Chapter 111 - Third Floor — Endless Forest (3)

The Third Floor's base camp.

Grove City.

Its structure was very similar to the First Floor's Main Base.

The difference being that here, most things were made of wood.

"All of that..."

"Yes. Magic trees."

While the First Floor could directly source raw materials from the city, just transportation costs to the Third Floor are enormous.

So naturally, Explorers chose to source materials directly from the Third Floor.

They processed the Third Floor's magic trees, which were no different from monsters, into lumber.

"Even magic trees become like normal wood once cut down and properly processed."

The ones who made this possible were the alchemists.

Though mages contributed significantly, they were undoubtedly the main players.

"I heard the Naturalis branch of Golden Intellect was born alongside the Third Floor's pioneering."

As familiar topics came up, Leaf activated teacher mode as if she'd been waiting.

No need to rush, Leaf.

I listened to Leaf's explanation, half proud and half pleased, as we strolled.

Naturalis.

Official branch name Exploratores Naturae, Explorers of Nature.

A branch that turned its research direction toward natural materials, believing alchemy's mysteries were hidden in nature itself rather than artificial experiments.

Some orthodox-leaning branches called them regressive and opposed them.

However, among Golden Intellect's eight branches, they were the second branch to diverge after the foundational first branch, with quite a deep history.

Though an official branch, they were treated as half-heretical and marginalized within Golden Intellect, so many more members make the Third Floor their base than stay in the city.

"You know well."

"Hehe, because my teacher belongs to Golden Intellect."

At Svetlana's praise, Leaf fidgeted with her coat, seemingly now embarrassed.

"That's surprising. Which branch? No need to answer if it's sensitive," Svetlana asked, perhaps trying to gather information as a dispatch worker.

But wasn't this something anyone could find out with a bit of investigation?

Leaf’s teacher wasn’t just anyone.

Costin was a branch head.

While Leaf alone might manage secret meetings or disguise, it would be hard to hide all three of us coming and going.

Leaf seemed to think the same, starting with "Well, that much-"

"I'm from the Elixiristae branch."

"Oh? That dragonkin's?"

"You know my teacher?"

"Teacher? The Chicken Drag—no, Branch Head Balaur's disciple?"

Svetlana caught herself mid-nickname, quickly correcting her mistake.

Indeed, using such a derogatory nickname in front of a disciple would be rude.

While Leaf wasn't the type to make an issue of the slip, Rei beside her straightened up and snorted.

"Hmph, how about that?"

Like you’re one to talk, Rei-Rei.

"This is the first I've heard of Balaur having a disciple. Hmm... this guild is more mysterious than I thought. Perhaps..."

As her suspicious gaze turned toward her, Rei puffed out her chest even more proudly and declared. "No! I'm just an ordinary beast-folk."

"...Seems so."

Leaving Rei protesting "What's that supposed to mean?" behind, I kept walking without stopping.

Well... they'll probably become friends that way.

"Anyway, so neither City Guard nor Union manages this place, but that Naturalis school?"

"Right. They essentially monopolize magic tree processing. But... is it okay to leave them like that?"

"It's fine. They'll handle themselves appropriately."

Surely they wouldn't fight in this situation?

Though Rei sometimes acted childish, she always chose the right time and place.

Not to mention Svetlana, who was thoroughly professional in her role.

"There are more bases scattered between here too."

"Really?"

"Yes. Though this is the largest."

Though smaller than surface cities and even the First Floor's Main Base, I could somewhat understand why Grove City got its name.

Neatly interlocking wooden buildings and cleanly divided districts.

Unlike the forest where trees block light, here they had cleared trees letting light brightly illuminate the city from above.

Mea, who had experience on the Third Floor, continued explaining, "They put up light-blocking screens at night."

"Over the whole city?"

"Yes. It's quite interesting to see. Let's watch tonight."

Even if it was smaller than Main Base, it was still quite large.

Main Base was slightly larger than Res Limen's inner district.

