BXBX NOVEL Chapter 224
Chapter 224
I went to work at the workshop, which had become a routine.
I was having refreshments in what was supposed to be a reception room for customers when Elena turned to me.
"I know it\'s dangerous," she said, "but I could help."
"No, you can\'t. Do you think the Etna volcano is behind your neighborhood?"
With that, I moved my foot and hit Michaela.
She looks up from her snack and glances at me.
She finally realized what was going on and coughed and opened her mouth.
"I know what you mean, Sister Elena, but the Etna Volcano is one of the so-called hells of the living realm. Even the monsters that come out of it are mostly fire elemental. It\'s a very unfavorable place for the Wind Elemental you contracted with to use its power."
Elena\'s expression turned grim as she realized that I wasn\'t the only one with an opinion.
My heart began to weaken again when I saw her but no is no.
"You\'re not the only one, other professional Hunters and Heroes can\'t easily challenge it, and the newspapers are already all over the place just because the Medici Family is doing it, right?"
Yesterday, one of the guilds run by the Medici family, Venezia, officially declared that they would challenge the Etna Volcano.
By this time, most of the Italian media and world-class media had published the declaration.
"You know the reactions."
"Most people go there to die. What kind of confidence do you have to go there?"
"And yet you want to go to die?"
"But, Eugene, you\'re going."
"Me and you?"
Not only were we different in skills, and statuses, but our experiences were vastly different.
I wondered if there was something I could do.
Ah.
A good idea came to mind.
"Let\'s do this."
"What? Like what?"
After all, it\'s better to see it for yourself, right? And to see how good Michaela really is.
"We still have some time before we go to Etna Volcano, so let\'s go to a dungeon."
"A dungeon? I haven\'t even been in a proper dungeon yet."
"You\'re going to Etna Volcano on that subject? You should know that dungeons are hard, so you don\'t say you\'re up for it."
Michaela tilts her head, puzzled by my words.
"But, Corleone Jr. I thought you had to apply to the Association to enter the dungeon."
She\'s right, going to the dungeon right now is way beyond basic procedure.
"I suppose, with my status, it\'s a little hard to be illegal."
She shakes her head with a rueful look, as if she already thinks I\'m going to ignore the procedure.
"No, I don\'t intend to ignore procedures."
"Yes? Then how the hell are you going to?"
"How can I? I have a high-ranking official from the Vatican in front of me right now."
"?"
"Sister Michaela. May I borrow your name?"
"Huh?"
"What are friends for?"
"Chee, friend!"
This is what power is supposed to be for.
* * *
We immediately went to the nearby Association building.
It was a small two-story building, just like the Association in a small town.
"We\'re looking for a dungeon that we can attack right away."
The staff looked confused when I got straight to the point.
"I\'m afraid not, sir. Our rules require dungeon reservations to be made at least a day in advance to ensure that we can give you a chance."
The staff member tells us that we can\'t, as expected.
Michaela, who was standing behind me, slowly steps forward and shows her crucifix, as we discussed before.
"This is the Vatican\'s business. I\'d like to ask for your cooperation."
The Vatican is the current ruler of the Holy Vatican Empire.
If nothing else, they can only ask the Association for cooperation in dungeons within Italy for the restoration and safety of the homeland.
And, of course, there\'s the staff member whose expression changes as soon as he sees the Vatican\'s sign.
"Oh, so this is Vatican business, could you give us a moment?"
He quickly looks through the papers on his desk, pulls one out, and looks at its contents.
Oh, theres one out there just nowRecently, due to the Venezia guild planning to attack Mount Etna, there has been a lot of activity in targeting volcanoes. Would it be okay for you to try one of Mount Etnas volcanoes?
"A volcano?"
Good timing.
This is a great opportunity for us to experience the Etna Volcano beforehand.
The difficulty level is just right, so I\'m sure we\'ll be able to convince them.
"Sounds good, I\'ll take that."
"Yes. Confirm your hero registration now."
And so began a simple process.
I used a fake identity while the others told their real identities and the dungeon reservation was made in a flash.
"Thank you for your confirmation. If you\'re a knight of the Vatican and an A-class heroIs this mentoring??"
He exclaims as he looks at our records. He glances at Elena in the back and gives her an envious look.
"I hope you\'re getting some good experience out of this."
"What? Uh. Yeah."
Michaela nods, looking dumbfounded, like she doesn\'t understand what the staff is talking about.
"Mentorships are usually given to up-and-comers, so it makes sense that you\'d say that."
"Oh, I see."
"Well, let\'s get going, then, so we can be back before nightfall."
We walked out of the Association and headed straight for the truck, which was barely humming along.
"I don\'t know if this is really right, after all, we sold out the Vatican\'s name to satisfy our own selfish desires!"
It wasn\'t until we reached the front of the dungeon that she felt guilty about her actions and dropped her head.
"Well, you\'ve been hard at work writing chants in the back."
"That, that\'s! I just put the sin, the guilt, into the chant."
"Really?"
I asked.
"Then can you sing a little bit of it, I was wondering."
"Oh. I\'m curious to hear what your chant sounds like, too."
"What? You mean, out of the blue? Well, if that\'s the case, I wrote a piece called Cathedral on the Ruins."
"Just kidding. I\'m sure Sister would be embarrassed if I asked her out of the blue, so let\'s go."
