kscans

Chapter 260 - You Have a Thing for Bones

We walked across the plain toward the mountains.

"Japanese summers are the worst with all the humidity, but this place is crazy hot in its own way," Harry said. The sun was strong, but the humidity wasn’t so bad.

"It really is. You, however, look quite elegant."

Can’t you see the little leech stuck to me? There’s nothing elegant about this.

"You should have prepared properly. You’re going to get a sunburn."

"I threw away such concerns back when I was in the army."

Being a soldier sounds tough.

As we continued walking across the sun-drenched plain, Nanapon tugged on my clothes.

"What is it?"

"Up."

Nanapon pointed upward, so I moved my parasol. A bird was flying in the sky above.

"Right, I forgot there were Desert Eagles here."

"Should I take it down?"

You, Nanapon? You, at level 17?

"Claire, you do it."

"Alright, alright."

Claire took a knife from an inner pocket of the jacket she was wearing.

"A knife? What are you going to do with that? It’s flying."

"Just shut up and watch."

Claire cut me off, then took a stance and threw the knife. It flew straight toward the Desert Eagle.

"It’ll just dodge i—… huh?"

The Desert Eagle made no attempt to dodge and continued flying. Claire’s knife plunged into it, and it fell from the sky.

"Hmm? What was that?"

Why didn’t the Desert Eagle react?

"It’s my skill, Recognition Impairment. I erased the knife’s presence."

"Huh…"

Her unique skill was deceptively powerful. The countermeasure was clear, but it was far too effective against anyone seeing it for the first time.

"Come to think of it, you have an assassination skill too, don’t you? Scary, scary."

She said she was an agent, but she was an assassin.

"The way your mind works is scarier." Claire said, and Harry nodded in agreement.

"We’re all the same in that regard."

You guys are unique skill holders too. The ramen idiot and the money-grubbing lady.

We started walking again, heading for the mountains. As we continued, we began to see several tents at the foot of the mountains. There were also men in camouflage uniforms lined up in a row.

"Is that the SDF?"

They looked Japanese, so they probably were.

"Looks like it. Don’t cause any trouble."

"You’re so persistent."

We walked past the SDF personnel. As we did, I looked to see if Yanagi-san or Maeda-san were there, but they weren’t. In fact, no one would even make eye contact with me.

"What’s with them? So rude."

"They probably know about what happened last time. You were threatening to turn them into frogs, weren’t you?"

That did happen.

"Eleanor, this way." Claire said, leading us not up the mountain path, but to the right. We walked for a while longer until we came to an opening in the rocky face of the mountain.

"Here?"

"That’s right."

The cave was wide and tall enough for all of us to walk through side by side. But it was dark inside, and I couldn’t see much.

"How far inside have they explored?"

"It seems they only went in a little way."

"Really?"

"Didn’t you hear? The SDF and our military are in a dispute."

Ah, I did hear that. They were probably arguing over who got to investigate.

"They shouldn’t have gone with a joint leasehold."

"We wouldn’t have been able to beat the other countries otherwise."

Is that how it is?

"Even after it’s opened, it seems like there will be disputes between American and Japanese Adventurers."

"There absolutely will be. To begin with, it’s highly likely they won’t be able to communicate. That’s why they’re planning to restrict access on a monthly basis."

I see. So they’ll alternate access.

"Did you argue over who goes first?"

"We go first. Our country put up more money."

I see. The prime minister’s approval rating is probably going to drop again.

"Well, shall we go in? Nanaka-san."

"Agent Seven…"

Right, I forgot.

"Yes, yes. Agent Seven, a light." At my command, Nanapon stepped away from me and created a ball of fire. I put away my parasol and took out a lantern instead, attaching it to my bag. I also prepared a sheet of graph paper for my Auto-Map.

"You take the lead. We’ll handle anything from behind."

Claire and Harry took out flashlights as well.

"Got it. Let’s go."

Nanapon and I took the lead and entered the cave. The ground inside was rough and uneven, making it difficult to walk.

"Watch your step."

"Yes."

Being mindful of the clumsy Nanapon, we proceeded slowly. I could see metal baskets for holding torches set into the walls.

"It looks like Lydia-chan’s guess was right. It seems to be the Mine Ruins."

"Didn’t she say that no one ever lived here because crops wouldn’t grow?"

I did seem to remember her saying something like that. Was that why the mine was closed? Hmm…

"I don’t know about that. Either way, it doesn’t matter. Claire, what happens if this mine is still active?"

Adventurers wouldn’t be able to come here if there was mining to be done.

"They’ll restrict the areas open to Adventurers. That’s why we need to survey this mine. Hence, the map. Are you drawing it properly?"

"I’m drawing it… Hm?"

I heard a clattering sound from deeper inside.

"Eleanor-san, there’s some kind of skeleton."

"A Skeleton?"

"No… ah, um, a skull is floating in the air… Eek." Nanapon hid behind me.

"What are you talking about…"

"Whoa."

"E-Eleanor, in front…"

Hm? The two Americans sounded surprised, so I looked ahead. Just as Nanapon had said, a skull was floating there. It was several times larger than a human’s, and its eyes were glowing blue.

"What is this?"

"It’s a giant ghost."

"You idiot…"

I drew my sword from my hood and took a stance. The skull, perhaps pleased by this, began to clatter as if it were laughing. It felt like it was seriously mocking me…

"Tch."

I raised my sword high, then stepped forward and swung down. The floating skull split in two from the top of its head and fell to the ground.

The light in its eyes vanished, and the skull dissipated into smoke.

"A small fry, I guess?"

I wasn’t sure.

"Eleanor-san, how can you just charge in like that… It was so creepy."

"It’s just a monster. Let’s hurry up."

I picked up the strange bone that had dropped and started walking again.