Chapter 134 - The Ravaged Farm and the Earthdrake's Cave
"Not much is known about the ecology of Earthdrake monsters."
Maira stated. The full-scale subjugation was scheduled to begin tomorrow, but for now, the members of Levante were patrolling the area. If the enemy were to attack us head-on, we could simply fight back, but we had to lure out and strike a foe that lurked underground, its numbers and strength both unknown. For the time being, we were walking toward a large hole we had seen from the watchtower to assess the damage.
"Just to confirm, an Earthdrake is a mole, right? Not a worm?"
"A worm…"
Mizuki made a disgusted face.
"What? You don't like worms, Mizuki?"
"Who does? Besides, when it's a monster, they're always huge."
"It'd be just as bad if they stayed the same size but got stronger. Remember that bee monster? If a swarm of hundreds of those attacked us at their original size, we'd be wiped out in an instant."
"If the premise is hundreds of them, we'd be wiped out either way!"
She had a point. But I wondered if we could have handled the Big Hoppers so well if they had attacked us at the size of normal grasshoppers.
"…May we return to the topic of the Earthdrake?"
Maira asked. Mizuki and I both nodded.
"There are both mole monsters and worm monsters, but we refer to the moles as Earthdrakes. The worm monsters are called Worms. The damage to this farm was caused by moles."
I didn't know much about Worms, but generally, earthworms enrich the soil, and moles prey on those earthworms.
"Monsters live on mana, right? But Siril said the Earthdrake is only ravaging the farm."
He'd said the monsters don't attack people unprovoked, but I wondered if they were acting with some kind of purpose.
"If we just hunt down every last Earthdrake, will that complete the quest?"
"You didn't ask?"
Maira prompted, and I nodded.
"Well, Siril just told me that we should annihilate them, but we don't know how many there are, and there's no way to confirm it."
"That's true. Confirmation would be difficult. If we fail to kill one and it escapes underground, we might have to wait here for months for another monster attack."
"I'd rather not…"
Indeed, letting one escape would be the worst-case scenario. We couldn't just claim they were all wiped out while one was still lurking somewhere. I wanted to avoid getting stuck in this village, unable to tell whether it had fled or was planning to strike again, all without even realizing we'd killed it or let it escape.
"By the way, what was that about falling for a whore on Longhorn Street?"
Maira asked. So she hadn't heard the details of the quest from the ground, but that part had reached her.
"It's a misunderstanding. I think this is also difficult to confirm, but it's a misunderstanding."
As I tried to explain myself to Maira, Fam shot a glance my way.
"Master once said that he falls for any woman who speaks to him."
"Fam! I wanted that to be a secret between just the two of us…"
I really didn't want her to say that, especially in front of Maira and the others. My shoulders slumped in defeat. Was she still angry about me telling Marmie about her outburst during her period at dinner?
"I-I'm sorry. That was something that should have remained a secret between the two of us."
Sensing my distress, Fam quickly apologized.
"Um… please don't leave me out of the loop."
Maira said to Fam and me.
"…In my original world, I was a social outcast. No woman ever spoke to me. Girls Mizuki's age and beautiful women treated me like garbage. So when I came to this world, I got carried away when Cecily and Aira were so kind to me. Just having them talk to me made me happy. Can you blame me for falling for them?!"
"…"
Besides Maira, Cecily and Aira had also been listening in. And now, everyone's gaze was fixed on Mizuki.
"W-what?! It's true, but it's not true!"
Mizuki, hit by a stray bullet, answered in a panic, but her excuse made no sense.
"If it weren't for that false groper incident, Mizuki wouldn't have just not talked to me; she wouldn't have even looked my way."
"That's also true, but it's not true! Mash, please, just forgive me already!"
Mizuki spouted another nonsensical excuse and apologized. Seeing her flustered state, Maira let out a heavy sigh.
"Is it really true that no women would speak to you? I find that very hard to believe…"
Maira, just like Fam had, was skeptical.
"Sister, I thought the same thing. But Master is not lying."
Before I could answer, Fam responded to Maira's doubt.
"Hey! You could have at least left a little room for doubt there!"
"I didn't think revealing the truth would hurt you, Master. I'm sorry…"
Fam apologized for stating the facts. Including the apology, her final sentence was what hurt the most, but I decided to keep quiet.
We finally reached the site of a hole that an Earthdrake had recently dug. The surrounding crops were destroyed, and a hole, large enough for a person to crawl through, led down into the earth. The Earthdrake that dug this must have been about the size of a large dog.
"It's huge. I wonder if we'd find the Earthdrake if we crawled into this hole and followed it."
"I wouldn't recommend it. Even if we encounter a monster, we won't be able to fight or retreat."
"…You're right about that."
