CH 223

Then, as I let Shion hunt a few zombies, Shion was enveloped by light again. It was the Goddess’ Blessing.

I was able to raise his level up to about the 10th level relatively quickly, but it seems that Shion’s leveling is the same. I still have no idea how it works, though.

“Congratulations. Can you still go for it?” (Rook)

“Kyu…” (Shion)

I received a somewhat negative answer. He’s getting tired of it.

“Then let’s go home and have dinner.” (Rook)

“Kyu!” (Shion)

The sun, which seems to be in sync with the sun outside, is getting very low in the sky. There’s no reason to rush, so let’s call it a day.

I headed to the first floor while avoiding enemies, and then proceeded straight to the exit.

There were many parties of adventurers near the exit, and almost all of them were heading toward the river.

They were smelling very rotten, like an army of undead.

I had already been cleaned up using [Purification], but I decided to follow the adventurers to create an alibi, or rather, to observe them.

Observing from behind, I saw the adventurers unloading their gear, taking off their armor, depending on the person, some even taking off their clothes, and plunging into the river.

“You, don’t you dare float that filthy thing upstream from me!” (Adventurer)

“Oh? It can’t be helped!” (Adventurer)

A skirmish between adventurers begins.

The river is only about two meters wide, and the water volume is not high, so people downstream are not happy if others wash upstream.

The adventurers wash their bodies, clothes, armor, and swords with cloths, and finally wipe their arms and legs and weapons with cloths soaked in holy water. Perhaps the holy water has a bactericidal effect or a poison-eliminating effect.

After confirming this, I pretended to wash my hands in the river at random and headed for the exit.

The sun was already setting and the sky was turning red when we left the exit crevice.

“I knew I’d spend a lot of time on the way back from the second floor.” (Rook)

Today, we went to the back of the second floor, and it probably took us about two hours to get out of the dungeon, walking carefully and avoiding enemies. The actual dungeon is a lot more than a couple of hours long.

“Well, it looks like it’s going to be a Monster Train…”

“Train” is an MMORPG term that refers to moving with a number of monsters in tow.

Basically, it is a situation created by being chased by a large number of monsters as a result of ignoring all the monsters along the way in order to arrive at the destination quickly while conserving items and MP. However, leaving the monsters gathered in such a way to flee is basically considered a nuisance because it causes trouble for the other players in the area.

Come to think of it, a long time ago in a certain MMORPG, a player who was targeted by a boss monster of the strongest class escaped from the depths of the mountain to a town, and as a result, hundreds of players in the town were annihilated by the boss’s area attack that was chasing them. There was a legend that he was in a constant state of screaming. After that, it seems that monsters have received a range of actions. Naturally, monsters in this world don’t have a range of actions, and I think that such things should be avoided as much as possible.

But then, if I were to hunt on the third floor, I would spend a lot of time just moving around. It might take three or four hours each way. Well, what should I do…

After entering the Adventurer’s Guild and placing the guild card and Magic Stones on the counter, the receptionist puts the Magic Stones on a board with countless holes and checks the size of the Magic Stones.

“Yes, nine E-rank magic stones, two silver coins, and seven copper coins.” (Receptionist)

“Thank you.” (Rook)

The unit price seems a little low, but that’s the rule here, so there’s nothing we can do about it. However, the zombies are 15 copper coins, so if you add them together, the income will be 4 silver coins and 2 copper coins. Isn’t this just barely acceptable?

I left the counter and headed toward the bar to look for someone.

Um… Oh, there they are.

“Hello. Is this place available?” (Rook)

“What, the one from the other day? Sure, have a seat.” (Damod)

He was Damod-san, whom I had talked to before about the dungeon here.

I sit down across from Damod-san, who was drinking alone today.

“Onee-san, two ales and some meat! Two of him too!” (Rook)

“Yes!” (Waitress)

I placed my order with the waitress, a beastman miss, and offered Damod-san ale and a piece of meat that had been brought to the table.

“Hey, hey, you’re quite generous, aren’t you?” (Damod)

“Well, there’s something I want to ask you.” (Rook)

So, I asked Damned-san about the third floor of the dungeon.

“Well, I’m thinking of going to the Third floor soon, but I’d like to know what it’s normally hunted on the Third floor.” (Rook)

“I’m sure you said you were D-rank and solo, right? I don’t think you are ready for the third floor yet.” (Damod)

“The monsters on the third floor are skeletons, right?　In Ele—I’ve beaten them before in another place.” (Rook)

“Solo?” (Damod)

“Yes.” (Rook)

Damod-san crossed his arms and thought for a moment, “Hmmm”, and then opened his mouth.

“Well, you seem stronger than you look.” (Damod)

To his words that are difficult to answer, I replied vaguely, “That may be so.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. There are two ways to hunt on the third floor. You can either hunt near the entrance of the third floor and come back later that day, or you can go to the back and sleep in an encampment and continue hunting.” (Damod)

“Is there an encampment on the third floor?” (Rook)

“Yes, at the far end of the third floor, next to the rift that leads to the fourth floor. It’s a good location. It is convenient for hunting on the third floor and the fourth floor. And when you go to the fifth floor, you have to spend the night there too. It’s just hard to do when you’re solo…” (Damod)

“Ah… right.” (Rook)

It is indeed difficult to camp solo. If you’re alone, you have to stay awake all the time, on the lookout for monsters. If it’s an encampment, there will be other adventurers there, so if a monster comes, someone will notice, but then there’s the question of whether you can trust the other adventurers. Adventurers are basically good people, but they act for their benefit.

“If you want to hunt on the fourth floor, you could use the fifth-floor village as your base, but there is an entrance fee to the fifth-floor village.” (Damod)

“How much?” (Rook)

“A gold coin.” (Damod)

“A gold coin? Isn’t that too expensive?” (Rook)

“Don’t be ridiculous. Safety doesn’t come for free.” (Damod)

I could not say anything back to him. It is true that safety is not free.

With these words firmly engraved in my mind, I downed the lump of mysterious meat I couldn’t identify with ale.

“I have one more question. When I went to the church, I was surprised at how heavily guarded it was, but what is in there?” (Rook)

“If you bought the holy water, you saw it, right? It’s that Artifact.” (Damod)

“Artifact?” (Rook)

“You see the water jar where they made the holy water? That’s the artifact.” (Damod)

That was an artifact?! I thought that the priest made the holy water through a ritual, prayer, or something, but that golden water jar itself was an artifact…

“The church is always collecting holy artifacts like that. If you find a holy artifact in a dungeon or ruins, the church is sure to take it.” (Damod)

“…can’t you refuse?” (Rook)

“If you want to refuse, can you really refuse? I don’t know what happens when you do.” (Damod)

“…” (Rook)

In this world where religion seems to be quite the authority, it must be difficult to turn the church into an enemy. I guess they are supposed to be “not be forced” for public appearances, but it feels like there’s practically no choice. If you’re not good at handling it, even the country will become your enemy, so if you find one, you’ll have no choice but to hand it over to the church.

Somehow, I think of the artifact and myself in the same light.

I wonder if I will be safe when the church discovers my existence.