Blessing from the Goddess and Transfer to Another World! ~No Thanks, I Don’t Need a Special Ability~

Chapter 87.5: Subordinates’ Get-Together

Author’s Note: Despite this being a short story, it’s about the length of a full chapter. Also, I’ve always wanted to write a story like this.

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On that day, on the 52nd floor of the dungeon under the Kingdom of Estia, which is usually inaccessible to ordinary people, a large number of humans and monsters of various races and nationalities have gathered. All these people had one thing in common. They were all Shindou Jin’s subordinates.

“Having received permission from Master, who’s the current master of this dungeon, we shall now hold a competition in subjugating flame dragons on the 30th floor.” (ED: It’s the boss monster of the 30th floor, but there are multiple boss rooms with a flame dragon in each one, and once killed, a new flame dragon will spawn after a set time)

The one who declared so was Lusia, originally one of the Kastal Queen’s Knights, she was now a believer in Jin, as well as his head maid. Today, she was hosting a meet-and-greet for her fellow subordinates, with the ‘Flame Dragon-Slaying Tournament’ planned as the day’s main events. The flame dragons could only weep.

To begin with, the idea for this social gathering originally came from Lusia and the maids, who judged that the various subordinates of Jin should all strengthen their relationships with each other. At that point, it was envisioned as just a simple buffet party, but when they went to ask for Jin’s permission, they were advised that it would be better to have some sort of a main event, and so, the ‘Flame Dragon-Slaying Tournament’ came to be.

As a rule, Jin didn’t give any preferential treatment to people exploring the Estia’s dungeon, even if they were his subordinates, however, he did let them use the boss rooms in order to test their skills, as it wasn’t a part of their official dungeon exploration. In other words, it’s like when you don’t leave a record on the official scoreboard.

Nevertheless, he pitied the flame dragons, who were chosen as subjugation targets for his subordinates’ equivalent of an end-of-the-year office bingo tournament.

Also, as this event was meant to be a test of one’s skill, the experience value obtained from subjugating these flame dragons was set to be especially low, roughly that of a single goblin. Still, It might have been better to just set it to 0, as it was pretty pitiful to deliberately make it match that of goblins.

“The rules are simple: 4 people per party challenge a single flame dragon, and compete using their subjugation time. We ask you to only start activating skills once the time measurement has begun, so prior physical ability enhancements and such are not allowed.”

“The victors shall be awarded 10 points in the skill of their choosing by Onii-chan.”

“Ah, but in Jin-sama’s absence, the skill points will actually be given by Alta.”

The supplementary explanation was given by the Queen of Kastal Queendom, Sakuya, and the Princess of Estia Kingdom, Cattleya. Having multiple royals act as commentators only served to increase the grandness of today’s main event.

“The registration desk is here, yes!”

“Please fill in the necessary information in the form, and bring it to us, if you want to participate (as written on the back)!”

“Last-minute entries~! You can still sign up~!”

Several maids were shouting from the registration desk. From setting up the venue, to preparing the food, they’ve been very busy organising this whole event, yet those girls were still moving about energetically, without a single frown to be seen.

Actually, since there were so many of them at this point, and also, because they couldn’t just have the Chamber of Advanced Commerce ground to a halt, not all maids could participate this time around, but since the plan was to keep holding similar events once a month from now on, they have decided to take turns participating, handling the preparations from behind the scenes, and dealing with other matters.

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Once the registration desk was closed, participants and spectators were separated into two groups. Spectators could watch the consecutive battles live on a screen created by the dungeon, but in the participants’ case, until their own battle was over, they weren’t allowed to see the other participants’ attempts, nor the resulting subjugation times. And as for the aforementioned screen, it was something used by the dungeon keepers to monitor the situation inside the dungeon, but after consulting with Carro, the chief dungeon keeper, she gladly gave her permission to use it.

According to her: “Dungeon keepers need entertainment too, pyon. Or rather, we could really use some, pyon.” Although they have off days, the dungeon keepers are essentially confined to the dungeon, so they are bound to accumulate stress over time. As such, just like the maids, they opted to leave a skeleton crew behind, while everyone else joined in today’s festivities. Of course, the chief dungeon keeper, Carro, was also here.

