Chapter 238: The Probably Sacred Thing in the Sacred Land
“That is the holy land…”
Having continued our journey, we finally arrived at the holy land, the final destination of the pilgrimage.
“W-We finally arrived… I don’t have to be chased by monsters anymore…”
Looking back, Tracy-san was on her hands and knees, bowing deeply toward the holy land.
I see, as someone who serves the gods, the holy land—the most sacred of places—is special, after all. She must be deeply moved.
“Yeah, you did great, you did really great.”
“Yeah, I’ve got a whole new respect for you.”
“You really did your best… It’s quite impressive.”
Everyone was praising Tracy-san, who was overwhelmed with emotion.
“Even so…”
Returning our gaze to the holy land, we were drawn to its mysterious structure.
“A huge pillar of earth.”
Just as Meguri-san said, the holy land was a giant cylinder made of earth situated on the plains.
However, its width was roughly the size of a small town, and its height was equally massive.
And, as if tracing the outer circumference of the cylinder, a spiral slope was carved into it.
“What a mysterious shape.”
“It doesn’t look like it formed naturally. Someone must have intentionally made it that shape.”
As everyone said, that wasn’t created by nature.
But that shape… I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before…
“Well then, shall we head into the holy land?”
” ” ” ” Ooooh!! ” ” ” “
“Kyufun!”
Arriving at the entrance of the outer slope leading up the holy land, there were the figures of several armed knights who appeared to be gatekeepers.
However, what was strange was that they were all women.
“This is the holy land. Those without permission may not enter. If you have no business here, leave.”
“If you’re lost, just head straight that way and you’ll reach a village.”
It seems the knights mistook us for lost travelers.
“No, we are participants in the pilgrimage ritual. We request permission to enter the holy land.”
When Tracy-san announced that we were participants in the pilgrimage, for some reason, the knights raised voices of surprise.
“Participants in the pilgrimage!? You’re here already!?”
“Isn’t it too early!? The preparations shouldn’t be finished yet!?”
” ” ” ” ” ” ” Preparations? ” ” ” ” ” ” “
“Kyufun?”
What do they mean by preparations?
No, more importantly…
“Um, what do you mean by ‘too early’? The other participants should have already arrived, though.”
Right, in the end, we never encountered any participants other than the ones we met at the very beginning.
So the other participants should have reached the holy land long ago.
“No, no one else has come yet. You guys are the first arrivals.”
” ” ” ” ” ” Eeeeeh!? ” ” ” ” ” “
We’re the first arrivals!?
Exactly when did the rankings switch!?
“I thought it was weird that we weren’t catching up no matter how much time passed~.”
“So we really did overtake them somewhere.”
“I had a feeling that was the case.”
However, Liliera-san, Mina-san, and Meguri-san seemed to have somewhat predicted this and didn’t look very surprised. You guys noticed!?
“But exactly when did we overtake them?”
Hmm, we didn’t see them in the other towns or villages…
Ah, could it be they found some incredibly important trouble and were fully occupied with it!?
And to avoid causing damage to the town, they might have been fighting outside.
Thinking about it that way, it all adds up…
“It seems we were quite lucky.”
Thanks to falling behind the other participants, we managed to avoid encountering any troublesome problems. It’s truly a blessing in disguise!
“Hmm, I’m getting the feeling of a blatant misunderstanding here.”
“It’s the usual that…”
“Eh? What’s that?”
“U-Umm, so, well, we would like permission to enter the holy land…”
“A-Ah. Understood. If you’re participants in the pilgrimage, we have no choice but to let you in.”
When Tracy-san asked, the knights opened the way and accepted us.
“Then let’s go, everyone!”
“Yeah!”
Jairo-kun energetically replied to Tracy-san’s call and dashed onto the outer slope, wanting to be first.
We followed after him, but the moment I stepped onto the outer slope, I felt something off about the air of the holy land.
“Hm?”
Is this… a barrier that repels those with malicious intent?
But its effect is quite weak. With this, wouldn’t anyone be able to force their way in if they tried?
“Do your best out there~!”
“Don’t get hurt~!”
