CH153: Shifting things 1 <jade gale>
It’s been a few days since I returned to Tutrail after meeting and greeting my sponsors.
I’ve come to the conference room to attend the meeting that’s going to be held today to decide the policy of the explorer party that belongs to the clan.
In addition to the leader of each party, there will be several participants including Estella, who is in charge of the search management department.
“Good morning, Orc! Good day to you!”
When I sat down at my assigned seat, Estella, who was sitting next to me, called out to me.
“Good morning, Estella. It’s nice to meet you.
“Have you read this morning’s paper, Orc?”
“When you say ‘Cartelli’, do you mean the <Jade Gale>?”
Estella’s question reminds me of something I read in the newspaper today.
This morning’s edition of the Cartheri newspaper reported the <Jade Gale> extensively.
I asked Estella if she was referring to the article. She shook her head repeatedly in the affirmative.
The article was about how <Jade Gale>, the third A-ranked party among the current party of explorers to reach the ninety layers, was going to attack the ninety layers today.
Speaking of <Jade Gale>, it’s the party that Loretta-san belongs to who fought in the first round of the martial arts tournament that I participated in this June.
Since the beginning of this year, they’ve been updating the number of levels they’ve reached in the Southern Labyrinth, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they’re the most active party in the game right now.
“How likely does Orcchi think that party is to be able to conquer the ninety layers?”
“I’m almost certain we can capture it.”
“Oh… What makes you say that?”
I guess he didn’t expect me to say so much, but he looked surprised and asked me why.
“Recently <Red Copper Late Haze> has been diving into the ninety layers quite frequently and has been submitting reports to the guild on a regular basis. <Jade Gale> must have confirmed this and is now attacking the ninetieth level. That means that they must have a reasonable chance of winning, that’s why I think they’ll be able to attack.”
“I see. I see. <I hadn’t taken the movement of the Red Copper Lantern Haze into account. It’s true that there were quite a few reports on the Late Haze of Bronze, so I guess we have more information on the ninety layers than before. Then I guess I’ll have to come up with an explanation for my sponsors. Ugh, what a hassle…”
Estella heard my reasons and she’s giving me a depressing vibe.
“Are you worried about them catching up with us, Estella-san?”
The second party to advance to the next level, <Red Copper Haze>, has not explored any of the deeper levels.
That’s why it was thought that it would never catch up to the current number one, the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky.
But the <Jade Gale> is surely going to attack the deeper levels as well.
That’s why Estella looks so depressed.
In fact, <Golden Dawnbeam> overtook <Yoten no Ginrabbit> in a similar way. It’s not hard to see why the clans and sponsors are so upset.
“That’s right~. The current momentum of Jade Wind can’t be ignored. We’re on top thanks to Golden Akebono destroying itself. I don’t want our sponsors to complain again!”
When I ask her, she says, “No, no!” over and over again.
I’ve seen enough in the last six months to know that he’s an unquestionably excellent person at his job, but I never would have believed it if I’d only seen him as he is now.
I understand that this is her true self, and I’m honestly glad that she shows it to me.
But there are people here who don’t have much contact with her.
I can’t stay here much longer.
“I’m sure Estella’s concerns are misplaced.”
Yeah? What?”
I will share my perspective with her, in part to assuage Estella’s concerns.
“The explorer regularly submits exploration reports to the guild, right?”
“Uh-huh. Reports are made by each party, but in a large clan like ours, a special department will make reports based on interviews with the explorers. <In the case of the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky, we’re in charge of the Search Management Department.
Basically anyone can be an explorer.
When you become an explorer, you will be given a guild card and you can enter the labyrinth freely.
It is not necessary to report every time, but the explorer should report the information obtained from the labyrinth search to the guild regularly, because the explorer may be penalized if he fails to report.
By the way, guilds have their own networks all over the continent, so it is better to assume that they know how many people are in the labyrinth.
“Thank you for all your reports. It’s really helpful.”
“Hmph~. You should be thankful! By the way… didn’t you make the reports when you were at Akebono?”
“Yes. The creation itself was troublesome, but it’s also a good way to look back on the labyrinth exploration, and I think it’s good to have the explorers create them once in a while… But I’m getting off track now. Anyone can read the search reports. And each report can reveal a lot about the characteristics of the party…”
“Right. I often use search reports to analyze a party of explorers. You can get a vague idea of the party’s fighting style and what they focus on when searching… The report Orcchi made was so tasteless that I couldn’t read much more than what it said. But it was still a perfect report, so it was frustrating…”
“Well, since we can’t use manpower like the major clans, information is our lifeline… So, Estella-san, have you seen the report on the Jade Gale?”
“Of course! It’s the hottest party out there right now. I try to read their reports whenever I can!”
“So what was their impression of the report?”
“Hmm… I get the impression that the main priority is to conquer the Southern Labyrinth. I’m sorry to say this but I think the party composition is that of a long time ago. It seems like they’ve broken through the 88th layer, which is known to be a crying shame for the vanguard, by pushing their way through, so I guess it’s close to the concept of the former heroes’ party.
Estella’s old-fashioned party structure is probably referring to the time before the concept of roles was invented.
A long time ago, there were no grantors or defenders, and almost all the players were attackers.
The attack and breakthrough capabilities of the party were better than those of today’s average party, but it lacked the ability to continue fighting and the pace at which it could conquer the Grand Labyrinth was considerably slower.
Selma is said to have created the revolutionary concept of assigning roles to each member of the party… The concept of roles is said to have been revolutionary.
In fact, a long time ago, only those who were really good or lucky could advance in the hierarchy.
But now, many of them reach A rank… So it can be said that the ability of recent seekers has been improved as a whole.
“I have the same impression as Estella. If that’s the case, don’t you think it’s hopeless to conquer the ninety-first level?”
“Oh! It’s true! The ninety layers are teeming with demonic beasts! It’s going to be hard to conquer with a vanguard-oriented <Jade Gale>!”
Far from such a party structure that could be called the current template is the <Jade Gale>.
The party consists of three attackers, a defender and a healer.
It is a composition which shows unparalleled strength against a single enemy, but the more enemies you face, the more difficult it is to show your strength.
In other words, they can’t show their strength in the ninety layers where the number of monsters that appear is abnormally high.
“That’s what I mean. It’s possible that they’re hiding a secret technique… but there’s no end to it if we think about that too. I don’t think it’s too late to start worrying about it after they’ve conquered the ninety-third level. Well, I’m sure we’ll have advanced further in the hierarchy by then.
“Yeah, yeah! I feel much better now… thanks, Orcchi!”
