Dungeon Sherpa - Chapter 13

Inside an Earth Mother Goddess Temple – I was born in a Baptistery with a status of the Goddess.

……Or so it seems that was the rumour going around, but I imagined it was more likely I had been thrown away by an Adventurer who couldn’t make enough to eat.

But enough of that.

Discovered dressed only in underwear at the feet of the Goddess statue, I was raised by the temple without being sent to an orphanage.

It appears that there had been a message sent by the Goddess.

This baby has received my divine protection.

Raise her purely. Raise her warmly.

Make it so, and the monsters of this land will be eliminated, and this land will be cleansed.

Due to having the unusual features of black hair and black eyes, I was called the Black Princess, and because even the Temple Head was involved in my early life, I had an overprotective childhood.

The Earth Mother Goddess – Galatika exists.

It is said that she stands guard to protect the surface from the monsters that live at the bottom of the earth.

However, because she lacks corporeal form, she cannot use her power directly, so in exchange, she delivers her power to humans, blessing them as soldiers imbued with the strength to defeat monsters.

This is the existence known as Adventurer.

The labyrinth core present in the deepest part of labyrinths, after a fixed period of time – one theory says a few 100 years – passes, will approach its Limit and cause a tremendous explosion, polluting the surface with a high concentration of magic particles.

The continent on the other side of the sea looks to be already quickly approaching its demise.

The recommended level of that land is 20.

It is already a land that humans can no longer set foot on, the domain of monsters.

Goddess Galatica’s will is for labyrinth cores to be eliminated before they approach their Limit.

And to preserve the purity of the earth.

With such circumstances, as Adventurers carrying on the will of the Goddess, Adventurers should concentrate their efforts and devote themselves to clearing the various labyrinths of the land, but the only ones doing so were the Earth Mother Goddess Temple and the upper echelon of the Adventurer’s Guild. It is difficult to unite all Adventurers.

The Limit of labyrinth cores, the continent across the sea, although this is all common knowledge, in fact, there is no one who has witnessed them with their own eyes, and they have not been recorded in any texts.

The only source of this information was the vague words of the Goddess.

If you are an Adventurer, then any time you level up or check your Status, you can hear the voice of the Goddess. However, she only provides the barest of responses, and it is generally impossible to converse with her.

Those who are said to be receive revealations from the Goddess only number a few.

I was one of them.

Since I was a kid, there have been expectations placed on me to clear labyrinths, so I was taught the knowledge and skills required to be an Adventurer, and I chose to accept my destiny.

There were three reasons.

The first was what the Goddess had said to me.

That was that the Infinite Labyrinth in the Royal Capital was approaching its Limit. Like most people, I have the desire to protect the land was I was born and raised

Second, I thought that I should express my gratitude at having been raised without any turmoil.

I grew up safely despite not having parents and was able to be educated. From the former Temple Head to everyone else involved, I couldn’t thank them enough.

The last is because I thought that in this life you only lead once, it would be fun to go about it with this fantastic plot of rushing headstrong against everything to save the world.

At the age of fifteen, I debuted as an Adventurer. Although there was this practice of having other Adventurers collect monster cores for new Adventureres to make them gain their first level, I rejected this Forced Levelling and proceeded to the Infinite Labyrinth for a solo dive.

The Temple Head and the Adventurer’s Guildmaster had both turned pale and counselled me to form a party.

’We can prepare any number of talented and experienced Adventurers and Sherpa. So please, we’re begging you, please bring people along for your dive’, they had pleaded.

To their offers, I resolutely refused.

There was a part of me that genuinely wanted to test my strength, but I also had a strong belief that the thing known as a party wasn’t something to be formed by someone else on my behalf.

I had no family.

There were talented secretaries and maids, but they were not friends.

So I thought of wanting to find companions I could entrust my back with.

About two years of solo activities, Magikan and his daughter, Berii joined, and after several members had joined and left, eventually, one of the Temple Leaders, Nuuk, returned to being an Adventurer to join as a companion.

After “Twilight’s Sword” was complete with these four people, the results of our labyrinth explorations have become much more fruitful.

But even this was still not enough.

We couldn’t clear the Infinite Labyrinth like this.

The deepest floor that an Adventurer party can reach is determined by the member’s Gifts and the party strategy. Furthermore, to improve our survival chances, we must level up to improve our Statuses.

I was anxious about the stability of the party, so I decided to travel to the regional labyrinths and obtain their labyrinth cores in order to achieve drastic levelling in the shortest time.

Currently, Magikan is level 14.

Nuuk and I are level 12.

And Berii is level 11.

Somewhere along the way, we achieved the ranking of Hero of the East on the Adventurer party ranking charts.

’Truly, Earth Mother Goddess Galatika’s words were not wrong’, the current Temple Head had been sent into a joyous frenzy, charging himself with the mission of publicising our activities.

’Born of the Goddess, granted divine protection, the Black Princess. In this girl – and also in the Temple of the Earth Mother Goddess, if you place your belief, she will surely be able to cleanse the monsters residing at the bottom of the earth. ‘

’To the Earth Mother Goddess Galatika, and her daughter the Black Princess, praise be!’

The Adventurer’s Guild also got carried away, and my surroundings suddenly became clamorous.

Influential people, celebrities living in the Royal Capital, even aristocrafts began sending daily invitations to dinner parties or dance parties.

Among them were many who made monetary contributions to the Temple or the Adventurer Guild, so I couldn’t just bluntly refuse. The official secretary assigned to me by the Temple Head was an excellent but inflexible woman, and she would often say things like “this is also the role of a Temple Maiden” and fill my schedule.

After breaking the descent record of the Infinite Labyrinth and discovering a new Dungeon Oasis, I found out that they were planning to hold a parade on Adventurer’s Street without my knowledge, and I barely managed to put a stop to it in time.

Honestly, I was a bit – no, I was quite sick of it.

When exploring regional labyrinths, I was slightly freed from such annoyances. When I came to the town of Tyros, I loosened up – or put in another way, I might have been somewhat emotional.

I wanted to have my own time without being disturbed by anyone.

So, as soon as I arrived, I declared that the day would be individual free time and decided to do as I wanted.

Showing my face at the Sherpa Guild was just a simple whim.

It was my first time in this town, so I didn’t know about the tourist spots or local specialties. The Adventurer’s Guild had contacted the Sherpa Guild in advance, and we had also received a notice that the Sherpa working with us had been decided, so since I had nothing else to do, I thought I would greet him and probe him a bit.

The Sherpa I was introduced to was young, his physique didn’t look that reliable, and he showed a smile that looked straight from a template.

Other than those he trusted, he was probably a man who didn’t show his true thoughts.

However, I thought that his polite demeanour and careful choice of words, as well as his uncowardly personality were not too bad.

Of course, I meant that as a work colleague.

Maybe it was the environment that I was raised in but, crude, vulgar and filthy – although many Adventurers were like that – types of men, I really disliked.

On the other hand, I also found it difficult to deal with the men who approached me directly with an attitude of flattery.

If I am allowed to take about my greedy desire, I want to be with someone always calm, unimpulsive, quick-witted, makes good judgments, and on top of that, possess qualities that I lack.

“…Princess’s taste is difficult, isn’t it?”

The one who says that with a sigh was my loyal maid, Tae.

You asked about my taste in men and I just answered honestly, so why are you so astonished?

“But I’m sure that someday, a gentleman deserving of the Princess will appear.”

Though I won’t mind even if he never appears.