103-97 Slum disappearance




 After returning to the ground from inside the labyrinth, we decided not to head to the Healer's Guild, but to the Adventurer's Guild.

 I decided to let Kefin and the others return first, and ask them to take care of Forenoir and the others and report back to me about their return from the labyrinth.

 They entered the Adventurer's Guild and, as usual, asked the receptionist to take them to the Guildmaster's room.

''What happened this time, sir?''
 Jaius-dono opened his mouth before Jasuen-dono next to him, so I decided to answer briefly what had happened this time.


Nah!

And the labyrinth?
 Turning to a surprised Lord Jaius, Lord Jasuan leaned forward to ask him about the details of the labyrinth.

'In conclusion, I have trudged through the labyrinth again. However, I don't think this solves everything.

You just broke through again?

''........First of all, the labyrinth that was activated was mixed with the demons that appeared before, as well as new undead-type demons.

...please continue.
 I place the adventurer cards of the adventurers who were in the fifty level boss room on the reception table.

''They were in the main room of the fiftyth level, the room where that red dragon was.......turned into an undead.

It doesn't sound like it's some kind of joke.

''Then I won't come to you with a report every time. A large amount of miasma was leaking from the main room on the 50th floor. They are expected to have fallen prey to it.

I've never heard of such a trap.

'One of the adventurers who had been turned into undead was cleansed by me and Lord Jasuan sacrificing them to the evil gods, and so the grudge was told.

What! She's an evil god?
 They began to wonder at the evil gods out loud.

''Is there any better way to calm down the labyrinth?''

I don't know. Still, we think that the large magical stone that comes out when we defeat the Lord on the top floor is the reason why the labyrinth started to become more active this time.

The core of the maze?

'Yes. Yes, if you say that big magic stone is the nucleus. Maybe it's because I carelessly touched that one. It's not something I can handle, so I told the two Adventurer's Guild members about it.

...Is this a reminder?

Yes. Adventurers are people who fight for a living, and I can't stop them from doing so. So I will leave it up to the two of you to decide.
 For a while after I told him this, silence reigned in the room.

The one who broke the silence was Gaius-dono.
''Thank you for the information. I can't give an immediate answer on this matter. I will have to discuss this with Luciel-sama as well, but I would appreciate it.''

I understand. Let's hope the maze calms down for both of us.
''Yes, sir. If there is any change in the information we have obtained about the labyrinth, I will have it delivered to the Healer's Guild.

 To be honest, I didn't appreciate the offer, but I decided to take it on board.
Thank you very much. I look forward to working with you in the future.

 Thus, after the discussion about the activation of the labyrinth was over, we returned to the Healer's Guild.


 In the basement of the Healer's Guild, the Basel squad, under Doran's guidance, was building an assembly-type dwelling.

''What's this?''
The priest-knights lent them to me, saying they could provide their own security during the day.
'That's good to hear. I felt bad for leaving it up to Doran alone.
'That's not true. It's boring to make the same thing all the time, but I get to make that one, too.
''........Don't push yourself. There's a chance that you won't be able to take home much of the magic stones in the future, so I want you to use them so you don't waste them.
I'll do my best.

 After this, I checked my progress with Doran and then returned to the Guildmaster's room and contacted the Pope with the magic ball.

''I understand the story. I'll find out about the evil gods here as well. And I trust you will send me some honey when you can get it in Yenis.''
Yes, sir.

 I muttered a few words after the communication was cut off.
'If the Pope talks about honey every time he talks about it, then it must be pretty rare.
 With that in mind, I decided to write another letter to find out what the price of honey and sugar would be.


 For the next period of time, I decided to explore the uncivilized forest and the labyrinth of the lost heart every week.
 As for the uncivilized forest, he headed out to procure resources and search for new demons while conducting an ecological survey, and in the labyrinth, he rushed up to the thirty levels, relieved that the labyrinth had begun to subside and focused all his efforts on securing the magic stones.

 And in the blink of an eye, the day of the monthly meeting arrived.
''I will be the facilitator this time.
 The rabbit-beast man, Lord Lilliard, was the facilitator of this meeting.