“Now then, to start off, we have our first group of challengers, a party of Kastal Queendom’s A-rank adventurers! They are Claude, Coco, Sicily, and Yuria. Of the people participating in today’s event, they’ve been following Jin-sama the longest, second only to Midori, the dryad.”

“Yes. They have been serving Jin-sama even longer than I have.”

Lusia complemented Cattleya’s introduction. Being the oldest subordinates, excluding the core party members, seemed to be a thing to be admired, as some maids even exclaimed with ‘Oooh!’-s and such. Still, The dryad, Midori, which was also mentioned, was technically also participating in today’s event, though she was currently relaxing in the dungeon floor’s corner, together with Mio’s monster follower, Potechi.

“The soil here… isn’t bad…”

“Kuun.”

As it happened, the maids used a part of the 52nd floor for farming, so, to Midori’s delight, the soil here was actually of very high quality.

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Reflected on the screen, Claude’s group had their weapons at the ready. Seeing this, Sakuya used a telepathic connection with them, to commence the countdown for the start of their battle.

“Now then, let us begin! 3, 2, 1, go!”

In time with her declaration, particles of light gathered together and formed into the shape of a flame dragon.

“’Summon Element’ Wind! Aqua! Light!”

First, Yuria, a high elf ‘Spirit Arts’ user, summoned several elemental spirits in order to initiate the group’s killer technique, ‘Spiritualisation’, by having them possess the other three. As the gist of the flame dragons’ abilities have already been explained to all the participants, and since they aimed for a short and decisive battle this time around, they begrudgingly decided to go with their full power from the start.

“’Flash Step’!”

Having entered ‘Spiritualisation’, Claude immediately launched himself towards the flame dragon. A short while after the battle begins, the flame dragon will fly up into the air, and if that happens, the subjugation time will increase by a lot, so, for the sake of having a short and decisive battle, they judged that it would be best to seal off its flight ability as soon as possible, which, rather naturally, led to Claude, with his high mobility due to ‘Flash Step’, being entrusted with carrying out the initial attack.

“Haah!”

Claude, who drew close to the flame dragon in a flash, shredded one of its wings with his sword.

“GYAOOOO!?”

The flame dragon let out an intimidating roar, but any who would have been frightened by it, probably wouldn’t have participated in the ‘Flame Dragon-Slaying Tournament’ to begin with.

“Eeii!”

Sicily, who followed behind Claude, exclaimed in a sluggish voice, as she performed a follow-up attack with her spear. Due to her ‘Spiritualisation’ being of the water attribute, which was highly effective against flame dragons, they decided to make her their main damage dealer for this fight. (ED: Claude’s ‘Spiritualisation’ was of the light attribute, in case you forgot)

“GYUROOOO!”

Letting out a pained roar, the flame dragon thrashed its body around, trying to push Claude and Sicily away. As you might expect, it would have been dangerous for the two to take a direct hit from it, so they quickly took some distance, giving the flame dragon a chance to spread its wings and try to take flight, even if it had to do so forcefully.

“I won’t let you!”

However, just as its large body began to float slightly, a girl’s voice was heard from above the flame dragon’s head.

“Haah! Eat this!”

“GYOEEEEE!?”

The girl, a dog beastman, Coco, drove two short-swords she was holding in her hands into the dragon’s other wing. She could perform the wind attribute ‘Spiritualisation’, which allowed her to fly in the air for a short period of time, so, in case the flame dragon still tried to take flight, she was given the role of stopping it mid-air.

After that, it was mostly one-sided. Claude parried the flame dragon’s attacks with his shield, while each of Sicily’s landed hits shaved off a large portion of its HP, and whenever it tried to take flight again, Coco would be there to stop it. Yuria couldn’t move, as she had to maintain the spirit summoning, but the ‘Spiritualisation’ was indispensable for a quick and decisive battle, so it couldn’t be helped.

After a while, the flame dragon’s HP finally hit 0.

“And that’s it. The final time is 3 minutes, 21 seconds. Is this not an unexpectedly fine result? As expected of Oni-chan’s oldest slaves!”

“Um, I’m still not very happy with the way you put it…”

Claude raised an objection to Sakuya’s announcement of his group’s result. Given how the other party was a queen, he couldn’t use any stronger words while in public, but with how long the two have known each other, being fellow subordinates of Jin, she likely wouldn’t have minded either way.

