第四話 笑顔が溢れる洞窟
「早速アタシの武器が見つかっちゃいましたね! 後は軽くスマイルを狩って、レベル上げとアイテム収拾ってところですか?」
洞窟を進む道中も、ルーチェはずっと嬉しそうに〈黒鋼のナイフ〉を握り締めていた。
「そうだな......まずは軽くスマイルを十体くらい狩って、レベル上げとアイテム収拾を行っておきたい。その後は、HPやポーションの減り具合......時間を考慮して、臨機応変にってところか」
「じゅっ、十体ですか!? 確かに先のスマイルはノーダメージで倒せましたけれど......結構エルマさん大変そうに見えていましたが、大丈夫なんですか?」
大変そうに見えた......か。
確かに壁際に追い込んで盾で殴り続けて動きを封殺する必要があるので、少し忙しく見えるかもしれない。
ただ、命の危険はほとんどない上に、スマイルの動きは単調であるため、読み切るのはそう難しくない。
エンブリオ戦やマリス戦に比べれば、半ば流れ作業のようなものである。
むしろ物足りないくらいだ。
「黒鋼装備の市場価値が一本四百万ゴルドと少し......。四本集めて、ようやく〈輝くラーナの飾剣〉と同程度の金になるんだ。確定ドロップというわけでもないし、十体くらいは倒しておきたいな」
最低でも〈輝くラーナの飾剣〉二本分くらいは稼いでおかなければ、わざわざ冒険者の都ラコリナまで移った甲斐がないというものだ。
「......それって黒鋼装備が安いんじゃなくて〈輝くラーナの飾剣〉がとんでもなく高価なだけじゃないですか?」
「だとしても前回の探索に比べて大きく儲けが減るのはちょっとな」
前回が上手く行きすぎたのは承知の上だが、それでもレベルが上がって実入りが下がるのは少ししょっぱい。
目標は高めに設定し、積極的にドロップアイテムを狙っていきたい。
「あのぅ......エルマさんの金銭感覚、壊れてきてませんか?」
「レベルが上がれば、扱うアイテムの価値も指数関数的に上がっていく。もっと上のレベルの冒険者になれば、数千万ゴルドのアイテムを売買するなんて珍しいことでもなんでもなくなってくるぞ」
「何のためにそこまでお金を......?」
今更ルーチェは何を言っているのだろうか。
その答えは決まっている。
「強くなるには金が必要だからな」
高価な武器を揃えれば冒険者として有利になることはいうまでもない。
ただ武器もできれば、状況に応じて使い分けるために数本は用意しておきたいところだ。
他にも回復用のポーションに、簡易的に魔法を発動できる魔石なんかも、高額のものを所有しておけばいざというときの保険にもなる。
アイテムは高ければ高いほどいい。
ある意味、装備以上に大事である。
だからこそ俺は〈破れた魔導書堂〉で五千万ゴルド分のアイテムを用いて〈燻り狂う牙〉を購入したのだ。
ふざけた値段設定ではあったが、仮に〈燻り狂う牙〉があの十倍の値段にされていても俺は購入を諦めなかっただろう。
〈マジックワールド〉では、お金の使い道など無数にある。
いくらあっても困るものではない。
「目的と手段が逆転していませんか......?」
ルーチェがやや引き攣った顔でそう口にする。
「と、とにかく、スマイル自体はそう苦戦する相手じゃない。数を倒すのも、そう難しいことではない。動きが単調だから、相手の強みを潰して封殺するのは簡単だ」
見つければ壁際に追い込み、盾で殴って動きを抑える。
これを十体分繰り返せばいいだけだ。それだけでノルマ達成である。
「数が出てきて囲まれでもしない限りは、決して苦戦する相手じゃない。特に群れる性質のある魔物でもないから、不安要素は......」
前方からドン、ドン、ドン、ドンと音が聞こえてきた。
通路の先から四体のスマイルが転がって来る。
「言ってた傍から来ましたよぅっ!? 明らかに群れてますよっ!!」
「......珍しいな、スマイルが群れるなんて」
「け、結構危なくないですか? 逃げた方がいいんじゃ......」
「いや、スマイルには〈加速〉がある。素直に迎え討った方がいい」
逃げ切れないわけではないが、背中を複数のスマイルに狙われ続けながら走り続けるくらいならば、戦った方がまだ安全だろう。
「それに......これくらいの敵が、一番張り合いがある。地道にスマイル狩りもいいが、少し物足りないと思っていたところだ。ここで一気にレベルとアイテムを稼がせてもらうことにしよう」
俺は剣をスマイルの群れへと向ける。
丁度ルーチェの武器も強化されたところだ。
「ルーチェ、ここからは〈ダイススラスト〉で頼む。とにかく奴らの数を速攻で減らすことを第一にするぞ」
普段群れないスマイルが群れているということは、そこには何かしらの理由があるはずだ。
俺はスマイル達の顔付きを一体一体確認し、内の一体が目の傾きが違うことに気が付いた。
通常のスマイルは笑顔を浮かべているのだが、極端に目尻が下がっており、まるで泣き顔のようになっている個体がいた。
あれはスマイルではなく、希少種のクライだ。
通常は群れないスマイルを束ねて指揮する能力を持つ。
スマイルが群れで出てきた時点で可能性を考えてはいたが、確証を持てると、自然と笑みが零れてきた。
クライは出現率こそ低いものの、倒せば高確率でレアアイテムをドロップしてくれる。
幸運力の高低は、レアな魔物の出現率にも影響する。
クライが出てきてくれたのは、恐らくルーチェの〈豪運〉の幸運力上昇効果によるものだ。
「ルーチェのお陰だな」
「もっ、もしかしてあの群れ、アタシのせいなんですかぁっ!?」
俺の言葉を勘違いしたらしいルーチェが、戸惑い気味に声を上げる。
「いや、そうなんだが、そうじゃないというか......」
Volume 2 - Ch 4
"We managed to find a weapon for me right away! The next is to just hunt more Smiles, level up some more, and pick up the items that drop, right?"
