Chapter 11 - 011_Surviving the Winter
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011_Surviving the Winter
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On the second floor of the Abandoned House Labyrinth, there is a wolf-type Selvanui called Ganrou that has a rock-like outer shell. Since its appearance is like a wolf carrying a rock on its back, its movements are not fast. Instead, it is a Selvanui with high defensive power.
The second floor has sparse stone houses within a rocky field. That light brown scenery blended with Ganrou's outer shell, but Rodney, who possesses Keen, detected the faint sign of movement. This was also the result of his daily training.
"Haaaaah!"
Along with the impact transmitted to his arm with a thud, Ganrou's body was crushed. Ganrou turned to dust and vanished, leaving behind a Life Light Stone.
Since an ordinary spear could not withstand Rodney's power, he had changed the wooden handle to an iron one. He thought that even if it deformed, it would rarely break, but that thought was naive.
"Ah..."
The iron handle, about 2 celum (4 centimeters) in diameter, had bent with a twist. It hadn't broken, but at this rate it would break soon.
"As I thought, ordinary iron can't withstand it. We need a weapon of True Steel."
This True Steel that Yulin spoke of is an alloy of True Ore discovered in the Labyrinth and iron. While difficult to work, it has moderate elasticity and toughness, and when made into a sword, it becomes a weapon boasting excellent sharpness.
"True Ore can only be obtained by going to the 4th floor..."
For Rodney, who was roaming the first and second floors, this was still a story for the distant future.
"Until we obtain a True Steel weapon, we have no choice but to make it thicker to increase strength."
"That's the only way, huh."
While thinking that it would be an iron club rather than a spear, Rodney's shoulders drooped as he realized that was the only option he had now.
After returning from the Labyrinth, Rodney immediately decided to have the blacksmith make an even thicker iron club.
"I don't mind, but it'll be quite heavy, my lord."
"I'll manage that, so I'm counting on you."
The spear with a 2-celum diameter was already quite heavy, but making it even thicker might exceed 10 rodem (20 kilograms). Moreover, if he swung such a heavy iron club, there was even a possibility that Rodney's shoulder would dislocate. He had no choice but to somehow manage and cope with that.
"Never thought the side effect of obtaining an Intermediate Source Power would be a weapon..."
True Steel weapons are precious, so they are not very common in circulation.
The True Ore collected in the Labyrinth in the past had been sold for money, so there was no stock in the Lord's family.
There is a possibility that the soldiers currently entering the Labyrinth might bring some back, but it probably won't work out so conveniently.
The iron rod he ordered from the blacksmith was truly an iron club. The handle part was 4 celum, gradually thickening until the striking part was 8 celum. It was about 70 celum in length, with a longer handle so it could be wielded with both hands. Moreover, the striking part had countless spikes, and the blacksmith was grinning and giving a thumbs-up.
"Ahaha. It really is an iron club. And heavy!"
"For an ordinary person, just lifting it would be quite a struggle."
It weighed 11 rodem, and could only be handled by activating Steel Arm.
"Carrying this around is tough too..."
It was nearly impossible to keep Steel Arm activated at all times. Through daily training, he had become able to sustain it a little, but he certainly couldn't keep it activated all the time. He sighed, thinking that carrying it around constantly would be backbreaking.
Rodney mobilized all his knowledge from his previous life to make it portable. Basically, he would carry it on his back, but he also made it so that it would be slung over both shoulders like a mountaineering backpack and supported at the waist.
"I suppose it'll work out..."
Having somehow made it possible to carry the iron club, Rodney entered the Labyrinth again.
Incidentally, what was obtained from Ganrou's Life Light Stone was a defensive Source Power called Hardening. However, by ingesting it orally, Rodney was able to obtain its superior Intermediate Source Power, Iron Wall. Emilia also tried oral ingestion, but it ended in disappointment.
Then, a Ganrou appeared before Rodney and his companions. Rodney activated Steel Arm and readied his iron club. At the same time, he activated Sturdy as a measure to prevent his shoulder from dislocating under the club's weight.
Rodney met the charging Ganrou with a swing of his iron club using all his strength, sending the Ganrou, which must have weighed 25 rodem, flying. The Ganrou hit a rock and vanished into dust.
"Oh! Big brother, you did it!"
"Lord Rodney, how is the iron club handling?"
"The handle is thick so I can only use it with both hands, but I think it's not bad. Probably, it won't warp against something like a Ganrou."
At that moment, the iron club became heavy with a thud. Steel Arm had worn off.
"Whoa there. I train daily, but I'll need to train even more."
"If you're going to train, I'll join you, Lord Rodney."
"I'll pass. You two train together."
When they exited the Labyrinth, it had started to snow. He gazed at the snow melting on his palm, realizing that a long, harsh winter was coming.
After returning home, Rodney and Yulin began doing swing practice in the backyard, where snow was fluttering. That said, since swinging the iron club as-is required Source Power, they were swinging a thinner iron rod instead. Even so, it was heavier than an ordinary sword.
Rodney performed this training every day without fail. Thanks to having obtained a civil official named Kiris, his paperwork had decreased, and he was able to focus on training, so after two months, he had built up considerable muscle.
Muscle that had been hard to build before now appeared, and his chest became much thicker. Along with that, he felt that his base strength was also increasing. Rodney thought that while the training was a factor, the improvement in his diet was likely also a reason.
"As I thought, diet is important."
Yulin and Emilia often saw Rodney grinning as he looked at his now brawny arms.
