Chapter 114 - Chapter 17: The Exploration
We followed the landslide from below in the bowl.
Tree branches were sticking out here and there, showing that a considerable amount of soil had fallen toward the valley floor.
When we reached the very top, a part of the ridge was hollowed out, as if a child had taken a handful out of a sandcastle.
"Paul-dono. Let us go to that hollowed-out place."
As we approached, there was a spot where the large hollow became flat, like the bottom of a shallow bowl.
"This does not seem like an ordinary landslide."
"Yeah. Since tree branches are visible, it seems the soil in between hasn't collapsed. It's as if the ridge was blown away, and the debris fell down."
"Could it be that some powerful force gouged out the mountain's earth?"
"Does Paul-dono think so too? However, it is no half-hearted power."
"It doesn't seem like something by human hands. Perhaps they collapsed part of the mountain to bury the valley... or maybe the shrine."
James-sama fell into thought with a "hmm."
"Paul-dono. If the method used to collapse this mountain was magic, what kind of magic do you think was used?"
"If the goal was to bury the shrine, it's quite wasteful for earth magic. In the first place, if you just wanted to fill the inside, bringing soil from the outside is a crude way of doing things."
"Yes. I think so too. If it's not earth, it would be another magic, but I cannot think of one."
"What about wind magic?"
"Wind?"
He had a surprised look. Wind magic is not originally magic meant for carrying things. Furthermore, to collapse a mountain would be a considerable waste of mana.
"I was previously thinking of a way to use wind magic to transport soil at the sewage treatment plant. One involves drawing soil into a Tornado Wind."
"Is such a thing possible?"
"It did not go perfectly, but I was able to transport soil."
In reality, he had apparently fallen into darkness because of that, but I suppose I shouldn't say that.
"For example, what if a powerful tornado swept up the soil, moved it to the valley as it was, and then the tornado was released?"
"I cannot even imagine it, but..."
"The place that looks like the ridge was grabbed, the debris covering the mountainside as if spilling from there, and finally the soil piled up around the shrine. Though the scale is small, it resembles the situation when I collapsed and transported a mountain of soil before."
"Why would such a thing be done..."
"In my case, the high-level magic I could use was wind. If this landslide was also the work of someone who can only use wind... for example, a wind spirit, then it makes sense."
Would a wind spirit do something like collapsing the mountain where it lives...
"In other words, it was a situation of such urgency?"
"Most likely."
Was the wind spirit fighting something...
Dune had said before that when she repelled the monsters that polluted the lake, she doused them with great floods many times. If you think about it, that water would flow into the lake as a massive amount of muddy water. It could be called an action akin to cutting one's own flesh, and perhaps the wind spirit's landslide this time was also that kind of necessary action.
There was a dark spot in the hollow.
"Paul-san, what is that?"
"Is there not a hole open?"
Paul-san seemed to have noticed it too.
"Let's descend into the hollow and check."
I nodded at James-sama's words, landed, and got out of the bowl.
Looking up at the sky, Eleanor-sama's bowl was right above us. Henry-sama was holding a hand spear. If it came to it, he might jump down.
The dark spot was a hole opened in the side toward the mountain peak.
When I illuminated it with Light, it didn't seem very deep, about the size for a bear's hibernation.
Since the entrance was small enough that one had to crawl to enter, I decided to illuminate it with Light from behind Paul-san as he did a low crawl. Just in case, Paul-san had already chanted Wind Barrier. James-sama was ready behind us with Marcelo-san's mid-tier Holy scroll. A Holy Lance would be able to pass through Paul-san's body and defeat any monster beyond him.
"The inside is surprisingly wide."
Paul-san, who had broken through the narrow entrance, was crouching.
"Jeanne. It seems okay. Come in."
To be honest, I didn't want to go, but it couldn't be helped. Without light, nothing would be visible.
"Paul-dono, could you come out for a moment? Let's widen the hole's entrance."
"Will it not collapse?"
"Please make a ceiling with Wind Barrier."
It seemed he would make a large saddle-shaped one, insert it into the hole, and use it as a support. Seeing as he said it so casually, he must normally apply and utilize high-level magic in such ways.
"As expected. I never would have thought of that."
"It's nothing much compared to Flight Magic."
He said it as if it were trivial. He's quite a person.
Promptly widening the hole with earth magic, he created walls and a ceiling with Wind Barrier. We were now able to stand and walk into the hole.
"Wait, wait, I'm coming too."
Henry-sama jumped down from the bowl.
"There's no one to act as a shield. What will you do if something comes out?"
Paul-san had to support the ceiling. I was the light source. Henry-sama was probably right. James-sama also readily agreed, and the four of us went in.
Once inside, we immediately hit a dead end.
