Chapter 445 – The Holy Sword and the Arena (17)

#

When the wasp nest was removed, a hidden hole was revealed.

“Uh, why is there something like this behind the hive? What is this?”

The size of the hole is slightly smaller than my height. You have to bend your head a little uncomfortably, but it’s still big enough to get in and out.

Slightly frightened, we inspected the hole more carefully, and found that there was a longer space behind it.

“…”

Everyone is speechless.

Such an unknown passageway behind the tentacle wasps. It’s an atmosphere that wouldn’t be strange even if an alien pops out.

In modern times, if you said something like an alien, you would have just laughed it off, but in a dungeon, it’s not a joke, it’s a real threat.

“I have to go in.”

In a gloomy atmosphere, we just silently glanced inside, but suddenly a second grader stepped in front.

“Uh?”

The second grader glared at the aisle and said.

“The smell that came before entering the forest is thickly wafting from the back. I can smell it. It looks like your nose is crooked, can’t you feel it?”

“…So don’t say anything that only you can understand.”

I couldn’t ignore it though.

Although this guy used expressions that I couldn’t understand, such as smell or karman, the essence was related to the quest the goddess gave me.

“…It can’t be helped. Let’s go in.”

“What, what?!”

Yuri was taken back by my words.

“Aren’t there more dangerous monsters inside? What if something you shouldn’t touch is sleeping?! Doesn’t it look like it says not to come in here?!”

“Hey, are you afraid? “

“What?!”

Yuri gritted at the second grader’s provocation, but that was all. At other times, I would have tried to bluff that it wasn’t like that, but there’s nothing like that now.

“I don’t think there are more dangerous monsters behind this.”

“Yes?”

When I turned to her side of her, Ariel was looking up at me.

“What do you mean?”

At my question, Ariel stroked his chin and said.

“No matter how much it is a monster, I don’t think it made a house with a dangerous place behind its back. If it was something with vicious aggression like these, it would have charged until one of them died. And the fact that these bees have nested here…”

“Is there anything behind it, or if there was anything, it must have already died?”

“Right.”

“Indeed.”

A monster’s behavior is based on its source creature.

And I hadn’t heard of bees building nests near bear dens. Even those guys have the ability to detect danger. Of course, it’s not something you think about.

“That, but… !”

Yuri said with a slightly trembling voice, as if he was still scared.

“Mo, even if it’s not a monster, what if someone intentionally blocked it?”

“I don’t think I would.”

Said Ariel, pointing to the burnt bees.

“A monster whose ecology is known to some extent might be controllable, but I don’t think anyone in their right mind would try to use such a dangerous new species. The bees must have built their nests in the neglected space.”

“Ugh…”

Yuri groaned as if he had nothing more to say, then he looked at me.

To be honest, I don’t like it either. From the first time I saw the tentacle wasp, I wanted to turn around and run away right away, but now I have to explore the unidentified passage behind it?!

But what needs to be done is what needs to be done.

“Don’t worry too much. If it looks dangerous, run away immediately. Because safety comes first.”

“… Huh, heh. Who says it’s scary?!”

“Tell me how to do it, starting with a trembling voice… “

“Ha, when will I?! I’m just excited?! Maybe there’s a treasure room inside here?! That’s right, it’s normal that there is a treasure behind a hidden place like this!”

“Huh.”

The second bottle, who had been listening quietly, interrupted.

“What is the treasure? Even if it looks like a treasure, its essence must be something terrible. You should burn all of that. It must be purified with fire!”

“Wait, who wants to get rid of it?!”

“There are no such treasures as you could imagine. There’s something even more terrifying down here. Something unimaginable…”

“Well. I don’t know if it’s someone else, but I can’t believe it because you say that.”

“What?!”

The gloomy atmosphere turned a little chaotic.

It could have been a bit risky, but I just let it go. It wouldn’t be a bad thing if I could forget my fears a little.

Frankly, we could say we’re amateurs when it comes to exploration.

What would he do if he wanted to catch monsters, but he was weak in this atmosphere. I hate it when the genre changes from action to horror.

So we started walking carefully down the aisle.

Step by step. Inside the dark aisle, I proceed while subtly illuminating with Lenny’s feeble light.

Of course, Lenny’s light has an output that can illuminate a completely enclosed space like daylight, but I left that as insurance. If something pops out in front of you, you can use it like a flash grenade.

“Look at this.”

“Yes?”

It wasn’t long before Ariel stopped me. Ariel was pointing at something with the tip of his wand of hers.

“This… Looks like a broken piece of something. Is it a piece of wood?”

