第十六話 道化師の少女
「五千五百万ゴルドかあ......」
俺は溜め息を漏らしながら街中を歩いていた。
上級冒険者ならいざ知らず、E級冒険者の俺がぽんと手に入る額ではない。
約六十周分の金額である。
上級冒険者は金銭感覚がぶっ壊れている。
そして上級冒険者を相手取る店主の金銭感覚もぶっ壊れている。
〈燻り狂う牙〉は確かにレアスキルツリーだが、アレを欲しがる人間は重騎士か、破滅願望のある生粋の戦闘狂くらいだというのに。
もっとわかりやすく強い〈
今後の金策を具体的に考えねばならない。
堅実に進めていけば、どれだけ時間が掛かるかわからない。
〉でレアドロップ目指して、一攫千金狙いで動いていくべきか。
ただ、そうするにも、重騎士は敵に安定してダメージを与えるスキルがなさ過ぎる。
この目標額だと、〈城壁返し〉に引っ掛かってくれる魔物ばかり狩っていても仕方がない。
金策に丁度いい魔物を少し考えてみたが、どれも現状のスキル構成では多少レベルが上がっても及びそうにない。
今持っている〈初級剣術〉のスキルツリーを育てるか、〈破れた魔導書堂〉のような影の店を回って〈
ただ、どうせ〈燻り狂う牙〉を手に入れれば使わなくなるスキルばかりだ。
スキルポイントを無駄にするのは避けたい......。
仲間......仲間を作るか。
重騎士の人気はどうにも最低レベルのようだが、以前の
他のクラスの冒険者と組めば、狩り対象にできる魔物の幅が一気に広がる。
相方はレベル下でも構わない。
俺が攻撃を引き付けてレベル上げをちょっと手伝えばすぐに戦力を補充できるし、恩も売れる。
初期から安定していたり、純粋に性能の高いクラスはどうせ引く手数多だろう。
俺と被っている防御特化クラス以外ならば何でもいいか。
そう考えていると、前方から何やら騒いでいる声が聞こえてきた。
冒険者の三人組が歩いている。
真っ赤な剣を掲げるのは、剣士の男である。
そう答えるのは、軽装の少女であった。
恐らくは斥候系のクラス、盗賊だろう。
「えへへ......ほら! ほらほらこれ、アタシのスキルのお陰ですよ! アタシの! ほらほら、ちゃんと効果あったじゃないですかぁ!」
三人目の水色髪の少女は、淡い赤色のローブと、同色の道化帽を被っていた。
道化師かな?
帽子もそうだが、武器が見当たらないので、ナイフか
剣士の男が、はぁ、と溜め息を吐いた。
「ア、アハハ......そ、そうですね、クラインさん。でも、もっと回ってたら、きっと目に見えて違いがわかってくるってもんですよ! ここからです! ここから!」
道化の少女、ルーチェがそう返す。
どうやら剣士の男がクラインという名で、三人の中ではリーダー格のようだ。
しかし、何やら剣呑な様子であった。
「ルーチェ、お前まさか、戦闘でほとんど役に立ってない癖に、この剣の分配金をもらえると思ってるのか?」
「え......で、でも、アタシだってその、命懸けで前面で戦ってますし......。せ、せめて五分の一......あ、いや、二十万......じゅ、十万ゴルドくらいは分けてもらえたら嬉しいな......なんて」
「はぁ......あのさ、命懸けで戦ってても、攻撃分散程度の役にしか立ってないのが問題だって言ってるんだよ。頑張ってるとか関係ないから。役に立ってないだろ、お前」
「こ、攻撃スキルがないのは、クラインさんの命令でスキルツリー振ってた結果なんですよ! 今までそれで進めてくれって言ってたのに......大金入った途端そんなこと言い出すのって、ちょ、ちょっと酷いと思いますよ!」
「酷い? お前が役立たずなのに、取り分だけはもらおうとしてるからそれはどうなんだって言ってるだけだろうが。今までは許してきてやったけど、この金額は話が変わってくるだろ。はぁ......それを言うに事欠いて、酷い、ね。お前さ、頭、大丈夫か? スキルツリーの割り振りだって、俺はちょっと提案しただけで、実行したのはお前だろ。人のせいにするなよ」
「え......ク、クラインさん?」
大分空気が悪かった。
俺も立ち会ってしまったことを後悔しているレベルである。
どうやらスキルツリーの割り振りミスと、大金が入っての分配問題が絡んで泥沼になっているようだ。
〈マジックワールド〉でも、この手の問題は度々発生した。
仲間内の相性を考えてスキルツリーを割り振ったのに、事情が変わって無意味になってしまったり、といった問題が時折発生するのだ。
特に攻略情報を万全に共有できるネットもないこの世界では、その傾向は余計に強いはずだ。
「はいはい、十万ゴルドね。おら、これでいいんだろ。さっさと拾ってどっか行けよ」
クラインが金貨を地面へとばら撒いた。
クラインから声を掛けられた盗賊の少女......リースは、ちらりと赤い剣へと目を向ける。
「ま......そうね。こっちだって余裕ないのに、たまたま入った大金をごっそり分割されちゃあね」
「そ、そんなつもりじゃなくて......ご、ごめんなさい、クラインさん、リースさん。その、やっぱりアタシ、剣のお金はいいんで......」
「ごめんじゃなくてさ、もう無理だから。ま、新しいところで頑張れよ。中途半端にレベル伸びてるせいで経験値も取得できなくて、新しいスキルも覚えられない。そんな手詰まり状態の奴を、誰が仲間にするのかは知らねえけどさ」
......金の切れ目が縁の切れ目、とはよくいったものだ。
スキルポイント制度はなんと残酷なことか。
システムの仕様上、自身と同格かそれ以上の相手を狩っていかなければ、まともにレベル上げを行うことができない。
〈素早さ上昇〉か、不要な武器系統のスキルツリーにでも振ってしまったのだろうか?
