episode_0124

Kailon is very worried. He seemed like the type of person who made people worry.

Even though I say I’m fine, they don’t believe me. But I have nothing to say about that either. Because I didn’t really believe what Kailon said was okay.

What am I worried about?

What aspect of me are you considering?

No matter how much I asked, Kailon would only give me a bitter smile at the end, which made me feel uncomfortable.

Still, if there was an incident that happened to me, I could understand it even if I didn’t know the details, so I just ignored it.

I’m just saying that because it might be the same type of thing where I’m pushing the other person to that standard based on what I’ve experienced so far.

After eating breakfast and receiving the quest, we set off. The quest was nothing special. Because it was a request to deal with the difficulty caused by the appearance of the same monster as before and to defeat it.

All RPG quests are like that.

However, unlike in the beginning, now you have to collect reinforcement stones from the monster itself, so the difficulty can be seen as gradually increasing.

Wouldn’t it be better to just appease the village chief and then accept it from the village head? This means that such clever tricks don’t work.

There was a cave below this place where iron and magic coexisted. It’s too well designed to be a cave, but it’s an artificial cave that seems to have been created for research purposes, with no people passing through it, to be considered an underground passage.

There was a gloomy atmosphere that gave off a sense of fear.

The humid air felt like it was weighing down my body, and furthermore, it seemed to be lowering my physical condition, so I wondered if the terrain was a bit unfavorable.

Why were these artificial caves created? The answer was distribution.

Transactions existed at any time and in any era, and they were never carried out only in small units.

If so, how should it be delivered if it is a place where many people, not small business owners, come and go?

There had to be a method suitable for each era. Starting with humans, they use mules and donkeys, and it will take quite some time for them to evolve from carriages to automobiles.

This is a city of iron and magic, and the means of distribution in that city is this cave.

There was a road that stretched out like a rail, and there were discharged magic stones sitting there. The lack of life on the road meant that it had already been quite a long time since I had not used it.

And the solution was left to the warrior party.

So, what is the reason why this cave cannot be used, and what kind of monster is occupying this place?

According to Kylon’s explanation, it was a giant mole. I didn’t get a good impression from the beginning because it was an animal that dug burrows and caused damage to crops.

“… This guy uses a tunnel, but it shouldn’t be that difficult. There will definitely be a sign in the tunnel he made before coming out.”

Kailon spoke passionately as if he had heard it from the village chief.

Still, Kylon’s words were credible. So it was trustworthy.

“Then what should I do? Flora’s abilities can’t be used in a space like this?”

“… Ugh.”

Agnes asked Kylon first. At the same time, there was Flora, who was holding her breath and moaning.

Flora groaned as if it was always like this, but then took out the grimoire she had on her back and answered.

“No, I’m going to use this now, so that doesn’t matter.”

“… It’s an enclosed space, so you shouldn’t use anything like fire, and since there’s iron and magic stones around, it’ll be difficult to use water or electricity.”

“Can’t we just not use fire, water, or electricity?”

Despite Agnes’ stern tone, Flora raised one corner of her mouth and said that as if it was nothing. It was nice to see him looking confident.

I hoped that he would continue to show growth and fight well without being surprised by the appearance of stronger monsters.

Because there wasn’t much I could do.

It can heal people. And you can only burn your enemies.

No matter how good an ability it is, abilities that dilute the meaning of party members’ existence ultimately become unusable. I didn’t want to take their place, so in the end I remained a helpless being and only followed them around to deliver potions.

“Now, this time, shouldn’t I just stop it from crawling out of the ground? It’s not a big deal, don’t grab my ankle.”

He spoke confidently and at the same time let out a sharp voice towards Agnes, who had tried to exclude him.

Then, this time, as Agnes’ mouth closed, Linda raised her head and looked up at the ceiling of the square cave.

Coo-gu, coo-gu, coo-gu.

Linda looked horrified and moaned as the vibrations echoed throughout the ground.

“… Even though the mole is big, does it make such a loud noise?”

It seemed like he decided that it was a bit of an odd sound for a giant mole to make.

This was the only information Kailon heard from the village chief in the first place.

There is a monster that swallowed the reinforcement stone while it was moving.

And after that, the oysters responsible for distribution became unusable. go.

mole. The noise was too loud for the mole to ring. Because it was clear that no matter how big it was, it wouldn’t be able to make that much noise.

It repeats the ringing sound. At the same time, a monster blocking the way forward came into view.

It was Agnes who was shocked as soon as she saw it.

“… It’s not a mole, it’s a stoneworm… !!”

“Wait a minute, why is this here?”

Linda’s embarrassed voice trembled.

Everyone stiffened at the sight of a monster that seemed to have its body wrapped in stone. I immediately heard it was a mole, but instead of being a mole, there was a monster with many legs made of stone.

“… Damn, it’s not a big deal… So, how does a stoneworm become a mole… ?”

Flora seemed to be equally confused.

In the meantime, selling Kylon could be considered professional.

Oh, I don’t think this is meant as a sell-off, but rather a sincere insult, so there’s no need to call me a professional.

The body was truly huge. This cave is also high, so you could say it is quite spacious inside, but now there is a monster shape that creates an optical illusion that makes it look narrow.

Fear, something huge always creates fear. It’s not just that it’s unrecognizable, it’s even more so the category that can be recognized.

Crumbling, rumbling.

Its mouth opened.

The body was like a round earthworm. But the end wasn’t an earthworm at all.

The stone skin opened, and what was there was a round, open mouth, surrounded by several layers of whirlwind-shaped teeth.

It was clear that if I got eaten by that thing, my body would be torn apart.

It felt like my body was being ground in a blender. Still, since it’s a tooth, it won’t rotate, right? It also had hope, but a stone fell on its head.

As I entered the monster’s mouth, I could see the rotating teeth grinding away at the stone.

Monster, Stone Worm. Kailon, seeing the monster, let out a sigh.

“Run away… !”

At the end, Agnes gritted her teeth in anger as she turned around and ran back the way she came in.

“I can’t do anything like this… ! The rapier won’t work… !”

“… Knuckles too. Did he rather eat the mole and settle here?”

There was Linda who sympathized with Agnes’ exasperated voice.

It was natural that a blade would not be used against a stone.

At best, it was clear that Flora was the one who could find strength here. Or maybe it’s Kylon’s power, but that’s only possible with this reinforcement stone, so I could say it’s impossible right now.

Anyway, the story about why there are stone worms and not moles seemed to go roughly to the feeling of a natural ecosystem.

In fact, I knew that I didn’t have time to go into detail about it, so I just passed it on.

The monster noticed our presence. And there was only one place for us to run to.

We were approaching at breakneck speed, plowing through the stones on the road at a rapid pace, as the only way we had come in was. Is it correct to say they are running, or is it correct to say they are crawling?

It was so big, but I didn’t know why it was so fast.

And while he was running away, Kylon groaned.

“What should I do?”

The murmur came clearly to my ears.

And at the end, my eyes turned back for a moment.

If no one can solve it, there is no need to remain helpless. I had a thought.

However, I furrowed my brow as I wondered how I could burn such a large monster all at once.

No matter how much blood I shed, it is only a small amount for that monster, so it will be able to easily endure the burning. If so, how can we overcome this situation?

No matter how much I thought I wasn’t good enough, I didn’t think I could completely escape as this party had a long way to go, so I was thinking about fighting back.

And at the end, I stopped running and stood upright.