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

Volume 6 - Ch 2.13

Also, even though both Roxanne and Sherry are saying that thanks to my magic the battles that we have been going through in the Labyrinths up until now really are concluded in a rather fast fashion, I feel like I still have a lot of room for improvement when it comes to wielding magic and knowing when to use which spells. That way, I will be able cut down the time needed for us to do battles even further, possibly reducing the need for us to be staying on one floor of the Labyrinth for too long, like it has been with Quratars seventh floor and its Floor Boss, Rapid Rabbit.

That was perhaps one of the floors where we have spent the most time out of all the other floors, but it was partially because I was afraid and reluctant of advancing to the eighth floor where the number of the monsters that we would have to be fighting simultaneously would increase to up to four enemies per group and only chose to advance forward once Sherry has joined us.

Thinking about it now, I mightve been a tad bit too paranoid about it, but at that time I was thinking first and foremost about my own and Roxannes safety, and I wouldnt have done anything differently even if I was given the chance. But now that my Party has three people in it instead of two and I no longer need to concern myself with fighting in the vanguard, I can focus completely on refining my mastery of magic by supporting Roxanne and Sherry with my spells from the safety of the backlines, where the only thing that can harm me are the enemies that are using magic or long-distance Skills themselves.

So far, that strategy seems to have been an effective one not only according to my own opinion, but also according to Roxanne and Sherrys opinion, so we can keep on going while still utilizing it until therell come a day when that strategy would have to be adjusted. But thankfully, that day is not today, and I can only hope that itll not come around for a good while longer.

Is that so? Well, if you think that my magic is so useful, then I can only be grateful for your praise. I only hope that my magic and I can continue to meet your expectations.

Of course, master. Also, I think its about time for Intelligence Cards to finally appear, so you might want to check inside of those cloth bags to see if they are already there or not.

Sherry tells me to check if the Intelligence Cards of the Bandits finally appeared. There were indeed three of them. They mustve appeared when we were fighting against the monsters, but still, I feel like it took them quite a while to appear.

Youre right, theyre finally here. But what should we do about the remaining wrists? I mean, they are still human remains, so I think we cannot just parade around the Labyrinth with them inside of the bloodied cloth bags, because people might get the wrong Idea if anyone were to see us with them by accident.

It should be perfectly fine to just go and throw them away wherever you feel like it.

Really? Throw them away just like that and thats it?

Yes, exactly. Here in the Labyrinth you do not have to worry about cleaning or disposing off the remains of the Bandits that youve defeated, because just like with regular Adventurers or Explorers, the Labyrinth is pretty much going to do all of the work for you, digesting them immediately so that therell be not even a trace of them left.

Sherry told me to just throw them away wherever I feel like it. I have to say though: even though Labyrinths are scary places, having them digest the remains of the Bandits so fast sure comes in handy, but are we sure its a good idea to just feed the Labyrinth people like that? I mean, since Labyrinths of this world are not just regular buildings or structures, but legitimate living organisms that continue to grow and expand more the more bodies of the Adventurers and Explorers that died inside of them they devour, then giving them more things to sustain them selves off seems to not the smartest thing to do, unless..

Unless that is a good method of keeping the spawn rate of the monsters relatively in check.

If the number of people that die in the Labyrinths is low, then it is going to produce more of them in order to prevent itself from starving to death, so it might actually be a good idea to feed the Labyrinths human bodies to keep its stomach relatively full, thus preventing it from producing more monsters that would hunt Adventurers more violently.

Thats right. I understand. If youre telling me thats the best thing to do, then thats what Ill do.

Right!

In accordance with Sherrys words, I throw the wrists on the ground in their cloth bags, and they disappear almost immediately after. It really was that easy.

By the way, the Bandits have all been digested along with their clothes, but their equipment was left behind. Is it because regular clothing is not treated in the same way as weapons or Magic Crystals that are probably classified as foreign elements due to them being imbued with magic power and Skill Crystals, but instead are treated just like extensions of the peoples bodies? It must be so, for I cannot even begin to fathom any other reason for why it would be doing something like that.

Alternatively, it might just be like that because the Labyrinths are picky eaters, just like kids who would not touch their food as long as it has even a bit of parsley on it. But anyway, I am glad that it devoured the Bandits like that, because that way, it spared me from having to conduct the strip search of their bodies.

That leaves only the Intelligence Cards. Where exactly should we take them?

This is the next matter that we have to think about to avoid screwing ourselves over. Back when I defeated the Bandits in Vale and wanted to claim their bounties, my Intelligence Card was most definitely checked, so if we assume that this was the standard procedure when dealing with the people who want to claim Bandit bounties, then we can most definitely assume that in case of those Bandits, my Intelligence Card is going to be checked as well.

You said that Tares Labyrinth is a Labyrinth that falls under the jurisdiction of the Hartz Duchy, correct? In that case, the perfectly rational thing to do would be to take the Intelligence Cards of the defeated Bandits to the Knight Order of Hartz Duchy so that they could take care of handing out the bounty that has surely been placed on the Bandits heads.

Sherry doesnt seem to realize that this matter can develop into quite a crisis if handled incorrectly, and so she offers me the most rational solution, since she doesnt know that the checking of my own Intelligence Card is the last thing that I want to go through right now. Even though going to the Knight Order of Hartz Duchy seems to be the most logical choice, I dont think that Id recommend it just yet.

To the Duke of Harz and the knight leader Gozer, I am an Adventurer since I took their commission. Now, let us assume for a moment that Im really going to take them to the Knight Order of Hartz Duchy. If I pass them to Gozer, it would show him that I was going to the Labyrinths in their territory like I promised, and possibly itd put me in their favor for exterminating the Bandits hanging out in a Labyrinths in their territory. After all, I need to value all of the special connections that Ive managed to gain in this world.

On the other hand though, it wouldve been troublesome if I was seen as someone whos being too useful and being taken advantage of, and I also have to consider the possibility of trouble and problems arising if the Knights started snooping how exactly did I managed to tell that these people were Bandits in the first place, and the biggest problem that Id have to look out for is the possibility of my Intelligence Card being checked when Ill bring the Intelligence Cards to exchange them for the money from the bounty on the Bandits heads.

If they check my Intelligence Card so that they could give me the reward, theyd immediately know that Im not an Adventurer, but rather an Explorer who posed as one in order to reap the Benefits of doing the commission for the Duke.