[Guild Aurantius Grade 4 Mercenary, Ray Gladstone]
“Behold this small silver radiance! Though the Order has crumbled into dust, the noble sword yet carries on its lineage. Ray Gladstone is one of the last knights to inherit the will of the ‘Order,’ buried beneath the sands along with the age of the Empire. Clad in thick armor, she withstands fierce attacks and crushes wicked things with iron gauntlets and longsword. She favors battles where blade meets blade, and will shine brightest when she stands at the very front of the company.”
Equipment:
[Gauntlets and Longsword]: Front Row deployment, Speed Dice 1, Power Dice 2
[Chainmail]: Life Tokens 35, Defense Dice 1
Skills:
[Order Swordsmanship]: (Passive Effect) When attacking from the Front Row, inflicts Rupture 1 (2 times)
[Unter/Scheitel]: (Front Row Attack) On hit, follow-up attack—Pierce 1
[Mord]: (Front Row Attack) On use, check (10+)—on success, inflicts Stun
[Schneiden]: (Front Row Attack) Pierce 1, on hit, check (8+)—on success, inflicts Bleed 2 (3 times), Brutal 1
[Krump]: (Self-Buff) Adds 1 Defense Die for this battle
Quirks:
-
*
[Guild Aurantius Grade 4 Mercenary, Valerie McBain]
“Agile, skillful, and lethal. The finest virtues a mercenary can possess. Born in the back alleys of the southern United States, Valerie McBain is a cruel bladeswoman and a practiced gunslinger. Though somewhat rough and savage by nature, she is a talented mercenary who has proven her worth even among the twelve guilds under the Great Round Table. Making full use of her distinctive quickness, her specialty is darting freely between the front and rear lines in a dazzling flurry. But take care, for she is as easily led astray by temptation as she is fiery of temperament.”
Equipment:
[Flintlock Pistol and Dagger]: Front Row/Middle Row/Back Row deployment, Speed Dice 4, Power Dice 3
[Cowhide Jacket]: Life Tokens 20, Evasion Dice 2
Skills:
[Swift]: (Passive Effect) Applies if acting first this round—adds 1 Power Die
[Prowess]: (Front Row Attack) Can only be used when deployed in the Front Row, adds 1 Power Die
[Breakthrough]: (Middle Row Attack) Cannot be used when deployed in the Back Row, Advance 1
[Shooting]: (Back Row Attack) Cannot be used when deployed in the Front Row, removes 1 Power Die, Tracking 1
[Maintenance]: (Self-Buff) Recovery 1, Retreat 1, adds 1 Evasion Die (1 time), adds 1 Speed Die (1 time)
Quirks:
-
*
“Oh, hello. Sleep comfortably last night?”
The moment I entered the barracks, Valerie, who had been fiddling with the dice or whatever in her hand, asked after me.
Anyone watching would think she owned the place.
“That sounds like something I should be asking… Was your bed all right?”
“Of course. Honestly, even if it hadn’t been here but a pigsty, I’d still have slept fine. Sleeping on bare dirt’s an everyday thing for us.”
Valerie answered with a snicker.
At least, from her, I could see no fragment of the madness lurking beneath this place.
I had been a little worried deep down, so I let out a sigh of relief.
However she interpreted that, Ray, who at some point had glided out like a ghost, shook out the canteen in her hand.
“You can safely ignore half of what this woman says. Well… greetings are fine and all, but I’d like to start talking business soon. When do we begin?”
“Ah, yes.”
I shifted my gaze toward Ray, who spoke with a blank expression, and organized my words in my head.
The truth was, I had been worrying over several things since yesterday.
When this was a game, I could see all the allied skills and enemy skills clearly, and since it was turn-based combat, there was no need to make decisions in a hurry.
But this was reality.
Naturally, I couldn’t command these mercenaries as they fought—I couldn’t even watch them fight.
According to the butler, now that I sat in this seat, I had an obligation to “definitely” uncover the labyrinth beneath the estate, but if things were like this, was there no way but to send them in and pray?
That couldn’t be… the case. Probably.
However, when that question had first occurred to me, the butler had also been asleep, so I hadn’t been able to get an answer.
So I’d intended to ask once she woke up, but unfortunately, even by the time I came to the mercenary barracks to see them, she was still sprawled out asleep.
“First, the place I ultimately need you all to explore is the enormous labyrinth beneath this estate—more precisely, the very bottom of its deepest depths. However, it’s impossible to go straight down there.”
“Why?”
So, for now, I decided to brief them based on the information I knew.
When I made up my mind and began speaking, Ray threw in an appropriate question.
As if I had been waiting for it, I explained.
“Because unless a certain entity is eliminated on each floor, you can’t proceed to the next one. You could call it a kind of… seal.”
“A seal, huh. Something occult?”
Valerie muttered, rubbing her chin.
Of course, this world was full of superhumans as well, but that did not mean powers like “magic” were common by any means.
Most superhumans produced monstrous strength through superior physical specs and equipment with superior specs.
However, to put that previous statement in reverse, it also meant such kinds of powers or phenomena did exist.
And this seal was precisely that kind of power—in other words, “something occult.”
