Chapter 115

Now, what could be happening at the base of this valley? We were here to find out…

“There doesn’t seem to be anything here.”

“No figures as far as I can see.”

We were getting further from the hang bridge, but nothing really caught our eyes.

This valley cut diagonally through the land between Replant and the craggy rocks. Even the hang bridge where we arrived at was set up diagonally. Looking forward at the southern rocky area, it started from the back on the left and came up front to the right. Or you could say it slashed through the earth from the southeast to the northwest.

And we were here to investigate the base due to sightings of eerie shadows, but there was not even a hint of it that we could find. What did this mean? Where did these shadows go?

“Why don’t we just go down there and look?”

“It will be dangerous…but it seems we have no choice…Asagi, go slowly.”

“Understood.”

I adjusted Legs of the Forest Wolf and started to descend. As the floor of the valley came closer, we could see it much clearer.

“Ah.”

“Hm? What?”

Daniela raised her voice and pointed, and so I stopped in the air. I stare hard at where she is pointing …But, I can’t see anything.

“You cannot see? Look, there is a footprint.”

“Really?”

I tried hard to see it, but could not make anything out. And it was kind of dark as well.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, we could get closer…”

Daniela sighed, and I felt a little bad as we moved closer. I continued to squint and also scan the area with Presence Detection. When we were three meters away, I finally saw it.

“See, can you see it?”

“…”

There was a single footprint that was mostly covered in the shadow of a rock. How the hell was I supposed to see that!

“Sort of.”

“Truly? Well, in time.”

“How many years, I wonder…”

“Hey, we will not talk about that here.”

Daniela scowled and poked me in the throat. It was oddly irritating and I didn’t appreciate it.

We landed next to the footprint. It was much easier to see from this angle and distance. Daniela knelt down and began to inspect it.

“Hm…Asagi, look at this.”

“What?”

“This is not the print of a boot. A barefoot.”

“I can see that.”

As far as I could see, it was pressed hard into the ground before twisting to the left. The toes may have slipped in the ground, obscuring the shape, but it was clearly not the shape of a shoe. And there was something that looked like a big toe. This appeared to be a right foot.

“And look at this.”

“Hm? …Is this, a hand?”

There was what looked like a handprint slightly apart from the footprint. This…

“So, someone slipped here. The mist is very thick, after all. Perhaps they bumped into this boulder.”

“And that’s why their foot dug into the ground as they tried to catch themselves with their hand?”

“That is likely…”

Daniela said as she continued to look around. But it seemed that she didn’t find what she was looking for, and so she stood up and brushed the dust off of her knees.

“Barefooted and walks on two feet. A humanoid. It seems that this must be the figure that the merchant saw from the bridge.”

“Yeah. But who would be down in a place like this… Were they headed over there?”

The footprint and handprint were pointing towards the northeast. In other words, there must be something in that direction.

“Let us go then. Prepare your sword, just in case.”

“Understood. I don’t know if there’s enough space for my greatsword though…”

I put Schwarz Tempest back into the hollow bag and unsheathed the Glampanzer, that hung on my belt. It had a comfortable weight that I was accustomed to. I’m sure my raised stats helped also. Now, if only my skill with it had gone up too.

Daniela unsheathed her rapier and we nodded at each other before moving forward.

□ □ □ □

“If only I had Nighteyes…”

I smirked as Daniela grumbled. She was not able to acquire this skill because of Fresh Green Eye, which was a different skill that affected eyesight. And so I stood in the lead as we explored.

I feel like we’ve moved quite a bit since discovering the footprint. Partway, the valley split into two sides. One side led to the southeast, and the other turned to the right and continued south. Looking up, you could see that the path to the south was eventually covered by earth. Maybe it was a path made by wind and rain over time…

I talked about it with Daniela, and we decided to continue, and then turn back after a while if no more footprints were discovered. First, we would go down the southeast path. After half an hour of walking, we had still not found any footprints or traces of something being dropped. I felt like there may be something if we continued just a little further, but Daniela insisted we turn back and try the route to the south.

The south path was very dark, and the ceiling came down lower until it was as low as three meters. Until the ceiling had come down so low, it had been difficult to walk due to all the fallen trees and boulders, but the path became shockingly smooth after that. Just as I was starting to wonder about this, Daniela called to me with an alert expression.

“This path, does it not seem familiar?”

“Huh?”

“Remember, the mines that we entered together. The depths.”

“…Ah!”

The mines we descended into in Spiris. Deep down, there was a maze-like dungeon created by monsters called hole moles.

