didn't really matter, but the four of them were doing their explorer activities in maid outfits. They had been nicknamed "Battle Maids."
"It matches Master —nodesu!" saying this, Cynthia waved her pitch-black cloak. It was the well-known Wings of The Immortal. It was a bonus for first-time defeat of the Grim Reaper and I had been using it too. I was the one who first defeated the Grim Reaper, and since I became Dungeon Master, I decided it would be best to bring back the first-time defeat bonus. Well, it was my subordinate (Cynthia) who obtained it, so this also had a bit of a match-pump feel to it. Also, the black cape didn't go well with the maid outfit. Cynthia didn't seem to mind though...
"If Cynthia's group were to join Claude's group, it would be an unparalleled advertising effect. Both Claude's group and Cynthia's group were already famous. Wouldn't it be better to put this fame to good use? It would probably be a shortcut to achieving S-rank," I added further explanation.
Being famous also meant more hassle. However, if it meant becoming S-rank, it would be effective.
"I'd like to ask Cattleya or the Chamber of Advanced Commerce to help with any troubles that may arise from becoming famous. Another option would be to request their direct name. If we can show that we are on friendly terms with the royal family and the large trading companies, it should be easier to get an S-rank recommendation, right?" I added.
"Have you really thought that far into it...?" Claude looked surprised. This was why we called people from Cattleya and the Chamber of Advanced Commerce.
"I understand. If it's for the sake of you, Claude and Jin-sama, then I'll be more than happy to help," Cattleya replied.
"Yes, the Chamber of Advanced Commerce will also fully support you."
Cattleya and a representative from the Chamber of Advanced Commerce also nodded.
"Jin-sama, why are you suddenly helping us out? Up until now, I thought you had a policy of not providing direct help...," Claude wondered.
It's true, up until now I have rarely lent a hand to Claude's group in their adventuring activities. That was because I didn't want to interfere with what Claude and his group had built up. It was by no means a laissez-faire approach either. Not at all.
To begin with, being able to benefit from my Special Abilities could be said to be the greatest help.
"Claude, you and your party members have become A-rank adventurers and have already received two recommendations for S-rank adventurers. It's only a matter of time before you get your third, right? If that's the case, there shouldn't be any problem with speeding things up. It's not just about giving it to someone who hasn't done anything, it's just a matter of whether it's sooner or later," I explained.
It would be just that for those with sufficient ability and achievements, it would make the process a little quicker. It was not something you could really call aid. If Claude and his group had wanted to do it, they would have all willingly agreed even if they had asked directly.
"...I understand. We will do my best to meet your expectations, Jin-sama," Claude replied.
"Don't worry too much. I know you should try hard, but I'm not telling you to push yourself too hard," I said to them.
I suddenly remembered something, so I asked Claude, "By the way, how do you plan on getting to Estia?"
"Of course, we were planning on using a carriage—," Claude replied.
"This is taking too long... All right, let's get on the Dragonnewtss," I suggested.
"Huuh!?" Claude was surprised.
Although Kastal and Estia were relatively close, it would still take nearly two weeks to get there. For those like me who were travelling for my own sake, it would one thing, but for others, spending two weeks travelling would be a huge burden. It would only take an instant if I used Portal, but then I would lose my alibi. Thus, it was time for the Dragonnewt Transport to step in. It was also time for the mysterious masked knight Jean to step in.
Of course, I couldn't send the Dragonnewtss flying across the border, but I intended to at least take them to the border with Estia, the border I once passed through. From there, the town of Lylia was close, and if I wanted to, I could take a shortcut using the phase transition stone. ...I could create an alibi and use Portal.
However, Claude shook his head at my suggestion.
"We can't rely on you that much, Jin-sama. We're used to traveling by carriage, so we don't need your concern, okay?" Claude said.
"Hmm, even if you say that, it's clearly a waste of time... That's right, I'll give you a wyvern as a gift to help you get around," I replied.
The wyverns given to the Kastal Knights were said to be highly valued even after the war with Eldia. Wyverns themselves did not have high combat abilities (as set), but because they had high mobility, they were often deployed to various locations as a fighting force in emergencies. In addition, depending on the opponent, being able to attack unilaterally from the air had proved to be a strong point. Since Sakuya was the queen, she wouldn't go crazy and use it for invasion.
And since I gave them to Sakuya, there would be no problem giving them to my subordinates.
"Once you reach S-rank, your range of movement will be wider than ever before. Having a convenient pair of legs won't be a problem. I don't think there'll be any problem if we give each of you one as a gift," I told them.
Although Claude and his companions form a party, that didn't mean they didn't do any solo activities at all. Therefore, it was probably necessary for each person to have at least one wyvern.
