Level Down 28 (Patreon)

Volume 1 Chapter 28 - What Iseria Gained

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As usual, Allen took the reservationist of the level-up trap to the place where the trap in the Slime Dungeon was located.

At first, that place was just an empty corner of a dungeon, but now a simple cabin has been built to make the waiting time more comfortable and safe, even by just a little bit. Near the cabin, there was a stall that sold entertainment items, food, and even alcohol.

When the stall vendor first arrived, Allen had his doubts, ‘Can you even make profit in this kind of place that has such a limited number of people?’, but as if to prove him wrong, today too the stall vendor man called out to the reservationists as they entered the cabin.

Indeed, when Allen passed by while doing his work of crushing slime after bringing in the reservationists, he often saw them buying something from the stall.

To put it bluntly, ‘Waiting is nothing but boring, so that’s only natural, huh?’ That's what Allen has started to think recently, and ‘To make such a prediction from the beginning and connect it to business, as I thought, merchants sure have a fundamentally different way of thinking than us,’ he thought as he got a better opinion of the stall vendor.

Allen handed over the reservationists to the guild employee who is in charge of monitoring the trap, and began crushing slimes. Basically, it's just a simple job where he walks around the dungeon and when he finds slime, he’ll stomp on it.

To Allen, his quota of 200 slime magic stones was something that he can easily gather if he become serious, and if he used the magic stones he gathered when he was leveling up, he could slack off for a few days and there won’t be any problem, but Allen was honestly stomping the slimes.

All while ruminating Matilda's words in his mind.

(She is being watched by the top brass of the country, huh?) (Allen)

The words “bottomless swamp” that he heard from Iseria as Nera flashed through Allen's mind. ‘If Matilda's prediction was correct, it would certainly be a bottomless swamp,’ Allen thought with a wry smile.

For Allen, who was just a commoner and a normal adventurer, the top brass of the country, the royalty and nobility, were existences above the clouds. Although it can be said that he does know a noble, considering his younger brother Eric’s case, because Eric's wife, Julianne, is the daughter of a baron.

The baron is the third from the bottom among the nobility, a low-ranking noble who cannot be called the top brass of the country at all.

(Even a baron house is out of my league of understanding. Give me a break.) (Allen)

At that time when Eric's troubles occurred, Allen tried everything he could to help him, but the only thing he understood as a result was that the creatures called nobles think in a completely different way than commoners. Their action was completely incomprehensible to Allen.

Thinking of such a complaint that was not directed at anyone, Allen stomped on the slimes and diligently picked up their magic stones.

After hearing Matilda's story, Allen had made two conjectures.

The most likely possibility is that the people who forced Iseria to level 999 against her will are among the top brass of the country, and are still keeping an eye on Iseria even now. In this case, even Allen could easily predict that if he got involved with Iseria, things would go in a bad direction.

The other possibility, which Allen thinks is more desirable, is that Iseria's Ojii-sama is using his influence to interfere with her activities as an adventurer.

Allen believed that the possibility was not zero, as he was definitely a considerable person, given his gift to Iseria.

(That said, I'm already fully involved, aren’t I? Though it’s as Nera, so that can be said to be the saving grace.) (Allen)

Allen progressed through the dungeon while stomping slimes, and then entered a path that deviated from the passageway that led to the boss room at the deepest. Reaching the end of the passageway, Allen took out his magic bag from his backpack and changed into the clown costume that was inside.

“Well, I can't back out now. I was the one who offered the deal, and thanks to the magic book I borrowed, I can use new spells now, so I’ve got to pay the price properly.” (Allen)

Muttering these words as if to convince himself, Allen headed back the way he came in his Nera guise. And then, he started walking down the path leading to the boss room again, and after a while he arrived at the deepest part of the dungeon, the boss room.

The huge slime, the boss of the Slime Dungeon, was not there. Of course, that wasn't Allen's goal, so he didn't make any particular reaction, and instead headed for the ingeniously hidden door, opened it, and walked straight inside.

“Ah, so it was Nera-sama.” (Iseria)

Perhaps having sensed someone's presence, Iseria had been waiting with her sword at the ready, and when she recognized Allen, ‘Fuu,’ she let out a sigh of relief. Then she carefully sheathed the sword in her hand and placed it on the floor.

“Are you hanging in there?” (Allen)

“Yes. That said, I'm basically just waiting though.” (Iseria)

“It's hard to wait, isn't it? There's nothing to do after all.” (Allen)

Iseria replied with a wry smile to Allen's words. It was like saying, unspeakably, that she had hit the jackpot.

“Ah, it's about time.” (Iseria)

As she said that, Iseria walked to the center of the room in a familiar manner, and the level-down trap there was activated and a magic circle appeared. Allen couldn't hear anything, but Iseria was hearing a sound in her head that was proof that she had leveled down

For Iseria, that sound was like gospel.

As can be seen from Iseria's current state, the deal that Allen offered was for her to use the level-down trap to return her level that had been forcibly raised back to 1. This was because Iseria’s level that had been raised to the maximum was nothing more than a hindrance to the fulfillment of her wish.

“Looks like it’s going well. What level are you now?” (Allen)

“Umm, just now... I became level 30.” (Iseria)

“Ha, 30? It's only the fifth day, you know.” (Allen)

Allen's eyes widened under his mask. It was five days ago that Allen made a deal with Iseria and told her about this hidden room where there was a level-down trap. There is no doubt that her level at that time was 999.

Considering that, that means she dropped more than 200 levels per day. Even if she activated the level-down trap every time, there is a cooldown of 3 minutes before it is reset, so she will need at least 10 hours, and considering the accumulation of the small lags, she would have to spend more time to achieve that number.

“There’s also the time when the gate is closed, so how...” (Allen)

After saying that much out loud, and finding a blanket spread out in the corner of the room, Allen understood. Iseria hasn't returned to the city even once for the past five days, and has been staying here all that time.

“Umm, please don't look too much.” (Iseria)

“O-ou. My bad.” (Allen)

As he said that, Allen turned his head away with such force that one could almost hear a whooshing sound it made. Feeling like he had done something wrong, and feeling his heart pounding in his chest, Allen opened his mouth to change the topic.

“Then, it looks like the first stage will be finished before the day is over.” (Allen)

“Yes. That said, as expected, I'm a little tired, so I'd like to rest at the inn tomorrow. There's a guild employee on patrol at night anyway, so I have no choice but to stay here today.” (Iseria)

“Thank you for your hard work. Then I'm going. See you the day after tomorrow.” (Allen)

With that, Allen turned his back and started walking.

“Thank you very much.” (Iseria)

Without turning around, he raised one hand in response to the words he heard from behind his back, his expression softened just a little.

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