Chapter 142

Luemei Ruins Dungeon (1)
"Packed lunches every day this week would've been fine, right?"

"Nah. We'll check through the fifth floor today and tomorrow, take the third day as a rest day, then from the Holy Day onward we'll bunk down in the dungeon while makin' our way to the boss room."

During dinner on the day we'd finished looking over the reference materials, the innkeeper asked about our lunch plans.

"Ohh, I see. Since it turns into a forest from the sixth floor onward, that probably is more efficient. But Vio, aren't you scared of spending the night in a dungeon?"

After talking it over with Dad, we'd decided to take our time exploring the forest, and considering monster respawns, we'd aim for the boss room without needlessly leaving the dungeon, camping in the forest's safe zones instead.
The innkeeper was worried about us, but since we'd been traveling on foot between villages, we were used to camping out, and it wouldn't even be our first time camping inside a dungeon.

"Thank you for worrying about me, ma'am.

But I've stayed overnight in dungeons a few times already, and Dad's with me, so I'm not scared. I'll be fine."

"Well now, that's true enough. Long as your dad's with you, there's nothing to be scared of.

Then on Holy Day morning, I'll make you a proper packed lunch. I'll make some preserved food too, so take that with you."

When I proudly declared there was nothing to worry about, she vigorously ruffled my hair.
We already had plenty of ingredients in the magic bag, but if she was willing to make preserved food for us, I'd happily accept it too.
The next morning after that conversation, she sent us off with today's lunch, and we headed for the Luemei Ruins Dungeon for the very first time.

"Whoa! The entrance is completely different, Dad!"

"Haha, glad to see you're havin' fun. Ruins-type dungeons are places where old buildings got turned into dungeons, so every entrance looks different.

This place used to have somethin' like a temple, they say, so it's got lots of pillars and statues. The first floor still has plenty of remnants of the ruins."

The exterior looked so completely different from every cave dungeon I'd seen before that I got so excited I couldn't help jumping up and down, expressing my delight with my whole body.
I dunno. Moments like this really make me feel like a kid again.

The weathered stone wasn't pure white anymore, but it still looked like it must once have been.
There were countless pillars, each decorated at both the top and bottom, making the place seem worthy of being a tourist attraction just from its appearance alone.
Well, it was a bit too small to really wander around sightseeing.
The temple-like entrance itself had become the usual dungeon entrance, pitch black with no way to see inside, and Dad and I stepped through it.

"Wow, it still looks like a temple inside too. But it's way bigger than it looked from outside. Oh, and it's Slimes here too."

Every cave dungeon I'd visited before had been about the same brightness, but this one was brighter than those.
It wasn't direct sunlight, but it was bright enough to feel as though pleasant daylight was streaming into the building from outside.

And just as you'd expect, the inside completely betrayed the outside with how spacious it was.
Well, it had become a dungeon, it had ten floors, and the second half was a forest.
The first floor being bigger was hardly surprising.

Still, since every dungeon I'd been in until now had just been featureless caves, seeing stone statues of people I couldn't tell were gods or historical figures, along with murals, was incredibly fun.
If monsters were swarming everywhere, I wouldn't be able to enjoy it, but only Slimes lived on the first floor, and they didn't actively attack people, so I was free to take my time looking around.

"Dad, is this statue of an important person? Or is it a god?"

I'd been careless because I had no intention of getting involved with temples, but maybe I really should learn about this world's religions and history.
I could probably get by without knowing, but it'd be better to understand them in case something ever happened, so I'd know how to handle myself.

"Dunno, I don't go to temples all that often myself. The Guild... no, the Vice-Guildmaster or Professor Doua might know."

I see.
Yeah, that makes sense.

"Maybe when I go see Professor Doua next year, I can study history and learn about the gods too."

"Hm? Didn't know you were interested in the Church, Vio. I figured you'd been avoidin' it."

"If people found out my attribute, it'd probably be a hassle, so I'm not interested in the Church itself.

But I am interested in what the gods of this world are like. Whether I worship them's a different matter, but knowing about them seems like it'd be useful when traveling as an adventurer, don't you think?"

I'd told Dad I had no intention of going to the Church because I wanted to avoid the whole glowing crystal ball event, but if not for that, I actually would've liked to visit one.
Still, I didn't think I could protect myself yet, so I figured it could wait until I was older.

"Well, you've got a point. There ain't all that many adventurers who're devout enough to visit the Church all the time, but plenty of 'em carry charms of whatever god they hold dear.

This line of work puts your life on the line, after all, so relying on the gods ain't somethin' to scoff at. Well, Mimi oughta know the basics about the Church, so you can have her teach ya during the Guild study sessions."

Hm? Does that mean there were other gods people worshipped besides the one in the Church?
Was it a polytheistic religion? Were there lots of gods like the Olympians? Or countless ones like Japan's eight million gods...? Well, that was something I could study after we got back.

Today's exploration would only go as far as the second and third floors.
I'd thought the murals and such would continue beyond the first floor, but the second and third floors felt just like ordinary cave dungeons. The only real difference was that they had stone-paved paths instead of dirt.
The second floor only had Small Rats, and the third floor only had Goblins.
Since it was still a beginner dungeon, the monsters were the same as the ones I'd fought before, so I simply defeated them one after another without needing any help from Dad.
I didn't need loincloths or rat tails, so I really was just defeating them.

"We spent more time lookin' around the first floor than clearin' the rest."

Dad said that when we'd finished for the day and came back outside, but I thought it couldn't be helped.