As we climbed the outer slope, we could hear the knights cheering for us.
“Thank you very much!”
Yeah, they’re good people.
Alright, let’s fire ourselves up and take this on!
“Heh, so this is inside the holy land.”
Having finished climbing the outer slope, we arrived at the top of the cylindrical holy land.
“There are a lot of large buildings.”
Just as Liliera-san said, many large buildings were built atop the holy land… but.
“Huh? That building…”
“What’s wrong, Rakushi-san?”
“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”
I feel like I’ve seen this building somewhere before.
While I was thinking that, people who looked like female priests appeared from a nearby building and hurried toward another one.
“Excuse me~, we’re participants in the pilgrimage, but where should we go to complete the pilgrimage~?”
“Heh!?”
When Tracy-san called out to them, the priests she addressed initially looked at us with blank expressions, but quickly turned into panicked looks.
“Eeeh!? Participants in the pilgrimage!?”
“T-Too early! The booting up of the trial hasn’t finished yet!?”
” ” ” ” ” ” ” Booting up of the trial? ” ” ” ” ” ” “
Come to think of it, those knights earlier also said something about preparations not being ready.
“Ah— no, um, you see. The final trial undertaken in the holy land isn’t solving a resident’s trouble, but something conducted in a special facility.”
“Heeh, is that so.”
A special facility, huh. Do we perform some sort of ritual in a place like a temple?
“However, since the facility hasn’t booted up yet, you can’t undertake the trial…”
“Is that so?”
“Actually, the trial facility takes time to start up. Normally, there’s a gap before the participants of the pilgrimage arrive, so we planned to boot it up during that time, but this year it’s taking an especially long time…”
“That’s troubling.”
It takes time to start up, huh.
I feel like we broke our backs rushing here for nothing.
“We sincerely apologize. There’s nothing we can do about this ourselves, so…”
The priests bowed their heads apologetically.
“No, please don’t worry about it. The things in the holy land are bestowed upon us by the gods. Whether it moves or not is also up to the will of the gods.”
“It helps us greatly to have you say that.”
I see, if it’s something given by the gods, then there must be some meaning behind it being slow to move.
The intentions of the gods, beyond human comprehension—I wonder what on earth they’re thinking.
“To have arrived at the holy land this early, didn’t you push yourselves quite hard?
It will still be a while before the trial boots up, so please take your time resting and recovering your vitality until then. Resting is also a necessary part of a journey, after all.”
And so, the priests suggested we rest our bodies in the holy land until the trial facility started up.
“It may not be much of an apology, but we will prepare accommodations for you, so please feel free to sightsee around the holy land until then. There are guards at the places you aren’t allowed to enter, so please be careful not to go into those areas.”
We looked at each other and discussed what to do.
“Isn’t it fine? If the trial isn’t moving, we can’t do anything anyway.”
“Right, besides, it’s better to let Tracy rest. She just experienced that, so more than her stamina and magic power, her mental exhaustion is…”
Liliera-san and the others suggested it would be best to let Tracy-san rest.
I see, certainly, if we’re taking a trial, it’s better to be in perfect condition.
This kind of consideration is definitely something only women possess. As a fake girl, it didn’t immediately come to mind.
We agreed with the idea, and Tracy-san also accepted the need to rest.
“Understood. Then we will gladly accept your kind offer.”
“Please enjoy the holy land until our staff comes to call for you.”
“Then, taking them up on their offer, shall we look around the holy land? What will you do, Tracy-san? Do you want to rest somewhere?”
“No, I want to tour the holy land too. If I rest halfway, I feel like I’ll just fall asleep.”
“Understood. Shall we go, then?”
Deciding to look around the holy land, we were surprised by its unexpected size.
“I thought it looked big from the outside, but actually coming inside, it really is spacious.”
Indeed, the inside of the holy land was about the size of a small town.
“But I thought the holy land would be a much more sacred-feeling place with nothing but a temple, yet there are surprisingly a lot of buildings.”
True, rather than a land for rituals, it feels more like a district of a town.
“But it’s full of large buildings, so it doesn’t really feel like a town.”
Yeah, there are definitely more large, cathedral-like buildings than a residential area.
