## Chapter 931 – How Long Has It Been?

“UOOOOOOOOOO!!”
“Verde, hurrahhhhh!!”
“KUOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

As soon as the work was done, the paladins threw down their shovels in unison, letting out frenzied shouts.

But these energetic old men didn’t seem happy because the work was over, but because they thought they could enter the dungeon, which might contain something evil, even faster.

They really are paladins.

“To make this much progress in a single day!!!”
“The power of youth, indeed!!”
“Why don’t you just join our Holy Order Exploration Team! With you, we could excavate all the dungeons in the kingdom!!”

They thanked me for doing such a thing.
Their personalities are really great.

“Hehehe! Thank you!”

Of course, I decided to decline the invitation to join the Holy Order Exploration Team. I have other things to do. I can leave this place to these old guys.

“At this rate, we’ll be able to go inside soon! Good work!”
“You worked hard too, Vice Commander!!”

Vice Commander Jeynunt couldn’t hide his happy expression as he patted my shoulder. You really can only get recognition if you do your job well.

With this kind of atmosphere, I should be able to enter the dungeon without any problems.

“Then, I’ll see you tomorrow morning!!”
“Oh!!”
“Understood!!”

After saying goodbye, I headed towards where I had taken off my armor.

“As expected! Saint is really amazing! He had the majesty of a true paladin!!!”

Elise shouted as she followed me. Her eyes were still sparkling, so she must have been quite moved.

“How was it, Elise!!”
“It was wonderful! At the same time, I’m ashamed of myself!”
“Why!!!”
“Well… didn’t something like that happen a long time ago?”

Something like that?

“When I heard that Saint had become a paladin of the Bronze Celestial Order… I was ashamed to admit it, but I resented you. I had those feelings back then.”

If she resents me one more time, I might snap.
I remember Elise with her dead fish eyes.

“But even so, Saint has become such a wonderful person!!! That fact is incredibly moving!!”
“Me too!!! Seeing you grow up, Elise, is incredibly moving!!”
“Someone like me is nothing compared to Saint!!”
“No!!! You’re more wonderful, Elise!!!”

—Grasp!!

I immediately grabbed both of Elise’s wrists and spun her around!

“Saint!!”
“Elise!!! Divine!!!”
“Friend!!!”

—Wahahahahahahaha!!

Anyway, I spun her around while laughing for a while, then let go of Elise. It seemed like she wasn’t too embarrassed because it was just the two of us here.

“Then, I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I’m going down to the city to rest.”
“Ah… are you staying at the inn there?”
“I have to. It’s close, anyway.”
“I see… Then, I’ll see you tomorrow. I hope you have a good rest.”
“Okay! Good night, Elise!”

After parting ways with Elise, I put on my equipment and approached the barracks where the nuns were.

“Claudie! Risha!”

It would be a bit strange to go all the way inside, so I called them from nearby. They had both gone over there, so they soon came out, having heard my voice.

“Katt. Is the excavation work all done?”
“You’ve worked hard.”

Claudie, who had approached me, stroked my face with her hand.

“It’s almost done, but not yet. They say it’ll be finished by the day after tomorrow at the earliest?”
“Hoh… I thought it would take longer.”
“But what were you two doing?”

When I asked, Risha replied.

“The nuns here were organizing and researching data about the dungeon, and doing administrative work. So, we ended up asking them about the dungeon, and then…”
“Yeah. I heard about it.”

It seemed like they had both spent their time listening to the nuns talk about the dungeon.

“Is that so? Let’s go down, then.”

I immediately went down to the city with them.

Anyway, I’ve already booked a room. After going down, we had a simple meal, then went to the gender-separated public bathhouse to wash up and went up to our room. Then, I lay down on the bed to rest.

“More than that, Katt. It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve seen that nun.”

Claudie, who was lying next to me, using my arm as a pillow, said.

“You’re right. I didn’t expect to see her here.”
“Were you happy to see your friend?”
“Of course, I was. I was also glad to see her.”

It’s been over a year.

“Hehehe, were you so happy that you screamed and spun around?”

Risha, who was lying on the other side of Claudie, using my arm as a pillow, said that.

“Hehehe, well, pretty much.”

Screaming and spinning are my daily life.

“But… isn’t she a very cute child?”
“She is.”

She has a kind of younger sister-like cuteness.

“Anyway, there weren’t any problems between you two? They were both elves.”
“Hmph… They didn’t seem to care much? Is it because Katt is a paladin?”
“The clerics didn’t seem to care much about their origins.”

That’s a relief, then.

“What about information about the dungeon?”
“There wasn’t any specific information about this dungeon. We just talked a bit and heard stories about the dungeons they’ve excavated so far.”

So, I listened to the stories they had heard from the nuns today. In many ways, the Holy Order Exploration Team seems to be busy. They also find ancient relics and fight monsters.

I also told them about my shoveling today.

“Hehehe, that’s Katt for you. Doing something like that. Should I go see the site from tomorrow?”
“Dirt will splash on you. Just take a quick look and go down with Risha. I’ll let you know when we’re going into the dungeon.”
“I can’t do that… Anyway, Katt.”

As we were talking, Claudie and Risha stroked my lower abdomen and sent me signals. Well… we’re sleeping at an inn, so it should be okay.

I put my arms around their shoulders and gently lowered my hands, naturally touching the two women’s genitals with both hands.