There was a white wall.
When Henry-sama poked it with his spear, the wall dented inward, but returned to its original shape when he pulled the spear back.
Everyone was surprised, but I had seen this before.
"May I have a moment?"
Leaving the Light I had produced in my right hand, I thrust the Light in my left hand into the white wall, and my arm easily went inside. There seemed to be nothing on the other side of the wall.
"Are you okay?"
Paul-san hurriedly pulled me, but it should have been fine. I thrust my face in just like that.
Beyond the wall, a cave continued. It was large enough for two people to stand side-by-side.
"What kind of mechanism is this?"
"Hie!"
Because Henry-sama suddenly poked his face out, I let out a strange noise.
"Sorry, sorry, I startled you."
Saying that, he put his whole body inside just like that. He had plenty of guts. Since I had no choice, I told the two outside to please wait a moment and decided to go inside as well.
Henry-sama was down on one knee, holding his spear and staring into the depths of the hole. I illuminated the depths with Light, but since it curved midway, I didn't know what lay ahead.
"I think this is probably a wind barrier."
"A wind barrier?"
"Yes. When I met Dune, she was separating the water and air with a white wall like this."
I gave a brief summary of the story of when I crossed the water barrier.
The problem was that in Dune's case, we entered the barrier, but this time it might be the opposite.
"In other words, you are saying we have come outside the barrier?"
Henry-sama was tilting his head. It wouldn't be easy to understand.
"Yes. Would the wind spirit be inside the hole?"
"Indeed, it does seem so when you put it that way."
"In other words, this might be a place that the wind spirit had to partition off with a barrier."
"Meaning there is something beyond here."
"Probably."
His decision after nodding with a "hmm" was quick.
"Alright, let's regroup with everyone once and decide on the personnel to explore further."
As everyone had said, he wasn't just a man of the spear.
When we descended, Roberts-sama and Stephens-san were sticking several tree branches into the pile of soil from the landslide.
"Roberts. What on earth is this?"
Henry-sama was poking the branches stuck in the soil with his finger.
"Father. I thought we might be able to dig out the shrine. I was getting a sense of the area by asking Sir Stephens."
"What will you do once you dig it out?"
"I heard the shrine was made by modifying an existing cave. If so, we might be able to enter the mountain from that cave."
"I see, you've thought it through. Actually, there was a cave up there too."
"Up there too?"
"Umu. So we came down to consult on who should head into the depths of that cave."
First, we confirmed the procedure.
"It would be better to explore from both top and bottom."
James-sama was the one in charge. Since it was within Medioland's borders, that was only natural.
"It might be better to wait until after we've located the shrine below, but I'd like to start with what we can do first."
"Shall we split into two groups?"
"Yes. Roberts, Gladys, and I, along with Priestess Jeanne, will first enter the cave from above. I'd like Paul-dono to come along as a messenger. Henry-sama, Eleanor-sama, could you please locate the shrine? Sir Stephens, you command the rear support."
The fact that Paul-san was a messenger rather than the main force showed just how high-level this group of people was.
"What about us?"
When Gladys-sama's attendants asked, the reply was that they should fulfill their duties. In other words, they would participate in the exploration of the hole above.
They nodded, seemingly satisfied. The two of them were with Gladys-sama under the King's orders. Even as the Crown Prince, he probably couldn't give them various instructions.
"James-dono."
Henry-sama spoke up. Did he have an opinion?
"The selection of personnel is fine, but exploration like this is always accompanied by the risk of getting lost. For the exploration of the hole above, I'd like to set a time, and if that time passes, the second group will go searching."
"Understood. Then let us make it two hours. If possible, why don't we all gather after noon and report the progress to each other?"
"Umu. Acknowledged. Two hours, then."
Two hours seemed short, but it was likely considering the possibility of running out of mana. Even for an expert, two hours would be the limit if they were using a single spell continuously.
Just as the talk was being settled, someone cut in.
"I think a rescue team is needed up there too."
It was Beatrix. She probably wanted to participate in the exploration herself.
"I leave the command of that area to Sir Stephens. However, they must remain in the safe rear. Otherwise, it would be meaningless."
"I have received your orders."
I wondered when they had coordinated; Stephens-san and Beatrix's group were looking at each other and smirking.
Stephens-san in particular looked like he would come even if told not to, so it was probably better to have him secure a safe location.
Even so, it was decided very naturally without anyone's dissatisfaction.
As expected of the next King.
The formation for proceeding through the cave had Roberts-sama and me at the front. Next were Gladys-sama and James-sama, with the two attendant knights as the rearguard.
Paul-san, the messenger, was even further back than the rearguard, with the rear support group.
Stephens-san was carrying a storage bag along with Lyudmila, who had won the lottery.
