Kuro no Maou

A country called Carlamara is said to have the most slaves on the continent of Pandora.

One of the reasons for this is to make them labor: the collection of supplies springing up indefinitely on the first tier of the Great Labyrinth, 'Ruined City (Undead City)'.

Ancient civilizations, doomed thousands of years ago, possess magic techniques that go far beyond modern times, and this Great Labyrinth is also its product. Perhaps by the time this place was in active operation, it was just a convenient system where supplies were automatically supplied unlimited by magic.

In ancient times, however, even to the extent that they can be produced indefinitely, they are all precious supplies that can only be taken here in modern times. It is only natural for modern values with reduced civilization to think about getting root for the items here, but also if the mysterious phenomenon of the game system occurs that it will lipop in a certain amount of time… It is also natural for me to think of "collecting again" whenever supplies spring up.

However, this first tier is not a long idle field surrounded by fences, etc., but rather a dangerous zone where zombies and similar undead monsters roam.

Defeat the attacking zombies and collect supplies. That's one option. But it's inefficient.

And the ruling class that reigned in Carla Mara placed more emphasis on efficiency than on humanity.

Not a limited number of people with combat skills, like adventurers and knights, but those with no power whatsoever - that is, letting slaves use them to gather supplies.

Let a large crowd act at the same time, and zombies will gather. However, the corps of zombies can be avoided by dispersing small collection squads like the Adventurer Party in each area.

In Carlamara, where material recovery by the slave population has been carried out for many years, the optimal solution is also statistically determined as to which areas to put in how many people. Following the data obtained at the end of an incalculable sacrifice, many slaves are still thrown out today in the first tier without weapons -

"I didn't expect such a child to do it."

"It's nothing normal. If you can stand and walk, they'll let you out here for now."

He is a boy who speaks as a matter of course, without shards of sadness.

Apparently, what I did to help the boys was not miraculously encountering an uninterrupted scene of bad luck, but just a routine scene played out everywhere in this first tier.

If you insist on being miraculous, there was someone who purposefully imitated helping slaves.

"Is the Great Labyrinth new to Carla Mara rather than"

I seem to have said something so rare that they ask me that. Well, let me give you a basic explanation so far, and you can't possibly check it out.

First, he evacuated the boy and two of his younger brothers to the safe area. I could have walked away right away, but somehow I talked to him and he taught me a lot.

The boy honestly shows his gratitude for believing that I was an adventurer who went into help in good faith, not a robbery, and also answers my questions with a lot of politeness.

Meanwhile, my brother, you still seem scared of the suspicious masked man... a little further away, he looks at me in silence.

"Oh, I just got here recently."

"Really? The adventurers out there are so sweet."

I never dreamed I could be helped by an adventurer, I couldn't look directly at a boy who spoke with an uncontrolled smile.

A Carla Mara adventurer, who is also like predominantly fishing for the least challenging first tier, says it's natural to rob a child if he sees a slave who has finished collecting supplies. Earliest, more than an adventurer, just a rogue. A scumbag who can only wield violence against the weaker than himself enters the first tier with a sense of pennies. If you see a kid with supplies or something, you'll just look like a duck.

The top three to watch out for in the first tier for child slaves are first place runners, second place bombers, third place adventurers,. The most numerous ordinary zombies are in fourth place. I'm ashamed of myself for just being a little excited about being an adventurer that I hate more than a zombie.

"I'm sorry, you saved my life, but I couldn't thank you for anything... I knew it, would I?

"No, because I wanted a thank you and I'm not the wacko who came in to help - I mean, what is it? Here."

The boy fished his bag and offered it to me, wrapped in something like silver paper... a rectangular and sized thing like a chocolate bar.

"It's Carob."

"I'm sorry, I never heard of you."

"Oh, speaking of which, it's not in any other country, is it? This is ancient food called calorie blocks."

Abbreviations, Carob.

A complete nutritional diet that can cover the nutrients you need to live in one bottle. Make it a popular harvest that can be taken anywhere in the first tier, and it is also a staple food for slaves.

"It doesn't taste..."

In addition to the boy's presumption that there are a lot of them, I won my interest and I got one to try and try, but I don't know, it's not this unsavory wax, but it's totally tasteless and odorless, and I don't get the feeling that I'm eating food at all. Compared to him, the ears of the bread also seem to have a deep taste.

