Chapter 73 – The Enemies Lurking in the Mines (highlight)
~
~
Alternating watch during the night, we approached the morning without incident.
After having breakfast and extinguishing the fire, we immediately headed towards the mine.
Inside the completely dark mine, Graham-san carried a torch and led the way. Ah, even though I say it’s a torch, it’s not ignited with a fire, it’s a lamp magic tool.
Almost as if Graham-san had prepared beforehand, though cautious, we advanced without incident through the complicated mine.
I put up my vigilance against the surroundings while following him.
On the way, we were attacked by monsters like Goblins and Orcs, but the scale was small so I easily disposed of them and continued onwards.
I wonder how far have we’ve progressed? I’m not certain, but from my senses, it’s been around two hours?
As we turned a corner of a complicated intersection, I felt something and immediately pulled down Graham-san.
The next moment, something dropped on the location where Graham-san was at just a moment ago with a ‘becha‘ sound.
「Slime…」
Graham-san let out a mutter.
The mucus-like substance squirms around without a form.
Stretched out from the impact of the drop similar to a puddle of water, it eventually gathered up.
Trying to seize its prey which escaped, the Slime’s mucus tentacle extended towards Graham-san.
「Please get down! Flame Arrow!」
Three arrows of flame materialized, and after hitting the Slime, its surroundings gave off an unspeakable stench while roasting the mucus.
The mucus, which was in agony, eventually stopped moving, and finally left a burnt stain on the ground.
「Sure was dangerous… Ya saved me, jou-chan.」
Although a Slime’s offensive ability and mobility are not high, similar to just now, it strikes its prey with surprise attacks, once it uses its own mucus to wrap them up, it uses a powerful acid to dissolve and absorb them.
Also, weapon attacks mostly don’t have any significant effects, and anything other than freezing or burning it is pointless. Although I said freeze, they are different from water; it’s said that since it seems a considerably low temperature is needed, generally, burning it is the best method.
And temporary captured prey gets dissolved alive, which could be called a hellish experience.
「For even Slimes to settle here, it sure is troublesome ne…」
Slimes prefer locations with high humidity and dark places. Because that way, it’s suitable for it to maintain its body, and the darkness suits its surprise attacks. On the contrary, it’s difficult to encounter them in bright places and dry locations.
Since Slimes split up and multiply once they go beyond a certain size, there will be a considerable number of them depending on the location. Since I’m on the subject, Slime’s don’t have a lifespan.
Although I don’t know how many Slimes are in this mine, in the worst case, it’s possible that a considerable number of them are lurking.
Different from other monsters, they have almost no presence because surprise attacks are a standard for them, so they are extremely troublesome monsters.
While looking out for surprise attacks from Slimes on the ceilings, and surprise attacks from monsters around the corner, we continued onwards.
「It’s supposed to be in the open space ahead. The story is once we pass through, the mining spot will be right there.」1
After three hours, judging from my senses, it seems we finally approach our destination.
Carefully, we approached the open space.
And the moment we arrived at the open space, within the area, was…
「……Black Dog…」
With a pitch black appearance, it’s a large dog with a height of almost two meters.
Furthermore, there are over ten of them…
「Oi, why are these guys… I’ve never heard of anythin’ like a group of Black Dogs, ya know!?」
Black dogs are also referred to as Hell Hounds, a monster which spouts fire from their mouths.A single one is ranked A. Generally, it should be difficult to see even a single one, but a group of them are living here for some reason.
Certainly, in this sort of situation, an intermediate leveled adventurer, no, if they are careless, it’s possible that even a party of advanced leveled adventurers will fall behind.
「It’s hopeless, let’s run away! Damn it, even though our goal is right in front of us…!」
Although Graham-san tries to turn back, a growl echoed from the open space.
「……No, it’s impossible. They have already noticed us… Please stay here, Graham-san.」
I took off the rucksack from my back, instructed Graham-san, then headed towards the open space alone.
「Jou-chan!? It’s impossible! There’s still the possibility for escape!」
Although Graham-san cried out, I’m sure that’s too optimistic. Leaving myself aside, it’s impossible to escape with the legs that Graham-san has. (note: he’s a dwarf for, those who forgot)
I am Graham-san’s escort, and as his friend, I must do everything I can.2
With the hilt of my katana in hand, I confronted the group of Hell Hounds.
The Hell Hounds spread out as if in coordination while letting out a growl.
Amongst them, a large one opened its mouth and came leaping over.
「Shi!」
Measuring the timing, I cut off its head with iai. (note: iai is the art of sword drawing)
Strengthened as a sacred treasure, the katana was extremely fast, its head was cut right in half through its tough bones.
