Chapter 76 Saizou
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Day 30, Noon – 8th Floor
Sanada Yakumo
”Easy, Rock! Watch it – there’s a tripwire just ahead,” I said.
”Wafun!” Rock barked.
A glint of transparent thread caught my eye further down the passage, and I signaled Rock to halt. He lowered his gaze, advancing with a hunter’s caution until he spotted the line stretched thin at knee-height. Maintaining a safe distance, he snapped the thread with the tip of his short spear.
Thwip-shink!
The moment the tension broke, twin spears lunged from the walls. They were positioned perfectly to skewer a man’s kidneys. If someone had blundered into that wire, they’d be dead or wishing they were. The trigger mechanisms were cleverly hidden behind wallpaper printed with a brick pattern – far more insidious than your standard arrow trap.
It was a vicious piece of work.
As we pushed deeper into the eighth floor, these nasty traps became more frequent. Luckily, under decent light, the threads were visible. These traps didn’t discriminate, either; we’d already passed two goblins that had been turned into wall-shish-kebabs by their own dungeon’s defenses.
That made it even crueler, in a way. The dungeon was perfectly willing to sacrifice its own to get to us.
For anyone without magic – or someone who’d burned through their Mana Capacity¹ – closing the distance with a Goblin Archer meant running a gauntlet. One wrong step and it’d be a grizzly end. Fortunately, we had the advantage of foresight, mostly thanks to the orb of radiance floating over my head.
The Light spell illuminated the path far into the gloom. It cost about as much Mana Capacity as a single Water Ball, but it stayed active for a solid three hours. Better yet, it followed me automatically, moving exactly like the utility spells you see in fantasy manga.
Since Sayaka was constantly cycling through Grade-5 Mana Capacity Recovery Potions, she regained enough Mana for a spell every thirty-five minutes. In terms of cost-performance, Light was unbeatable. Sheena had been right to nudge me toward that grimoire; it was an absolute necessity for dungeon crawling.
Rock’s mounted headlight was bright, sure, but it created harsh shadows that made it hard to spot things in the periphery. The magic orb, however, provided a perfect 360-degree wash of light.
The downside was that every goblin in the sector could see us coming from a mile away. Our combat encounters had spiked, but with our current setup, it was more of a grind than a threat. Sheena covered our six with her superhuman reflexes, while Sayaka’s Water Wall neutralized any incoming fire.
Speaking of Water Wall, it’s a handy bit of kit. It conjures a barrier of water roughly two meters wide and three meters high. It holds for about a minute and has decent stopping power – enough to tank a few arrows and melee swings while Sheena or I move in for the kill.
I’d instructed Sayaka to overcharge it if things got hairy. Doubling the Mana doubled the size; tripling it kept the size the same but made the barrier nearly impenetrable and vastly extended its duration.
I was busy patting myself on the back for a shrewd purchase when Sheena’s voice drifted up from behind me – a soft, alert murmur.
”Master,” Sheena whispered.
I glanced back. She held up four fingers, then quickly tucked three away.
”Rock! Three goblins and an archer up ahead!” I shouted.
”Wafun!”
Rock dug in, bracing his heavy shield. A moment later, the familiar, grating cackles echoed down the hall as the light from my orb caught them.
Skree! Skree!
Three goblins with rusted blades and one with a bow. Sheena was spot on. Her hearing was as top-tier as her legs – pure rabbit traits. Because of her, we were never truly surprised, even if the light made us a target.
The pack closed to within ten meters. The archer planted his feet and drew back his string.
”Fire Bullet,” I muttered.
My spell took him right between the eyes before he could release. At ten meters against a stationary target, a headshot is trivial.
”Water Ball!” Sayaka cried.
Her projectile caught the lead goblin in the gut and blasted him backward. He tumbled into the one behind him, a mess of tangled green limbs.
I checked the floor for traps, saw none, and vaulted forward. I took the head of the last standing goblin in a single fluid pass. Rock was right on my heels, methodically finishing off the two on the ground with his spear.
”Master,” Sheena called out.
She was staring into the darkness ahead, four fingers up.
”Rock, more incoming! Sayaka, hold position and watch our backs!” I ordered.
”Understood!” Sayaka replied.
A second wave of goblins surged into the light. I headshotted the archer as a matter of course while Rock held the line, his shield taking the brunt of their frantic swings while I picked them off from the flank.
Nothing came from the rear. Once the dust settled, Rock began his rounds, harvesting the Magic Stones. Sayaka was doing the same with the first group when she paused.
”Huh?” Sayaka asked, tilting her head.
She was crouching over a corpse. I walked over to see what was up.
”Ah, Master… is this what I think it is?” Sayaka asked.
”Oh! Finally,” I said.
In her palm lay a translucent red stone. A Magic Sealing Crystal².
We’d slaughtered something like 1,700 goblins to get here. It had taken way longer than it did with Rock, but that’s the gacha life for you. A 0.1% drop rate means you’re looking at 170 ten-pulls before you can expect to see the banner character. I guess I’d just been ridiculously lucky with Rock.
”Wow… there’s a little goblin inside,” Sayaka murmured. “So this little guy is our new teammate?”
”In theory. Goblins are handy with their fingers, but they’re usually thick as bricks,” I said.
”But Rock is so much smarter than a normal Kobold, isn’t he?” Sayaka asked.
”Waf-!” Rock barked from across the hall, puffing his chest out.
”I guess you have a point,” I admitted.