"It's not delicious, so it's usually about slaves eating this. For once, it's the only thing I can take here, so it seems I can sell it in other countries."

Because of its rarity, it seems to be a tough thing to import. Besides, even with this flavour, the nutritional aspects seem to be excellent, so sometimes adventurers and long-distance sailors and merchants are always equipped to challenge the depth as emergency use?

Rather than food, medicines that specialize in nutritional supplementation seem to be treated like this in foreign countries.

"Sometimes I want real bread"

"I know how hard it feels when you can only eat unsavory things."

Calorie blocks would still be better than gelomas soup eaten at that experimental facility. I think the latter is tighter because it has no flavor and is fundamentally unsavory.

"I don't want it because it doesn't taste good, it's not wacky, but even this stuff will make you money. You can't have any more sauce."

"Really? But I'm still sorry."

"Well, instead of thanking me, Carla, I'd like you to tell me a little more about Mara."

This boy has a long time there getting a supply collection job in "Ruined City (Undead City)". Being old enough to be over ten is also a testament to surviving that far.

I didn't dare ask how old I started, but it still makes no difference that I'm running around the first tier for a few years. I am, of course, more familiar with dungeons than Leki and Ursula, who just arrived about a month ago.

"Is there a place in the first tier where people rarely come close?

"Oh well... speaking of unpopular places, I knew it was a suburb with little harvest or a center with a lot of zombies"

After all, the first hierarchy is already largely determined by the distribution of supplies by years of collecting activities. Exploring sparsely populated areas is a waste of time and effort.

And even with things, the dangers jump, the zombies increase, and areas where powerful types also emerge have never been avoided.

Kids, of course, especially slaves without combat skills. The basics of collecting supplies are sneaking that doesn't fight zombies.

"Oh, and then there's Gigas Castle."

"What's that, even the boss?

"It's not a boss monster, but it's a monster like a boss"

Or Sarah, I'm sayin ', does there exist a guy called the Boss Monster?

For once, if you ask me, they say there are special monsters in the hall that are bound to emerge, like gatekeepers, at the border from the first to the second tier. That's what they commonly call a boss monster. Very good with an easy to understand name.

"So, what's giggling about?

"Bigger than Hammer, he's a giant zombie."

Ask him what "Hammer" is in the first place, and again as he breaks his hip of the story, he refers to a big, strong zombie who looks like a musculoskeletal big man.

It boasts a lot of power, but the feet aren't very fast, so it's less dangerous for the kids.

"Gigas is always in the same place, like a boss monster."

"What's in there?

"Nothing"

"... Really?

"Rumor has it, there have always been adventurers who try to defeat me a few times, but you're so strong, there's nothing there about treasure, and nobody challenges you when it's just no use fighting"

From what the boy hears, there have been no challengers to Gigas for at least the last five years.

"So no one's coming to Gigas Castle."

I see, I heard good things.

Rumors of a fucking monster that has no flavor of defeating a very strong scumbag will keep the adventurer in for gold away then.

This could be a blind spot for gangs, too. It can't be anywhere a child can lurk more than with a boss named Gigas sitting around. I'll look for it just in case, but the risk will be too high.

If we can get rid of Gigas in secret, it could be a hideout for the outfit. At least, it's going to be better for as long as the heavy storm season ends.

"Thanks, I heard good things"

It's something we've got useful information on, and let's just say it's time to go.

"I'm sorry, but I'll let you go first. You guys should be careful on your way home."

"Yes, thank you"

"Then, he thanked Carob. Take it."

I was kept in the shadows, I guess as an adventurer I used to serve as a preserved meal, two pieces of bread and dried meat, pushed against the boy.

"What, uh, this is--"

Eat up with my brother.

What's wrong with giving it to a kid who thinks it might be hypocrisy but wants to eat bread, wishing.

They're not the only child slaves... I know. But still, it shouldn't be a bad thing to meet a kid like this and want to give him a little something to exchange words with.

A true hero would mean a guy who can amp a hungry child. So I'm sure this is fine.

"Really, thank you...... can you at least tell me your name"

"Oh, I..."

Chrono, what are you going to do with your real name? I was in danger. Even though you're obviously wearing a mask and hiding your face.

This place has nothing but a pseudonym.

But I didn't think of anything like a pseudonym.