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After that, several groups of maids and other people who were confident in their fighting skills took on the flame dragons, but none of them surpassed the result of Claude’s group. Naturally, a flame dragon was slayed each time. The flame dragons whose battles weren’t even shown could only weep.

“And now, for the next group. …Let’s see, the contestants this time are Chocolate, Maple, Tsukiyo, and Tiramisu. All four of them are Onii-chan’s monster followers. …Their ages are 500, 700, 1300, and 0 years old? What’s with that ridiculous age disparity?”

“Excuse me! I’m still only 1291 years old!”

Tsukiyo, a female golden fox who has lived through many winters (1291 to be exact), protested loudly to Sakuya’s unnecessary comment. It should be noted that Tsukiyo was presently by far the oldest among Jin’s subordinates.

“It’s just a rounding error, right?”

“It is a rounding error.”

“It totally is♪”

“Urgh, everyone, so cruel…”

Tsukiyo took some serious damage before the match had even begun, due to a follow-up attack from her fellow party members and supposed friends. All of them except Tiramisu are over 400 years old, but it’s only Tsukiyo who’s conscious about her age. Then again, it might just be because, despite being women, they haven’t lived in an environment where age was ever something to worry about.

“Mother, fight.”

Tsukiyo’s daughter, Tokoyo, cheered her on, but her words didn’t reach her, as she was watching the fight on the screen, along with other spectators. Truly, a shame.

“Well, it looks like the people are getting excited, so let’s get started!”

“That’s too sudden!”

With Sakuya’s announcement, a flame dragon appeared, and the four people (monsters?) hurriedly prepared for battle.

“Now, let us go with what we had planned!”

“Then, first, take this! ’Aqua Javelin’!”

Following Tsukiyo’s instructions, Maple fired the ‘Water Magic’ spell, ‘Aqua Javelin’. Although her way of speaking makes her sound like an underling, she’s actually quite skilled at ‘Water Magic’. Despite being fired in a hurry, the spear of water hit the spot between the flame dragon’s eyebrows as planned. (ED: Maple uses -ssu to end her sentences, which is supposedly used to express that you’re of a lower status than the person you’re addressing)

“GYOAAAA!?”

The flame dragon took a direct hit from ‘Water Magic’ that it’s weak to, seconds after being summoned, which caused it to cry out in confusion. Plus, it was now all wet, on top of being hurt. It’s hard to tell, with all that water, but it might have been crying as well.

“Tira-chan’s puuunch!”

“’Wind Javelin’!”

“’Dark Javelin’!”

Each of them attacked the flame dragon with magic spells of the attribute they were most versed in. The reason why they all used ‘javelin’ type spells was because they had a high rate of fire. Since they were competing for time, they decided that a spell with a quicker time from activation to impact would be more advantageous. It’s also worth noting that it was Tiramisu’s magical girl punch that dealt the second-most amount of damage, after ‘Aqua Javelin’. …Even though it technically wasn’t magic.

As a side note, Tiramisu was properly wearing leggings this time. Since there were males other than Jin spectating, she didn’t seem interested in flashing her panties at this time. Conversely, if there were no male spectators other than Jin, she would likely be fine doing it every five seconds or so. Or rather, she would probably do it with such vigour, that you could see her panties non-stop.

As another side note, Maple and Chocolate were also in their human form, as it was a requirement for this competition. Since they were less accustomed to it, compared to their monster form, it likely had a significant impact on the group’s final result.

After the initial salve, their strategy was for Tiramisu to act as the vanguard, and take on the flame dragon’s attacks, while Maple inflicts heavy damage with ‘Water Magic’, Chocolate prevents it from flying in the air, and Tsukiyo supports everyone from behind with ‘Illusion Magic’. Unexpectedly, their overall strategy was pretty similar to that of Claude’s group. If there was a difference, it would be that all three except Tsukiyo had experience from defeating a flame dragon once before, and that one of them wasn’t rendered immobile by performing spirit summoning.

It didn’t take long for the flame dragon to turn into light particles and disappear once again.

“And that’s it. The final time is 3 minutes, 18 seconds. It was really close, but you’ve managed to beat Claude-kun’s team’s result and move into first place.”

And with that, they replaced Claude’s team as the current ranking leader.

“Aah, I guess we’ve lost…”

“I wish I could have at least moved while performing ‘Spiritualisation’…”

“Can’t be helped. Let’s think about ways to improve it afterwards.”

