Chapter 81. The Princess’ Revolt #1
After purchasing three items from the Wandering Merchant, I returned to the hideout, and a day passed.
Day 42 in the Labyrinth.
Today, too, the routine continued as usual.
Each exploration team took charge of their assigned passages.
I either rested at my dwelling, wandered aimlessly in search of vending machines, or walked around to expand the records of the newly obtained map generator.
Right now, I was soaking my body in the warm waters of a pond located in Cave No. 8.
Of course, I was with the Black Magma Slime.
【Pururu】─ Geon, what happened to the drifters?
【Mysticism】─🧐
“Drifters? Wait a second.”
I raised my hand and waved it in the air, checking the remaining number of drifters.
Yesterday, there were forty-six.
『Number of Drifters: 40』
Now, there were only forty drifters remaining in the Ancient Labyrinth.
“Six of them died overnight.”
【Pururu】─ㄷㄷ
【Mysticism】─😱
【Pururu】─But aren’t you going to meet them? You bought that Drifter Tracker just yesterday.
“Even if I have the tracker, it doesn’t give precise locations. It only gives verbal guidance towards the direction where the drifter is, so it’s hard to find them. Plus, I have no idea how far away they are.”
I couldn’t afford to spend time searching for drifters.
No matter how I thought about it, it seemed like a waste of time and manpower.
“And there’s no particular reason I have to find them.”
Unlike before, life in the labyrinth was now relatively comfortable for me.
If I needed something, my assistants would provide it.
With a sponsor like Rize, I had plenty of coins as well.
So, there was no need to go out of my way to exploit… I mean, demand compensation in exchange for giving away Transferable Return Tickets to the drifters.
‘I could just save the drifters out of goodwill and send them back to their original world, but… I’m not exactly a righteous hero who helps others without expecting anything in return.’
Of course, if I happened to run into them, I would help.
If the drifters were good people and not villains, that is.
Simply protecting them and handing over a Return Ticket was an easy task, and there was no reason to coldly ignore someone in trouble.
Besides, Elise might feel uncomfortable if I turned my back on them.
【Pururu】─Then why did you buy the Drifter Tracker?
“Because I might need it someday, so I bought it in advance.”
That was the answer I gave, but the real reason was different.
I had gone through the trouble of finding the Wandering Merchant, so I thought I had to buy something, and the Drifter Tracker seemed like the most useful item.
Among the trashy items, the Drifter Tracker was practically a rare find.
【Pururu】─Acting like you’re always prepared.
【Mysticism】─😐
***
When I returned to the hideout after washing up, the other assistants started joining the broadcast one by one.
【Bubble Bubble】─Pururu and Mysti are always the first ones here.
【Yumi】─It’s because they have so much free time. Especially Mysti, she’s unemployed. No job.
【Mysticism】─😏
【Bubble Bubble】─Pururu, do you have a job?
【Pururu】─Yep, I’m an illustrator. Though I also do part-time work on the side.
【Pururu】─Unlike Mysti, I’m surprisingly busy. I sneak in time to watch the broadcast when I can.
【Mysticism】─🤔
【Bubble Bubble】─What’s an illustrator?
【Yumi】─Basically, it’s like being a painter.
【Bubble Bubble】─Ah, so Pururu is a painter.
【Rizenova】─Pururu is as skilled at drawing as Gauntlet is.
【Bubble Bubble】─Oh, I heard that before. You said Pururu drew the picture of Kinogine Arachne. It’s really good.
【Pururu】─Hehe.
While the assistants were chatting among themselves, I was having a private conversation with the Blood Jellyfish Princess.
“So, if you beat the leader of your group, the rest of the jellyfish will naturally fall under your command, right?”
［Yep! That’s the tradition of our species! But I have to win the fight myself! They won’t acknowledge a non-jellyfish species!］
A group of jellyfish lived in a large cavern beneath a cliff in Cave No. 3. I had a plan to tame all of them soon.
I intended to start by taming the ones near our dwelling first.
However, there was one issue.
Taming and controlling over a hundred jellyfish would take a long time.
There was also the aspect of using force.
Unlike the Dog Spiders, the jellyfish weren’t particularly docile.
The feeding method that worked last time might not be as effective with them. Our jellyfish only responded to that method because it was young and simple-minded.
