Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World (LN)

Thank you for the generous offer, but I think Im gonna pass.

Well, thats perfectly understandable, since you rarely find an Adventurer who would ever bother to turn themselves into a Knight, not to mention that the process itself is not as easy as most people tend to think it is, since praying at the Guild Temple is not the only requirement for the procedure of Job switching. In order to become a Knight, youd first need years of extensive training as a Warrior first, and as we all know, there is no substitute for hard work and training or shortcuts to make it any easier. And besides, if people like Lord Michio could become Knights so easily, then honestly, that would put us in quite a bind.

Finishing his explanation, the Duke laughs. It seems that he was only joking when he was offering me to become a member of the Knight Order of Hartz Duchy, but unfortunately, that little joke of his has completely gone over my head since humor has never been a strong point of mine.

The fact that in order to become a Knight you need years of training as a Warrior most likely means that the requirement for obtaining that Job is to reach a certain level as a Warrior, and if I had to guess then I would say that it would most likely have to be Warrior Lv.30. Due to how much I am using the Warrior Jobs Skill, Rush, my level as a Warrior is currently at Lv.29, so as you can see I dont have that much further to go before I reach Lv.30 with it.

Here, my lord.

The Knight who operated the box presented the Duke with a drawstring bag that contained the prize money from all the bounties on the Bandits that I have defeated.

You can exchange Intelligence Cards for a reward in any of the knights Guilds temple, not just this one. This really is a convenient device, so if you ever end up obtaining more Intelligence Cards, dont hesitate to come exchange them.

I see. I will make sure to do that next time I have a chance then.

However, hmm. This is actually less than I thought it would be.

The Duke says that to himself with a frown as he checks the bag he received from the Knight.

Yes, this might indeed not be enough. And while it is true that Heinz the Bandit was rampaging pretty badly throughout the Selmar territory, Simon the Mad Dog has yet to be taken care of and so the cut for dealing with him is not included here.

It does seem to be not nearly enough. I heard that some members of the Knight Order in Selmar have been killed by Simon the Mad Dog alone, so they probably increased the amount of the bounty placed on his head even more since the last time they updated it, Lord Michio.

Convinced by Gozers explanation, the Duke passed the drawstring bag with the money to me. Just like Sherry said that it was announced in the wanted posters, there was no verification of my own Intelligence Card at all.

I have to admit though, now that I heard that the amount of money placed on Simon the Mad Dogs head mightve been increased even further, I start regretting that I was unable to collect his Intelligence Card due to how I killed him.

Anyway, I respectfully receive the reward money from him.

Although I arranged for a special case with the Emperors council to not check the Intelligence Cards, I guess it was a vain effort on my part after all.

The Duke says, more to himself rather than to anyone else in the room in particular. Oh trust me, I dont believe that what you did was in vain. In fact, I do believe that it was a great decision on your part! Or dont tell me that youre going to have my Intelligence Card inspected anyway?! Quick, change the subject to something else!

Did you really go to negotiate that directly with the Emperor or the members of his council?

I did, and I have to say that it was pretty hard to persuade them to approve my proposal, but after much deliberation I finally managed to convince them that using the outlaws to catch and kill other outlaws is the best possible thing that could have been done here. Dont you think so as well, Lord Michio?

Looks like the Duke and Sherry actually share the same viewpoint on the matter of Intelligence Card checks. I have to admit that it fits the nature of someone like him to a T, but as we have already seen, it turns out that this time he was just a little bit too hasty with that idea of his.

Well, I can certainly see the benefits of such a solution, in the short term at least.

Oh, in the short term, you say? In other words, you think that this solution is not going to be as effective in the long run?

Uhm, not exactly. I just think that when you decide to use the method where the ruler of a territory or a nation decides to hire outlaws so that they could deal with other outlaws on his behalf, then sooner or later the clear distinction between the controlling side and the controlled side that was there at the beginning is slowly going to fade out. Thats why I said that it might not be as effective in the long run as you might think it is.

Oh fuck, now Ive done it! It mightve not been intentionally, but I have expressed disagreement with one of the Dukes opinions! Damn it!

In other words, you believe that having the Knights take care of the outlaws is a better option still? Hmm. Actually, you might be right about that.

Oh? Well, well, well, so youre not as inflexible in your thinking as I thought you were, Gozer.

B-But you have to remember that I only said that its going to be effective in the short term!

I hurriedly rushed in with a follow-up in an attempt to somehow defuse the situation before it gets out of hand. But at the same time, I was also wondering: was it really okay for me to express an opinion that differed from the one that the Duke had so much? I can only hope now that hes not going to have me purged because of it.

Did you call for me, my lord?

At the same time, a voice came I from outside of the room. Looks like we can finally wrap this rather uncomfortable topic up and put it behind us! Now, who is this God that bailed me out of it?

Is that you, Cassia? Please, come in.

As you wish.

So it was not a God, but a Goddess who saved me!

The door to the room opens and Cassia walks in, looking as beautiful as ever. She is dressed in a light blue gothic-style dress with only a slight amount of her fair skin exposed, but even so, she was still brimming with the same grace and serene elegance as the last time when I saw her.

She looks just like one of the noble ladies that you might often find in paintings, except for the fact that she is unmistakably real. And look, she even brought a young woman dressed in a maid outfit along with her! She didnt say anything, and simply stood a few steps behind Cassia, as was probably customary for the servants who accompanied their lords. And since the voice that called out from the other side of the door before did not belong to Cassia, then I guess it must have belonged to this maid girl.

Just like Cassia herself, she was an elven girl of unprecedented beauty. That being said, she cannot possibly hold a candle to Cassia herself, whose beauty is a few steps above hers.

Cassia, I just heard a most amusing thing. Lord Michio here is of the same opinion as you when it comes to the issue of hiring outlaws to dispose of other outlaws. He believes that it is a bad idea to use Bandits to hunt down other Bandits since there needs to be a clear distinction between those hunting and those being hunted, and dependency on the outlaws in that matter might lead to the disappearance of that clear-cut distinction in the long run.

Oh my, is that so?

Cassia looked at me raised the corners of her lips in a light smile.