Even as we walked further into the caverns, a happy looking Luce kept holding on tightly to her new Black Steel Knife.
"I guess so....I would like to hunt down about ten Smiles, pick up their drops, and raise our level in the meantime. After that, we will play it by ear, depending on how much HP and potions we used up and how late it will be at that point."
"T-ten Smiles!? We managed to take down the last one without suffering any damage, but...you looked like you were struggling a bit there, Elma-san. Are you sure that will be fine?"
So I looked like I was struggling....huh.
Having to corral it against a wall and keep it there by locking down its movements with my shield may appear a bit hectic to outsiders.
However, not only is there no real danger to me in the process, the movements of the Smile are straightforward, so they're easy to anticipate.
Compared to the Embryo or the Mariss fight, I can do this halfway on autopilot.
I may even call it a bit unsatisfying.
"Black steel items have a Market Price of a bit over 4 million gold.... You need to get four of them to equal one Rana's Radiant Ornate Sword in terms of money. They are not even certain drops, so I would like us to take down that ten at least."
I would like us to bring in an equivalent of two Rana's Radiant Ornate Swords, or there would've been no meaning to our move to La Colina, the City of Adventurers.
"....doesn't that just mean that instead of the black steel items being cheap, it's the Rana's Radiant Ornate Sword that's inordinately expensive?"
"Even so, I don't like the idea of making so much less money with this exploration than the last time."
I'm well aware of the fact that things went a little too well last time, but even so, I would feel a bit salty if our income went down even though our levels went up.
I want to set the target a bit high and try to proactively aim for item drops.
"Uhhmm.... isn't your money-sense a bit broken, Elma-san?"
"With our levels going up, the value of items that go through our hands will also increase exponentially. If we reach a suitably high level, then buying and selling items that are worth a couple of dozen million gold will become a matter of course."
"What do we need that much money for....?"
What is she even saying at this point?
The answer should be obvious.
"You need money to become strong."
I don't even need to say how much getting a valuable weapon helps out an adventurer.
