The next day.

　The lords have recovered from yesterday's hangover and have restored some energy to their complexion.

　Thanks to Garcia, we've been able to replenish the items we need for now.

　That's why I'm heading back to Le Monde's forest with 150 of my fellow countrymen and the four Okuga men in tow.


　Slew: ......


　By the way, that Kanako Saionji Kanako was just a normal person in the Okuga Four, and it somehow made me think that what happened yesterday might have even been a dream, but

Ohoho. ....... Well done, Aigha.

　I whispered [whispered] as we passed each other and the masked eyes smiled at the killer crescent moon, so, well, it must have been real.


　Zsa Zsa: ......


Okay, today's the day!

　When we arrived at Le Monde Forest, I called out to the others.

The day before yesterday, I went with you, so we went in one group at a time. Today, we're going in in groups A to F at a time. Each group will make their own decisions and fight the monsters.


Yeah.

"I knew it was going to be without my lord: ......


　When I said that, everyone seemed uneasy, even though I had announced it before.


It's all right. If you keep going like you were doing before, there won't be any problems.


　and first send the 25 members of Group A to the [entrance] of the forest.


　Kacha Kacha Kacha ......


　I've replaced the broken sword, and I've made sure that I have enough arrows and restorative medicine.

　I'm sure it's not an unreasonable adventure since I'm back in good health.

　With that in mind, I walked away from their backside.


　Then.

　About 10 minutes later, 25 members of Group B entered.

　Another 10 minutes later, 25 members of Group C rush in.


　And then.


　Pishu! ...... Glitter, glitter, glitter!


　The first A group just came back with a return spell.

　They're coming home awfully early.

What's the matter with you?

　I ask the old man, an attack wizard from Group A, about it.

"Well. There is a sleeping mushroom, but it's stronger than I expected: ......

　Indeed, many of them had been damaged, and everyone, including Nao, the ace of the support system, seemed to have run out of magic power as well.

''The only thing you defeated was a sleeping mushroom?''

Yeah, we have two of them.

　Hmm.

　Is this what happened in that one fight alone?

"What did you get?

It's not here, sir.

'...... Right. Those of you who have been damaged should use the recovery potion and rest for a while until everyone's magic power is 'naturally restored'.

'Heh, heh: ......'

　Those in Group A slumped exhaustedly to the ground.

　Flap flap ......


　By the way.

　There are two main methods for recovering magic power.

1. Recovering with the "first usage" of the magic ore

2 Recovery through human 'natural recovery'


　The first use of the magic ore is a way for a person to capture the magic contained in the ore.

　This could restore the magic instantly, but the ore would be destroyed.

　And the amount of magic ore brought to the expedition is limited.

　So if it's not an emergency, you'll have to use "natural recovery" to recover your magic power. ......

　It took roughly one hour for the magic power to be fully recovered by natural recovery once it was broken.

　In other words, it would take an hour for Group A to be able to start again.


''My lord, what about Ora and the others?''

Hmm?

　Meanwhile, it's time for Group D to leave.

All right. You're on.

　And then he taps them on the shoulder and tries to make them rush into the forest, but then.


　Pishu! ...... Glitter, glitter, glitter!


　Group B returns.

'Rii, my lord: ......'

　This B group fought the [Great Monkey] and escaped with their breakaway magic without being able to defeat it.

　In other words, they couldn't defeat a single monster.

''I'm sorry. ''My lord.''

　Iso's widow, Eriko, looked apologetic.



　Such a state of affairs continued, and around the time Group E and F infiltrated, Groups C and D came back.

　Group C was hit by [Shadow of the Forest] and didn't defeat any of them, while Group D killed one [Butter Dog], but apparently didn't drop any items.

　After a while, Groups E and F also returned, and only Group F got the item [Copper Mirror].


　Gaya Gaya Gaya: ......


　Thus, they were all supposed to sneak in at once, but they all ended up in a state of rest in front of the forest.

　That's right.

　If they came back after only one battle, they would spend much more time resting to recover their magic power than entering the forest.