“Yeah. We still have a long way to go.”

While many a tale was told about Cloud and his group’s heroic deeds, the sad truth was that they weren’t very strong before becoming Jin’s subordinates. Well, they were just your run-of-the-mill orphan slaves, without any special powers to speak of, so it’s only natural. (ED: Yuria had amnesia, so she didn’t know about her powers, and there is no convenient ‘status check’ for regular people in this world)

“Hmm, this time went much smoother than last time. Also, Tsukiyo’s performance was exceptional.”

“That’s right. You supported us as if you knew where we were going to move to beforehand.”

“It really helped a lot☆”

“No, I didn’t do much. It was all because of everyone’s efforts.”

As it turned out, the monster girls (if you can still call them that, given everyone except Tiramisu’s age) got along surprisingly well.

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After that, even more groups had their turn, but so far, not one of them has managed to surpass Tiramisu’s group’s result.

“Now then, onto the next group! Oh, it’s finally the time for our forerunners, the team of Estia Kingdom’s explorers! They are Cynthia, Karen, Sora, and Kate!”

“Currently, Cynthia-chan’s group is in the middle of conquering the graveyard area, and they have subjugated the flame dragons many times before, so, out of today’s participants, they’re the ones most likely to win.”

After Sakuya and Cattleya’s introduction was over, Cynthia’s group was transferred to the boss room. For them, who have the ‘Dungeon Adaptation’ skill, the inside of the dungeon is like their own backyard, so when it comes to fighting inside it, few are better suited to the task. Of course, for Jin, who has the ‘Dungeon Rule’ skill, the inside of the dungeon actually is his own backyard.

“I’m going!”

“”Wait!””

“Mugyuu!?”

—Thud!—

Before Sakuya could even announce the start of their battle, Cynthia tried to launch a suicide attack, only to be stopped by the twins, Karen and Sora, who hurriedly reached out to grab her. However, as it was her skirt that they managed to grab, Cynthia tripped over and fell flat to the ground. Naturally, her skirt came off, leaving her white panties completely exposed.

“…it hurts”

“Cynthia-chan, ‘stay’.”

“…got it.”

As she was hurriedly putting her skirt back on, Kate telepathically instructed her to ‘stay’. She was totally being treated like a dog. Even more so than the dog beastman Coco.

“Erm, you okay?”

“Yes, we are fire.”

“…Okay then. Then, 3, 2, 1, begin!”

At Sakuya’s declaration, a flame dragon appeared once more, though it will probably be defeated this time as well. It felt as though the flame dragon’s expression was tinged with resignation by this point, though, fundamentally speaking, the dungeon monsters, the bosses included, aren’t supposed to pass on their memories. (ED: They were re-spawning the same boss monster again and again, though, it was supposed to be a new flame dragon each time)

“Then, this time, I. Am. Going!”

Cynthia rushed in at a terrifying speed. Karen and Sora had no chance of keeping up with her, as she was the best among Jin’s subordinates when it came to agility.

“She went ahead, Sora-chan.”

“She left us behind, Karen-chan.”

The two chased after Cynthia, with their usual resigned expressions. Cynthia has calmed down a lot in normal battles, but she still couldn’t seem to control her desire to fight in exciting situations, such as boss battles.

“This time we’re competing for speed, so just leave her be.”

Hence, the reason why Kate, the one who usually stopped her, didn’t do so this time around.

The battle itself proceeded as expected, with Cynthia and her group quickly gaining the upper hand.

“I’ll. Aim. For. Your. Eye!”

“GUGYAOONNN!?”

The flame dragon, having been poked in the eye with Cynthia’s metal staff, let out a miserable cry. That must have hurt.

“If you’re aiming for the wing!”

“Then aim for the base, not the tip!”

Karen and Sora attacked the bases of the flame dragon’s wings at the same time, in a breathtakingly well-coordinated attack. The wings were damaged with accuracy that could only come from experience, completely sealing off the flame dragon’s ability to fly.

“’Ice Ball’, ‘Aqua Ball’, ‘Ice Ball’, ‘Aqua Ball’, ‘Ice Ball’, ‘Aqua Ball’, ‘Ice Ball’, ‘Aqua Ball’!”

