Ahigh-pitched metallic sound repeatedly echoes in the vast underground space. Zeros smiles in satisfaction while picking up the pieces of metal ores scattered after swinging his pickaxe against the wall. And, despite not relying on his OP cheat abilities to find the location of the veins, he was in a good mood, immersed in the task of excavating as if he had no other choice.
The ores are then melted by the wide-range annihilation magic 【Scorching Purgatory Flames】, and because heavy metals containing a similar relative density were homogeneously combined together, he managed to obtain a large number of unusual materials.
After refining them, the metal ingots are stored away in his inventory.
“Ohh? It’s Hihiirogane*. I didn’t know it could be found in a place like this. Truly an excellent ore… Kukuku.”
(*T.N: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Hihiirokane ; legendary metal in fantasy said to be bright like flames. Written in katakana, I believe it was mentioned a couple of chapters ago but written in kanji. I’ll look up what it was translated as.)
“Just what did you mine… Ah, I found some weird clay…”
“Oh, isn’t this orichalcum? You’re quite lucky hahaha!!”
“Ha!?”
Immersed in a good mod, Zeros continues mining. Occasionally, the mine’s walls are blasted with magic, and high-quality materials are collected. He was burning with ambition. His objective was gathering enough materials to build a desiccator silo and a refrigerator, and then a stepping threshing machine. Afterward, if it was possible, he would also build a bath heater*.
(*T.N: 風呂釜[furugama] https://oyumawari.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IMG_4620.jpg they look like PCs that heat up your bathwater, basically.)
“Iyaa… I did it, I did it, I can’t stop laughing… Hahaha!”
“Your personality hasn’t changed or anything like that, right? So, this is orichalcum… Are you listening!?”
“With this… With this, I will take the rice back. Just wait! Then, s-sake, soy sauce, miso, mirin… sake. I will take them all back hahahaha!!”
“Isn’t your tension a bit too high!? And why did you say sake twice!? Is it that important!?”
It was incredibly important for this bibulous Japanese uncle.
The pickaxe striking against the volcanic rock makes a pleasant sound, scattering rock fragments on the surroundings as it burrows through the bedrock. His mining speed and accuracy are both beyond belief. Without a doubt, he would be able to earn a living working as a miner. In addition, he will clearly be the top breadwinner in this trip.
The long-awaited mining has finally come, his head filled with being even a step closer to his dream of recreating his Japanese lifestyle. Just like going abroad and missing Japanese food, Zeros, who can’t return to his former world, seeks the taste of his hometown. It has come to the point where his tension was unusually high.
For a moment, his tension seemed to go through the roof, and a strange laughter echoed in the mine until he was satisfied. No one would’ve been able to get through him during that time.
Thus, he got a massive amount of different ores in his hands. Massive enough to not be able to use them all up even if he tried his hardest…
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
“Iya, how embarrassing. Getting so fired up despite my age.”
“Please don’t mind it, but shouldn’t we get moving soon? Monsters might appear again…”
“They probably got mixed up in my magic.”
“Yeah, that’s ri… not right. My level is too low to fight against these monsters!”
“Your real thoughts came out… Well, that’s fine too…”
After annihilating the group of Worms, the vast ore deposits were discovered after Zeros’ tension was raised due to the embarrassment caused after Christine persistently asked him about himself while they were mining.
Nevertheless, despite originally coming to rescue her, they seemed to be in the deepest layer of the dungeon. Casually falling from the upper to the bottom layer in one go is impossible, but there might be such traps in young dungeons that seek to consume the mana of its sacrifices to maintain itself. Although they don’t possess an ego of their own, as they grow, they set up their traps constructing something akin to a complex system.
To this day, the reason behind this has not been identified and remains as one of the many mysteries about dungeons. And yet, it’s accepted as something natural in this world. Most people aren’t particularly interested in such topics, with the exception of stubborn scholars that question the cause and effect of every phenomenon.
“In any case, that desert-like place looks like a volcano now.”
“It was more powerful than I thought it would be. It used to be smaller…”
The aftereffects between the virtual world and the real world were different.
Previously, the Worms squirming around in that place were much weaker than Zeros. But with his opponents being instantly incinerated by the excessive heat of his magic, the moniker of 【Annihilator】 was not a mere exaggeration.
It was a habit from the days of the game, to fire high-power magic as soon as he found a large number of enemies around. Moreover, as he didn’t need to chant to cast magic, he only needed to have enough mana.
“It looked as if you directly shot the magic formula itself, just what kind of principle does it use? It’s clearly different from regular magic!”
“Right…? That’s why it’s such a dangerous magic, but it was unexpected that it had such power……”
【Scorching Purgatory Flames】 is a spell made with an extremely dense magic formula. Originally, the brain would have to process the magic formula, and the desired phenomenon would be produced the moment the magic circle was completed. However, this magic would reproduce and fire the formula itself, using it as artillery shells.
The high-density magic formula is constructed from 0s and 1s, and for humans to be able to use it, they would need to process information at the speed of a supercomputer, which is impossible for the human brain. If that was the case, then it was just a matter of developing a program to process the magic formula in place of the brain. In addition, he thought it would be an excellent idea to use it as shells, thus giving birth to a nasty annihilation magic.
When a magic bullet, made out of a compressed magic formula and loaded with enough mana to trigger an explosion, is fired, the high processing program will expand the magic formula when it reaches its target, while absorbing the mana from the surroundings. Finally, said mana, which possesses enormous destructive power is converted into a tangible physical phenomenon.
If the user manages to process the information of the highly-dense magic formula by that means, there’s no need to force the human brain to take on that task.
The wide-range annihilation magic researched at the Istor Magic Academy is done so under the assumption that a single person has to be able to process the magic formula in their heads, but in the first place, it’s practically impossible for the brain to read a formula rotating at a high speed and convert it into a physical phenomenon. The burden is not something humans can endure.
Even if it were possible to read the formula, the user’s brain would be destroyed, leading to their death before they could even finish casting the spell to ascertain its power.
In his former world, after creating this spell in the game, he was struck by a severe headache, triggering the game’s safety mechanism and forcefully logging him out. It was quite a dangerous thing that could’ve ended with him becoming crippled.
(If you think about it, including the console, the technology of the game was odd. It accurately simulated the laws of physics to their minute details as if another world was recreated in the digital space.
Who created the master system that could handle such a program? A model of this world, even to the smallest details of the environment, such as the laws of physics and quantum theory, was recreated without anyone feeling anything out of place.