It certainly doesn’t feel like a residential district where people live.
“Hey, hey, let’s go inside. If there are no guards, we’re allowed in, right?”
Getting bored just looking from the outside, Jairo-kun suggested we go in.
“Right, since we have the chance, let’s take a look inside.”
Everyone nodded at Jairo-kun’s suggestion.
“Since it’s the holy land, there might be treasure!”
“Meguri-san, you must not say such things in the holy land!”
“That’s right! You’ll incur punishment from the gods!”
And so, Norb-san and Tracy-san began lecturing Meguri-san, who had accidentally let that slip.
“Ugh, careless…”
Chatting like that, we entered a nearby building. A reception counter was waiting at the entrance, and passing through it, we headed deeper inside.
“What’s that?”
“Oh, there’s a huge painting displayed!”
“There are things like crafts on display too. Are they local specialties from around here?”
Everyone looked around the building with deep interest.
“Hm? What’s this?”
Meguri-san, who had opened a door leading to a back room, tilted her head.
Piqued by her words, we also looked inside, and saw a room stretching out with various large and small square holes opened in the floor.
“What is this place? There are shallow holes in the floor?”
“And mirrors on the wall, and strange iron… wall hangings? Are those?”
Where Tracy-san pointed, there were small round chairs and mirrors, and above and below each were curved metal tubes and flower-like lumps of metal.
“If there’s a mirror, is it a vanity? It’s pretty low to the ground for that, isn’t it?”
“Since it’s a facility in the holy land, maybe ancient vanities? Or a place to prepare for some kind of religious ritual?”
Everyone was guessing the purpose of the surrounding equipment like that, but I knew those speculations were wrong.
“Oh, there are lots of holes in the garden outside the window too~”
“You’re right. Unlike inside, the holes outside are irregular in shape. That looks almost like a pond in a noble’s mansion.”
Seeing the pond-like holes outside the room that Jairo-kun and the others found, I became convinced my prediction was correct.
But why is a facility like this in the holy land…?
“But this is perfect timing. I’m going to rest a little bit.”
Saying that, Tracy-san sat down on a small chair nearby and let out a deep sigh.
“Ah— it’s a bit small, but I’m grateful to be able to sit on a chair.”
It seems Tracy-san was more exhausted than expected.
Hmm, this might actually be perfect.
Relying on memories from my previous life, I investigated the inside of the facility and found the room I was looking for without taking much time.
“Ah, here it is. Just as I thought, considering the equipment layout, these facilities all seem to have similar structures.”
I opened the maintenance door of the equipment installed in the room and illuminated the inside with a magic light to check.
“Yep, this part had gone bad. Breakdowns in this type of magic item are usually caused by this spot. And… this part has degraded too. But this one here is fine. Yeah, they’re using good materials.”
I swapped out the broken components by processing some monster materials I had on hand, and immediately operated the facility to test it.
“Alright, fixing the wiring reconnected the power. Now, if I press this switch and open this valve…”
After a short moment, a rumbling vibration echoed, followed by the sound of Gobo! Gobobo!!
“Uwaa, what is this!?”
As I returned to where everyone was, I heard Liliera-san and the others panicking.
Returning to the room, it had transformed into a space completely enveloped in steam.
“Uoo!? Water is coming out of those holes!”
“Over here too! From this hole, water… no, hot water is coming out!”
Just as Jairo-kun was surprised by, a massive amount of hot water poured out from beside the evenly dug holes, filling them up.
“Yeah, looks like everything is working.”
“Rakushi-san!? Did you do this!?”
Before I could answer the question, a different group of female priests from the ones earlier rushed into the room.
“What’s going on!?”
And upon seeing the inside of the room, the priests raised voices of astonishment at the sight.
“Wh-What on earth is this!?”
Ah, come to think of it, this means I messed with the holy land’s facilities without permission.
Crap, I should have checked if it was okay to fix it first.
“Sorry, part of the facility was broken, so I just went ahead and fixed it.”
” ” “You fixed it!?” ” ” “
“Yes, the wiring in the control room and some of the devices were old and degraded, so I swapped out the parts using materials I had on hand and repaired them.”
