Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World (LN)

Volume 3 - Ch 5.10

So I have to take the risk of getting hurt by them and fight them, because that is the only way for me to obtain more EXP to Level Up my Jobs and get stronger, and when I will become stronger, that automatically means that I will be that much safer. Not to mention that I also have Durandal, and my ever-so-reliable Roxanne to back me up whenever I will find myself in trouble.

That is why I decided to go the Quratar Labyrinth again. I have made my decision to keep on going, and I cannot falter in it no matter what.

In order to enter the Labyrinth the day after tomorrow, you must first enter the Labyrinth tomorrow, and to enter the labyrinth tomorrow, you must first enter the Labyrinth today. No exceptions, no excuses, no complaining, this is simply something that you have to do. Of course, going there after what I have been hit with yesterday is scarier than it was before, but this is a purely psychological problem of mine that I will have to overcome with the strength of my will.

Thats right. It is kind of like with balancing on a rope. It is easy to do this when said rope is safely spread on the ground where no harm will come to you even if you fall down from it, but walking on a rope that has actually been suspended in the air? That is another matter entirely.

When it comes to people, there is not that much physical difference between them (TL Note: Okay, calling bullshit on that one. Yes there are, and we all know it.),but psychological differences are more diverse and frequent. Some are more resistant to things like fear and traumas, while some are less resistant to them, but you know what both of those types of people have in common? The fact that sooner or later they will all have to confront them, one way or another, so if I can choose when I will have to face mine, then I prefer to do it now instead of waiting for the right time to do so to come to me first. Instead of being forced to traverse the rope while it is still in the air, I will bring it to the ground myself!

For the first half of the dungeon, I just focused in hunting as many Slow Rabbits as I could while following Roxannes guidance. When it comes to the actual battle, Slow Rabbits themselves are not that difficult of an opponent to dispatch, even when they are all Lv.7. In that regard, nothing has changed since yesterday, and it made me breathe a sigh of relief. It is okay so far. I can definitely do it. I do not feel like my life is threatened so far. It does not matter whether it is a Slow Rabbit, Mino, Escape Goat or any other monster. They might be dangerous and only grow more dangerous the higher we will climb, but as long as they will not use any Skills that I am not aware of or try to take my by surprise, I will be able to handle anything they might be throwing at me as long as I remain calm and analyze their movements carefully. Like that, we have made our way through the second part of the seventh floor, arriving in the Waiting Room before the Boss Room.

Okay, this is it. We will try to fight against the Rapid Rabbit for the second time now. With all the things that we have learned about it from our fight yesterday, hopefully this time things will go much smoother.

Just as I expected, the second time challenging the Rapid Rabbit was indeed easier than the first, mostly because I now knew that the easiest way to counter its speed was to use Overwhelming to slow it down. When we defeated it and it disappeared in a puff of smoke, the thing that was left behind was a piece of Rabbit Meat, just like yesterday. Part of me was hoping for some kind of rare drop to go along with it, but no dice for now, we have to make do with the meat alone.

This particular piece of Rabbit Meat looked like it could easily be enough for two or three people to eat, so I think we can bring this piece here back to the male clerk and keep the one from yesterday for our own usage.

Okay, we got what we came here for. That man in the clothing store said that he wanted a maximum of two pieces of Rabbit Meat, so I think he should be pretty satisfied with what we got here for him, dont you think?

Yes, he definitely should not have any qualms about both the quantity and the quality of the meat.

Right, but heres a question, Roxanne. To my understanding, Rabbit Meat is not a rare drop from Rapid Rabbit, but a common one, meaning that it will always be dropped by it when it is defeated. But if that is the case, then why is it treated like some kind of delicacy worth of requesting people to get it for you when it should be the same just like any other meat you could find at a butchers shop?

Well, you are right that it is not hard to get it, but unlike the other types of meat, Rabbit Meat is pretty expensive. So much so in fact, that for regular citizens each time they are able to get their hands on it, it is treated with a real feast. I think it is also what the nobles tend to eat most of the time.

So it would seem that this meat is valued by the commoners and nobles alike. Understandable, since no matter where you go, people will always want to eat delicious things whenever they have the chance. But here, since such a good meat can only be aquired as a drop from a Floor Boss in the Labyrinth, shops and the people are probably heavily dependent on its deliveries on Adventurers and Explorers who would be willing to part with this meat, hence the high price of it, since not every human is probably suited to became someone who could go to the Labyrinths and hunt the monsters for their materials themselves.

Sounds pretty rough.

It is, but in my humble opinion, Rabbit Meat is well worth it, since It is very delicious.

Would you like to try having it for breakfast then?

If it really is as delicious as Roxanne describes it to be, then we should definitely try it.

Fighting Floor Bosses in the Labyrinths can be much more dangerous than fighting regular enemies, but it is something that cannot be avoided. They are nothing more than beasts who can only blindly follow their instincts and stepping stones that those who wish to advance further through the Labyrinths have to traverse, proving that their instinct of survival and intellect are vastly superior to the animalistic urges of monsters, and that we are rightfully the species that deserves to eat better and lead more comfortable lives than them.

Yes, I would very much like to try it.

All right, that settles it then. Before we go back to the Imperial City, we are going to defeat some more Rapid Rabbits and get their meat for ourselves.

Roger!

We left the Boss Room and then went back to the seventh floors Waiting Room in order to challenge the rapid Rabbit again. The strategy for this next battle is much the same as in the previous two encounters with it: wait until it gets close to me, use Overwhelming, hit it while it gets slowed until it dies and profit off of it.

In comparison to the other Floor Bosses I had to face both in Veils Labyrinth and in Quratars Labyrinth, Rapid Rabbit is, without a shade of a doubt, the most dangerous of the bunch so far. But after fighting it two times now, I can say have began to recognize the patterns in which it was attacking, decreasing the danger and the risk of sustaining an injury in a battle against it by quite a large margin. Combine that with the knowledge of the strength gap between us, and the danger will decrease even further.

All that is left to do now is to use all of that to my advantage. Because that is what we humans do. We exploit the weaknesses of others for our own benefit, so why would such logic not be applicable here in the Labyrinths when it comes to fighting monsters? I can fight the Labyrinth and its monsters steadily and calmly, carefully judging and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of every enemy.