I looked at the walls again. And think back to those mines. And yes, these walls looked familiar, like they too had been carved by something. I had not noticed it until it was pointed out, but now it seemed obvious. This was a cave carved and dug by hole moles.

“So, they’re the ones who dug this…? Wait, Daniela, but that footprint and handprint looked human.”

“Aye, this cave was likely dug by hole moles. But that may not be who is using this cave. Just like it was the last time.”

“…You mean there’s some other abnormally evolved creature down here?”

“I am not sure yet…”

A chill ran down my spine. An advanced monster. There was another one down in this hole?

“We can only hope that it is not the case.”

“Seriously.”

But we had to continue on in order to find proof. I squinted and looked ahead. Daniela spread the effect of Presence Detection. We relied on each other’s strength as we kept moving.

The height of the tunnel remained the same, but it began to twist and wind just like in the mines. However, it was one single path. We would have to be careful of an ambush from both sides. It was difficult to fight when there was nowhere to run. But I left that to Daniela, as I used Nighteyes to search for objects or traces of movement.

Perhaps it was the tenseness or the darkness, but my perception of time was starting to get hazy. And so I don’t know how long it took when we finally found a hole in the side of the wall. Unlike the rest of the tunnel, it was around two meters high. When we looked inside, we could see that it slowly continued upwards.

“Do you think something went up there?”

“Yes, very likely.”

“It seems pretty big for a humanoid. Maybe an orc.”

I mutter.

“Wait, what did you say?”

“Huh? Maybe an orc?”

“…I see…no, wait…hmmm…:”

It seemed that something was bothering her, and she stopped to think. I wanted to ask her what was going through her mind, but was afraid to disperse any ideas as they came together. And so I used Presence Detection in her place and checked to see if anything was close by.

After around five minutes of thinking, Daniela raised her face. There was a ferocious look of triumph in her smile.

“Realize anything, Master Daniela?”

“Aye, young Asagi. Everything.”

“That’s my master.”

Daniela took my bag and pulled out the four barrier tools from it. She placed them behind us, in front of us and then put one in the side tunnel. Then she took the last one and placed it even deeper into the tunnel. Then she pulled out some of the cloth I had bought the other day and laid it on the floor.

“…Well, now that we’re relaxing, I would like to hear your thoughts.”

“In a moment. Let us drink some water. It will be even more relaxing if we drink while talking.”

I wanted to ask if we should really be letting our guard down like this, but I suppose she wouldn’t be doing this without a good reason. She had even taken the lantern out now and was telling me to light it. I did so with a magic igniting tool and she asked, ‘What? You aren’t going to use your magic?’ But I kind of hated using fire magic.

After that, I took out our cup and used magic to pull the moisture out of the air to collect inside of them. The concentration required for this was pretty much the opposite of relaxing…

“Alright, we’re all set up now. Let’s hear it.”

“Aye, very well then. First, about this cave.”

I tipped the cup into my mouth and took a sip; waiting for her to continue.

“This cave is connected to an orc nest.”

“Wh-what?!”

“…But is it really so surprising?”

“No, I just thought you’d enjoy a big reaction.”

“I do not require such consideration.”

“Sorry…”

Daniela took a sip, moistened her lips and continued.

“The handprint and footprint were from an orc. It goes down to the south because that is where its purpose lies.”

“And what is in the south?”

“Do you remember what we talked about at the south gate in Replant?”

I put my cup on the ground and folded my arms.

“About orcs? Ah, a village was attacked around five days ago. In the south…ah…”

“You understand?”

Daniela smirked.

“The orcs came through here to get close to this southern village. That way, they can hide from the eyes of Adventurers. I believe that this tunnel will lead to a place that is close to that village.”

“Right… They were seen one week ago, and then the village was attacked two days later. But weren’t there sightings after that as well?”

“They could be reinforcements…or they were on their way back after the assault.”

We weren’t sure which it was, but it would make sense if the sightings of them were during their return trip.

“Seems a little crafty for orcs, though?”

“Well, that could be where the abnormally evolved being comes in.”

“Ahhh…damn it…”

This hole right here was a road for intelligent orcs then.

“So, what should we do?”

“Let us follow this tunnel to the village. There, we will join the party of Adventurers and together, annihilate the orcs along with their leader.”

Daniela was smiling so viciously because she had already thought of our next move and how it would play out… Well, it would definitely be great to fight alongside the Adventurers, rather than alone. And now that I understood it all, I could not help but have the same smile that Daniela was wearing.