Chapter 379 - Chapter 334 Exploration Begins
Alright, connecting to the island. Shou-kun, Lupi-chan, Sweee-chan, Pan-kun~
"Welcome, Mion."
"Woof~" "~~~♪" "Ryu~♪"
[Marsal] "Pan-kun!"
[Shakeena] "Pan-kun is here!"
[Jont] "Ryu ryu~♪"
[Sharlan] "Behind the church today?"
etc. etc…
Pan is as popular as True, you know.
Is it because he has a different kind of wild cuteness than True, perhaps?
Shou-kun. Please tell us today's plan.
"Okay. Um, today I'm planning to go out the main gate of the church and investigate the vicinity of that dilapidated house I glimpsed."
The comment section became lively at my words.
Some 'blunder?' remarks were flickering through…
Are you going with the current members?
"Yes. Pan said he's coming too, so I'll be careful and try not to overdo it."
Well, a quick trip out and back should be fine.
If there's time left over, I can always come back and do a sweets terror attack.
Please be careful, okay?
"Understood."
Before I could stand up, Lupi leapt from my lap with a bark, and Leda and Roy, who had been lying down, sprang to attention.
They're so serious, I thought, petting Lupi, Leda, and Roy's heads, then headed towards the main gate.
"Phew…"
After taking a deep breath, I placed my hands on the main gate.
[Access by the Blessed Ones confirmed. Unlock?]
"Yes."
After answering the usual question, I pushed open the double gate.
"Yeah. Seems okay?"
Is that so?
"At least, it doesn't have that strange atmosphere like the forest did when the Red Armor Bear was there."
[Dasatoshi] "You can tell that!?"
[Meike] "Ah, if you have [Presence Detection], you can sense it."
[Vitamin] "It's essential for scouts."
[Galeso] "Seriously?! I might have to get [Presence Detection]…"
etc. etc…
Oh, right, that was also an effect of the [Presence Detection] skill.
It's currently at MAX level, so I wish there was some way to break the limit.
"Woof?"
"Yeah. Please."
Lupi went ahead, with Leda and Roy slightly spread out to the left and right.
The gentle slope leading from the main gate was paved with old Stone Pavement, but weeds grew through the cracks, making it not very aesthetically pleasing.
However, the path was as wide as the gate, suggesting it was wide enough for a carriage to pass comfortably.
The path has good visibility.
"It does. But if you step off the path, the weeds are terrible…"
[Puree] "It's like a highway from the city to the countryside."
[Tonen] "Weeds are just weeds even with [Appraisal]."
[Gafugafu] "Let's cut the grass!"
[Karin] "Be careful of snake and frog monsters~"
etc. etc…
Oh, there are monsters hiding in the weeds.
Lupi and the others seem to be taking good care, but I should be cautious too.
"~~~♪"
"Ryu~♪"
Sweee and Pan seemed to be having fun without any tension, but it's fine not to caution them.
By the way, Pan had a scythe for cutting grass hanging from his waist as a weapon.
It's unclear if he intends to use it when monsters appear or truly for cutting grass, but it's better than nothing, I suppose.
"Hmm, it's a much bigger mansion than I expected… but it's dilapidated."
The roof and wall panels are all broken.
[Yuion] "More like destroyed than just deteriorated?"
[Nantsuu] "I want to get a little closer."
[Kurando] "Maybe a typhoon?"
[Diash] "It rains on this island, doesn't it?"
etc. etc…
Ah, it's possible it was a typhoon or something like that.
"Um, it rains occasionally on this island. Sometimes it was a downpour, but I don't recall anything like a typhoon."
There were no strong winds, were there? Do they have them on the mainland?
Glancing at Mion's and the comment section's exchanges, I approached further. There was a knee-high stone wall surrounding the mansion, and above it, weeds grew profusely. Was there a hedge here originally?
Continuing onward, I reached the mansion's entrance, which had a latticed gate flanked by two stone pillars, almost 2 meters tall. It was rusted and half-open…
"Yeah. It's a single-story, but quite large."
I wonder what its purpose was when it was built.
"Right?"
The mountain cabin in the basin seemed to be for the Ancient Ruins monitor, but what was this house for?
"First, I'll walk all the way around the outside."
Yes. Be careful.
I glanced at the comment section… No, wait, I need to focus.
Passing the entrance and continuing straight along the path, the Stone Pavement ended at the edge of the mansion.
To walk all the way around, I'd have to clear the weeds enough to pass. Which means…
"Lupi, let me know if anything happens around us."
"Woof!"
""Bow!""
"Alright, [Excavation]."
Cutting grass properly would be too much work, so I used [Excavation] magic to scrape off about 5cm of the ground surface in a 1-meter square.
The weeds, losing their root support, easily toppled over, so I moved them aside, and the weeding was done.
[Nyx] "Waza-mae!"
[Kiral] "Too good at using it lol."
[Tsuno-ei] "I always do that when making new fields."
[Kuragelion] "[Civil Engineering] magic has so many applications."
etc. etc…
"Ryu~"
"Oh, thanks."
Pan gathering the excavated weeds and moving them aside was a great help.
Considering MP recovery, I cleared the sections one meter at a time, and when I reached the back of the mansion, I saw what looked like a back door.
"It's kinda scary…"
Indeed…
[Kankampo] "Wanna open it?"
[Kurasuke] "I'm so over undead~"
[Rakkasan] "I'd rather not have bugs."
[Mii] "Let's not, okay? If that black thing is there, it'll be a broadcast accident."
etc. etc…
No no no, I definitely don't want that black thing.
The one monster I absolutely don't want to fight…
"Yeah, later. For now, I'll put a stone wall in front of it so we'll know if it opens."
Yes.
I took out three small stone wall bricks and stacked them in front of the door, so that if it opened, it would snag on the stone wall. This should keep bugs or whatever from opening it…
As I went around to the back, what I saw next was a wildly overgrown backyard.
Is it normal to have a backyard?
[Sukuna] "Only noble mansions have them~"
[Pesante] "Commoners usually live in densely packed two-story buildings."
[Fritee] "So this is a noble's mansion?"
[Izayoi] "Maybe a villa or something?"
etc. etc…
"Ah, a villa, huh."
There's certainly a possibility that this area was once a villa district.