XIX

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『Aventine – Summoned Quarters – Zoe and Emily's Room』

“Wow, she's getting so big.” Zoe said as she caressed the bulging belly of Vince's High Servant. “Not only did you get your servant pregnant, you got mine pregnant too, you dog.”

“Yeah, about that,” Vince looked over to Zoe, “Do you wanna get-”

“I'm not getting pregnant, you fetishist.” Zoe interrupted and denied him. “And thanks to that silphium thing that Em found, you can still cum inside us. She's keeping it a secret from the others and making them were condoms. Fucking sheepskin condoms that look like sausage casings. But you get to fuck her raw. Isn't that great?”

As Zoe nudged Vince onto his back, she straddled his pelvis and began teasing him. But before they could go any further, Emily entered the room.

“Hey Em! We were about to screw, you want in?” Zoe asked as she saw Emily.

“Not now,” answered Emily as she appeared slightly distraught, “we kinda have a problem. Naoki and the others are gone.”

“What do you mean gone?” asked Zoe.

“Like, 'gone' gone. There's no one in the building they were staying in. Even all the furniture is missing. Like 'they packed up and left' gone.” Emily explained. She had initially sent her servant to request a second meeting now that everything had cooled down. However, the servant relayed that there was no one to be found. She decided to visit the building that was a bit away from the palace and saw nothing but an empty building.

Vince saw Zoe's expression instantly become downcast. He heard a faint 'oh' leaving her lips as she removed herself from him.

“Oh well, let's get breakfast.” Zoe suggested as she perked back up.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +122』

『Maze VII - 4th Floor Safe Room』

“Onii-chan, how long are you going to grope that girl's tits?” Alicia groggily asked as she walked in from the sleeping quarters to see me atop the person who had run into me.

I stood up once I was able to regain my bearings and saw the girl who was laying unconsciously on the floor. Behind us was the opened gate and the corridor filled with 2 people and a horde of orks. With my scepter in hand, I stepped out and launched wind spells to stop or slow down the orks and to allow the 2 adventurers time to reach the safe room. Alicia followed up with a hand full of shields to protect us against projectiles.

We retreated once the adventurers had made it safely inside.

☘ ☘ ☘

The girl looked up and saw a young man speaking to her. Her body had become wracked with exhaustion and her mind unfocused. She looked up, trying to listen to his words, but his voice was muffled and faded. She concentrated as best she could to focus her ears.

“I shall keep you safe and carry you to safety, my princess.” his voice resonated deeply into her mind, but his words confused her.

“W-what?” the girl meekly asked.

“I said we can't close the gate if you 3 are just going to lay there. Move your ass!” the young man yelled as he turned around and attacked the pursuing orkoss.

☘ ☘ ☘

As soon as the 2 other adventurers made it into the safe room, they simply collapsed. Without a care in the world, they just laid down in the archway and prevented us from closing the gate. I was forced to create a weak 《Earth Wall》 while under projectile attack to slow the enemies down. As soon as the wall was complete, it was already beginning to crumble from the orks relentless attacks.

“Oh for fuck's sake.” I said as I looked back at the trio on the ground. The girl that had tackled me had this hazy drunk appearance on her face while the other 2 looked to be taking a nap.

Alicia used spawned shields in an attempt to reinforce my wall, but it was already giving way. I walked over to the man and started kicking him until he woke up. He tried to fight back thinking I was a monster, but I yelled at him to move the girls. The man took his sweet time in moving the girls away from the gateway. While he did so, I continued my defense by launching wind spells at gaps that had formed in the wall.

When the adventurers were clear of the gate, Alicia and I quickly closed and barred it. As soon as it was barred, the orks banging on the gate ceased as if affected by magic. An enchanted safe room that altered detection? How ever it works, we were safe now and headed for our bed, leaving the 3 adventurers on the floor.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +123』

『Maze VII - 4th Floor Safe Room』

“And that's what happened. We are very grateful for your assistance.” said the apparent leader of this adventurer party as she finished telling me their story. After they had woken up, I generously gave them some food and water.

About a month or so ago, her party was part of a larger group of around 24 adventurers. Before coming down to this floor, the group had split up with most returning to the surface. Her party decided to venture further, but had gotten lost and eventually ambushed by an orkoss trap losing 5 party members.

Introductions were also made. The leader's name was Lavinia, the girl that tackled me was Claritia and the guy's name, and I shit you not, was Crixus. Did not really have much of a gladiatorial appearance.

“By the way, what's wrong with the girl?” I asked as I noticed the girl's unfocused and hazy look. She had trouble sitting up and had to lay down for most of the time we were conversing.

“Mana Exhaustion. She cast many protection and healing spells to keep us alive. We lost many of our bags that held our potions as well as our food. She needs to rest for a week minimum to recover before she can move on her own, but...” Lavinia looked downcast as she realized the last bit of food was now gone.

I could not stop looking at the girl. She looked really familiar from her pink hair. “Have we met before?”

“Huh?” Lavinia looked confused as she wracked her mind for an answer. “Um, I don't believe we have-… Now that I look at you and your black hair… are you the summoned?”

I turned to Alicia who had her eyebrows raised and explained to her that they were the ones that had rescued me and brought me to the capital. She looked satisfied and saw the 3 in a good light after I had shown her the picture I had taken. From my bag, I tossed them a mana potion. Not the potent version that Veronica had made, but the original normal recipe.

Lavinia was about to offer her thanks to me, but was interrupted by Spart-… I mean Crixus. “Actually, since we have never had training with mana potions in a mana exhaustion state, it might be better for you to help Claritia drink the potion.” he hushed Lavinia who was protesting, but gave in once she realized what he was hinting at. I understood immediately.

During the week or so that we traveled toward the capital, the oppai healer had been feeding me mana potions by sipping a bit into her mouth then transferring it to my mouth. Even when I was healed enough to drink it myself, she had insisted she do it herself. I had not understood a word she had been saying to me the entire time so I simply laid back and let her do whatever.

If I remember right, her tongue was very soft.

I turned to Alicia with the potion in my hand. “It's a, um, first aid method, it is *ahem* imperative that I do this. She had done this to me and helped me recover from that grave injury I had sustained. I have to repay my debt to her.”

“Oh my god, just fucking do it already, onii-chan.” she said, annoyed with me explaining to her.

I moved immediately to the girl who had saved me and took a swig from the potion. Her lips were cracked so I had to be careful not to cause an injury. My left arm was cradling her head with my left hand holding the mana potion while my right hand was caressing her check, attempting to relax her jaw. My lips were pressed against hers and my tongue invaded her mouth. Blue liquid dripped down her cheek, but most had made it where it needed to be. My right hand moved down from her jaw to rubbing her throat to make her swallow the liquid.

Her lips scrapped and scratched against mine, but I ignored it. I ignored the sweat and grime that covered her body. I ignored the strong, pungent scent emanating from her body. It was important that I helped her recover as she did me. I went through many potions for her.

“Onii-chan~… it's been an hour.” Alicia said, bringing my attention back to the world around us.

“Uh, it's important that I help her recover.” I reiterated my thoughts to her.

“That would be more convincing if you hadn't been rubbing her tits the entire time.” she rebutted.

I could not refute her words and stopped my first aid attempts. In the end, Alicia carried her off to clean her up and forbade me from going near them in the mean time. With nothing else to do, I began making new scrolls.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +124』

『Maze VII - 4th Floor Safe Room』

Claritia made a speedy recover, but I was unable to converse with her. Alicia kept her away from me. In fact, Alicia had been avoiding me. I wanted to press the issue, but we had already spent too much time in this safe room. I had intended to finish this level sooner, but this event had waylaid us.