The Hell Hound, which had came rushing over, fell to the ground with a plop, without even being able to raise a death cry.
「GROOOOOO!!」
Was it because its comrade was defeated? The one at the front opened its mouth wide.
Flames could be seen inside it.
「Icicle Lance!」
Intermediate sorcery, an ice lance materialized and pierced into the flames just as it was about to be released.
The ice lance shot through the Hell Hound’s head, flew several meters then disappeared.
That’s two of them… But still, there are nearly ten Hell Hounds remaining in the area. And those ones were vigilantly glaring at me, taking up a posture which could attack at any time.
From the front, right, and left, each of them came swooping in.
I instantly stepped under the Hell Hound at the front, cut it down with a sideways sweep, then immediately moved to the next target.
「Earth Spike!」
Timed with the Hell Hounds leaping from the left and right, with my sorcery, several sharp spears of rock popped out from the ground.
The spears of rock skewered the Rock Dogs that were in midair, then returned into the ground.
As expected, did they become cautious after around half of them were killed? The remaining Hell Hounds surrounded me in a fan formation.
「OOOーN!」
When the one in middle cried out, the remaining Hell Hounds simultaneously went into a fire breathing posture.
From the remaining six, they raised a roar and flames came attacking.
「HAA!」
I raised my fighting spirit.
Pouring ki into my katana, I struck the approaching flames in order to cut it down.
In accordance to my thoughts, the flames were cut down by the ki sent from my katana. Was it the remains of the flames? A faint scorching wind blew my hair, but wasn’t able to burn a single strand of it.
Were they bewildered that their flames were erased? The Hell Hounds stopped moving as if they were flustered.
Of course, I didn’t overlook that.
Using ki to strengthen my body, I instantly stepped forward and swung my katana.
The flourishing katana easily cut up the Hell Hounds as if cutting tofu.
With the number of Hell Hounds reduced with every swing, on the sixth swing, the amount of moving targets was already reduced to zero.
I vigilantly looked around the area for a short while, but as there was no movements, I finally relaxed my guard and called Graham-san.
「Fuu… Graham-san, it looks like it’s safe to come out already.」
However… For an A ranked monster, eleven of them in addition too, to easily be defeated by a single adventurer… Wouldn’t it be a good idea to reconsider its rank?
Huh? Or could it be that I’m strong…? To cut them that easily, perhaps sacred treasures are way too amazing…?
「……As expected of the dragon slayer huh… To easily defeat A ranked monsters, who would’ve thought… Furthermore, a single Black Dog is ranked A, ya know? There hasn’t been a report of a group of them until now, in the worst case, a group would be over S rank, ya know? To do that alone na… I got no idea whether jou-chan is too strong, or sacred treasures are too strong, but it was the right decision to bring jou-chan along…」
Aah, I was just thinking about that…
As expected, it’s abnormal to defeat them alone ne…
「N-Now then, our goal is right before us, right? Let’s go quickly! Okay?」
Unable to bear Graham-san’s opinion of me for some reason, I purposely spoke in a loud voice and urged us ahead.
Graham-san didn’t say anything further, but after letting out a large sigh, he chose one of the several tunnels, then proceeded ahead.
The tunnels ahead did not have anything in particular, we smoothly continued onwards while the bats and rats, which had settled here, made a racket.
Turning however many corners, we continued through the winding tunnels and eventually met the end.
「Aight, it’s here… Since I’ll be digging the ores, please make sure not to approach, jou-chan. If a helpless situation arises, let me know with a yell.」
After saying that, Graham-san took out various items from the baggage he was carrying and went into his mining preparations.
I separated a slight ways away then stood guard at the path we came from.
A short time later, kan kan, the sounds of something solid began to echo out.
I stood on the opposite side of the path and continued looking out while listening to that.
It’s been approximately three hours since then.
While having lunch midway, Graham-san continued mining.
Well, even though I say lunch, it’s only preserved food since I can’t prepare food here…
Because the mining sounds eventually stopped, I returned to Graham-san to look.
「Ooh, I’ve gotten quite a bit more than I planned, thanks to you. Wait a little, I’ll quickly tidy up.」
Looking at me who returned, Graham-san laughed with a ‘GAHAHA‘ while in a good mood.
However, beside him, there was a mountain of ores that no matter how you look at it, was too many.
「……Those, are you taking them all back?」
I suppose it couldn’t be helped that I unintentionally asked.
Beside Graham-san, were the ores he dug out piled up like a mountain. No matter how I look at it, it’s an amount that can’t be put into a bag.
However, Graham-san, without an appearance of worrying about it, nonchalantly crammed them into a bag.
