Hi Guys,
Happy New Year!
I’ll gather up the complete list of competition entries so the staff can start judging in the next 24 hours, I’ll also probably write a site New Years message/status update or something, but it’s late already so maybe not tonight.
Hamburger meat.
“Is it nearly evening? We might stop here.” “It is.”
We searched Haruba’s 19th floor until evening, and then I spoke with Roxanne and decided to finish it up. Vesta wasn’t exposed to any attacks today afterall.
If there is only one demon, Roxanne takes it on. Miria is in the front if there is a second. When the vanguard has three people, each of them is in a one vs one, and the difficulty isn’t that high. We’ve gone through a lot of demons so far, but should we increase the difficulty? Defeating a lot of demons at once is good efficiency, it’s the best way.
“We’ll go to the first floor before we finish. Please lead us to a Cheep Sheep.” “Certainly.”
Before we finish, I test out [Life and Death] on the first floor. Bounty Hunter is now Lv26.
It didn’t succeed. Or maybe my expectation that it’s a skill that defeats demons in a single blow is wrong? There’s no helping it, so I kill it with Durandal.
Kobold is weaker, so should I try the first floor of Quratar? Is there no chance to do it there since it’s crowded? I’ll probably have to keep trying it ever day.
“Are we doing an experiment?” “A small one.” “Really?”
Sherry asks with interest. I don’t fight things I can kill in one stroke unless I’m doing something. Sherry seems to have become familiar with how I do things. It’s good.
We left Quratar’s first floor. We then sold off our items in the adventurers guild.
“Todays dinner. Miria will cook the lean tuna.” “Yes, desu.” “Vesta can help me. I’ll make a meat dish.” “I will? I understand.”
There is only one lean tuna. Miria will want to eat the lot. Therefore, I need to make a main meat dish.
“Then Sherry & I should make a soup and something else?” “I’ll stir-fry some vegetarbles, can you make the soup Roxanne?” “Okay, lets do that.”
Sherry seems to have made the decision for Roxanne as well. We buy the ingredients, and then return to the house.
“Vesta, do you know about minced meat?” “I’ve heard the name.” “Oh, minced meat?”
Roxanne has a delicate expression. Don’t you like it? Sherry has a similar expression.
“We can’t do it?” “Well…” “Minced meat is believed to be eaten by poor, crude people. My grandfather never ate it.”
Sherry explains. So there’s an annoying taboo like that. There are people in places on earth that don’t eat pig or octopus too. Is coming accross this sort of thing unavoidable?
“Master eats it…” “Yes.” “I don’t mind, because it’s master, but the fact that master eats it should be kept secret.” Roxanne makes a reccomendation. You’ll overlook the taboo? It seems it’s a dish that the lower class eats. People from the high class don’t seem to eat it. Well, it’s definately not a luxury food. “Is that so?” “Yes, so please everyone keep this a secret.” “That would be good.” “Yes, desu.” “Ok, I understand.”
Roxanne got approval from all the others. They have “What?” or “Even this?” expressions. It’s quite a variety.
“Will all of you be fine with a dish that uses minced meat?” “There isn’t any problem in our case.”
It would be troublesome to change the menu now. I should just make it, as planned.
“Can you make minced meat Vesta?” “Ummm.” “If you can finely chop meat then that’s good enough.”
Roxanne gives instructions to make it. She seems to have made it before.
“I understand.” “Then please make the minced meat.” “Okay.”
The pig ribs from the Pig Hog, and the meat that I bought are passed to Vesta. They should be suitable to make minced meat.
While Vesta is making the minced meat, I soak some bread in milk, and fry some vegetables. Firm vegetables like celery. They are meant to have a crunchy texture, and I add some onion. It should be good with these vegetables. I add some flour to it as well.
“Good, this is alright. Please mix it like this.”
After making the minced meat, it gets stirred. Vesta is stirring it with salt, pepper, eggs, vegetables, and torn up bread. It’s hamburger meat.