Is such a thing really possible? That game was revolutionary in many ways, and it could be called a great invention that could fundamentally change the world. Well, it’s regrettable but it’s not something I can confirm at this point.)
For the first time after coming to this world, he noticed an abnormality in the online game he used to enjoy so much. The backbone of the master system of the high-speed processing computer known as ‘Babel’, was originally an information control system developed by the Department of Defense for the sake of national protection.
It was created to keep classified information of individuals and the country safe from malicious hackers trying to access from the outside, however, due to budgetary issues, the project was eventually shut down and sold to a private company. And, some time later, said company announced its new MMORPG, ‘Sword and Sorcery’.
Although it had a simple name, one was able to access and freely adventure a vast virtual world through a readily available personal console, which was, in addition, marketed towards the general public as a family gaming console along with the game itself, vastly contributing its massification. But, on the other hand one could say that there was an entirely different intention, as if the game was trying to hide its own bizarreness.
[*T.N: This paragraph was a bit confusing to translate especially because the word 筐体[kyotai], which literally means ‘case’ kept appearing and I only found pictures of those old arcade machines when I googled it, but I assume it means console, as in game console.]
(Why am I thinking about this now? This is weird… it’s as if the world itself was being controlled so there’s no feeling on incongruity compared to the game… no way, hey…)
Zeros started to feel a sense of discomfort, something he never felt in his former world. His expression gradually becomes sharp as he starts pondering, as if his consciousness was buried in his thoughts. He’s once again conscious of his former world’s abnormal reality.
“…san… Zeros-san!”
“Ah! W-What happened!?”
“That’s my line. I was just asking you when were we going to leave this place, but you suddenly started to think about something with a scary face. Did something happen?”
Returning to his senses, there’s a world of molten rocks. He suddenly remembered his current situation.
“Ah, it’s nothing. Well, we’re done mining then, we should go back up soon.”
“That’s perfect, but I’m just going to be a burden, right?”
“A burden? Why?”
“Because… I’m weak.”
In contrast to Christine, who’s looking down dejectedly, Zeros awkwardly scratches his head. If this is the deepest layer, the number of monsters will increase as they go up. It was dangerous for her to keep advancing with her current ability.
As he was thinking, he casually glances at the collapsed ceiling where he could see the adjacent layer.
“It’s going to be easier from now on. If we go through there, we’ll be fine.”
“Eh? But, it’s too high…”
The place Zeros is pointing at, is the collapsed ceiling where the exposed adjacent layer is. Which meant…
“N-No way… Are we flying?”
“Is there any other way?”
“B-But, I fell off a precipice just now and…”
“You’ll be fine, I’ll hold on to you tightly. Come on, just keep your eyes on the ceiling, we’ll be there in a jiffy, alright?”
She seems to have developed a small trauma after falling off the ledge. Her facial muscles are also twitching slightly, showing her disapproval of flying with Zeros’ flight magic.
“You don’t want to, even if your companions won’t be able to get to this place? Aside from here, there are monsters on every layer, you know?”
“B-But… it’s too high…”
“If you stay still, we’ll be there in a second. Only if you stay still…”
Flight magic is a kind of spell that defies the laws of physics. It works by creating a repulsion field with the user’s own mana, and at the same time, the propulsion is generated by taking in the mana from the surroundings. Because of that, the mana consumption rate is very high. Moreover, it’s designed to only support the weight of the user, so if the weight is further increased, the burden is compensated by consuming more mana.
“E-Even if we get there, I still don’t have the strength to beat the monsters there!”
“Just for this one time, I’ll lend you one of my prized weapons. You’ll one-hit all the monsters around here, you know? Fufufu…”
Along with his companions, Zeros created a modded magic weapon. Most small-fries should receive a burial with only one hit from this weapon. It had such a destructive power that he decided to keep it for himself.
For him, it’s just another weapon, but for Christine, it should hold quite the power.
“Can I choose…”
“You can’t. But well, while we’re messing around here, I wonder how the knights are doing… Ahhh, I really hope they’re not dead already.”
“Uuu…”
She hasn’t made a decision yet, and she seems ready to run away at any second while looking at the ceiling. And given that it would be useless to spend more time idling in that place, Zeros decides to forcefully hold her.
“Hyaaaahh!!”
“〖Wings of the Black Bird〗”
He ignores her screaming and proceeds to fly high in the air… at a tremendous speed.
While such an uncle soars through the air, a scream echoes in the vast space below them, in the deepest layer of the dungeon. He just wanted to get home early so he could work on making appliances.
The pitiful Christine was just dragged into it. She would later recall, “The sky is scary… I don’t want to fly anymore…”. In the end, he only worsened her fear of heights. It’s even more terrible because he was completely oblivious to it.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
The two people descend on the ground after reaching the upper floor using flight magic. Most of the monsters they encounter in the way are kicked around by Zeros while Christine follows behind him. She said she didn’t have enough battle prowess, and indeed she was weak.
They are currently resting on a narrow space in a rocky area. Fortunately, Zeros always keeps firewood in his inventory, so he lights up a campfire and prepares for a small late lunch break.
“Fumu. By the way, can you use magic, Christine-san?”
In contrast to Zeros, who just finished starting the fire, she reluctantly starts talking while lying face down.
“I… can’t use magic. It seems like I don’t have the aptitude. I can memorize the magic formula, but I can’t invoke the spell, something like that.”
“I see. If you could use magic, would you like to learn?”
“I’d like to learn if I could, but it’s impossible. All the magicians who’ve tried to teach me magic said that.”
While inhaling the cigarette smoke, Zeros takes out several pieces of magic paper from his inventory. They are the same magic scrolls, modified from the Academy’s textbooks, that Celestina had memorized before.
It’s a prototype he made when the talk of selling magic scrolls came up, but unlike the scrolls being currently sold, these do not possess a magic erasing technique.
“This is?”
“I dare say, my lady might be able to use this magic, perchance?”
“But… I don’t have the aptitude…”
“Right now we’re are practically at the gates of Hades, you won’t lose anything trying it.”
“Uuu… That might be true. Then, I will try.”
As she says that, she pours mana into the scroll, activating the magic formula, which is then etched into her mind. After the process was done, she mutters the spell’s chant.
“〖Burn the light, illuminate my way. Torch〗”
The moment she finishes her chant, a small flame flickers on the top of her palm. Christine opens her eyes wide in astonishment.
“Z-Zeros-san! I don’t feel sluggish like when I used the spells I’ve been taught before!”