“Ahhn.”
“Hnn…”

Sultry breaths immediately escaped their lips.

“Come on, come on. Hurry. I won’t do it if you don’t kiss me.”
“Really… Katt, you’re something,”
“Then, I’ll have to play along.”

When I asked, they started licking my left and right ears at the same time. I have to shovel tomorrow, so let’s just do a little and go to sleep.

* * *

Since then, I unleashed the overwhelming power of the Heavenly Demon for two days, performing powerful super shoveling, and thus was able to excavate the entire dungeon, including the roof.

The once quiet site was now torn up as if heavy equipment had passed through it. As a result, the buried structures beneath began to be revealed.

“This certainly looks like a buried dungeon…!”

Vice Commander Jeynunt said, touching the floor, that is, the completely exposed massive roof of the dungeon, and applause and cheers erupted.

Immediately, scholars and nuns came down to analyze it. Amid speculation that it was a dungeon, a sanctuary, or a church-like building, I asked Elise.

“Elise. Are all those things dungeons?”
“They probably can be said to be. But there are many types of dungeons.”
“Many types?”

Elise began to explain to my question.

“As far as I know, there are several patterns for this type of dungeon. After sealing away a powerful evil being that cannot be killed, they build a sanctuary of sealing to safely store it and station troops to defend the facility.”

Hmm.

“That’s probably common to all of them.”

In other words, the roof that has now been discovered may be the roof of such a facility.

“During the Idol War era, a kind of monastery or church branch was often made like this. Naturally, military power would gather in such places. More than anything, it’s natural to have to deal with and manage the seal.”
“Oh. Is that so.”

For example, they build a church in a place where a demon king is sealed, then station church members there to manage the seal and defend the facility.

If the seal is well managed, there won’t be any problems, and if paladins, who are professional combatants, are stationed there, defense will also be easy. They store such things underground in a slightly fortress-like manner.

Besides, they can also create research facilities, that is, dungeons. They can also use the power of the sealed demon king to run some kind of facility.

As Elise said, there seem to be many patterns like this.

“But… those sanctuaries and monasteries cannot remain intact in an era of war.”
“Ah.”
“They can be recaptured by evil demons or sunk whole by the magic of wizards who have sold their bodies to heresy.”

Anything could happen in that era.

“There are quite a few churches and monasteries that have been buried and sunk like that. Of course, there are many cases where the church directly buries them to erase their existence.”

They are commonly called dungeons, but in fact, they may be buried church buildings.

“Is something like this that kind of building?”
“I can’t say for sure, but since there are many such cases, you can think of it that way.”

As the informative explanation time ended, the vice commander shouted.

“That young nun knows a lot! That’s exactly it!”
“Thank you. I know this because I was educated by the order.”
“As expected of the Light Holy Cross Society!!!”

Along with that, the commander also came and said a word.

“Anyway, we have to be careful because monsters may appear. The consciousness of the demon king, which has been subtly released over time, may summon or call out monsters.”

The released consciousness of the demon king can summon monsters and dig into people’s hearts to create heretics.

An abandoned seal will eventually cause liberation in some way.

So, when the seal is gradually weakening, the demon king, who has awakened his consciousness with all his might, whispers in the ears of humans. If they release this seal, he will bestow wealth and glory. As they do so, a demon king cult is eventually created, and they act to break the seal.

“You don’t have to worry about that!”
“That’s right! That young paladin’s skills seem to be far superior to us old men!”
“He’ll take care of the monsters like he’s shoveling dirt!”

The paladins patted me on the back and shouted.

“Yes! I’ll be careful! But don’t worry! I’ll show you my skills!”

I declared loudly.

“Wahahaha! You’re full of confidence!”
“Youth is so good!!”
“I was like that when I was young!”

Good!!

“Then, are we going down now?”

Claudie said, grabbing my shoulder.
Now what? We found the roof, so what do we do?

“Ah, just a moment. I’ll ask. Commander, what happens now?”
“We will partially dissect this roof and enter the interior.”
“Ohh!”

Dissecting and going down?
Well, these old guys are experts at this.

Soon, the commander began to give orders, and the paladins began to bring equipment and surveying tools. Then, scholars who had brought chalk, rulers, compasses, and maps began to record something on the roof.

We watched it.

This took some time, but anyway, it seemed like this also required professional skills. They have to be careful because they are only partially dissecting the roof without destroying the ancient building.

Eventually, the paladins brought destructive weapons and began the dissection work.

—Thump, thump!!
—Kwaang!
—Pow!

Before long, a hole was made in the roof. Well, it’s called a roof, but it’s just the floor because we’re standing on it.

“Now it’s time to measure whether there is harmful air.”
“We have to do that too.”

Elise explained, and the paladins who had brought ropes slowly began to work. Well, it was a series of such procedures. Time passed, and after confirming that there were no problems, the paladins sent an OK sign with their hands.

“Good! There’s no point in being lazy! Let’s start exploring right away!”
“Understood!”
“Understood!”
“Ohhhhhhhhh!!”

The paladins threw torches into the hole to check the height and immediately lowered the ropes and began to climb down like commandoes.

We could just jump down, but there might be traps.

By that time, warriors from other orders had all come and began to discuss their positions. We’ll probably be able to go in soon too.

“Saint…! For some reason, my heart is pounding!”
“Mine too…!”