第五話 豪商ラーナ
「ルーチェッ! いけぇっ! 走れっ!」
ルーチェが壁を駆けて、でっぷりと肥えた黄金色のラーナを追う。
腹も顔もパンパンに腫れあがっているが、恐ろしく足が速い。
「ゲゴッ、ゲゴッ」
ドタドタと音を鳴らしている。
なぜあんな走り方で足が速いのか。
「〈ダイススラスト〉ッ!」
壁を蹴ったルーチェが、最大限腕を伸ばし、目前の珍獣へと刃を突き出す。
だが、刃はラーナに軽々と避けられる形になった。
「ううっ......!」
ルーチェが顔を顰める。
無理な体勢で刃を放った彼女は、そのまま派手に床へとダイブする形になった。
魔物:豪商ラーナ
Lv :90
HP :22/22
MP :135/135
......結局、奴には一ダメージも与えることができなかったか。
勝ち誇ったような声と共に、黄金のデブラーナは通路の奥へと消えていった。
豪商ラーナ......いわゆる金蝦蟇シリーズの一体である。
俺達がお世話になった成金ラーナのパワーアップ版だ。
相変わらず馬鹿げたステータスで【素早さ:244】と、レベル差も相まって速度型であるルーチェの倍以上の値を誇る。
どうにか倒せないかとルーチェと二人で追い掛け回していたのだが、結局袋小路に追い込み切る前に豪商ラーナを刺激してしまい、奴に逃走モードのスイッチが入ってしまったのだ。
破れかぶれでルーチェに突撃してもらったのだが、結果はこの有様であった。
「大丈夫か、ルーチェ?」
「ごめんなさい......仕留め損ねちゃいました......。せっかく役に立てる場面が来たと思ったのに......」
ルーチェが口惜しげにそう零す。
「あそこまで肉薄しただけで賞賛ものだ。さすがに俺達には早かったな......」
この〈幻獣の塔〉は、俺達が成金ラーナを狩った〈天使の玩具箱〉よりも通路の横幅が広い。
あのときのように、回り込んだり、〈影踏み〉を狙ったりするのは不可能に近い。
また、俺も、まさか豪商ラーナのチャンスが舞い込んでくるとは思っていなかった。
「うう......でも、もう少しで刃が届きそうでしたのに......」
「まぁ、あいつの体力は結構高いから、三連続で〈ダイススラスト〉の六を引かないと駄目だったんだけどな」
そういう意味では別にさほど惜しいわけでもない。
「アレ!? 最初から結構それ無謀だったんじゃないですか!? もし追い付けても、三連続で六を引かないと駄目なんですよね!?」
「ル、ルーチェならまぁ、チャンスがなくもないかなと......」
勝算は最初から薄かった。
ただ、リターンがそれだけ大きいのだ。
豪商ラーナを狩れていれば、俺達のレベルも一気に引き上げることができていた。
「......にしても、メインはグリムリーパーなのに、MPを使ってしまいましたね......。豪商ラーナを追い掛けて、結構〈幻獣の塔〉の奥まで来てしまいましたし......」
ルーチェが不安げに周囲を見回す。
「もう少し表側へと引き返すか。推奨レベルがかなり高い〈
「おやおや......ギルドには黙っておくよう言っていたんだが、鼠というのはどこからでも入ってくるものだな」
女の声に、俺とルーチェは振り返った。
長身の、金髪の女だった。
鎧に身を包んでいる。
どうやら騎士のクラスらしい。
そして彼女に並んで、藍色髪のショートボブの少女がいた。
冷たい、無感情な目をしている。
俺は彼女の、腰に差した剣へと目を向ける。
青い柄の中央に、
までしっかり付けているとなると、恐らく金銭的にかなりの余裕がある人間だ。
彼女の藍色の髪に、俺は見覚えがあった。
ギルドマスターのハレインのそれとほぼ同色だ。
そしてハレインは......ハウルロッド侯爵家の分家の人間である。
「スノウ・ハウルロッド......」
俺は思わず、ケルトから聞いた名前を呟いた。
現当主の第一子であり......冷酷で手段を選ばない女だという話だった。
〈幻獣の塔〉の情報の秘匿はハウルロッド侯爵家が噛んでいるのではないかとは思っていた。
だが、まさかスノウが出てくるとは思っていなかった。
「お嬢様の名を呼び捨てにするとは、いい度胸だな。ここはお前達のような、木っ端冒険者が来るところではない。お引き取り願おうか」
金髪の女が前に出てくる。
......スノウ・ハウルロッドは、〈哀哭するトラペゾヘドロン〉の一件と何か関係があるかもしれないと睨んでいた相手だ。
こんな形で接触することになるとは。
人柄を探る、という意味ではいい機会なのかもしれないが。
「できれば狩りを続けさせてもらいたいのだが、それはハウルロッド侯爵家としての命令だろうか? であれば最初から情報を秘匿せずに、公開した上でお触れを出し、入口に見張りでも付けておくべきだったのではないか?」
察するに、恐らくそこまではできなかったのだ。
現当主の判断ではなく、ただの令嬢の暴走だろう。
せいぜいギルドに圧力を掛けて秘匿させるのが限界で、独占のために立ち入りに制限を掛けるような権限は持っていない。
「重ね重ね生意気な男だ」
金髪の女が目を細める。
スノウが金髪の女へ声を掛ける。
どうやら女騎士の名はイザベラというらしい。
「はっ、どうなされましたか、スノウお嬢様」
イザベラがスノウの許まで戻る。
スノウは俺達を一瞥した後、イザベラへと小声で何かを話していた。
イザベラがすぐにまた表情を険しくし、俺達を睨みつける。
イザベラは芝居掛かった大袈裟な動きで、さも呆れ果てたと言いたげにそう口にする。
スノウはレベル上げと領民や現当主へのアピールを兼ねて、〈