いや、話から察するに支援系か?
少し考えて......彼らがレアドロップの話をしていたことを思い出した。
いや、だが、あのスキルツリー持ちを追い出そうとするような奴がいるのか?
スキルツリーの情報共有がまともに行われていないにしても、それだけは正直信じられない。
だが、先の話を聞くに、あれしか考えられない。
「わ、我が儘言って、ごめんなさい......。剣のお金は一切いいんで、どうかパーティーにおいてください、お願いします......」
俺は思わず飛び込み、ルーチェの手を取った。
「うぇっ!? ア、アナタ、誰ですかぁ!?」
「頼む! 絶対に損はさせないから、どうか俺と組んでくれないか!」
突然手を握られたルーチェは無論のこと、彼女の仲間であるクラインもリースもぽかんとした顔で俺を見ていた。
「取り分は、八対二でどうだ?」
「ず、ずっと二割はちょっと......あの、生活ができなくなっちゃうといいますか......」
「勿論、そっちが八、俺は二でいい! 駄目か? 正直、欲しいものがあるから一は厳しい。できれば二がいい!」
「ちょ、ちょっと落ち着いてください! あの、アナタ、まず何者なんですか!」
い、いかん、取り乱してしまっていた。
ただ、この絶好の機会は絶対に逃すわけにはいかない。
彼女の協力さえあれば、〈燻り狂う牙〉の五千五百万ゴルドを用意することは決して難しくないからだ。
二百万ゴルド程度の話ではない。
Ch 16
"55 million gold, huh..."
I kept walking around the city letting out frequent sighs.
High rank adventurers might be able to do it, but for an E rank adventurer it's not easy money to get.
It's understandable, since it's about sixty times more money than I managed to get from the well-paying Undead Swarm Raid Quest.
The money sense of high rank adventurers are broken as hell.
And the money sense of storekeepers that deal with those high rank adventurers are also broken as hell.
Although the [Smoldering Fang of Madness] is a rare Skill Tree, for the most part only Heavy Knights and suicidal battle-maniacs would look for it.
That means that obviously powerful Skill Books cost much more than even that.
I need to think up a concrete way of making money.
If I went with a slow and steady method, who knows how long it would take in the end.
I'll need to work on a get rich quick scheme by aiming for rare drop items from a Dungeon.
However, Heavy Knights decisively lack steady damage dealing Skills for that.
To reach that amount, hunting only those monsters that [Rampart Reversal] could work against would be all but useless.
I thought up a few monsters that would be good for making money, but with my current Skills I wouldn't be able to take them down, even if I gained a few more levels.
The only choices are investing points into the [Beginner Swordsmanship] Skill Tree, or search every underground shop like the Broken Grimoire Company and try to get an attack Skill.
And yet, those Skills would all end up useless once I manage to get the [Smoldering Fang of Madness].
I want to avoid wasting Skill points like that.....
Allies.... I need allies.
Although Heavy Knights are generally not seen in a good light, I should get a bit of recognition from that Raid Quest I participated in.
If I team up with an adventurer of a different Class, the list of monsters we would be able to hunt would be greatly increased.
It wouldn't matter even if the other person had a low level.
By attracting the monsters' attention to myself, I could easily help with their level grind, which would not just raise their firepower, but make them indebted to me for it.
People that enjoy a stable routine or those with a powerful Class would have a lot of people vying for their attention.
Aside from a tank like me, anything would be fine.
