The Fat Aristocrat Waltz in the Labyrinth - Chapter 46
Chapter 46: The fat aristocrat meets a person of the labyrinth
The 10th floor is considered a milestone.
Other adventurers often ridicule those who have just begun their adventure, calling them “rubi.”
The rubi is a well-known bird. As a chick, it has red feathers on its head, which gradually become smaller and whiter and finally fall off when it becomes an adult.
The 10th floor is where newly born adventurers are recognized as full-fledged adventurers.
It seems that even the guild has set up a hurdle there. When a person clears the 10th floor, a seal is stamped on their guild card, which serves as proof of rank-up.
So, what obstructs this hurdle?
“Damn, rabbits are troublesome!”
Yes, it’s the rabbits.
Mitrof evades the jumping rabbit with agility.
As a noble, he elegantly avoids the rabbit as if dancing, but the rabbit jumps from another direction.
Mitrof readies his left arm.
He uses a gauntlet made of monster leather instead of a shield. There is an impact as he brushes past the rabbit. Mitrof may not have strong muscles, but he can withstand the impact. However, what is frightening is not the impact.
A blood streak appeared on Mitrof’s cheek. There are certain blades that a gauntlet cannot stop.
He quickly turned around.
The landed rabbit shook its head. Its long, floppy ears swayed, reflecting the lantern light fixed in the labyrinth’s hallway like a water surface.
“…How can ears turn into blades?”
It is a monster called a smallblade rabbit.
The edges of its two ears are sharpened into blades. With this weapon, it attacks with powerful hind legs. That alone is troublesome, but smallblade rabbits always act in groups.
There was a sound of air being sliced.
Mitrof immediately turned around and swung his rapier.
The sword accurately split the smallblade rabbit’s head. As Mitrof saw it flying off in the wrong direction from the impact of the cut, he spun his body again.
Heavy. His body and belly fat
Fast. The smallblade rabbit and its ear blades
“——shit!”
The blade slit his upper left arm. Heat. The pain has not come yet.
Mitrof already had his target. He drove his slender sword into the smallblade rabbit’s back. It was a battle in the blink of an eye.
Without letting his guard down, he looked around. It seemed that the herd had disappeared.
Canule stood a little distance away, holding a round shield. Several smallblade rabbits were scattered around her.
“Canule is more skilled at this.”
Mitrof said with a frown, as he arrived late due to the pain in his arm.
“It seems that round shields are a good match—you can knock them down by bashing them.”
“I’m not good at it—my body is heavy.”
Canule chuckled at Mitrof’s self-deprecation. As she approached, she took out a small round tin from the small bag hanging from her waist.
“Let’s stop the bleeding.”
“I rely on that ointment too much—my whole body smells like herbs.”
“The old pharmacist said the effect was excellent.”
Mitrof pulled the torn cloth apart to reveal the wound on his left arm. There was bleeding, but the wound itself was shallow. It was like being cut with a razor.
Canule opened the lid and applied the ointment to her fingers, gently spreading it on the wound. The bleeding stopped mysteriously soon after. The effect was indeed excellent.
“Either my whole body will be covered in ointment or my clothes will be torn to shreds first, it’ll be a sight to see.”
Since entering the 10th floor, his whole body has been covered in cuts and bruises from the smallblade rabbits.
Of course, Mitrof had researched what monsters inhabited the 10th floor in advance, but there was a difference between confirming it through documents and actually facing them. Despite being a small rabbit, it was not as easy an opponent as he had imagined.
“If I had leather armor, would it be easier?”
“That’s true, but they’re expensive.”
Even if Mitrof were to protect himself with leather armor on his arms and legs, it’s not something that can be easily purchased, as it’s made for battling monsters. Once again, the issue of money arises.
The leather gauntlet on Mitrof’s left arm alone cost quite a lot. It’s only now that he realizes how good the quality is, but he was able to make the purchase back then because Mitrof was still thinking like a nobleman in terms of money. Furthermore, Grace covered half of the cost at the time.
