Volume Two: Cast of Characters

[The Library-City Dungeon]

A tower-type dungeon built by stacking four libraries, large and small. It stands atop a hill some 100 m high, in the uninhabited wasteland "Adachi," a plateau dotted with countless dry valleys.

To the northwest lie the Hiki Magistracy and the town of Furukori; to the west (three days' travel) lie the Iruma Magistracy and the town of Kasumigaseki. To the east and north it is desert all the way. The place-names resemble those around Saitama, but the terrain and the distances differ.

Type: Library (produces books, newspapers, magazines)

Scale: 4 tier-groups, 26 floors

Number of monsters: 4 (4 of them Named)

[The Dungeon Master]

Has no name at all. First-person pronoun: "I." A Beast.

Staple diet: beer, black coffee, canned chūhai, and the like. Only the energy drinks are from a different maker.

[Marie]

A Rosemary Asura. First-person pronoun: "I."

Slightly tall (163 cm). Has black hair with a blue metallic sheen (structural color) tied in one bunch, and pointed (but not long) ears. Her skin is white and her eyes are a deep blue-tinged black (not the dark brown-black of a human's eyes, but a dark blue-black). She dresses as a woman, but strictly speaking she has no sex, and no chest whatsoever.

She has her eye on becoming Director of Books (a rank equivalent to Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade).

Of the Asura's six great defilements, greed (avarice), hatred (anger), delusion (envy), arrogance (pride), doubt (suspicion), and wrong-view (mistaken thinking), the Asura are a race in whom anger, pride, and envy run strong. Marie is quite proud, but since she does whatever she pleases she rarely gets angry, and since she looks down on other races as a matter of course, she never envies anyone.

[Mint]

A Mint Asura.

Androgynous, and a little short (158 cm). Short hair, a bright-green metallic sheen (structural color), bright-green hair, and eyes of a vivid bright green to match. Pale-brown skin.

Doesn't care about clothes.

[Anne]

A Lavender Asura.

Tall (174 cm) and slender, with black hair of a pale-purple metallic sheen (structural color), and eyes of a deep purple close to black (Marie's are black, Anne's are purple).

Her standard outfit is a plain dark-green long dress, with a white apron and cap.

[Sapien-sensei]

A Sage Asura. First-person pronoun: "I," or "this old one."

Average height (167 cm). His hair is a metallic gray with a faint hint of green (structural color), the base color being gray. His eyes are a greenish gray. He presents as male, with the air of a middle-aged fellow, but of course he has no sex.

● The Humans

[The Daikan]

Yoshida Nishinoichinojō, a rank equivalent to Junior Seventh Rank, Lower Grade. Uses no first-person pronoun.

A pompous middle-aged man.

The non-hereditary lord of the "Iruma" region to the west of the dungeon-city. Holds more authority than an Edo-period daikan.

Has not eaten rice since taking up his post in Iruma.

[Echizen-ya] (given name not yet revealed)

A fuel merchant. First-person pronoun: "I" (humble).

Dreams of dealing in coal. Practically lives at the library-city dungeon.

[Okada Tarōzaemon]

The caretaker of the settlers. A half-bald man.

Cannot read or write, but is training hard at it.

[Saburō]

Hiki Komori Niedo Saburō, of no rank and no title.

The last survivor of a samurai band living in Hiki, to the northwest. Both his elder brothers were killed by Marie.