Chapter 207 – Cleaned Out!?
Within a cave, I was staring intently at a map of the Sheorl undergrounds.
“The closest teleportation gate is…straight in this direction. Isn’t it, Shiel?”
As my voice echoed in the cave, Shiel the slime bent her body as if to nod.
“In that case…I better start digging!”
I folded the map and put it back into my pocket. And then I started swinging my pickaxe, just as I always did.
With a loud clang, the rocks began to crumble away. Yes, it definitely felt more brittle here than in Arancia.
There were others who were digging elsewhere. But I was the only one here. Though, aside from Shiel, the rather dandy-looking mithril golem, Number Fifteen, was also waiting behind me.
Normally Fule and Taran would have dug with me, but it seemed like they had other duties today. Fule had become very absorbed in learning magic from people in Arancia as well as Sheorl.
While I did feel a little lonely to not have my digging companions with me, it also meant that there was now so much more to do on this island.
It was the same for me as well. Had I more time on my own, I would have liked to spend it with Rienna, and explore the island.
“Now that I think about it…this island has expanded so much.”
Shiel nodded as if agreeing with deep emotion.
I couldn’t help but mutter the words aloud. At first, it had really just been me and Shiel.
And then Rienna and the others landed on the shore, and our numbers increased… Now, we felt like a great nation in our own right.
Thinking of it like this, my grip on the pickaxe strangely grew tighter.
In order to protect everyone, Sheorl needed to be prosperous and safe.
And being down here and mining was the best way that I could contribute.
And so it wasn’t that I was doing it because I liked it or anything… Oh.
There was an especially high-pitched ring, and I stopped. It seemed that I had hit something that wasn’t rock.
As the crumbling rocks were sucked into my inventory, a golden wall… in other words, an Orichalcum wall, came into view. As always, it must be a Sheorl ruin.
However, the teleportation gate was only a short distance ahead.
Shiel must have known what was beyond the wall, as she began to move her body around and change shape.
“A sword and spear… Are you saying that it’s a weapon storehouse?”
Shiel nodded.
“Sheorl weapons… They must be very advanced. But should I expect there to be any golems guarding it?”
Shiel shook horizontally as if to assure me that it was fine. She said that she had already ensured previously that all of the guard golems were under her control, or had been shut down.
Indeed, I could not sense any magic energy. So it was likely fine to continue digging.
I cast Shield, just in case, and then struck the wall.
There was a loud crash as the wall came down. And then I stepped through the hole that appeared.
“This…does look like a storagehouse.”
A great space with dozens of rows of high shelves. However, the wooden boxes that should have been on the shelves were instead, scattered all over the ground.
They had been smashed, and the contents removed. And so only wooden remains covered the ground.
“Did…someone steal them?”
Shiel looked very surprised. She immediately moved to a device that was embedded in a nearby wall, and started to push buttons.
Eventually, Shiel’s voice rang through the device.
“I cannot find the Teleportation Stone that should be in the machine, and so we cannot teleport… It is possible that someone took the weapons here, and also took the Teleportation Stone.”
“Perhaps it was Borthion and the dolls, who were protecting the underground city, who took it?”
“It seems like they were trying to come here as soon as they had a will of their own. However, they would not have been able to teleport from the underground city, even if they wanted to.”
“So it wasn’t Borthion who cleaned out this place then… In any case, let’s search this storage room. There might be some clue.”
I said, and then I saw that Mappa was suddenly in front of me. He nodded in agreement.
“…Mappa!? Y-you surprised me.”
And then Mappa showed me a shining stone. It was a Teleportation Stone. As there were Teleportation Stones set in the cave walls at equal intervals, he could have used them to come down here.
“You’re mastery of being elusive has somehow reached a new level… And you always seem to know when something is happening…”
Well, it was better to search the place with multiple people. While Mappa sometimes caused trouble, he also found answers.
“Number Fifteen. Can you tell the people on the surface about what happened?”
“Yes, at once.”
Number Fifteen took a hand bell out of its pocket and began to ring it.
And then a golem came rushing forward from the back.
“Go and tell Sir Baris about this room.”
The Golem that was called by Number Fifteen bowed, and then ran towards the surface at top speed.
With just that small hand bell… They were very well organized.
“All right, then let’s start searching.”
I said, and began to walk through the storage room.
I walked carefully, so that I wouldn’t trip over the broken boxes. Besides, it was possible that someone was hiding here.
But then again, I didn’t sense any magic energy at all. And the place had been completely cleaned of any weapons.
“It’s like a grave robbery… Well, I’m not someone who can point fingers…”
While Mappa was usually the person who found things, this time, he seemed to give up. He now looked around with a bored expression.
Weapons made of Orichalcum and mithril were very strong. Whether you were going to use them, or sell them off, they were great to have. So it was no wonder they were all taken.
However, after some time, I felt a gentle breeze.
The air was moving towards the hole that I had made… There it was.
“This….”
As I moved towards the direction where the wind was coming from, I saw a different hole in the wall.
For a second, I thought it was the same hole, but the shape was different.
“Who made this hole? Who could have…”
I could see that it continued for quite a distance. And it was in the direction that we had been headed in. The teleportation gate.
“So the people who took the weapons came in through here?”
I could sense no magic energy in that direction. So it should be safe to advance.
“Let’s go. Maybe we can reach the teleportation gate.”
Shiel nodded at my words.
And like that, we walked down the road that was dug by people who we did not know.
The tunnel had been reinforced with wooden pillars and beams. And since they had destroyed an Orichalcum wall, they must be decently advanced.
And those people…
A very familiar sight soon appeared before us.
A great open space… And in the far back, a teleportation gate stood, just like I expected.