“Look closely.”

As Ariel threw some pieces into the air, I knew what she wanted to say.

It looks like it was originally camouflaged. But the bees broke it and built a nest.

Once I recognized it, things I hadn’t seen until now began to come into my eyes. There are traces of artificially widening passages everywhere. Right-angled corners that cannot be found in nature.

“Rather than manpower drilling from start to finish, it feels like an extension of an already existing passageway. I didn’t notice the front side because there was no sign of it being touched. It looks like there really was someone inside.”

“Oh, aren’t you happy? It’s not a monster.”

I shook my head at Yuri’s words.

“It doesn’t make sense for an ordinary person to dig a hole like this in a dungeon.”

“Well? Isn’t that strange woman living in a dungeon?”

“…”

If a witch heard it, it sounds scolded again so that tears fall. At first glance, it sounds like the right thing to say, but the case with witches was different.

“The mansion where the witch lives is just a little secluded, but she didn’t even disguise herself like this. Then, who would she be able to hide and live like this in a dungeon? If you are outside the dungeon, you must be the kind of trouble.”

“Uh… So, then you’re a criminal?”

“Okay. Otherwise…”

Ariel continued.

“Even if you are not a criminal, you are doing something equivalent to a crime. That they dared to set up a dwelling deep in the dungeon, and that it was even camouflaged. I can only see you avoiding people. I guess we will be uninvited.”

I think I know what you’re talking about. People in unexpected places do unexpected things.

“Look at this. I have something.”

Yuri, who walked a little further, said.

A very faint light was pouring from the ceiling pointed to by the glass. The light is so weak that you can pass it by if you’re not paying attention.

“It’s a magic stone. It seems to have been neglected for quite some time.”

Ariel looked over and said.

But it’s a magic stone. I felt like I didn’t fit in this place.

“Aren’t there supposed to be traps in places like this? Back, as if asking for a visit…”

“It’s probably for the convenience of the people who have used this place rather than asking them to come. I don’t think it’s something more dangerous than we thought.”

Slightly relieved, we continued walking, but before long I stopped the group.

“For a moment. There is something in front of this.”

On the mini-map, there was a space that looked quite large in front of it.

We tensed up and paid attention. I used my five senses to prepare for an unexpected threat, but I couldn’t hear even a single breath, let alone an attack.

Too much silence.

We sneakily poke our heads out and look at the cavity across the passage, but it’s just dark and there’s nothing to see. There was not even a faint trace of the magic stone lamp in the hallway.

“… There doesn’t seem to be much danger. Lenny. Can you use the light?”

“Ah, yes.”

When Lenny lifted the light up into the air, the cave hidden in the darkness was finally revealed.

“…Oh My God.”

# # #

The cavity was quite large.

To say it was the size of a soccer field would be a huge exaggeration, but at least it looked bigger than a tennis court. If it was a lecture hall, it would fit 300 to 400 people. Because of the cave’s irregular shape, it may have been larger in reality.

“How could they secretly sell such a large… Cave?”

“No way. You must have touched the original space.”

The problem isn’t size. The problem is what’s in it.

“Look over there.”

About a third of the space was filled with iron cages.

“It looks like a prison… ? Why is there a prison here? Do you use dungeons as prisons?”

“Well, then maybe someone…!”

Lenny was started by Yuri’s muttering and said,

“Look at it. What did I say? Didn’t I tell you that you must be doing something more terrible than you could ever imagine? I don’t know what they’re up to, but it’s clear that they’re up to something evil.”

The 2nd grader was elated when he saw the cave, but he didn’t like that in the current situation.

“Let’s find one.”

We hurriedly looked around the cage, but we didn’t see a single ant, let alone a person.

“….Hey. Don’t you have anything? What? Something terrible An unimaginably sinister conspiracy? Why don’t you show me where it is?”

“Uh, huh?”

The second bottle was taken aback.

Still, it was fortunate that his expectations were wrong. It would have been really terrifying to see a dead body.

Once I took a breather, strange things about this space began to come into my eyes one by one.

I thought it was a prison, but when I looked closely, it was more like a steel cage than a prison. If it was a prison, there wouldn’t have been a reason for the sizes to be so different, and there wouldn’t have been a reason for having a latch for transport.

Cage sizes varied. From large enough for a group of people to as small as a kennel.

However, there was damage somewhere, from half-broken to bent iron bars.

“What the hell are you doing here? A kennel… Is it? “

Speaking of breeding grounds, the scene I saw in the basement of the arena came to mind. But I felt a strange strange feeling. It was similar, but it had a different feel, and there were even things that didn’t seem necessary in the kennel.