Now a choice for the 3 adventurers was to be made. They could take off on their own and try to find a way back to the surface, of which I am still salty there is no such thing as a teleportation device, or they could accompany us and finish this dungeon. They, of course, argued about what to do. Their companions were as good as dead and they no longer had any food. It was a difficult choice to make.

☘ ☘ ☘

It was decided they would accompany us. We compared maps and it turns out they had already discovered the boss room. All that was needed to be done was to retrace their steps, take revenge on the orks that attacked them and collect their belongings. Since it was on the way, I had no problems with it. More bodies to sell.

“Just so we are clear,” Alicia said to the adventurers, “what you are about to see about us is to be kept a secret. A 'swear on your life' type of secret. A 'we will kill you if you reveal it' secret. Understand?” To which the adventurers acquiesced.

Since that was now out of the way, we packed up the bed into my bag and I equipped my armor and weapons. The look on their faces was pretty great. A fresh 「Mana Stone」 was used in conjunction with a 「Silent Stone」 for my rifle. A round was chambered and we opened the gate leading outside. Because it was the only exit that lead outside.

There were no orks waiting for us outside the safe room. The area was mostly clear save for a few limbs currently being devoured by numerous slimes. Pinkface wiggled in my backpack as it sensed food nearby, but did not leave the pack.

We walked until we came across the mountain of debris that had separated their party. The larger rocks and stones were taken into the bag and I used earth magic to push away the smaller debris. A path was cleared and we made our way passed what remained. There were drag marks which could be seen on the ground which we then followed. There was also blood, but not enough to indicate that someone had bled out.

It did not take long, well perhaps a few hours of tracking the marks, until we could hear the roaring of the orks. I would occasionally snipe any enemy patrols that we came across. As we moved closer, we could see the chamber that the orks were residing in. It was a large chamber, something akin to the boss room or treasure chamber, but it held no chests or bosses.

Inside the chamber, the orks had surrounded 2 adventurers and were forcing them to fight like gladiators. Anytime either of the adventurers became hesitant, the orks would prod them with a spear. Lavinia notified us that they were 2 of the adventurers in their party. The number of orks looked to number around 100. A bit difficult to count considering they were tightly packed together and cheering or taunting frantically.

This number was not really an issue for Alicia and I, but factoring in the 2 adventurers, they might end up getting killed. Fear would be needed, or perhaps shock and awe. I removed the 「Mana Stone」, 「Silent Stone」 and the suppressor on my rifle. The loud shots would confuse them. Now for the plan of attack. Alicia would start the attack by launching as many daggers as possible into the orks in front of us. This would allow a temporary passage to form. Lavinia, who as access to wind spells, will use that opportunity to clear away the corpses and rush in with Crixus. I will provide covering fire and target their ranged units. Claritia will remain behind and provide healing and protection support for when they return. Her range is minimal.

“I will be targeting the right side and Alicia will target the left. Do not get into our firing line.” I warned the 2 as we took up our positions while giving Alicia the signal. “10 count then attack.”

The attack began.

Dozens of daggers rained down on the orks with many hitting their marks. I used a scroll to throw down an 《Earth Wall》 and opened fire. The loud gunshots worked in frightening them. The 2 were surprised by the gunshots as well and hesitated in rushing in as planned. However, they eventually found their resolved and charged in. I had even lent Crixus my Shield of Judgment for extra protection.

Any ork that looked like they were wielding a staff, scepter or bow was immediately gunned down. More orks poured out of the surrounding tents, shacks and what looked to be yurts. Lavinia and Crixus called out to their comrades while killing targets of opportunity. The captured adventurers dropped their weapons and ran toward us while Alicia and I gave them firing cover.

Once all 4 had made it back, Claritia went to work in healing their injuries. My rifle was emptied and I resorted to using magic. Even with 100 rounds spread over 5 magazines, I made too many misses in my attempts to counter any ranged attackers. A lot of shots were obstructed by asshole orks. Most of the orks were now dead, dying or had fled. On our end, injuries were minor.

It was a decisive victory.

☘ ☘ ☘

“What kind of weapon is that?!”

“How were you able to kill so many orkoss so quickly?!”

“What kind of magic was that?!”

The adventurers were being noisy when we finally caught a break. We still needed to clear out the makeshift tents in case there were more orks and to kill off the still living ones on the ground. One of the adventurers that we had rescued rushed off in the direction of a large yurt after being healed by Claritia. He screamed something that I did not quite catch, nor did I care that much, but the others were concerned and followed him.

Inside the yurt was a very unsettling sight. Numerous naked and bloody dead women. No. they were not dead. Their bodies did not move, but they were still breathing. Their eyes were glassy and empty. Their bodies were covered in blood and dried filth. They had a look of wanting to die.

Near the back corner of the yurt was what the adventurer was looking for. Inside a bone cage was a young woman. Her clothing was ripped and she was covered with dried blood, but it did not look like anything else had happened to her. I watched as Crixus broke the cage with his bare hands and freed the girl. She cried in the arms of the adventurer that was looking for her. Probably lovers.

Poor thing.

I looked down at the woman at my feet. She did not look at me. She did not look at anything. Covered in bruises and body fluids. She, no, this entire yurt smelled of rotting squid. I bent down ignoring the smell and spoke to her.

“Live or die?” I asked her while putting the suppressor on my pistol.

The woman focused her eyes and turned to meet mine. “...Kill… m-”

*pew*

While holding a 「Silent Stone」 near my pistol, I shot her in the head. The others saw what I had done, but said nothing. I went to each girl and asked the same question. Except for the 1 in the cage, 11 women were mercy-killed by my hand. I collected the bodies, both ork and human as well as anything of value. I did not give the others a chance to speak and made them carry the everything over to me. Everything not of value, I burned.

Now what to do with the adventurers. Alicia and I will be continuing toward the boss room/downward path, but what about the adventurers?

“The both of us are going to continue downward. What will you do?” I asked the adventurers. That is when the arguments started. Half wanted to join us while the other half wanted to leave. 1 of the pit fighters even had the audacity to demand food from us. Alicia was… well she put him in his place. They eventually figured out what they wanted to do and divided the loot and food they had before getting separated. The pit fighters will take their chances and retreat while the other 3 will follow along with us.

Before we departed, I took the time to reload my rifle magazines as well as the pistol magazine. We did not encounter many orks as we traversed the floor. Most likely that that large group held the majority of the organized orks. It was also probable that most other ossians were killed off by them as well.

Because the adventurers had been here for over a month, they had already mapped out quite a bit of the 4th floor. We could not avoid every dead end, but since they had already found the boss room, it was a matter of retracing their steps. It took a few hours, but we finally found the boss room which had no line. We entered after preparing our weapons and armor.

Inside the boss room was…

“A fucking minotaur, finally!” I said ecstatically. Thoughts brewed in my head as I tried to think up ways of capturing it alive. Ultimately, it needed to die. It would be much too inconvenient to attempt to tame it. We could try later on on our return trip though.

The minotaur did not charge us immediately. Nor did it attempt to intimidate us. It simply observed our movements and prepared a big fucking battleaxe. Next to the minotaur was the body of an orgoss as well as a few orks. It seemed that the minotaur had no problem fighting them.

