## Chapter 743 – Paladin Kim Kat

Since there was nothing to be gained from the current situation, I randomly chose a passage and entered.

There were a ton of passages, but who knew what was what?

And the entrance of each one had probably already been explored.

It was only natural, considering hundreds of people must have passed through since its discovery. But the fact that the exploration was so slow meant there were more obstacles the deeper you went.

Since the golems were a hot topic, they were probably the ones blocking the way.

So, for now, it didn’t matter where we went.
Whatever it was, something would only come out if we went deep enough.

“Hilde, tell me right away if you sense anything.”
“Yes, I will. But right now, it’s just like before. I think… from my feeling, we need to go further down to know more clearly.”
“Good, very good. Let’s keep going down.”

After walking through the passage for a short while, stairs leading underground appeared. Dungeons all felt pretty similar. No matter how far down you went, there was always a never-ending passage.

The heretics’ research facility I found in the Misty Plains felt similar.

Anyway, how should I put it, this dungeon had everything big, whether it was the entrance or the stairs.

The width was wide, and the ceiling was high, so it felt more refreshing than stuffy.

Wind kept blowing from the inside, too.

It was so wide that it didn’t feel like a typical narrow and closed-off dungeon.

Come to think of it, a dungeon this big would definitely need a lot of facilities and cargo. To move that, the entrance would naturally have to be huge.

But are stairs enough?

In my opinion, for such a massive structure to exist, there had to be an elevator… I had a feeling there might be a hidden lift somewhere.

“It’s certainly a unique dungeon. I don’t know when it was built… but more than anything, the width and height of the entrance and passages are very large, aren’t they?”

Risha said with an interested tone.

“Hmm… that’s true. It’s definitely big. Is that something strange?”

Cloudy asked, touching her lips.

“Building something this big is very difficult and challenging. It would be even harder underground than above ground. And didn’t you say it was a dungeon that was at least hundreds of years old? No matter how I think about it, I can’t help but think it’s unusual.”

I thought so too.

Could it have been built by the ancients?

They say they enjoyed a fairly brilliant civilization before the Idol War, so it might have been built by humans of that earlier generation. I don’t know the history of this world very well, so I don’t know the details.

“Does that mean it’s impossible with the current technology?”

Liz asked, running her hand along the wall.

“I’m not well-versed in architecture, so I don’t know for sure.”
“Is that so? Still… it’s definitely amazing.”

Even though there were superhumans and magic in this world, building such a huge underground facility would be difficult. It would probably cost a lot even with modern Earth’s heavy equipment and latest technology.

“That’s how ruins are. Among wizards, there’s talk that the technology and magic of the pre-Idol War era were far superior to what we have now.”
“Oh, really?”

Winia explained as if it were nothing.

“Then were humans stronger back then?”
“Well… maybe they were? They must have been strong, since they regressed so much after just one war.”

It was said to have been a tremendous war. But I don’t know the duration of the war, and I don’t know what the world was like before that.

Should I ask Risha?

“Risha, is that true?”
“Really, why are you asking me such a thing?”

Risha replied with a gentle smile.

“There isn’t much age difference between you and me. So don’t ask as if I directly experienced things from a long time ago.”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”

It seemed that Risha and I had a very different sense of time. In my eyes, Risha looked at least 100 years old… Let’s stop thinking about this.

“Our witch’s lies have really improved, huh?”

Karin said with a smirk.

“Hehehe, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Anyway. This is a story I heard while doing various things, but when you look at ruins and dungeons found all over the world, there are definitely many that are hard to replicate with current technology. I heard it from scholars and wizards on missions, so it’s pretty reliable.”
“During your time in the Knights?”
“Yeah.”

I heard that the Royal Knights were also deployed for these dungeon exploration tasks. They would definitely know the most accurate information.

But are there any Royal Knights in this dungeon too?

“Karin? You know more than I thought?”
“Did you think just anyone could join the Royal Knights?”
“Ugh… I guess that’s true. I admit it.”
“Sunken tits.”
“Why, why are you bringing that up! You big nipples!”
“Ah, damn it.”

I don’t know why they were fighting with each other’s nipples. It’s the same for both of them that it feels good to touch or suck them.

I suddenly thought of something and asked Hilde.

“Hilde, ancient demon, do you know anything about human history?”
“Why do you think of me as some kind of long-lived sage! I’m younger than you, Kat! I don’t know anything about human history!”
“Oh, Hilde. I’m just kidding, just kidding. Sorry.”
“If you’re sorry, you know what to do, right?”
“Want me to touch your pussy?”
“Rub the inside with your finger.”
“Please, hold on for now.”

We went down the stairs while talking about the dungeon. I saw some people sitting on the stairs resting, but they were decent enough that there weren’t any disputes or fights.

Nothing special happened until we reached the second basement floor.

“Ari, are you feeling okay? Is anything difficult?”

After coming down, Winia asked Ari.

“Yes. I’m fine.”
“Do you feel any natural energy or anything?”
“Well… I don’t really know. I sometimes feel like my senses are tickling…”
“Yeah… really? Risha, can you tell what condition Ari is in?”
“Even though I made Ari my familiar, I don’t know everything about her condition. Ari, can you explain more clearly what that tickling feeling is?”

It seemed that Ari felt something.

