Although we had told the villager elder that we would take a look at the mines the next morning, not long after night came, Aliyah, Oyado and I headed out.
The other three?
Although we did want to call them over, no matter was it Ms. Mari or Tai Shixi, we could not contact any of them. I wonder just what kind of mess did they land themselves into.
Oh well, it doesn’t matter that much anyway.
Following the map, we walked on a small road heading towards a mountain, and in less than fifteen minutes, we reached the entrance of the mines.
Currently, the mines were already abandoned. Looking at the rusty large door and the large amount of frames which had caved in, this place was already… No, this place most probably did not have any visitors for a long time.
……
“Oyado.”
“Un? What is it, big brother?”
“Keep watch here at the entrance, so as to prevent them from fleeing without us noticing.”
After pondering for a long while, I said this.
There’s no other choice. It doesn’t matter for either me or Aliyah if the mines collapse, but if it’s Oyado… She might not be able to make it out alive.
“Big brother~ How can you do this!? If I’m not by big brother’s side, how am I supposed to protect you!”
“Protect? This… I don’t seem to need it, right?”
“What do you mean you don’t need it!? As long as it’s something that wish to cause big brother harm, I will exterminate it! Unless you’re telling me… big brother wish to investigate the place alone with big sister Aliyah!?”
“Kuh… It’s not that, right, Aliyah?”
“It’s not a bad proposal.”
“Eh? Aliyah?”
Looking towards Aliyah, I realized she had a rather happy-looking smile on her face.
Hey, hey ,hey. Don’t fool around, alright?
“As I thought! Big brother! I have to definitely go with you two!”
“… Alright, there’s no other choice then. But, you must definitely stay by my side, otherwise, when the time comes, I might not be able to protect you.”
“I’m the one protecting you!”
“Alright, alright. It’s fine either way.”
Sighing helplessly, I reached out my hand and pulled open the rusty door.
With a ‘pa’ sound, the entire door actually broke open. Taking the step back, the entire door instantly collapsed onto the ground.
……
Speaking of which, it hasn’t been too long since they abandoned the mines, right? How is it worn out to this extent? Even if it’s a disguise, this is a little too much, isn’t it…
Ah whatever, it doesn’t matter anyway.
“Let’s go.”
“Un!”
Oyado responded spiritedly.
After entering the mines, I immediately cast an Illumination spell, and the white ball of light instantly brightened up the mines.
Compared to the entrance, the mines were much more spacious inside. A few abandoned mining equipment were stacked at the side, and they seemed to be… prototypes of machinery.
Looking further in, there were three different passages that my illumination could not reach, and without the illumination, one could hardly see their own fingers in the passages, and even with the illumination, it was impossible to see the ends of the passages.
“Haah, this place is really driving my selective OCD crazy. Which way are we going to go?”
“Left.”
“Right.”
The two girls said almost simultaneously..
“……”
I looked at Oyado, and then, I looked at Aliyah.
“Then we will take the center passage.”
I immediately said.
“Why!?”
“That’s right, the right passage is evidently much better!”
“No, it’s the left passage!”
“Why left!?”
“Because the left passage looks more safe!”
“That’s why I’m asking, how did you come up with that conclusion!?”
“There’s evidently scent of blood flowing out from the right passage, obviously, it’s more dangerous.”
“Scent of blood?”
Hearing Oyado’s words, I immediately looked towards the right passage.
“Is that considered as a hint as well? Since there’s scent of blood coming from over there, then there’s definitely clues over there too…”
“Grr…”
Suddenly, from deep within the mines, a weird cry could be heard.
The three of us looked towards the deep mines, and after a long while, a large number of red names suddenly appeared at the right passage!
Demonized Black Wolf – Darkness
LV 23
A demonic wolf with dark-attribute attacks.
Demonized Black Wolf – Fire
LV 25
A demonic wolf with fire-attribute attacks.
“Alright, everyone, it seems they have brought us some welcome gifts.”
“That’s great, recently, it had been rather boring.”
Pulling out her two flaming short swords, Aliyah looked at the enemy’s direction with eyes filled with excitement.