Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: First Step (1)
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While Edn was making his half-right, half-wrong guess, Hepiriya let out a sigh of relief.
That was because she'd invited him to the dungeon due to lingering worries about the welcome ceremony.
More precisely, out of an old woman's fretting that the hastily prepared event might have fallen short somehow.
"I'm glad you said yes."
A guest of honor from another nation had come, after all—no way could they afford any shortcomings in the preparations.
Of course, all were equal before the Goddess, but they couldn't very well force that on foreigners.
The Empire might follow the Church of the Goddess, but there was no reason to breed resentment at an event like this.
Besides, since it was Edn, she wanted to give a fan like him nothing but the best experience.
As they chatted about this and that, they arrived at the delegation's lodgings.
She felt a pang of regret, but there was always tomorrow.
It wasn't a forever goodbye, so she saw him off with a smile.
"Well then, see you tomorrow."
"Yes, I'm looking forward to it."
Hepiriya's heart began to flutter with anticipation for tomorrow, just like Edn's.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The next morning, after a quick preparation, he stepped outside.
Hepiriya was already ready and waiting in front of the lodgings.
"Did I keep you waiting long?"
"No, I just got here myself. Shall we go?"
He boarded the prepared carriage following her lead.
For the record, this carriage wasn't equipped with the Magic Stone Engine from their trip.
It was one operated by the Holy Kingdom, pulled by real horses.
It's been a while since I rode one like this.
He fiddled absentmindedly with the seat, then cleared his throat under her steady gaze.
"Ahem. Anyway, I heard a bit yesterday, but what exactly is this dungeon like?"
"Oh, let me explain."
Hepiriya began her explanation, reaffirming once more just how beautiful she was.
According to her, luminous moss grew faintly glowing from the entrance onward.
"Go a bit deeper inside, and you'll see a spectacular sight."
About twenty meters in, crystals started embedded one by one, she said.
Then, at some point, the space opened up, filled with large and small crystals sparkling everywhere.
"Wow, sounds like a feast for the eyes just hearing about it."
"Right? And if you go even deeper... hehe, that's a secret. We'll see it together when we get there."
A secret, huh? What could it be?
Judging by her teasing, it must be something surprising.
With such expectations, they arrived at the dungeon she'd mentioned.
There was an outpost base in front of the dungeon for exploration and conquest efforts.
Various supplies were stockpiled, and people came and went.
Some wore armor and carried weapons, while others were simply in work clothes.
"Are these the survey team?"
"Yes. They're all working hard to stabilize the dungeon."
As they entered together, gazes focused on them.
Everyone smiled at her or waved.
"Saintess! Thank you again today!"
"The work's progressing well!"
Wow, she's really the Saintess, huh?
She's got quite the popularity.
She waved back, responded graciously, fulfilling her role as Saintess to the hilt.
Watching from the side, he waited until things quieted a bit before asking.
"Do you come here often?"
"Yes. Since I'm leading the stabilization of this dungeon, I have to manage it as the person in charge."
He hadn't known that.
He'd thought someone else was handling it, not her personally.
Soon, they reached the dungeon entrance.
The two guards on duty nodded lightly to her.
Hepiriya pointed to him and gave instructions to the guards.
"I'll be going in with this gentleman. Please prepare a rest area for when we come out."
"Understood."
One guard hurried off, and she extended her hand to him.
A small smile came as a bonus.
Why does she like holding hands so much?
Of course, he didn't mind.
He took her proffered hand, and she led him gently.
"Stay close. There aren't many torches inside. Plus, there are probably a few people in there."
Following her, they entered.
True to her earlier description, faintly glowing moss came into view.
"It really feels like a cave in here."
"Doesn't it? And it's cool, so it'd feel great in summer."
Honestly, it wasn't bad even now.
If anything, since it was winter, the cave felt a touch warmer?
Though the Holy Kingdom wasn't at the continent's edge, so maybe not much difference.
He might find out if he visited in summer.
They pressed deeper inside.
The path was surprisingly level in places, bumpy in others.
But when they reached the inner chamber, a beautiful vista unfolded indeed.
"Whoa, those are all magic stones?"
"Yes, but they say they have no commercial value—more like regular crystals."
They definitely lacked much mana.
Still, the faint mana made them sparkle alluringly.
"Even so, they're beautiful enough that it doesn't matter if they're magic stones or not, right?"
"Exactly. Even without being magic stones, it's a sight of real value."