要するに、邪魔だから出ていけ、と言っているのだ。
またスノウがイザベラの名前を呼ぶ。
素早くイザベラがスノウへと耳を寄せる。
「ふむ、ふむ......ええ、すみません、確かに少々品位を欠く言い方でした。もう少し婉曲に......ふむ」
スノウへそう返してから、イザベラは再び俺達の方を向いた。
「秘匿もこの忠告も、スノウお嬢様の優しさに他ならんと思え。それをお節介だと断じるのならば......貴様らは、さぞ大した腕前なのだろうな? お手並み拝見させていただこうか」
イザベラが大きく前に出て、腰の剣へと手を触れた。
剣呑な様子だった。
スノウも決して、現当主の許可を得て〈
そのため俺達を追い出す材料がないため、力で脅しを掛けに来たのだ。
だが......。
「......なんであの方、自分から直接言わないんでしょうか?」
ルーチェはちらりとスノウを見た後、俺へと小声で口にした。
彼女も疑問に思っていたらしい。
スノウは一貫して、部下であるイザベラを通してしか声を掛けてこない。
Volume 3 - Ch 5
"Lucee! Gooo! Runnnn!"
Luce ran on the wall, chasing after the fat looking gold colored rana.
Although both its face and stomach were bulging out, it was still terrifyingly fast.
"GEGOH, GEGOH"
The sound of heavy feet could be heard.
Why is it even that fast, running like that?
"[Dice Thrust]!"
Luce kicked off from the wall, extended her arms to its maximum and thrust towards the rare monster in front of her.
However, the rana managed to easily dodge the attack.
"Uuuh....!"
Luce scowled.
Since she launched that attack from a suboptimal position, she ended up diving into the floor instead.
Monster: Grand Merchant Rana
Level: 90
HP: 22/22
MP: 135/135
....in the end, she didn't manage to inflict any damage on it.
Croaking with a obnoxiously triumphant tone, the fat gold-colored rana disappeared to the end of the corridor.
Great Merchant Rana.....one of the money toad series of monsters.
It's the upgraded version of the Golden Rana we have prior history with.
It has stupid high stats as expected, with an [(Agility: 244)] , and quite a bit of level difference between us, making its speed more than double even Luce's, who's a speed type fighter as well.
We chased after it, hoping to take it down somehow, but before we managed to pincer it, it noticed us and switched to escape mode.
I had Luce charge at it as a last gamble, but this was the result of that.
"Luce, are you alright?"
"I'm sorry.....I wasn't able to take it down..... Even though I thought it was finally my time to be useful...."
Luce murmured with a disappointed tone.
"Getting that close to it is a praiseworthy achievement by itself. It was simply too fast for us...."
The corridors in this Phantasmal Beast Tower are wider than they were in the Angel's Toybox, where we fought the Golden Ranas.
Trying to get around it and use [Shadow Stomp] like before is close to impossible.