“That’s excellent. Ah, please return the scroll. This magic has spread around enough.”
“I… was able to use magic…”
“My student had the same problem as you. Please consider this magic as closer to the one of the past.”
Christine, who comes from a family of knights, doesn’t have much to do with magic. However, now that she’s able to cast magic, her options are wide open. Though she’s not aware of that fact yet…
“Umm, is this okay? This is one of your original spells, right?”
“No, this is something I modified from the Magic Academy’s textbook, it’s good if you like it, but we have to do something, my lady. I don’t know what those knights will do…iyaa, seriously…”
The knights will surely come down looking for Christine. But they will be bothered if she’s injured when she joins them. He was thinking it was better to have as few worries as possible, as Christine was trying to learn several spells in a hurry.
—
“I was wondering, what kind of meat is this?”
She says what she was wondering about to Zeros, who was grilling meat skewers over the fire as a savory fragrance wafts in the air.
“Hmm? Well, I have many different kinds of meat sitting in my inventory, so I’m not entirely sure, but don’t worry about it. Please try it, alright?”
The meat that’s being grilled over the fire drips its delicious oil. He sprinkles some salt and spices before roasting it again for some time and then hands her the skewer.
Despite being improper, she loudly gulps the saliva unconsciously accumulated in her mouth before slowly bitting into the meat skewer. The juicy sweetness and tenderness of the meat, that seems to almost melt in her mouth, give away its rich flavor.
“D-Delicious.”
She could only utter that single word. She hadn’t eaten anything since falling to the deepest layer of the dungeon, and the meat skewer seemed to be a heaven-sent treat to quench her hunger.
“Ah… This is Manticore, Wyvern… and Death Mantis meat.”
“Bufu! Gohogoho!”(*T.N: choking sfx.)
Zeros remembers from which monsters the meat was from after tasting it. Manticore and Wyvern meat are amongst the finest ingredients. They’re luxurious enough that even nobles would hardly ever have the opportunity to savor them, with the exception of the Death Mantis, which was an unheard-of type of meat. In addition, in this world not only did no one think of eating insects but also monsters were known for being dangerous creatures with ferocious strength. It’s certainly not something one could easily get their hands on.
And it’s also certain that one has ever eaten a Death Mantis before, except for this middle-aged uncle…
“W-What are you making me eat!?”
“Hm? You didn’t like it?”
“Aren’t these all high-end ingredients!? And even a Death Mantis!?”
“Ah, that’s the whitish meat. Isn’t its sweet flavor delicious?”
It was delicious. If she didn’t know the true identity of the meat, she would’ve thought it was the best thing she’s ever tried before. But the Death Mantis is an insect. From her point of view, she just ate some bizarre, disgusting food.
“It is delicious, but…”
“I think that the Big Spider might also be delicious. I’d like to try it at least once…”
“Are you going to eat that? I don’t think you’re sane.”
“We already eat monsters on a daily basis, so it’s not something that weird, right? They are meat all the same.”
“Uu… but…”
“Deliciousness is justice. We should be lucky we have something to eat in this situation, you know?”
He has perfectly adapted to a survival lifestyle. Being a master of survival, he might be able to live alone in the wilderness even if the world were to collapse.
On the other hand, Christine looks at the strange meat skewer on her hand. But after some time, she was unable to conquer the hunger and eventually eats it. In the end, she arrived at a fundamental truth: Deliciousness is justice…
—
After lunch, they start walking towards the exit again. And they encounter a monster on their way.
“‘Wuant’*, is it? Do you want to defeat it? It’s just a small animal though…”
(*T.N:ウォーアント The name of the monster, but no clue how to translate it as. It’s pronounced as ‘Uooanto’, yeah really.)
“But, its level…”
“Its level is 103. You will be alright with this weapon.”
Zeros points his finger at the Azure Dragon katana he lent her.
(*T.N: 青龍刀[seiryuutou], don’t quote me on the reading tho, it could also be seiryuugatana, shouryuugatana, and like 3 other readings.)
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
Modded Evil Azure Dragon Katana 【Azure Dragon Katana v.38】
A fiendish masterpiece of a sword with enhanced cutting power. An absurd weapon, forged by achieving an exquisite balance between many different materials from super large-class monsters.
It’s sharp enough to cut through steel like paper. Extremely dangerous to touch with one’s bare hands.
Special Abilities
BODY STRENGTHENING – CUTTING ENHANCEMENT – SLASHING ENHANCEMENT
ONE-HIT KILL – ONE-HIT CLEAVING – SIMULTANEOUS OFFENSE AND DEFENSE*
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
*T.N:攻防一体[koubou ittai], it means something along the lines of attacking and defending at the same time, but couldn’t think of a better name.
(It didn’t display the attack power, is the one doing the appraisal this time a different person?)
He’s starting to feel that this ability every time changes the contents of the appraisal at its whim.
The laws of this world appear to be somewhat unusual, and the acquisition of the skills themselves seems to also deviate from the natural providence as if there were someone controlling them.
“I’ll seal its movements, please attack as soon as I do that.”
“… I-I understand. I’ll do my best.”
Christine seems to be a bit pessimistic. Zeros thought it was natural given that they’ve been in a dangerous situation after another, however, unbeknownst to him, the biggest reason behind her gloominess was the flight magic incident and the meat skewers.
She unsheathes her Azure Dragon katana and runs towards the Wuant.
“Plasma Bind.”
The Wuant stops moving once the lighting magic confines its movements by electrocuting it in place.
In the blink of an eye, she slashes at the monster with her sword.
“Teaaaaaahhh!!”
―――Zuban!
With a single big strike, the monster is cut from the head down to the middle of the chest, instantly dying. The modded magic weapon seemed to be incredibly powerful.
“Eh!? Eeeehhh!? What’s with this power!?”
It was due to the custom skills ‘One-hit Kill’ and ‘One-hit Cleaving’. With this, it was proven that it was a dangerous weapon even for low-leveled beginners. One can only imagine what would happen if Zeros wielded it.
“… This weapon is too dangerous. This is bad…… Let’s seal it once we get out.”
“It’s scary to keep using it, but… with this, I’m done, right?”
“I’m scared too. Alright, I’ll stop making more weapons. I don’t know what kind of dangerous thing will I make if I get too fired up.”
“Did you make such an absurdly powerful weapon just for funsies?”
“I regret it now. To be honest, it might have been a bit overkill.”