“Well… I don’t really know. I just feel like it’s not ordinary…”
“Hmm… I understand. Let me know if you feel anything else.”
“Yes, Risha.”

Anyway, we moved again.

The second basement floor was also wide.

It was wide, but instead of feeling like a huge hall, it felt like a maze with passages and rooms leading in all directions.

As expected, the cold stone floors, walls, and ceilings were high and massive.

“There are a lot of people? Are they resting here?”

As Cloudy said, there were wizards using light magic and warriors with lamps set up, sitting and resting everywhere. There were also many who were simply eating or sleeping next to their comrades with cloaks over them.

“I guess so. Isn’t this floor a bit safe? There are quite a few sleeping, even if they’re taking turns.”
“Looking at the situation, it seems like this floor has been explored. We need to find the way down first.”

Karin took my words.

“If the exploration is over, there’s nothing to see on this floor.”

Then we should find the way first… Instead of just blindly running into things, it would be better to ask someone who knows.

ㅡSwish.

I immediately took off the cloak covering my torso and handed it to Hilde.

“Hilde, hold this.”
“Yes, yes. You’re revealing your armor, so it feels like a paladin is appearing!”
“Hehehe, that’s right. I’ll go ask first. Wait here for a moment.”

What was revealed when I took off the cloak was the Brass Holy Church combat priest equipment set. No one could help but be humble in front of this luxurious armor with the church’s emblem engraved on it.

“…”

I approached the group of warriors who were eating with a lamp set up and greeted them abruptly.

“Hehehe, hello. Wonderful warriors. Are you having a meal?”
“Huh? Who are you… Chu, Church? Are you a Church person?”

The warrior, surprised by the sudden greeting, turned to me and answered.

“Isn’t he a paladin?”
“What, who? Do you know him?”
“No, nothing like that. I don’t know who he is either.”

The other comrades got up from their seats and put their hands on their weapons. Even though I was wearing Church armor, they couldn’t help but be wary of someone who suddenly approached.

“Ah, I startled you. I’m sorry. I’m Kim Kat, a paladin from the Brass Holy Church. You don’t need to be wary.”
“Pa, paladin?”
“Why a paladin?”
“Did we do something wrong?”

The warriors, visibly flustered by the revelation that I was a paladin, gave me wary glances. Well, people tend to react like this when the police or detectives suddenly show up.

“Hehehe, wrong? It’s nothing like that. I just wanted to ask you for directions. Do you happen to know where the passage to the third basement floor is?”

I asked them with a grin.

“Ah, directions. You were asking for directions.”
“It’s a bit complicated, so it’s hard to explain accurately with words… If you keep going in that direction, you should find it. If you go that way, you’ll find stairs leading underground.”
“Oh, thank you for the information. You’re saying it’s in that direction. Thank you so much for cooperating with the Church.”

They were kind enough to give me a proper answer.

As expected of a paladin.

“Do you happen to know what’s on the third floor?”
“Ah, monsters are occasionally appearing from there. I heard that golems appear from the fourth floor. There used to be some on the third floor, but it seems they’ve been cleared out. It’s good news for us.”

Monsters on the third floor.
Golems from the fourth floor.

That meant there was a path up to the fourth floor.
The exploration was blocked by the golems there.

How strong were the golems?

“The golems are so strong that we can’t touch them… We were killing monsters on the third floor.”
“Monsters? What kind of monsters?”
“Well… you’ll know when you see them. They’re unique.”

Unique?

“Is that so? Thank you for the information. May the blessing of the god Verde be with you.”

I roughly spouted nonsense and made the sign of the cross with my hand. Verde had nothing to do with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but it looked like something.

“Th, thank you, Paladin!”
“Oh!”
“The god Verde!”

The warriors were visibly pleased, as if they had received a real blessing, because the paladin of a large church was giving them a blessing.

It had no effect at all, but…

They wouldn’t know.

They just thought it was really good because the paladin was giving them a blessing.

“Hehehe, the god Verde loves kind and righteous people. He will surely like you too.”
“Oh…!”

So I gave them a few more good words.

They gave me information for free, so I had to make them feel good.

After roughly greeting them, I returned to where my women were.

“Kat. Did you hear everything?”
“Yeah. They said if you keep going that way, you’ll find the path? Let’s go.”

I immediately led them in the direction the guys had told me.

While moving, I told them what I had just heard.

“Golems are guarding the fourth basement floor? Then we should go there first. But how strong are they? It seems like they’re quite strong if they can’t explore beyond that.”

Liz tilted her head.

“Well, I don’t think a combat golem can stop a determined exploration team. Looking at them, the guys who went down there must be pretty skilled.”

Karin mentioned combat golems and clenched and unclenched her fist.

“Sis? Combat golem? Like the ones guarding the capital’s gates?”
“There are a few other types besides that. There are ones for war and ones for guarding. But they’re not used much because of the cost.”

I hadn’t seen many either.

“Even if it’s for combat, it’s not as versatile as a knight.”
“Hmm, combat golem. Karin? Have you ever fought one?”
“Rather than fighting, I’ve seen them a lot. Ah, but ancient golems might be a bit different.”

Karin answered Cloudy’s question.

Anyway, to sum it up, it seemed that they were more advanced than the golems that the kingdom was generally operating now, but whatever. In fact, no matter what came out, it wouldn’t be something that the women here would be afraid of.