episode_0009

“Ah, there it is.”

When I reached my destination, I hid myself in the bushes in case there were monsters or other enemies around, and Elisias also carefully leaned down next to me.

“Cave…?”

Elisias asked, pointing to the cave ahead of us, our destination.

After looking around and seeing that there was no sign of anyone else, I got up and got out of the bushes, shaking the leaves off my clothes.

“That’s right, this is originally a den of goblins, but it looks like other adventurer party members cleared it out a while ago. It’ll be dark inside, so let’s make a torch and let’s go.”

While looking for useful firewood, Elisias said “light” and snapped her fingers.

A whirlwind of light wrapped around her fingertips, then transformed into a small sphere of light, circling around the hand.

It was my first time seeing a magic demonstration. Feeling something strange, I put my face in her hand and looked at it.

“Oh…something like this…it appears instantly in the game…it looks like it needs time to spell and cast…”

As I was muttering to myself inaudibly, Elisias moved his body away from me.

“Too close…”

“Oh, I’m sorry, it’s so amazing.”

“Is this amazing…?”

[Light], one of the basic skills

In [Falling Princess], the concept of attribute damage such as the five elements exists, allowing double damage to undead monsters.

[Light] is one of the basic skills that Elisias has.

In the case of undead monsters, they appear late in the game, so it is a useless skill in the beginning, but sometimes it can be used as a very useful skill to light up a dark place.

If you ask me why such a very basic skill is amazing, it is natural.

I am a person who lives in a scientific civilization that replaces magic because there is no such thing, but these supernatural phenomena are just amazing.

“No, no, anyway, is it okay? Although magic like [Light] is a low-level magic, it is a persistent magic, so if it continues to be used, it will be a bit of a burden to the user.”

“Don’t worry”

Elisias moved his body as if he was at ease and entered the inside of the cave.

I followed Elisias in, biting my nails as I felt something I didn’t like.

It was a den that had already been cleared out, and I thought it would be okay as long as I was careful, so I covered up my anxiety.

“Ugh…Rotten smell…”

“Wait a minute, can you give me some perfume?”

The smell coming from the cave was similar to rotten fish.

When Elisias covered her nose with her arm from the stinging stench, I asked her to lend me the perfume I showed her last time.

“Now, here…but why the perfume?”

I took out a small handkerchief that I had kept in the inside pocket of my robe, sprayed it on a few times, and handed it to her.

“This will give you some peace of mind and you will be okay.”

Elisias looked at me with a shocked expression for a few seconds and tilted her head as if she had done something wrong. Only then did she take the handkerchief I gave her and cover her nose.

“Harry, are you okay with this smell?”

Elisias asked me, his frown calming as if he had calmed down a little.

“Well, I don’t feel that repulsion. Is it because it’s similar to the smell I’ve smelled many times in my room?”

“Live while cleaning up…”

When Elisias scolded me, I didn’t even respond.

As we entered the cave, little by little, the darkness encroached on us more and more, and only the sound of echoing footsteps lingered in the cave.

The water droplets from the stalactites fall into the puddle beneath our feet and reverberate.

“A little… creepy.”

“I don’t feel like I’m popular, and if it’s this quiet, I don’t think goblins will exist anymore.”

Inside the extremely quiet interior, an unsettling wind blows slightly, enveloping our bodies.

At that time, the sound of something crunching was heard from underfoot.

“Hmm?”

When I felt something blunt and moved my gaze to the place where I heard the sound, what appeared to be a dead human bone was broken in half like a twig under my feet.

“Huh!”

“Why are you doing that?”

As he shook his head to calm his startled heart, Elisias looked at the bone, put his hand on his chest with a pitiful look on his face, closed his eyes, and recited a small prayer.

“I hope you go to a good place…”

When the prayer was over, Elisias got up and started walking again.

“From here, you can go in to the left.”

At the fork ahead, I pointed left and we turned.

We are both moldy, half-broken, shaky, crude wooden slaves, and we are greeted by blood stains scattered around us.

I knew at once what it was.

A cage or kennel where humans were confined and raised.