No, relax, I'm still a literary clerk. I am proud to say that I have a sense of naming.

Such tasteful brains of mine instantly derive orthodox and stylish pseudonyms.

- I'm Ash.

After naming the proper pseudonym I came up with when I saw the grey hoodie I was wearing, I broke up with my slave boy brother and I go on through the ruined city again. Fortunately, you will not encounter a new child's pinch or see a gang that will be looking for us, and you will reach the 'Gigas Castle' you were taught.

"Hmm, that's a castle... sounds like a school"

It is surrounded by stone walls, including a large building with the simple appearance of a horizontal rectangle and a spacious soil clearing.

No matter how you look at it, the building is a school building, and the vacant land just seems like ground.

But if we see a place surrounded by stone walls with large, boneless buildings and vacant land in a backward, civilizational otherworld where school culture would not be settled either, it may not be impossible to even think of it as a fort or something.

Because of the castle, I was a little excited to think that the western castle was soaring... there's no such fantastic castle if you think of this strangely contemporary first tier of the city.

Anyway, whether it's school or not, this is definitely the destination. Other than that, I don't see any buildings with the characteristics of what I heard, and even if I check them on the map, they even come to the point street where the boy marked me.

"Where are you giggling?"

Sounds like a monster to call a giant zombie, but I don't see a giant figure anywhere. I'll take a look around the school, but at least I don't seem to be on the property. I can't even feel any signs of this.

For example, are you hiding inside the school building? No way, Gigas just got knocked down, not really.

It was necessary to explore the roads and school buildings in order to see if they were habitable.

Clean up the runners and zombies around the school to keep them out of the way.

I saw in it a guy in the second place in the rankings where the kids would be on guard, called 'Bommer'. As the name suggests, he's an exploding zombie, with a round, swollen body. When you find a person, you come as impending as a zombie, and when you get close, you blow yourself up.

It's not as fast as a runner, but it runs, so it's troublesome when it's discovered. Besides, he's a dangerous guy in a double sense because sometimes he hears explosions and gathers the zombies around him.

Most importantly, for me, I have enough power to defeat a zombie, because I can detonate it with one bullet and then expose it to more bullets from those gathered by the sound to exhaust the grid, so I'm a handy guy when cleaning it.

Beautifying the area around the school thanks to you, Bommer, and then finally entering the school exploration. I don't even have a particular watch, so I enter through the main entrance in grandeur, looking sideways at the bumpy and rough ground, and head to the front entrance of the school building and the place of thought - I was in the middle of it.

Gogogogo, along with the sound of ground, cracks ground in Russia.

"Ugogogo...... mugaaaaaa!

Cracking the earth, a giant human form rises about four metres in length.

He wraps around a grey outer shell with a concrete texture and is in gorilla-like shape. The head is as round as a helmet, but the face is certainly the same undead face as a zombie that strips teeth out.

That's roughly what you heard.

"Is he Gigas?"

I see, was it the type of Bosmons that appeared off the ground?

I don't know if it's that kind of performance or ecology, but if that's the case, it's all the more convenient because, ostensibly, knocking down Gigas is unlikely to discern if you're watching Pa all the time or not.

"We have ten kids, we're looking for a nice room. Give me your castle if you like."

"Ggogo, gigga!!

Gigas stares straight at me as the intruder, slamming his right hand to the ground, holding him up as if picking it up even in the sand as it were.

But what's in his big palm is a big rock of rough shredding, not a dirt pierced from the ground. I didn't dig it back, it was something he built himself.

All of a sudden, it's a long-range attack.

I didn't know you would choose a magic attack with your first hand for a big figure.

But at the stage where he emerged from the ground, we knew that he would exercise the magic of earthly attributes.

The ground was somewhat, rough and decomposing, but with an appearance I didn't think such a big gorilla bastard was buried. I mean, I didn't just dig holes at my disposal, I was sinking myself to the ground with the power of earthly magic, or neatly tidied up after digging holes.

The attack magic of earthly attributes simply creates hard matter such as sand and stones to eject at high speeds, so it has a similar effect to my bullet series. It's quite powerful because it has a simple physical attack power.

Gigas throws at me first, if it's a big ball-like rock, I'm just sorry if I hit it. If we hit it, we'll talk.

