The capsule’s lid closed and then shot upwards, as if something was sucking it out through the tube.
「Futuristic technology everywhere…」
A new capsule quickly settled in the tube. Mira climbed onto it, still commenting to herself about the appearance of things there.
The lid closed and the capsule began to move. The way it moved up looked really sudden from outside, but inside the capsule it was rather quiet.
One would expect inertia to have a strong effect, but it could not be felt at all within. Mira also felt like that seemed like sci-fi technology, and relaxed there knowing she would be out in around five minutes.
Once the time was over, the capsule stopped moving and opened. Inertia once again did not seem to have an effect when stopping. Mira walked out of it as she once again muttered, 「That has to be futuristic technology…」
「I really wonder why this is the only one that works like that.」
Soul Howl had already arrived there, and he said while looking at the area next to the capsule. He almost seemed to be complaining about it.
「I can only think it was to annoy us.」
Mira also shared Soul Howl’s sentiment.
The capsules came out at the far end of a large stone room. When looking to the center of the room, six small altar-like protrusions were visible from the other end up to their location.
Each of those altars were surrounded by four stone pillars, and stone tablets with magic circles engraved on them were placed on top.
Mira and Soul Howl looked at that with a bit of a scoff. Then the magic circle of the second furthest altar began to glow, and then five adventurers appeared there. They headed out of the stone room while they discussed how they would split their gains, when they spotted Mira and Soul Howl standing in front of the tube.
「Hey you two, that’s just an exit, it won’t open no matter how long you wait.」
A man with rowdy hair told them that before leaving the room. He seemed to be in a good mood, likely having obtained a big haul in the dungeon. Meanwhile the other 4 just bowed slightly apologizing for their companion’s unwarranted comment.
「I’m fully aware of that, kiddo.」
Mira grumbled in a low voice when the group left. The adventurer with rowdy hair was right, the tube could only be used to get out, and the stone room was the place where all the exits from the Ancient Underground City were gathered. But for some reason the exits on all the floors would teleport the user out instantly, except for the seventh floor where they had to wait five minutes. That was the reason why Mira and Soul Howl looked so bothered.
「I guess people nowadays don’t expect people to actually reach the seventh floor and come out here. That means the prices must’ve increased a lot more then.」
The conditions to use the tube were to reach the seventh floor, and to obtain the necessary access card for the exit room. Judging the reaction of the group of five, that was something very few people did in the current times.
But that likely also meant that the materials unique to the seventh floor had gone up in price. Hearing Soul Howl mention that made Mira grin smugly.
The stone room with those exits was located underneath the oldest temple of the Tricyclic City of Gran Rings.
Mira and Soul Howl went out of the stone room, walked up a long set of stairs, and came out at a chapel.
While it was an old building, it had been carefully maintained and renovated over the years, so it still had a strong sense of majesty. On top of that there were plenty of engravings and murals from times immemorial, illuminated by the light of candles, giving it a more mystical appearance. Even those without that certain faith could feel the divinity of the place.
The chapel was filled with many pilgrims, and in the far end atop a podium stood a priest wearing important-looking clothes, talking about something.
There was a heavy atmosphere to it all, making Mira and Soul Howl feel like they had stepped into the wrong place, but no one paid them any attention.
Turning around a little, Mira noticed a large poster on the nearest column, which had a large title that said 『To all the adventurers returning from the Ancient Underground City』, and the rest written in smaller letters.
『If you’re hurt, sick, or need any form of treatment, the first door to the left is the infirmary so please feel free to visit. A very skilled monk is always ready to help you in this temple.
We have service on weekdays from 2pm to 4pm, so please try to be quiet if you pass by at those times.
During holidays we have lectures about the stories related to the Three Gods from 6pm to 7pm. Feel free to join us if you’re curious. And if you’re in a hurry please try to be quiet when leaving.
Sometimes there’s service or lectures conducted at other times as well. If you happen to return amidst such one, we’re deeply sorry but please follow the arrows on the right side and silently leave through the side entrance.』
The poster detailed many things for adventurers, which Mira read through.
「I… see…」
After reading through the poster, Mira muttered slowly while looking around.
That poster was not there in the past. Though that also made sense. Back then there were no 『adventurers』, and the poster was simply the temple trying to keep up with the times.
Now there was the United Adventurers’ Guild, which made the number of adventurers skyrocket, increasing the number of people who visited the Ancient Underground City. And as more people visited it, more people also came back.
It took a long time to get through the Ancient Underground City, but there were many teleporting magic circles to leave instantly, and obviously everyone used those. The poster was the result of that. Loud adventurers had come out from the stone room so many times that the people of the temple could no longer ignore them.
「This reeks of passive-aggressive politeness…I guess they were really fed up.」
Soul Howl chuckled in a repressed voice seeing how many times the poster mentioned the word 「silently」, then looked around the chapel again.
Then another group of adventurers came out from the stone room. The moment they set foot in the chapel they began whispering to each other, saying things like 「Ah, they’re in the middle of service,」 「Geh, it’s the Iron Fist Priest,」 「Shh, don’t make a single sound,」 and 「I really don’t want to get scolded by him again.」 Then they rushed alongside the arrows, trying to get away as fast as they could.
「What’s up with them? They looked rather spooked…」
Mira had overheard their whispers, then turned to look at the podium and the priest talking passionately there again, wondering what about him made them tremble so much. He looked like he was in the middle of his fifties and had a gentle countenance, not the type of appearance that would warrant a description like Iron Fist.
「I have no clue how this came to be, but you’ll notice something funny if you Examine him.」
For some reason Soul Howl grinned entertained while looking at the priest. That made Mira curious too, so she also Examined him.
「I see, that’s quite the amusing development.」
The priest’s abilities, at least when it came to physical power, were even higher than those of the best adventurers. But that was not what caught the eye of the two, it was his name.
「I guess that’s expected of the country with the most adventurers in the continent. It’s still a bit shocking to know even the priests are people like that though.」
While they were all called adventurers, their personalities and traits were all over the place. Some were really kind, and others not exactly the most honest of people. There were issues with them nearly daily here in Gran Rings where so many adventurers gathered, so sometimes the force needed to deal with them was needed.
The temple housing the exits of the Ancient Underground City was likely the facility with the most traffic of adventurers after the Adventurers’ Union.
That increased the chances of issues with adventurers happening there dramatically, and the priest in charge of keeping things orderly was called Thatsbard Bloodycrimson Kingsblade. He had once cemented his name in the history of Ozstein’s underground fighting arena as the undefeated champion with a thousand wins.
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