The Rising of the Scythe Hero-Chapter 77

Our guide, a full-fledged count, led us to the finest inn on the entire archipelago. At first glance, it looked less like an inn and more like a castle: fountains styled after the founding beasts, some of which were drinkable, hedges shaped like Pekkul, Risuka, Inult, and Usauni, and of course, statues of each beast as well.

The interior was equally impressive, radiating the atmosphere of a majestic, wealthy palace. Red carpets, bright paintings, tapestries, chandeliers of gemstones and costly materials... If I had to sum up the overall design in one word, it would be either "expensive" or "luxurious."

We climbed to the second floor along the same red carpet, where one of the assigned maids guided us to a room prepared in advance. And it was more fitting to call it a "suite" than a "room," since it was comparable to a four-bedroom luxury apartment from my old world. Counting the lounge, which had a sofa that could serve as another bed, that made five rooms in total.

I figured the queen knew about my situation and the lack of need to give each of my companions a separate room, but she still decided to play it safe. Or maybe it was just another piece of high politics — where giving a Hero anything less than lavish was practically a crime.

So, naturally, our entire group settled into that one suite. Fohl, Sadeena, Mia, and Atla each claimed a room — convincing the last one wasn’t easy. Night, of course, was always with me by default, but with Atla we finally agreed she’d at least "take" a room, even if where she actually slept was entirely her decision.

Let’s skip the inevitable scene that had to follow when the details finally reached Fohl.

Next on the list, after we settled in, came a small improvised meeting I had to organize after the island’s rules were explained to us.

Most of the rules focused on etiquette among adventurers. For example, kill-stealing was considered very bad manners, and abusing it could even get someone "deported" from the island on the spot.

There were a few other minor rules and details too, such as methods of traveling between the islands, but prohibitions against killing and similar things went without saying. After all, Melromarc’s laws still applied on the archipelago.

So, summing things up — and remembering a few details of the canon Cal Mira arc — I had to personally take control of the situation.

Naturally, the so-called "elite" among the Heroes weren’t too happy about it. Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki twisted their faces, grimaced, looked away, snorted — each trying in his own way to show his disdain for me taking the lead.

"And what else would you suggest, if none of you even thought to coordinate our actions so we wouldn’t trip over each other?"

Now it was my turn to sneer. Seriously, the moment the count finished his tour, these idiots were ready to just split up in silence! No map study, no route planning, no strategy — as if that stuff were completely useless and unnecessary.

"And what do you propose, Mister Know-It-All?" Even Itsuki, who usually put on a polite, neutral front, couldn’t keep his "good boy" mask on this time.

"Weapon conflict. The archipelago’s closed circular structure. An open map of all the islands. Unique monsters on every major island... Anything clicking in those heads of yours?"

"Quit acting like you’re the only smart one and just say it already," Motoyasu snapped, his patience gone next.

"Eh..." With a sigh, fully realizing the futility of my efforts, I finally decided to lay it out in the simplest way possible.

If you put together everything I listed, even someone with the brains of a Yellow Balloon could reach the obvious conclusion: we needed rotation and cyclic movement.

The plan was simple. Each Hero would take position on one clearly designated island. Together, those islands formed a rough circle. Regardless of whether we’d fully cleared the current island or not, every three hours we’d rotate to the next island clockwise. This way, by keeping the right distance between us, we could farm experience without interfering with each other and unlock new weapon variations — every three hours stepping into a new area with fresh monsters. Time would be kept by the system’s countdown to the next Wave.

The Heroes, though grudgingly, admitted the plan was both logical and workable. And so, they didn’t refuse to follow it. All I could do was hope that none of them would suddenly ignore the agreement and decide to "finish off" the remaining monsters instead of moving on when the timer was up.

After that, it was finally time to begin. Somehow, I managed to wring a firm promise out of every Hero that at least for today — the very first day — our agreement would be honored without fail, with no excuses or "buts." Tomorrow, once I had drawn conclusions about whether grinding here was even worth the time, they could do whatever they wanted.

So then... the current situation looked like this: Sadeena — level 63, Fohl — level 61, Night — level 44, Mia — level 60, Atla — level 60. And me — level 95.

Logically, it would’ve made sense to split up for leveling again, but I wasn’t planning to do that just yet. First I needed to see how big the difference in gained experience was across levels.

The first island, closest to "home," was populated by the weakest monsters: frogs, rabbits, beetles, worms, and other little critters any member of my group could swat aside with a single finger. Although... there was one funny detail worth clarifying.

