Chapter 50 - Chapter 21: There is a Hole, You See...
Gokigenyou. I am Violia Nico Fortesia.
I am currently digging a hole.
……Doran has gone out to search for House Fruitier's secrets, and Giovan is gathering information at the shop. Keeb seems to be doing something at the Guild. Chesta is the usual junkie. As soon as he woke up from his hangover, he went and got high on drugs. He was looking up at the ceiling where there was nothing and doing astronomical observations…….
Putting that aside.
I am bored. Right now, if I were to go above ground, my exposure would be far too high. It has only been about a week since I stood on the execution platform and I have already played the part of the gallant hero who appeared in Elsemarin; until the heat dies down, I am living an underground life.
……Therefore!
I intend to dig a direct entrance and exit from this underground passage!
I have prepared a shovel for now, but I have no intention of using it. It would be far too inefficient for me to dig a tunnel alone using a shovel.
……So, what did I prepare? Well…….
「Illegally modified Spatial Bags are truly convenient……」
First, the Spatial Bag, well-known for its illegal modifications. If I use this to suck up the earth and sand to create a hole underground…….
「Now, baby dragons. It is time for breath practice!」
Here come the dragons!
……When I thought about digging a hole, I did list various methods as candidates.
For example, should I use Black Slimes that eat metals and ores to have them dig a tunnel? Should I make Chesta work? Or perhaps I should lure the junkies overflowing in the town with Mystic Ruby and have them work here?
But Black Slimes would be a disaster if they accidentally leaked, and I do not want other people to know about the hole here.
So, I decided to dig the hole with the Spatial Bag, and at the same time, I brought the baby dragons. These little ones are already being useful.
Even though they are newborns, the baby dragons are already trying to breathe fire like adults. In such cases, it is said that dragon parents let their children breathe fire to their heart's content. Doing so is said to raise them into strong children who breathe fire well.
……Naturally, when humans keep dragons for a hobby or entertainment, they would absolutely never let them do such a thing! It would be a disaster if a dragon breathed fire inside a house!
But here, it is a different story.
The dragons breathe fire to bake and melt the soil, reinforcing the walls of the tunnel.
「You should practice to your heart's content.」
The dragons, who had been unable to breathe fire inside the hideout until now, seem to be enjoying themselves, breathing fire as much as they want and poking at the molten stone. While supervising the dragons, I advanced the hole-digging with the Spatial Bag, and when the bag became full, I had a dragon bring a new bag while returning the full bag to the hideout, and I worked enjoyably.
……In this way, the underground hole-digging proceeded roughly smoothly.
Yes. 『Roughly』 smoothly.
Thinking about which way to extend the tunnel, the first candidate I listed was the forest near Elsemarin. Since the security force monitors the entrance there, there are few people passing by, and I thought it would make a quite good entrance and exit.
……Thinking so, I was extending the tunnel toward the forest.
「My? There is something here. I wonder if it is a tree root?」
There was something that did not go into the bag along with the soil. Something like the root of a giant tree is lying right there as if to block the tunnel.
This will not do. Of course, I shall remove it. I cannot have something I want to utilize as a tunnel be obstructed by something like a tree root.
「Now, dragons. Burn that thing away.」
When I set the dragons on it, they energetically breathed fire and burned the tree root.
……Yes. They certainly burned it.
The tree root was supposed to be burned to ashes by the energetic breath of the baby dragons.
……However!
「Pugyururururu!」
Just as a sound like a voice or a rumbling of the earth echoed…… the tree root! Moved! And came attacking—!
「T-That was a surprise……」
The moment I was about to be attacked by the tree root, I threw the tree root into the Spatial Bag, so no harm was done.
Presumably, that tree root earlier was a Roper. And a quite large one at that.
……If it is a Roper, I think it can be sold to a merchant in that line of business. It is a relatively popular magical beast. Well, for the trouble it caused my tunnel construction, I shall have it become my pocket money.
「Now, dragons. Let us resume the tunnel construction.」
Leaving the ridiculously huge Roper aside, I returned to the tunnel construction.
……Or so I thought.
「……My?」
I can hear a sound like the rumbling of the earth. Additionally, the dragons are kyu kyu crying and trying to pull the hem of my clothes.