We cook it, and then fry some flour, wine, and mushroom in the remaining juices. I add some fish sauce as well, and leave it to boil over the fire. I don’t know how hamburger meat is normally made, but it seems to be alright? I put the sauce over it and carry it to the table.
I serve the soup along with the lean tuna that Miria cooked. The hamburger meat is serverd with the gravy dripped over it. Even though it’s the first time I made it, it turned out quite good.
“This is delicious. I can’t even notice the bread you added. As expected of Master.” “Is that so? Using the bread as a filler softens it up.”
Roxanne knew about minced meat, and is probably thinking about a dish that bakes the mince.
“It’s really soft and delicious. Even though it’s something poor people eat, this is delicious, it may have to be reassesed. Even though it’s made from minced meat, it’s amazing.”
Meat is normally cooked intact and then eaten. Unsuitable meat is turned into minced meat. It’s understandable that it’s classified as a low class food.
“As expected, desu.”
Despite saying that, Miria’s target seems to be locked as the lean tuna. The broth it was cooked in is also quite good.
“I always get delicious things after coming here. I am very thankful for that.” “Well, you’re the one who put the effort into this Vesta.” “No, I didn’t do anything special.”
It takes quite a bit of effort to make minced meat on your own. It’s easier to just cook steak. Vesta helped though, so we’ll probably make it again some time.
The next day I raised Bounty Hunter to Lv30 and tried [Life and Death] again, but it failed. The following day I tried again at Lv32, but no luck either. Is something wrong? Am I supposed to be doing something else?
Since it targets an enemy, I don’t think I’m doing anything wrong. It’s different from skills like [Rush]. I can only trial it on demons. What else can I do?
Maybe a dead demon will revive because of [Life and death], but that hasn’t happened yet either. I don’t think a skill like revival would be easily available. I had to raise Warrior to Lv30, so I guess I can’t say it was easy.
Maybe I need to use it more. I used it five times on a Cheep Sheep before defeating it with Durandal, so that didn’t work either. I decide to test it more often on the first floor, and start doing it on both my way into and out of the labyrinth starting the next day. The effects were immediately apparent, and I succeeded after leaving Haruba’s labyrinth in the early morning.
A Cheep Sheep collapsed. I only used [Life and Death]. A single shot. There is no doubt that it’s a skill that kills in one blow.
“Oh?”
Roxanne noticed it straight away.
“It finally worked.” “Um, did you do something Master?” “Yes.”
I answered Roxanne’s question. The opponent didn’t even stand a chance. They couldn’t do a thing. However, it used a lot of Mp.
I’ve failed at least 20 time since passing Lv30. The success rate seems to be coniderably low. It may not be dependant on level too.
“As expected…. it’s Master.” “You’ve been doing an experiment like that up til now?” “Amazing, desu.” “It feels like something incredible.”
As Vesta said, [Life and Death] is an incredible skill. When watching, it looks like the demon died when nothing happened to it. Instead of Bounty Hunter, it seems like a skill for an Assassin. There’s no evidence remaining, and no risk.
No, that’s only in my case. Usually you can notice the incantation. Since I have [Incantation Omission] I can take someones life with an innocent look. It’s something to think about.
“This is definately a secret.” “Of course.”
Everyone else gives a nod. Quietly killing someone without approaching them. It would be bad if such a thing came to light.
I checked my jobs. Even though I succeeded at using [Life and Death], I do not have the Gambler’s job. It seems I’ll have to level Thief. I swap Bounty Hunter as my 5th job for Thief.
That day we reached the boss room for Haruba’s 19th floor. Yesterday we ate boiled whole fish. Tonight we’ll have lean tuna. Either way, Miria will be delighted.
“The boss of Rub Shrub is Rough Shrub. Pay attention because it has a wide attack range, it’s a troublesome demon.”
Sherry gives an explanation, and then we enter the boss room. Rough Shrub and Fly Trap appear. Rough Shrub is a demon that is a similar size to the Rub Shrub. It’s branches extend further than the Rub Shrub though.