Lavinia found a position near a far corner of the room and nocked an arrow on her bow. Her wind magic complemented archery so it was her main weapon. Crixus wielded a heavy broadsword that was taken from an ork and stood in front of the minortaur. Claritia stood behind us prepared to cast healing magic. Not that it would benefit me. Alicia stood near me with a few daggers floating nearby while I aimed my rifle.

*pew*

The minotaur fell dead.

“Good job everyone,” I said to the surprised adventurers, “that… that was a difficult and tough fight, but, but we sure did persevere.” everyone just looked at me as if I were a lunatic. I thought it was funny. I mean, compared to that cyclops, this was a cakewalk.

The corpses were collected by me while everyone else went to the treasure chest. They seemed excited for the loot that they were receiving. Alicia and I received a small chest each. More magic stones and some magic scrolls. Good stuff.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Maze VII - 5th Floor Safe Room』

I was starting to get sick of this dungeon. Ever since we climbed down the stairs, all we fought were orks and more orks. A few trolls and goblins were in the mix, but mostly orks. We never even came in contact with any other adventurers in the 5 hours we spent exploring the area. Eventually, we ran into this safe room that was fairly pristine and, for some inexplicable reason, had a small treasure chest. I got magic stones as usual.

The adventurers were preparing to sleep while Alicia and I packed up our gear and prepared our weapons. Well, while I prepared my weapons. Really hate that I have yet to learn her magic.

Maybe I can use electric magic to launch the daggers and swords I looted.

When the adventurers saw us packing up, they asked why. I obviously told them that I wanted to clear the dungeon within a week and that sitting around doing nothing helped us naught. They apprehensively packed up their gear while I gave them some coffee to perk them up since I am so generous. The looks on their faces as they took their 1st sip was awesome.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Vaticano – Unknown Location』

The head of the Vaticanii family read the numerous reports on the 2 people responsible for killing his son. The receptionist would visit him to deliver reports and answer any questions he had of her. He continued reading until he saw a report that they were responsible for Labyrinth X and supposedly wielded a mithrillic weapon. Numerous men around him were also reading copies of the same reports.

The reports also included observations of the deaths surrounding the 3 men, which included the Vaticanii son. Small holes in their chests that could fit the shaft of an arrow. Numerous pieces of plumbum being found scattered within the confines of their chest. A magic tool that created a loud sound and possibly caused these deaths. Each man wanted more information about this and how to acquire one for themselves.

“Where are they now?” a man asked the girl.

“In the 7th Maze. It has been 5 days since they had entered.” the girl answered.

“When… if they return, we should test them. See for ourselves if they are… genuine.” another man looked around the room as he spoke, “Hire adventurers and mercenaries to challenge these 2 to a duel. If they are legitimate then we can… persuade them into doing our bidding.”

The surrounding men agreed to this proposal.

“You, girl, are still a virgin?” asked one of the men.

“Yes, dominus.” the girl looked downward as she answered, knowing what was to come next.

“Good, give it to the boy and discover any secrets he has. If the reports are to be trusted, he separates from his wife on occasion. Use that opportunity to get in his bed.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +125』

『Maze VII – 7th Floor Safe Room』

I have no idea what was going on with floor 6 and floor 7. As we made it down to the 6th floor, we were met by the amazing smell of rotting corpses. Slimes littered the corridors consuming the bodies. We were forced to push aside the bodies with wind magic, which only made the smell worse. All I could think was the amount of noxious fumes and disease coming from the bodies. It was probably the most dangerous part of this dungeon we have faced.

“Don't touch the bodies and don't breathe in the fumes. Use this.” I instructed the others as I gave each person a 「Wind Stone」.

The bodies were mostly of rat-types. Crixus called them 'muroidoss'. There seemed to be thousands of their bodies laying dead. Occasionally, we would come across a troll or ogre body, but the state of decay was far too dangerous to handle. We had immediately made our way to the boss room, which we happened to come across in our attempt to avoid the rotting corpses.

The 7th floor was more of the same, but with actual fights. Muroidoss, the boar-types called scrofoss and the satyr-type called capross were fighting against goblins, orks, trolls and ogres. Whoever came up with their names is a fucking retard. God damn.

Because these groups were not unified and were suffering from probable infighting, it became quite easy to interfere and grab easy kills. The adventurers kept inquiring about our bags while we were collecting bodies. It made sense that they would as all they saw was bodies going in and more bodies going in and then more bodies went in and, yet, the bag never became full. Magic.

We cleared out the 1st safe room we came across. The adventurers were exhausted and we needed to recover as well. Too much of my mana and mana potions were spent on the 6th floor. The shower tools were used to wash away the filth inside the safe room. Though I did leave a body for Pinkface's dinner. After everyone had gone to sleep, I took my turn in the shower portion of the latrine. I had changed into cheap clothing that was found in the treasure chests and had multiple rags near me as well as my first aid kit. There was a task I needed to accomplish as I felt was my responsibility.

The bodies of the 11 girls I killed were taken out 1 by 1. Each time I removed a body, the bullet wound would begin to leak out. Their bodies were still warm. And each time I would plug up the gunshot wound with cotton balls and gauze while I was wearing a pair of nitrile gloves which came with the first aid kit. With my Grimoire, I synthesized some of the poor quality soap I had crafted and, along with the shower tool, began washing their bodies.

The odors were repugnant, but eventually washed away. Shitty soap was used instead of my easy to use body wash so as not to associate the memory. The filth covering and filling their bodies eventually washed away. I purified their bodies as best I could. When I was done, I dried and wrapped their bodies with cloth before returning them into my magic bag. Their loved ones did not need to see the state they were once in nor did they need to know how they had died.

“You did the right thing, onii-chan.” Alicia surprised me as she walked in to the room. “They were violated and abused. I know enough fantasy to know they were forced to birth monsters. They wanted to die and you gave them a painless death.”

She took me in her arms and cradled my head. When she released me, we both went to the bedroom to rest. It had been awhile, but the cascading feeling of the painkillers as it washed over my consciousness was welcomed. I slept as well as I could.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +126』

『Maze VII - 7th Floor Lord's Room』

Beyond our expectations, there were nearly 2 dozen minotaurs in the boss room. A mix of males and females wearing varying amounts of armor. We readied ourselves as we took up positions. A skill I had been wanting to try for awhile popped into my mind. I figured this was as good a time as any and took an iron dagger from my bag. An electromagnetic field was made around me. I focused it into 2 parallel currents in front of my hand. Sparks were emitted as I continuously attempted to focus the electricity. My target was selected and the dagger was released.

*tink*

Not only did I miss my target, but the speed was massively slow. The dagger bounced harmlessly off a minotaur horn and did no damage. It did piss it off something fierce. That ended up being the signal to attack and 5 minutes later, all the minotaurs were dead. Each of us were able to kill at least 1 minotaur. Even Claritia managed to kill 1.

“I can't believe it. Even after everything, I cannot believe it. It takes numerous skilled fighters to kill even just a single tauross and yet, we killed 22 with such ease. How?” Lavinia said in disbelief as she turned to me. “Is this the power of the summoned?”

I merely shrugged. Cattle are killed at slaughterhouses by getting shot in the back of the head, so I figured shooting them in the face would accomplish the same thing. Though Alicia did kill most of them.