“Haaa…!?”
“Um, sorry for fixing it without asking. I wanted to use it to let my friends rest.”
“Rest? In this hot water?”
“Yes, I thought I’d fix the bathing facility here so they could soothe their fatigue.”
” ” ” ” ” ” ” Bathing facility!? ” ” ” ” ” ” “
Yes, this room was a bathing facility.
The numerous holes in the room were bathtubs for hot water.
And the places with the low chairs, mirrors, and metal tubes coming out of the walls were the washing areas.
The pond outside the room was an open-air bath.
“Yes. It’s a bath.”
” ” ” ” ” ” ” A bath!? ” ” ” ” ” ” “
“By bath, you mean that bath? The thing nobles get into?”
“Yes, that thing. However, this is a public bathhouse, different from the baths nobles use.”
“A public bathhouse!?”
“Yes, it’s a bath where everyone goes in together.”
That’s right, this was a public bathhouse, a “Super Sento,” just like the ones I used to visit occasionally two lives ago.
“Together!?”
Being told “together,” Liliera-san and the others flushed red and looked back and forth between themselves and us guys.
“Ah, no, separated by gender, of course.”
“R-Right, of course…”
Liliera-san let out a sigh of relief with a visibly comforted face.
Yeah, even in my era, baths were separated by gender.
In the really ancient times when people didn’t care much about gender differences, it seems that wasn’t the case, but well, I’ll keep that to myself. It would just cause unnecessary confusion.
“Unbelievable, all of these are baths!?”
The priests stared wide-eyed at the bathtubs, which were still filling with hot water.
“To fill this many tubs with hot water, just how much firewood would be needed?”
It seems they were worried about the firewood consumption required to use the bathing facility.
“No, the hot water here is boiled using magic items, and natural hot spring water pumped from deep underground, so no firewood is needed.”
“No firewood is needed!?”
“Amazing, a bath that doesn’t need firewood.”
“And if it uses magic items, a mage doesn’t have to boil the water with magic every single time…?”
The priests looked around the bathtubs with immense curiosity.
“Hm? You there, bubbles are coming out of that bath, is it okay? Isn’t it broken?”
One of the priests pointed at a bubbling bathtub and asked if it was broken.
“That’s a Bubble Bath, a bath that produces bubbles. The bubbles have a relaxing and massaging effect.”
“Heeh, so bubbles have an effect like that.”
“Um, hot water is shooting out of that one with incredible force, you know? Surely that one is broken?”
Another priest pointed at a small bathtub where water was swirling intensely.
“That’s a Hydro Bath. It’s a bath intended to massage your back by hitting it with a strong stream of water.”
“A massage in the bath…”
“There’s also one that relieves stiffness with weak electricity, and a carbonated spring that’s good for beauty.”
” ” ” ” ” Details!! ” ” ” ” “
“Uwa!?”
Suddenly, the women in the room closed in on me with terrifying intensity.
“How are you supposed to get into a bath that’s good for beauty!?”
“Are there any other baths that are good for beauty!?”
Everyone’s eyes had gone past serious and were just scary.
“U-Umm, you just get in normally. If you operate the washing areas over there, hot water will come out, so first you wash your body clean there, and then you can get into the tubs without dirtying the water. Also, the bathtubs outside are natural hot springs pumped from deep underground, so the components of the water itself have beauty effects. Furthermore, the devices pumping the water seem to be equipped with magic items that have beauty effects like removing blemishes and relieving swelling.”
” ” ” ” ” Let’s get in immediately!! ” ” ” ” “
With literal unanimous enthusiasm, everyone declared they were getting into the bath.
Well, I fixed it with that intention from the start, though.
“Yes, yes, if the magic items are fixed, we have to test their effects, right?”
“Right, we need to confirm it, all of them!”
“Nn, going to thoroughly check if they’re fixed!”
“Umu, for that purpose as well, many people need to use them and verify the effects. It won’t do if the effects vary from person to person.”
“I-I’ll help too!”
“Me too!”
“I will help as well!”
Um, I don’t think you guys need to take a bath that seriously, right?