He now understands, that even if he made such a weapon in the game, it’s still a heinous creation. A low-leveled newbie can one-hit a monster five times their level with this sword. The balance of the world would be destroyed with one swing of this katana.
And naturally, one’s level will increase whenever a stronger monster is defeated.
“Hyaaahh!?”
Leveling too rapidly puts a great burden on the body, and if the level gap is too wide, the body will try to adapt to the pain and might enter in a forceful state of sleep to protect the consciousness.
The symptoms may vary, from feeling fatigued for a while to sleeping for a few days, if one is unlucky. And, Christine was the latter.
Her body, unable to withstand the pain, shuts down as she falls into a deep slumber, leaving her motionless body to collapse where she was standing.
Zeros hurries to support her body as she eventually loses her consciousness in the underground dungeon.
“What was the level difference I wonder?”
She had gone up from level 20 to level 81 in one go. It seems that the experience distribution differs when one is fighting one-on-one as opposed to when one is fighting in a group all at once, in which case, the experience points will be equally distributed amongst the members and thus managing to suppress the symptoms of the body optimization as much as possible. However, in Christine’s case, her body immediately started the process.
In fact, the level of the knights, during the Far-flung forest training camp, went up little by little, so the symptoms were at the level of causing a small sense of sluggishness. The polar opposite of Christine, basically.
Because of it, Zeros would have to carry her from now on, however…
“Don’t I look like a kidnapper?”
He looks like a shady middle-aged man, people would definitely look at him as a suspicious person abducting a young girl. The world was unfair…
Moreover, Christine is cross-dressing as a boy, which would still look bad for him, yet it’s a popular setting amongst the female audiences.
A suspicious uncle running away with a pretty boy between his arms. It would certainly look bad. If such a rumor spreads, he wouldn’t be able to go outside anymore.
“What should I do then? This situation is a bit…”
He had two options left: —to keep going forward or to stay where he was.
In the end, he decided to keep advancing while carrying Christine on his back. He chose her safety over appearances.
Incidentally, her breasts were unexpectedly big.
(*T.N: 911 yes hello)
Zeros starts walking while trying to hide his bewilderment towards happening to know such things by chance.
And resigning himself to get a bad reputation…
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
“Fuck! These ants!”
“Don’t be impatient, Magician-dono has gone to where Christine-sama is! I’m sure she’s safe.”
“That’s true, but he’s been gone for a long time, in the unlikely event that something did happen, we…”
A group of Giant Ants is preventing the knights from moving. They grind their sharp mandibles together, threatening them as they are trying to defend their own nests.
Inside dungeons, where there’s no need to obtain food, breeding is their main focus, so they become extremely aggressive to any intruders invading their territory.
The monsters fight to protect their own kin, while the knights fight to rescue the Lord whom they serve.
The sun is already setting outside the mine, however, they were not showing any signs of retreating yet.
“Syll! hold back the ants on the left!”
“Alright! But I won’t last for long, I’ll only buy you a bit of time, Izzard.”
“Corsa! Finish the ants on the right with me! Follow me.”
“Understood.”
“I’m covering Syll. Soctas! Hurry up and kill them!”
The knights split into two groups in order to defeat the Giant Ants, using the narrow terrain to their advantage. When one Ant gets stuck in the tunnel, the four knights step in to strike it down.
They’re already exhausted but they haven’t found Christine yet.
The late Lord Edward entrusted her daughter to their care, so they swore to absolutely protect the heir to the Elwell house no matter what.
They are all well aware that if they weren’t picked up by him when they were orphans living in the slums, they wouldn’t be the people they are today. That’s why they feel an extreme debt of gratitude towards the late Lord, and therefore, towards his precious daughter.
“Aah! that hurt! The ants are starting to gather together. I’ll cover you, guys 〖Aqua Jet〗”
The battle gets easier once Iris and her party join the fight.
“Wait, calm down a bit, Iris!”
“It’ll be fine if Zeros-san is there, right!? It’s gonna be dangerous if we start losing our cool!”
Jane slashes at the Giant Ant with her greatsword while Rena focuses on swiftly stabbing the joints.
“Thanks for the help!”
“Let’s help each other, alright? It’s common sense for mercenaries.”
Some people, however, don’t understand that simple rule. Iris and the other girls were decent mercenaries though.
“Stop talking and move! They’re still coming! 〖Ice Blizzard〗!”
A -30 degrees [celsius] storm envelops and freezes the Giant Ants. Jane and the knights crush and shatter them as if they were already broken to begin with.
“How many are there?”
“If we’re really inside a dungeon, monsters will probably keep appearing endlessly.”
“I don’t want to think about that, but we have to keep going.”
The knights were starting to grow impatient. There’s a massive swarm of ants in front of them, but they won’t be able to rescue Christine if they don’t advance forward.
“Knights-sans, calm down too. There, do you hear that?”
“What do you hear?”
“Wait, they’re acting really strange!”
The Giant Ants start alerting each other in a hurry, busily moving their antennae and mandibles. No matter how you look at it, something unexpected must have happened as they seemed to be restless.
―――Doooonnn!!
A roaring sound shakes the tunnel, reverberating loudly on the walls. And at the same time, a whirlwind ascends from the bottom of the tunnel, blowing them off their feet.
The Giant Ants run away all at once in different directions, disappearing from the knights’ sight.
“W-What’s going on…”
“An earthquake? No way, it won’t collapse, right?”
“Don’t say unpleasant things. We won’t be able to escape at this point, you know!”
“Oi, There’s someone coming out from the bottom of the tunnel, and… Ah! It’s the magician!!”
Walking slowly out of the dust cloud, a shabby-looking middle-aged man wearing a gray robe appears, carrying the girl, the knights were coming to rescue, on his back.
“Christine-sama!”
“Oh? Everyone’s here. By the way, the exit is this way, right? I’ve been wandering around for a while, you see…”
“Rather than that, is Christine-sama safe!?”
“She’s alright. She just fainted after leveling up too fast.”
Zeros finally takes a break and puts down Christine, leaving her with the knights. Nearby, Rena and Jane are dismantling the Giant Ants while Iris is collecting the magic stones of the monsters that were already absorbed by the dungeon.
As they have to collect the materials before they are consumed, they are all too focused on dismantling to notice him. On the contrary, he’s treated as mere air.
Said uncle gets a bit lonely after thinking about such things. The loneliness of a cheat old man.
He leaves the mine feeling the cold air caressing his heart.