"-" Anti-Material ""

Attack throwing rocks with a massive overthrow. Plus, an open place like ground. This makes no inevitable sense.

I also return a long-range attack to Gigas as I feel a massive stone throw passing right next to me.

In the meantime, rather than blowing up the captain, I turned it into a bullet that was increasing in caliber because of its magic.

"Well, they'll play it."

Large-calibre bullets all over the body remain slightly cracked in the gray crust of Gigas. It's just got a really rocky texture. If it were just simple armor, it would be above the salamander scale.

If even anti-material doesn't get this far, it's decided that bumping a normal sword with automated swordsmanship doesn't work.

Faces and joints may pass, but the Gigas guy does that figure but unexpectedly agile motion.

He takes quick steps and jumps at me fast enough to cross the runner.

"I'm not very good at melee..."

Originally, I didn't have any martial arts experience like doing karate or Kendo. Even in a manoeuvre experiment, I basically had a solid, or worse, chicken style of combat: shooting bullets in from the outrage and knocking them out without letting them near me.

Of course, that's not always sweet enough to work out, and they make it more difficult for me to see it as an easy win... Anyway, I've often been forced into close combat, so I can knit some way to deal with it.

Among other things, the black magic I relied on the most is' Pilebunker '.

"If it's him, it's just the right thing to do to beat him up"

The simplest black magic I've ever had to express. It's just a simple, yet user-friendly, indispensable technique of gathering magic into your fists and beating them.

In magic, where power is determined by the amount of magic, a 'pilebanker' that can release his magic directly from his fist is more powerful than shooting it in the shape of a small bullet. It's a strange story that the punch will be stronger than the bullet, but I've already broken it off that's what it is in magic.

Including the ability to accumulate magic slowly, the black magic of the greatest power I can unleash will be "Pilebunker".

So, if I do my best now, how powerful is it to do it?

Until the time of the manoeuvre experiment in my memory, like, beat Gigas straight out of the front like this and see if he can stop it.

But if you unleashed a 'pilebanker' with a sense of magic so big that you can't even see the bottom of this yourself, you might be able to knock out just enough power to buzz Gigas's giant for meters.

In the zombie runners around here, my body is too brittle to be an indicator, but Gigas would take my full power.

"Wowwwwwwwww!!

Gigas gives it an ambition and sticks it straight in from the front. It's as powerful as if a truck full of accelerators were imminent - but the fists I've wielded are already bursting with unstoppably inful black magic.

All right, here it is. Easiest to aim for, wrapped around the hardest looking armor, Gigas chest, middle of nowhere.

"Pyle, Bankah!!

The black fist that rolled straight out - um, not too black? What, there's also a bright red flame-like aura blowing out, two colored two-tone colors on black and red, but, uh, trivial things like color differences.

Which way, I can't stop the fists I rolled out with all my strength anymore.

Hit the 'pile bunker' to the spot where you aim in a counter-feel as you stretch out your arms and dodge the two hands of Gigas that grab you.

Moment of impact. The fists wrapped in black and red are easily crushed and filled with thick gray outer shells like the concrete blocks are applied as-is - bang!!

"Whoa!?

When I noticed, Gigas' upper body burst.

That's already a brilliant bounce. You, in fact, were you a bomber? The whole upper body, which should be so stubborn, blew to dust.

"What is this... not what I was thinking..."

I had unexpected results myself.

It doesn't blow up, it doesn't pierce, I didn't expect it to blow up.

"How powerful was that?"

It is truly unexpected to knock out immeasurable destructiveness, even with Gigas's giant body. Could that unfamiliar crimson aura be exploding the power of the fist, or is it acting like an explosion itself?

"Whatever it is, it's a great force. If you can use this red aura..."

Even Saliel could probably hit him.

No, I won't do it. I haven't thought about revenge at all. If I can live in peace, I don't mind losing all the time. You'll never get involved again, you monster.

"In the meantime, do you want to check the school building"

The first objective was achieved. And I also found that I myself still have immeasurable power.

In a situation like this, where both gangs of bad nature are being targeted, we have never been strong. I will have to revive my own power, which I have forgotten, so that I can protect my children no matter what kind of guy comes at me.

At the corner, when I said I could get away from the experimental facility, did I still have to be strong, work out, fight... but if I thought it was to protect someone, I didn't feel strange and unpleasant.