No, why do kennels need shackles? And a wooden plank with a hole in it…It was a little hard to recognize because it was all broken, but there were also some that looked like molds.

Ariel said while I was thinking about this.

“Perhaps. But it smells.”

“… Are you all about the smell now?”

I was dumbfounded and asked, but Ariel shook his head.
No, I’m not talking about some crazy stuff like that, I’m talking about real stuff.

“You can’t get it right! “

The middle 2nd sickness made me cry, but Ariel didn’t care and said.

“The magic tower often smells like this. They tell me to thoroughly ventilate and airtight, but how can I listen to them like that? Anyway, that’s why there was always a sticky air there, but I get a similar feeling here.”

“Okay?”

Yuri, who had heard that, sniffed him and looked around.

“Um… I don’t know. But just like before, your nose is quite sensitive.”

Yuri said in passing, but Ariel flinched and he glanced at me. As if saying it’s because of me, the slightly cold eyes…

What am i

….Ah. I see The aftermath of the sensitivity improvement is still left!

“Hmm! Anyway, it seems to be this way.”

Ariel led us in such a way to change the topic.

#

Where Ariel led us, we were speechless.

Um…What should I say about this. It’s literally a mess.

There were traces of research facilities deeper in the cavity, but they were literally just traces. Scraps of paper, pieces of burnt wood, pieces of broken metal, dried brown marks on the floor I don’t know what. If a bomb exploded in a small room, it would look similar to this.

“This makes it difficult to find out what happened.”

“… Let’s look around for a bit. You might be able to find something like an experiment log. I don’t know if he would have kept such an important document strictly in his own way.”

Ariel comes last and she blurts out her words, as if she’s not confident.

You’d be better off rummaging through the trash. In such a mess, it’s almost appalling that important documents are left intact, let alone readable words.

“…”

Speaking of research journals, it reminds me of that damn slime man’s on a hole experiment journal.

Come to think of it, there were all sorts of crazy beats even coming this far. Goblin, Slime, Pedo.

“Look at this. This way.”

In the meantime, Yuri called us to see if she had found anything. There were torn documents among the messed up equipment, but…

“It’s going to be hard to figure out what this is.”

“I know…”

I don’t know who broke this place, but it was clear that he had a considerable obsession.

“It was burnt and torn… It didn’t seem like a big fuss. How can I restore something like this?”

Yuri turned to Lenny and Ariel and asked, but the two just shook their heads.

“It’s a crowd. Things like healing are based on the resilience of creatures, so things like this…”

“I wish I could use magic to reverse time, but that kind of magic is impossible.”

While listening to the two of them, the second bottle approached and said.

“Heh. I have no choice but to step out here. I will show you the difference in overwhelming technical skills!”

The guy said that, and proudly pushed his chest in as if he was going to show me something.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…How long will you wait? You want to show me something?”

“Uh, um. Now, hold on. It’s my first time using this feature. Where are you…”

He started waving his hands in the air while making an incomprehensible sound. He looked like a classical conductor beckoning into the air, sometimes waving like the sign of the cross in front of his helmet. Yuri, who was watching this, came up to me and whispered.

“Is that person okay? It’s okay to say something incomprehensible, but it’s like crazy…”

“Miss Yuri. You can’t say things like that carelessly.”

“But if you look at what you’re doing right now, really, wow?!”

Yuri was started when she saw the middle 2 bottles. Don’t be surprised

What is that? Are you shining a light?!

From the second grader’s helmet, a laser-like blue beam was directed at the scattered pieces of paper.

….I think I saw this somewhere. Yes, I think there was a similar scene in a sci-fi movie I saw in the past.

The light emitted from his helmet was scanning the stack of papers up and down as if scanning them.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Hey, how long do I have to wait?”

“Uh, um. It’s such a mess, so it’s going to take some time. Well, it’s working, so if you wait a little longer…”

“…”

What he was doing was spectacular in terms of effects, nothing substantial. A bit bored, I looked around and saw something floating in the system window.

Buried in the trash around, shining brightly only in my field of vision… Is this a crystal ball?

As soon as you touch the crystal ball, a message comes to mind.

[Do you want to activate? ]

[ Yes No ]

….

“Ariel. Come and have a look at this.”

It’s better to get expert advice than to mess around with something you don’t know.

Ariel looked around for a moment and then said.

“I don’t think it’s a trap. It feels like a crystal ball for communication… But I’ve never seen this form before. Wait a moment.”

Saying that, Ariel poured magic into the crystal ball.