Chapter 240: Night in the Holy Land

“This time, please take a look at this facility!”

After repairing the bathing facility, we were asked by the priests to repair other facilities in the holy land. Since we had free time until the trial preparations were complete, anyway. When I repaired the facilities or explained devices whose purpose and operation were unknown, the priests raised voices of genuine joy. Being appreciated this much makes me happy too.

“Man, you really saved us. After all, it’s difficult to hire new researchers in the holy land,” one of the priests complained about the holy land’s employment situation.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, since it’s the holy land, we can’t just invite careless people in. Furthermore, this is a land bestowed by the gods. In a manner of speaking, every facility in the holy land can safely be called a divine artifact, so permission is not granted for investigations or experiments that might damage them.”

Ah, interference from superiors who hate taking responsibility and authoritarians who put faith above all else. I understand; I had similar experiences in my previous life and the one before that.

“Therefore, your knowledge of how to fix these devices and their purposes is truly a lifesaver. Because you are participants in the pilgrimage, you can enter the holy land without troublesome procedures, and since you possess correct knowledge, the facilities won’t be damaged. No, really, you saved us.”

It seems magic item repair technicians aren’t allowed to enter the holy land either. And from what I’ve seen so far, I can tell these people are basically amateur researchers with only a little knowledge about magic items. The only ones allowed to research the holy land are clergy with verified identities who are permitted entry, and probably only those among them who are the most familiar with magic items can become researchers.

But that doesn’t equate to being an expert. Due to such circumstances, research in the holy land, lacking any proper experts, probably progresses at a snail’s pace. At times like this, the church’s authoritarianism really gets in the way of smooth operations.

“Next, please look at this one!”

While being guided by the priests to the next facility, my eyes were suddenly drawn to something familiar.

“That’s…”

Several devices of similar shape were lined up there.

“What is this?”

“It’s quite large, but I wonder what kind of tool it is?”

Mina-san and the others tilted their heads at the unfamiliar tools.

“Kyufun?”

Fluffy, perhaps curious as well, was hopping up and down on a nearby device.

“Sure is a weird shape. Nor… Norie, what is this? A tool used in the church?”

“Eh? Umm, I don’t know this tool either. Tracy-san, is this something common in the Holy Capital?”

“Heh!? N-No, I don’t know it either.”

Asked by Jairo-kun, Norb-san hurriedly checked with Tracy-san, but Tracy-san also tilted her head, saying she had never seen it. But it can’t be helped. These tools have absolutely nothing to do with the church, after all.

“This is training equipment.”

” ” ” ” ” ” Training equipment? ” ” ” ” ” “

Everyone turned around at my words. Yes, the things installed here were all training equipment.

“That’s right. These devices are training equipment designed to pinpoint and train the areas you want to strengthen. By using this one like this, you train your arm muscles, and by using this one over here like this, you can train muscles around here that you normally don’t use much.”

“Training equipment… to think such tools existed.”

“I’ve never even seen them at the Adventurer’s Guild.”

Tools like this cost money to maintain, so maybe the Adventurer’s Guild, which is full of roughnecks, held off on installing them out of fear they’d be broken and cause a huge headache? Instead, they look like something that would be introduced in a knight order or something.

“These devices had such a purpose!?”

While I was talking with everyone, the priests who had been leading the way returned and joined the conversation.

“Yes, this tool activates when you press here, and tells you the number of times you moved the equipment and the appropriate amount of exercise.”

“My goodness! Then are these magic items too!?”

“Yes, they are.”

“To think, magic items meant for training the body, and all of these are…”

“We had absolutely no idea what they were for…”

The priests raised voices of surprise upon learning the true identity of what they had overlooked. However, I felt a sense of incongruity at the fact that tools for training the body were in the holy land. A bathing facility, and numerous pieces of training equipment. With this, rather than a holy land…

“We have brought your meal!”

” ” ” ” ” ” ” Yaaay! ” ” ” ” ” ” “

Having repaired the holy land’s facilities and magic items, and since it had gotten late, we ended up staying the night just like that. Fortunately, there are many rooms in the holy land that can be used for lodging, and we were allowed to borrow a large room. And while we were relaxing in the room, the priests brought us an incredible feast.

“Uwaa, amazing.”

“This is the holy land’s proud cuisine! Please, enjoy!”

Since the priests recommended the feast with full confidence, we decided to obediently accept their hospitality. It was the literal definition of top-tier hospitality.

” ” ” ” ” ” ” Thanks for the food!! ” ” ” ” ” ” “

“Kyuuu!!”

As we immediately dug into the meal, the flavor of the food spread throughout our mouths.

“Yeah, it’s delicious!”

“Since they said it was church food, I thought it would be something plainer, but it’s surprisingly extravagant!”

Indeed, the holy land’s cuisine wasn’t just vegetables; it was packed with meat, fish, poultry, as well as mushrooms and fruits.

“Plus, they’re using good ingredients. As expected of the holy land, they spend a lot of money on sourcing.”

“I wonder if eating such a luxurious meal is appropriate as someone who serves the gods…”

“Oh!? Nor, Norie, you don’t want yours!? Then give it to me!”

“N-No! Taking someone else’s food is a bad deed!”

When Jairo-kun tried to reach for Norb-san’s meal, Norb-san hurriedly hugged his plate to protect it.

“Eh, but you said a luxurious meal isn’t good, right?”

“No, the food served to us bears no sin. I will take responsibility and eat it.”

“What the heck, you just want to eat it too.”

” ” ” ” ” ” ” Ahahahaha! ” ” ” ” ” ” “

And just like that, the night in the holy land passed by.

“Good morning. We have brought breakfast.”

” ” ” ” ” ” ” Thank you very much. ” ” ” ” ” ” “

Breakfast seemed to be the same training meal for priests eaten in the temples of the Holy Capital, but this too was incredibly delicious.

“Amazing, it’s delicious. It’s completely different from the training meals at our temple. It’s delicious.”

Tracy-san, shocked by the difference in the food situation compared to the Temple of the Chief God, repeated “delicious, delicious” over and over.

“Thanks for the food.”

Having finished the delicious breakfast, we discussed our plans for the day.

“I guess I’ll be checking the facilities with the people of the holy land. Even the ones currently working have a high chance of being degraded.”

“I’m gonna explore the holy land! There are still lots of places we haven’t seen yet!”

“Nn, 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’s lecturing of Meguri-san, who had accidentally let that slip, began once again.

“Ugh, that was careless…”

“I want to try training using that training equipment. And then, maybe I’ll go sweat it off in that bath again.”

“Sounds good. I want to get into that bubble bath too.”

Liliera-san and the others seem to intend to hit the spa again after taking a break.

“Even so, I feel like we’re forgetting something…”

It was when I was thinking that.

“The participants of the pilgrimage have arrived~!”

As the staff members rushed into the facility shouting that, we remembered what we had forgotten.

” ” ” ” ” ” ” Ah, right, we were doing a pilgrimage. ” ” ” ” ” ” “