Chapter 613 - Chapter 8: Former Demon Lord's Cave ③
In the afternoon, we consulted about the full-scale conquest of the ant nest. Eleanor-sama says that the ant nest we are about to explore might be connected to several nests on the third floor and is likely quite a large nest.
About thirty thousand ants come out in a single sortie. Currently, after firing high-level or higher magic in the middle of each of the four sections of the third floor, ants appeared in each section after about the same amount of time, so there are at least four. If they are connected, there must be at least one hundred and twenty thousand. I can't chant that many spells.
"Why don't we lure them out section by section?"
It's Beatrix. I think so too.
"To do that, we have to proceed with clearing to some extent to create flat areas, otherwise we won't even know which direction they're coming from."
"Why not just clear the whole mountain edge?"
"That's a good method. I would be very grateful if someone would volunteer."
In this situation, the one who suggested it has to do it. No matter how I think about it, I've fallen into a trap.
In the end, the bowl ridden by Harold-sama and Beatrix was to continue clearing work on the third floor. However, just clearing the wall or mountain edge of the third floor makes it difficult to pinpoint the ant nest. We decided to help out before exploring, thinking we might as well reduce the number of monsters.
What does helping out involve?
The plan was devised by Harold-sama and Beatrix.
Harold-sama gave his house to Godwynn-sama and moved to the village where Beatrix is the landlord, along with his wife. He lives in Beatrix's house in the village. He manages the house on behalf of Beatrix, who usually lives in Nakanohara and visits the village at most once a week, but according to Harrison-san, he's treated like a granddaughter.
The village has also started to have various buildings built near it to provide border functions, not just for the villagers. The number of soldiers has also increased. Recently, a training center for magic soldiers was completed, and there are always over a hundred soldiers. Shops and taverns catering to those soldiers have also been built, not just the second shop in the village. Such areas are sold for the same price as the market price when the village was bought from the lord. Since they aren't villagers, ground rent is also properly taken, so Beatrix's income as a landlord has also increased. As practice for the soldiers, they have them use agricultural magic for free. They also have them help with hunting. Inevitably, the village's cultivated area has increased, and the villagers' income has also increased. As a result, the taxes paid by the village have increased. With Mary's hard work, the village has now reached the point where people dispatched by nobles from various places come to visit. it became the catalyst for changing land management throughout Regnentes.
However, it's not all good things. When people increase, disputes and quarrels also increase. Since the villagers are all serfs, they can't speak very strongly. In their stead, the village priest and Harrison-san were working hard, but there were still various parts where the villagers were enduring. There, Harold-sama, a former hero, former Military Minister, father of the current Military Minister, and a high-ranking noble, moved in as a villager. Everything was apparently resolved at once.
Not just the interactions during the previous war, but also because of such things, Beatrix is on good terms with Harold-sama. She has gone from a beautiful girl to a beautiful woman, and her skill at charming middle-aged men has been refined.
We actually go to the site in the southwest area.
She fired Wind Cutters repeatedly at a single tree to knock off the thin branches with leaves, making it bare. She's nailing many magic circles for Light, drawn on palm-sized wooden boards, to the tree. After all, Light, like Anti-Sepsis, can be mass-produced. There seem to be mountains of magic circles for lighting fixtures.
On top of that, she cut the surrounding trees with a 'basa-basa' and carried them out with Tornado Wind. Had the ants come out? I was thinking it was questionable timing-wise when she released all the magic circles for Light at once.
"She's quite good, isn't she?"
Eleanor-sama also praised her.
While the light emitted by the many magic circles dimly illuminated the surrounding branches, magic circles were glowing along the branches, though not all of them. It's as if the tree itself is emitting light. Looking down from a distance, a single glowing tree standing in the pitch black is fantastical.
"It's a wonderful creation. Let's definitely incorporate it into the festival in the Royal Capital. It would create a great atmosphere if used for the roadside trees on the main street in front of the Royal Palace."
That might be good. It might gather spectators just for that.
