Episode 45 Spirit Fountain

The Spirit Fountain was soon found. In the back room of the temple, there was a spring with a diameter of about two meters. Water seemed to be gushing out from the ground. The surface of the water was rippling, reflecting glitter and light.

"Is this the Spirit Fountain?"

I pulled out my Holy Silver Dagger. Only Chika noticed that special luster.

"Eh, is that a dagger made of Holy Silver?"

Chika took one look at the dagger and said.

"Yeah, I got it the first time I beat the boss of the Grassland Dungeon."

After I nodded at Alisa, she turned her gaze to my arm guard.

"By any chance, is your arm guard also made of Holy Silver?"

"That's right. If an F-Class adventurer has unsuitable equipment, they're likely to be targeted by stupid people, so I just painted the arm guards myself to deceive them."

As for the dagger, I left it as it was because you can't tell unless I pull it out of its scabbard.

I hesitated before throwing the Holy Silver Dagger into the spring.

"What happened?"

Amane asked. Everyone else looked at me suspiciously.

"No, nothing. I just had a strange dream."

"What kind of dream?"

"No, it's not an important dream."

Yukari seemed to be interested. She brings her face closer and asks.

"If it's not an important dream, tell me."

Everyone is looking at me with a face that they want to know. I let out a sigh and began to speak.

"When I throw the Holy Silver Dagger into the Spirit Fountain, the Spirit of the Fountain appears with a gold and silver dagger."

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Alisa seems to have understood.

"Aah, it's the story of Aesop's Fable, The Golden Axe."

"Well, I think so. But here's where it's different. The Holy Silver Dagger I threw is stuck in the spirit's head."

Amane rolled her eyes and leaned forward.

"Suddenly it's like a horror movie. What happened then?"

"The spirit asked, 'Is the dagger you dropped this gold dagger?' I replied, 'No.", then it asked, 'Is it this silver dagger?'. Again, I answered, 'No.'."

Alisa nodded reluctantly.

"Up to that point, it's almost like Aesop's Fable, except for the dagger stuck in the spirit's head."

"The spirit asked me what kind of dagger I dropped, so I decided to answer honestly. In a fairy tale like that, it's a pattern that the honest person gains."

Yukari looked at me with a reproachful look.

"The dagger you threw was stuck in the spirit's head, right? In that case, I think it's very dangerous to answer honestly."

"I was in a dream. I couldn't think logically like that. When I answered honestly, I was yelled at, 'Aren't you trying to kill me!' at that point, I woke up."

Everyone laughed at me. Amane and Yukari were holding their stomachs and laughing.

"Let's stop talking about Sensei's dream and throw in the daggers."

Alisa threw in her dagger first. Of course the spirit doesn't come out. The others also throw theirs in.

After waiting for about three minutes, the Holy Silver Dagger shone brightly. About a minute later, the silver daggers began to glow, and after two minutes, the glow subsided.

"It looks like it's okay to take them out now."

I took out the Holy Silver Dagger from the spring. Alisa and the others also took their out. Their appearance hasn't changed, but when Alisa examined them with 'Item Analyze', it turned out that the daggers had an attribute called 'Sacred Attribute'.(TN:Confusing because 'Holy Silver' and 'Sacred Weapon' and 'Sacred Attribute' all use the same word for Holy/Sacred, but I need to differentiate somehow, since 'Holy Silver' isn't effective against undead, while being made 'Sacred' is. Despite it being the same word.)

I put the Holy Silver Dagger into its scabbard and took out my pocket watch to check the time.

"It's past three o'clock. Let's hurry back."

We started walking back through the dungeon. On the way, when we encountered a Phantom on the 3rd floor, I confirmed that I could kill it by attacking with the Holy Silver Dagger.

[ Auuu ]

The Phantom's death cry resounded, leaving behind a yellow magic stone and disappearing.

"Okay, now Phantoms are fine."

By the time we returned to the ground, it was already night. We changed clothes at the dungeon house, went to the Adventurer's Guild and exchanged the magic stones for cash.

"Sensei will participate in the Mid-Boss Hunting Battle, right? Please do your best."

When I left the Adventurer's Guild and disbanded, Amane and the others cheered me on. I'm really happy, but this time I'm participating solo, so I'm not confident.

"Aah, I'll do my best, but I'm participating solo. Please don't expect too much of me."

"I see, Grimm-sensei is solo. It would have been nice if we could go together."

Alisa said regretfully.

"Everyone is still G-Class after all. I'll just accept your feelings. ... Well then, take care on your way home."

I parted from Alisa and the others and returned to my apartment.

"Phew, I'm tired."

I turned on the kotatsu and put my feet inside. It got cold, so I bought just a kotatsu set and a futon.

I lay down and looked at the ceiling and thought. People who became professional adventurers were divided into two groups. One is an adventurer that travels all over Japan while changing the dungeons they earn from.

The other is an adventurer who chooses a dungeon that suits them, settles down, and earns money from the dungeon.

"How long will it take to clear the Suigetsu Dungeon?"

It seems that the Suigetsu Dungeon is up to the 42nd floor. The deeper you go, the more difficult it becomes, so it will take several years to fully capture it.

"By the time I would be able to capture it, I'd be an adult too. I can't imagine myself at that time."

I fell asleep in the kotatsu. I think I slept for about an hour. My head felt clear when I woke up.

I took out the scroll and spread it out. Normally, I would ask an Analysis Wizard to take out the magic circle, but I have a Sage System. I poured magic into the scroll without hesitation.

I learned the magic of 'Auto Shield'.

The magic is similar to 'Push', which uses the D-Particle Plate. When 'Auto Shield' is activated, nine D-Particle shields with a diameter of 20 centimeters are formed in the shape of a circular shield.

It seems that the nine D-Particle shields will automatically start protecting the caster while drifting around the caster.

Interesting. It's the defensive magic I was looking for. It's as if the dungeon was reading my mind.

I launched the Sage System and checked 'Auto Shield'. It seems that this magic couldn't be learned utnil magic level 8 was reached.