　Once the magic power was recovered, each group would sneak back into the forest again, but they would come back after just one battle again.

　Even that was a win or a loss, so it was hard to be efficient.


　After all.

　I was able to defeat a total of 6 wins and 18 monsters on this first day.

　I earned 4 items.


　And if you take them to Liv in "Lantis' Blacksmith", you can get them at ......

'I'll take this one back for ...... 70,000 bond. Okay?

　And so it was.

　Well, I guess that's about it.

So much less today than the other day.

"...... sort of.

　The day before yesterday, I got 220,000 bonds worth of items, so I thought I would go a bit further today: ...... In fact, I got 70,000 bonds.

　It's a good thing for those of us who have been villagers up until now

"We fight for our own decisions.

　Is that a difficult thing to do?


　When I got back to the ship.

The cost of the items we used today, such as recovery pills, was about 320,000 bonds.

　And that's what Garcia reports to me.


　Yup.

　In short, since the 'items spent' is -320,000 and the items acquired are +70,000, today in one day is a complete loss.


'...... If I have 350,000 bonded items earned in one day, will it be profitable?'

　Igarashi muttered to himself, and we set ourselves a target of '350,000 bonds,' which was the first thing we did.



　The first thing we decided to do was to set a target of '350,000 bond'.



　Day 2.

　Troops A-F infiltrate Le Monde Forest again.

　On this day, everyone was still wounded after just one battle, but the 'win rate' improved.

　In other words, the number of battles didn't increase much, but we didn't have the problem of "running away without defeating any of them" anymore.

　In all, we won 22 battles, killed 60 monsters, and got 13 items in one day.

　Is everyone getting used to the place?

　This second day's item acquisitions jumped from yesterday's "70,000 Bond" to "240,000 Bond".



　Followed by.

　Items acquired on the 3rd day were the "280,000 bond".

　The item acquired on the 4th day was the "300,000 bond".

　It was thought that if it continues to grow slowly, it will be able to reach the profitable line of 350,000 bonds per day in a short period of time... but the "300,000 bond" was the most popular item on the fourth day. ......

　We were suddenly feeling uncertain as the number of bonds was reduced to "260,000" on the fifth day.


You know what I mean. I think you know that ...... is a good place to start. The 350,000 bond is just a rough estimate for one day, you know.

Huh?

'Do you understand, we can't continue the expedition unless we get paid the 10 million bond in a month's time? In other words, it's too late to 'finally be profitable on a daily basis after a month'.

...... I know.


　When I was in the cabin like this, while Garcia was giving me a little talk.


　Tontonton: ......

　When I opened the door, I found Gitaro Bando and three of his men, the Okuga clan, had arrived at the door.

Eiga-dono. We have a favor to ask you.

What's up? Feel free to tell me.

Ha. I'm afraid to say. To tell you the truth, that ....... It's about time we joined forces with you to kill the "Monster", that we did.

'Oh, I see. ......'

　The lord of Ouga had also left them in charge because he wanted to 'learn to defeat monsters by themselves'.

　Well.

　Gitaro Bando's current strength is up to ''Combat Power: 679,'' so I might let him join the battle when he gets a little more developed.

　However, Gongkichi Yamamoto and Ichitaro Tanaka have 'Combat Strength: 34' and 'Combat Strength: 41' respectively, so they're unlikely to be added to the battle.

　For reference, Garcia's combat strength is currently 76, so if they get into a fight, they'll lose to Garcia as well.

　And Saionji Kanako has a 'Combat Strength: ? And it's not.

　I suppose she is protective of her major status.

　She is a woman who is secretive in a strange way.

　And she won't even let me see her face.

.......

　As I was thinking silently like that, Bandoh Yoshitaro changed his tone of argument as if he sensed it a little.

...... Even if you can't add them to the battle yet, we want to be of service to Lord Eiga, that we do. For example, this Saionji is very good at 'inspecting enemy affairs', that he is.

"Hostile situation?

I mean, a spy, that I am.


　Boom! But Bando Gitaro doesn't seem to think that Kanako Saionji is a "spy" for Okuga.

