I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 113

Even if Damian gets his 2nd job advancement and learns his 2nd skill, he’s fundamentally an N-rank healer, so he won’t learn anything amazing. His passive is a basic heal, his 1st skill is a detoxification skill… so his 2nd skill will probably be some kind of status ailment removal. But I don’t know anything about my 2nd skill. No hints either. ‘That’s why it’s a variable.’ My current job, ‘Commander,’ has a somewhat difficult skill composition. My passive is area-of-effect mental status abnormality prevention. My 1st skill is area-of-effect mind control. It’s like there’s a connection, but not really, a state that’s almost visible but not quite. ‘I’m only getting skills related to the mind…’ My 2nd skill will probably be something related to that too. ‘I wonder if they’ll give me something like mental destruction…?’ Like, completely shattering the enemy’s mentality. Or maybe something that just makes their heads go pop! I wonder if they’ll give me at least one awesome attack skill. While I was indulging in wishful thinking, I suddenly snapped back to reality. No, there’s no point in having these imagination shows. My 2nd skill could be something completely unexpected. I wouldn’t be surprised if I suddenly got a skill like ‘Gather all your strength for a physical attack.’ It’s a job with no information. ‘Anyway, one thing is certain.’ For the Selendion raid, we need to secure as many variables as possible. And for that, leveling up me and Damian is recommended. Especially since I need to level up 11 more levels, I’m going to hog some experience. ‘It seems like the conditions are met.’ I smacked my lips. ‘Should I really go for a level boost?’ *** So, a little after noon on the same day. Damian and Junior were summoned to the mansion. They were told in advance when they were called, so they knew this was a free exploration expedition. “Huff, huff! I’m here…!” Damian arrived, sweating profusely. I wondered why, but he was carrying all six magic rifles on his back……. ‘I gave the kid too much to carry.’ Literally. I carelessly gave him six physically heavy weapons without thinking. Sorry. ‘Should I assign a dedicated carrier? What should I do?’ He should be focusing on sniping. It’s already bad enough that he’s handling these heavy weapons, but to make him carry them all around, too. I was thinking about what to do when Damian smiled brightly. “It’s okay, it’s good for physical training!” No, don’t smile like an angel. It makes me feel like a bad guy. “If I keep carrying magic rifles like this, maybe someday I’ll get muscles like Sir Lukas! And get taller too!” “……” Then, Lukas, who was listening from the side, wore a benevolent smile. It felt like a gym newbie who just started working out saying ‘My goal is to bench 500!’ and a gym bro thinking ‘You’ll never make it, you noob’… but it’s probably just my imagination? Right, Lukas? Huh? “Ahem! Damian. For this expedition, let’s only take one or two magic rifles. And use the crossbow as your main weapon.” Damian’s eyes widened at my words. “Crossbow?” “Yeah. I made a few quivers of silver arrows.” Magic rifles have high damage, but the additional damage from silver arrows will be quite effective against the bloodkin. I’ll test which one is more effective against the bloodkin, magic rifles or silver arrows. If it seems good, I’m thinking of making a new crossbow for him. I handed Damian the N-rank crossbow I had taken out of the warehouse beforehand. It’s the one Damian used to use. Plus, three quivers of silver arrows. But this is almost the same weight as a few magic rifles…? “Okay! Um… then which magic rifle should I take…?” Damian laid out the six magic rifles on the floor and started to think about which one to take. “Take the Black Queen for now. You’ll need it.” “Ah, yes!” Anyway, Damian has a lot of equipment. If it gets too heavy later, I’ll have Lukas carry it for him. Bang! Then, the door to the reception room opened, and this time Junior appeared. “Oh, it seems I’m the last one.” Junior greeted the party members with a gentle smile and drooping eyes. Then, he made eye contact with me, and suddenly made a determined expression. “I! AM! HEAL! THY!” He shouted. I reluctantly accepted it. “Uh… well, yeah… you look healthy…” “Hehe, I really am. I’ve been focusing on resting for the past few days, and I’ve only been eating nutritious food.” Junior confidently patted his stomach. It was slightly more swollen than usual, so it seems he had a hearty meal. “This time, I really won’t worry you and show you a healthy and strong side!” He spoke hastily and seemed to have tripped over his tongue. Junior bit his tongue, and blood splattered everywhere. “……” I watched this scene in horror. What are you doing, that’s scary… “Cough, cough.” Junior, who looked like he was coughing up blood, looked around at the attention focused on him and muttered, wiping his mouth. “I-it’s a joke…” “U-uh… okay…” I’m too tired to argue. Let’s just say it’s a joke… “I’ll cast a healing spell for you. Stick out your tongue, Juju.” “Thank you, sniper… healer… um, Damian.” While Junior stuck out his tongue and Damian healed his wound, I started briefing about this free exploration. “First of all, this exploration is scheduled for one night and two days.” At my words, the two knights who were packing their bags, and the sniper and mage who were being treated, all widened their eyes. Why, what’s wrong? “If the route gets twisted, we’re even thinking of two nights and three days. We’re going to go a bit far.” Then, Lukas suddenly jumped up from his seat. What, why are you doing that?! “I’ll go get a razor.” “Huh?” “As a knight of the royal family, my beard must always be neat. I have to