However, to prepare for various situations I would like to keep a few different weapons on hand at all times.
Furthermore, expensive items like recovery potions and magic stones that can insta-cast spells are also necessary to have items in case of emergencies.
The more expensive the better.
In a sense, they are even more important than other equipment.
That's the reason why I traded in those items that were worth 50 million gold over all for the [Smoldering Fang of Madness] at the Broken Grimoire Company.
It was an absurd price, but even if the [Smoldering Fang of Madness] cost ten times that, I wouldn't have given up on getting my hands on it eventually.
In Magic World, there were countless ways of spending money.
No matter how much I might have, I won't have trouble spending it.
"Isn't that getting your priorities backwards.....?"
Luce said this with a small twitch in her expression.
"A-anyway, the Smile itself is not that difficult to beat. Taking down multiple ones is not that hard either. Since their movements are simple, it's easy to lock down its best method of attack."
I need to push it into the wall as soon as we come across one, then keep it locked down there with my shield.
We just need to repeat this ten times and it would already fill our quota.
"As long as multiple ones don't appear at the same time, it's not an opponent that we should struggle with at all. It's not a monster that tends to flock together like that either, so we don't need to worry...."
Sounds of DON, DON, DON, DON could be heard from straight ahead.
From further along the passageway, four Smiles were rolling towards us.
"You barely even finished saying it and there is a group incoming already!? They are clearly flocking together!!"
"....that's really unusual, for Smiles to group up like that."
"Is-isn't this a bit too dangerous? Shouldn't we be running away....?"
"No, Smiles have the [Acceleration] Skill. It's better to take them head on."
We may be able to run away successfully, but rather than having to run away with multiple Smiles targeting my back, it would be safer to just fight them.
"Also....fighting against this many enemies is just how I like it. It would've been fine to hunt them one by one, but that would've been simply too easy. Let's rake in a bunch of levels and drop items here and now."
I pointed my sword at the group of Smiles.
We just got a new weapon for Luce too.
"Luce, you should use [Dice Thrust] from now on. We need to prioritize cutting down their numbers as soon as possible."
There should be a reason why Smiles that don't tend to flock together grouped up like this.
I checked the Smiles' expression one by one, and found one that was obviously different from the others.
Normal Smiles all have smiley faces on them, but on the far side of the group there was one whose eyes were curving down at the corners, giving off the impression that it was crying.
It was not a Smile, but a Cry, a rare species.
It has the ability to gather up and direct the Smiles that ordinarily don't form into groups like this.
I thought that this might be the case when I saw the group of Smiles appear, but with this confirmation a smile crept up my face.
The Cry has a low probability of spawning, but once defeated, there is a high chance of it dropping a rare item.
The Luck stat also affects the spawn rate of rare monsters.
The most likely reason for the appearance of the Cry is the increased Luck from Luce's [Great Fortune] Skill Tree.
"Luce should be the one to thank for this."
"A-am I really at fault for those monsters grouping up like that!?"
Seemingly misunderstanding my words, Luce raised her voice in confusion.
"Well, yes, but not really...."
The Reincarnated Heavy Knight Who Was Exiled After A Supposed Big Miss Is Unparalleled With His Game Knowledge
大ハズレだと追放された転生重騎士はゲーム知識で無双する
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/the-reincarnated-heavy-knight-who-was-exiled-after-a-supposed-big-miss-is-unparalleled-with-his-game-knowledge/
Action Adventure Fantasy Romance Shounen
Abandoned Children Adapted to Manga Adventurers Alchemy Arrogant Characters Artifacts Blacksmith Calm Protagonist Clever Protagonist Determined Protagonist Dungeons Fallen Nobility Fantasy World Game Elements Guilds Hot-blooded Protagonist Level System Love Interest Falls in Love First Lucky Protagonist Male Protagonist Mystery Solving Naive Protagonist Nobles Poor to Rich Previous Life Talent Reincarnated in a Game World Romantic Subplot Skill Books Strategic Battles Strong Love Interests Strong to Stronger Sword Wielder Underestimated Protagonist Weak to Strong
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n8465gx/
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