……Is that bag a magic tool, I wonder…?
The ores were tossed in clearly beyond its maximum capacity.
The ores that were piled up decreased before my eyes. But…
「……Say, does jou-chan’s bag have room to spare?」
He stared towards me with pitiful eyes.
「Well, I have a little bit of room but… You dug too many, you know…」
I let out a sigh and lowered my rucksack.
With the mining completed, we cautiously, yet quickly, walked towards the exit.
On the way, we encountered Goblins and Orcs several times, but I cleared them without any problems and continued.
And thus, when we finally reached the exit, the sun had already set.
Well, the days are short during the current season and we are on a mountain after all ne. It’s inevitable that the days are short.
We decided to also camp at the cave we camped at last night.
Preparing the same way we did last time, we passed through the night without incident.
The next day, we descended the mountain underneath the morning sun.
Without being attacked by any beasts on our way back, we smoothly arrived at the town by the foot of the mountain just before noon.
Staying overnight at the town, we travelled towards the Royal Capital after washing away the fatigue from the morning.
After five days, we returned to the Royal Capital.
「Thanks a lot. It seems I’ll manage one way or another thanks to jou-chan. After this, I’ll enter the competition for creating works. Ya really saved me.」
Kindly receiving his gratitude, I left Graham-san’s store and went to report to the Adventurers’ Guild.
Receiving the reward from the guild, after doing some shopping, I returned to my home after a long absence.
「Nya~.」
Just as I opened the front door, I was met with Eru’s greeting.
Eru has her own personal entryway, and because Eru was originally a stray, I didn’t have to worry about a place for her to sleep, but only requested Chiffon-san to take care of her meals.
Was it because it’s been a long time? She started coiling excessively around my feet.
「Yes yes, I’m back, Eru. Please wait a little longer for food ne. ……Wait, you’re surprising dirty ne… Well, since it’s been close to half a month since you’ve taken a bath, it can’t be helped huh… This is perfect. I’ll prepare now so let’s enter the bath together.」
「Ni~.」
「That’s no good. Otherwise, you’ll do without food, you know? Now, I’ll be putting my things away and doing the preparations, so separate a little from me, please. Aah, even if you run, you won’t get any food, okay?」
「Ni~.」
While laughing a little at her reluctant meow, I realized that I have returned home.
Chapter 73 – The Enemies Lurking in the Mines (highlight)
~
~
Alternating watch during the night, we approached the morning without incident.
After having breakfast and extinguishing the fire, we immediately headed towards the mine.
Inside the completely dark mine, Graham-san carried a torch and led the way. Ah, even though I say it’s a torch, it’s not ignited with a fire, it’s a lamp magic tool.
Almost as if Graham-san had prepared beforehand, though cautious, we advanced without incident through the complicated mine.
I put up my vigilance against the surroundings while following him.
On the way, we were attacked by monsters like Goblins and Orcs, but the scale was small so I easily disposed of them and continued onwards.
I wonder how far have we’ve progressed? I’m not certain, but from my senses, it’s been around two hours?
As we turned a corner of a complicated intersection, I felt something and immediately pulled down Graham-san.
The next moment, something dropped on the location where Graham-san was at just a moment ago with a ‘becha‘ sound.
「Slime…」
Graham-san let out a mutter.
The mucus-like substance squirms around without a form.
Stretched out from the impact of the drop similar to a puddle of water, it eventually gathered up.
Trying to seize its prey which escaped, the Slime’s mucus tentacle extended towards Graham-san.
「Please get down! Flame Arrow!」
Three arrows of flame materialized, and after hitting the Slime, its surroundings gave off an unspeakable stench while roasting the mucus.
The mucus, which was in agony, eventually stopped moving, and finally left a burnt stain on the ground.
「Sure was dangerous… Ya saved me, jou-chan.」
Although a Slime’s offensive ability and mobility are not high, similar to just now, it strikes its prey with surprise attacks, once it uses its own mucus to wrap them up, it uses a powerful acid to dissolve and absorb them.
Also, weapon attacks mostly don’t have any significant effects, and anything other than freezing or burning it is pointless. Although I said freeze, they are different from water; it’s said that since it seems a considerably low temperature is needed, generally, burning it is the best method.
And temporary captured prey gets dissolved alive, which could be called a hellish experience.
「For even Slimes to settle here, it sure is troublesome ne…」
Slimes prefer locations with high humidity and dark places. Because that way, it’s suitable for it to maintain its body, and the darkness suits its surprise attacks. On the contrary, it’s difficult to encounter them in bright places and dry locations.