In the background, the voices of three young girls happily talking to each other…
Ahigh-pitched metallic sound repeatedly echoes in the vast underground space. Zeros smiles in satisfaction while picking up the pieces of metal ores scattered after swinging his pickaxe against the wall. And, despite not relying on his OP cheat abilities to find the location of the veins, he was in a good mood, immersed in the task of excavating as if he had no other choice.
The ores are then melted by the wide-range annihilation magic 【Scorching Purgatory Flames】, and because heavy metals containing a similar relative density were homogeneously combined together, he managed to obtain a large number of unusual materials.
After refining them, the metal ingots are stored away in his inventory.
“Ohh? It’s Hihiirogane*. I didn’t know it could be found in a place like this. Truly an excellent ore… Kukuku.”
(*T.N: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Hihiirokane ; legendary metal in fantasy said to be bright like flames. Written in katakana, I believe it was mentioned a couple of chapters ago but written in kanji. I’ll look up what it was translated as.)
“Just what did you mine… Ah, I found some weird clay…”
“Oh, isn’t this orichalcum? You’re quite lucky hahaha!!”
“Ha!?”
Immersed in a good mod, Zeros continues mining. Occasionally, the mine’s walls are blasted with magic, and high-quality materials are collected. He was burning with ambition. His objective was gathering enough materials to build a desiccator silo and a refrigerator, and then a stepping threshing machine. Afterward, if it was possible, he would also build a bath heater*.
(*T.N: 風呂釜[furugama] https://oyumawari.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IMG_4620.jpg they look like PCs that heat up your bathwater, basically.)
“Iyaa… I did it, I did it, I can’t stop laughing… Hahaha!”
“Your personality hasn’t changed or anything like that, right? So, this is orichalcum… Are you listening!?”
“With this… With this, I will take the rice back. Just wait! Then, s-sake, soy sauce, miso, mirin… sake. I will take them all back hahahaha!!”
“Isn’t your tension a bit too high!? And why did you say sake twice!? Is it that important!?”
It was incredibly important for this bibulous Japanese uncle.
The pickaxe striking against the volcanic rock makes a pleasant sound, scattering rock fragments on the surroundings as it burrows through the bedrock. His mining speed and accuracy are both beyond belief. Without a doubt, he would be able to earn a living working as a miner. In addition, he will clearly be the top breadwinner in this trip.
The long-awaited mining has finally come, his head filled with being even a step closer to his dream of recreating his Japanese lifestyle. Just like going abroad and missing Japanese food, Zeros, who can’t return to his former world, seeks the taste of his hometown. It has come to the point where his tension was unusually high.
For a moment, his tension seemed to go through the roof, and a strange laughter echoed in the mine until he was satisfied. No one would’ve been able to get through him during that time.
Thus, he got a massive amount of different ores in his hands. Massive enough to not be able to use them all up even if he tried his hardest…
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
“Iya, how embarrassing. Getting so fired up despite my age.”
“Please don’t mind it, but shouldn’t we get moving soon? Monsters might appear again…”
“They probably got mixed up in my magic.”
“Yeah, that’s ri… not right. My level is too low to fight against these monsters!”
“Your real thoughts came out… Well, that’s fine too…”
After annihilating the group of Worms, the vast ore deposits were discovered after Zeros’ tension was raised due to the embarrassment caused after Christine persistently asked him about himself while they were mining.
Nevertheless, despite originally coming to rescue her, they seemed to be in the deepest layer of the dungeon. Casually falling from the upper to the bottom layer in one go is impossible, but there might be such traps in young dungeons that seek to consume the mana of its sacrifices to maintain itself. Although they don’t possess an ego of their own, as they grow, they set up their traps constructing something akin to a complex system.
To this day, the reason behind this has not been identified and remains as one of the many mysteries about dungeons. And yet, it’s accepted as something natural in this world. Most people aren’t particularly interested in such topics, with the exception of stubborn scholars that question the cause and effect of every phenomenon.
“In any case, that desert-like place looks like a volcano now.”
“It was more powerful than I thought it would be. It used to be smaller…”
The aftereffects between the virtual world and the real world were different.
Previously, the Worms squirming around in that place were much weaker than Zeros. But with his opponents being instantly incinerated by the excessive heat of his magic, the moniker of 【Annihilator】 was not a mere exaggeration.
It was a habit from the days of the game, to fire high-power magic as soon as he found a large number of enemies around. Moreover, as he didn’t need to chant to cast magic, he only needed to have enough mana.
“It looked as if you directly shot the magic formula itself, just what kind of principle does it use? It’s clearly different from regular magic!”
“Right…? That’s why it’s such a dangerous magic, but it was unexpected that it had such power……”
【Scorching Purgatory Flames】 is a spell made with an extremely dense magic formula. Originally, the brain would have to process the magic formula, and the desired phenomenon would be produced the moment the magic circle was completed. However, this magic would reproduce and fire the formula itself, using it as artillery shells.
The high-density magic formula is constructed from 0s and 1s, and for humans to be able to use it, they would need to process information at the speed of a supercomputer, which is impossible for the human brain. If that was the case, then it was just a matter of developing a program to process the magic formula in place of the brain. In addition, he thought it would be an excellent idea to use it as shells, thus giving birth to a nasty annihilation magic.
When a magic bullet, made out of a compressed magic formula and loaded with enough mana to trigger an explosion, is fired, the high processing program will expand the magic formula when it reaches its target, while absorbing the mana from the surroundings. Finally, said mana, which possesses enormous destructive power is converted into a tangible physical phenomenon.
If the user manages to process the information of the highly-dense magic formula by that means, there’s no need to force the human brain to take on that task.
The wide-range annihilation magic researched at the Istor Magic Academy is done so under the assumption that a single person has to be able to process the magic formula in their heads, but in the first place, it’s practically impossible for the brain to read a formula rotating at a high speed and convert it into a physical phenomenon. The burden is not something humans can endure.
Even if it were possible to read the formula, the user’s brain would be destroyed, leading to their death before they could even finish casting the spell to ascertain its power.
In his former world, after creating this spell in the game, he was struck by a severe headache, triggering the game’s safety mechanism and forcefully logging him out. It was quite a dangerous thing that could’ve ended with him becoming crippled.
(If you think about it, including the console, the technology of the game was odd. It accurately simulated the laws of physics to their minute details as if another world was recreated in the digital space.
Who created the master system that could handle such a program? A model of this world, even to the smallest details of the environment, such as the laws of physics and quantum theory, was recreated without anyone feeling anything out of place.