Even when snow fell and piled up, Rodney never missed his swing practice. During practice, steam rose from his body, and the surroundings became so hot that the snow melted.
He also made sure to eat a lot of meat every day. He was happy that when he ate, as long as he moved that much, it turned into muscle without making him fat.
The days continued of doing swing practice and then handling a bit of government work. Since this Dedel Territory was the northernmost land, the winter was long and the snow was deep. Until last year, the scene was that people hardly did any outdoor activities during winter.
However, this year he mobilized soldiers and sent them into the winter forest. It was to collect Galim tree sap. Since the employees of the Galim Syrup workshop were mostly elderly women, walking through the winter forest was possible but harsh. So he mobilized soldiers to collect the Galim tree sap.
Because the soldiers collected the Galim tree sap, the women gained time. So they switched to a system of making Galim Syrup in two shifts, early and late, and it was very gratifying that production increased even further.
Furthermore, Manas of the Hacklehoff Trading Company came to purchase Galim Syrup even in the snow. Moreover, because production had increased, profits recorded an all-time high.
And so, that long, harsh winter was coming to an end.
Kiris, who had completed her trial period during the winter, was officially employed. Rodney was amazed at her work performance; when he taught her bookkeeping, she quickly got used to it.
Besides being a civil official, Rodney had Kiris also act as his secretary and take charge of accounting for the Galim Syrup workshop. Even so, she worked flawlessly, and Rodney decided to pay her a salary of one gold coin per month as promised. This was ten times the salary of a soldier. That was a sign of how highly he valued Kiris's abilities.
"My lord. We have saved enough funds, so let's repay all the debt to Baron Menisas."
Accepting Kiris's proposal, he decided to wait for the snow to melt and then go to the Deldo Territory ruled by Baron Menisas.
The Deldo Territory is located before the Zabaljeen Territory ruled by Count Banyusas. Thinking that it would be nice to show Emilia to his grandparents in the spring, he decided to bring Emilia and his mother, Shalme. He had the intention of doing a bit of filial piety toward his grandfather, who had canceled their debt and had the kindness to purchase Galim Syrup.
Before repaying the debt, he decided to enter the Labyrinth. During winter, the Labyrinth entrance was blocked by snow, so they couldn't enter unless it warmed up enough for the snow to melt.
Rodney, who decided to enter the Labyrinth as the first activity after the snowmelt, took out the iron club he had stored away. He felt the club was lighter than before, and lifting it was not as difficult as it used to be.
When he went to the Labyrinth entrance accompanied by Yulin and Emilia, soldiers led by Rodmel and other attendants were lined up.
As the lord, Rodney also had to give a speech for the opening of the Labyrinth. This was an annual event. Though he thought it was a pain, it seemed he had to do it, so he reluctantly gave the speech. After that, he offered purification sake and salt to the Labyrinth.
"First Squad, move out!"
"Ooooh!"
The six members of the First Squad led by Rodmel entered the Labyrinth. The First Squad was a unit assigned with veteran soldiers. Normally they would explore the sixth floor, but since it was after the break, they were heading to the fourth floor.
"Second Squad, advance!"
Now the six members of the Second Squad, led by Endever, also entered. Since the Second Squad included new recruits, their goal this time was to train the new soldiers. So they planned to hunt Selvanui on the first and second floors.
After the Second Squad, Rodney and his companions also entered. They aimed for the third floor, deeper than the Second Squad. This was because Godoris and Ganrou were no match for Rodney and his party. Moreover, they had already obtained the Source Powers from Godoris and Ganrou.
The third floor was a terrain with many swamps, somewhat difficult to walk on. The Selvanui that appeared were called Lulumiru. They were Selvanui that could freely change their body shape like liquid, and came in colors such as red, blue, yellow, green, white, and black. Their characteristics differed by color; for example, a red one would release fireballs to attack. The first one they discovered was a Blue Lulumiru.
"Blue Lulumiru releases water spheres, so please be careful."
"Got it, Yulin."
First, Rodney decided to fight. Without activating his Source Power, he shouldered the iron club. He had become able to swing it lightly, but a serious swing was still too heavy without Source Power.
Activating Steel Arm and Sturdy, he swung the iron club up and began to run. He accelerated in a burst and closed in on the Blue Lulumiru, but the Blue Lulumiru noticed Rodney and released a water sphere. Rodney ran straight ahead, ignoring the water sphere.
The water sphere hit Rodney, but he only felt a slight pain and took no damage. This was because Rodney, with Sturdy activated, was in a state equivalent to wearing steel armor.
When he swung the iron club down, the Blue Lulumiru was squashed with a splat and scattered.
"Umm... is it over?"
It had scattered before turning to dust, so Rodney wasn't sure what to do. However, he found a blue Life Light Stone on the ground and confirmed that the Blue Lulumiru had been eliminated.
"Big brother, the little walkable ground we have is caved in. If the ground becomes full of holes, it'll be hard to fight, so go a bit easier on them, okay?"
"O-oh... sorry."
Even just Steel Arm was quite powerful, but with his base strength increased, it seemed his power had risen even further.
"With this, we can get special-type Source Powers too, big brother."
"Yeah, it's big that we can obtain means of long-range attacks for each attribute."
From Lulumiru, one can obtain attacks of '● Sphere' that match their attribute. Based on past results, Rodney was expected to obtain a superior power, so it seemed he would get the Intermediate Source Power '● Shot'.
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