　The word "spy" here means "working for Okuka" as a spy for Okuga.

　In other words, Kanako Saionji is "acting as a spy for Okuga for the sake of spying for Okuga.

　It's complicated.


''In other words. You can't fight the monsters directly, but you can observe the war situation in the forest and report back to Lord Eiga, that is.

I see. ......

'Saionji. From tomorrow onwards, I will be of service to you in that way, that I am.

I'm very sorry. Mr. Bando.

　Saionji Kanako dropped to one knee and bowed her head reverently.



　◇



　The next day.

　I've got a good idea of what to expect from Bandoh Yoshitaro, so I decided to do as he advised and have Saionji Kanako observe the situation in the forest.

　However, I knew that she was a spy for Okuga, so I didn't trust her very much. ......



Bye. Well, I'd better be off.


　Doron......


　And ...... huh?　It's gone?

　Like what happened in the bath, there's something unfathomable about this kind of illusionary feeling.


　And when we sent the lords and ladies out into the forest a while later.

"Aiga-dono.

'Wow! You scared me! How long have you been here?

They were right behind you a while ago. Didn't you see him? Ohoho.

　This woman.

　When Yoshitaro Bando is not here, it becomes a little provocative.

　I'll just tell her that she's a spy.


So, how much do you know about the war situation in the forest?

Yes, Group A seems to be attacking offensive wizards too quickly, and Group B seems to have arrows and attacking magic rather getting in the way of Eriko-san's spear: ......

　As you can see, the "war report" was surprisingly serious.


　And it also seemed to hit the mark in terms of content.

　After instructing each group on the "correction points" based on Saionji Kanako's "Battle Report", some groups that had previously only been able to engage in one battle per sneak-in, gradually came back to complete two battles.


　The more battles, the more monsters you can defeat.

　The more monsters you defeat, the more items you gain.


　On this sixth day, the number of items acquired was ≪310,000 bonds≫, breaking the record for the highest number of items ever.


　So, from the next day, after receiving Kanako Saionji's report, I continued to patiently teach him how to modify his "fighting style".


　Then, on the seventh day, the item acquired was the "340,000 Bond".

　On the eighth day, the number of items acquired was the 《390,000 Bond》, and the number began to increase again slowly.


I've exceeded my profit margin!

　On the eighth day, when the target was reached, everyone raised their hands and rejoiced, as expected.

　It was as if a bright light was shining on the gloomy atmosphere of recent years, which had been steeped in poverty.


I'd be relieved if they kept up the good work: ......

Well, you're not going to let your guard down here, are you?

　However, things couldn't keep going like this.


　The item acquired on the 9th day was the "570,000 bond"!

　The item acquired on the 10th day was the "910,000 Bond".


What's wrong with you?

...... Yeah.


　This is when I knew I was on the right track.

　I'm on the right track, I mean...

(1) Defeating the Monster
(2) You'll get items and increase your fighting power.
(3) You will be able to defeat more monsters.
(4) You'll get more items and more combat power.
(5) You'll be able to defeat more monsters.

　This is the upward cycle of the game.


　In other words, defeating a monster not only gives you the opportunity to obtain items, but also increases your combat power by gaining twice as much experience.

　In fact.

　On the tenth day, the martial artist Chiyo's combat strength had reached 5570, and even the fisherman's boy, who had the lowest combat strength, had reached 2768.

　Thus, as long as we are able to defeat monsters beyond a certain level of speed, and as long as the increase in combat power and the number of monsters killed stays on track, the number of items acquired will grow in a multiplier formula: .......

　What's more, we're doing that cycle with 150 players.


　The items acquired on the 11th day were ≪2.32 million bonds

　The item acquired on the 12th day was the "5.67 million bond".


...... After all, it's up to them to decide what to do.

　Igarashi-san muttered 《mutter》, well, he was right.



　But the items acquired on the thirteenth day increased rapidly again.

≪"14.37 million bond

　There was another major reason, as expected, for reaching the

　It was

[Magical ore arrowhead]

　This is a new warfare method with the introduction of