Is such a thing really possible? That game was revolutionary in many ways, and it could be called a great invention that could fundamentally change the world. Well, it’s regrettable but it’s not something I can confirm at this point.)
For the first time after coming to this world, he noticed an abnormality in the online game he used to enjoy so much. The backbone of the master system of the high-speed processing computer known as ‘Babel’, was originally an information control system developed by the Department of Defense for the sake of national protection.
It was created to keep classified information of individuals and the country safe from malicious hackers trying to access from the outside, however, due to budgetary issues, the project was eventually shut down and sold to a private company. And, some time later, said company announced its new MMORPG, ‘Sword and Sorcery’.
Although it had a simple name, one was able to access and freely adventure a vast virtual world through a readily available personal console, which was, in addition, marketed towards the general public as a family gaming console along with the game itself, vastly contributing its massification. But, on the other hand one could say that there was an entirely different intention, as if the game was trying to hide its own bizarreness.
[*T.N: This paragraph was a bit confusing to translate especially because the word 筐体[kyotai], which literally means ‘case’ kept appearing and I only found pictures of those old arcade machines when I googled it, but I assume it means console, as in game console.]
(Why am I thinking about this now? This is weird… it’s as if the world itself was being controlled so there’s no feeling on incongruity compared to the game… no way, hey…)
Zeros started to feel a sense of discomfort, something he never felt in his former world. His expression gradually becomes sharp as he starts pondering, as if his consciousness was buried in his thoughts. He’s once again conscious of his former world’s abnormal reality.
“…san… Zeros-san!”
“Ah! W-What happened!?”
“That’s my line. I was just asking you when were we going to leave this place, but you suddenly started to think about something with a scary face. Did something happen?”
Returning to his senses, there’s a world of molten rocks. He suddenly remembered his current situation.
“Ah, it’s nothing. Well, we’re done mining then, we should go back up soon.”
“That’s perfect, but I’m just going to be a burden, right?”
“A burden? Why?”
“Because… I’m weak.”
In contrast to Christine, who’s looking down dejectedly, Zeros awkwardly scratches his head. If this is the deepest layer, the number of monsters will increase as they go up. It was dangerous for her to keep advancing with her current ability.
As he was thinking, he casually glances at the collapsed ceiling where he could see the adjacent layer.
“It’s going to be easier from now on. If we go through there, we’ll be fine.”
“Eh? But, it’s too high…”
The place Zeros is pointing at, is the collapsed ceiling where the exposed adjacent layer is. Which meant…
“N-No way… Are we flying?”
“Is there any other way?”
“B-But, I fell off a precipice just now and…”
“You’ll be fine, I’ll hold on to you tightly. Come on, just keep your eyes on the ceiling, we’ll be there in a jiffy, alright?”
She seems to have developed a small trauma after falling off the ledge. Her facial muscles are also twitching slightly, showing her disapproval of flying with Zeros’ flight magic.
“You don’t want to, even if your companions won’t be able to get to this place? Aside from here, there are monsters on every layer, you know?”
“B-But… it’s too high…”
“If you stay still, we’ll be there in a second. Only if you stay still…”
Flight magic is a kind of spell that defies the laws of physics. It works by creating a repulsion field with the user’s own mana, and at the same time, the propulsion is generated by taking in the mana from the surroundings. Because of that, the mana consumption rate is very high. Moreover, it’s designed to only support the weight of the user, so if the weight is further increased, the burden is compensated by consuming more mana.
“E-Even if we get there, I still don’t have the strength to beat the monsters there!”
“Just for this one time, I’ll lend you one of my prized weapons. You’ll one-hit all the monsters around here, you know? Fufufu…”
Along with his companions, Zeros created a modded magic weapon. Most small-fries should receive a burial with only one hit from this weapon. It had such a destructive power that he decided to keep it for himself.
For him, it’s just another weapon, but for Christine, it should hold quite the power.
“Can I choose…”
“You can’t. But well, while we’re messing around here, I wonder how the knights are doing… Ahhh, I really hope they’re not dead already.”
“Uuu…”
She hasn’t made a decision yet, and she seems ready to run away at any second while looking at the ceiling. And given that it would be useless to spend more time idling in that place, Zeros decides to forcefully hold her.
“Hyaaaahh!!”
“〖Wings of the Black Bird〗”
He ignores her screaming and proceeds to fly high in the air… at a tremendous speed.
While such an uncle soars through the air, a scream echoes in the vast space below them, in the deepest layer of the dungeon. He just wanted to get home early so he could work on making appliances.
The pitiful Christine was just dragged into it. She would later recall, “The sky is scary… I don’t want to fly anymore…”. In the end, he only worsened her fear of heights. It’s even more terrible because he was completely oblivious to it.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
The two people descend on the ground after reaching the upper floor using flight magic. Most of the monsters they encounter in the way are kicked around by Zeros while Christine follows behind him. She said she didn’t have enough battle prowess, and indeed she was weak.
They are currently resting on a narrow space in a rocky area. Fortunately, Zeros always keeps firewood in his inventory, so he lights up a campfire and prepares for a small late lunch break.
“Fumu. By the way, can you use magic, Christine-san?”
In contrast to Zeros, who just finished starting the fire, she reluctantly starts talking while lying face down.
“I… can’t use magic. It seems like I don’t have the aptitude. I can memorize the magic formula, but I can’t invoke the spell, something like that.”
“I see. If you could use magic, would you like to learn?”
“I’d like to learn if I could, but it’s impossible. All the magicians who’ve tried to teach me magic said that.”
While inhaling the cigarette smoke, Zeros takes out several pieces of magic paper from his inventory. They are the same magic scrolls, modified from the Academy’s textbooks, that Celestina had memorized before.
It’s a prototype he made when the talk of selling magic scrolls came up, but unlike the scrolls being currently sold, these do not possess a magic erasing technique.
“This is?”
“I dare say, my lady might be able to use this magic, perchance?”
“But… I don’t have the aptitude…”
“Right now we’re are practically at the gates of Hades, you won’t lose anything trying it.”
“Uuu… That might be true. Then, I will try.”
As she says that, she pours mana into the scroll, activating the magic formula, which is then etched into her mind. After the process was done, she mutters the spell’s chant.
“〖Burn the light, illuminate my way. Torch〗”
The moment she finishes her chant, a small flame flickers on the top of her palm. Christine opens her eyes wide in astonishment.
“Z-Zeros-san! I don’t feel sluggish like when I used the spells I’ve been taught before!”
