I Became a 6★ Gacha Character-394 - Hero Party 4

TL/Editor: raei

Status: 5/Week Mon-fri

Illustrations: Posted in discord.

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Though they said someone had come from the Empire, it wasn't someone who knew or sought out Roland of Lombardo - that ill-fated genius knight Roland. Of course, just as nobles in the Kingdom did, there were likely nobles in the Empire who felt a sort of romantic attachment to hero parties.

Most nobles provided generous financial support without interfering, so to put it kindly, it could be seen as something between vanity and youthful enthusiasm - a kind of fandom bordering on pretension and boyish dreams.

They were the type to visit the adventurer's city, shake hands once, have a brief 5-minute chat, and then hand over 10 gold coins. In true fantasy world fashion, the wealth gap was so enormous that it was hard to calculate exactly how much 10 gold coins would be in modern terms, but it was at least more expensive than a famous idol's fan signing event.

"The exploits of the hero party, which have resounded beyond the Kingdom to the Empire, have always deeply moved me, Sir Roland!"

"Is that so?"

"Yes! Everything, from the stories of your indomitable spirit as an adventurer who never retreated an inch before your comrades, even before being chosen by the holy sword!"

So this old man who came to see me directly must have been of that ilk.

A mustache reminiscent of Pringles, sharp eyes, a hat with a large brim, and a long rapier hanging at his waist. Add to that an old-fashioned coat, and the conclusion was obvious - he was clearly obsessed with dueling.

I didn't remember exactly, but that outfit was probably the dueling costume that appeared in a minor event in Heroines Chronicle. A noble who wandered around wearing dueling formal wear all the way from the Empire to the Kingdom just to see the hero party.

Just as in modern society, you could tell someone's interests without talking to them if they wore clothes printed with female anime characters and carried anime merchandise, this man was that type.

"So, what brings you all the way here?"

"Well..."

As I pondered this, I posed a question to him, who was expressing fervent interest in me while showing no interest at all in Han Se-ah, the real hero.

Pringles Mustache's name was Marx.

As soon as Han Se-ah displayed the name 3★ 'Duel Arbiter' Marx Fabius through the system window, sickles, hammers, and standing people began sprouting like mushrooms in the chat.

"To be blunt, the knights of our territory have gone missing."

"Oh, I see..."

As evident from the old-fashioned surname plastered on, he was a noble from the southern Empire. Viscount Fabius, neither a large nor wealthy territory, but a noble famous as a dueling master befitting his title and attire.

Of course, even if he was famous, considering he was just a viscount and the Empire was at least twice as large as the Kingdom, he was probably only well-known in the south.

Anyway, being from such a Fabius viscounty meant they had lived peacefully without any particular problems or worries. Being in the south, there were no monster invasions from the Wave, just dealing with the occasional wandering wild monster.

...Until the knights in charge of public safety disappeared en masse.

"But is the number of knights usually that small? Is it because the viscounty is small?"

-Koreans familiar with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms say that number is small. Asians are crazy :(

-Even the Kingdom's knight orders only have dozens, how many hundreds of knights would a mere viscount have?

-Tsk tsk, even a Duke only has 20,000 knights, what are you complaining about?

-20,000 knights, 6kg daggers, 300 and 5,000, urgh the recon, the recon is coming...

-Just looking at the chat, you can tell who's Asian and who's Western, fuck

The knight commander, the only one in the order who could handle aura, and eight subordinate knights had suddenly vanished.

They didn't disappear while on patrol to maintain public order in the territory, nor did they go on an expedition to deal with monsters holed up in some gloomy mountain path. Without a single person having set out, they all vanished with a poof while gathered for morning training in the inner castle's training ground.

For quasi-nobles in charge of the territory's public safety and wielding various authorities to go missing overnight, the only thing to suspect was an anomaly in the Tower.

He seemed to catch on quickly, perhaps as knowledgeable about rumors flowing through social circles as he claimed to be famous.

"That's truly unfortunate. So, are you making a request?"

"...A request, can this even be called a request."

A 5★ knight commander and eight 3-4★ knights following him. With that level of strength, there should be no danger unless truly unfortunate circumstances piled up.

As long as they didn't get lost and isolated while moving recklessly, encounter a berserk ogre, or have other mobs continuously spawn nearby during a fight with goblins, they should be able to take care of themselves. But what made the Tower scary wasn't just the monsters.

Muttering softly as if trying to hide his anxiety, Marx opened his mouth.