Unfortunately, in the Demon Lord's cave, moths gather instead of spectators. And the usual predation battle begins. Since the fantastical atmosphere would be ruined, we decided to stop approaching and return to exploration.
The exploration method is the same as in the morning. The differences are that instead of Fireflies, we're securing light in front with lighting fixtures, so I can proceed while searching with Sense Living, and we've brought several barrels filled with Land Worm repellent and holy water.
When we reached the boundary, the repellent seemed to have an effect; I could detect ants beyond the barrier, but they weren't approaching. We dug forward while illuminating with lighting fixtures, but ants were waiting ahead at a bend. Having no choice, Eleanor-sama used Clump Water to fly the Land Worm repellent filled in the barrels, and the ants fled further back.
This is interesting. There's no reason not to use it.
Then, as if to say 'here goes', we manipulated the Land Worm repellent with Clump Water to make it drift in front of our direction of travel while digging ahead, and the ants went further back on their own. We kept digging like that. If there was a branch, we'd stop temporarily and flood it with Land Worm repellent to stall them. While checking with Sense Living, we manipulated a mass of holy water filled in another barrel to dig forward, and when we reached a dead end, we burned them to death with holy water and suppressed the area.
As we went deeper, the holes became complex, and the drawing of the nest holes Bonnie was making also became increasingly complicated. Not just left and right, but up and down too. There were further branches at the ends of branches. Moreover, those were the ones with many reactions.
Having no choice, we formed a third team. At the branch points, Will and Henry-sama used lighting fixtures to deter and stall the side with more numbers. Harrison-san also stood by just in case. In the meantime, we dug to the end of the side with fewer reactions, Robinson-san manipulated them to push them back, and I defeated them with Over Flow. We then turned back to defeat and suppress the side with more numbers.
"There were rooms with larvae and eggs, not just worker ants, weren't there?"
The branch path team that returned reported. I can't tell that much from the Sense Living reactions.
"Then, we might encounter the Queen tomorrow."
It's the first time fighting an ant Queen. When we wiped out the wasp nest in Engrio, we defeated it by firing several Holy Lances into the nest. However, according to the secret book, wasps and ants are very different. A wasp Queen, though large, is only about twice the size of a worker wasp. An ant... is apparently so large I don't know how many times larger to say. The more years pass, the larger she becomes, and the larger she becomes, the more eggs she lays. She's ultra-huge and is a B-rank on her own. Moreover, because she's very hard, she's very resilient. True to her role of employing worker ants in the nest, she uses Charm, Subordination, and earth magic. Furthermore, there are soldier ants who can be called her personal guards, and these are C-rank and also use earth magic. Apparently, over a thousand of them are protecting the Queen. We can't see them yet, but since their size is twice that of worker ants, I can tell from the Sense Living reactions. Eleanor-sama intends to call for reinforcements and challenge her to a total war as soon as she's found. It feels leisurely, but she apparently has a plan.
That was it for that day. We finished after making a second base.
It became the third day.
Everything was the same up until prompting the ants to sortie by making the glowing tree with Light. The clearing team successfully lured out the ants, but couldn't pinpoint the location of the ant nest. So they were to continue. However, since there was a possibility of encountering the Queen soon, Harold-sama and Beatrix from the clearing team, and Harris-sama from the church's monster subjugation team, were to participate.
We jumped from the first base to the second base. We confirmed the direction with the wooden fish, confirmed there were no changes, and resumed digging forward.
There was one branch on the way.
"Distance-wise, we're probably at the limit. If it gets any further than this, it'll take too much time for the ants to appear. Given that such a large number are swarming, it's not that far. Most likely, from here on will be quite a battle."
Finally, the battle with the Queen. However, it would be troublesome if she was suddenly there after teleporting.
We proceeded toward the back. Just in case, Robinson-san manipulated several ants from the branch point to have them lead the way.
"Please stop. Curve is no longer working."
It's Wilson-san. I wonder what's going on. We broke through the first boundary. Since the space is connected, magic could be used even across the boundary. However, in cases like Sense Living where a certain range of space is searched, it can't be recognized unless you cross the boundary.