“That’s excellent. Ah, please return the scroll. This magic has spread around enough.”
“I… was able to use magic…”
“My student had the same problem as you. Please consider this magic as closer to the one of the past.”
Christine, who comes from a family of knights, doesn’t have much to do with magic. However, now that she’s able to cast magic, her options are wide open. Though she’s not aware of that fact yet…
“Umm, is this okay? This is one of your original spells, right?”
“No, this is something I modified from the Magic Academy’s textbook, it’s good if you like it, but we have to do something, my lady. I don’t know what those knights will do…iyaa, seriously…”
The knights will surely come down looking for Christine. But they will be bothered if she’s injured when she joins them. He was thinking it was better to have as few worries as possible, as Christine was trying to learn several spells in a hurry.
—
“I was wondering, what kind of meat is this?”
She says what she was wondering about to Zeros, who was grilling meat skewers over the fire as a savory fragrance wafts in the air.
“Hmm? Well, I have many different kinds of meat sitting in my inventory, so I’m not entirely sure, but don’t worry about it. Please try it, alright?”
The meat that’s being grilled over the fire drips its delicious oil. He sprinkles some salt and spices before roasting it again for some time and then hands her the skewer.
Despite being improper, she loudly gulps the saliva unconsciously accumulated in her mouth before slowly bitting into the meat skewer. The juicy sweetness and tenderness of the meat, that seems to almost melt in her mouth, give away its rich flavor.
“D-Delicious.”
She could only utter that single word. She hadn’t eaten anything since falling to the deepest layer of the dungeon, and the meat skewer seemed to be a heaven-sent treat to quench her hunger.
“Ah… This is Manticore, Wyvern… and Death Mantis meat.”
“Bufu! Gohogoho!”(*T.N: choking sfx.)
Zeros remembers from which monsters the meat was from after tasting it. Manticore and Wyvern meat are amongst the finest ingredients. They’re luxurious enough that even nobles would hardly ever have the opportunity to savor them, with the exception of the Death Mantis, which was an unheard-of type of meat. In addition, in this world not only did no one think of eating insects but also monsters were known for being dangerous creatures with ferocious strength. It’s certainly not something one could easily get their hands on.
And it’s also certain that one has ever eaten a Death Mantis before, except for this middle-aged uncle…
“W-What are you making me eat!?”
“Hm? You didn’t like it?”
“Aren’t these all high-end ingredients!? And even a Death Mantis!?”
“Ah, that’s the whitish meat. Isn’t its sweet flavor delicious?”
It was delicious. If she didn’t know the true identity of the meat, she would’ve thought it was the best thing she’s ever tried before. But the Death Mantis is an insect. From her point of view, she just ate some bizarre, disgusting food.
“It is delicious, but…”
“I think that the Big Spider might also be delicious. I’d like to try it at least once…”
“Are you going to eat that? I don’t think you’re sane.”
“We already eat monsters on a daily basis, so it’s not something that weird, right? They are meat all the same.”
“Uu… but…”
“Deliciousness is justice. We should be lucky we have something to eat in this situation, you know?”
He has perfectly adapted to a survival lifestyle. Being a master of survival, he might be able to live alone in the wilderness even if the world were to collapse.
On the other hand, Christine looks at the strange meat skewer on her hand. But after some time, she was unable to conquer the hunger and eventually eats it. In the end, she arrived at a fundamental truth: Deliciousness is justice…
—
After lunch, they start walking towards the exit again. And they encounter a monster on their way.
“‘Wuant’*, is it? Do you want to defeat it? It’s just a small animal though…”
(*T.N:ウォーアント The name of the monster, but no clue how to translate it as. It’s pronounced as ‘Uooanto’, yeah really.)
“But, its level…”
“Its level is 103. You will be alright with this weapon.”
Zeros points his finger at the Azure Dragon katana he lent her.
(*T.N: 青龍刀[seiryuutou], don’t quote me on the reading tho, it could also be seiryuugatana, shouryuugatana, and like 3 other readings.)
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
Modded Evil Azure Dragon Katana 【Azure Dragon Katana v.38】
A fiendish masterpiece of a sword with enhanced cutting power. An absurd weapon, forged by achieving an exquisite balance between many different materials from super large-class monsters.
It’s sharp enough to cut through steel like paper. Extremely dangerous to touch with one’s bare hands.
Special Abilities
BODY STRENGTHENING – CUTTING ENHANCEMENT – SLASHING ENHANCEMENT
ONE-HIT KILL – ONE-HIT CLEAVING – SIMULTANEOUS OFFENSE AND DEFENSE*
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
*T.N:攻防一体[koubou ittai], it means something along the lines of attacking and defending at the same time, but couldn’t think of a better name.
(It didn’t display the attack power, is the one doing the appraisal this time a different person?)
He’s starting to feel that this ability every time changes the contents of the appraisal at its whim.
The laws of this world appear to be somewhat unusual, and the acquisition of the skills themselves seems to also deviate from the natural providence as if there were someone controlling them.
“I’ll seal its movements, please attack as soon as I do that.”
“… I-I understand. I’ll do my best.”
Christine seems to be a bit pessimistic. Zeros thought it was natural given that they’ve been in a dangerous situation after another, however, unbeknownst to him, the biggest reason behind her gloominess was the flight magic incident and the meat skewers.
She unsheathes her Azure Dragon katana and runs towards the Wuant.
“Plasma Bind.”
The Wuant stops moving once the lighting magic confines its movements by electrocuting it in place.
In the blink of an eye, she slashes at the monster with her sword.
“Teaaaaaahhh!!”
―――Zuban!
With a single big strike, the monster is cut from the head down to the middle of the chest, instantly dying. The modded magic weapon seemed to be incredibly powerful.
“Eh!? Eeeehhh!? What’s with this power!?”
It was due to the custom skills ‘One-hit Kill’ and ‘One-hit Cleaving’. With this, it was proven that it was a dangerous weapon even for low-leveled beginners. One can only imagine what would happen if Zeros wielded it.
“… This weapon is too dangerous. This is bad…… Let’s seal it once we get out.”
“It’s scary to keep using it, but… with this, I’m done, right?”
“I’m scared too. Alright, I’ll stop making more weapons. I don’t know what kind of dangerous thing will I make if I get too fired up.”
“Did you make such an absurdly powerful weapon just for funsies?”
“I regret it now. To be honest, it might have been a bit overkill.”