At any rate, I figured the hundred or so jellyfish would be full of hostility.
I couldn’t exactly extend my dismembered arms to all of them, so I had been worrying about how to quickly tame them.
But now, that worry was gone.
Our jellyfish just provided a solution to the problem.
“If the other jellyfish acknowledge you as their leader, they’ll become friendly towards me as well, which means taming them will take much less time.”
［Yep! Exactly!］
Come to think of it, I recalled reading something in the Explorer’s Journal.
There was an entry about witnessing a jellyfish war.
It seemed common for jellyfish leaders to fight, with the victor absorbing the other group’s forces.
“So, do you think you can win?”
［Hmm… To be honest, I’m not confident! That jellyfish is super strong!］
The jellyfish scratched its cheek as it answered.
［From what I know, that jellyfish has killed the leaders of ten other groups and absorbed their forces!］
“…Ten times? It’s stronger than I thought.”
［Yep! And it’s also ruthless! It kills the other leaders without fail and mercilessly slaughters any jellyfish that fall behind or don’t meet its standards!］
When we first encountered the jellyfish, it had been separated from its group.
According to what it later told me, it had sensed that it was about to be discarded and had fled the group.
In other words, it wasn’t a scout, but a fugitive.
As it turned out, the jellyfish was considered one of the weaker members of its group.
【Pururu】─So, it had a past like that…
【Rizenova】─I didn’t know. The jellyfish sure has gone through a lot.
【Mysticism】─😠 Jellyfish Queen is trash!
【Yumi】─It’s a relief it got tamed by Geon.
【Bubble Bubble】─Yeah, if it hadn’t met Gauntlet, it might’ve been caught and killed by the pursuers or eaten by other monsters.
【Pururu】─Geon, tell our jellyfish to shout “You bastard!” right in the Jellyfish Queen’s face when they meet.
Originally, I was planning to tell the jellyfish not to kill the Jellyfish Queen, even if it won.
I wanted to tame another SS-rank.
But I changed my mind.
I told the jellyfish that it could kill the queen if it wanted to.
Even if the Jellyfish Queen was a tyrant, taming her would make her friendly toward me, but I doubted the other jellyfish would ever accept it.
Especially not our jellyfish.
［If I win the leadership battle, everyone will definitely be happy. They all hate her. They’re only following her because she’s strong.］
I didn’t mind if our jellyfish lost.
As long as it didn’t die.
As long as it survived, the Medical Mushroom could heal any injuries.
It could retreat and try again later.
It could keep trying until it won.
“Fish, you said the leadership battle has to be a one-on-one fight, right?”
［Yep, no one else can interfere! Otherwise, they won’t recognize me as the leader!］
“Alright, if it looks like you’re going to lose, just ask for help right away. You only get one chance at this.”
［Yep! I’ll raise my hand and ask for help if I need it!］
Even if it didn’t ask for help, I planned to step in and rescue it if it looked like its life was in danger.
［Dad, are we going right now? I’m nervous!］
“No, we’ll go tomorrow. Rest well today and recover your condition.”
The battle would take place tomorrow.
The Jellyfish Princess’s struggle to seize control from the Jellyfish Queen.
It was a coup d’état, the Princess’ Revolt.
***
Day 43 in the Labyrinth.
I led a large group of monsters to where the jellyfish swarm resided.
Although the Jellyfish would fight alone, I brought along my strongest forces in case anything went wrong.
【Pururu】─I skipped my part-time job for this.
【Mysticism】─I didn’t sleep either!
【Bubble Bubble】─I’m getting nervous…
【Yumi】─Phew, I made it in time.
【Rizenova】─Don’t lose, Jellyfish! I’m rooting for you!
On one side stood the Jellyfish Queen and about a hundred other jellyfish.
On the opposite side, our monsters stood at a distance, facing them.
Between the two camps…
“Eek! Scary people showed up againnyang…!”
A human with the traits of a sheep.
A sheep-person was trembling, looking back and forth between our camp and the jellyfish camp.
【Mysticism】─🤔
【Pururu】─?? Who’s this kid?
Before I could even wonder who she was, the words floating above her head caught my eye.
『Drifter』
She was a drifter.
“I have nowhere to run… I’m dead now… they’ll do all sorts of terrible things to me, and then I’ll die…!”