231 - - a challenger to the dark

The space that stretched out at the bottom of the earth was covered all over with squared stones.

The passageways are straight as a ruler, and the walls on either side are lined with rooms at equal intervals.

The ceiling is so high that Thor could barely reach it with his sword extended.

Although man-made, there are no decorations or ornaments to be seen in any direction, and one cannot sense the warmth of people's lives.

The place, with its musty and muddy air, was a prison without a doubt.

However, there are no living guards or prisoners left.

Hundreds of years have passed since it was built.

This place has become a prison for the souls of the dead.

"...... What a grim place."

Remembering the kobolds' cave and the dog demon tunnels, Thor let out a slightly longer breath.

Unlike the irregularly curving earthen walls, the stone walls were inorganic, cold, and refused life.

"But, Thor, this is interesting!　

Sola was peering into one of the prisons lining the side of the passageway.

The front of the room was partitioned off by iron bars, allowing one to see inside at a glance.

The most interesting part for the girl was not the interior of the room, but the latticework in front of it.　

Even the sturdy stone and iron cannot resist the passage of time.

Most of the bars are already rusted and decayed, and the cobblestones are worn and chipped in many places.

However, it is unlikely that a labyrinth shaped by miasma will fall down due to the deterioration caused by the passage of time.

What made up for the missing parts were white bones.

Sola poked at them with the tip of her cane, admiring the way the bones had been dexterously joined together to form a lattice of bones, not a lattice of iron.

"You made good use of the joints, didn't you? The joints here are very well done.

Yuril is standing next to him, intently observing the joints of the bones.

Behind them, Moe had Straccia and others bend down to kiss him on the cheek.

Perhaps as a thank-you for their help earlier.

Thor scratches the bottom of his chin with a light smile at the sight of his friends, who seem to be in the same state of mind as usual, even in the gloomy dungeon.

He thinks back to how the six of them came to challenge this dungeon.

It was a few days ago.

Thor and his friends had received an unanimous welcome after defeating the Witch of the Swamp, a monster of folklore that had long resided in the miasmic swamp of miasma.

Flowers are strewn in the streets and feasts and drinks are served in the town square.

The musicians sang heroic tales, and throngs of people paraded through the streets throughout the night, making more noise than at the time of the recapture of Bossaria.

"The feast was delicious, Moo-chan!"

"Festival, every day would be nice."

A sumptuous meal tastes better when you eat it once in a while.

Apparently, the witch was a major concern when they recaptured the maze.

Once the great maelstrom is sealed, the source of the miasma is lost and the miasma disappears.

However, the monsters that have emerged do not disappear as well.

Especially in the case of individuals who have lived for hundreds of years, a considerable amount of the miasma has accumulated in their bodies, and its effect on the surrounding environment can be significant.

Eventually, however, they run out of the miasma and weaken, but it is said that there are rare monsters that reach such a level of power that they can attract the miasma by themselves.

It was not clear whether the witches would become so, but in any case, they were sure to pose a serious threat to the construction of the new border town.

Now that this obstacle had been removed, it was only natural that the whole city would celebrate.

"Still, I was surprised at how spectacular it was."

"It's important to make a name for yourself."

Yuril said that the city's intention in making the festivities so large was partly to gain more publicity.

Border towns with adventurers who have made a name for themselves by killing vicious monsters or conquering difficult dungeons are more likely to attract people.

The safety of living there and the reduction of dangers in the adventurer's business are the main attractions of such a town.

It is no wonder that the Adventurers' Bureau has led the adventurers to a great success in defeating the lake dragon in Bossalia.

And with heroes, more and more people think that the conquest of fixed dungeons is near at hand.

This is the mechanism by which the city becomes more prosperous as more and more people gather in search of new places to settle down.

In particular, it seems that this case has greatly inflamed the expectations of various organizations.

The Chamber of Commerce and the Commerce and Industry Association have been receiving expensive dresses, decorations, and rare foodstuffs every day, as well as a large number of applications to become sponsors.

Naturally, Thor and his friends, who had no desire to be burdened with any unnecessary ties, declined all such offers.

"That was a surprise, wasn't it? The dress was a little too close, though."

"In that case, shall we go make it soon, Ms. Sola?"

"Well, I'll have a plain white one, please!"

"Will you ever wear it?"

The girl puffed out her cheeks cutely when Thor made a deliberate attempt to be evasive.

Merchants and craftsmen are manageable from the standpoint of their position, but it is the more influential parties that are more troublesome.

Each of the temples that enshrine the six deities has sent us letters and requests.

The Temple of Healing offered lifelong protection, and the Temple of Liberation extended a perpetual invitation for a special evening's entertainment.

The former offer was unnecessary since the temple had been and was politely declined, while Yuril and Sola silently shook their heads at the latter.

"........................ hmm."

Did you say something?

No, nothing.

The service temple almost offered him a large house with servants in the inner city, but he bowed down and turned it down because he had no complaints about Ulil's lodgings and it would be too much trouble to manage.

And all these gifts from the three temples were accompanied by an offer to join Thor and his party.

"If we didn't have a priest friend, we would have been forced into this.

"I made sure to warn him. I told him that sending in half-baked people would only be a drag.

Thor nodded his head in gratitude to Ninessa for mediating his refusal.

The other three temples were much easier to deal with, since their demands were not accompanied by such a request.

The court temples presented special ritual objects.

It is said to be a sacrificial implement of which the method of manufacture is no longer known, and of which only the original remains.

Although they do not possess the same divine power as relics, they are said to be quite effective.

Mu was presented with a ring that spins around while floating above his head.

It is called the "Thunder Ring of Heavenly Majesty," and it is said to increase the effectiveness of lightning-related magical techniques to an astonishing degree.

Incidentally, the ring can be used in combination with the small crown of thunder, so it looks quite lovely with the ring shining on top of the small crown.

"Tor-chan, is Moo still cute today?"

"Yes, I do. If I hadn't gotten you involved earlier, you would have gotten a perfect score."

"I see....so you're a man... That means he's very cute!"

It seems that the Temple of Inquiry has made some kind of a transfer to Yuril.

He will tell Thor and the others about the details when they are sure it has sprouted.

I am sorry for keeping you waiting.

"No, there are many circumstances that are difficult to reveal."

Finally, the trading temple offered, to our surprise, an indefinite free loan of a flying dragon.

This was indeed a problem for us, but we asked the Adventurers Bureau to make arrangements so that all those who had reached the vajra level in the battle could use the flying dragon.

Thanks to their cooperation in defeating a large number of mud-poisoned giants in the battle against the witches, the number of those qualified for the Kongo-level was quite large.

However, most of them have already declined the promotion. Most of them have already turned down the promotion because they felt that they were not strong enough.

Sorrugum, the leader of the Thunder Rowlers, was one of those who remained at the rank of B.

He said that he and his deputy would focus on training younger members for a while longer.

Although his abilities should have been perfect, he had some reservations about it.

Only one member of the Storm Peak Alliance, Chiru, has made it to the Vajra ranks.

The other shieldmen, seeing the success of Garudo and Godan, have decided to continue their training for a while longer.

From the "Bearers of the Burning Flame," the flame wielder Balconia and the swordsman Rasel are now in the Vajra class.

They will now join the "White Gold Flame.

The party of Stratchia and others has grown to a fairly large size, but some problems are bound to occur.

This is one of the reasons why the two are accompanying Thor and his group this time.