Chapter 8: Volume 2, Miss Filinion’s Brutal☆Monster Encyclopedia (Full Color Edition)

Volume 2, Miss Filinion’s Brutal☆Monster Encyclopedia (Full Color Edition)

The Detached Magic Palace existed in the center of Roppongi, Tokyo.

The 1km circle of land was surrounded by a tall wall and it was built with as much water and greenery as a park. The white mansion standing in the center was so luxurious it looked out of an older age, but the girl tended to use the small gazebo away from the mansion instead of the mansion itself.

The girl of about 16 wore a red dress with the shoulders and back open and her long glossy black hair was tied in twintails using a knot of the hair itself. She held a smartphone in her hand.

The gazebo she relaxed in did not contain chairs and a table to elegantly enjoy some tea. Instead, it contained a round jacuzzi.

So in her usual bad habit, she was floating face up after diving in without removing her clothes.

One of the maids standing around the jacuzzi screamed when she saw her master floating there.

“Gyaaah!! Milady, you just ruined another Robe Decollete worth as much as a dozen supercars!!”

The girl floating in the warm water was surprised to find the word “supercar” was still in use.

“Haruka, don’t get so upset. The country supplies me with this, so it isn’t actually mine.”

“Meaning it was paid for with the taxpayers’ hard-earned money! That’s all the more reason you mustn’t do this!!”

“Oh? But it’s already clinging pretty tightly to my growing body, so I’d have to get a new one in half a year regardless. Besides, there are people who need me to get a new dress this often. Y’know, like how they spend excess budget on road construction at the end of the year.”

“Cough, cough! No comment! I have no comment on how the adults do things, milady!!”

If Haruka, a girl who had just started middle school, was worried about the country’s excuses, then things were dire indeed.

The other two maids, normal (height-wise) Misoka and extra-large (breast-wise) Iroka, did not panic or make a fuss.

“The lady receives 15% of the total tax income, so this will not be a problem. You could say she is actually making use of the spare change she is given. In fact, the normal families would collapse under the weight of all the money if it were distributed fairly.”

“Are you sure this isn’t a bit of a compromise on the part of the higher ups since they won’t allow her out of the Detached Magic Palace? By the way, miss, you don’t seem able to put down your smartphone even when speaking with your servants. Have you found a new social network game or something?”

“It isn’t that,” said their master as she ignored the slight barb from the maid with glasses and a mole under the eye. “Filinion sent over her manuscript, so I’m checking over it. There’s a huge list of things she isn’t sure she can use...”

“Oh, the guidebook obsessed one of your Labyrinth exploration buddies.”

There were (at least) two worlds.

From the girl and her maids’ perspective, the planet called earth was the “real world” and their human race had found a method of travelling to another world called Ground’s Nir.

Filinion was obsessed with writing guidebooks on Ground’s Nir’s plants and animals as well as the underground Labyrinth’s Gimmicks (contraptions resembling life forms that bared their fangs against any intruders), Traps installed in the floor and walls, and Treasure found in treasure chests. She had also released that information on a website in the real world.

Rather than to help people stay safe in the Labyrinth, she was simply the type who would die of loneliness if she did not see the hit counter rising but did not have the willpower to update a blog every day and thus filled the gap by updating her guidebook. Nevertheless, she was still helping quite a few people.

“What does that guidebook have to do with you, lady?”

“Filinion is a White Witch who specializes in healing. As a combat-oriented Holy Swordswoman, it comes down to me to defeat the Gimmicks, so she wants me to check through for any mistakes in their weaknesses and how to defeat them.”

The red dress girl floated face-up in the warm water while tapping her index finger at her smartphone to type out corrections in red.

Punishment-type: Doppelganger

This Gimmick always takes on the form of one of your Party’s members. HP, STR, VIT, and the other parameters are set to your Party’s sum total with a +30% increase (Correction: A random increase between +45% and +60%), so watch out. Its elemental weakness will be something no member of your Party can negate, absorb, or reflect (Correction: Or has at least a 25% resistance to), so if you cover every element, it will have no elemental weakness (Correction: Specifically, it will have a resistance of 50% against every element). When running across a Punishment-type it is generally a good idea to escape to another floor or area. But the parameters only allow it to borrow one of your forms, even if it cannot win. If the Doppelganger transforms into a logistical support member, there is a chance you can fight and defeat it. If you do, you get 5 of the ultra miracle rare Diamond Gears – Extra Large. (Correction: I do not recommend this! If anyone not at the level cap like us tries this, they’ll be killed!)

That was about how it went.

(Why are all the attached illustrations in that pixel style? They look realistic enough, but that has to be way more work than normal illustrations.)

The red dress girl had plenty of questions about this.

But the glasses girl’s guidebook had branched out beyond the Labyrinth’s Gimmicks.

For example...

Break News: Sutriona.