Just like in Labyrinth X, the treasure chest was massive. Each of us received a large chest and I was forced… generous enough to offer the use of my magic bag to carry it. Of course, I labeled each of their chests with a pen and paper and stuck it on each chest. I will return it to them when we return to the surface. I mean, I am not some kind of thief… asshole emperors and duel welchers notwithstanding.

As we were preparing to backtrack our way through the maze, a secret passage opened up. The adventurers did not know where it lead and neither did we. I figured it was leading us to another lower floor. Entering it, however, proved me wrong, it was actually a hidden exit. We climbed a wide spiral staircase. There was a small rest area like a mini-safe room at each floor interval. There was no way into the maze floor, so no extra farming.

It was exhausting, but we managed to reach the top floor which lead into a corridor. I turned around and saw what appeared to be a hologram. Each person walked through the wall as if it were a fractional train platform. After the last person had crossed, the wall became solid… like a fractional train platform.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Dungeon Corridor』

We eventually found our way out. It was fairly straight forward as the corridor we arrived at was a dead end and only lead 1 way. There were a few adventurer and soldier groups that we passed, but they paid us no attention.

《!》

“Is that him?” “Yeah, black hair and strange armor.”

I heard obvious whisperings that were directed at me. They would not stop staring at me as I caught their eye. It was then that they began approaching me.

“You there,” one of the men started, “I, Mettius, of the house Gavros, challenge you to-”

“I just finished clearing the 7th floor boss room of this fucking maze. Fuck off.” I interrupted the leechers.

The man held a surprised look, “Wha- are you a coward that you would run away from a challen-”

“Yuuup~.” I said as we walked away.

“We just finished killing 22 minotaurs you fucking assholes. And you want to challenge us? Fucking cowards.” Alicia threw in, further surprising them.

Of course, the men were unsatisfied with that and proceeded to follow us. I cared little for their pettiness and asked Alicia to hire us a transport to the villa. I needed to speak with the guild master as well as collect my money from selling the corpses.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Dungeon Guild – Guild Master's Office』

“107 gold aurei, 19 silver denarii, 2 sesterces and 7 aesses.” the guild master counted off as he handed me a heavy purse.

“That's all?” I asked, surprised at the low amount. I have gotten more than that from the small chests.

“It's quite a haul, especially considering the conditions of the bodies, which increased the pay rate.” the guild master was quite satisfied that most of the bodies were not ripped to shreds and were very much usable for whatever it was they used the bodies for.

“Well whatever, that isn't what I came here to speak to you about.” I pointed over to the line of 11 cloth-wrapped bodies. The bodies of the women were taken out before the guild master had met with me. “Female adventurers that had been found in an ork den. I'll pay for whatever burial rites your people conduct, but don't let their loved ones or whoever know how they were found.”

My business with the guild was done, for now, and I left to meet with Alicia.

“Dominus, a word.” 1 of the receptionist called out to me. She pulled me aside to a quiet corner and spoke in a whisper, “Dominus has accomplished many great feats. If it would please you, my home is not far from here.”

I, of course, declined as I was much too tired and Alicia was waiting for me. She was outside the carriage along with the 3 adventurers who were waiting inside. I did not mind them tagging along. Of course, they were not as surprised they we were heading to the imperial villa, just surprised that they were being allowed to enter.

Saya and Illyria greeted us at the door. They knew me so well that the bath was already being prepared. While I had them go ahead and wait for me, I had the house servants find a room for the adventurers. I was going to leave their chests in their room for them to deal with.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +127』

「Quest Complete:【Subjugation V】 |

Information: Kill 1000 dungeon creatures. [1000/1000]

Rewards: Illusionary Repetition」

「Quest Complete:【Goblin Subjugation IV】 |

Information: Kill 75 of the same creature. [75/75]

Rewards: 20,000 stored Mana, 175 Skill Points」

「Quest Complete:【Goblin Subjugation V】 |

Information: Kill 100 of the same creature. [100/100]

Rewards: Goblin Talisman」

「Quest Complete:【Tauross Subjugation I】 |

Information: Kill 1 of the same creature. [1/1]

Rewards: 10,000 stored Mana, 100 Skill Points」

「Quest Complete:【Tauross Subjugation II】 |

Information: Kill 2 of the same creature. [2/2]

Rewards: 20,000 stored Mana, 200 Skill Points」

「Quest Complete:【Tauross Subjugation III】 |

Information: Kill 3 of the same creature. [3/3]

Rewards: 30,000 stored Mana, 300 Skill Points」

「Quest Complete:【Tauross Subjugation IV】 |

Information: Kill 4 of the same creature. [4/4]

Rewards: 40,000 stored Mana, 400 Skill Points」

「Quest Complete:【Tauross Subjugation V】 |

Information: Kill 5 of the same creature. [5/5]

Rewards: Tauross Bell」

「Quest Failed:【Rescue】 |

Information: Rescue 12 women held captive within the Orkoss Den. Quest failure if more than 6 are killed. [1/12] Alive | [11/12] Dead

Penalty: -11,000 stored Mana, -1100 Skill Points」

“Ah, fuck...” I said as I checked my Grimoire.

I had not spawned my Grimoire while we were inside the maze and when we returned to the villa, I simply went straight to synthesizing all my queued items. While it was great that I cleared many quests, it was pretty disappointing that I had failed 1 inadvertently. Well, there was nothing I could do about it now so I simply brushed it aside.

Alicia took the adventurers to the 「Dungeon Guild」while I decided to sort through my loot. I checked over the items I had synthesized overnight and saw a pile of stuff. The largest ones were a large chest and a banner. The chest had thick walls and a stack of thin trays. The trays looked like a baking pan for mini mini-muffins. The banner had an emblem of an ork and was decorated like you would expect a caveman to decorate it. There was also a cow bell, a rattle made out of a gourd with feathers attached and numerous 「Amplifier Stones」.

There were also a lot of weapons that ranged from garbage quality from ossian drops to normal and slightly above normal quality from the chests. Aside from my scepter and boots, I do not believe I received any other magic equipment. The ossian drops, I feel, I could smelt into scrap iron. The rest should be sellable.

I kept searching through the piles of weapons and synthesized items looking for the gun I thought I synthesized from my quest. Though it did say 「Illusionary Repetition」, I figured it meant the same as repeater like a repeating rifle or a revolver. I could not find anything that resembled either.

There was nothing else to do, but give up and move on to something else for now. The chests that held the tomes and scrolls were pulled out and the tomes were removed. It was 37 tomes that teaches one to learn a spell. Half of it were elemental spells that I already knew, but there was 1 tome that interested me. A Domination type spell that was part of 「Animancy」 called 《Consume Soul》.

The tome described the spell as taking the soul from a recently deceased target and converting it into Life Force. At level 1, the window to consume the soul was 1 minute. It did not describe a cooldown so I would assume it was spammable. To be honest, it sounded a little too much like 「Necromancy」.

Magecraft: Animancy | Category: Domination | Information: Soul Mage – Allows User to manipulate Life Force. Current Spells Unlocked: 1

「Quest Complete: 【Learn Animancy】 |

Information: Limited Grimoire functions may be used without spawning physical Grimoire to add layer of protection.

Rewards: Animancy Spells: 《Mana Regeneration Level: 1》《Health Regeneration Level: 1》《Stamina Regeneration Level: 1》」

《Consume Soul – level: 1》

Consume target's soul within 1 minute to replenish Life Force.

《Mana Regeneration – Level: 1》

Gain +5 Mana Regeneration and -1 Life Force Degeneration per minute. Duration: 5 minutes.