We illuminated not just with lighting fixtures, but with Fireflies with increased output. The hole was getting smaller right in front of us; it must be the boundary.
"Robinson-dono, try Clump Sand instead of Curve."
When he fired the spell as told by Harrison-san, he dug through easily.
"There was some soil that had hardened like rock. Most likely, we've passed through such a bedrock. From here on, I think it'll be soil for a while."
The appearance didn't seem to change much, but it seems it was soil beyond the boundary.
"However, it's clever, or rather, not straightforward. There might be something ahead."
According to Harrison-san, it's not just a simple blind.
Just in case, we made a second base near the boundary. Since we had recovered the simple magic circle from the first base, we spread that out.
By the way, the magic circles increased to two. One set is connected to the tower on the third floor, and the other set is loaded in the bowl. If push comes to shove, we'll flee to the second base and then withdraw.
"The ants have disappeared!"
We had been digging for a while with nothing happening, but this time it was Robinson-san.
They disappeared right before our eyes. There seems to be a reaction to his manipulation.
Just in case, we remade the bowl, made it with a perforated lid with Fireflies attached, and dug forward, and a pitch-black place was right in front of us. Even when we illuminated the front with lighting fixtures, it remained pitch black.
I remembered when we went to the Earth Dragon's cave. The Earth Dragon was teleporting the area beyond the room's door in various ways. Once when it was connected to the outside, the Earth Dragon told us not to go out the door. At that time, when Roberts-sama threw a piece of wood, it disappeared as soon as it went out the door. I don't know where it went.
Will we actually charge in or not?
Eleanor-sama was also hesitating, but she temporarily returned the Land Worm repellent drifting in front to the barrel.
While watching for a while, several ants came out from the darkness. When illuminated with lighting fixtures, they fled into the darkness.
"Robinson. When the ants you manipulated disappeared, did they show any resistance?"
"No, not particularly. They entered ahead naturally."
"Then, it seems they don't die suddenly."
She intends to charge in.
"I was watching those ants just now, but isn't it a hole ahead? They showed a posture like they were going down a cliff."
It's Wilson-san. Since his night vision is good, he hasn't missed the movements of the swift ants.
"Then, let's go."
It was Henry-sama, who hadn't said anything like an instruction until now.
With a light nod to Eleanor-sama, we charged in all at once.
"Where on earth is this?"
A pitch-black space is spreading around us.
When we searched for the direction with the wooden fish, the direction had changed again. When we illuminated the back with Fireflies, a hole was visible. It must be the passage we came through. When we backed up the bowl, we returned to the original place. The direction shown by the wooden fish was also the same.
"It seems that darkness is the headquarters. Let's begin the exploration."
We charged in again, and the full-scale exploration began.
First, a survey of the surroundings. When we illuminated around the exit hole leading to the passage, rock faces were visible. Ants are swarming around the hole. We drove them away by illuminating with lighting fixtures and smeared Land Worm repellent scooped from the barrel around the hole. We attached one Firefly so as not to lose sight of it.
The ceiling is barely visible above, but the bottom is not visible at all. It seems to be quite a high place. The opposite side is visible. According to Wilson-san, the top is about three or four stories high, and the bottom is about ten stories high. There are several holes in the wall, and ants are going up and down the wall. Those going down have nothing, but those going up are carrying something like a clump of soil in their jaws. Are they carrying it to the top?
"We will ascend for now."
By Eleanor-sama's policy, we decided to proceed with exploration from the top.
When we ascended along the wall while illuminating with lighting fixtures, a tapered ceiling came into view. There seem to be holes at the tip too, but even Wilson-san can't see beyond them. They might be blocked or curved.
When Robinson-san fired Subordination toward the area around the ceiling, there was no reaction at all.
After that, we moved along the wall in a horizontal direction, using the hole we entered as a starting point. We went around once, but there were no ants except around the wall with the hole.
"So it's down. Jeanne, I'll use several magic circles pasted as markers. We'll descend while illuminating with Fireflies."
"Yes."
This time there were eight. We decided to descend while having them drift a little away from the bowl, illuminating the sides and bottom.