Goblins usually just rush you like idiots if there isn’t a leader around, but Kobolds are the same way. I’d always figured goblins were just “Kobolds 2.0: Dexterity Edition.” But Rock was different – he was intelligent. Maybe the monsters in these crystals inherit something from their master’s stats. If that was the case, I could work with this.
I took the crystal from Sayaka and funneled my Mana Capacity into it.
The stone erupted with a dark, pulsing radiance. A moment later, a green-skinned goblin appeared, kneeling on one knee with his head bowed low. He was also stark naked.
Total Terminator arrival.
”Look up,” I said.
”Gyai.”
The voice was a raspy chirp, but it sounded remarkably like an affirmation of “As you command.” The goblin raised his head.
”He… he looks different,” Sayaka noted.
”Yeah. He looks like he actually has a brain,” I replied.
This one had a small horn protruding from his forehead. His nose was flat, his teeth a jagged mess, but his eyes were sharp. They held a spark of reason that was completely absent in the mindless, bloodthirsty mobs we’d been killing.
”First things first, put these on,” I said.
I pulled a fresh pair of my spare briefs from the Magic Pouch, followed by a leather vest and trousers I’d looted from a chest earlier. I threw in some gauntlets and a cap for good measure.
”Gyai,” the goblin replied.
Making another sound that seemed to mean “as you wish,” the goblin stood and began dressing. I caught a glimpse of his “junk” during the process – the creator of this dungeon, that Succubus, definitely had a specific aesthetic. She clearly liked the “ugly-bastard” types too.
Once he was dressed, the problem was obvious. The vest and pants were huge on him. He was only about 150cm tall, and he was swimming in my gear.
I handed him a belt to cinch the waist, but then Sheena stepped in. She knelt beside him, expertly pinning and folding the oversized sleeves and pant legs. She signaled for him to take them off, then produced a heavy needle and thread from her maid outfit and went to work.
”You’re prepared for everything, aren’t you? Since when did you have a sewing kit?” I asked.
”For Lady Sayaka,” Sheena replied.
”I bought some leather-working tools for Master’s gear maintenance,” Sayaka explained. “But I didn’t realize Sheena had them on her. She really is incredible.”
”It is nothing,” Sheena said.
A few minutes later, the goblin was dressed again. With the flight cap pulled low over his ears and the tailored leather, he looked less like a monster and more like a grease-monkey mechanic.
”Better. At least you can move now,” I said.
”Master, what about a name?” Sayaka asked.
”Right. A name.” I looked at him for a moment. “Let’s go with Sanada Saizou.”
The way he’d appeared – kneeling, head bowed – gave off a distinct ninja vibe.
”Saizou, then,” Sayaka smiled. “I’m Sayaka. I look forward to working with you.”
”Listen up, Saizou. That’s an order. You follow her instructions, and that bunny-eared beauty’s over there, too,” I said.
”Gyai!”
Saizou dropped back to one knee, bowing deeply to both women.
”Seems he’s got the message. Here, take these.” I handed him two sheathed knives. “Your job is to move with the group and finish off any goblins we drop. Got it?”
”Gyai! Gya-gya!”
He accepted the blades with both hands, treating them like holy relics, then tucked them into his belt.
With our new addition tucked in beside Rock, we turned back to the darkness and resumed our hunt.
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Summary:
Yakumo and his party advance to the 8th floor, navigating complex traps and goblin ambushes. After defeating over 1,700 goblins, they finally obtain a rare Magic Sealing Crystal. Yakumo summons a unique, intelligent goblin and names him Saizou.
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Trivia:
- The Light spell consumes Mana equivalent to one Water Ball but lasts 3 hours.
- Goblins in this dungeon are being sacrificed by the dungeon’s own traps to kill the intruders.
- Sheena carries a leather-working sewing kit provided by Sayaka.
- The goblin’s large physical ‘equipment’ is noted as a design choice of the Succubus creator.
- Yakumo names the goblin Saizou after the legendary ninja Saizou Kirigakure because of the party’s Sanada theme
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Character Insight:
Yakumo demonstrates a ‘gacha gamer’ mindset, calculating drop rates and efficiency. His decision to treat his summons as tactical assets while providing them with names and gear shows a mix of pragmatism and attachment.
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Behind the Scenes:
The ‘Terminator’ reference refers to the iconic kneeling pose of the T-800 upon time-travel arrival. The name Saizou completes a ‘Sanada Ten Braves’ motif for the protagonist’s party.
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TL Notes:
Notes:
• Yakumo – A 25-year-old human male. He has facial scars, stab wounds, and gunshot scars from his time in a war zone. He works as a school guard.
• Sana – Black ponytail, hooded/sharp eyes, kyudo practitioner, average height.
• Rock – A male Kobold summoned from a Magic Sealing Crystal. He has grey fur, round eyes, and a face resembling a Shiba Inu. He wears a leather jacket and a pilot’s cap
• Sayaka – The academy’s premier beauty and a member of the swimming club. Currently classified as a Rank 1 Slave. She is seventeen years old and a virgin. E-cup. She has blue, short, boyish hair. Her best friend is Sanae.
• Sheena – Beastman Soul-less Doll with rabbit ears and a large chest. Flawless face, approx 165cm height, F or G cup, narrow waist, large hips, and a fluffy tail longer than a rabbit’s.
• Saizou – A newly summoned Goblin. Intelligent with a small horn on his forehead and jagged teeth.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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