The Kicked Out S-Rank Appraiser Creates The Strongest Guild - Chapter 06: Strike of the Lightning Witch
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- The Kicked Out S-Rank Appraiser Creates The Strongest Guild
- Chapter 06: Strike of the Lightning Witch
When Jill entered the room, Lucius was nowhere to be seen.
Only Deanna was there, scowling, with her arms crossed.
“Jill? What the hell is wrong with you? You didn’t even knock,” Deanna said sourly.
Jill ignored Deanna’s irritation and looked around the room restlessly.
“Where is the Guild Leader?”
“He’s out right now. Again, what the hell is wrong with you? You didn’t knock. No matter how senior your rank is, you’re acting out of line.”
“Deanna, why did the Guild Leader expel Laurent-san?”
“Laurent? Oh, that appraiser,” Deanna said boredly.
“Laurent-san is… He’s crucial for the guild’s future. We can’t afford to lose him.”
“He seems to be getting along better with Guardians of the Magical Tree.”
“Guardians of the Magical Tree? It can’t be… why would he do that?”
“You know that he did a joint quest with them a while back and got chummy with Lilianne, right? He even fostered her unique skill. Seems like he got caught up in her charm then. He was making a lot of mistakes recently, and they were apparently made at her request to drag us down.”
“Surely not…”
“It wasn’t enough that he gifted her with a skill, he even sold his loyalty to that guild.”
“There has to be some kind of mistake. Laurent-san isn’t that kind of person. He opened up so many doors for me. He even helped out rivals fair and square; he would never stand in the way of an ally.”
“Whatever! We obviously can’t have a traitor like him in our guild, no matter what. And you! Watch what you do and say. Even if you owe him some kind of debt, defending a traitor will only set a poor example for the other members. And above all else, keep your morale up.”
Jill spun on her heel and made to leave the room.
“Hold up! Where’s your response?”
“… I cannot speak ill of him.” Jill left it at that and exited the room.
The door clicked shut.
Deanna sighed.
For God’s sake. Her righteousness will be a problem. She got what she wanted from him, so can’t she just hurry up and forget about a disgraced man like him?
A cold smirk spread across her face.
He’ll crash and burn soon enough, even if I leave him be. But how about I take a few extra measures, just to make sure?
——
In addition to helping Arri out with her work, Laurent continued the interviews on the side.
Thanks to Arri, the [Earth Stones] job is on track, but it won’t go this smoothly all the time. As of right now, minerals other than [Earth Stones] are still controlled by Golden Hawk’s alchemist guilds. Just having [Ore Refining] is far from good enough. I have to hire more A-rank workers to fill up the other positions.
Just now, a young man named Ranju* had come in for an interview and was standing before Laurent.
(T/N: This is the literal romanization of his name in Japanese; I don’t know if the author intended for a Hindi name, but I figured, why not? Though, as far as I can tell from a bit of research, Ranju is meant to be a girl’s name, hehe.)
He was wearing a tank top which showed off his tanned skin and lean muscles, though his height was average.
He was very much dressed the part of a miner.
The intensity of his spirit could be seen from the sharpness in his eyes.
“Well then, what would your preferred role be?”
“[Ore Mining]. That’s my only alchemy-related skill.” Ranju scratched his cheek in embarrassment.
Laurent activated [Appraisal].
Ore Mining: B -> A.
I see. He’s currently at B-rank for [Ore Mining], with the potential to become A-rank in the future. He’s a shrewd kid who knows himself well. But it’s not quite enough yet.
Laurent continued using [Appraisal], checking whether Ranju had any other notable skills.
Workshop Management: D -> A.
Store Management: E -> A.
Mine Management: C -> A.
This is it! Three high potential management skills!
Laurent’s eyes shone.
If I appoint him and nurture him, he’ll become a core pillar of the guild before long.
“I see. I understand. I’ll hire you for [Ore Mining]. However, do you have any interest in management duties?”
“Management duties?”
“Yes, if you could help out with the workshop’s management, I could probably double your pay…”
“Huh? But I’ve never even done anything like managing a workshop before.”
“I will provide you with plenty of guidance and support, of course.”
“I mean… I guess I could give it a shot,” Ranju said, scratching at his cheek again.
It seemed like it was a habit of his.
From that day onward, Laurent passed all the workshop management duties over to Ranju.
He instructed Ranju on how to manage the ores’ inventory, the ledger and the boiler room.
Ranju performed clumsily at first, but in the blink of an eye, he’d gotten the hang of his responsibilities.
The ores and tools that had been tossed around carelessly throughout the workshop were tidied up and organized into boxes.
From the ores being brought to Arri to when they were being shipped out, the entire process grew far more efficient; any waste in the process was eliminated.
Ranju was quick on the uptake and an independent worker. Noting this, Laurent thought that he was probably the type that did better when he was simply entrusted with tasks to deal with rather than being taken through them step-by-step.