Kate assisted the three with magic, as per usual, causing the flame dragon to trip and fall with each consecutive ‘Ice Ball’. After that, it was the sure-win pattern of the 3 beating the flame dragon to a pulp. The technique of spreading ice on the spot where her opponent was about to step on could be said to be Kate’s speciality at this point. Still, it was pretty horrifying to watch.

“We won!”

“We did it, Karen-chan”

“We killed it, Sora-chan”

“That’s a new personal record. Considering the number of previous participants, and the time it has taken so far, we should have come in first place.”

Even though she couldn’t see their actual matches, she knew how many groups had challenged the flame dragon before hers, as well as the amount of time it took them, so she had a rough idea of their results. Even so, to be able to accurately predict that, and declare so with certainty, Kate really is quite strange (that is a compliment).

“And the time is: 2 minutes and 54 seconds! We have a new record!”

“No way, I never thought they’d break through the 3 minute barrier. Heh, as expected, they’re the real deal. …Say, Rouge, you were all wearing anti-flame dragon armour, yet it still took you 12 minutes, right?”

“Shut up! It takes regular explorers much longer than that!”

“Even though we’ve gotten much stronger…”

Sakuya picked on Rouge, the Scarlet Empire’s imperial princess, who’s also an active explorer.

As Minerva, Rouge’s attendant, just said, Rouge and her team have actually become quite strong. Back when they first defeated the flame dragon, it took them more than three hours, and that was with eight people, twice their current number. As a result of being under Jin’s command, and gaining strength with each enemy they vanquish, they have become incomparably stronger than before. But, while that may have been the case, Rouge was still Rouge, at the end of the day. (ED: I don’t recall her being a bad leader, just, over-relying on cheat items to compensate for the lack of cheat skills)

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The matches went on, but as one would expect of the expert explorers, no one managed to break Cynthia’s group’s record. Finally, it was time for the last group of challengers.

“And last, but not least, it’s the Kastal’s adventurers’ team B. The 4 who didn’t participate earlier. They are Adel, Knot, Roro, and Iris. These guys don’t seem to have ‘Spiritualisation’, so I wonder how they’ll fight?”

“They seem to have another trump card up their sleeve.”

“Oh, is that so? First time I’m hearing about this.”

Cattleya answered Sakuya’s question. It seems like she’s the type to give subtle spoilers.

“Then, let’s begin!”

The flame dragon appeared, looking like it was about to cry. Memories shouldn’t carry over, but maybe some mysterious force was at work after all.

“Then, everyone, let’s go.”

“””Ooh!”””

The other three responded to Knot, the dwarf, before they all equipped their weapons.

Dragon Killer
Class: One-handed Sword
Rarity: Artefact
Notes: Increased damage against dragons.

Dragon Piercer
Class: Spear
Rarity: Artefact
Notes: Increased damage against dragons.

Dragon Slayer
Class: Greatsword
Rarity: Artefact
Notes: Increased damage against dragons.

Dragon Smasher
Class: Hammer
Rarity: Artefact
Notes: Increased damage against dragons.

“GYO…..? GYO!?”

The flame dragon was so shocked, it shook its head before taking another look, just to make sure. Although it was unable to check their status, it probably understood the killing intent contained within these weapons. At that moment, the flame dragon likely understood by instinct. “Oh, I’m going to be killed…”

Incidentally, these weapons were made by Knot, from Hihiirokane. He steadily raised the level of his ‘Blacksmithing’ skill, until he finally mastered creating weapons from it. Using Hihiirokane as a material results in items of at least Artefact class, so they will always have some sort of special effect. And for the ones they brought out this time around, it was the extra damage dealt against dragon-type opponents.

Plus, Hihiirokane is a rare drop item from flame dragons. The flame dragon that was going to be killed with weapons made from its own drop item could only weep.

“We can’t have only Claude’s group look good all the time.”

Knot struck the flame dragon’s side with the Dragon Smasher.

“Yeah… We have to show them we can do it too…”

Adel pierced the flame dragon’s leg with the Dragon Piercer.

“What are you talking about? Being strong because of a weapon isn’t something to boast about. Well, not that I feel bad about it.”

Iris lopped off the flame dragon’s wing with the Dragon Killer.

“This attack is loaded with Roro’s love for Master!”

And then, for a killing blow, Roro severed the flame dragon’s head with the Dragon Slayer. Still, the way she said it, it seemed as if it was Jin who was going to be cut in two.