"This isn't a request just for heroes. I'm asking everyone heading to the Tower's front lines as much as possible. If they see this crest, please share food and show the way to a safe zone. I swear on the name of House Fabius that I'll reward them handsomely."

"Hmm, I understand. That much is something we should do even without a request."

The excited look from our first meeting was gone, replaced by the weary eyes of a middle-aged man full of stress desperately looking at me.

A helmet crest on a banner, was it a wheat leaf placed on a horseshoe for House Cornelius? I was learning a lot about Empire noble houses now that Season 2 had started. The story seemed to be blatantly trying to entangle the player with noble houses, which felt a bit creepy.

Anyway, House Fabius, on the verge of losing their territory's maximum fighting power in one fell swoop, seemed to be understood for barging into the hero's mansion forcefully.

To be precise, it was more that Han Se-ah, who had no sense of authority, accepted it as a sort of emergency quest and didn't raise any objections.

"So Roland, you are... No, this isn't the time to discuss that."

"...?"

And so, Viscount Fabius, who appeared like a surprise event, made his request and disappeared, leaving me with something like a cliffhanger.

What the fuck, if you want to piss someone off, the first thing to do is...

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Raei Translations

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Weapons were enhanced with special enhancement stones, food was packed plentifully in the inventory, and after finishing conversations with people from the family, Lukius and the temporary party members all gathered at the plaza.

Before meeting with the temporary party members, we filled our stomachs with hot soup Irene had prepared and soft bread we wouldn't be able to eat for a while. We received quests related to safe zones and ogres from the Adventurers' Guild again, so all that remained was exploration.

"Are we heading straight to the 53rd floor?"

"I hear a gate to the 54th floor has been discovered."

"That's fast. Is it because even mercenaries from the Empire are all rushing in?"

In the two days spent enhancing weapons and getting involved with noble families, they'd broken through to the 54th floor, so we might as well start right from the 54th floor.

Someone with OCD who meticulously completed quests would thoroughly search from the safe zone on the 51st floor, but Han Se-ah wasn't that type. If there was a character who could leech off others, she preferred to rush ahead faster than anyone else, regardless of the aftermath.

Despite that, she insisted on fully revealing the minimap and completing all quests, which seemed contradictory, but wasn't enduring such contradictions what made a true RPG player?

"Right, today's goal is to head for the gate on the 54th floor. After that, we'll start exploration with finding safe zones as our top priority. I think verifying various safe zones is more important than quickly ascending right now."

"Shh― I've heard. People are being dragged away by the Demon King."

Unfortunately, there was no gate directly to the 54th floor, so we had to start from the 50th floor and walk to the 54th. This was normal for adventurers, so no one particularly complained.

All the temporary party members were not young, so they had a slightly stubborn quality. Back in my day, to reach the 54th floor, you had to enter from the 1st floor and use 53 gates... Fortunately, that stubbornness was directed at themselves rather than others.

Additionally, the gazes of the group turning towards Katie played a role.

"By the way, that sword looks extraordinary."

"Hehe, you have a good eye."

"Shh, it's chilling. Like a winter wind."

Lukius, born into a noble family and seriously trained in swordsmanship; Manaashi, who used a spear but seemed very interested in quality weapons, thinking of himself as a 'warrior'; and McDonagh, a knight from the countryside with an upright personality and romanticized view of 'knighthood' befitting his simple and honest character.

As the envious and amazed gazes of the three temporary party members turned to Katie's waist, her shoulders straightened and her chest thrust forward proudly.

It seemed the holy sword was treated more as a lump of aura and a Goddess's token rather than a 'sword', but Katie's sword was a bit different. As long as they could get their hands on special enhancement stones, they could enhance their own weapons like that too.

That's why Lukius, who sold the special enhancement stone outright for gold coins, seemed to regret it the most. I thought he was just an uncle who liked drinking and gambling, but it looked like he was quite serious about equipment, probably from his long experience as a mercenary.

"Hmm, I hope I'll get a chance to demonstrate my sword's abilities on the way!"

"A good sword, a good owner. Shh― It's a fine thing indeed."

Katie also hadn't had the chance to use her newly enhanced beloved sword in actual combat yet. She looked like she wanted to draw her sword right away but was trying hard to hold back.

Amidst these various emotions, the hero party's adventure began.

A safe, even boring adventure to the 54th floor.

...Does, uh, bad luck rub off on others?