Chapter 204: Getting Deeper 4
TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
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We've been staying on the 35th floor for a few days.
The temple had appointed Manaashi, the black naga warrior, as an honorary temple knight and bestowed upon him the mark of the Goddess.
The Magic Tower had established a research lab on the 35th floor to study the samples given to Charlotte, while the Adventurers' Guild began erecting the skeleton of a building at the end of the market street.
Apart from the temple, it was a street of mere tents, so naturally, people were drawn to the sight of the ground being leveled and building pillars being erected.
"What's with the Guild guys?"
"They must be keeping an eye on the temple, I guess."
The Adventurers' Guild, being a group that made its business from fees rather than standing up for justice or for adventurers, was met with mixed looks from the adventurers.
There were concerns that the Guild might take a larger cut from commissions on the 35th floor.
Most adventurers currently on the 35th floor were intermediate adventurers from around the 20th floor, who were pushing their luck to make a big score.
Many adventurers blinded by gold had recklessly attacked the undead and met their demise.
They could have avoided death by moving in groups of ten, but greed led smaller groups to be surrounded by the undead.
Being only at the 20th floor level, they stood no chance.
This might explain the slightly somber mood.
"Ah, there's so much work to be done here!"
"We've come all this way; we should do everything we can. I wonder if the inn and other shops will start building too?"
"How long can we keep embracing women in tents..."
On the other hand, various construction workers, grouped by profession, were all smiles.
It seemed they were not just dragged here under the pretense of serving the Goddess, but were also handsomely paid.
However, even with generous payment, the makeshift temples only extended from the 30th to the 35th floor.
Seeing the Adventurers' Guild take the lead in construction at a time when it seemed like the building boom was over, expectations were naturally rising.
Honestly, the temple was so small I could call it a miniature.
The priests, nuns, and temple knights stayed in tents, and it seemed only the saintess resided in the miniature temple, which was essentially a white marble cabin with a Goddess Faith temple skin.
In contrast, the Guild was constructing a rather large building, targeting at least intermediate adventurers.
Smaller than a city Guild, but still, they were laying out a wide foundation and preparing noticeably large pillars for a two-story building.
"A temple inside the Tower, and now the Adventurers' Guild moving in, who would have thought?"
"It's our achievement, yet it doesn't feel real."
"Ever since we met the Goddess in that forest, none of this feels real, does it?"
Feeling this contrast of atmospheres, I walked through the streets of the 35th floor.
Grace was on my right, Katie on my left, and behind me, Irene and Han Se-ah pretending to be focused in sightseeing while actually focusing her camera.
On closer inspection, one of them was the muscular macho knight who had come to us for information last time and was moved by Manaashi's story.
The muscular temple knight, who had been moved by Manaashi's story and recognized him as a human rather than a monster, promised safety, but I hadn't expected them to go this far.
Here they were, the black-scaled naga warrior and the white-armored temple knights, talking about bodybuilding exercises in front of the 40th floor passageway.
Despite his black scales, Manaashi is fundamentally a superior warrior, taller and broader-shouldered than his kin.
It seems he got along well with the macho knights who trained their muscles.
"We've obtained a magical tool that detects mana in underground caverns. Let's go down to their bases, and for simple production bases, we'll collapse them from above."
-That sounds, like a very good plan.
"Ah, are you heading off to eliminate those evil creatures? I'd love to join your great journey, but I can't just impose myself on another's arduous task."
After explaining the situation to Manaashi, who was engaged in a muscle discussion at the 40th floor passageway, he picked up his trident, sighed deeply, and exhaled a long breath.
The temple knights, having grown quite fond of him in a short time, sincerely wished him luck before gradually disappearing.
-Rather than a Naga clan isn't he from a Capybara tribe instead? He's so sociable
-Isn't Han Se-ah on a journey, not an ordeal? Just sitting in the backseat of the Roland bus tour.
-Black Naga seduced the muscle knight.
-They seem to believe in a Goddess of muscle growth, not the Goddess of life.
-Were undead considered sacrilegious because they lack muscles? lol
"What's with the temporary NPC ally blending in so well with the temple? Maybe he isn't a temporary one but a core NPC we'll keep seeing throughout the tower climb?"
Han Se-ah and the viewers chuckled at the scene.
They thought Manaashi was a temporary NPC ally, like the golden golem, only to be seen briefly on the 40th floor.
Furthermore, with the temple knight and the naga warrior engaged in a bodybuilding discussion, it triggered laughter.
While Han Se-ah and the viewers were busy laughing, our party naturally prepared to set off with Manaashi leading the way.
While we were reporting information to the temple, the Magic Tower, and the Guild on the 35th floor, Manaashi had been patrolling the 40th floor with the temple knights and had found several caverns.
-I found, three, by myself, humans found, two.
"Five locations already? That's a great start."
In the meantime, one adventurer party and one group of patrolling temple knights had each found a location, but Manaashi alone had discovered three.
Perhaps, being a different race, his senses were sharper than humans.
With these whimsical thoughts about why humans were the weakest race in a fantasy world, I gazed at the black back leading the way.
Manaashi naturally took on the role of guide, which led Grace to my side.
Then, just as naturally, Katie stuck close behind me.
It seems that we ended up in this formation because the path through the swamp was too narrow to walk side by side
The camera mounted on Manaashi's shoulder naturally turned to look at me.
There I was, walking alongside Grace, with Katie following closely behind, hopping along and looking for opportunities to join the conversation.
And behind her, Han Se-ah moving the camera, observing everything.
I got the feeling that this formation will be repeated quite a bit in the future.
