Chapter 115.1

Chapter 115

It took a little while for Fiona to come back to her senses .

She tried to approach Harold and ask him what this all meant, but of course, Harold was not the one who offered the answer .

【”As you can see, someone has been modifying the tunnels . ”】

【”…Weren’t these reinforcements always here?”】

【”If that was the case, what would have been the point of camouflaging the brick walls?”】

【”Well, that’s . . ”】

In her mind, Fiona was aware that this was undeniably strange, so she did not argue back .

However, that did not mean her line of questioning was over .

【”If not our town, then who did this?”】

【”We have some suspects, but we have yet to find proof or understand their goal, so I’ll abstain from sharing any preemptive conclusions . ”】

‘Yeah, it’s almost definitely Justus though‘ thought Harold as he listened to their conversation, but he kept that to himself, silently proceeding through the tunnels .

After some time, the man holding the lamp stopped walking .

【”It’s here . ”】

This passage did not seem any different from the rest of the mine . There weren’t any forks in the road or any oddities to be seen .

And yet, the man took out a silver wedge from his breast pocket and hammered it into the wall .

【”What is that?”】

【”It is a magic item . If you give it mana, well…”】

As soon as the man said so, the rock wall vanished like it had been torn away .

【”As you can see, it eliminates all magic-induced effects within a precise range . ”】

【”…It seems quite valuable . ”】

【”I happen to know a magic items enthusiast . ”】

The man’s answers were evasive . That was what Fiona seemed to be thinking . However, she did not press him any more than necessary .

As one would expect, she was more curious about what was going on with the tempered tunnels .

A hidden passage had appeared .

At first glance, it seemed to be just a tunnels branch among others, but after walking further ahead, the structure of the passage changed, taking on an appearance that was, without a doubt, man-made .

【”Just what is happening…”】

Seeing this installation, Fiona could not help voicing out her surprise and shivering a little .

From Harold’s perspective, this modern sight was not surprising as he had already seen Justus’ laboratory, not to mention his time in Japan .

But for Fiona, who barely ever left Barston, this might have been her first time witnessing something like this .

Moreover, what made this even worse was the fact that this modern structure was placed inside the mine . Her shock was understandable to Harold .

【”Snap out of it and walk . Hurry up . ”】

【”Ah, p-please wait for me!”】

However, understandable or not, Harold did not stop walking for her, for his goal was beyond here .

There was no longer a need to hold a lamp as the ceiling already had fluorescent lights, maybe thanks to some sort of electrical system .

The group’s footsteps echoed in the cold passage .

Going back to the discussion Harold had with Elu, there had been no living beings other than monsters in the tunnels so far, but that did not mean these were unmanned installations .

In order to be able to deal with anything that could come, Harold raised his guard even further .

Affected by Harold’s nervousness, Fiona and the man kept silent . The atmosphere became tense .

The straight passage felt awfully long, but after a while, the group reached a corner at last .

The man exchanged a look with Harold and gave him a silent nod .

This likely meant that the scene the scouting team had reported was waiting ahead .

Once he confirmed there was no human presence around, Harold turned the corner .

The first thing that caught his eye was a large glass screen that was probably more than 4 meters wide .

It was built inside the long wall of the circular passage as a window to the other side .

There was also a door that seemed to be the entrance to another room .

If someone came out from there, the group would be instantly found .

(We can’t stay too long . )

While thinking of such things, Harold walked up to the glass to gaze upon the sight waiting below .

There stood an enormous gathering of monsters, akin to the one back in the Sumeragi territory .

The report claimed there were only about 5000 of them, but there could be even more given that they were all crowded together .

【”Iiih…!”】

They’re gonna be a pain to deal with… While Harold was thinking that, Fiona, who stood next to him and looked at the window, let out a small scream .

The fact that she held back from outright screaming showed she had guts .

Even so, her firm expression did nothing to hide the blue shade taking over her face .

Seeing her like this, Harold thought of something .

(If I add fuel to the fire, can I work her up enough that she’ll collaborate with us to evacuate the locals?)

This idea was devilish enough that it could have been uttered by the original Harold himself .

Although it came from good intentions, it also came from the evil seed of being willing to do anything to survive in this world .

【”We don’t know the purpose behind this yet, but the monsters are probably the reason why the tunnels were modified and this whole installation was secretly built . ”】

This was a half-truth .

There was probably some motive related to the housing of the monsters, but what Harold was really keeping his eye on was the energy portal . The presence of such a complex facility showed that this whole situation probably had to do with the energy portal, as he expected .

However, explaining this to Fiona would be meaningless and would only serve to make the matter more difficult to understand, so Harold did not bring it up .

【”W-why would anyone do this?”】

【”Like I just said, we don’t know what the goal is yet . But, well, you can probably make a guess from the situation, can’t you?”】

Fiona did not say anything, but her eyes were complaining, asking “What do you mean, exactly?” .

If the people knew that something like this was lying under their town, it would be a source of great fear and anxiety . However, as a member of the town council, Fiona would have to bring the information back to them regardless .

【”The only reasonable guess is that these monsters are going to be used for an above-ground invasion . The expansion of the tunnels was probably done so they’ll be able to pass through . ”】

【”T-then…”】

【”It’s exactly what you’re thinking . Barston will probably be the first target . ”】