Chapter 207 – Cleaned Out!?
Within a cave, I was staring intently at a map of the Sheorl undergrounds.
“The closest teleportation gate is…straight in this direction. Isn’t it, Shiel?”
As my voice echoed in the cave, Shiel the slime bent her body as if to nod.
“In that case…I better start digging!”
I folded the map and put it back into my pocket. And then I started swinging my pickaxe, just as I always did.
With a loud clang, the rocks began to crumble away. Yes, it definitely felt more brittle here than in Arancia.
There were others who were digging elsewhere. But I was the only one here. Though, aside from Shiel, the rather dandy-looking mithril golem, Number Fifteen, was also waiting behind me.
Normally Fule and Taran would have dug with me, but it seemed like they had other duties today. Fule had become very absorbed in learning magic from people in Arancia as well as Sheorl.
While I did feel a little lonely to not have my digging companions with me, it also meant that there was now so much more to do on this island.
It was the same for me as well. Had I more time on my own, I would have liked to spend it with Rienna, and explore the island.
“Now that I think about it…this island has expanded so much.”
Shiel nodded as if agreeing with deep emotion.
I couldn’t help but mutter the words aloud. At first, it had really just been me and Shiel.
And then Rienna and the others landed on the shore, and our numbers increased… Now, we felt like a great nation in our own right.
Thinking of it like this, my grip on the pickaxe strangely grew tighter.
In order to protect everyone, Sheorl needed to be prosperous and safe.
And being down here and mining was the best way that I could contribute.
And so it wasn’t that I was doing it because I liked it or anything… Oh.
There was an especially high-pitched ring, and I stopped. It seemed that I had hit something that wasn’t rock.
As the crumbling rocks were sucked into my inventory, a golden wall… in other words, an Orichalcum wall, came into view. As always, it must be a Sheorl ruin.
However, the teleportation gate was only a short distance ahead.
Shiel must have known what was beyond the wall, as she began to move her body around and change shape.
“A sword and spear… Are you saying that it’s a weapon storehouse?”
Shiel nodded.
“Sheorl weapons… They must be very advanced. But should I expect there to be any golems guarding it?”
Shiel shook horizontally as if to assure me that it was fine. She said that she had already ensured previously that all of the guard golems were under her control, or had been shut down.
Indeed, I could not sense any magic energy. So it was likely fine to continue digging.
I cast Shield, just in case, and then struck the wall.
There was a loud crash as the wall came down. And then I stepped through the hole that appeared.
“This…does look like a storagehouse.”
A great space with dozens of rows of high shelves. However, the wooden boxes that should have been on the shelves were instead, scattered all over the ground.
They had been smashed, and the contents removed. And so only wooden remains covered the ground.
“Did…someone steal them?”
Shiel looked very surprised. She immediately moved to a device that was embedded in a nearby wall, and started to push buttons.
Eventually, Shiel’s voice rang through the device.
“I cannot find the Teleportation Stone that should be in the machine, and so we cannot teleport… It is possible that someone took the weapons here, and also took the Teleportation Stone.”
“Perhaps it was Borthion and the dolls, who were protecting the underground city, who took it?”
“It seems like they were trying to come here as soon as they had a will of their own. However, they would not have been able to teleport from the underground city, even if they wanted to.”
“So it wasn’t Borthion who cleaned out this place then… In any case, let’s search this storage room. There might be some clue.”
I said, and then I saw that Mappa was suddenly in front of me. He nodded in agreement.
“…Mappa!? Y-you surprised me.”
And then Mappa showed me a shining stone. It was a Teleportation Stone. As there were Teleportation Stones set in the cave walls at equal intervals, he could have used them to come down here.
“You’re mastery of being elusive has somehow reached a new level… And you always seem to know when something is happening…”
Well, it was better to search the place with multiple people. While Mappa sometimes caused trouble, he also found answers.
“Number Fifteen. Can you tell the people on the surface about what happened?”
“Yes, at once.”
Number Fifteen took a hand bell out of its pocket and began to ring it.
And then a golem came rushing forward from the back.
“Go and tell Sir Baris about this room.”
The Golem that was called by Number Fifteen bowed, and then ran towards the surface at top speed.
With just that small hand bell… They were very well organized.
“All right, then let’s start searching.”
I said, and began to walk through the storage room.
I walked carefully, so that I wouldn’t trip over the broken boxes. Besides, it was possible that someone was hiding here.
But then again, I didn’t sense any magic energy at all. And the place had been completely cleaned of any weapons.
“It’s like a grave robbery… Well, I’m not someone who can point fingers…”
While Mappa was usually the person who found things, this time, he seemed to give up. He now looked around with a bored expression.
Weapons made of Orichalcum and mithril were very strong. Whether you were going to use them, or sell them off, they were great to have. So it was no wonder they were all taken.
However, after some time, I felt a gentle breeze.
The air was moving towards the hole that I had made… There it was.
“This….”
As I moved towards the direction where the wind was coming from, I saw a different hole in the wall.
For a second, I thought it was the same hole, but the shape was different.
“Who made this hole? Who could have…”
I could see that it continued for quite a distance. And it was in the direction that we had been headed in. The teleportation gate.
“So the people who took the weapons came in through here?”
I could sense no magic energy in that direction. So it should be safe to advance.
“Let’s go. Maybe we can reach the teleportation gate.”
Shiel nodded at my words.
And like that, we walked down the road that was dug by people who we did not know.
The tunnel had been reinforced with wooden pillars and beams. And since they had destroyed an Orichalcum wall, they must be decently advanced.
And those people…
A very familiar sight soon appeared before us.
A great open space… And in the far back, a teleportation gate stood, just like I expected.