《Health Regeneration – Level: 1》

Gain +5 Health Regeneration and -1 Life Force Degeneration per minute. Duration 5 minutes.

《Stamina Regeneration – Level: 1》

Gain +5 Stamina Regeneration and -1 Life Force Degeneration per minute. Duration 5 minutes.

Prompt:

User may now browse Grimoire Menus without physical spawning. Must spawn Grimoire in order to make adjustments, convert, copy or synthesize.

Neat.

I focused my mind in order to pop up my attribute panel.

Health:

1000/1000

Stamina:

979↓/1000

Mana:

933↓/1000

Life Force:

991↓/1000

Strength:

48 → 51

Intelligence:

42 → 43

Precision:

63 → 65

Wisdom:

44 → 46

Dexterity:

47 → 49

Willpower:

39 → 44

Endurance:

51 → 53

Perception:

68 → 69

Toughness:

43 → 44

Charisma:

36 → 37

Resistance:

33 → 34

Luck:

70

Health Recovery:

50

Stamina Recovery:

50

Mana Recovery:

50

Life Force Recovery:

50

Skill Points:

15,431

Stored Mana:

1,152,917

Status Effects:

(-)

Super neat.

Being able to quickly check my stats on the fly would help things out. I should also be able to check my quests.

「Grand Quest:【Cure The Oss Curse】

Information: User is afflicted with the Oss Curse, a disease which may alter humans into an Ossian. Discover a cure. |

Rewards: 50,000,000 stored Mana, 1,000,000 Skill Points, Gift of Veiovis」

「Quest: 【Maze X】 |

Information: Something forgotten lurks deep within the lower depths of Maze X.

Rewards: 500,000 stored Mana, (Reward Obscured)」

“Weird quest, but okay. Challenge accepted! But this is so cool though.” I said to myself.

Both my attributes and quest list were transparent. If I focus my attention to something behind the screen, I would be able to make it out. If I stared long enough, the screen would simply disappear. At least now I would not have to worry about wondering how my stats were.

My Grimoire was set to synthesize more items, since I needed more bullets and I turned my attention at all the money chests I received. I had to move to a corner of the room so I could have more space while I sorted out my loot. It was a total of 17 chests, 3 of which were large while the rest were small. They were very heavy as they did not use 「Float Stones」 to reduce the weight.

I went over to the chest I retrieved from Labyrinth VII and started digging around for rings. This has been something I have been putting off, but now that I have a bit of time I wanted to check it off my list. I needed a wedding ring for Alicia and Minervina.

Why are there so many candlesticks?

I did not remember seeing so many gilded candlesticks before, but I did not care. It was intricately designed and very tasteful. I could use these to romance the girls a bit.

Just like all the other chests I have checked the contents of, there was no organization to the items held within. It was a simple mishmash of whatever could be thrown in. I took 1 of the magic scroll/tome chests that was emptied out and started filling it with gemstones. Another was filled with jewelry. Any rings I came across I would put aside.

During my item sorting, I found an orichalcum plate. An appraisal plate that was just like the one Minervina used on me. I had tested it on myself and it was very detailed. Compared to this, the one I had made and left with Veronica was utter garbage. I started using this on all the jewelry starting with the rings.

Ring of Mana:

+20 Mana

Ring of Dexterity:

+5 Dexterity

Ring of Fire Resistance:

+10 Fire Resistance

Ring of Casting:

+5% Casting Speed

Ring of Strength:

+1 Strength

Ring of Resistance:

+25 Resistance

Ring of Damage:

+15 Damage

Ring of Protection:

Nullify 10 Damage

Ring of Swiftness:

+5% Movement Speed

Ring of Life Steal:

Steal 1 Health

About 1/3 of the rings I appraised were magic rings. As far as I could see, the scaling goes from 1, 5, 10,15, 20 and 25. If it was enchanted, I was unable to tell. There were no obvious markings aside from intricate designs that did not appear as runes. I decided to give the Ring of Protection to Minervina and the Ring of Damage to Alicia. But the Casting and Resistance would also be a good choice. Maybe I can let her decide.

Amulets and armbands were the same deal. About 4 amulets and 7 armbands. An amulet had a +20 Mana Recovery which I immediately wore. There was also an amulet that increased luck by 5 and an armband that produces a barrier that I wanted to give to Minervina.

Amulet of Luck:

+5 Luck

Armband of Defense:

Activate to produce a small barrier.

5/5 (24 hour recharge)

The armband produced a barrier that covered the users body like a thin, transparent plastic wrap. When I appraised it after my test, it showed a 4/5 count. I was unsure if it was a 24 hours for a full recharge or for 1 pip. Minervina will definitely get this.

I went to work in turning one of the small chests into a magic chest. The design of the chest was neither plain, nor was it intricate. Minimalistic would probably describe it best. 2 handles on the sides with a latch on the front with simple patterns engraved on the outside. If I counted this right, I should be able to turn this into a 40 slot with 100 stack chest.

Each enchantment was stamped and fed mana and each magic stone was glued to each enchantment. A panel of high quality leather was tailored to have an opening to activate the distortion field and glued atop the magic stones. I engraved my family crest on the top of the chest. The last thing I did was synthesized a ring box and held it in place with a couple stacks of gold coins wedged from the sides. I also threw in a bag of gemstones that would rattle and make noise in case someone got curious. Inside the slots, I would place an amulet, armband and some food.

It had taken me a few hours and now I was hungry. I had been using 《Mana Regeneration》 constantly as I was feeding the enchantments and I believe I can confirm that there is a correlation between Life Force and hunger. Not only that, I kept thinking of Minervina while I was crafting this magic chest and was a bit in the mood.

Saya and Illyria were nowhere to be found. Not like I looked very hard, but I did not want to search every centimeter of the villa for the both of them. As I was searching, the house servant that has always been waiting for orders would follow me around. Unable to restrain myself, I took her into the bedroom and fondled her breasts. She did not hesitate in removing her clothing. Her breasts fit comfortably in my hands. I could wait no longer and pushed her down to her knees. She undid my shorts and took me into her mouth.

Unf, fuck. She's good.

I quickly came in her mouth and she had no problems swallowing it all. It is quite nice being with an experienced girl. Now that I was sated, I went off to the kitchen. As I was walking through the hall, with the servant girl following me while wiping her mouth, I ran into Claritia.

“Naoki, salve.” she greeted me.

“Salve,” I returned the greeting. “I thought you were with Alicia and the others.”

“Your wife suggested I should spend the day resting.” she answered.

“I see. I’m about to have some food prepared, would you like to join me?” I asked her and she agreed. We walked together to the kitchen.

As we enjoyed our lunch, we chatted about everything that had happened to us. She explained how she had found me. Her group was giving the remains of their fallen member to his family at a village outside of Liguria. They had seen a flash of lights of the Rift that brought me here and had thought it was a lightning storm. Finding the turtle on top of me and seeing my condition. Her inability to heal me for an unknown reason, which I have not told her. Her using potions to heal me and using that excuse to make out with me. Claritia explained that after I had inadvertently grabbed her breast, she became more interested in physical intimacy.

“Within the 「Healer's Guild」 we are divided into various orders. I am part of the Vestal Order. My healing magic will remain potent as long as I remain virginal. Spending years denying such urges and being protected by Lavinia and Crixus, I was able to resist temptation.” she explained, with her eyes having difficulty meeting mine.

“But then I accidentally tempted you.” I finished her train of thought.