I nodded in agreement with Maira's words.
"Just blast it with a fireball."
Before I could stop her, Cecily launched a fire magic Fireball into the hole. The fireball hit the ground where the tunnel bent and vanished. I hastily drew my weapon from storage. Fam and Mizuki followed suit. But there was no reaction from deep within the hole.
"I guess the monster isn't in there?"
As Mizuki tried to peek inside, Cecily prepared to fire another fireball, so I stopped her. What a reckless girl.
"Are there other holes?"
I nodded at Maira's words.
"From the watchtower, I could see other dug-up spots. Let's go check them out."
Just as we began to walk, the ground suddenly gave way beneath Cecily.
"Huh?"
It seemed the surface of the hole had been covered over, turning it into a pitfall trap. I instinctively grabbed the hand she thrust out for something to hold onto. But I couldn't support her weight and was pulled down into the ground with her. I tried to brace my arms, but the surrounding walls were too fragile, crumbling into dirt wherever I touched.
The hole was deeper than I'd imagined, and we slid down with the collapsing earth for a long time. Then, we were thrown out into a pitch-black space.
"Ouch…"
Cecily groaned. It seemed I had landed on top of her. I didn't have any bruises, but I must have scraped myself in various places on the way down, as my arms and legs stung with a burning pain. I moved off her, took a lantern from my storage, and lit it.
"You okay?"
"Why was I the one on the bottom?! Shouldn't it be the other way around?"
She had a point, but she was the one who fell first, and there wasn't enough room to switch places. She took my hand and stood up. She must have been bruised, but she seemed to be alright otherwise. I brushed the dirt off her robes. The illuminated space was a cave, large enough for a person to stand and walk in. I shone the light on the place we'd fallen from, but the way we had come was now blocked by a landslide.
"Fam!"
I shouted at the top of my lungs, but heard no reply. Cecily followed my lead and called Aira's name, but there was no response.
"How are we going to get back?"
As she poked at the landslide with the tip of her staff, a large amount of dirt came pouring down.
"Look out!"
We both jumped back. I checked to see if the hole had reappeared, but it seemed to be completely blocked now. We looked at each other.
"Should we wait for Fam and the others here, or should we explore this cavern…?"
"Is the fire okay?"
Cecily asked. Was she worried about the oxygen levels in the cave or the possibility of gas buildup?
"Hmm? You mean the air? It's a bit late for that now, isn't it? Besides, we're helpless without a light."
"That's not what I mean. I'm talking about how much fuel is left."
"It should last for about half a day. I have spares in my storage, too."
"It felt like we were falling for a long time. If we fell more than ten meters, I think it'll take a while for the people on the farm to dig us out, even if we ask them to."
"I agree. We came here to help this village, and now look at us. What did we even come here for?"
I couldn't help but laugh at myself.
"I… I'm sorry. I was careless."
I hadn't meant to blame Cecily, but my words made her dejected.
"For now, let's explore this cavern."
She nodded at my words. I took a cob of corn out of my storage and left it as a marker. The cavern stretched out before and behind us like a mine shaft. We had no idea which way was which.
"I think the way behind us goes upwards."
Since she said so, I turned the corn cob to point in that direction, and we started walking.
I walked in front with the lantern, and Cecily followed behind. The path was wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side, but there was always the possibility of encountering a monster. After walking for a while, the path began to slope downwards.
"…What is it!"
Cecily snapped.
"Don't just get mad out of nowhere. I didn't say anything…"
"I know what you're thinking!"
She retorted.
"If you say so."
I gave an exaggerated shrug. We kept walking. The path twisted and turned, but there were no forks or dead ends. There was no sign of monsters, either. I began to think it might be better to turn back.
"So, was that true?"
Cecily asked.
"What are you talking about?"
"What you were saying before we fell in the hole. That in your world, no one ever talked to you."
"The thing Fam let slip? It's true. And you were the first person in this world to be kind to me, you know?"
"Huh?"
"You helped me when I was injured after being attacked by goblins, remember?"
"Oh, you mean when Mizuki took care of all of them? Anyone would have done the same in that situation."
She seemed to have forgotten, as there was a slight pause before her reply.
"Maybe so for you, but for me, the one who was saved, it was special."
"…How stupid."
Cecily muttered.
"It was special to me."
When I repeated myself, she grabbed the hem of my clothes.
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. It's just… it's dark, and I don't want to get separated…"
After that, we walked on through the cave in silence. Eventually, we reached a dead end. There was a vertical shaft extending up into the ceiling. It curved partway up, so no light leaked through, and we couldn't tell if it led to the surface. It looked just barely wide enough for a person to pass through, but the surrounding ground was unstable. When I tried to get a handhold to climb, the wall crumbled away, making it seem impossible to ascend.
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