The wall of the cave visible inside us had someone’s scream written on it, as if it had been carved out of stone, and was full of signs showing how long they had been here.

After the plunder, the goblins kidnapped the fallen humans as trophies and imprisoned them here, causing them indelible shame and humiliation.

Rather than treating them like humans, they would have simply treated them as tools for the prosperity of their own species, allowing them to have children.

If the kidnapped humans were no longer able to function properly for reproduction, they would have used them as food or sacrifices.

The scenes that would have been there naturally come into my head.

The sight of people screaming for help, someone resisting pointlessly and desperately, tears flowing down in contempt…

The sneer of a dirty goblin screams for help, but treats you as insignificant and tramples you.

“These are… What are they?”

Elisias asked, but I did not answer the question.

“Save me…I don’t want you anymore…I don’t want these guys anymore…Now, wait a minute, Harry?”

She quickly grabbed the hand of Elisias, who was slowly reading the text carved out of stone while holding her hand on the wall, and helped her up.

“Let’s quickly grab only the necessary items before the potion duration ends.”

As I gritted my teeth in discomfort, Elisias recited a prayer and followed behind me.

“If I remember correctly…this left wall…”

When I touched the wall a few times in an area that felt a bit out of place, the wall moved with a loud clicking sound.

At the entrance to the basement behind the wall, a cold wind sweeps past as if guiding the way.

“This place?”

“One of the characteristics of goblins is looting. And the goblins treat the looted items as treasures and store them separately. It’s kind of like a treasure trove.”

“Plundering?”

“They are probably the ones who looked down on the surrounding villages or goblins and tried to clear out this place, but ended up getting killed… Let’s go first”

With those words, we walked up the stairs to the basement.

“But I know they are weak monsters?”

Elisias, who was casting light magic, went down the stairs first to light the way and looked up at me following behind and asked.

“When viewed as an individual, goblins are among the weakest among monsters.”

This is indeed true.

Despite their small size, their individual strength can be compared to that of a growing elementary school boy.

“But, there is no business in Daguri.”

“Daguri?”

“Because they are weak, they never travel alone and live in groups, forming a kind of colony. Their reproductive capacity is also very high, so their population is overwhelmingly large. Later, when you explore the dungeon in earnest, you will see it more often than dogs wandering the streets.”

Elisias nodded as if he understood, placed his hand on the wall, and slowly went further down.

“Anyway, Elisias, if you see goblins, you should not let down your guard and be on guard till the end as they are weak. There are also some special entities.”

“Just keep that in mind.”

“Okay, we’re almost there.”

When we descend a little deeper, a crude wooden door welcomes us.

After removing the latch that was holding the door open, I carefully pushed the door open and the wooden door began to open slightly with a screeching sound.

“It’s stiffer than I thought… Can you help me out?”

After disarming the light magic, Elisias placed herself against the door and pushed the entrance door with all her might.

―Squeak

“Can we say this is the goblins’ treasure trove?”

Elisias asked as he entered the fully open door and looked around the slightly bright interior.

“Elysias, check the weapon storage rack next to you to see how many useful weapons there are, because if you need to, you can grab a few and resell them.”

This is how fundraising works.

It would be a good idea to sell items left behind by others to raise the funds needed for your upcoming journey.

I craned my neck around for some serious farming and moved my hand to a shabby little loot box lying on the damp floor.

“Such… These weapons must contain the souls and pride of the victims of the goblins… Such things can be easily sold…”

Elisias clicks his tongue and places his hands on the weapons in the weapon rack next to him.

She said the same prayers several times as before and paid tribute to those who used weapons.

“Oh my…you are a saint.”

“Okay, I’d rather get the loot from the treasure chest that looks like this…”

“Wait a minute, treasure chest…???”

Feeling puzzled, I quickly turned my head to check on Elisias.

She was carefully opening the lid of a treasure chest that strongly appealed to herself by saying, “I am fake.” I got up from my seat and shouted at her out of urgency.

“Hey! Wait a minute, that’s it!”

As he ran towards her, reaching out for her, a huge tentacle wriggling inside the box was already reaching towards Elisias.

“Damage!”