CH 233

So, the next day, I got up early in the morning and left the inn. Then I headed for the back of the inn.

There were several adventurers gathered behind the inn, filling their canteens with water that was gushing out of the ground.

Yes, there is a spring here, and it flows into the lake. The tavern master told me about this place in the morning when I asked him to share some wine with me.

Apparently, this village uses the water from this spring for domestic use as well as drinking water.

This may be the reason why they chose this location for their village.

I also filled my canteen with water, left the village, and returned to the fourth floor.

“O sacred Light, bring the wandering souls to God, [Turn Undead]!” (Rook)

I entered the fourth floor and dealt with the nearby ghouls with Turn Undead. I received a silver coin from the ghoul’s pocket and then wrote on a piece of parchment about the success of [Turn Undead].

Just in case, I’m thinking of trying to figure out the [Turn Undead] success rate against Ghouls. My guess is that the Goddess’s Blessing will increase my parameters, and that will increase the probability of the spell’s success, but I want confirmation.

But still, there are no people on this side of the fourth floor. Although it is rare to see a party heading toward the third floor, there are no parties hunting on this side of the fifth floor. It might be too costly and unprofitable to hunt ghouls while staying in the Fifth Floor Village.

However, if you want to hunt ghouls, it is right to use the Third Floor Camp as a base, which is why there are no people on this side, and I can hunt as much as I want. This way, I don’t have to worry about people’s eyes, and ghouls can be spotted immediately.

“It’s like a wish come true.” (Rook)

A little deficit is nothing to worry about. Now it’s all about efficiency in hunting and experience!

Disinfect the filth! Hahaha!

“O sacred Light, bring the wandering souls to God, [Turn Undead]!” (Rook)

“O sacred Light, bring the wandering souls to God, [Turn Undead]!” (Rook)

“O sacred Light, bring the wandering souls to God, [Turn Undead]!” (Rook)

“O sacred light, bring the wandering souls—” (Rook)

For the next few days, I became a bot that drank magic potions and cast [Turn Undead], mass-producing ghoul corpses to the point where my words almost took on a robotic tone.

When I received the Goddess’ Blessing, my magical power increased, the number of times I could activate [Turn Undead] increased, and the success probability also increased little by little, perhaps because my status increased, and my efficiency improved. And the Goddess’ Blessing happened for the nineteenth time. It is indeed a wonderful chain of events.

After all, it is good to use the same magic in the same place and keep defeating the same enemies, so it is easy to understand the changes.

When I was running out of magic potion, I decided to go back to Aluppo.

The next morning, I left the Fifth Floor Village, passed through the fourth floor, and spent the night at the Third Floor Camp as usual. Although it was inevitable, this time was always troublesome. If there was a time-stop effect in the magic bag, I could buy a lot of magic potions and reduce the number of round trips, but there is no such cheat effect, so I need to return to Aluppo periodically.

Or, if I have something like freezing magic, I may be able to freeze the magic potion to extend its shelf life, or I should learn alchemy and produce magic potions by myself.

I have confirmed that ice magic exists as a combined attribute of water and wind, but it seems difficult to learn because of its attribute, and even if it could be learned, it would be a long time before it would be available. The most likely way is to learn alchemy and produce magic potions by oneself. But I am hesitant because the introductory book is expensive (30 gold coins), and it is a mystery whether I can really handle it, and even if I could learn it, it would not be something that I could master overnight.

The next day, we set out in the morning, passing through the third floor, the second floor, and the first floor before arriving at the town of Aluppo.

“Hmm!” (Rook)

I take a big deep breath and stretch.

The dungeon was just as natural as the outside world, but there was still a sense of being in a dungeon that made me uncomfortable, and once I was on the outside, I felt like I had really come home.

Most of the adventurers in the Fifth Floor Village are semi-settled, so perhaps other adventurers are not so concerned.

I went straight to the Adventurers’ Guild through the rift and cashed in my magic stones at the counter.

“Yes, that makes 18 gold coins and 6 copper coins for all the magic stones.” (Receptionist)

“Thank you.” (Rook)

If I add the coins the ghouls had to the total, it comes out to about 30 gold coins. The actual cost of the magic potions and other expenses is about 60 gold coins, so there is a deficit of about 30 gold coins. But that is acceptable. If I get stronger, I will be able to win without using [Turn Undead], and if that happens, the deficit will be eliminated.

The plan to turn the deficit into a surplus is perfect. It’s not going to be a loose end.

“This is amazing! If you keep this pace, you’ll reach C-rank in no time.” (Receptionist)

“I’ll do my best!” (Rook)

I turned my head toward the bar and saw Damod-san.

“Hello. How are you these days?” (Rook)

“No changes. How about you?” (Damod)

I took a seat across from him and ordered ale and meat from the waitress.

“Recently, I’ve been hunting around the Fifth Floor Village.” (Rook)

“No wonder I haven’t seen you around lately. But I didn’t know you were already going to the Fifth Floor Village. Isn’t that a big step up?” (Damod)

“Not really.” (Rook)

I drank the ale that was brought to me.

“By the way, has anything changed here recently?” (Rook)

“Nothing has changed… but first, aren’t you forgetting something?” (Damod)

“…Sister, another ale please.” (Rook)

That’s right. That’s the rule, right?

“I’ll have some then!” (Damod)

Damod-san gulped down the ale that had been brought to him and continued speaking.

“Phew! Delicious! I love drinking ale with other people’s money! Well… there hasn’t been anything big going on lately.” (Rook)

“Realy!?” (Rook)

Letting other people buy him ale and that’s all it is!

I couldn’t help but laugh at his cleverness!

“Well, listen up. Nothing big happened, but I didn’t say there was nothing.” (Damod)

I see, so there is something.

I nudged him to continue with my eyes.

“Recently, the number of people coming into this town has increased.” (Damod)

“…and?” (Rook)

“That’s it.” (Damod)

“That’s all!?” (Rook)

What’s with this goofy comedy duo flow?

“No, it’s not that the number of adventurers is increasing. The number of merchants and squires of the duke is increasing. Including the Holy Knights of the church, too.” (Damod)

“…is that unusual?” (Rook)

“It’s rare for all of them to increase at the same time… Well, it may just be a coincidence.” (Damod)

There may be something or there may be nothing.

I don’t know for sure at this point, but let’s just keep in mind that things have changed.

“Speaking of which, I remember the duke, but what about that duke’s fifth son?” (Rook)

“…Ah, well then. I haven’t heard any rumors lately, but it’s said that that noble brat’s entourage is wandering around.” (Damod)

This is also a mystery, huh? Well, I don’t care about him.

“Come to think of it, have you seen the children on the first floor of the dungeon recently?” (Damod)

“The kids who were dismantling the Mud Toads near the river?” (Rook)

“Yeah.” (Damod)

I think I glanced at them when I came back a while ago, but I don’t think I saw them recently.

“No, I didn’t see them today.” (Rook)

“I see……” (Damod)

Damod-san replied and took a sip of ale.

“There is a child named Adol among them, his father was a good adventurer, but he disappeared in the middle of a mission, and that was it.” (Damod)

“…” (Rook)

“I’ve been trying to keep an eye on his son ever since.” (Damod)

“…Is that so.” (Rook)

The air is a little somber.

I can’t say anything, and it’s probably not something I can help with.

“Maybe I’ll go over to his house sometime and take a look.” (Damod)

Saying that Damod-san finished his ale with a big gulp.