As I was thinking that, I heard a racket from up ahead.
A trio of adventurers were walking about.
The swordsman had a bright red sword on him.
The one who replied was a lightly armored young girl.
She most likely has a scout type Class, the Thief.
"Ehehe...see! See that, see that! That must've dropped because of my Skill! My Skill! See, see, it really did have an effect!"
The third was a young girl with aqua colored hair, light red robes, and wearing a clown hat of the same color.
Perhaps she is a Clown?
She has the hat for it and I don't see any weapons on her, so she must be using daggers or a wand.
The swordsman guy let out a theatrical sigh.
"A-ahaha... r-right, Klein-san. But, after a few more times, the difference will be obvious for sure! It will be my time to shine soon!"
The Clown girl called Luce replied.
It seems the swordsman's name was Klein and he was the leader of the trio.
However, not all seemed well.
"Luce, you really think that someone who is as useless in a fight as you would get a share from this sword?"
"Huh...b-but, I'm fighting on the front line with my life on the line too... S-so at least a fifth....or, no, a twentieth.... I would be happy if you could give me 100 000 gold...perhaps."
"Haah....you know, even if you are risking your life, the problem is that the only thing you are good for is to take a few of the enemy's attacks. It doesn't matter how much you are 'doing your best'. You are simply useless."
"I don't have any attack Skills because Klein-san told me how to put my points in my Skill Tree! You told me to keep that up...., but as soon as we get something that is worth a lot you suddenly change your tune! I think that's unfair!"
"Unfair? I'm just saying that how is it fair that even though you are so useless, when it's time to divide up the money you are clamoring for a share. I overlooked it until now, but with this much money it's a different story. Haah.... and of all things you call it unfair. Are you all right? In the head, I mean. And about the Skill Tree, I just gave a few advice, you are the one who decided in the end. Don't try to make it my fault."
"Eh....K-klein-san?"
The atmosphere went from bad to worse.
So much so, that I even regret stopping to listen.
It looks like mistakes with distributing Skill points and a disagreement with shares after hitting it big combined into a standoff.
These kinds of arguments were frequent in [Magic World] too.
Problems where someone filled out their Skill Tree in a certain way, thinking about how to best complement the others in the party, but ultimately ended up useless due to changing circumstances come up from time to time.
Especially, in this world where you don't have strategy guides freely available on the net, this kind of problem must be quite prevalent.
"Yeah yeah, 100 000 gold. Here, are you happy now? Pick them up already and go away."
Klein threw the coins on the ground.
Reese, the Thief girl who Klein aimed that question at, took a short glance at the red sword.
"Well...yeah. We don't have much leeway in general, so trying to take away our shares when we get something valuable, well...."
"N-no, that's not what I intended at all.... S-sorry, Klein-san, Reese-san. I don't want the money from the sword after all, so...."
"It's already too late to say sorry. Well, do your best somewhere else. Even though you won't be able to gain experience points and therefore new Skills, because you messed up your Skill distribution. Although I don't know who would let a dead end like that into their party."
A relationship built on money ends on money, I guess.
This is the brutal consequence of this particular Skill System.
The Leveling System was set up in a way that you need to hunt opponents at least the same level as you, or you won't be able to raise your level properly.
Did she perhaps put her points into the [Agility UP] or some useless weapon based Skill Tree?
No, judging from their discussion it should be a support type?
Thinking back on it a bit, they were talking about rare drops.
But, why would anyone try to chase away someone who has that Skill Tree?
Even if there is no proper info distribution about Skill Trees, it's still unbelievable.
However, based on their talk just now, I can only think of that possibility.
"I-I'm sorry for being selfish.... I don't need any money from the sword, but please let me stay in the party, please...."
I leapt out without thinking and grabbed Luce's hands.
"Uwah!? W-who are you!?"
"Please! I will absolutely make sure that you won't be disadvantaged in any way, so please team up with me!"
Not just Luce, whose hand I ended up grabbing suddenly, but even her teammates, Klein and Reese were looking at me dumbfounded.
"As for the shares, will eighty percent be fine?"
"T-twenty percent permanently would be... well, I may not be able to cover my living expenses with that...."
"Of course, your share would be the eighty percent and the twenty percent mine! Is it not good enough? To tell you the truth, I have something I want to buy, so ten percent would be somewhat difficult for me. I would like to have that twenty percent, if at all possible!"
"P-please just calm down! Um, who are you to begin with!"
Th-this is bad, I lost my composure.
However, I absolutely can't let this perfect opportunity pass me by.
Because, with her help it wouldn't be the least bit difficult to come up with that 55 million gold for the [Smoldering Fang of Madness].
And that 2 million gold they were feuding about is chump-change compared to that.
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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