Chapter 72
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Temple
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Holiday morning, early. Rin followed behind Ian, who had gone out ahead, as they walked down the street together.
Rin stretched, chasing away the remnants of sleep.
It was too early to be heading out, but curiosity had gotten the better of her after hearing where Ian was going.
"We're here."
"I've never been to that temple before."
Rin looked up at the temple building.
A temple, huh.
She had spent quite some time in Labyrinth City, but this was a place she had never visited.
She wasn't the type to practice any faith, and what was the point of coming here except to shell out donation money?
For similar reasons, most mercenaries never had occasion to visit, so the temple's visitors were mostly city residents.
So when Ian said he was heading to such a place, it was only natural for curiosity to pique.
If not now, she might never get the chance, so Rin had tagged along with Ian to the temple from early morning.
They waited briefly in line among the visitors, and soon it was their turn.
Ian handed over a prepared pouch as a donation.
She couldn't see how much was inside, but it looked pretty full at a glance.
After that, they passed through the entrance and spent a moment in prayer before the statue.
Standing quietly beside Ian and pretending to pray, Rin quietly asked in a small voice as the short prayer ended and they walked out.
"Do you usually go to the temple?"
"Nah. Just started recently."
Rin nodded as if she understood.
Well, Ian didn't strike her as the temple-going type either.
So why had he suddenly started dropping by?
Thinking quietly about the reason, Rin quickly came to a conclusion.
There was only one thing Ian had been focused on lately.
Even the always cool-headed captain wanted something to lean on mentally before facing danger, it seemed.
Rin spoke to Ian as if she understood.
"You came to pray for a safe return from the labyrinth, right?"
"No? Came to make a donation."
"...?"
At the completely unexpected answer, Rin stared at Ian with a look of confusion.
...Did he have so much money lately that he just wanted to blow it somewhere?
Well, it was healthier than blowing it on booze or gambling.
Sensing from Rin's expression that she was misunderstanding something, Ian quietly added an explanation.
"The temple only sells holy water once you reach a certain donation rank..."
"Eek..."
Hearing the reason, Rin made a shocked face.
It was yet another completely unexpected motive.
To be precise, higher ranks allowed access to more items and greater quantities.
At the basic rank, you could only buy one bottle of holy water per month—a quantity too meager to be of much use.
It was a hassle in many ways, and thanks to the mod, there were plenty of items that could substitute for the temple's consumables, so there was no real need to rely on them.
But the item he had obtained through Leona recently happened to be equipment that consumed holy oil.
He had no choice but to raise his rank enough to purchase holy oil, which was why he had been visiting the temple in a rush.
"Hearing it explained like that makes it kinda feel off..."
To buy things from the temple, you had to pay donations to raise your rank.
Any faint sense of reverence that had welled up in Rin upon her first temple visit vanished completely.
Was it because this was Labyrinth City that even the temple was full of crooks?
As Rin harbored such irreverent thoughts, someone spoke up from behind.
"Please excuse it. There's a limit to how much we can produce in Labyrinth City."
"Eep! N-No, I wasn't thinking anything!"
A nun who had approached from behind spoke to Rin.
Caught off guard by the thoughts she had just had, Rin panicked and glanced at the nun.
The nun seemed to have a rough idea of what Rin might have been thinking and gave a small wry smile.
"Hello, Captain. Here for holy water?"
"Is there any left today?"
"Yes. This way..."
The nun guided Ian and Rin to a side room.
After a short walk down the passage, they arrived in a room lined with various items—less a temple and more like a potion shop.
The nun who had led them there glanced at Ian's face and spoke first.
"You're heading into the labyrinth, aren't you?"
"Did I mention that?"
"You pick up on these things with experience after spending time here."
And...
After a slight pause, the nun smiled brightly at Ian as she replied.
"Since you're the one who took the 'Flame' recently. Captain Ian."
The sacred flame.
It had to be referring to that lantern he had received through Leona.
"Was that a temple item?"
"Yes. We occasionally lend it out for labyrinth expeditions."
Ian finally understood the item's origin.
He had wondered where she got such a thing, but it seemed it was borrowed through temple connections.
The nun took out a few bottles of the holy water Ian had requested and handed them over.