The fairy queen and one of the paradoxes with a soul that move (Correction: She actually lives on the island) freely around Ground’s Nir. She looks like a girl of about 10. When she fights, giant butterfly-like blood wings grow from her back and scatter the Sandstorm of Red Madness (Correction: On a large enough scale to cover the entire inn town) containing the dangerous and toxic pigment created by the Crimson Heaven Flower reacting with fairy blood. (Correction: A small amount can intoxicate a 1000 meter Dragon, so it can easily break a human’s mind.) She understands human language and has relatively similar ethics and standards, but that has allowed her to blend into human society enough that her route is hard to predict and avoid. She is essentially a monster, so do not even think about defeating her by human means.

Or...

Iberian Orc: Boo Boo

A giant orc living on the island of Ground’s Nir. Also known as the Dragon Eater. Despite his brutal appearance, he does not enjoy battle and is relatively gentle. He has an extra-large Shining Weapon of unknown origin, but he cannot activate human Magic and seems to use it only as a blunt weapon. He attacks with simple strikes, but he has also fought a Break News and someone at the level cap, so his true strength is unknown.

“...”

“Oh, what is it, miss?”

The largest of the maids (who always had her black hair fully contained in her cap) spoke up, but the red dress girl continued operating her smartphone and seemed to be calling someone.

“Hey, cow.”

“Is that any way to greet someone? So what is it? I’m in the middle of a college lecture right now...”

A whispered and gentle voice answered her. The voice was even more otherworldly or elegant than in Ground’s Nir.

The other girl must have had a high-spec phone because it did not pick up any of the surrounding noise.

“Why are you trying to upload information on Boo Boo to your free guidebook!? You can’t do that! I-I mean, if you show off how great he is, everyone will start paying attention to him!!”

“Oh? I seriously doubt anyone will try to steal that 4 meter brutal pig-face from you. ...And if that’s what you’re so mad about, I’m guessing you haven’t gotten to that other entry yet. Ah ha ha.”

“?”

The floating red dress girl kept the call in hands free mode while she returned to the guidebook manuscript page.

And...

Level Cap Girl: Beatrice

Hates how small her breasts are. This representative member of the level cap adventurers only uses fire Magic, but has a stock of around 14,000 types at her disposal. This does not mean she is weak in water or wind. She uses fire as a starting point to reach every single Element, so be careful. She looks cute enough, but she had a low boiling point and has unbelievable attack power, so if you’re up to no good, I recommend doing it where she can’t see you. Hates how small her breasts are. If the compatibility works out, she can slay even a Break News, so don’t even think about defeating her in a fight. She also hates how small her breasts are. Only tease her about that if you have a death wish.

“You biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch!!”

“Oh, c’mon, Beatrice. There’s no need to be so crude. Oh ho ho.”

“Not only are you violating my privacy, but this entry is 100% malicious, isn’t it!? Even the pixel illustration is! I’m not that flat! And why did you repeat that about my breasts two or three times!?”

“Eh? Because-...”

“Don’t you dare say it, you cow!! B-besides, mine are bigger than average. It might only be a few millimeters, but I’m above the 50th percentile for the national average. This is a misrepresentation! How exactly are you planning to make up for-...gbh, gbh, gbh!!!!!”

The girl tried and failed to gather strength in her gut as she yelled, so she lost her buoyancy and sank into the jacuzzi.

“Cough! Cough, cough!”

And after getting her head above water and choking, the black twintail girl realized all three sizes of maid were giving her a look of pity.

She worked to calm herself and to regain her dignity as their master.

“Haruka, I see no reason for you to feel sympathetic.”

“Pwee!? S-sorry, but I seem to have hit a growth spurt recently...”

“Don’t be silly! Mine are clearly bigger than yours!”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“...and they’re growing at a rate that will pass you in 6 months to a year!!”

“Gwah! How dare you leave your master in the dust!! You lack loyalty, Haruka!!”

At any rate, she was getting sidetracked. Her primary opponent was the cow on the phone: Filinion. But the red dress girl was not allowed to leave the Detached Magic Palace in the center of Roppongi. And she doubted Filinion would accept an invitation if she knew it would only mean a lecture.

That meant the black twintail girl’s options were limited.

“Remember this, Filinion...”

“Kh. But with a boring guidebook, you need to add in some jokes to keep things interesting. Y-y’know, like how that famous weapon and armor guidebook leaves you thinking, ‘Oh, so that’s what the Risqué Armor (♀) looks like.’ It’s hard to know just the right amount, but getting a little sexual is the way to go! Can’t we look at this as something like that? C’mon, c’mon. I’ll give you some of the Gimmick gears we use as currency over there. ...I know. How about 9 of the Silver Umbrella Gears – Medium? They’re super rare!!”

“Shut up. We can have this scary conversation later. See you later in Ground’s Nir, okay?”

Yes.

Even if she was restricted in the real world, Ground’s Nir was open to everyone equally.