Chapter 14: The Hot Spring Spa
We entered the dungeon the Gnomes had opened.
The space inside was larger than I had expected.
“Whoa, it’s three times bigger than I imagined.”
“From the looks of this construction, it’s safe to assume the entire area beneath Yankers is a dungeon.”
“Yeah, but still, this dungeon stinks of sulfur.”
“It smells like boiled eggs, doesn’t it?”
“It stinks to high heaven, but it’s also proof that there’s a hot spring here.”
With that conclusion, we began to explore the dungeon.
The underground labyrinth of Yankers is very solidly built. It wasn’t a repurposed natural dungeon; it was deliberately created by humans. Despite being covered in sulfur and organic matter, it doesn’t look very dirty, which suggests they used some special materials.
“Interesting.”
“Indeed.”
The fact that I stop to examine the walls every ten meters or so is probably because I have a researcher’s disposition.
I’m classified as a magic knight, but if my family hadn’t been nobles, I would have entered the Sage Academy.
And I might have spent my days there endlessly researching.
Originally, I was a simple young man with no taste for belligerence.
It’s just that the turbulent times wouldn’t allow for it.
“On our holy site pilgrimage, let’s take our time to stop and study the flora, fauna, and minerals,” my wife suggested, having guessed my feelings. I was very happy.
Now, as we walked with that perspective, I realized that “this place” was an ancient public bathhouse (thermae).
“Thermae?” Fina tilted her head with a puzzled “Huh?”
“To put it simply, it’s an ancient public bath, a hot spring spa.”
“Oh, my.”
“During the time of the ancient magical civilization, the people had nothing but free time, so every weekend they would watch duels at the coliseum, see plays at the theater, and take baths at the public bathhouses.”
“What an incredible level of civilization. We still have all three of those things today, but the only place you can enjoy them all at once is in the capital, Duramlia.”
“During the ancient magical civilization era, it seems they were in any reasonably large town.”
“That’s amazing.”
“Thanks to that, the people became lazy and were wiped out by an influx of barbarians, though.”
“The truth that all things must pass, I see.”
“The mighty magical civilization did not last long.”
“We must be mindful of that.”
As we proceeded through the dungeon, spouting such profound wisdom, we heard a slithering sound from deeper within.
Slither, slither—
It was the sound of a giant object writhing on the ground.
It sounded like a great serpent slithering, but its true form was not a serpent.
A dozen meters ahead of us was a mollusk with no eyes or nose.
“Huge! That’s a Giant Earthworm.”
A Giant Earthworm is, as the name suggests, a large earthworm.
It’s a giant version of the worms you can find anywhere if you dig, but in most cases, they are carnivorous and ferocious.
They attack indiscriminately, so a fight seems unavoidable, but there’s one problem.