The anti-dragon weapons weren’t just for show, and demonstrated power incomparable to that of water-attribute weapons and magic. The flame dragon didn’t even get a chance to attack, and was defeated in the blink of an eye. (ED: This is just dragon abuse at this point…)

“They went even harder into anti-dragon equipment than participant Rouge, huh?”

“I’d say it was a complete victory for participant Knot’s strategy. …Come to think of it, you didn’t give participant Claude and his team any anti-dragon equipment.”

“Um…”

The two commentators sent a disapproving look towards Knot’s group. Knot’s group looked away.

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“Ehm, the time is 1 minute, 11 seconds. Does this mean we have a winner?”

“That’s right. We’ll accept last-minute participants from here on. Is there anyone among the spectators who would like to challenge the flame dragon? As you might expect, you’d have too much of a handicap, so we’ll be adding 30 seconds onto your results.”

Anyone who, hearing this, would have thought “Sure, I’ll do it”, would have likely participated from the start. Plus, if there’s 30 seconds added, then the match would have to be decided in under 41 seconds. That would naturally be rather difficult.

“It’s impossible, huh? Then, let us finish…”

“Tokoyo wants to try.”

The one who stopped Sakuya, who was about to close the event, was Tokoyo, the golden fox little girl.

“Tokoyo-chan, are you sure? The flame dragon is quite strong. Also, you need 4 people to participate, so you can’t enter alone.”

“Tokoyo is sure. You, you, and you, help me.”

In response to Sakuya’s worried question, Tokoyo replied confidently with a blank expression. According to Jin, Tokoyo was a serious contender for the position of his strongest subordinate, but for now she was just a little girl with almost no combat experience. What was she thinking, announcing that she wanted to challenge a flame dragon?

Also, the people she called out to this time were Aisha, Yurika, and Mira. (ED: Aisha – monster tamer Jin rescued after she got infected with ‘Gluttony’ in Part 4; Yurika – half-elf adventurer Jin resurrected after she got herself killed by plant monsters in Part 2; Mira – woman turned into a vampire in Part 3)

“Huh? Me? I’m a monster tamer, so I don’t have much combat power, you know?”

“It’s okay. Tokoyo will take care of it.”

Aisha may have been an A-rank adventurer, but as she said, she specialised in using monsters to fight, so her individual combat power wasn’t that high. Given that she had only just recently become a subordinate of Jin, the amount by which her status has been raised due to his abilities was still pretty low, resulting in her fighting power being average at best.

“…You say it’s okay, but I’m not too confident, myself.”

“Me too, I’m not very confident either. At best, I can manage to defend myself.”

Yurika and Mira weren’t specialised in combat, so it would have been tough for them to go up against a flame dragon. Was this finally the time for the flame dragon to live up to its reputation? (ED: Yurika’s an adventurer, but she’s still only C-rank)

“Leave it to Tokoyo.”

In the end, the three of them were roped into joining the fight against the flame dragon. Since there were several non-combatants participating this time around, it was decided that the dungeon keepers would stand by in the boss room as healers/flame dragon-cleanup crew, just in case. With this, the flame dragon’s chances of survival had disappeared, yet again.

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“Due to a weird turn of events, Tokoyo-chan’s team will be participating as last-minute entrants. Let’s begin!”

Having finished their preparations, Tokoyo’s group entered the flame dragon’s boss room.

The flame dragon, more motivated than ever, took in a deep breath in order to roar extra loudly, as if it was the last time it ever will. Naturally, the result was going to be the same as before, but still…

“GYAOOOOO-…”

“Disappear.”

A black ball released from Tokoyo’s hand went straight for the flame dragon, as if being sucked in by its open maw. The ball expanded the moment it hit, instantly enveloping the flame dragon, before contracting and disappearing right after.

“Done.”

“”””””………””””””

Everyone in the venue went speechless, as Tokoyo muttered as if nothing had happened. It was the same for Aisha, Yurika and Mira, who were in the boss room with her.

“Ehm…., what did you do?”

“Flame dragon, can’t live outside this room. Sent it outside with ‘Spatial Manipulation’. Then, disappeared.”

