"So that's the mysterious dungeon Miss Caramille talked about."
Jonah said as he and I stared at the temple jutting out of the middle of the huge pond in the Leonin Park.
After hearing about the ruins, I ended the conversation with Jeanine and let her do the work I commissioned her.
Before leaving, we made sure to exchange Jonah's set of coins with Jeanine's from her chest.
The woman clearly regretted for not haggling more money for my request after she saw how many more medallions we still possessed.
Jonah at first wanted us to continue exploring the Merchant Street, but I told him the 4th to the 6th Plaza had nothing but clothes and housewares. Nothing likely useful for the lobby.
The weapon crafters, antique shops, and mercenary guild stores where we could actually find something useful were located on the 1st to the 3rd Plaza. And the others were already exploring there.
So I took Jonah with me across the central wall, into the Recreation Quarter and to the Leonin Park.
The temple was sitting right in the body of water, as if it was plopped there out of nowhere.
It did appear out of nowhere.
People said one night they heard some odd rumbling in the park and the next morning they found the temple suddenly standing there in the pond.
A series of robust ramps were installed from the edge of the pond toward the temple's terrace. Zeref soldiers in black and white uniform were stationed at each side.
Just like Jeanine said, hundreds of mercenaries were lining up to enter the dungeon. That was what they called of the mysterious ruins.
Apparently the structure went deeper underground given how narrow the temple was and many mercenaries had got in without having the place overflowing.
The mercenaries would report themselves to the Zeref soldiers and attempted to enter the temple through its hollow entrance.
Some of the mercenaries were blocked by a barrier when they tried to enter. But some could walk through freely.
I noticed one person who initially could not get in eventually managed to enter the dungeon when they tagged along with another person who could get past the barrier. Perhaps it was a rule of the dungeon.
I was certain we could enter it.
The place did seem like a location master would send us to. It was probably the true purpose of the Exploration Dungeon.
Occasionally, mercenaries would come out from the temple.
Some would bring treasures of gold and jewels.
A portion of it would go to the Zeref, as tax. And even a portion of that would go to the empire. Or so the mercenaries said.
However, most that got out would bring out nothing but horrific wounds.
It would be foolish to think the dungeon was not infested with dangerous monsters.
All of the exiting mercenaries that I talked to said they did not explore the entire dungeon. They just trekked somewhere near the entrance and took whatever they could.
Although the rarer and more precious the bounty you could discover, apparently the monster got stronger the deeper you went.
There was no use for finding precious bounty if you could not survive to bring it out and live to enjoy its wealth.
But I still could not help but to wonder the sort of things we could find in the deepest part of such dungeon.
Elemental stones, perhaps? Rare crafting materials? Weapons? Elixir?
We must eventually explore the dungeon entirely and strip it of its bounties bare. All for the sake of our climb.
"What do you think, Serafina? Should we enter the dungeon?"
Jonah asked. He had seen me studying the structure intensely.
I shook my head upon the suggestion.
"No. Not now. We're not prepared to explore such unknown and dangerous place."
"Maybe tomorrow then? After we regroup with the others?"
"Not in this exploration trip, Jonah. We'll do it once we have resources and manpower to spare. Right now, everything goes for the preparation of the third Quintal Trial."
I explained to him.
He nodded to me in agreement.
"In that case, should we start making our way back? If we go now, we could arrive at the inn right before sundown."
This time I nodded to him.
"Very well, let's return."
I had done everything I intended to do for the day.
Jeanine was now working hard to procure the maps I asked of her. She would also reach out to her connections and find out about the ruin in Sherefiah basin.
By tomorrow, she would present me with what I wanted and we would return to the lobby.
Would the maps really be helpful though?
Would knowing about the ruin in Sherefiah basin also help?
They both could probably amount to nothing in our climb effort and I would had wasted my time in this Exploration Dungeon.
What was helpful was to figure out the cryptic formulas inside the grimoire we obtained from the tenth floor subquest.
If I could not figure them out, the book would only be useful to feed the fire in the hearth.
Dear Goddesses, how was I supposed to figure it out?
I had tried and tried but nothing seemed to work.
Seven people died trying to get that book.
What was worse was that they did not even know they died because of it.
And worst of all, they would had died for nothing if I could not make the grimoire more than just a collage of pages taking space in the library.
Did we make a mistake choosing to go to that temple?
The tenth floor could be cleared without having us investigate the place. It was unnecessary.
If we had not go there, the fifteen heroes who went to the tenth floor would all probably survived.
And the reason why we went to the temple in the first place was because…
"Serafina?"
Jonah's voice suddenly woke me from my trance.
I did not realize we had arrived back to the Lightland Square.
Jonah gently rested his palm on my shoulder.
"You don't seem well. Is something the matter?"
Goodness! Did my mood reflect itself on my face?
Suddenly I took notice of a street musician playing with a string instrument by the cherry tree garden.
A number of local children were dancing and playing across the square at the tune.
There was a woodcarver by the side of the square.
He was sitting by his cart which displayed wooden dolls of various shapes to sell. Knights, princesses, horses, and all sorts of characters and creatures.
Still sensing Jonah's hand on my shoulder, I pulled myself free and waved my hand toward the dolls.
[Akarshanam]
Threads of mana spilled out from my fingers and seeped into the wooden figures.
The dolls suddenly became alive and jumped down from the cart, surprising the woodcarver and the children.
The enchanted figurines spread out to the square and started dancing according to the musician's tune.
The children jumped around exuberantly at the sight of the dancing dolls.
The toys moved and danced as if they were puppeteered by strings.
They were puppeteered, but by my enchantment.
I reached for some silver coins I received from Jeanine and tossed them to the woodcarver. Enough to buy everything on the cart, even the cart itself and then some.
"Give the toys to the children after they're done dancing."
"A-as you wish, my lady!"
The woodcarver replied with a deep bow.
I then sat myself to one of the square's benches and watched the merry sight in front of me.
Hopefully Jonah would think my frown earlier was because I was trying to scheme for this performance.
"Making toys dance and bring smiles to children, you impressed me again, Serafina."
Jonah said as he joined me at the bench. He saw me casted the spell earlier.
"If I could make fighting golems, I could do this much, Jonah. This is one of the basic things you learn in alchemy."
The shepherd put on a warm smile.
But then the man suddenly replaced it with a serious, worrying expression.
He spoke to me.
"Is there anything you would like to tell me? About the tenth floor?"
Nothing get past him it seemed.
From what Trudy said, Jonah already noticed how the second Quintal Trial affected me.
Perhaps I should just face it. Acknowledge it out loud.
"I failed, Jonah. I failed master and everyone in the lobby."