shave once a day.” Then he ran to his room in a hurry. No, did you even have a beard? I thought you didn’t grow one because you were always so smooth. Was it actually extreme self-management? “Sniff, sniff.” Evangeline was sniffing every corner of her body. What are you doing? “I’m thinking about when I took a shower. I think I did it before going to bed yesterday.” “Then it’s okay, isn’t it?” “I trained this morning! Ugh, I think I smell a bit sweaty…” There will be a stronger smell of monster blood there anyway, you girl. Evangeline carefully smelled her armpit, then frowned and screamed. “Ew! I’m going to go wash up!” “……” I don’t know whether to say she’s acting like a teenager or that she’s thrown away her dignity as the successor to the Margrave. I carefully scolded Evangeline. “Don’t do that in front of others.” “Huh? Why? There’s nothing to be ashamed of.” “No, because it hurts other people’s feelings.” My mentality almost cracked. I think I held on thanks to my passive skill. Anyway, don’t do that again. Do it alone in a corner. “Um, Your Highness…” Damian was fidgeting. What’s wrong with you? “Actually, I have a pet at the temple…” “Really? What do you have?” “A hamster. Its name is Podong.” So you were secretly doing something cute again. “And?” “If I’m away for a day, Podong will starve to death…” “……” I had Aider tell the temple. Tell them that Damian is raising a hamster in his room, so please feed it tomorrow. “Tell them to change the water too! Please!” Damian shouted at Aider’s back as he ran towards the temple. ‘…Is this a dungeon exploration club, or an elite main party?’ The Shadow Squad would be more professional in this regard. Well, they went through hellish special forces training, so it’s natural. Anyway, while these chaotic, ragtag bunch were preparing for what seemed like a school trip or a dungeon exploration, Junior was deep in thought. He’s also quite unstable. I carefully approached him. “What are you doing?” “…Can I be honest?” Would I tell you not to be honest? Of course, you should answer honestly. Junior hesitated, then whispered softly in my ear. “I was calculating how long I could hold back my coughing up blood.” “……” “Well, everyone gets worried when I cough up blood. I was wondering how long I could hide it.” “Just tell me everything, and spit it out, okay…” More than that, isn’t your character a bit weird? Coughing up blood is not a joke or a personality trait. Stop pushing that. I crossed my arms and sighed. “What can we do to stabilize your condition?” “Haha. I don’t know.” Junior gave me his signature fox-like smile. “If I give up on living fiercely, I’ll feel a bit better.” I frowned. Living fiercely is accompanied by pain. This was true not only for Junior, who was living with a terminal illness, but for everyone. Anyway, the commotion caused by the one-night, two-day schedule had subsided. After Lukas, who went to get a razor, and Evangeline, who went to shower, returned. I was able to continue the briefing. “The free explorations so far have been straight paths. We just had to follow the set route.” I brought out a chalkboard with a simple map drawn on it in advance. “But from now on, that’s not the case. The path expands.” I pointed to the large circle drawn in the middle of the chalkboard. This is the base camp. “From the base camp, you can freely explore the entire Lake Kingdom. Of course, there are only a few directly connected routes, about three in total.” I pointed to each of the three paths extending upwards. “These three routes each connect to different areas.” I wrote the names of the areas at the end of each path with chalk. “The first path leads to the ‘Library.’ The second path leads to the ‘Grand Park.’ The third path leads to the ‘Courthouse.'” Lukas, who was listening to my words, raised his hand and asked. “Your Highness, then what are the area numbers? Are those three places the 4th, 5th, and 6th areas in order?” Since the [Dried-up Drainage], [Hidden Back Alley], and [Outer Wall North] that we had passed through were the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd areas in order. Lukas’s question made sense. But it’s a little different. “It’s not like that. Because the number of each area doesn’t indicate the order, but the depth of the dungeon.” In short, it’s a difficulty rating. The monster pool and level range that appear vary depending on the depth. And the Library, Grand Park, and Courthouse are all grouped together at the same depth. In other words. “The Library, the Grand Park, and the Courthouse are all in the 4th area.” “Ah, so the difficulty of the three places is similar.” “That’s not necessarily the case…” This is the annoying part. Even though they are at the same depth, the difficulty of the three places is vastly different. “Where do you think is the most difficult?” I asked, looking at the party members. Damian raised his hand first. “The Library.” “Why?” “Because it’s a place with a lot of books, so I think a bunch of mages will pop out as enemies.” “Oh ho. That’s a pretty interesting guess, but no.” This time, Evangeline raised her hand quickly. “The Courthouse!” “Why?” “Because it’s the most powerful place among the three…?” “That’s a pretty creative answer. But no.” I told them the answer. “The answer is the Grand Park. It’s a wide open space with no terrain, where you have to fend off waves of monsters coming from all directions.” “Ah…” “We can’t go there now. It’s too hard.” You need a full party of four, maybe twenty people, to even try it. It’s impossible now. I’ve seen a lot of players quit the game after going there first without knowing in the game. I drew an X on the route leading to the Grand Park and smiled at the party members. “So, where shall we go today?”