Since Slimes split up and multiply once they go beyond a certain size, there will be a considerable number of them depending on the location. Since I’m on the subject, Slime’s don’t have a lifespan.
Although I don’t know how many Slimes are in this mine, in the worst case, it’s possible that a considerable number of them are lurking.
Different from other monsters, they have almost no presence because surprise attacks are a standard for them, so they are extremely troublesome monsters.
While looking out for surprise attacks from Slimes on the ceilings, and surprise attacks from monsters around the corner, we continued onwards.
「It’s supposed to be in the open space ahead. The story is once we pass through, the mining spot will be right there.」1
After three hours, judging from my senses, it seems we finally approach our destination.
Carefully, we approached the open space.
And the moment we arrived at the open space, within the area, was…
「……Black Dog…」
With a pitch black appearance, it’s a large dog with a height of almost two meters.
Furthermore, there are over ten of them…
「Oi, why are these guys… I’ve never heard of anythin’ like a group of Black Dogs, ya know!?」
Black dogs are also referred to as Hell Hounds, a monster which spouts fire from their mouths.A single one is ranked A. Generally, it should be difficult to see even a single one, but a group of them are living here for some reason.
Certainly, in this sort of situation, an intermediate leveled adventurer, no, if they are careless, it’s possible that even a party of advanced leveled adventurers will fall behind.
「It’s hopeless, let’s run away! Damn it, even though our goal is right in front of us…!」
Although Graham-san tries to turn back, a growl echoed from the open space.
「……No, it’s impossible. They have already noticed us… Please stay here, Graham-san.」
I took off the rucksack from my back, instructed Graham-san, then headed towards the open space alone.
「Jou-chan!? It’s impossible! There’s still the possibility for escape!」
Although Graham-san cried out, I’m sure that’s too optimistic. Leaving myself aside, it’s impossible to escape with the legs that Graham-san has. (note: he’s a dwarf for, those who forgot)
I am Graham-san’s escort, and as his friend, I must do everything I can.2
With the hilt of my katana in hand, I confronted the group of Hell Hounds.
The Hell Hounds spread out as if in coordination while letting out a growl.
Amongst them, a large one opened its mouth and came leaping over.
「Shi!」
Measuring the timing, I cut off its head with iai. (note: iai is the art of sword drawing)
Strengthened as a sacred treasure, the katana was extremely fast, its head was cut right in half through its tough bones.
The Hell Hound, which had came rushing over, fell to the ground with a plop, without even being able to raise a death cry.
「GROOOOOO!!」
Was it because its comrade was defeated? The one at the front opened its mouth wide.
Flames could be seen inside it.
「Icicle Lance!」
Intermediate sorcery, an ice lance materialized and pierced into the flames just as it was about to be released.
The ice lance shot through the Hell Hound’s head, flew several meters then disappeared.
That’s two of them… But still, there are nearly ten Hell Hounds remaining in the area. And those ones were vigilantly glaring at me, taking up a posture which could attack at any time.
From the front, right, and left, each of them came swooping in.
I instantly stepped under the Hell Hound at the front, cut it down with a sideways sweep, then immediately moved to the next target.
「Earth Spike!」
Timed with the Hell Hounds leaping from the left and right, with my sorcery, several sharp spears of rock popped out from the ground.
The spears of rock skewered the Rock Dogs that were in midair, then returned into the ground.
As expected, did they become cautious after around half of them were killed? The remaining Hell Hounds surrounded me in a fan formation.
「OOOーN!」
When the one in middle cried out, the remaining Hell Hounds simultaneously went into a fire breathing posture.
From the remaining six, they raised a roar and flames came attacking.
「HAA!」
I raised my fighting spirit.
Pouring ki into my katana, I struck the approaching flames in order to cut it down.
In accordance to my thoughts, the flames were cut down by the ki sent from my katana. Was it the remains of the flames? A faint scorching wind blew my hair, but wasn’t able to burn a single strand of it.
Were they bewildered that their flames were erased? The Hell Hounds stopped moving as if they were flustered.
Of course, I didn’t overlook that.
Using ki to strengthen my body, I instantly stepped forward and swung my katana.
The flourishing katana easily cut up the Hell Hounds as if cutting tofu.
With the number of Hell Hounds reduced with every swing, on the sixth swing, the amount of moving targets was already reduced to zero.
I vigilantly looked around the area for a short while, but as there was no movements, I finally relaxed my guard and called Graham-san.
「Fuu… Graham-san, it looks like it’s safe to come out already.」
However… For an A ranked monster, eleven of them in addition too, to easily be defeated by a single adventurer… Wouldn’t it be a good idea to reconsider its rank?
