Chapter 237

Chapter 237 Strongest Sage, Down the Dungeon

"Xe-Xeon-san! But he's still but a kid . . . "

Hearing the adventurer, the man who had been in a glaring contest with me underwent a 180 degree change in attitude toward him .

Looks like the adventurer is called Xeon .

Judging from my glaring opponent (Camias apparently)'s reaction, the guy is probably a famous adventurer .

At this place, the strongest person after us is this Xeon .

Camias is right after him, but there's quite a huge gap between their strength .

It'd be very helpful if Xeon could do something about this situation .

"Don't just judge people by their age . Those four are undoubtedly stronger than you . Pretty obvious looking at 'em . "

" . . . I have conquered Floor 11 of this dungeon with a party of six . Are you saying that these kids are stronger than me?"

"Each of these adventurers should be able to conquer Floor 11 alone . . . Can't you tell by looking?"

Looks like Xeon understands our strength .

People who are at a certain level of expertise in battle are able to distinguish their opponent's strength just by looking .

Xeon has reached such level, while Camias hasn't .

"These kids, Floor 11 alone?"

"Don't judge a book by its cover . . . Age-wise, these adventurers must be students of Second Academy . Even I cannot fathom their real strength . "

"I do hear stories about the current Second Academy students' strength . . . But are they really that strong?"

"Yeah . Saw them when I was in the capital the other day, monsters, the whole lot of them . Heard there's this guy called Mathias who's a cut above the rest . . . But I couldn't manage to see him . "

He's right in front of you though .

While thinking that . . . The elevator has come back from carrying other people .

Here's our chance .

Let's get on that elevator and stop this topic .

"Could we go now? We'd like to go on a hunt quick to be honest . "

" . . . I got it . But be careful now . Don't overexert yourself . "

"Got it . "

Afterward, I boarded the elevator along with the girls .

Looks like Camias has already abandoned his high-handed adventurer act .

Xeon got on the elevator with me .

The cramped elevator became full . Camias stayed on the waiting room .

"Would you like to go to Floor 13 like usual?"

"Yeah . "

After saying that, Xeon handed over 1300 elmi to the elevator crew member .

Looks like this guy is going to challenge the dungeon alone .

It's more efficient to do that with a party . . . but he must have his reason .

"And where would you like to go?"

"Floor 27 . "

I gave the crew member our queue notes, and the payment for four, 10800 elmi .

However . . . The crew member wouldn't take it .

"Eer . . . Could you run that by again please . "

"We're going to Floor 27 . Here's the payment for four . "

" . . . Going to floors higher than 15 carries a huge risk, as such you need a permit . Please return for now and get the permit–"

"Is this good enough as a permit?"

I showed her the dungeon entry permit I got from the king .

It allows us to enter all floors of all dungeons except for a very small fraction .

I've already confirmed that the 『Iliad-managed Dungeon』 is not included within the exceptions .

"Pe . . . Permit from his majesty the king!?"

"Yeah . . . If we're still not allowed to use the elevator with this, we'll have to get down and walk there then . . . "

"O-of course, you're allowed to if you have the permit!"

Looks like we can use the elevator .

Getting to Floor 27 with the girls on foot would take some time and stamina so this is nice .

. . . In fact, Floor 26 monsters are stronger than Floor 27 ones after all .

"Then we will be departing . Please watch out for the shaking . "

The crew member operates the elevator then .

And then we're slowly descending .

. . . 『Dungeon Elevators』 weren't this slow back in the days .

Speed is very important when you're moving between floors in dungeons .

For example, a mere few seconds could decide the fate of a struggling party when you're sending help through the elevators .

As such, speed was the most important deliberation in the construction of 『Dungeon Elevators』 .

The one installed in this dungeon should have been five times faster than it is now .

It probably doesn't move at its full capability because no one is able to do maintenance on it .

I guess the fact that it still works is a miracle already .

To begin with, these magic tools weren't purposed to be maintenance-free when they were first installed .

"We have arrived at Floor 13 . "

We reached Floor 13 while I was lamenting the 『Dungeon Elevator』's slowness .

The inside of Floor 13 hasn't changed much compared to my previous life .

The effect of mana reactor explosions must have been minimal since these dungeons are situated deep underground .

"Ou . Thanks as always . "

Xeon got down the 『Dungeon Elevator』 after leaving that .

He didn't ask anything about the floor we were going to . . . And frankly, I appreciate that .

Since the hunting method on Floor 27 is quite special, it would have been bothersome were he said, 『I want to see how you're doing』 .