Chapter 14
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
I registered at the Dungeon City’s Adventurer Guild and headed straight to the dungeon from the guild.
In the circular plaza, there were stalls lined up along the outer edge, where customers were browsing goods and negotiating with the vendors.
Among them, one tent caught my attention.
It wasn’t a tent for camping, but rather a canopy with pillars, often used for events in my past life… and beneath it was a group of people dressed similarly.
There were about 10 of them, wearing robes with leather boots and bags, sitting at a table and chairs they had brought in. They were reading books and didn’t seem to be selling anything.
What’s going on? I thought, looking at them as I headed towards the dungeon. Then, a girl around my age from the group stood up and approached me.
She was a beautiful girl with long golden hair, and when she stood up and walked towards me, her prominent chest caught my attention, making me stop in my tracks.
The robe alone made it hard to tell her figure, but with a small bag attached to her belt around her waist, her waist was accentuated, making her chest stand out even more.
I turned around, wondering if she was talking to someone else, but there was no one around except for people walking by and vendors at their stalls.
Is she talking to me? I thought, and as expected, she stopped in front of me and spoke up.
”Are you alone?”
I thought for a moment if she was hitting on me, but since I was equipped and heading to the dungeon, she must be trying to sell me something…
I replied, still cautious of her intentions.
”Yeah, that’s right… what is it?”
I tried to make a slightly suspicious face, but she smiled brightly and told me her business.
”Ah, I’m a cleric from the Church, and my name is Seria. It seems you’ll be heading to the Dungeon, but…it’s dangerous to go alone, and I can heal wounds. Are there any clerics available?”
She pointed to herself as she spoke.
I had expected her to make a sales pitch, but not about herself.
However, the fact that she’s going out of her way to sell herself…does that mean there isn’t much demand?
”Is it normal for clerics to sell themselves like this?”
”Uh, no…not many do. I mean, the amount of holy water people use is proportional to the effect of my healing magic, so…”
I asked her, looking at the tent, while she seemed uncomfortable.
”Are those people over there doing the same thing?”
”Eh? No, they’re for emergency treatment of adventurers injured in the Dungeon. When adventurers borrow clerics, they usually make a reservation at the Church beforehand.”
”Ah, I see. So, why me?”
I couldn’t understand why she was telling me all this unfavorable information.
”I thought you wouldn’t be able to go far in alone, and you’ll be back by today, so the dispatch fee will only be for one day. You’ll also have fewer opportunities to use healing magic…it’s just the right preparation.”
”In other words, you’re saying you’re looking for a partner who can make the most of your healing magic. But do you really need to go this far to find a customer?”
”Half of the dispatch fee goes to the cleric’s personal income, and the longer we stay in the Dungeon, the higher our abilities as clerics. The effect of healing magic increases, and we can use it more often.”
”I see, so that’s the reason.”
”Yes, well…”
It seems she doesn’t want to talk about the detailed reasons, but she does want to help someone…for some purpose.
But why does she has to do it herself?
”Can’t people just ask someone else for help? I’ve heard that there are people with strong healing magic.”
”It’s not that simple. Those people are high-ranking officials or adventurers who have reached the inner depths of the Church, and their fees are extremely high. Plus, reservations are hard to come by…”
”Can’t they just get one?”
”No, it’s not possible.”
It seems that the dispatch fees vary, and even within the Church, there’s a ranking system for adventurers.
I realized that it’s not just a matter of having money…
”If they’re going to be in the dungeon anyway, wouldn’t it be better to just go in and look for them?”
”It’s not that easy…it seems you need to encounter monsters too. There was someone in the past who had a skill to measure people’s magical powers numerically, and thanks to their cooperation, we know that it’s not just a matter of being anywhere in the dungeon.”
Maybe it’s like a game, with levels and experience points?
No, that’s not it… if they can investigate that, it means there’s a skill to gather information about others for sure.
So, it’s likely there’s a skill to investigate objects too… and it’s better not to stand out too much.
For now, let’s ask if there’s someone with that skill.
”Was it in the past?”
”No, the skill was confirmed over 300 years ago.”
It seems there’s no one with that skill currently… but it’s better to be cautious.
”Ah, I see. But it doesn’t have to be me who goes with you, right?”
Apart from me, there must be others who dare to venture into the dungeon alone.
Her expression turned slightly awkward as she explained the situation.
”Hmm, how can I put this… Adventurers are mostly men, and because of the church’s influence, they usually don’t get to do the ‘final’ stuff… But there are ‘various’ things that happen, so…”
It seems that the dungeon has a mechanism where certain areas are safe due to the presence of monsters.
This, combined with the minimal effect of healing magic, can be a drawback. Of course, if you have the money, you can just hire a cleric for another ‘purpose’…
But…
”I’m a guy, too.”
”Ah, well… based on our conversation so far, I can tell you’re not the rough type, and you seem to be from a ‘good family’. So, I thought it wouldn’t be a problem for me, a woman, and I figured you wouldn’t have to bother helping me, and that would be okay.”
That’s why she was hesitant to reach out to me, I think.
But, I wonder if she thinks I’m from a noble family or something…
I do take care of myself, but it’s not like it’s immediately obvious or anything…
Hmm? Maybe the guild receptionist also thought so, and that’s why she was worried about something going wrong.
But, it’s unlikely that a noble would be wandering around alone, disconnected from their family… unless something happened, that is.
Anyway, I’ll deny being from a noble family for now.
”No, I’m not from that kind of background. And if you’re worried about that aspect, wouldn’t it be better to appeal to female adventurers instead?”
”The number of women is overwhelmingly small, and even if they’re present, they’re often with men. If the number of men and women were equal, that’d be great, but since men are the majority…if a woman becomes close to someone, other men will start paying attention to me too.”
As I heard before, the Church sends out clergy with reservations, but if they make a mistake, they’ll get reported and the Church will cancel the dispatch.
But…unless there’s decisive evidence, they’ll only restrict the dispatched priest to the same gender, it seems.
Well, it’s recorded who hired which clercs, so if someone gets reported a lot, the Church will call them in and verify the facts using a special method.
”Can’t you guys use that method every time?”
”It seems difficult. The details are only told to the person in charge, so I don’t know.”
”I see. So, there’s no team with only women, huh?”
”There isn’t none…”
Because of the small number of women, the possibility of me, who’s not good at healing and lone, getting chosen is high, it seems.
”Um, how about this? 5000 Oar per day?”
The cleric comes at me again, her hands clasped together in front of her chest.
Although it’s not intentional, her emphasized chest is captivating…
”No, I simply don’t have the money.”
That’s right, I didn’t have much money in reality.
In the first place, 5000 is the daily earnings of one person in a team.
I don’t have that kind of money.
”Uh, are you leaving it to the Guild or something?”
”No, I’m not, and I only have enough for inn fees and food.”
”Ahh…so, that’s how it is…then, there’s no choice.”
Saying that, she casually returns to her tent and resumes searching for customers while pretending to read a book.
Growing opportunities are important, but so is money.
I don’t know what kind of system the church has, but I’m sure they have their own way of living over there, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
It’s a shame, but… I plan to live a low-key life, so being alone is probably better for me, anyway.
Well, once I’ve earned enough and have some ‘extra’, that’s when…
The problem is, I need to keep my income low-key, too.
Well, I’ll just make my own food and pay for it with the magic stones I get from my battle spoils, so I won’t have to sell many magic stones to the Guild, and that way, I won’t stand out.
Anyway, I heard some useful information, but I spent a lot of time on it, so I’ll just hurry up and enter the dungeon already.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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