Being a guardian-type monster, the flame dragon cannot leave the boss room. This is one of the basic rules of any dungeon. When Tokoyo heard about this from Jin, she came up with an idea of isolating the guardian. With her unique skill, ‘Spatial Manipulation’, it is possible to remove the target from a space and isolate it, albeit temporarily. When pulled out of the ‘boss room’, what would happen to the guardian, the flame dragon? As you can see, it would disappear.

“I think we just saw a glimpse of the ‘candidate for the future strongest’ that Onii-chan was talking about…”

Earlier, Sakuya had asked Jin out of curiosity, “Who is the strongest of Onii-chan’s subordinates?”. At that time, Jin named several candidates. But when she then asked, who would be the strongest in the future, the first name he mentioned was Tokoyo. At the time, she didn’t quite understand why, but now she thought she finally understood.

“Ah, Tokoyo-chan’s group. The recorded time is 15 seconds. Yep, they won by a landslide.”

“Victory.”

Even if you added 30 seconds to it, it was still 45 seconds, so they were unquestionably in the first place. For this time to be beaten, even for Jin’s core party members, they would likely have to release their status limitations. Still, if it was Jin, all it would take would be a single belly punch.

“Now, the next last-minute participants are… Yeah, there’s no way that’s happening. Then, we will now move onto the awards ceremony.”

After that, the other participants, who had been waiting in another room, also joined up for the final part.

“And so, the winner is Tokoyo-chan’s team! Everyone, please give them a big round of applause!”

—clap clap clap—

Everyone in the venue applauded Tokoyo’s group. It was kind of a cheat, but there was no sense of disapproval to be felt here. To begin with, it was Jin himself, the master of all those present, who was the biggest cheat of all, so none of them would harbour any negative thoughts about the fact that she used her head to outsmart them.

“Truly, Tokoyo, you are my daughter.”

“Un, got revenge for mother.”

“Tokoyo…”

Apparently, ‘If mother, Tsukiyo, can’t win, then I’ll get the victory myself’ was her sole motivation for challenging the flame dragon. As usual, she’s a daughter that really loves her mother.

“Then, Tokoyo-chan, which skill would you like?”

“I received a list from Jin-sama, and there are quite a lot to choose from, you know?”

Sakuya and Cattleya showed Tokoyo the prize catalogue. Most of the skills that Jin possessed were listed there. Naturally, this includes the rare, and even unique ones.

By the way, Aisha, Yurika and Mira all gave up their rights to receive skills. They most likely felt guilty about taking the achievement from Tokoyo, who earned it on her own. Of course, Tokoyo herself wouldn’t have minded…

“This one, wanted it for a long time”

Saying so, the skill Tokoyo chose was…

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And thus, the ‘First Monthly Gathering of Jin-sama’s Subordinates’ came to a close with great success. Also, the ‘Flame Dragon-Slaying Tournament’ would become a staple of the second and third social gatherings that followed. Naturally, flame dragons would weep each time.

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Status:

Tokoyo
LV15
Skills: <Illusion Magic LV1> <Transformation LV5> <Spatial Manipulation LV7> <Luck LV1 new>

Tsukiyo
LV112
Skills:
Martial Arts:
<Hand-To-Hand Combat Mastery LV4> <Bow Mastery LV5>
Magic Skills:
<Fire Magic LV6> <Dark Magic LV7> <Recovery Magic LV3> <Illusion Magic LV7> <Space Magic LV3> <No Chant LV7>
Techniques:
<Etiquette LV7> <Negotiation LV4> <Conversation LV8> <Brainwashing LV9>
Physical Skills:
<Body Strengthening LV6> <HP Drain LV4> <MP Drain LV4>
Others:
<Transformation LV10> <Energy Drain LV10> <Luck LV1 new>

At Tokoyo’s request, 10 skill points of ‘Luck’ were split with Tsukiyo for five points each. (ED: In case you forgot, 1-10 skill points = skill LV1, 11-30 = LV2, 31-60 = LV3, etc, so it doesn’t really matter if you have a single skill point, or 10 of them)

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Author’s Note: There are proper relationships between Jin subordinates, so I wrote this to demonstrate that. Chronologically, it was somewhere during Part 5, while Jin’s group was staying in the Hidden Area.

2017/03/05 revision: Changed it that the flame dragons only gave minimal experience.

ED: The next one is a character list for Part 5, and someone asked in the comments for the list for Part 3, since it was skipped by the previous translator, so I’ll be doing those two next.