Grove City seemed about half that size.

That was just counting the densely packed city buildings, excluding the scattered workshops and training grounds that appeared to be temporary structures.

Is it really possible to put up screens covering this entire city?

Though nothing seemed impossible considering all the mysteries we had seen and experienced, this was hard to grasp.

"You'll understand when you see it."

"It's quite a spectacle. There are even stars embedded."

At Svetlana's addition, Mea's cheeks puffed up.

"...I was deliberately not mentioning that."

"Ah..."

Spoiler alert.

"Seems it would be spectacular even knowing about it. But I wonder if there are lodgings here too."

"Of course there are. Though expensive, not unbearably so. If all rooms are taken, you can use our guild's base. It's a benefit provided to subsidiary guilds, so don't feel burdened."

Svetlana, as if avoiding Mea's sullen glare, uncharacteristically gave a long answer.

"Then Frontier must have one too."

"...Ours is bigger than theirs."

Oh my, immediately falling for Rei's provocation.

I thought she seemed like a sharp professional, but she had surprisingly childish sides too.

We stood before Grove City's gate with an attitude of “Let's just go in first”.

The gatekeeper had quite a unique appearance, seeming like a creature somewhere between a tree and a human.

The mana feeling from the gatekeeper creature resembled something I knew.

A combination of Abyss mana and the mana possessed by the golem I saw in Golden Intellect's elevator.

"It's a Trent."

"They're golems made by the Naturalis branch. Think of them as wooden golems with artificial life given to magic trees."

As my fascination quickly passed, one question followed.

Why does Naturalis manage the gate?

The First Floor's Main Base, and the Second Floor's Labyrinth Camp classified as E-20.

While Explorers were their pioneers, their managers were clearly the City Guard.

Though at Labyrinth Camp the City Guard only supervised, they were still present.

Both places had City Guard managing their entrances.

Nothing showed who managed a place better than controlling access.

"Does Naturalis directly manage this place?"

"Yes. That's why it's a City."

A designation meant a city granted autonomy.

Looking at size alone, names like Town or Village would be more fitting.

So that's why it's called City.

"Though granted autonomy, it's limited. As long as there's no trouble, they don't pay much attention."

Though the Naturalis branch's influence was impressive, they were just managers.

For actual military power, naturally, guilds like Conquerors or Frontier would...

"In other words, it would be troublesome to get tangled with them. Naturalis branch is stronger than you'd think."

"Strong?" Rei, whose button was pushed, immediately asked.

I, too, was interested in that statement and quietly waited for the answer.

The answer came through Leaf, "The Naturalis branch is the most active in the Abyss among Golden Intellect's eight branches. Even though Golden Intellect treats them as heretics, they remain a branch without major issues partly because their combat power is too valuable—that's what Teacher explained."

"Though not officially acknowledged, so it was true."

Well, it didn't really matter.

Whether Naturalis was strong or not, we were just going to look around Grove City briefly, resupply, and leave right away.

We obediently underwent the Trents' inspection and entered Grove City through very peaceful procedures.

"Wow... feels like home."

Walking through Grove City where wood scent wafted strongly—not just feeling but actually permeated with subtle forest fragrance—Leaf was delighted.

She was so happy she almost bounced while walking.

Though not as much as Leaf, both Rei and I were quite excited too.

While Mea and Svetlana seemed unmoved from familiarity, Rei and I were different.

The freshness of seeing a new city had a heart-pounding power.

However, that pleasant time was brief.

A sharp voice pierced our ears, bringing down the mood, "Oh my? Who do we have here? If it isn't our gre~at Spear Master!"

At those words specifically mocking Svetlana, her neat face wrinkled.

Just as I thought to watch the situation rather than easily intervene without knowing who it was, Mea pulled my collar.

"They're from that side."

"That side?"

Ah, Naturalis branch.

That warning about trouble if we get tangled with them—it was Svetlana's self-confession.