Episode 45: That’s way too luxurious!

　After the auction ended, we left the paperwork to Evans-san, and Fiona and I decided to go and check out the competition in Merry Jane's Labyrinth City.

　At first, Ricardo-san, the knight, was supposed to join us, but he declined. It's not very safe because there are a lot of people and some of them seem suspicious, but Fiona is an intermediate explorer, and if anything happens, we can call Seir.

"Wow, it's really crowded. Are there labyrinth cities of this size all over the place? "
"There can't be that many. The only large ones are this one and Mathers. There were probably quite a few labyrinths like ours that weren't very popular and didn't attract many people. I don't really know, though."
"What about other countries? "
"They must exist in other countries too. Apparently, the king collects all the magic stones himself to prevent them from flowing out of the kingdom. I don't know how many labyrinths there are, though."
"I see."

　This country seems to be quite peaceful, and probably has considerable national power compared to its neighbors.
　Perhaps there is a powerful magic spell that can destroy an entire city in one blow using a large amount of magic stones, and that serves as a deterrent to maintain peace. It's a bit illogical for the government to buy up magic stones in unlimited quantities, but that's entirely possible.

　Or perhaps they are using magic stones as raw materials to transmute currency……
　No, this actually seems possible.

"……What's wrong, Maho? You look weird."
"Hmm, I was wondering what the government is using the magic stones they buy up for. Do you know, Fiona? "
"It seems theyare used for various things. I don't know much about it, though."
　I suppose there are all kinds of things. And they gather them constantly, like "you can never have enough", that sort of thing. More like national strategic materials, or perhaps energy itself.
"Well, whatever the case, our place has the same or even greater potential, so that’s encouraging.” The water dragon magic stone sold well, so we have a little financial leeway now."

　I was unable to obtain information about the person who purchased the stone.
　In auctions, the buyer's information is kept confidential, and it seems that most of the people actually present at the venue were proxies (although the actual buyers were certainly present in some cases).

　Well, it doesn't really matter who bought it. The important thing is that we now have a surplus of the equivalent of hundreds of millions of yen. Even if we put 50,000 gol in savings for the next payment, we still have about 30,000 gol left.

　As a very rough estimate, 10,000 gol is equivalent to 100 million yen.
　There is a unit of currency smaller than the gol called zil, which is commonly used by ordinary people.
　In short, they may be similar to gold and silver coins. It seems that a civilization is quite advanced when the value of currency is uniformly standardized rather than based on weight. I guess they're using alchemy to produce money.

"Come to think of it, you've been to this town before, haven't you, Fiona? Have you entered the labyrinth? "
"Mm-hmm. I've done appraisals in this town and even made magical contracts. So, I spent some time training in the labyrinth, learning the basics."
"I see. Is it really beginner-friendly? "
"I don't think it's that friendly. The purchase price of magic stones is not as high as Mathers, but it is reasonable…… If you make it to the middle ranks, you might be able to make some money, but explorers who form parties and work at the upper layers can probably only earn enough to cover their living expenses. "

　I see.
　In other words, even those at the upper layers can earn enough to live day-to-day. This is subtly significant. Even if you leave the countryside, you can still make a living if you work hard, and you can dream of growing and becoming more successful. There are many experienced explorers, and they probably have plenty of practical knowledge.
　In addition, there are many shops and large temples where people can be revived.

"Fuumu. It seems to be fairly satisfying……"
"Eh, why do you think that?　Didn't I tell you that I couldn't earn enough money?"
"No. I think it's more than sufficient to earn enough to live without going into the red at first. Especially the common people, or rather, those who don't have much money."
"I guess so……"

　Even though she's rotten, Fiona is still a noble, so maybe she doesn't have a commoner's sense in that regard.
　Of course, I am completely isolated from the common people of this world, but I do understand to some extent because I have studied history.

"Oh, that's the Luknuwis Temple. This city is really impressive, isn't it?"
"Fweeeeee. Amazing. They sure are getting by fine."

　Temples attached to dungeons must be built by lords.
　Once you build them, high priests of the Luknuwis religion will come and perform resurrection, poison treatment, and curse removal (for a fee). It is a facility that is intrinsically linked to dungeons.

　……That's the case, however…………this one is too impressive.

　First of all, it is tall. Surrounded by stone buildings that are at most two or three stories high, the temple stands alone at around 20 stories tall. It looks like there is a bell on the spire. I think it's called a bell tower.

　It's like a Christian cathedral, but since it's made of stone, it must have cost a fortune.
　In that case, the interior must be impressive too, and the cost must be around 5 or 10 billion yen.……

"So if we want to have a temple for the dungeon, we need something like this……? "
"That's right.　Otherwise, a high priest capable of resurrection won't come, so there's no point."
"Oh my God!　God is dead! "

　The problem here isn't just about the money.
　How many years will it take to build a temple like this? It's impossible to do it in a year or two. Human power…… No, even if humans in this world have magic and superpowers, it would still take at least five years, right?

"This is no good. There is no temple. Maybe we can plan something once the dungeon is up and running?　That's pretty much it."
"It's difficult to do it alone. Merry Jane and Mathers should split it 50-50 because the Labyrinth Administration Bureau is in it."
"Split it?　Aren't we paying for everything ourselves? "
"That's if you include the Labyrinth Administration Bureau. The administration bureau will cover half of the cost."

　I see, the administration bureau is dirty. Whether or not resurrection is possible is, in reality, a rather serious issue.
　Overall, almost all of the profits from the dungeon are sucked up by the Labyrinth Administration Bureau and the Luknuwis Temple. Recouping the losses incurred in the construction of the temple is likely to take quite some time.
　However, on the other hand, population growth can bring about secondary positive effects. Having a large city in one's domain should be a big advantage.
　Papa-san, you were too greedy……!

　◇◆◆◆◇

"Hey, since we're here, should we drop in?　We can check our rank at the temple."
"What is rank again……? "
"Rank is rank. Didn't I explain that the degree of adaptation to the labyrinth is expressed as a number? "
"You mean the level?"
"Yeah, that."

　We've defeated several monsters from the lowest layers.
　I didn't feel it when we defeated the Red Dragon, but I felt like I got a power-up when we defeated the Paralyzing Grass, the Gecko, the Water Dragon, and the Doppler.
　Compared to when I was on Earth, I should be quite a superwoman now.

"Let's measure you too, Maho."
"Nah, I'd rather not."
"Why!? "
"It may not be displayed correctly. I'm from another world, after all. Did you see the display on the transfer monument? "
"Hm, hmmm～. That's true. I agree."

　I bet they'll just say, “Wow! This girl is level zero!”, or something similar.　
　I'm familiar with this setting.

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