Could this be…….
「Ah, since I pulled out the Roper, the land around here has suddenly become hollowed out?」
That is right. A Roper is a creature that lurks underground and extends its tentacles here and there. If you suddenly pull out one Roper, it means that the tentacles that were extending everywhere underground suddenly vanish, and…….
「This is surely going to collapse, is it not?」
This is bad—! I must flee! I refuse to be buried alive in a place like this—! I cannot die yet—!
I survived. While I was running at full speed through the path I had come with the baby dragons, the ominous sound of the tunnel collapsing echoed behind me, and the dust reached even here…… I truly felt like I was losing years of my life!
「But I survived!」
「The wind is cool and nice today…… hehehehe……」
……That said, even when I returned to the hideout, there was only one junkie there, so it is a waste to tell my adventure story. It would be more meaningful to talk to the wall.
「As for the tunnel…… let us resume the work after hearing what happened on the surface……」
The dragons are kyu kyu complaining as if they have not played enough, but I do not want to die yet! Bear with it!
Now then.
My tunnel excavation work has also been frustrated, and I am left with nothing but time on my hands.
I do not care if it is Giovan, Keeb, or Doran, I wish someone would come back soon.
While I was poking the junkie for fun to kill time, I heard the sound of someone running through the underground passage. Someone has finally returned, have they not?
The moment the door opened, I am sure I turned around with a full smile. That was how much time I had on my hands.
……But.
「Young lady! Bring as many cloths as you have!」
Wait, I doubted his sanity.
Because Doran—who seemed like he would not die even if killed, who was like a lump of muscle, who fought in an inhuman way, or rather, who truly was not human—was slumped over Giovan's back.
And at Giovan's feet, red droplets were incessantly falling, pata pata.
「……What on earth happened?」
After laying Doran down and examining his wound, I was truly bewildered.
The fact that Doran was beaten is bewildering enough in itself…… but the wound on Doran's flank was something I had never seen before.
As if pierced by a beast's fangs. As if pierced through by a non-sharp blade. There is one such wound, as if grazing the flank. And another one, as if piercing through the flank…….
「F-For now, we have no choice but to stop the bleeding.」
「I'll go to the shop to get some medicine. I'm counting on you here.」
「Yes.」
After seeing Giovan dash out of the hideout, I once again began to treat Doran's wound.
The wound I had never seen was deep, and blood was incessantly overflowing from it. I am used to seeing blood…… but I rarely try to help someone who is bleeding. I am a little nervous…….
For now, I layered many cloths and pressed them against the wound to stop Doran's bleeding.
Blood gradually seeped into the cloths, but even so, it was much better than when it was being left to flow.
「Ah, to think that you would end up like this……」
Looking at Doran's face, it feels completely unrealistic. The color has drained from his face, and his eyes remain closed. His breathing is shallow, fast, and weak. ……It is not like him at all.
「……Violi, a, is it……?」
After a little while, I suddenly heard Doran's voice faintly.
Surprised, I looked at Doran and saw that his eyes were faintly open. He seems to be in a daze, but he is certainly alive!
「Yes, it is Violia Nico Fortesia. Doran, what happened to you? Are you alright? You are not going to die, are you?」
When I grasped his hand, I was startled by how cold it was. But thanks to that, I was able to calm down a little.
「Where and by whom were you beaten?」
When I asked again, Doran showed a faint consciousness in the back of his eyes and shook his head slightly.
「While I was investigating Fruitier…… there was a loud sound, and before I knew it, I was beaten. At the port……」
At the port, while investigating House Fruitier, there was a loud sound, and before he knew it, he was beaten……? What on earth does that mean?
I wanted to ask in more detail, but Doran does not seem to have the strength for that.
However, instead, Doran smiled thinly, looked at me, and said.
「……I thought that you had come to help.」
「Eh?」
Not understanding the meaning of Doran's words, I thought about various things.
Me, helping? What on earth…… eh? What on earth does that mean?
「It seems I was mistaken.」
But at Doran's following words, I was struck with realization.
「……Right, the opponent's weapon…… was like a metal bullet being launched from a small cylinder.」
……I remembered.
I have identified the weapon that wounded Doran.
「You were wounded by a 『Gun』, were you not?」