SWNOVELS Chapter 40: Quratar's Labyrinth
Quratar’s Labyrinth
The next morning we went to Quratar’s Labyrinth.
I prepared my equipment in the dark, and warped to the first floor’s entrance room.
Even though I expected it to be less crowded at this time, I still saw someone straight away. Dungeon walk can be used in the entrance room so there wasn’t a problem.
“Let’s see. Straight ahead I think.”
I showed Roxanne the capture map to double check.
The map isn’t a complete map of the whole floor, it’s just a breif map showing the path that leads to the second floor.
There isn’t any other information on it, and the quality of the paper is rather bad.
“This is pretty bad quality.”
“Well, that’s how papyrus is.”
“Papyrus?”
“Yes.”
Oh! So this is papyrus? I learnt about it in history class.
Flimsy paper with a brownish color. Well, it’s not really even paper.
It seems like it will tear really easily.
This is the first time I’ve seen it.
There’s only writing on one side, would it tear if the back is written on?
Or is it single sided because the 90 maps are normally sold separately?
Last night I removed the first three maps from the booklet and put them in my rucksack.
The booklet has 90 pages with the capture maps up til the 90th floor.
The pages have the floor numbers written on them.
The numbers for 1 to 3 I remember from the Vale restaurant.
“There seem to be quite a lot of people.”
“Especially on the first floor, there are parties entering all the time.”
“Hmmm.”
“There’s a lot of people doing long hours to make money.”
Despite the fact that it’s early there is still a considerable amount of people.
It’s comparable to the amount of people in here during the day yesterday.
The party ahead of us seems to be looking at a map as well, and is moving along about thirty meters ahead of us.
It seems I didn’t need a map.
We continue on the path indicated by the map and arrive at the boss room.
We had to walk about three times as much as I did in Vale’s Labyrinth.
It seems that Quratar’s Labyrinth is quite large.
Even though we saw numerous people we did not encounter any demons.
There were several parties in the waiting room outside the boss room.
We wait for a while and then our turn comes up.
The first floor boss is the Kobold Kampfer. Roxanne fights in the front, so it’s quite easy.
While Roxanne exchanges attacks with the enemy, I attack it from behind to weaken it with Durandal.
The second floor is quite different, there’s no people at all.
We ran into demons numerous times.
Since there isn’t anyone to see it I can freely use Durandal and magic.
The floor boss is attacked in a pincer formation with Roxanne at the front and myself at the back again.
My job is simply to attack if from behind to weaken it with Durandal.
“Isn’t there more people on the third floor than there was on the second?”
“Yes, because the second floor is still half Kobolds.”
“Ah, that makes sense.”
When you’re strong enough to work your way up, the Kobold isn’t worth fighting anymore.
Thus there wasn’t anyone on the second floor.
“The Kobold is a weak demon for beginner’s so they gather on the first floor of Quratar’s Labyrinth to hunt them. The second floor isn’t popular for beginners, and not popular for anyone else since it’s still half Kobolds. As the Kobolds decrease more on the third floor, the amount of people increases.”
We saw numerous people on the third floor, though not as many as the first floor.
Unless there’s no choice we do our best so that nobody see’s me using Durandal.
Against the floor boss, Roxanne still handles the front while I swing at it from behind with Durandal.
The third floor boss, the Spice Spider, leaves pepper behind.
“Oh, Pepper! I’ve heard that pepper is worth it’s weight in gold.”
“It can’t possibly be that valuable.”
It seems I had a strange belief.
I think it’s used in a lot of meat dishes.
Well, it isn’t a special item since you can get it any time from beating the Spice Spider.
It was a short lived joy.
We continued on to the fourth floor.
“How crowded is it?”
“A bit less than the third floor. If we head deeper in we should be able to fight without being seen.”
“Ok, lets do that.”
I didn’t bring the capture map for this floor, so we won’t be clearing it for now.
Even though there’s capture maps for Quratar’s Labyrinth and we can work our way up quickly, it isn’t a good idea.
At some point we’ll hit our limit.
Somewhere there’s a floor we won’t be able to get past and a boss we can’t defeat at our current levels.