Huh? Or could it be that I’m strong…? To cut them that easily, perhaps sacred treasures are way too amazing…?
「……As expected of the dragon slayer huh… To easily defeat A ranked monsters, who would’ve thought… Furthermore, a single Black Dog is ranked A, ya know? There hasn’t been a report of a group of them until now, in the worst case, a group would be over S rank, ya know? To do that alone na… I got no idea whether jou-chan is too strong, or sacred treasures are too strong, but it was the right decision to bring jou-chan along…」
Aah, I was just thinking about that…
As expected, it’s abnormal to defeat them alone ne…
「N-Now then, our goal is right before us, right? Let’s go quickly! Okay?」
Unable to bear Graham-san’s opinion of me for some reason, I purposely spoke in a loud voice and urged us ahead.
Graham-san didn’t say anything further, but after letting out a large sigh, he chose one of the several tunnels, then proceeded ahead.
The tunnels ahead did not have anything in particular, we smoothly continued onwards while the bats and rats, which had settled here, made a racket.
Turning however many corners, we continued through the winding tunnels and eventually met the end.
「Aight, it’s here… Since I’ll be digging the ores, please make sure not to approach, jou-chan. If a helpless situation arises, let me know with a yell.」
After saying that, Graham-san took out various items from the baggage he was carrying and went into his mining preparations.
I separated a slight ways away then stood guard at the path we came from.
A short time later, kan kan, the sounds of something solid began to echo out.
I stood on the opposite side of the path and continued looking out while listening to that.
It’s been approximately three hours since then.
While having lunch midway, Graham-san continued mining.
Well, even though I say lunch, it’s only preserved food since I can’t prepare food here…
Because the mining sounds eventually stopped, I returned to Graham-san to look.
「Ooh, I’ve gotten quite a bit more than I planned, thanks to you. Wait a little, I’ll quickly tidy up.」
Looking at me who returned, Graham-san laughed with a ‘GAHAHA‘ while in a good mood.
However, beside him, there was a mountain of ores that no matter how you look at it, was too many.
「……Those, are you taking them all back?」
I suppose it couldn’t be helped that I unintentionally asked.
Beside Graham-san, were the ores he dug out piled up like a mountain. No matter how I look at it, it’s an amount that can’t be put into a bag.
However, Graham-san, without an appearance of worrying about it, nonchalantly crammed them into a bag.
……Is that bag a magic tool, I wonder…?
The ores were tossed in clearly beyond its maximum capacity.
The ores that were piled up decreased before my eyes. But…
「……Say, does jou-chan’s bag have room to spare?」
He stared towards me with pitiful eyes.
「Well, I have a little bit of room but… You dug too many, you know…」
I let out a sigh and lowered my rucksack.
With the mining completed, we cautiously, yet quickly, walked towards the exit.
On the way, we encountered Goblins and Orcs several times, but I cleared them without any problems and continued.
And thus, when we finally reached the exit, the sun had already set.
Well, the days are short during the current season and we are on a mountain after all ne. It’s inevitable that the days are short.
We decided to also camp at the cave we camped at last night.
Preparing the same way we did last time, we passed through the night without incident.
The next day, we descended the mountain underneath the morning sun.
Without being attacked by any beasts on our way back, we smoothly arrived at the town by the foot of the mountain just before noon.
Staying overnight at the town, we travelled towards the Royal Capital after washing away the fatigue from the morning.
After five days, we returned to the Royal Capital.
「Thanks a lot. It seems I’ll manage one way or another thanks to jou-chan. After this, I’ll enter the competition for creating works. Ya really saved me.」
Kindly receiving his gratitude, I left Graham-san’s store and went to report to the Adventurers’ Guild.
Receiving the reward from the guild, after doing some shopping, I returned to my home after a long absence.
「Nya~.」
Just as I opened the front door, I was met with Eru’s greeting.
Eru has her own personal entryway, and because Eru was originally a stray, I didn’t have to worry about a place for her to sleep, but only requested Chiffon-san to take care of her meals.
Was it because it’s been a long time? She started coiling excessively around my feet.
「Yes yes, I’m back, Eru. Please wait a little longer for food ne. ……Wait, you’re surprising dirty ne… Well, since it’s been close to half a month since you’ve taken a bath, it can’t be helped huh… This is perfect. I’ll prepare now so let’s enter the bath together.」
「Ni~.」
「That’s no good. Otherwise, you’ll do without food, you know? Now, I’ll be putting my things away and doing the preparations, so separate a little from me, please. Aah, even if you run, you won’t get any food, okay?」
「Ni~.」
While laughing a little at her reluctant meow, I realized that I have returned home.
