Dungeon Sherpa

Instead of heading directly home, Rowe dropped by a relative’s house on a corner of the main street. 

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　It was already evening. 

　The girl crouching by the front door, illuminated by the orange sunset, upon noticing the figure of Rowe, rushed over with all her strength.

　Ta- ta- ta- ta- thomp.

“I’m back, Marin.”

“—su”

　The girl who attacked Rowe’s stomach with a headbutt continued to silently push her forehead against him.

　While stroking her light brown hair and soothing her tantrum, the front door opened and a middle-aged woman came out.

“You’re back, Rowe?”

“Ah, Murau.
Thank you very much.”

　The middle-aged woman – Murau extended her palm.

　Rowe took a silver coin from his wallet and put it in her hand.

“When I’m busy with work again, it would be great if you could help out once more.”

“Hmm, what an unlikeable kid.”

　After staring at the young girl’s back, Murau closed the front door a little violently. 

　That was the end of the dialogue.

　Rowe and his sister – the 4 year old Mariete live alone together.
When Rowe dives into the labyrinth as a Sherpa, he entrusts his sister to his relative Murau.
But this middle-aged woman is stingy and her personality is harsh.
Mariete is also extremely shy, so they are rather incompatible. 

“Sorry, Marin”

　After Rowe apologised with these thoughts in mind, Mariete (while with her forehead still against his stomach) shook her head. 

“Well, let’s shop and have dinner.”

“… I want to help.”　

“I made money this time, so should I buy meat and milk?”

　Mariete lifted her head and her big eyes were gleaming.

“Stew?”

“That’s right.”

　Murau’s family was a so-called middle-class family, but given her stinginess, she tried to limit her expenses as much as possible.
In his absence, Rowe knew that his sister would not be provided decent food, but it was also difficult to find a better place to take care of her. 

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　A Sherpa is an occupation that always brushes against death.

　In the unlikely event that he couldn’t return, there wouldn’t be some good natured person who would be willing to suddenly take care of some stranger’s child. 

　As possible solutions, he had considered hiring a maid, or marrying someone who likes children.

　Setting aside hiring a maid, marriage might be difficult..

“Because our bad reputation is already widespread.”

　Suddenly the hem of his shirt was pulled.

“… ride”

“Alright, alright.”

　When they got home, they both started preparing dinner.

　Mariete seems to like helping with household chores.
In particular, she seems to enjoy cooking with her brother, and she even sings nursery rhymes in a whisper while stirring in the pot.

　She doesn’t usually talk much, so few people know it, but her sense of rhythm is good and her singing voice was soothing like a clear sky.

“Brother.
Dungeon, no more?”

“That’s right.
‘Electric Mole’ and ‘Iron Mask’ seem like they are in the middle of a dive, the leader of ‘The First Spear’ is hospitalised, so I might be free for a bit.” 

“~ ♪”

　If an adventurer’s request comes, he basically has no reason to refuse the job.
However, to enter the labyrinth the immediate day after receiving the request – that isn’t possible for him. 

　The preparation period takes at least three days.

　Adventurers also know that by heart, so before exploring the labyrinth, they need to contact the Sherpa liaison at the Adventurer’s Guild in advance. 

　For now, Rowe has yet to be booked, so he foresaw that he could have some private time with his family.
　

　Let’s make a lunch box and go on a picnic in the forest on the outskirts of the town.
Or maybe, since Mariete is growing, we can tailor her clothes.
I can also repair the leaks in the shed, or smoke some meat and prepare some preserved food.

　While having a chat at the dinner table, with just the two of them family members enjoying dinner, a peaceful time passed.

–

　–The next day.

　Rowe headed to the Sherpa Guild, and after handing in the Dungeon Dive report, was ordered to show his face in the Guildmaster’s room. 

　The current Guildmaster was named Gunji, a burly middle-aged man with a scraggly beard.
Exactly what you might expect when you think of a Sherpa-like person.

　About two years ago, he injured his back and retired from active duty, but until then, he had been active for a long time as the ace Sherpa of Tyros Labyrinth.

“… Marin is waiting at home.”

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“You’ve just arrived and you’re already in such a bad mood, oi.”

　To Rowe, Gunji was more or less, his Master.

　However, when he was active, Gunji had no interests other than diving into the labyrinth, so he assigned all the preparatory work to the sensible Rowe – no, he pushed it all onto Rowe. 

　Shopping for food and potions, to maintenance and repair of work equipment.
In the end even the Dungeon Dive report was written by Rowe on his behalf, only then did Rowe realise he was being exploited.

　While making Rowe do all the work, Gunji, who had been drinking and gambling, was scolded by the former Guildmaster and made to prostrate in apology before Rowe.
From then, it became a situation where he found it hard to raise his head in front of Rowe.
　

　When thinking about how the past Rowe used to call Gunji, “Master” and looked up to his brilliance, Rowe sometimes felt bittersweet.

“It’s because whenever I am called by Gunji, nothing decent ever happens.”

“Thi, this time it’s different.
It’s a ve-ry good story.”

　Recently, the parties who were on the verge of being blacklisted and marked as problematic have all been pushed to Rowe, so Rowe’s trust in Gunji was extremely low. 

