Chapter 432: .
Chapter 432: .
“Hm? Are you telling me you intend to wait until the video is filmed?”
“Yeah. So?”
“What are you talking about? Preparing for a video shoot will take quite some time. We’ll need to create new magical tools, and more importantly, it seems the princess intends to persuade the church to help with distribution.”
“Huh? Wait, are you serious? They’re really trying to get it used in the temple’s education centers? Isn’t that kind of stuff taboo among the clergy?”
“They won’t be watching it directly, and it’s for educational purposes. It seems she plans to frame the negotiations around the fact that the Goddess’s messenger is personally leading the project. The royal family will also cover the costs of distributing it to each temple. Besides, once the educational videos are out, the number of faithful making donations will surely increase, so it’s not a bad deal for the church either.”
I see. So that’s why Felicia was in such a serious discussion with Matilda earlier. That’s what they were talking about.
I was so busy with Silvia… no. I was so busy playing with Silvia that I didn’t pay any attention.
Say what you will, but that Felicia girl has a good head on her shoulders.
Personally, I really hope the negotiations go well.
Not just for the sake of distribution, but also because it benefits the church.
After all, there are a lot of people I like in this religious organization, starting with Leia, Matilda, and High Priestess Sophia.
That’s true not just for the individuals, but for the organization as a whole.
From what I can tell, most of the money they earn from donations, aside from the priests’ living expenses, is given back to the socially vulnerable. I don’t know the details, but I haven’t seen a single instance of the usual corruption yet.
I guess with a real, living god in existence, no one has the guts to be corrupt within a religious order.
“In any case, it would be better to go to the dungeon than to wait for the filming preparations to be complete. We’re only going to survey the 1st Floor, and it shouldn’t take very long, should it?”
Well, she had a point.
I was holding out a sliver of hope that there might be a direct path all the way to the 4th Floor, but even if that were true, we wouldn’t go all the way there in a single expedition.
“Alright. Shall we go, then?”
“Mm.”
It was a bit spontaneous, but then again, our dungeon trips were usually spontaneous.
I told Vanessa to prepare the necessary supplies, and we decided to head to the dungeon after lunch.
And before we left, I stopped by to see Elder Sister Rachel to report our party members, which brings us to now…
“Oh, my. Hello, Guwon.”
So many things had happened since that meal that I’d completely forgotten.
Come to think of it, things hadn’t ended well with Rachel.
As she looked at me, her face was fixed in a perfect customer service smile.
What’s the problem, you ask? The fact that it is a customer service smile is the problem.
Just look at that smile, the kind you give a total stranger. It reminded me of when we first met.
“Rachel, I’m sorry.”
“Oh? For what?”
“……”
I tried apologizing first, but her counterattack left me stunned.
For what? she asks. I’m sorry. To be honest, I have no idea why you’re mad.
No. I can’t panic. I have to stay calm in times like these. Think.
I was so flustered back then that I wasn’t in my right mind.
If I carefully reflect on the past, my brilliant powers of deduction should allow me to figure out why she’s…
“The usual six party members, including yourself. Is that correct? Yes. Confirmed. You may go.”
But seeing my brief silence, Rachel must have realized I still didn’t know why she was angry. She spoke with a business smile that felt strangely cold.
“Wait, Rachel.”
“You may go.”
Sigh. I guess I have no choice. I should probably back off for now.
It was true that I still didn’t know why she was mad. And I couldn’t just stand here holding up the line until I figured it out.
There were other adventurers waiting behind me, and more importantly, my party was waiting.
I’ll think about it carefully after we get back from the dungeon, figure out the reason, and then apologize properly.
I’m sure I’ll figure it out quickly if I just think calmly. For her to still be like this after several days, it must be something serious.
For now, I pushed apologizing to Rachel down my priority list and headed for the dungeon.
“So this is the 1st Floor teleporter… It looks so small in person.”
We used the teleportation magic circle to arrive at the final level of the 1st Floor.