She nodded, “Ever since then, Crixus has been… encouraging me to lay with you. Even Lavinia would give me whispers to return to Aventine and meet with you. While we were in the maze, your wife had been interrogating me since our meeting asking me numerous things I wish to never repeat out loud. She has also given us her blessi-”

I quickly finished my meal and took her by the hand. My fingers were laced tightly with hers as I lead her to the bedroom. Our lips were joined and our tongues tied together. My hands fondled a breast and an ass each. It felt so good to feel her body. Her robes were quite misleading as she was much thinner than I had expected.

Her robes were removed and I took in her body. Large breasts and wide hips. I pushed her down onto the bed and moved between her legs. She gasped as my tongue licked her between her legs, tasting her pussy. It did not take her long to reach orgasm, especially considering how sexually repressed she had been. Once she had relaxed, I moved up her body, kissing as I went and took each nipple into my mouth. Despite the size of her breast, her areola and nipple were fairly small.

Claritia was in a daze. Her face glowing and her eyes glazed from her orgasm. I positioned myself at her entrance and pushed lightly. She was so wet that I entered her easily and I was enthralled by how warm she was. I moved out slightly, then back inside her. A centimeter in then back out. 2 centimeters in then back out. Halfway in and she finally realized what was happening. She gripped the sheets tightly as her face grimaced in pain at her 1st penetration.

Even with her body resisting my intrusion, I made it all the way inside her. My pelvis rested against hers as I heard her quietly whimpering. I waited for her until she could acclimate to having me inside her before I would move. Her hands released the bedsheets and moved down to where we were joined. She whispered something to herself. When she finished her chanting, her body relaxed.

I took this as my cue to start fucking her. Her eyes never left my face as I was thrusting in and out of her body. Eventually our rhythm became perfect with our thrusts meeting each other then leaving each other at the same time. I watched as her breasts would move in sync with our thrusts.

It felt amazing finishing inside her and filling her with cum.

My body rested atop her as I recovered. We kissed. Minutes passed and we kissed. Minutes passed, minutes passed and I went back to fucking her. She moaned, she screamed and she grunted. I filled her a 2nd time, then a 3rd time, then a 4th time.

We finally separated. I have no idea how much time had passed, but we were finally exhausted. But there was an interesting I noticed. Even with my stamina reaching below 200 points, I was still erect. Whatever magic she was casting had an effect on me. Though healing magic would not work on me directly, perhaps it would have some kind of effect indirectly? Whatever it was, I had become exhausted and was beginning to fall asleep.

Before I did, I had the servant girl, who was apparently watching us, clean us up. Me first, though, as I wanted her to perform fellatio on me again.

☘ ☘ ☘

Alicia entered the bedroom after having completed her business with the 「Dungeon Guild」. She looked at the scene of Claritia laying in a puddle of blood and cum while Naoki was receiving a blowjob from the servant girl while asleep. The girl removed Naoki's dick from her mouth when she had realized Alicia was inside the room.

“Did you fuck him?” Alicia asked the girl.

“No, Domina. However, this one was requested to fellate Dominus twice.” the girl answered.

“Keep sucking.” Alicia ordered the girl before turning her attention to Claritia.

“How was it?” she asked as she moved to her side and stroked Claritia's cheek.

“P-painful, but there was also pleasure. But mostly pain. I used magic to relieve the pain. W-we did it 4 times.” Claritia answered as she lay exhausted on the bed.

“You'll get used to it.” Alicia said. “Congrats on the sex, by the way.”

She ordered Saya, who had followed her in, to take Claritia to the bath to get clean. She then returned her attention back to the servant who was busy with her mouth full. “You have permission to fuck him.”

Hearing this, the girl removed her remaining clothing and mounted Naoki. Her hand carefully guiding his penis between her legs. Alicia watched as the girl carefully moved up and down. Watching as Naoki disappeared into the girl. She bit her lip anxiously as her arousal rose. However, while she was unable to participate for the next few days, she was able to enjoy the show.

“This one greets Domina.” Illyria announced as she entered the bedroom. Her eyes caught sight of the lewd scene before her.

“How's Sidony's training?” Alicia asked, not removing her eyes from the copulation.

“She is doing well as she is able to understand quickly.” Illyria answered. “Will Domina be giving her to master?”

“Soon, but not yet.” Alicia said as her fingers disappeared between her legs.

☘ ☘ ☘

“Onii-chan, onii-chan wake up~. Onii-chan, can you hear me? Onii-chan, did you have fun fucking the shit out of Claritia?” Alicia spoke as I was starting to wake up from my nap. “Well, good morning, onii-chan. You literally murdered her pussy, you know? She told me what happened, every time she would cast healing magic, her hymen would get repaired. So what's it like taking the virginity of the same girl 4 times? Onii-chan, you're such a horny dog~.”

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +128』

『Imperial Villa』

My memory of last night was a bit fuzzy, but I do remember drinking wine. Lots of wine. I think there was a celebration for Claritia becoming a woman, at least I vaguely remember Crixus saying such a thing. When morning came, I had sent Crixus and Lavinia off to purchase supplies for our last dungeon crawl. Alicia and Claritia were sent to purchase as much potions as possible. There was only 3 of Veronica's potent mana potions and 7 regular potions.

While everyone was out, I decided on my own set of tasks to complete. I was in the kitchen preparing various meals for my care package to Minervina as well as some variety for the rest of us. There was a bit of cheating as I synthesized some ingredients to use. Pinkface would eat some of the scraps and always wobbled when I fed it. Usually it would disappear somewhere into the villa and only show up when it was hungry.

Once I had enough for Minervina's share, I stored it in her chest. I asked the servant girl to find me a messenger that can travel to Aventine quickly. Extra coin was paid for overnight delivery, but he said that even on horseback it would take a few days to reach the city. With this done, I returned to the kitchen to finish the other meals.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +129』

『Forum – Market District』

Claritia and I were on a date. We went shopping for new clothes and searched for an upgrade to her weapon. We were having a lot of fun exploring the city, but my 《Vigilance》 was going crazy. I was able to avoid falling into some traps, but the offenders were starting to become more direct.

“You there, I challenge you to a fight!”

“You there, accept my challenge or be called a coward!”

“You there, I challenge-”

“You there, I challenge-”

“Challenge-”

It ended with me killing 18 people. The whole day, even as we were returning to the villa, I would be challenged by some asshole. It had completely ruined our lovey-dovey atmosphere. A plan was made after returning to the villa and I was a bit excited to try it out. Whenever someone would challenge me, I would demand 100 gold aurei for the right to challenge me. The loser would pay me 500 gold aurei and anyone who would challenge me without paying would be forced to pay me 1000 gold aurei.

Yes, let's try this.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +130』

『Forum – Market District』

This time I was with Alicia. I wanted to know what was going on and why I was being accosted. If I remembered right, it started with 2 men when we exited the dungeon. From there we were being followed and constantly watched. I have no idea what had happened to them, nor did I care. Now we were here baiting them out.

“Black hair and a strange face. You are the one, I see. I challenge you to-”

“100 gold aurei.” I said, interrupting the man.

“W-what?” the man confusedly asked.

“100 gold aurei for the right to challenge me. Of course, we will fight to the death and you will pay me 500 gold aurei. So have the money up front.” I explained to him.

The man held an annoyed look on his face upon hearing my words. But before he could draw his weapon, Alicia's daggers stabbed into his limbs and pinned him to the ground. I approached the man now that he was immobilized and started interrogating him.