“You can think of it that way. Because of that, we need to annihilate a specific entity on every layer. And the labyrinth of this estate is much wider and deeper than you probably imagine.”
“It’ll take a long time, then.”
“Yes, a very long time.”
I could guarantee that.
Even if I, a Tombstone ape commander, proceeded as quickly as possible, it would take at least several dozen weeks in game time.
And now that this trash game had become reality, I was in a position where I had no choice but to proceed as conservatively as possible, so I wouldn’t be able to simply choose only the most efficient route.
Even if I cleared it as fast as possible, it would take a hundred weeks; generally, far longer than that.
…Of course, even that was an optimistic estimate. What really bothered me was that when I started a new estate after installing the Sexton mod, I had set the difficulty to Blood Moon.
Simply put, the highest difficulty offered by Tombstone’s main story.
If DLC were included, even more fucked-up difficulties did exist, but nominally, Blood Moon difficulty was canonically Tombstone’s end content.
And the biggest feature of that difficulty was that once certain conditions were met, the world immediately went down the bad-ending route and was destroyed.
You must not let more than 10 mercenaries die.
You must not spend more than 100 weeks.
If this world was also on fucking hellgate Blood Moon difficulty, then there was no way I could be free of those two restrictions. Surely…
“Well, that damn official notice did read with that sort of nuance.”
Though I had said it while somewhat bracing myself for pushback, Valerie only muttered indifferently.
It seemed the official notice sent up to Association headquarters had already explained some of it.
Meanwhile, Ray, clad in armor, picked up her helmet and tilted her head with a puzzled expression.
“What?”
“No, it won’t go on.”
When Valerie asked offhandedly at the sight, the answer that came back was something I never could have imagined.
She burst out laughing and asked back,
“Did your head grow overnight or something?”
“That’s not it. I just can’t bring myself to put it on. For some reason… I feel like I don’t need to wear it.”
Even her added words were absurd, and my expression stiffened a little at the strange, somehow ominous feeling they gave me.
Valerie, failing to notice, urged her to stop talking nonsense and hurry up and put it on, but I could see Ray’s eyes freeze stiffly with bewilderment.
At this point, that wasn’t a simple matter of whim or preference.
Just as I, sensing something unusual, was about to speak, Valerie went, “Huh?” and stopped moving.
“Uh, now that I think about it…”
Her face suddenly turned deathly pale, and after muttering, Valerie awkwardly stood up.
“I-I’m going to check something for a second.”
Then she scurried into the bathroom.
Before I could properly grasp what was going on, Ray eventually set her helmet down.
“This… won’t be necessary.”
“Will you be all right?”
Even though, by ordinary reasoning, there was no way a piece of equipment she had always used would suddenly become unnecessary, Ray nodded at my worried question.
“It is a little strange, but… well, it should be fine.”
Then she muttered that.
No, this is making me anxious as hell.
If I had my way, I’d force it onto her head and send her in, but I had no right to order her around.
If she herself didn’t want to, what could I do?
As I looked at Ray in a half-resigned state, Valerie walked out from the opposite side with her face flushed bright red.
“Miss Valerie?”
“Ugh. Well, you see…”
She had suddenly gone into the bathroom and come back out only to look completely at a loss.
When I looked at her questioningly, she soon began rambling about something before speaking in a voice as tiny as an ant.
“I-I can’t wear underwear.”
“Pfft.”
“Hey! You wanna die?”
Valerie fumed at Ray, who had reflexively sprayed out the water she was drinking.
Since I couldn’t exactly fail to understand that reaction, I let out a sigh.
By then, honestly, even if I didn’t want to realize it, I had no choice but to know.
This, too, had to be the effect of that damn mod.
She was already wearing a tank top with barely any fabric and shorts that openly revealed her thighs, and now she’d been going without underwear all this time?
Because blood rushed to my head in an instant, I pointlessly cleared my throat a few times.
Ray’s inability to wear her helmet was probably for a similar reason.
Since it was a weeb skin, there would be no point if she wore a helmet and covered her whole face.
Seeing as she was laughing at Valerie like she was about to stop breathing, it seemed Ray, at least, could wear underwear properly.
“It would be best not to worry too much about it.”
When I said that in half-resignation, the two of them turned questioning eyes toward me.
Their gazes pricked at me, as if asking whether I knew something.
“It seems that what’s down below is probably influencing you.”
Since I didn’t have the confidence to explain it properly, I glossed over it like that, and Valerie grumbled, “More occult whatever, huh.”
If it were me, I would have gone berserk saying no such bullshit existed, but in this world, all sorts of bizarre occult arts actually existed, so it apparently wasn’t entirely unbelievable.
“For now, let’s go to the main building’s office.”
“Ugh, wait… Do I really have to go out like this…?”
First, I had to take them to the mansion and meet the butler.
The sun was already nearly high in the sky, so no matter how much of a drunkard she was, she should be awake by now, and then she would tell me something.
Valerie twisted her body as if she felt terribly exposed, but what was I supposed to do?
There was nothing I could do for her.
In the end, she chose to take a jacket out of her backpack and wrap herself up tightly.
Since the mod seemed to allow that much, should I call this fortunate or not?