I don’t know where.
It could be an upper floor, or could be the fifth floor boss.
I’m sure things will become dangerous if we advance too quickly.
Roxanne continues on until there are no more people around, we find a small safety room and thus this morning’s searching is over.
We return to the house and make breakfast.
Today we are having baked shema.
Shema is something like flavoring vegetables with a herb.
We roll meat up in this and bake it.
I smack the meat with a pocket knife as a substitute for a meat cleaver.
We season the meat with Kobald Salt, and Pepper which has been crushed in a mill and then rolled with the shema.
Some olive oil was added to the pot, and the food was baked.
The olive oil is dropped by the plant demon Naive Olive from Quratar Labyrinths second floor.
The Kobald Salt comes from the Kobald, and the Pepper comes from the third floor boss’s dropped item.
The taste was rather average.
The shema is a bit spicy, and similar to the leaves of a red pepper.
It’s fine for a first try.
After breakfast we head to the clothes shop in Quratar.
Roxanne’s clothing is high quality, but it won’t last forever.
Our spare clothing is just my Jersey, and Roxanne’s Maid clothes.
The high quality boutique in the Imperial Capital isn’t necessary for our clothes.
“Should we get two sets of top and bottom clothes?”
“Is it alright? This shop sells brand new clothes.”
Roxanne asks at the entrance to the shop.
My overcoat is second hand, but second hand goods didn’t hold much interest in modern Japan.
It seems to be the opposite here with emphasis on value.
“It’s fine.”
“I think it’s common for a slave to wear second hand clothing.”
So the flow goes from nobles to commoners to slaves?
Nobles buy the brand new items, it’s sold and then commoners buy it and sell it a few times, and then slaves get it. Maybe that’s it.
“It doesn’t matter. You can choose something you like.”
I give her a nudge, and push her into the store.
Even if I say top and bottom clothes, there isn’t much variety.
A tunic for the top, and trousers for the bottom.
By the way, the tunic is put on over the head, unlike a shirt which opens up at the front.
Village women have long skirts, but all women who enter the labyrinth wear trousers.
Roxanne looks through the few types of clothes choosing carefully.
Roxanne is looking for my clothes as well.
Occasionally she holds something up to my body with a “this one?” or a “how about this?”.
When the clothes are finally bought and we leave the shop, it seems most of the day has passed us by.
Our rented house is to the east when coming from the center of town.
Even though we thought it might take half a day, it ended up taking longer.
“Thank you, Master.”
“You even found clothes for me, thank you.”
It’s worth it just to see this smile from Roxanne.
All up the clothes ended up costing 1,050 nars. It doesn’t seem especially high.
“I’d like a larger tub to wash the clothes in, is that alright?”
One the way back, Roxanne points towards the general store with wooden goods displayed.
When one thing increases it’s necessary for something else to increase as well.
“That’s fine.”
Upon entering the store there are tubs and basins displayed to one side.
Roxanne picks out a large tub and passes it to me.
“Welcome!”
“This tub, is it the largest you have?”
When a worker comes over, I ask him while showing the tub that is a bit under a meter in diameter.
This general store has a wood craftsman in the back processing the wood.
If it’s here, “that” may be available.
“Something can be custom made.”
“That’s fine?”
“We even cater to nobles. If there’s a large amount of cloth to wash we can make something.”
“I’d like to request something.”
What do I want? A bathtub.
Since we managed to rent a house after many trials, next I’d somehow like to get a bathroom.
There doesn’t seem to be a custom of people taking baths, unless they are rich.
Water is fetched, and a heating fire is made, and it’s quite costly.
I don’t know if there are any hot springs, but I don’t think so in this climate.
Even in Japan I mainly used a shower.
Only sometimes would I get the desire to use a bath.
It’s different now, my circumstances have changed.
If I get in the bath now, Roxanne would follow.
Roxanne would be together with me in the bath.
Since Roxanne will join me, I really want a bath.
I’d really like to bathe with Roxanne.
Roxanne would wash me, and then we’d soak in the bath.
Mmmmmm.
There is no choice, I need a bath built.
By any means, it is necessary to build a bath.