“A bounty,” caved the man, “a bounty in the 「Adventurer's Guild」 has been placed against you!”

I was satisfied with his answer. His head was removed, but not added into the bag with the other heads, and we made our way to the 「Adventurer's Guild」. There was nothing of value on him so rest of the body was left as is.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Adventurer's Guild』

We drew stares as we waited in line due to the head I was holding. The head was dipping blood on the floor and the slaves were apprehensive about approaching us to clean the mess. Mostly because the guards were being held back by Alicia. The receptionist and guild master were none too pleased by our display and also refused to remove the bounty or explain why it was listed or by whom.

“So anyone can be listed as a bounty request?” I asked the guild master.

“Correct.” answered the guild master stoically.

“So what's to stop someone, not me, from posting a bounty for your head?” my words were taken a bit too literally. Suffice to say, we were expelled from the guild. Well, technically we were expelled from the 「Adventurer's Guild」, but not from the 「Dungeon Guild」 which was a subsidiary. We were not even members of the 「Adventurer's Guild」.

As we left the guild building and made our return to the villa, Alicia turned to me. “It was obviously that Vaticanius person. We should probably kill him.”

“Yeah, probably,” I agreed, “but I don't really want to make it a habit to kill a city governor every other month.”

《!》

As we were walking toward the villa, I felt a 《Vigilance》 warning that was slightly different from the norm.

“We're being followed.” I said to Alicia in Japanese. We had been restricting the use of Japanese as our secret language. I did not want whoever was tracking us knowing what I was attempting. It would be too obvious if we were to head straight to a back alley, so we tried to play it off visiting stalls and purchasing random items.

It took awhile to lure out the person, but it was easy peasy. Alicia had brought up shields for us to use as stepping stones and we waiting on some nearby roof. Once I pointed out the person, Alicia sent her daggers out. We dropped down and secured the person. This time it was a girl. She had in her possessions a couple daggers, a gladius, a shortbow and a quiver full of what I am assuming is poisoned arrows.

“Let me guess, you want to challenge me as well?” I asked the girl on the ground.

“I'll have your head, you murderer.” the girl spat at me.

“What, did I kill your lover or something?” the words I said burned something inside her.

“You killed my brother and the useless guild master did nothing but protect you!” the girl's rage revealed her identity.

“You're a Vaticanii, huh? So was it him that posted that bounty?” I asked the girl, but she only narrowed her eyes. I turned to Alicia and asked her, “Do you know wh-”

“Found it on the 1st day.” she anticipated my question and answered, “Plans?”

“It'll be dark soon. We need to act quickly and prepare for tomorrow. Nice and flashy.” I took the girl and we left.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +131』

『Vaticanius Estate – Front Gates』

I know I am going a little overboard with this, but my down time has been completely ruined by these interruptions. So it is not my fault that I took this assassin that was aiming for my life and crucified her in front of her house. She is still alive of course, but her hands and feet are impaled into the wood.

Alicia and I were waiting next to the cross in full armor with both of us wearing a sashimono banner. I should not really say it right now what with the moment and all, but she looks really hot with full samurai armor. We waited for the guards to catch on that there were people outside stirring shit up. It took some time, but finally a contingent of guards showed up in full gear and weapons drawn.

“Oh good, took you guys long enough. So, um, I want to talk to your leader.” I said to the guards surrounding us. As I looked at the men around us, I pointed behind me to the girl impaled on the cross. “You know if you try something stupid she dies, right? Now, bring out what's-his-name because I have questions.”

The captain of the guard was a very polite gentleman as he agreed to have us meet with, you know what, I do not even care about what his name even is. But after Alicia despawned all the daggers that were hovering around the guardsmen necks, we were lead into the villa.

“By the way, any attempts to freeing the assassin will kill her. Only I know how to disable the trap.” I warned everyone in earshot as we walked away.

☘ ☘ ☘

We were lead to an underground area of the villa. Super secret-like. The room we were lead in to was lit with magic stones and was quite roomy. Inside was 4 mean and a girl, but there were about 20 empty seats arranged around a large table.

Isn't that the 「Dungeon Guild」 receptionist?

I see, so she has been giving them information about us. Not that it matters, I never really cared about keeping our identities a secret. Just our technologies… kinda. The girl was dismissed and we both took our seat.

“So you murder my son, you hold my daughter hostage and now you sit before us. What more do you wish to take from this family? I should have you strung up.” the man sitting in a large chair said to us.

“I take it you are the head of the Vaticanii?” I asked the man.

“I am.”

“Good, great. Now, did you put a bounty on us?”

“Not exactly, but I had agreed to it.” the man seemed confused at my question.

“I want it removed. In return I will allow you to bury your daughter's head with honor.” as the words left my lips, the man's eyes narrowed in fury. But before he could say anything, I gave him a final warning. “I am Naoki of house Kuroba. The attacks on my person will cease or I will have your head. And just so I am clear, I was instrumental in the execution of Propraetor Umbrius. So there is no problem of me removing obstinate governors who think they can do whatever they want.”

Erased was his fury and what replaced it was surprise, “Summoned? Wait wait wait, the bounty will be removed. Let's open discussions.”

“Discussions, about what? You're more than welcome to beg forgiveness for offending us.” I offered the man.

The man shook his head. “Amongst my peers, my position is rather high. I am able to offer you many rewards in return for assisting us.” Once the man shook off his surprised look, he returned to his annoyingly calm demeanor. “Umbrius was a fool, always letting his ego take over. He had moved beyond his role and made decisions against our knowledge. For his offenses, I sincerely apologize.

“The legends of the summoned were said to have been brought to our world against their will. If you are truly a 'Summoned' then that means you were brought here against your will. If it was the imperial family who had committed such a crime then you will understand our position. Once more, I would humbly request your assistance in bringing to justice the crimes in which the Epistylii family had committed throughout this empire's history.”

“No, fuck off.” I gently and respectfully declined the man's proposal.

“I can give you land.” the man offered.

“I have land.” I refused.

“I can offer you women.” the man tried another offer.

“He has women.” Alicia refused.

We both stood up and headed for the door. “As agreed, the bounty will be removed immediately or you will be publicly executed. Now if you would kindly follow us so that I may present your daughter's head to you.”

We were lead back out to the front of the villa. As soon as the crucified assassin saw Vaticanius, she began to struggle in frenzy. She yelled things like 'save me' and making false accusations like 'they raped me' in an attempt to garner sympathy.

In hindsight, I should have bound her mouth.

Not much could be done about that now so I ignored it. I removed the impalements from her hands and feet *thud* and gently brought her down. Since it was made with earth magic, it was easy to remove. I then had her sitting upright on the ground while she begged her father for help. He simply stood still and watched, though I do think he was saying something, but I could not hear it.

My sword was drawn and with a single slash, the girl's head fell to the ground. Wind magic was used to clean my blade instead of water and the sword was returned to its sheathe. The head was picked up and the dust removed before I handed it over to the propraetor. When I saw his appearance, he had completely paled in shock and did not receive the head. It was one of his attendants that took the head from me.

“W… why?” whispered the man.

“Our business is concluded.” I ignored the man and we left.

When we had left the area and headed toward the villa, Alicia's armor began disappearing.

“Fucking hell, that took too long. You have any idea how hard it was to keep resummoning those armor pieces without anyone noticing?” Alicia said as she was stretching her body. “So what are we going to do about them?”