He now understands, that even if he made such a weapon in the game, it’s still a heinous creation. A low-leveled newbie can one-hit a monster five times their level with this sword. The balance of the world would be destroyed with one swing of this katana.
And naturally, one’s level will increase whenever a stronger monster is defeated.
“Hyaaahh!?”
Leveling too rapidly puts a great burden on the body, and if the level gap is too wide, the body will try to adapt to the pain and might enter in a forceful state of sleep to protect the consciousness.
The symptoms may vary, from feeling fatigued for a while to sleeping for a few days, if one is unlucky. And, Christine was the latter.
Her body, unable to withstand the pain, shuts down as she falls into a deep slumber, leaving her motionless body to collapse where she was standing.
Zeros hurries to support her body as she eventually loses her consciousness in the underground dungeon.
“What was the level difference I wonder?”
She had gone up from level 20 to level 81 in one go. It seems that the experience distribution differs when one is fighting one-on-one as opposed to when one is fighting in a group all at once, in which case, the experience points will be equally distributed amongst the members and thus managing to suppress the symptoms of the body optimization as much as possible. However, in Christine’s case, her body immediately started the process.
In fact, the level of the knights, during the Far-flung forest training camp, went up little by little, so the symptoms were at the level of causing a small sense of sluggishness. The polar opposite of Christine, basically.
Because of it, Zeros would have to carry her from now on, however…
“Don’t I look like a kidnapper?”
He looks like a shady middle-aged man, people would definitely look at him as a suspicious person abducting a young girl. The world was unfair…
Moreover, Christine is cross-dressing as a boy, which would still look bad for him, yet it’s a popular setting amongst the female audiences.
A suspicious uncle running away with a pretty boy between his arms. It would certainly look bad. If such a rumor spreads, he wouldn’t be able to go outside anymore.
“What should I do then? This situation is a bit…”
He had two options left: —to keep going forward or to stay where he was.
In the end, he decided to keep advancing while carrying Christine on his back. He chose her safety over appearances.
Incidentally, her breasts were unexpectedly big.
(*T.N: 911 yes hello)
Zeros starts walking while trying to hide his bewilderment towards happening to know such things by chance.
And resigning himself to get a bad reputation…
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
“Fuck! These ants!”
“Don’t be impatient, Magician-dono has gone to where Christine-sama is! I’m sure she’s safe.”
“That’s true, but he’s been gone for a long time, in the unlikely event that something did happen, we…”
A group of Giant Ants is preventing the knights from moving. They grind their sharp mandibles together, threatening them as they are trying to defend their own nests.
Inside dungeons, where there’s no need to obtain food, breeding is their main focus, so they become extremely aggressive to any intruders invading their territory.
The monsters fight to protect their own kin, while the knights fight to rescue the Lord whom they serve.
The sun is already setting outside the mine, however, they were not showing any signs of retreating yet.
“Syll! hold back the ants on the left!”
“Alright! But I won’t last for long, I’ll only buy you a bit of time, Izzard.”
“Corsa! Finish the ants on the right with me! Follow me.”
“Understood.”
“I’m covering Syll. Soctas! Hurry up and kill them!”
The knights split into two groups in order to defeat the Giant Ants, using the narrow terrain to their advantage. When one Ant gets stuck in the tunnel, the four knights step in to strike it down.
They’re already exhausted but they haven’t found Christine yet.
The late Lord Edward entrusted her daughter to their care, so they swore to absolutely protect the heir to the Elwell house no matter what.
They are all well aware that if they weren’t picked up by him when they were orphans living in the slums, they wouldn’t be the people they are today. That’s why they feel an extreme debt of gratitude towards the late Lord, and therefore, towards his precious daughter.
“Aah! that hurt! The ants are starting to gather together. I’ll cover you, guys 〖Aqua Jet〗”
The battle gets easier once Iris and her party join the fight.
“Wait, calm down a bit, Iris!”
“It’ll be fine if Zeros-san is there, right!? It’s gonna be dangerous if we start losing our cool!”
Jane slashes at the Giant Ant with her greatsword while Rena focuses on swiftly stabbing the joints.
“Thanks for the help!”
“Let’s help each other, alright? It’s common sense for mercenaries.”
Some people, however, don’t understand that simple rule. Iris and the other girls were decent mercenaries though.
“Stop talking and move! They’re still coming! 〖Ice Blizzard〗!”
A -30 degrees [celsius] storm envelops and freezes the Giant Ants. Jane and the knights crush and shatter them as if they were already broken to begin with.
“How many are there?”
“If we’re really inside a dungeon, monsters will probably keep appearing endlessly.”
“I don’t want to think about that, but we have to keep going.”
The knights were starting to grow impatient. There’s a massive swarm of ants in front of them, but they won’t be able to rescue Christine if they don’t advance forward.
“Knights-sans, calm down too. There, do you hear that?”
“What do you hear?”
“Wait, they’re acting really strange!”
The Giant Ants start alerting each other in a hurry, busily moving their antennae and mandibles. No matter how you look at it, something unexpected must have happened as they seemed to be restless.
―――Doooonnn!!
A roaring sound shakes the tunnel, reverberating loudly on the walls. And at the same time, a whirlwind ascends from the bottom of the tunnel, blowing them off their feet.
The Giant Ants run away all at once in different directions, disappearing from the knights’ sight.
“W-What’s going on…”
“An earthquake? No way, it won’t collapse, right?”
“Don’t say unpleasant things. We won’t be able to escape at this point, you know!”
“Oi, There’s someone coming out from the bottom of the tunnel, and… Ah! It’s the magician!!”
Walking slowly out of the dust cloud, a shabby-looking middle-aged man wearing a gray robe appears, carrying the girl, the knights were coming to rescue, on his back.
“Christine-sama!”
“Oh? Everyone’s here. By the way, the exit is this way, right? I’ve been wandering around for a while, you see…”
“Rather than that, is Christine-sama safe!?”
“She’s alright. She just fainted after leveling up too fast.”
Zeros finally takes a break and puts down Christine, leaving her with the knights. Nearby, Rena and Jane are dismantling the Giant Ants while Iris is collecting the magic stones of the monsters that were already absorbed by the dungeon.
As they have to collect the materials before they are consumed, they are all too focused on dismantling to notice him. On the contrary, he’s treated as mere air.
Said uncle gets a bit lonely after thinking about such things. The loneliness of a cheat old man.
He leaves the mine feeling the cold air caressing his heart.
In the background, the voices of three young girls happily talking to each other…