 The meeting proceeded without any problems.

''Next is the issue that Luciel-dono raised last time........the issue of wages? ''Lord Forens, please.''
'We found that there was a considerable disparity between the tribes in terms of wages and the tribes that were exploiting the money with falsehoods. We'll discuss the increase or decrease in wages again, and we'll make restitution or impose sanctions with respect to those tribes that were cheating.
What? You don't disclose our species?
'If this gets out this time, there will be a lot of confusion. So I'll leave it up to the delegates to decide if we can reduce it individually or if the species can be cut at the next monthly meeting.
 Lord Follens assured him so.
 This man may be negotiating for business and faking it, but he's not going to be unfair when it comes to business.
 It was powerful enough to make me think so.

'So, now for the special healing zone, Lord Forens.
''Yes. As for the special zone for healing, the tiger-beast tribe and the dragon tribe have offered to carve out the land of the two tribes and our fox-beast tribe and create a special zone on their land. As for employment, this is the future.
What do you think?
 Lilliard-san looks at me and says, but I shake my head from side to side.
 This is because I had heard this way from Folens-dono beforehand.

''Then, the next issue also raised by Luciel-dono last time is about the rumor that he is on the cliffs to the west of Yenis. Lord Sauzer, please.
'I'm sorry, but we didn't find any adventurers. We will continue to investigate.
What do you think?
 I shake my head again.

'Then, finally, regarding the progress of the slums, Lady Luciel, please.
 You're going to look at me.
 You tell me the progress you're making on that lie, and I'll bite you right back.
 It's the kind of look I have in my eyes.
 I laugh and tell him what I can tell him now.
Yes, sir. I'd say the current progress is about thirty percent. Once the people in the slums start working on the special healing zone, we will dismantle it all at once.
You say you're going to destroy it, but I'm afraid that's baseless.
You may be half-breed, but you're still a valued resident of Yenis.
We don't look like we've got our hands full.
 Well, I knew there would be complaints.

'I see. Well, then, let us take you out into the garden for once.
 I walked out of the mansion without stopping my sudden action as I stepped out into the yard.

''We're currently in the process of building an adventurer's residence first.
 I pulled a building out of my magic bag.
'This is the building I'm preparing for the adventurers.
 The chiefs roll their eyes at the building I took out as I said so.
 As expected, they didn't expect something this huge to be in a magic bag.

''We're currently building the same building as this one, and a school, but I'm glad if this clears my suspicions.
 He didn't complain when I laughed at him.
 He may have meant to snipe at the work of a newcomer who hadn't made any progress at all, but people are vulnerable to visible results.
 Even if this was only one building, the stronger the impact of the moment, the more people believe it.
 Thus, before the next monthly meeting, what conditions will be used to hire the half-beast people in the slums?
 We had to keep in mind the possibility that they might interfere, or threaten or blackmail us, and we had to plan our strategy.



 However, two months passed without any such thing at all.
 I was puzzled by the fact that Mr. Dorchester, the face of the slum, seemed to be paying me well and that, unlike before, he seemed to be getting a proper wage and, unlike before, a proper break.

'You'd better be careful,' he said. Times like this are a sign that something is up.
Okay. What's the procedure in the example, by the way?
It's okay. It's all done.
I understand. By the time you return today, the slums will be gone.
"...I don't know why. I guess I was pretty attached to him, even in that place.
As for the stuff, if we decide it's not necessary, we'll break it all down into smaller pieces.
"You have my word, Master Luciel, class S healer.
Yes, sir. I'm on duty.
 Most of the slum dwellers, including Dorstar-san, headed to the special healing zone.
 The rest were guided by Kefin and the others, and the slums disappeared that day due to Dolan's earth manipulation, Paula's five-meter class golem, and my purification magic and magic bag.
 Some of the slum dwellers broke down in tears.
 Most of the non-slum dwellers were stunned by the scene.
 Many of them were terrified of me for carrying out what had been decided at the representative meeting without hesitation.
 The next day, those fearful ones were met by the smiling former slum dwellers who had started living in their new homes.



 Originally, they were supposed to live in the basement for about three months.
 But there was someone who objected to this.
That person was Nahlia.