“Nothing, I don't give a shit if he starts a rebellion. But any messengers we send out to warn Minervina would be intercepted. So for now we do nothing, but we should increase the guard's patrols.” I said to Alicia as I kept a watchful eye around us. “I'll warn Minervina about keeping an eye on the Vaticanii and who they associate with.”

“What about the messenger that is carrying your love letter to the princess?” she asked.

“It should be fine. I sent him out a couple days ago, before this thing escalated.” I answered, though I was a bit concerned about the safety of the package.

“I could go out and let her know.” Alicia offered.

“Nah, I want you by my side if anything happens.” I took her hand in mine as I said so.

“Aww, you're sho shweet~.” she mockingly said as she gave me a kiss. Then leaned in to whisper into my ear, “Just for that, I'll give you a blowjob.”

“No sex?” I asked, slightly disappointed.

“Nah, not for a few days.”

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +132』

『Maze X』

All our preparations were made and the 5 of us entered the 10th maze. Thanks to Alicia, I was overloaded with bullets and rifle magazines. It hurt watching her take a fresh box and a fully loaded magazine of 7.62 rounds copied into the Grimoire. But I was able to gain a large amount of bullets and fresh magazines. While synthesizing, I was busily making batches of magic scrolls.

I had also figured out what the hell the 「Illusionary Repetition」 was. It looked like a piece of jewelry that had a band with a clip to hook onto itself like a necklace. The band were attached to a half cylinder about the size of a golf pencil. A simple test with my sword was performed and what had happened was as I drew the blade and slashed upward, multiple phantom blades followed. I was unsure if it was 2 or 3 blades as it had a blurred appearance. If I were to attach it to my gun or scepter, I would be able to wreak havoc. Which is what I did by attaching it to my rifle barrel next to the 「Mana Stone」.

We cleared the 1st floor with ease. The phantom bullets followed the trajectory of the initial bullet and acted the same way it would as a real bullet. If the initial bullet contacts an enemy and becomes stuck inside or deflected, the phantom bullets would continue forward until it hits an obstruction. I was mowing down multiple ossians with a single shot. It was amazing.

Of course this would really only work if I had long stretches of corridors to exploit the long range capabilities of the rifle. Once we reached the 2nd and 3rd floor, the density of the ossians and the short corridors made it difficult to remain at range.

Inside the 3rd floor safe room, we took a short break and I switched the 「Illusionary Repetition」 over to my scepter. The spell 《Wind Cutter》, which was already a multiple projectile attack, doubled or even tripled each of the projectile. I was essentially a one-man army with how easy this became. Until my mana was nearly depleted.

It costs 25 mana per projectile. I would replenish my mana with potions and 《Mana Regeneration》 and replenish my life force with 《Consume Soul》. 《Consume Soul》, at level 1, only worked while I was around 1 meter away from the target. It may actually be less as I was still unsure of the local unit of measure. Using these 3, my mana consumption was pretty low.

“I'm all topped off.” I said to the others as I finished eating a very hearty meal.

The other adventurers that were occupying the safe room were confused since we had only stayed for about an hour. The 5 of us pushed on to the 4th floor where the amount of adventurers and soldiers began thinning out. There were no goblins around, but there were a lot of orks, so I took out the 「Orkoss War Banner」 to test out its ability by luring a lone ork.

“Waagh!” screamed an ork as it charged toward us.

I fed mana into the banner and kept waving it around like an idiot. Whatever the range was, the ork had run into it and stopped in its tracks. The banner was held still as it kept its eyes glued onto it. After a few minutes, the ork shifted its eyes onto me, but remained still. Capturing it ended up costing me 50 mana.

“It's just standing there.” Crixus brilliantly observed while Lavinia kept an arrow trained at the ork.

“Maybe it's some kind of mind control. Try giving it orders.” Alicia suggested.

“Yeah, okay. Sit.” I ordered the ork.

The ork then plopped down onto the ground and sat upright.

“Stand.” the ork stood back up.

“Turn around.” the ork turned about-face.

“Bring another of your kind to me alive.” the ork ran forward and turned a corner, disappearing into the maze. It returned 10 minutes later with half a dozen other orks behind him.

I repeated my action with the banner and waited for the orks to reach the threshold. The 1st ork I had captured stopped and so did 1 of the others he had brought. Only 1. The rest continued their charge and were killed by Alicia, Crixus and Lavinia.

“Okay,” I started as soon as I captured the 2nd ork, “so I can only mind break 1 at a time it seems.”

“I wonder if there's a limit to how many you can control. Having them fight for us would bolster our strength greatly.” Lavinia said, awed at the thought of having an army of orks at our disposal.

“Let's find out.” I said to her as I ordered the ork to repeat the same command.

As it turned out, the number that I was able to control simultaneously was 10. I had also captured 3 goblins that we happened to come across. Alicia used her shields to hold down 1 and Crixus physically restrained another while I was busy capturing each of the goblins. My mana did not seem to drain faster than normal and there was no indication that I needed to refresh each capture.

With this being confirmed, I wanted to capture a minotaur with the cow bell.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Maze X – 5th Floor』

The randomness of the boss room kicked in as we fought not only 3 minotaurs, but 2 scrofoss, boar-types, as well. I ended up losing all my goblins and 7 orks, but managed to capture the minotaur. Now we had to find a safe room to rest in as the day was already done and the others were tired. I was able to get by with my regen spells and soul eating. Yummy.

The 1st safe room we came across was a disgusting slime den. So many slimy eggs hanging from the ceiling and walls. As we turned around to leave, Pinkface jumped out of my backpack and into the safe room. It began devouring any eggs that it could reach. I started to follow it in to bring Pinkface back.

“Onii-chan, no. Leave it, that shit is gross.” Alicia attempted to stop me from going inside.

“I'm not leaving Pinkface and besides, this is a good opportunity to grow more slimes.” I reasoned with her, thinking of that slime incubator I had received.

I collected about 3 kilos of gross slimy slime eggs. On the other hand, Pinkface collected enough eggs to appear double in size and barely fitting in my backpack. The eggs inside were also visible, causing all of us to shudder in disgust.

And we now all have trypophobia. Thanks Pinkface.

The 2nd safe room was nothing more than ruins with frog people inside. We killed them before leaving. It took an hour of walking around and killing ossians that were not capturable before we found a clean safe room. It was hidden by debris. We had only found it because of a cyclops, which we had stumbled across, fell against it as it died and dislodged some of the debris.

We all went to work preparing to bunker down for the night. Alicia prepared the sleeping quarters. Crixus and Lavinia were busy dressing 1 of the minotaur we had killed for meat while I started cooking. Apparently the steaks I had been eating before were mostly minotaur. The remaining captured orks and the minotaur were made to sit in a corner away from the sleeping quarters.

☘ ☘ ☘

I was alone with Alicia in 1 of the empty areas of the safe room. A table and chair was taken out of the magic bag and set up in the room. My pistol and rifle magazines were laid out and the empties were refilled. Both barrels were cleaned, but there was no need to oil it. I simply wanted to remove debris build up from all the shooting I had done. The suppressors were checked and there was no obvious damages on each of them.

The rifle was loaded, but not chambered and the 「Mana Stone」 replaced. The magazines were carefully organized before being placed in my small magic bag. The pistol was loaded and the mag--

“Naoki Kuroba of Earth! Rejoice, for the great I have deemed you worthy of my pre-”

*bang**bang**bang**bang**bang*