　Gunji cleared his throat once loudly and folded his bulky arms.

“As you may have heard, a big shot has arrived in our labyrinth.”

“The ‘Twilight’s Sword’?”

“That’s right.
The recent Hero of the East, who’ve got the streets fired up – they’re the most ancipated party right now.”

“It seems like there will be an expedition soon.”

　Party level is one of the indicators of the ability of adventurers.

　It is determined by the number of adventurers belonging to the party and their average level.
A standard party – in other words, the case of a four man party, has a party level equivalent to the average level of the party members.

　And in the labyrinth, an appropriate level is set for each floor.

　In the end, although it serves as just a guideline, if the party level matches this set appropriate level, it suggests that floor is suitable for the party. 

　For example, the appropriate level for the 40th underground floor of the Tyros Labyrinth is 13.

　However, it is rare that there are four or more such high-level adventurers, so in reality, multiple parties around the level of 10 collaborate to capture the labyrinth as a group. 

　As the number of adventurers increases, so does the amount of luggage, and the number of Sherpas required also increases.

　This is the general lineup for expeditions aiming for unexplored floors and labyrinth cores.

　The march of life-risking heroes has become a bit of a spectacle.

　At the time of the expedition’s departure, it has become a usual sight for the path from the Adventurer’s Guild to the entrance of the labyrinth to be adorned with flowers, crowded with excited residents, and reveling with the clamour of a festival.   

　It is an honour for both Adventurers and Sherpas to participate in such expeditions.
If Rowe’s father was still alive, Rowe would not have even hesitated a second to express his hopes for participation. 

　But now the situation has changed.

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　There is something much more important to Rowe than a Sherpa’s honour.

　For normal labyrinth exploration, the dive period is about 3 days to a week.
However, when it comes to expeditions, there have been cases exceeding a month.

　Meanwhile, what happens his younger sister who would be left alone?

　Without being given good food, and because of anxiety and loneliness, would she not have to cry herself to sleep?

　While thinking of the figure of his sister who headbutted his stomach yesterday in the orange sunset, Rowe made a very natural decision. 

　-Let’s refuse to participate in the expedition.

　There are many excellent Sherpas.
Even if I’m excluded, there shouldn’t be any problems. 

“No, we are not going on the expedition.”

“……Huh?”

　When he saw Rowe’s eyes widely rounding at his unexpected words, Gunji laughed boastfully.

“‘Twilight’s Sword’ seems to have no plans to team up with other parties.”

“In other words, aiming for a solo clear of Tyros Labyrinth?”

“Yeah, they’re really crazy!”

　Gunji’s voice resonated with a tone as though praising that unreasonableness.

“By the way, what is their party level?”

“12”

“… How many people?”

“Standard party.”

　Currently, the descent record of the Tyros Labyrinth is 47 floors underground.

　The appropriate level for that floor is 15.

　At the predicted lowest 52nd or 53rd floors, it would surely require a level 16 or 17 party.

“Low level, clear …”

　Rowe groaned, as if there was a terrifying monster in front of him.

　It’s not to say that this was completely impossible.
The party level does not directly equate to the actual party strength.

　The special abilities adventurers possess – Gifts, can make a big difference to a party’s strength.
In particular, attack-type magic Gifts are extremely powerful and can defeat powerful monsters even at low levels.

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　And, there is certainly an advantage that comes with challenging a floor before meeting the appropriate level.

　The possibility of a magic core that contains a large amount of experience, high value drop items might also be obtainable. 

“Actually, there was a direct request from the Adventurer’s Guild.
‘Twilight’s Sword’ seems to want to request only one Sherpa.”

“…”

“These conditions are quite strict.
One is to be an experienced and excellent Sherpa.
Two, you need to also be an Adventurer with level of 5 or higher.”

　At this point, there were three candidate Sherpas, including Rowe.

“Three, a person who is friendly and can act politely”

　The candidates became Rowe alone. 

　Viva, a senior, is silent and blunt.

　And Zahn is bad tempered and gets into arguments easily.

“That last condition is probably from the Adventurer’s Guild.”

　Adventurers choose Sherpa purely by experience and ability.
The higher the level of adventurer, the stronger this tendency.

　This is why there are so many requests for Viva and Zahn.

　Perhaps this last condition was not from the “Twilight’s Sword”.
This might be the result of the Tyros Adventurer Guild executives overthinking that the Royal Capital Adventurer Guild wouldn’t want their star ‘Twilight’s Sword’ to be treated rudely.

　Gunji ignored Rowe’s point.

“Given that, I thought of recommending you.
Rejoice.”

“-“

　In the case of an expedition, the period he would be restrained was a problem.

　However, when it comes to low-level conquest, the risk to one’s life increases.

　At party level 12, to break through floors with suggested appropriate levels 16 or 17, and then to obtain the labyrinth core?

　This wasn’t a joke.

　No matter how many lives you might have, it still wouldn’t be enough. 

　With a grin, Rowe replied.

“I would like to refuse”

“–Mom!”

　Gunji shouted as if he had expected Rowe’s reply, and from the guest room in the back came the former Guildmaster, an old woman

-Gima, along with a beautiful black-haired adventurer.