episode_0047

The Karia tribe primarily lived by hunting and gathering.

For them, picking various types of mushrooms that grew abundantly underground and hunting beast-like demons were their main activities.

So, it was quite common for Venos to take Kiki with him to gather mushrooms.

But today, Kiki seemed unusually excited.

In the blink of an eye, while Venos was distracted by some tempting mushroom clusters, Kiki disappeared without a trace, according to Venos.

Upon realizing that Kiki was missing, Venos searched the area frantically, calling out her name, but she was nowhere to be found.

He wondered if she had returned to the village alone, but that was not the case either.

The spot where Venos lost Kiki was connected to a place known as the Abyssal Passage.

It was the only passage that directly led to the Demon King’s castle, allowing access to the surface.

However, this passage had not been used by the Karia tribe for a long time due to its complexity and the presence of dangerous demons.

The lack of interaction between the surface demons and the Karia tribe was also due to the difficulty of passing through this Abyssal Passage.

I was searching the area around the Abyssal Passage with Venos to find Kiki.

“If we go inside, we need to be careful. If we don’t remember the way back, we won’t be able to escape.”

Venos, who had regained his composure, pointed to a hole in the wall that two people could barely fit through.

Although he seemed determined to find his sister, there was still an unmistakable sense of anxiety in his eyes.

Upon my offer to help in the search for Kiki, Venos lent me a spare sword.

It was a unique sword with a slightly yellowish blade, made from sturdy mushrooms.

All weapons used by the Karia tribe were made from hard mushrooms, like this sword.

It felt strange to wield a mushroom sword, but holding it again gave me confidence to face the demons.

“Sticking close to the Karia tribe in their village, Yunoa set out to find Venos’s sister Kiki to repay their kindness.”

As we slowly ventured further into the Abyssal Passage, a narration echoed around us.

This is perfect timing. If the narration reveals the location, we can quickly find Kiki.

“Not long after Yunoa began the search, they hoped someone would reveal Kiki’s location to them without much effort. Their wishful thinking was truly pathetic, hoping for an easy solution without putting in any effort, like hoping for a plant to grow without planting the seed or arriving at a destination without walking.”

Yes, I’m sorry.

But Kiki is just a child, and if we don’t find her quickly in this dangerous place, who knows what could happen.

I never thought of it as trying to take advantage of the situation.

“The maze-like underground caves known as the Abyssal Passage connected not only to the Demon King’s castle, Kutranux, but also to various other locations underground. Over the years, the deep parts of the Abyssal Passage, untouched even by the footsteps of demons, held many valuable resources. However, just as there is a reason why people do not go to certain places, the Abyssal Passage was home to terrifying demons.”

“Venos, have you ever ventured deep into here before?”

I asked Venos as he marked the way back with glowing mushrooms on the cave wall.

“There’s no need to go deep. We can find everything we need just by searching around here. Where could Kiki have gone… She’s not the type to wander off alone like this. I should have taken better care of her.”

Venos muttered, biting his lower lip in self-blame.

I pondered how I could find Kiki while observing my surroundings.

The passage to the abyss was structured like a large ant colony.

With multiple tunnels branching out from one cave room to connect with other cave rooms, and those cave rooms connecting with several others in a complex underground maze, it was a natural underground labyrinth complex where one could be lost for a lifetime without knowing the way out.

Venos mentioned that through the passage to the abyss, one could even reach the surface where the demon lord Kutranux resided, but without knowing the way and with no map to guide, it seemed so complicated that one could end up not being able to return to the starting point, let alone reach the surface.

Searching for Kiki by leaving marks randomly in such a structure didn’t seem very efficient.

Although other members of the Karia tribe in the village were also helping Venos in the search, finding Kiki seemed elusive.

Kiki was a demon, but she was a young child.

If she had entered the passage to the abyss for some reason and got lost, she wouldn’t have gone too far.

As time passed here, Kiki would struggle more inside and the distance would increase, making it harder to find her.

“Shari.”

Responding to my call, Shari flew in front of me.

“Could you please search for Kiki in a spiral pattern around me, gradually moving further away to cover as wide a range as possible? Do you understand what I’m asking?”

I requested Shari.

Physically, we could only move along the underground cave passage, so it was much faster for Shari to search.

Moreover, Shari had already shown herself to the Karia tribe, including Kiki.

If Shari found Kiki, I could ask her to wait and hide in that spot without moving.

Shari looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Look, think of me as the center now. This finger is you, Shari. So, you’ll spin around me like this, searching. Do you understand now?”

Using my finger to explain, Shari finally nodded in understanding.

“And when you find Kiki, tell her to hide and wait there. Moving around will make it harder to find her.”

Another nod.

“Alright, I’ll wait here. Please do your best.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Shari swiftly disappeared into the cave wall.

I called Venos, who was about to head to the next tunnel.

“Venos, let’s wait here for a moment.”

Continuing the search by moving around wouldn’t be as effective as Shari flying through the walls alone.

So, it was better to wait for Shari to return.

Stay strong, Shari.

* * *

Leaving the search to Shari, Venos and I decided to take a break and lean against the cave wall while chatting.

Initially, Venos insisted on continuing the search for Kiki alone, but he eventually agreed after listening to my explanation.

I decided to ask him about something that had been bothering me.

“By the way, when Shari revealed herself to protect me, you mentioned something about being a pureblood demon like the demon lord. What was that about?”

It was when Shari deliberately showed herself to protect me.

At that moment, Venos had looked at Shari with a surprised expression and mentioned something about being a “pureblood demon like the demon lord.”

I was concerned that Shari might be related to the demon lord’s family or something like that.

“A pureblood demon is literally the first demon.”

“The first demon?”

“The current demons, including us, belong to various tribes. If you trace back the ancestors of these demon tribes, ultimately, they became demons by receiving blood from different demon tribes. But pureblood demons didn’t become demons through blood transfusion; they are inherently pure demons.”

I see.

“Is Shari part of the demon king’s family that you’re talking about?”

Benos nodded in response to my question.

“Do you think all humans are related just because they’re the same species?”

“No, of course not.”

“Well, that’s the thing. When you go back far enough, there might be some distant relatives.”

After a while, Shari returned, piercing through the cave wall. She seemed eager to say something, her eyes wide and arms gesturing.

“So, did you find Kiki?”

Shari nodded quickly, and immediately scenes began to play out in my mind through her consciousness.

In a large cave room, Kiki was crouched behind a large stalagmite, hiding.

But the problem was another presence in that cave room.

With a smooth, long neck like a snake, a circular mouth filled with sharp teeth that were terrifyingly abundant.

Its body was white and chubby, without a single hair, and it was a small dinosaur-like creature walking on two legs.

Just looking at it through Shari made my skin crawl, even though it was an indirect observation.

“I… I found Kiki. I found her, but…”

“What? Where is she? Where do we go?”

“She… she’s hiding to avoid a strange-looking monster. Right now, she can’t even move because of it.”

I explained what I saw through Shari to the excited Benos.

His expression hardened.

His face, which originally had a slightly bluish tint, seemed to turn even paler.

“It’s a Worm Dragon. They occasionally roam the Abyssal Passage. This is bad! If we don’t hurry and save her, Kiki is in danger! Where is she? Where do we go? Quickly!”

Shari gestured for us to follow her as she spun around in the air.

We hurriedly followed Shari to where Kiki was.