Laurent only gave general orders at the right time and left the rest up to Ranju’s discretion.
“Ranju, your mission is to help Arri to produce more A-rank [Earth Stones]. Even if it’s just one more. Work out a management system for the workshop that will improve Arri’s productivity!”
The effect was almost instantaneous.
The moment Ranju saw Arri at work, he immediately thought of and made changes to ease her work process.
At the exact moment when she needed an ore, he would pass it to her. At the exact moment when she needed her hammer, he would pass it to her. When she wanted to concentrate, he would leave the room and bring her a glass of water when she was thirsty.
He thought of everything to make her work easier.
Arri’s productivity immediately went up. Her limit of ten refinements of A-rank [Earth Stones] in a day grew, settling at twelve refinements in a day.
Arri was delighted, too. “You’ve really helped us out, Ranju-san. It was getting tough with just the two of us.”
As expected of Laurent-san, getting such an excellent support staff on board, she thought.
Ranju scratched his cheek, embarrassed.
——
While Laurent was guiding Ranju through his management duties, the main force of Golden Hawk was just arriving in the deepest section of a newly born dungeon.
The soldiers were tired, but their spirits were high.
It had been a while since they’d found such a large dungeon.
If they cleared it, they would likely be able to secure a massive reward.
The unit began to approach what they knew to be the final gateway.
There hadn’t been any monsters for a while now.
That meant that the dungeon’s end was near.
Without a doubt, the final boss would be just over the hill they were currently climbing.
“Halt!” Just as they crested the hill, the unit’s captain, Marco, issued an order.
Beneath his eyes, the moors stretched out, and upon them, there were countless coffins.
Marco counted at least a hundred of them.
“These… Are these skeleton warrior coffins?” One of his subordinates said, stunned by the sheer number of the coffins.
“Yeah, this looks like the dungeon’s final boss,” Marco said with a strained smile.
If they continued beyond this point, close to a hundred skeleton warriors would come out of their coffins in swarms.
Dammit. We spent so much effort getting here. Our armor and our weapons have been pushed to their limit, and this is the last part of the dungeon.
Marco turned to survey his unit’s condition.
There were thirty members in total within the unit, divided into six parties of five members each.
Their condition was terrible.
Each and every one of them had lost some equipment.
Their equipment had either been devoured by slimes that secreted acidic mucus, or something similar, while trying to get to this point of the dungeon. It seemed like they had only run into enemies or traps targeted precisely at damaging their equipment.
If they engaged the skeleton warriors, which would not stop moving until they were smashed to dust, he could only foresee it devolving into brutal, close-ranged combat.
It would be dangerous to fight them with their damaged equipment.
“Party leaders, report! Equipment status.”
“Party Two. Three members have significant damage to their equipment. The remaining two members have light damage to their equipment.”
“Party Three. Four with significant damage, one with light damage.”
“Party Four. Also four with significant damage, one with light damage.”
“Party Five. All of us have significant damage.”
“Party Six. Similar. All reporting significant damage.”
“Right…”
Party One has three members with significant damage and two with light damage. That means that of the thirty members in the unit, twenty-four members have significantly damaged equipment, and six members have light damage. I suppose this is as far as we can go.
Marco sighed in resignation.
They could repair the lightly damaged equipment right then and there, but for the significantly damaged equipment, they would either have to return to the city or have [Earth Stones] on hand.
“We’ll withdraw.”
“What? We’re withdrawing?”
“Yeah, with this sort of damage, it’s far too dangerous for us to clash with a hundred skeleton warriors. It’s good enough to just get a grasp of what the final boss will be. We’ll head back and make our preparations before coming back out again. We’ll head back to the Golden Hawk headquarters and put in a request for [Earth Stones] and to have some fighters specialised in close-ranged combat deployed, as well.
“But… just doing nothing like this and retreating feels like we’re being cowards.”
“If we at least gave it a shot first…”
“The key strategy for a dungeon like this is to prepare close-ranged combat equipment as quickly as possible. Because of that, we’re not going to waste time fooling around. Hurry up and retreat.”
If it’s a hundred skeleton warriors, we’ll need to prepare thirty… no, just in case, sixty [Earth Stones]. And… I’ll need to borrow Jill’s strength again.
With the high defense and stamina she boasted, she could single-handedly hold the frontline as a tank and damage dealer.
It wasn’t a problem at all, even if she alone got surrounded by the skeleton warriors; with her strength, a single swing of her great sword would turn two or three skeleton warriors to dust.
If this boss fight turned into a drawn-out close-ranged fight like he predicted, it would be best to get the help of the strongest close-ranged fighter, no?
Marco smiled wryly.
Recently, it seemed like he was constantly relying on her.
He’d have to do something nice for her in return.
As he thought that, the unit began to make an unexpected commotion of something.
“What? What’s happening?”
“Captain! We’ve got incoming from behind!”