"That's... I do think it would be convenient to have one, but...," Claude said.
"I can't send it from me, so I'll send it in Jean's name. I can say that Jean and I are friends, and send the Wyverns through that connection, so there shouldn't be any problem," I explained.
"Oh, so it's already been decided that you'll give it to me, isn't it?" Claude asked.
"Yeah, that's decided," I replied.
To be honest, there had been one thing had concerned me.
Today, it had been announced that I was the mentor of Claude and his party members. On top of that, if it were to say that I was friend with Jean, there would be a higher chance that people would find out that I was the same person as Jean. After all, the alias hadn’t exactly held up. Of course, even if it was discovered, it wouldn't cause any major problems... After all, to the higher-ups of this country (Kastal), the relationship between me and Jean was an open secret.
Small fry who didn't know the details wouldn't be bothered, and those who did know the details would keep quiet. See? There was no room for problems, right?
"Well, think of it as a kind of pre-celebration for your rank-up to S-rank. It may be a bit premature, but I guarantee that you guys currently have the ability to become S-rank," I told them.
Having defeated two S-rank adventurers—Sebastian and Cougar—and having seen many S-rank adventurers during the turmoil caused by the demons (Romarie), I could give them my stamp of approval. To be honest, there were probably not even 10% of S-rank adventurers who could defeat the current Claude's group.
"If Jin-sama is so generous in offering this, I will be grateful. I will definitely live up to Jin-sama's expectations and become an S-rank adventurer," Claude said.
"Yes, I am looking forward to it, Claude, Knott, Adelle, Coco, Roro, Sicily, Iris, and Yulia," I replied.
"Yes!" the eight of them exclaimed simultaneously.
Claude and his party members, eight of them, replied loudly and returned to their base (Clan house).
"Cynthia also wants a wyvern —nodesu," Cynthia who had remained behind, muttered after Claude's group had left.
"Cynthia-chan, you're so bold, aren't you?" Karen commented.
"Cynthia-chan, you have no hesitation, aren't you?" Sora added.
"I don't think we need a wyvern since we're operating in the labyrinth, but...," Kate added using telepathy.
It was possible to take tamed monsters into the labyrinth, but since it required extra phase transition stones, it was not common to hear of monster tamers venturing into the labyrinth. In the first place, the actions of flying monsters would be restricted and they couldn't fight properly... Oh, but on the 40th floor, they could also fly, so there would be opportunities to use them, but it would be far away.
"Now that you mention it, that's true —nodesu. It's a shame —nodesu...," Cynthia said with her shoulders slumped.
"Jin-sama, would it be possible to equip Estia Kingdom with wyverns? I heard about it from Sakuya-chan, and I was envious," Cattleya who had also stayed behind, spoke while ignoring Cynthia.
Was Sakuya boasting about her country's military power to the royal family of a neighboring country?
[Cattleya also leaks quite a lot of state secrets.] (Alta)
Is that really okay for a royal family of a great nation?
"I'm not saying it's wrong, but there's no justification for it. After all, Jean is a Kastal Knight, so it's unlikely he'll be able to come up with an excuse to give a wyvern to a neighboring country," I explained.
"That's true... I can't really think of anything right away," Cattleya replied.
"If you can think of a good excuse, let me know. The number of wyverns I'll give you will depend on it, so keep that in mind, okay?" I gave her some hopes.
"!? But I'll do my best!" Cattleya exclaimed.
The maximum score would be 100 points, and for each point obtained, one wyvern would be given. Anything below 50 points would be rejected.
"When you clear the 50th floor of the labyrinth, I'll give all of you a Wyvern and other gifts as a celebration, so do your best," I told Cynthia and her party members.
"I'll do my best —nodesu!" Cynthia exclaimed.
"I will do my best!" Karen and Sora both exclaimed simultaneously.
"Even if it costs me my life," Kate gave a different answer telepathically.
"Kate-chan, that's heavy —nodesu!" Cynthia commented on Kate's remark.
Kate was the only one to give a different answer, and Cynthia commented on it. It had simply been bothersome to have something exchanged for one's life.
Author's Note
Jin likes people who are honest and work hard.
Although he himself doesn't really have a very upstanding personality...
I'll post one short story related to the Graymen by next time. Probably.
Translation Note
[1] 一刀両断 (Ittouryoudan) has literal translation "A clean cut with a single blow." Not sure what the author's original intention is, but I'll use One-slash-man for now.
I will be trying a new style this month for this series. Please let me know what you think.
Also, should I keep —nodesu and its kind (—noja, —gozaru, etc.) when a character ends their dialogue with them? Those endings are supposed to give a different impression of a character but it's quite hard to convey them in English. Is there a better alternative for that? Please let me know too.