In fact, the last time I was here was when we first installed it; this was my first visit since.
Unlike the other floors, where towns had been built and clans were stationed to defend the magic circles, this one was watched over by a single, lonely staff member.
Well, it’s not like they needed defensive forces anyway. Even if a monster showed up, it could only come through the passage one at a time.
And because the maintenance costs were so low, the usage fee was cheap, too—cheap enough for the adventurers who frequented the 1st Floor to use it comfortably.
So does that mean it doesn’t make money? Not at all.
The vast majority of adventurers stay on the 1st Floor.
As you can tell from when I was hunting wolfdogs, that’s more than enough to make a living if you’re just trying to get by.
That means the number of people using this teleportation circle is overwhelmingly higher than on other floors. And even a pittance of a fee adds up when it’s collected over and over.
In other words, I can make a living off the income from this place alone!
…Yeah, I know. It’s not enough to afford a luxury mansion, so I have to earn more. I’m no kept man!
After giving a slight nod to the guild employee, we headed straight for the pond where the seaweed monster had been.
The monsters we met along the way, frankly, died if you so much as breathed on them, so they weren’t even worth mentioning.
Moving at a pace nearly identical to a casual stroll, we arrived at the pond and stood at the water’s edge, looking down into the clear water.
“It’s underwater… Without the right equipment, it would certainly be difficult to explore. The people who frequent the 1st Floor would never have thought to go in here.”
“Indeed. And until we discovered the ant nest, no one would have imagined that a sort of dungeon-within-a-dungeon could exist.”
“Alright. Let’s go.”
I waited a moment to see if that seaweed bastard we saw before would pop out again, but the pond remained perfectly still.
We all equipped the masks we used on the 4th Floor and, one by one, dived into the pond.
“…It’s a lot smaller than I thought.”
I had expected a vast space to open up beneath the pond, contrary to its appearance, filled with new monsters… but reality doesn’t always unfold so easily.
The space below the pond was exactly as it appeared from the surface.
It was about four to five meters deep. There was no sign of any living creatures; all I could see were a few aquatic plants that looked like seaweed swaying on the bottom.
“Let’s look for a hole or something. Be careful, those seaweed things are probably monsters.”
Just like with the ant nest, there was a chance a passage opened by a penis existed here, too.
And among the 1st Floor monsters, we still hadn’t found a secret passage that used an Orc’s penis.
We decided to split up and thoroughly search the bottom and walls of the pond.
The visibility was poor underwater, so it would be hard to spot a hole without getting right up close.
Why were we acting individually when there were monsters around?
That wasn’t a problem either. Just knowing the monsters were there was enough.
Level is king, after all. At this point, a 1st Floor monster was weak enough that Diana could probably beat it to death with a gentle pat.
Sure enough, as I got closer, the seaweed things started to move, but a single light punch was enough to make them vanish, leaving behind only a magic stone and a few stalks of seaweed.
Anyway, as I was searching the bottom, someone suddenly tapped me on the shoulder from behind.
I turned around to see my angel doggy-paddling toward me, her hand on my shoulder.
She had a joyful expression on her face and was moving her mouth, saying something.
She’s so lovely. The doggy-paddle pose emphasized her chest, and her tail was wagging back and forth behind her. More than anything, her very existence is just lovely. She’s truly an angel.
No. This isn’t the time to get lost in her angelic nature.
I summoned a wind spirit to allow Leia and me to talk, and my angel’s delightful voice reached my ears.
“Guwon! I found it!”
“What? Really?!”
“Hehe. Yes! This way.”
My angel held my hand with one of hers and swam with a determined doggy paddle.
I want to marry her.
“Here. Right here. What do you think?”
“Whoa. You’re right.”
“Hehe. It’s just as you predicted, Guwon.”
As she spoke, her eyes sparkling, I instinctively stroked her tail.
No, I wasn’t trying to touch her butt. Her head is covered by the mask, you see.