“What?! Incoming?”
“It’s them! The main force from Guardians of the Magical Tree, led by Lilianne.”
A unit composed of twenty combatants, five magicians and five archers—thirty men in total. They passed by Marco’s squad, missing them completely.
They were heading towards the hill that Marco had just climbed over.
“This is bad, Captain. If they cross over first…”
“Relax. Their equipment is also at their limit too. Look,” Marco pointed out.
Lilianne’s close-ranged combatants had taken even more damage than Marco’s men.
Some of them had broken swords, and a few had armor that was practically falling apart.
He didn’t think they had enough strength left to finish the boss.
Golden Hawk’s alchemist guilds should be able to prepare sixty [Earth Stones] within a month. Guardians of the Magical Tree don’t have a leg to stand on.
Golden Hawk’s ties to the alchemist guilds were strong, while Guardians of the Magical Tree had strong ties to the potioneer guilds. This was well known within the city.
Nevertheless, it never hurt to be cautious. If they let their guard down, those guys might manage to procure the [Earth Stones] before them. That could not be allowed.
This cemented Marco’s decision to withdraw.
“Since Guardians of the Magical Tree have made it this far, it’s all the more necessary that we make haste in our preparations. Do you get it now? Then get a move on!” Marco said to his unit. He turned away from the coffin-filled moors.
But as they began their retreat, the sound of the coffins opening rose.
What? Surely not.
Marco spun back around.
Lilianne had used her [Float] skill and was preparing for battle.
Her closed-ranged combatants were descending to the moors as well.
“Captain, they’re planning to fight.”
“Ridiculous. They’re far too reckless.”
Without a doubt, Lilianne’s firepower was a sight to behold.
In one strike, she could probably destroy ten skeleton warriors.
But she had a weakness.
After the first strike, she would enter into a state of overheating. For a brief period of time, she could not use her magic to attack, nor could she continue using her [Float] skill.
She would have to temporarily descend back to the ground for a rest to replenish her magic. In other words, the protection of the ground troops was absolutely essential.
Whether she destroyed ten or twenty skeleton warriors, if the ground troops were massacred, she would be torn to pieces by skeleton warriors once she descended to the ground in her state of overheating.
What is she thinking?
Marco halted their preparation for retreat and observed the fight instead.
Meanwhile, the skeleton warriors had woken from their slumber. In an instant, the moors were crawling with skeleton warriors wielding swords and shields.
Up in the air, Lilianne made some sort of signal.
On cue, all of her soldiers pulled out an item at once.
In their hands, they held gleaming azure stones.
“Those are—[Earth Stones]?!”
“What?! Impossible. The workshops capable of producing [Earth Stones] are under our control. How can they have so many [Earth Stones]?!”
Moreover, the [Earth Stones] they had were of extraordinary quality.
It looked like they were all A-grade [Earth Stones].
Their equipment was repaired, and in the blink of an eye, it was good as new.
The melee battle began.
The sound of swords and shields clashing rang through the air. The skeleton warriors pressed in on the adventurers.
Judging it to be the right moment, Lilianne let loose with lightning magic.
Thunder roared, and fifteen skeleton warriors that had been clustered together were blown away by a dreadful torrent of energy.
For a moment, the skeleton warriors’ formation was thrown into disarray, however the gap was immediately filled by more skeletons. The adventurers had no time to rest.
Overheated, Lilianne descended to the surface unsteadily. The melee fighters reformed around her smoothly, not permitting even a single enemy to slip through their ranks.
Lilianne touched down safely and started restoring her magic.
The battle dragged on for a long time.
Before long, the adventurers’ equipment was worn down once more.
Marco relaxed.
Surely they would not be able to clear the dungeon like this.
However, as though to spite Marco’s prediction, Lilianne and her men withdrew more [Earth Stones] and recovered their equipment.
Lilianne rose into the air again.
From the skies, she surveyed the battlefield. What an outstanding ability to last on the battlefield. All thanks to Laurent-san, she thought.
The second lightning strike reverberated through the air.
This time, twenty skeleton warriors were decimated.
Already, more than 70% of skeleton warriors had been decimated.
Now that they had the advantage in numbers, the close-ranged combatants advanced forward, attacking.
There was no third flash of lightning.
Lilianne’s men had annihilated the skeleton warriors.
And thus, Guardians of the Magical Tree, led by Lilianne, conquered the dungeon.
As the boss had been defeated, all the adventurers inside the dungeon, other than those belonging to Guardians of the Magical Tree, were forcefully transported back to the city.
In a month, this dungeon would disappear. In that time, the conquering guild, Guardians of the Magical Tree, would have a monopoly of the dungeon’s resources—ores, animals, plants and monsters. They had full rights over the collection and use of all of those resources.
According to the adventurer law, no one except for members of the same guild and those they granted permission to was allowed into the dungeon.
Those who broke that law would receive capital punishment.