They admired it together for a moment.
The crystals infused with mana twinkling was truly spectacular.
As they took it in, one of the surveyors inside approached.
"Sorry to interrupt your viewing, Saintess. We're conducting a survey deeper in—looks like something you should see."
"Ah."
Hepiriya's eyes drooped regretfully.
The surveyor waved it off, saying it could wait, but...
"No, since you've come all this way, I should check it out."
"Then I'll come along too."
She looked at him in surprise. Was it that unusual?
Probably because he was an outsider.
"Honestly, I'm curious. Hard not to be when it's mentioned right in front of me."
She seemed pleased by his words.
The surveyor subtly sighed in relief behind her back.
"Is that alright?"
"Yes, it's fine. Let's go together."
With the surveyor leading, they headed deeper.
The path inward had fewer crystals, and even the moss vanished.
"This area's different."
"Yes. It's the approach to that 'secret' I mentioned earlier."
Ah, so this was it?
Wonder what the secret was.
He was curious, but both Hepiriya and the surveyor looked serious.
He set aside his excitement and heightened his tension instead.
A short walk later, they reached a second chamber.
Unlike the crystal-packed one before, this held just a single massive crystal.
"Is this the secret?"
"Yes. It used to be a bit more, uh... Anyway, what's the issue?"
She'd started to say something?
Regrettably, she changed the subject, so he didn't catch it.
The two even stepped aside to whisper quietly.
With nothing else to do, he examined the crystal.
It was about three meters tall, unlike the others, utterly devoid of mana.
Yet it glowed faintly, which was intriguing.
"Something like plutonium or uranium inside?"
On Earth, self-luminous material would almost certainly be radioactive.
But this world wasn't Earth, so he couldn't be sure.
Hmm, still suspicious, though.
The earlier crystals at least had mana; this one didn't.
Not a dungeon core or anything, right?
Dungeons came in varieties.
Some required boss defeats, others core destruction at the center.
Given the sketchiness, maybe the latter—but with no clues, it was half a joke.
Probably not.
"Sorry for the wait."
"Ah, you're back. Everything sorted?"
Hepiriya returned from her chat with the surveyor, her face much lighter.
Her expression suggested it was fine.
As he'd guessed, it was resolved.
There was a room deeper in; she'd requested purification as a precaution.
"So it's safe now?"
"Yes, all good. And while it's not quite what you might imagine, this is the secret."
She pointed to the crystal he'd been eyeing.
She explained what the surveyors had discovered.
According to her, it was a crystal that absorbed natural mana.
They'd tried various measuring devices, but couldn't detect any mana.
"Ah, that makes sense. I couldn't sense any mana, yeah."
"Really? I'm no mage, so I wouldn't know. But I'm glad you're enjoying it."
This time, they admired the crystal together.
It wasn’t as flashy as before, but it carried a quiet emotional impact.
Still, curiosity suddenly reared its head.
So he secretly sent a bit of mana toward the crystal.
Of course, he learned nothing.
Oh, right—what about this?
The World Tree leaf he'd tucked away in his pocket.
Bought from the black market, he couldn't exactly leave it lying around.
Not that many would recognize it anyway, but better safe.
He carefully drew the leaf from his bosom.
Even in the dim light, its iridescent glow drew the eye.
"What's that?"
"Ah, something I got by chance."
The Holy Kingdom wouldn't know about the Empire's black markets, so a vague answer sufficed as he focused.
Curiously, the leaf absorbed mana, warping space-time.
Seemed to transmit somewhere, but he hadn't figured out where yet.
Still, he could use it to some extent.
He infused it with mana to activate, then pressed it to the crystal.
Tap.
It touched lightly, and time passed.
No change.
"Figures it wouldn't work."
He chuckled and moved to pocket it again.
If this was some trigger—
Boom!
"Huh?"
"What?"
What the—?
Did this really trigger it?
A sudden shock and roar echoed.
Startled, he grabbed Hepiriya's hand—then the same sound rang out again.
"What is it? Hepiriya, be careful."
"Got it. Whew, Goddess. Please watch over us—."
She began praying softly.
He gripped her hand tight and scanned around.
Nothing visibly wrong, at least.
As sweat beaded from tension in his palm...
The crystal suddenly cracked wide, and the ground caved in?!
"What?!"
"Kyaa!"
Hepiriya screamed and clung to him, but nothing changed.
Thus, Edn and Hepiriya plummeted into the unknown depths.