"With a single finger" was, for them, a figure of speech. But when it came to me personally...

Kwah!

Poke

"Mm-hm." I offered a profound-sounding comment when, just for fun, I poked a frog in the belly with my finger, channeling a touch of mana and Qi into it. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The poor amphibian wasn’t just punctured — a moment later it outright burst apart, leaving the corpse completely useless for feeding to my Scythe.

"Your might makes my heart quiver in trembling excitement, Nott-sama. Though truly, I could expect nothing less from you." Naturally, Atla seized the chance to share her thoughts on the current state of affairs.

As for me, the experience gained from such monsters wasn’t much. Objectively, for their level, it was actually quite a lot, but with my current level it barely registered. The only thing that made up for it, to some extent, was the sheer number of monsters swarming these islands — and that number was absolutely absurd.

At least, that’s what my scan of the surrounding life told me. The thing was, the swarm of monsters wasn’t in any rush to attack us — and I could even guess why.

They were afraid.

A primal, animal-level fear before something so overwhelmingly stronger that even on the luckiest day of their lives they wouldn’t stand a chance. Sure, some monsters weren’t stopped even by that, but there were far too few of them for the leveling to be effective.

Because of this, I had to learn on the spot how to hide my power. To put it simply, I gathered up all the mana and qi I had and compressed them as tightly as possible, minimizing any "leakage" outward. My spirit I couldn’t control, but masking the other two energies was enough to lower the monsters’ wariness.

That’s when things finally started moving.

Night, obviously, got the most experience. In the span of three hours, while kicking around frogs and bugs, the little bird shot from level 44 to level 50. I should add — she did it almost entirely alone, without help from Sadeena, Fohl, Mia, or Atla. Only occasionally, when she literally couldn’t keep up with the mob swarming her, did Mia step in. That was deliberate, to get the cleanest and most accurate stats possible.

In the next three hours, the spotlight went to Sadeena. She never needed help even once. The orca, clearly wanting to show off in front of me, dispatched every monster that crossed her path as if it were child’s play. And the absurdly erotic poses she "accidentally" struck during combat left no doubts about how much fun she was having with it. She even matched Night’s tempo so it would be easier for me to compare results. Which only convinced me once again that refusing a girl like her was about the dumbest decision I could ever make.

End result: Sadeena went from level 63 to 66. Plus three levels, compared to Night’s six. Not a huge difference, but noticeable. And the trend held when I ran the same test with Mia and Atla. Both girls went for speed, killing more monsters in three hours than anyone else. From level 60, they each climbed to 64. Fohl ended up somewhere in between, reaching 63.

As for me... even after three hours of non-stop slaughter, killing monsters faster than any of them... I didn’t gain a single level.

"Mm-hm. That’s... discouraging."

"If I recall, that mustached man said experience drops off sharply past level 80. And you, Nott-chan, are already close to a hundred. So I don’t think this is all that surprising."

Sadeena was right — the count really had said something along those lines. I just hadn’t expected that even sheer speed and sheer numbers wouldn’t let me make up the difference. Sure, the monsters closer to the central islands would be stronger, but still... the situation wasn’t looking all that promising.

At least it was clear my party would be able to level up just fine.

"By the way, Sadeena, what do you think?" Absorbed in my comparisons, I only remembered to ask now.

"Hm?"

"Is there a difference in experience between these monsters and the ones at sea? And how big is it?"

"Ooh. Now that I think about it... yeah, sea monsters a bit stronger than these gave way more experience. Several times more. And their levels were a lot higher too."

"I see."

I’d draw my final conclusions after checking the exp from the strongest monsters on the archipelago, but something told me I’d end up at the same result regardless.

By nightfall, once darkness had settled in, we returned to the "home" island — which, by evening, had already turned back into what it was in every year outside the Activation event.

In other words, a resort.

The streets, lit by the warm glow of lanterns, were packed with adventurers, most of whom had already had more than a little to drink. Shopkeepers — usually hawking trivial trinkets as souvenirs for outrageous prices — had grown even more aggressive, luring the tipsy crowds into their mercantile nets. I was pretty sure I even spotted Motoyasu, working two girls at once...

The day hadn’t exactly been hard, but still, it was decided we’d end it in a local tavern — at the urging of a certain orca with a love for strong drink.

And since I wasn’t exactly a paragon of moral restraint, I didn’t forbid anyone in my group from joining in. Pity that the "good thought always comes too late," and I realized far too late what a mistake that was...