It is absolutely necessary to make it.
Did I remember to say it’s necessary?
Ok, it’s time to do this.
But, how do I make one?
That’s the problem.contemporary romance
No bathtubs were seen in the furniture dealer or other shops of Quratar.
The old lady said I could change the interior of the house without needing to get permission, but I also need to find someone to do the work.
Even though I can make water and fire with magic, I can’t reveal that.
Water comes from the well or the river, and it can be boiled on a fire with brushwood but that’s normally quite expensive.
Will they think I’m a bath lover or something?
I can ask around, and a boiler isn’t necessary.
I’ve already verified that I can heat water with fireball.
I don’t need them to make something unnecessary, but how do I decline it?
Can an DIY amateur make a bathtub?
I considered it, but I’m sure I’ll need a craftsman.
You never know what you can do until you try though.
“You can see our merchandise, I think we can make something without problem.”
“I see.”
“How big were you thinking?”
“If possible I’d like something with a bit more diameter than the height of a person.”
I imagine Katsushika Hokusai’s picture.
hok034
“We can do that, is the regular depth fine?”
“Yes, it’s fine like this.”
I point at the tub with the deepest size.
I didn’t refer to the purpose because asking for something strange would have been suspicious.
The depth is around 50cm.
The bottom is thick, so maybe it’s a little shallower?
The purpose is not just to take a bath, but to get in with Roxanne.
It should be a reasonable size.
It has to be wide, but shallow isn’t bad.
I’ve heard that a deep bath isn’t good for your heart.
“Hmm… Well, how about 2,000 nars?”
After the workman thinks about it for a while, he presents a price.
It’s a lot cheaper than I thought.
Well, the other tubs are 20 nars and 100 nars so I guess that’s rather high in comparison.
“That’s fine.”
“Since it’s built to order it will take around five or more days. I’ll send a messenger to let you know when it’s done and we can organize to deliver it on a convenient day.”
The price seems to include delivery.
By the way, this world does seem to have addresses.
Quratar has six sections and seven districts, and the address of the house I’m renting is 123.
That’s fine, I’ll also get this.”
“Thank you, that’s 50 nars.”
I show the wash tub that Roxanne picked out.
Since the worker has the job of villager my 30% discount doesn’t apply.
“A large tub, what will you use it for?”
“You can look forward to finding out.”
Since Roxanne is holding the clothes, I carry the tub back to the house.
After returning to the house we change into the clothes we just bought.
“I’ll wash the clothes.”
“Yes. Since we took a lot of time in town today we’ll have a break from the Labyrinth for today.”
“Ok, then I’ll do the cleaning with my spare time.”
It’s fine since we were in the Labyrinth before sunrise.
Since I made water for washing, cleaning, cooking and bathing, I ended up having to go to the Labyrinth twice for MP recovery.
I’m a little worried about filling the bathtub now.
“I’ll prepare dinner now, we are having white stew.”
“What is white stew?”
“You haven’t had it?”
“No.”
“Well you can look forward to it then.”
I should be able to make white stew with the ingredients from this world.
First, you cook round slices of meat in a pan with some wine and water.
You let it stew for 30 minutes.
In this world you get wine and milk by taking a bottle to the shop.
This world doesn’t have any carton’s or PET bottles.
Next, the vegetables that Roxanne used for the vegetable stew were added and cooked with a low flame for a bit.
The spring onion is good to remove any bad smells from the meat, but spring onions are poisonous to dogs.
I checked with Roxanne to make sure there were no vegetables she wasn’t able to eat.
It’s the same vegetables that Roxanne was using on her own, so there shouldn’t be any problems.
The white roux is made while cooking.
Butter is put in the wok and some flour is fried.
Then milk goes in and everything cooks on low heat until it thickens up.
I did the white roux rather well.
I can probably make cream croquette’s and clam chowder with this.
The gratin would be hard since it burns with the oven.
I put the white roux with some leaf vegetables to give it a green color.
Finally I add some salt and pepper for taste.
Success!
Roxanne quite liked the taste as well.
“Master, it’s very delicious.”
I want to say don’t talk while you have white stuff in your mouth.
done.co