"If it's inside the wind barrier from here on, the wind spirit will be there, and if it's outside the wind barrier, then there will be some anomaly, right?"
Roberts-sama confirmed. In front of us was the white wall we had passed through earlier. Because James-sama and Paul-san had done some civil engineering work before we descended once, the soil around the wall had been almost entirely removed, so the wall was visible immediately upon descending into the hollow.
"Could the rescue team please stay outside? If there's no change after half an hour, please come in."
They were being left behind, but since they were the rear, they couldn't complain. We didn't know what lay ahead. It would be meaningless if the rescue team wasn't in a safe place.
First, I chanted Light and went inside. There was no change in the cave. When I gave the signal, everyone entered in order.
Once inside, James-sama immediately created a flame with magic.
"It seems we are outside the barrier. It is a relief that magic can be used."
"In other words, there is an anomaly inside."
"That's how it is. Roberts, I'm counting on you if monsters appear. It's a monster that a spirit had to seal with a barrier. At worst, it might be something like a dragon."
"Then I suppose I'll work hard to aim for the title of Dragon Killer."
The two of them were saying terrifying things.
My hands started to shake involuntarily.
I wondered what kind of nerves they had to have such relaxed expressions when a dragon might appear.
Looking at them, Gladys-sama and her attendants all had stiff expressions. I thought that was normal.
"Paul-dono. Torches."
Two torches were prepared. One was wedged into the wall, and Paul-san held the other. He said the flame would get smaller if the air became thin.
"Everyone. Are you ready?"
Everyone inside the hole was covering their nose and mouth with a wet hand towel. It was to prepare for poison. Just in case, Paul-san was slowly sending wind forward from the very back, but we didn't know what would happen.
As we proceeded while illuminating with Light, after one curve, it gradually became a downhill slope.
"Please wait a moment."
It would be dangerous to descend like this. If a dragon suddenly spat fire, we would be burnt to a crisp.
I asked Paul-san and decided to fly my Fireflies. The torches were held by the attendants.
"Can it be used in such a way?"
"Yes. I was taught by various people."
James-sama was impressed. I broke out into a slight sweat.
"This is the thing that repelled the Fenrir in the night battle at the Eastern Plains, isn't it?"
"No, not really. It was just a distraction."
Roberts-sama teased me. Apparently, the Jaegers had been saying various things. I broke out into a lot of sweat.
The Fireflies proceeded slowly while illuminating the inside of the cave. Seeing as they flew quite far, the path ahead might be connected somewhere. This was because if it were blocked midway, the wind would be pushed back.
Suddenly, it became pitch black. Even though the Fireflies were shining, the cave walls were not visible.
"It's likely a hollow. Let's go."
Roberts-sama started walking. Leaving the Firefly I had sent far away as it was, I made another one with my left hand and secured light.
The place we reached was a massive underground cavern. When I pointed the light upward, I could see the ceiling. Apparently, the place where we were now was near the top.
"This is tremendous."
Roberts-sama was also surprised. I pointed the light downward, but I couldn't see the bottom.
"Jeanne. Let's extinguish the Fireflies once and make four. One or two won't be enough."
It was just as Paul-san said. The width wasn't that great, as the walls could be illuminated, but the bottom was invisible. It was like peering down from the top of a tall tower. This should be around the seventh station of the mountain, but if it was connected to the cave of the shrine at the foot, this massive cavern would exist all the way to the bottom of the mountain.
I made four Fireflies, made the light intensity larger, and while illuminating the surroundings, I slowly lowered them. It seemed that an empty cavern just spread out.
When Paul-san threw a stone, it overtook the Fireflies and vanished into the darkness.
"Hmm. It is too dangerous to descend by rope. We likely wouldn't be able to reach it."
"Shall we descend in the bowl while illuminating below?"
"That is so. I will operate the bowl, so James-sama, could you please prepare so that you can use magic?"
"Understood. Then let us split into two groups. Priestess Jeanne, Roberts, and I will descend first. Call the rescue team here. Let's make this the waiting area for now."
"Then I shall..." one of the attendants said, and ran toward the outside with a torch.
The messenger was Paul-san, but he was currently in the middle of handling the Fireflies. I suppose it wasn't a time to be talking about who had what role.
Even by the time Stephens-san and the others arrived with the luggage, the light of the Fireflies didn't reach the bottom.
Even at maximum intensity, nothing could be seen except for the earth walls and the darkness.
Not a single sound could be heard.
"It seems we have no choice but to descend. Paul, I'm counting on you for the Flight Magic."
Roberts-sama showed his white teeth for a moment, and when he readied his hand spear toward the darkness, the spearhead, which was twice the usual length, glowed a faint white.