I walk away, leaving her dumbfounded and she follows after me with a frown on her face.
She was actually composing a song, as she kept trying to pull out something.
You\'re really working hard, aren\'t you?
"I\'ve never been in a dungeon before, butit looks pretty scary."
Elena follows my lead and looks around, then gently stands behind me.
The surrounding landscape is very desolate because it is a hill near a volcano.
There should be plenty of grass around, but instead, all I can see is smoldering ground and rubble.
"It\'s a volcano after all. Ah, there it is."
After a bit more walking, I finally reached the summit. At the center of the hill was a hole that seemed to connect to another.
"Its not that hard of a dungeon, so let\'s finish this quickly and get some food. You should have dungeon experience."
"Oh, yes!"
"Sister. Stop being so gloomy and follow me quickly. We\'ll listen to the song later."
"Oh, is that so? I\'ve been called the ace of the children\'s choir for years, so you\'d better look forward to it!"
"Yay."
What the hell is an Inquisitor doing in a children\'s choir?
"I\'ll go in first, Sister, and you can go in with Elena."
"Okay, Sister. Behind me."
"Yes!"
I enter the dungeon first.
At the same time, the space around us changed in an instant, as if it was swallowing us up, and I could feel the heat on my face.
"It\'s hot as hell in this volcanic terrain."
I undo a top button or two and look around.
The sky is bright red and the smell of sulfur already fills the air. In the distance, fire lizards were crawling across the floor.
I hadn\'t wandered many dungeons myself, but this was a familiar sight.
"This is the dungeon!"
"I smell heathens. Let\'s get moving, Corleone Jr."
Elena marvels at the unfamiliar sight, while Michaela grimaces and covers her nose.
Nodding at the two\'s distinctly different reactions, I take the first step.
"Usually, volcano-type dungeons like this have the boss at the highest peak, so I think we should aim for that."
The monsters are already creeping up on us so we\'d better get into position quickly.
"I\'ll be in the middle, Sister, up front. Elena, you\'re in the back with the elementals. Let\'s get moving."
With that, I pull out the Tommy from the cube and hold it in my hand.
She looks at it in admiration.
"Is thata gun?"
"And?"
"You look like a mafioso with that. All you need is a bowler hat and you\'ll be perfect."
"I don\'t want a bowler hat."
It\'ll ruin my hair.
"Well, Corleone Jr. I\'m afraid they\'re going to swarm us all at once, given the flat ground around us. What do you say?"
She raises her fist at the sight of the fire lizards already surrounding us.
Well, I have an answer.
"Let\'s get organized, it\'ll be easier to move that way."
"Very well, then, I\'ll clear the way first."
With that, a pure white glow surrounded her, as she had just channeled her divine power, and she charged straight ahead, slamming her fists and feet into the lizards blocking her path.
"WowSister. You\'re a lot tougher than I thought."
She said as she watched the sparks fly back and forth in front of her.
It\'s certainly a far cry from dealing with the thugs that attacked before.
Compared to her current form, it\'s safe to say that back then, she was careful not to break the thin glass.
A single punch punctures the lizard\'s body, and a single kick shakes the ground with a massive explosion.
It\'s like a release of pent-up stress.
"We\'re going to keep up with Sister and cover her back. Can you do it?"
"Yes!"
Elena calls upon her spirits and takes up an offensive stance.
"If you can, you\'d better compress the wind and attack with it, because a light breeze will only increase the flames."
Apparently taking my advice, she begins to clean up the area behind me, using the blades of the wind.
After a few rounds, she exhales harshly and wipes the sweat off her face.
I load my Tommy, too, and squeeze the trigger, mowing down the lizards to one side.
"Something tells me Eugene makes it look so easyshould I use a firearm?"
Elena sticks her tongue out at the sight of the lizards being wiped out with a simple pull of the trigger.
"Regular, off-the-shelf guns are shit. I know it looks easy, but not everyone can do this."
This kind of destructive power is only possible by firing aura, as well as having the talents [Hitman] and [Gunpowder and Explosion].
It was absolutely impossible for a normal person to use it.
"What? Sister is excited. Let\'s hurry up and catch up."
"What? Ah, yes!"
We move quickly toward her as she pumps her fist in the air, shouting "Infidels!" over and over again in the distance.
I suppose I can leave this one alone?
* * *
[Subject: today\'s report]
[My purpose: I got a reply telling me to take out the weird emoji, which is too bad, because I thought it was cute.
This morning Corleone Junior sat in the Maestro\'s workshop and chatted with a sister named Elena, because it was the Maestro\'s workshop after all. The sweets were pretty high end, and I enjoyed them very much.
I\'ll talk to the Maestro later and take some home with me.
[snack photo attached.jpg]
In the afternoon, I decided to try out the dungeon in the hill to prepare myself for the dungeon later in the day.
I borrowed the name of the Vatican at the behest of Junior, whom I\'d befriended along the way.
I couldn\'t say no to a friend\'s request, so I booked the dungeon under the Vatican\'s name.
I have no regrets about this, as it was done to deal with the infidels (not because he\'s a friend, by any means).
Oh, and the review of the chant was appreciated.
My reply was more of a "don\'t send me this, send me more information" kind of thing, but I think I need to explain the need for chants.
In essence, chants are the past(emphasis added)]