Now, as a seasoned adventurer who knew the ins and outs of making a living and how it affected his finances, Mitrof could not make such a casual purchase, no matter how good the quality.
“But, Mitrof-sama, your injuries are increasing.”
“That’s also something to worry about—I have more injuries, but they’re not serious.”
smallblade rabbits were certainly a nuisance. The wounds keep increasing.
However, they were just cuts. It will heal with a little ointment and a good night’s sleep. Rather than investing a fortune in armor to prevent cuts, wouldn’t it be better to move on to the next level quickly? Such a frugal mindset was shaking his judgment.
“It’s still an injury.”
Canule said it firmly. Mitrof pretended it was no big deal, but his clothes were blood-stained and he had cuts all over his body, making others worry.
“Well, let’s observe a little more and then decide.”
Mitrof said this while applying ointment to his cheek wound.
Once the treatment was over, the two of them cut off the ears of the small dagger rabbits and moved on.
As expressed by the phrase “as sharp as a razor,” smallblade rabbit’s ears are processed and sold as razors. Due to it being an indispensable item for grooming, there is a big difference between the buying and selling prices.
Mitrof thinks that smallblade rabbit ears are much better than goblin ears.
Canule wraps the collected ears in cloth and puts them in the bag on her back, which she also carries as a porter. Mitrof recently couldn’t help but feel indebted to Canule for her work.
“Mitrof-sama, shall I cook rabbit meat for lunch?”
“Rabbit meat? That sounds delicious. Please do.”
Moreover, with the delicious meals prepared in the labyrinth, Mitrof only becomes more troubled.
Canule, noticing Mitrof sighing and sniffling like a pig, asked, “What’s wrong?”
Mitrof said sincerely to Canule, who was carefully selecting the tastiest rabbits around them, “Canule, I will definitely reward your hard work.”
“Thank you very much…?”
Canule tilted her head with a surprised expression.
Mitrof, as a nobleman, had a proud record of receiving a high level of education.
He learned to read and write, excelled in his studies, and was well-cultured. He even mastered swordsmanship, a benefit that commoners could not obtain even if they wished.
Despite this, Mitrof realized there were countless things he could not do. There was simply so much he did not know.
Grace had taught him how to earn money and live in the labyrinth. Now he relies on Canule in many ways.
Adventurers helped each other, but Mitrof felt like he had only ever received help from others. He had been taken care of, lent a hand, and saved, making it this far in life.
That was why, now, he wanted to help others.
For Mitrof, it was a natural emotion, an entirely new feeling he had never experienced before.
He wanted to be useful to someone. He wanted to help someone.
Mitrof accepts the natural changes in himself but still hasn’t figured out how he can help others.
Helping others is a challenging task. Therefore, he first thinks of increasing his income to repay Canule for her work.
As Mitrof looks around, he notices a small girl peeking from the shadows at the intersection ahead. Her plain clothes make her look more like a local than an adventurer.
“…A scavenger?”
Mitrof remembers the name Grace once told him.
Canule looks up at Mitrof’s murmur, and the girl notices their gaze and hastily hides.
Mitrof recognizes the girl’s pointed, beast-like ears on her head.
“Is that a people of the labyrinth?”
Canule mutters.
Is that what you call it? I thought it was called “scavengers.”
“No, ‘scavengers’ is when adventurers or porters who can’t defeat monsters, pick up items left behind by other adventurers. I heard that “people of the labyrinth” literally means people who live somewhere within the labyrinth,” explained Canule.
Mitrof widened his eyes at the explanation.
“Wait, there are people who live in the labyrinth?—Can people even live here in the first place?”
The labyrinth is filled with monsters. These monsters are extremely ferocious, attacking humans indiscriminately. Mitrof couldn’t even imagine living in such a place.
“I’ve only heard rumors about it—is it really possible to live in a labyrinth?”