"We pray for your safe return."
She said with a bright smile toward Ian.
Ian nodded seriously in response to the nun's words.
"I'll make sure to bring the lantern back safely."
"...Could you not phrase it like I'm making some materialistic request?"
...But apparently, that did bother her a bit.
The nun secretly slipped Ian one extra bottle of holy water.
Rin watched the scene from a step behind, her eyes growing a touch colder.
Even the temple can't help it in Labyrinth City.
With such irreverent thoughts, Rin completely revised her image of the temple in her mind.
As lunchtime approached and members began gathering on the first floor one or two at a time, Mika, who had come down a bit later than usual, quietly took a seat at the table.
"Hello..."
Mika greeted them but blushed and avoided Ian's gaze.
Several days had passed since that night, but Mika still flushed red every time she faced Ian.
Whenever that happened, everyone glanced at Ian and Mika with odd expressions.
And each time, Mika's face grew just a shade redder.
...Probably another day or two.
Only Rin nodded quietly, somewhat understanding her feelings.
-Creak
It was still too early for lunch.
As everyone was passing time on the first floor, the door to the basement stairs opened with a small sound.
Among those living here, the only one who mainly used the basement was Louise.
Ian looked that way, and sure enough, Louise was coming up the stairs.
Louise glanced at the bright daylight outside and muttered.
"Oh my... It's already morning."
"Louise, did you just wake up?"
"No, I'm just finishing up work to rest. With the lab underground, I completely lose track of time."
Louise, yawning tiredly as she climbed up, replied.
"Oh, right on time. Let me tell you now."
Louise glanced toward the bottom of the stairs, in the direction of the lab.
That was the cause that had kept her holed up in the research room all this time.
"The potion you entrusted me with last time? It's complete."
The recipe Louise had been working on was just one.
The recipe for the Erosion Purifier that Ian had first commissioned.
At those words that it was finished, Ian stood up.
It meant the preparation of the final—and most important—item was now complete.
Ian headed down to the underground alchemy lab with Louise.
In one corner of the lab, filled with the smell of reagents, a bubbling liquid was boiling.
"This is the first finished product."
Louise picked up a potion bottle from the table in front of it.
She handed Ian a bottle that had already been sealed.
[Erosion Purifier]
- Consumable Item
- Instantly reduces [Erosion] by 24 upon use
- Grants resistance to Erosion for a period after use
Ian checked the abilities of the completed potion.
It was the base performance enhanced by Louise's alchemy level bonuses.
Confirming the results, Ian nodded.
"Perfect. Good work."
"This seems like a pretty valuable item... I don't know where you got the recipe, but it won't cause any issues, right?"
"No worries. I didn't steal it."
Ian set down the potion bottle and looked at the one currently brewing.
Louise glanced that way too and spoke to Ian.
"Once this batch finishes, we should get about four more bottles."
Including the sample, a total of five bottles.
Enough for one expedition.
Louise checked the material shelf in the corner of the lab and told Ian.
"We have some materials left over, enough for maybe one or two more... But with the current setup, we can only make four at a time. What about the rest?"
"For now, this amount is fine. Make and store the rest."
Using the same potion multiple times in one expedition gradually diminished its effects.
So even preparing dozens of purifiers wouldn't allow chugging them like water for an easy run.
It might be needed urgently after returning, so they decided to keep the leftovers as reserves.
Ian looked down at the potion sloshing in the bottle and let out a small sigh.
All preparations were complete.
"Let's go."
With everyone finished preparing, they left the base in silence.
Louise and Ann's group, staying behind, waved them off.
After waving back, they walked the streets quietly, faces tense, not even exchanging light chatter.
Soon, Labyrinth City's north gate came into view.
It was a large city gate, but hardly any pedestrians or carriages passed through.
Even normally, without special reason, traffic was sparse.
After all, it was the road to the labyrinth.
The north gate itself allowed free passage, but perhaps due to the ominous aura of the labyrinth, few went that way.
Even those who needed to go that direction usually detoured via the west or east gates, going the long way around.
Ian and the group passed through that north gate, heading north from Labyrinth City.
At the end of the short roadway,
They finally stopped before the labyrinth guards stationed there.
The labyrinth.