Chapter 246

Chapter 246 Strongest Sage, Gets Back to the Surface

"Taking a rest is a part of training . . . I understand! I'll give it my all to take a rest!"

" . . . Uh, you don't really have to . "

While we were talking, the Dungeon Elevator arrived at our floor while letting out creaking sounds .

. . . This thing is looking as worn down as ever .

I'd like to do maintenance on it before it breaks down for good, but we can't exactly tamper with a country-managed Dungeon Elevator without permissions .

I'll fix it if it does break when I'm around .

"Y-you really made it out alive! . . . You've got all four with you, right?"

The operator shouted out as the Dungeon Elevator's door opened .

Looks like she thought we didn't survive .

"Yeah . All four are present . All in good health . "

Then I point at the girls .

Of course all four of us are unscathed .

Rather, we barely engaged in battles to begin with .

"Surviving through floor 27 . . . Did you manage to kill a monster?"

"A few of them yeah . "

I showed her some of the materials from the defeated monsters .

Of course, I'm hiding the Floor Boss's mats . It'd be bothersome if they told us to sell them .

"A-as expected of a Second Academy student party . . . ! I heard rumors about their strength, but I didn't know that they could go to such a deep floor!"

"Well, there are many kinds of Second Academy students out there . "

The next strongest party of Second Academy after us can probably deal with Floor 27 .

It'd be bad if they get in a Monster House without exclusive magic though, so I don't recommend it .

As we were conversing, other adventurers got in the elevator from other floor, so the operator stopped talking to us .

Usually people working on these types of field won't attempt to pry much about adventurers' hunts . . . Well, guess it's only natural that she'd get worried after seeing four young adventurers setting foot on Floor 27 .

I mean, we even almost got stopped by a newbie-bullying adventurer (or really a guild staff member pretending to be one) .

『This elevator doesn't seem to be doing too well . . . 』

『Isn't it shaking more than when we got on earlier?』

Ruli and Alma started to worry about the elevator as well .

This thing looks like it's seriously nearing the end of its life . . .

The main magic circuit is fine, but the two adjacent magic circuits are probably busted .

It could probably go on longer if someone did maintenance on it, but if I leave this alone, it might go past the point of no return at the most inopportune timing .

. . . I should go tell the king through the principal about doing maintenance on it when I get time .

If some amateurs randomly tampered with the elevator after it broke down, it could end up becoming irreparable instead .

『 . . . Let's just hope that it breaks at the right timing to get it repaired . . . This won't even last half a year if we're lucky . 』

『By the way, what about when we're not?』

『It'd break down in about three seconds . 』

In other words, it could go poof at any time .

The one silver lining is the fact that this Dungeon Elevator is a type that won't fall down to the last floor when it breaks, but only up to the next floor .

Otherwise, those who get caught up in it would fall down to Floor 100 .

. . . While we were talking about that, the Dungeon Elevator arrived at the surface .

Looks like we would get through this without seeing the Dungeon Elevator gets broken .

『We got here somehow . . . 』

『Yeah . We'd be better off if it broke right as it got to the surface, so I could repair it now and we'd have nothing to worry about from tomorrow on . 』

We're heading to the guild while talking .

The dungeon elevator building has no counters for selling even though there are counters for taking guild quests .

They probably ran out of space to build the warehouse for dealing with that .

『It's kind of small . 』

Alma muttered so as we went in the guild .

This guild is indeed smaller than the usual guild buildings .

. . . If we talk about space for adventurers that is .

『Since they don't have many quest counters here, a small enough space for adventurers must have sufficed . But talking about the guild as a whole, this one is actually quite big . 』

『Eh, really?』

Ordinary guilds dedicate the majority of space for quest counters that are visible to adventurers .

Since such counters are available in the elevator area, they're probably not necessary here .

By installing those there, adventurers can take on quests while waiting for the elevator, it's only logical .

『Look at the mana reaction . The area for adventurers inside this building is only a tiny part . There's a lot more selling counters than your usual guild . 』

I probe the surrounding mana reaction .

A reaction from the guild's gigantic building was reflected . It even extends underground .

『It's true! So huge!』

It's not like the guild has anything to hide from adventurers .

The majority of this building is occupied by warehouses .

A guild right next to the Gamble Dungeon probably gets loads of materials brought to it everyday .

This is a proof of how much mats can be gathered at the Gamble Dungeon .

In a world where Storage magic isn't widely known, the existence of a Dungeon Elevator in a dungeon greatly affects the amount of materials one can bring back .

And since people will gather in places where they can gather a lot of materials, the amount gathered only increases day by day .

That amount most definitely exceeds ten times the usual amount from ordinary dungeons .

In that sense, installing Dungeon Elevators in other dungeons will probably stimulate the economy .

I head to the selling counter while thinking that .