''It will take a lot of time for the people to return to their once inclined thoughts. That way, no matter how much we say it's a strategy later on, Luciel-sama's notoriety will spread to many places.''
'That may be true, but the mission won't work if you're worried about it, will it?
''No, rather than speak ill of Luciel-sama, who reincarnated the slums, we'd rather have her on our side and benefit ourselves as well. I'm sure there are more of our race that would think so.
But there are those who won't accept that...
I think so. But Luciel-sama hasn't lied to you about anything, has he?
Yeah.
'It's okay. We were able to do this time because it was Luciel-sama. If there is a cause that outweighs any opposition, people will side with you.
 Only at the end did Nahlia look forlorn, but after a moment she looked at me and nodded.


 The next day I was called into an urgent delegate meeting.

 And as the Ha tribe gathered, the concentrated fire began.
'Lord Luciel, what did that mean! Why do the slums live there?
 It was a rare occurrence that the man who had initiated the conversation was Lord Jack, the dragonborn.
 He is friendly to the strong and blessed, but he is highly prejudiced against the races.

'Yes. You said you were going to eliminate the slums.
 The next person to open his mouth was the tiger beastman, but he wasn't supposed to have a say in the first place, but he still interrupted.

''What do you think you're doing letting a half-beast man live in such a magnificent building?''
 It seemed that Lord Sebek, the dog-beast man, couldn't stand the idea of a half-beast man living in a better house than the one he lived in.

''Isn't this a scam! I thought you said you were going to attract adventurers.
 The cat-beast man, Casral-dono, is the same as Sebek-dono.
 But in his case, what he is saying and what he thinks is the opposite, he is trying to appeal to us, but I don't understand what he is saying.

''I'd like to hear what you were thinking about when you did that,''
 The rabbit-beast man, Liliard-dono, was sniffing around.
 He can't blame me for being resented because of his bad position since I was appointed as the representative, since his backstabbing plan was found out and his position was bad.

 But he didn't just focus on such concentrated fire, he asked me a question.
"Luciel-dono, is it really that easy to make that?
'If you were inspecting it, were you thinking about the city as a whole?
''.......no way! It's one of the things that's keeping the beastmen so energetic lately...
 And from Lord Olga, the wolf-beast man, Lord Follens, the fox-beast man, and Lord Sauzer, the bear-beast man's favorite? It was a question.

 I held up a single finger, opening my mouth as I slowly put my clenched right hand in front of me and held it up.
'First of all, I promised to crush the slums. The dirty slums have been crushed and the streets are now clean.
 I look at them all and continue to form a peace sign with my middle finger up as well.
'Secondly, it's to attract adventurers, those with the power to become adventurers in the slums. Now that the slums are gone and there are places to live with improved security, it should be even easier to attract them.
It's a technicality. Why would you build a new house for a half-breed?
''This is an unusual thing to say. Two months ago, you were considered an important resident, even if you were a half-beast man. I intend to continue to make the city a better place to live and a better place to live.
 I paste a smile on my face and talk the whole time.
 I had properly roped in this time and had thought of a number of questions to ask, so I had plenty of time in mind.
 That's when Folens-dono called out to me.
''Luciel-dono, if there's a reason why you bought the slums?''
'There isn't one. No, we didn't have any, but since you were all so uncooperative, I tried to do what I could to help.
 The opposition may have something to say, but Lord Follens was the first to move.
 The great thing about him is that he can estimate that it will be profitable, and if it's not black, he can listen well and make a quick decision.

''Well it looks like the school isn't built yet?''
That's under construction now.
Really? I can't wait.
 Lady Olga-dono's mind was still occupied with Sheila.

''You seem to be on good terms with the bear-beast race these days, how is that?''
'They were tired of being so few in number, you see. I just treated them to a little treatment and a meal.
 A meal called honey.
Oh, I see. A meal....

 With Lord Souther's tripping on this, those of us who have been mouthing off at the Representative Council aren't convinced, but since we can't even come up with a plan for improvement, we're done here.

 This time, I'll have to be prepared for interference.
 I was thinking about this as I walked back from the long house.