First of all, I defeat the Fly Trap using [Rush], since I had switched Thief for Warrior. Then I joined in the surrounding of the Rough Shrub. Since it’s branches extend, it seems quite a serious opponent.
Rough Shrub swings it’s branches. Roxanne avoids it easily. If you aren’t careful, you can be attacked even at it’s sides.
I attack it with [Rush]. But I get counter-attacked.
The branches are a nuisance. They have a wide range and intense movements. They are wild branches.
Their attack can probably be recovered with [HP absorbtion]. I continued attacking without worrying. I use [Rush] many times.
Rub Shrub swings it’s branch in return. I ignore it, and cut it with Durandal. It’s become a slug-fest. I depend on Durandal’s [HP absorption] to continue fighting back.
Since I have Durandal, I won’t be defeated. I can endure the pain. Even though it’s a boss, I won’t complain. The pysical strength increase from Vesta’s Dragon Knight might be helping as well.
I finished it off with [Rush]. When I swing Durandal, Rough Shrub shakes violently. It’s knocked down sideways and rolls. Did we finally defeat it?
“That was amazing. As expected of Master.” “I was a little excited.” “Even though you received many attacks, are you alright?”
Vesta asks about it anxiously. Unlike Roxanne, the demons attacks hit me, but it’s not a problem. It’s not enough for me to worry about. It’s a bit pathetic.
“I can handle it. You said you were hit by demons before numerous times outside the labyrinth as well Vesta.” “That’s right. I guess it’s alright then.”
Am I alright? Even if it’s a Lv1 demon, I don’t want to be hit by any attacks. I’m surprised at what happened as well. TN: Berserker job aquired!
Though, Vesta has received attacks on the 19th floor and said that it’s nothing. It should be fine even if we go up to the 20th floor.
The boss becomes smoke and disappears. An item is left behind. Some kind of fluttering film. I used [Analyze] and it showed as Wood Shavings.
It looks like it’s been cut with a chisel. Miria picks it up and brings it over.
“Wood Shavings?” “It’s the material for anti-paralysis medicine.”
Sherry informs me. It’s material for a medicine? I switch job to Herbalist, and use [Herbal medicine generation] on the Wood Shavings.
The Wood Shavings in my hand became anti-paralysis medicine. Some of them spilled from my hand. I picked them up and placed some in my item box.
“Huh?… oh. It’s Master’s job?”
Vesta is surprised, but doesn’t seem confused. She’s become used to it.
“Put some in your item box as well Sherry.” “Okay.”
Sherry puts the anti-paralysis medicine in her item box. It’s good to distribute it in case of an emergency. Paralysis wears off after a while, so until now we haven’t bought any anti-paralysis medecine.
“Sherry, what demon is on Haruba’s 20th floor?” “The demon on the 20th floor is the Hat Bat.”
The Hat Bat?? The Fly Trap and Rub Shrub have fire as their weakness. The Hat Bat has multiple weaknesses, but fire isn’t one of them. There’s no choice though.
We went to the 20th floor. While exploring, we confirm the strength of the Lv20 demons. Lv20 is a bit stronger.
It’s not our limit yet, but it gets more difficult every floor. How far can we go in our present condition? It should be fine until the 22nd floor.
Roxanne catches the charge of the Hat Bat with her shield. Miria dodges an attack from a Rub Shrub. Vesta also blocks the charge of a Hat Bat with her sword. I use [Breeze Storm] to attack everything.
I have women fighting as the vanguard, while I shoot magic from the back. Even if I think about it, there’s no other option. If I’m not hit, I won’t need to use the [HP absorbtion] of Durandal. As expected, it’s unlikely that demons would get rapidly stronger here.
Author note: Volume 2 of Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World will be released on April 30, 2013. Thank you in advance.
Cyro note: If anyone wants to help support me, or help upgrade the site, here’s my patreon account:
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