Besides, the way she’s wagging it like that means she likes it, right?
Anyway, I took an Orc’s penis out of my inventory and stuck it in the hole.
With a familiar rumble, the hole gradually widened, transforming into a passage.
Yes! It was here! Could this really be a direct route to the 4th Floor?
As everyone gathered, drawn by the tremor, we shared joyous looks and entered the passage one by one.
But that joy was short-lived.
After passing through the not-so-long tunnel, we exited the water and found ourselves outside again.
I guess a direct route to the 4th Floor was just a dream.
At this rate, Silvia and Matilda won’t even get to practice swimming.
“This place… are we still on the 1st Floor?” Sara muttered as she looked around after everyone had exited the passage.
She was right. Since we’d gone through a downward passage from the final level of the 1st Floor, we should have arrived on the 2nd Floor, but the walls of this cave-like place were still a deep, moisture-rich earthen color.
“Looks like it. There’s a chance it’s a 1.5th Floor with a similar difficulty to the ant nest. Anyway, how are you doing, Matilda? Are you holding up?”
“Wh-? Yes, yes. For you to be so concerned about me…”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m just that nice.”
While dealing with Matilda, who was once again blushing at my casual words, I continued to think.
Swimming practice might be off the table, but Matilda’s training to get used to the dungeon’s magic could still continue.
“But to think the secret passage being underwater was just a simple feint.”
“Well, don’t be too discouraged. Even if it doesn’t connect to the 4th Floor, discovering a new passage is a significant achievement in itself.”
“I suppose you’re right, but…”
Well, the ant nest had a difficulty of around the 2.5th Floor, and it seems to be helping adventurers who find the 2nd Floor easy but the 3rd Floor overwhelming.
This place could become a similarly helpful spot for adventurers.
An achievement is an achievement. It’s just a completely different kind of achievement than what I was hoping for.
“Since we’re here, why don’t we look around a bit?”
“Right. Let’s do that for now.”
The result wasn’t what I expected, but as the party leader, I couldn’t afford to look overly dejected.
I forced my spirits up and started walking deeper into the cave.
Guided by the light of Diana’s magic, we advanced through the cave, and before long, a small monster appeared, making a cry that sounded like laughter. “Kigik. Kik.”
Of course. Kobolds in a cave. How cliché.
I raised a hand to stop Sara, who was about to attack with her bow, and strode toward the creatures. I slammed a fist wreathed in the Saint’s Touch into each of them.
It was the first time I’d seen this monster, after all.
It would be best to secure at least one penis.
I’d used my Saint skill and dealt with them myself with that simple thought in mind, but my actions produced an unexpected result.
No, it’s not that I failed to defeat them.
I properly took them down, one by one, making them cum their brains out with a single punch.
The problem was, the feeling of them cumming was somehow…
“No… it can’t be. Someone please tell me it’s not true.”
“They didn’t drop a penis,” Sara stated flatly.
“Aaaaargh! My eeeeyyyeees! My haaaand! They’ve been defiled!”
“Why is your reaction more extreme than when you fight a male?” Diana quipped.
…Come to think of it, she had a point.
No. Sorry. It’s just… with that appearance, I couldn’t believe they were all female.
“Guwon, don’t tell me…!”
“N-No! What’s with that look?! Sara, what kind of ridiculous suspicion are you harboring about your own man?!”
“The way he’s denying it so vehemently makes him even more suspicious,” Diana chimed in.
“Diana, you too?!”
“N-No, I…! I wasn’t…!”
“I-I know, so you don’t have to rush at me so desperately. I was just teasing a little.”
“There are jokes you can make and jokes you can’t…!”
“…Are you really saying that to me right now?”
…Sorry. I guess I went a little too far last night.
Even though she couldn’t remember encountering Vanessa, Diana was still mad at me just for taking her outside.
Asking Vanessa to keep it a secret was definitely the right call.