That being said, even I didn't think that we would run into a Grand Merchant Rana like this.
"Uugh....but my blade almost reached it...."
"Well, even if you did, with that guy's high endurance, you would need three consecutive six rolls with [Dice Thrust] to finish it off."
From that point of view, it wasn't even really that close in the end.
"Huh!? Doesn't that make the whole thing fairly reckless to begin with!? Even if I managed to catch up to it, I would need to roll three sixes in a row to take it down, right!?"
"W-well, I thought it might not be entirely impossible for someone like you, Luce....."
There was not much of a chance of us succeeding from the get go.
However, what we could've gained from it was just that big.
If we managed to hunt down the Grand Merchant Rana, then our levels would've gone up by a lot as well.
".....even so, we were aiming for only Grim Reapers and this made me use up quite a bit of MP too.... We ended up quite deep inside the Phantasmal Beast Tower too from chasing the Grand Merchant Rana....."
Luce looked around anxiously.
"We should head back nearer to the entrance. This Dungeon has quite a high Recommended Level too, so we should watch out for the worst case scenarios."
"Well well....I told the Guild to keep quiet, but it seems some mice managed to get in anyway...."
Hearing a woman's voice, Luce and I turned around to check who it belonged to.
It was a tall, blond woman.
She was clad in armor.
It seems she was a Knight Class.
Next to her stood a young girl with indigo blue hair cut in a short bob style.
Her eyes were cold and emotionless.
I turned my gaze at the sword she wore on her waist.
A Rune was embedded within its blue grip.
Being in possession of a Rune like that most likely means that she's quite well off.
I also remember seeing her indigo blue hair before.
Guildmaster Hallein had basically the same hair color.
And Hallein is a branch member of the Howlod Family.
"Snow Howlod....."
I whispered the name I heard from Celt without thinking.
The first child of the current Lord.....and a coldhearted and ruthless woman, according to rumors.
I had a feeling that the Howlod Family might be behind the information suppression on the Phantasmal Beast Tower.
However, I didn't think that Snow herself would appear here.
"You have some nerve, calling the young mistress informally like that. This place is not for the likes of worthless adventurers like you. I would ask you two to leave now."
The blond woman stepped forward.
.....Snow Howlod is the one I pegged as maybe having something to do with the Mourning Trapezohedron incident.
I didn't think that we would come into contact like this.
Although, this is perhaps a good chance to find out more about her character.
"We would like to continue our hunt, but is that an order from behalf of the Howlod Family? If so, then maybe you should've sent out a public proclamation to that effect and put a guard at the entrance, instead of trying to conceal information?"
They most likely couldn't do that much.
It was not a decision made by the current Lord, but simply a young lady acting out.
They could only apply pressure on the Guild to suppress the information at best, since they don't actually have the authority to restrict entry in order to monopolize the Dungeon.
"What a thoroughly impudent man."
The blond woman narrowed her eyes.
Snow called out to the blond woman.
It seems the female knight's name was Izabella.
"What do you need, Snow-ojousama?"
Izabella returned back to Snow's side.
After a quick glance at us, Snow apparently whispered something to Izabella.
Izabella changed her expression to a harsh one once again and glared at us.
Izabella said that like she was putting on a performance, complete with exaggerated movements, speaking like she was wholly appalled.
According to rumor, Snow was currently making the rounds in various Dungeons to try to improve her prestige with both the general population and the current Lord, by any means necessary.
In other words, they are saying that we are in the way, so get out.
Snow called Izabella's name once again.
Izabella quickly lent her ear to Snow.
"Hm, hm....yes, I'm sorry, that was indeed lacking a bit in dignity. A bit more roundabout way....hm."
After reacting to what Snow said, Izabella turned to us again.
"Think of both the information suppression and this warning as a sign of kindness from Snow-ojousama. If you dare to claim that as interference, then....you must have some considerable ability to back up that claim, right? In that case, I would like to see that skill of yours."
Izabella stepped forward and put a hand on her sword.
This was starting to look dangerous.
Snow did not receive the permission from the Lord to monopolize a Phantasmal Dungeon, that's for sure.
And because they don't have any sufficient reason to chase us out, they moved on to try and intimidate us with force.
However....
"....why doesn't she speak to us directly?"
After glancing at Snow, Luce asked me in a whisper.
It seems she was wondering about that too.
Snow was only speaking through her subordinate, Izabella.
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/
猫子