“Life can be really unpredictable. Half a month ago I wouldn’t have ever dreamt of challenging a legendary labyrinth.”
Seran says, while he’s digging with a scoop and having a light-emitting stone wrapped with a band around his head illuminating the s.p.a.ce in front of him.
“I also didn’t expect that when I made a vow to become a hero, I’d be digging a tunnel.”
Kail says, while wiping his sweat with the towel from around his neck, he also has a light-emitting stone on his head while carrying out the dug up ground.
“You guys, the one who wants to say that most of all, is me!”
Behind the two of them is Urza who also has a light-emitting stone on her head, she was holding the map while giving instructions to them while controlling the earth spirit, Gnome.
“Seriously, why do I have to do something like this….. Ah, Seran don’t dig there yet!”, Urza says, “The surroundings haven’t finished hardening! The second Kail has carried out the soil, immediately cast [Detect Magic] since there might be another deviation!”
“I have the feeling you’re the one trying the hardest out of us….”
“Since she’s a serious person, she probably hates not being able to help.”
“Stop all the idle talk! Get moving!”
“”Yes!””
Thinking it wouldn’t be a good idea to disobey her, the two idiots respond at the same time.
The Sangurd mountains, about whose size it is said is similar to a small kingdom, within these mountains Kail and his party were digging in a hillside area deep in the mountains where almost no humans ever came to explore.
The surroundings were completely covered with untouched forest, but a tiny part seemed like a small open field, on the steep rocky mountain was an exposed slope with a gaping hole big enough for humans to pa.s.s through it.
This is the labyrinth’s hidden entrance only known to Kail and his party, originally the entrance was directly at the back of the mountain where the entrance was hidden by a big boulder.
Also this place is the closest to the treasury in the deepest part, it’s the right place to start digging.
‘Digging’, even if I say ‘digging’ through a mountain with only a small group, that would probably be something that would take years of time.
However due to Urza’s contract with the earth spirit Gnome, Gnome was able to turn rock into soil, so we could dig through it with human strength and scoops.
At the same time so that an accident like a cave in wouldn’t occur we continued to dig while hardening the rocks around us, in order to breath inside, Urza used her contracted spirit of the wind, Sylphide’s power in order for us to breath inside.
Therefore, we were able to dig very efficiently.
Originally Kail was going to use a magic tool for this job, he was planning to earn the money for buying the magic tool by fighting in the arena, however thanks to Urza he didn’t have to do it anymore. For that he was really thankful.
He was also thinking of either hiring some people or having someone cooperate with him, doing whatever he could do with a small group while advancing forward, in the beginning he was planning to only dig with Seran and himself, but it would’ve probably taken much more time than it has taken now.
“Ah, good work all three of you~”
Having finished today’s work, Kail and his party were greeted by the cooking Lize, while they came out of the tunnel.
Kail’s party’s base camp was directly beside the tunnel’s entrance, there were two tents there.
The three of them dig the tunnel, and Lize would perform ch.o.r.es like cooking, this is already the fifth day of this life style and they’ve gotten mostly used to it.
“The laundry has already dried, you guys probably wouldn’t prefer to eat like that, so all three of you go get changed immediately,” Lize said, “since dinner is almost ready. Ah, put everything together since I’m going to wash it.”
following Lize’s snappy orders the three went into the tent in order to change.
“Fu I’m tired~, I can’t move anymore~”
Seran who finished changing was exhausted.
“Become more serious, since were almost there.”
“I’ve been doing physical labor all day long, It’s to be expected. Even your legs are trembling.”
Just as Seran said, Kail stood there looking alright but his knees were laughing.
“My body is alright, but as I expected, I’m mentally exhausted because of controlling the spirits”
Urza sighed and also sat down.
Controlling a spirit and using spirit magic makes use of a slightly different contract, since you’ll be able to directly order the spirit around.
For example if you order the spirit of flame Salamander “Light these hundred candles one by one.” He would be able to execute it.
Depending on the spirit it has things it can do and things it can’t do, it also depends on the skill of the caster. The spirit can follow more precise commands if the caster has a lot of skill, and compared to the ancient magic that Kail and the others use, spirit magic is said to be more versatile.
“It’s ready~”
Lize carried the food to the other three who were exhausted.
“Lize is seriously good at cooking. Even though I’ve traveled a lot, I’ve only tasted something equal in towns…..”
While being moved, Urza was looking at the food in front of her.
A soup with stewed meat and vegetables, cooked chicken, fruit that she got from who knows where and a variety of wild plants.
All of them having a good taste, now I’m looking forward to dinner every day.
It’s not like Urza doesn’t know how to cook, but the best she can manage is at the level of preserved food.
“The chicken meat was fat in a good way (since it’s the right time to be in the mountains.)”
“Fumu…. Oh? Is this meat different?”
“Ah, that’s bear meat. It’s fresh since I finished it off just now”
“Since when did you….”
Urza just tasted it before eating it, but because of the exhausted two guys and their happiness, she didn’t say anything and just continued eating.
Lize who was used to it didn’t say anything but she suddenly raised her hand.
tl note: I don’t even know what is going on.. Dafaq.. -Tensai
“And when do you think you’re done with the digging?”
“Let’s see…. With this speed, I think tomorrow or the day after.”
Kail answers whilst drinking tea after dinner.
While digging he used a magic called [Detect Magic] in order to search for the treasures’ reaction and to make adjustments to the direction and to measure the distance left.
In the beginning its source only had a really small magic reaction, but the more we kept digging the stronger the reaction got.
“I see, then after were done with eating we’ll have to take a bath then sleep early and make preparations for tomorrow.
A little bit away from the campsite was a little spot with rocks that were emitting a lot of steam, it was a hot spring that could fit a dozen of people.
It’s not as if the hot spring was there from the beginning, Urza used the spirit of the earth; Gnome to make a dent in the earth. With the water spirit Undine she measured the amount of water and heated it up with heat stones and thus she made an improvised hot spring.
“I never imagined it would’ve been possible to take a bath inside the mountains every day. When I went camping in the mountains once before I could only wipe my body with a wet towel~”
Lize who was naked inside the bath was lying on her back while stretching her body completely inside the water.
Since that body has always been trained there was absolutely no wasted fat. The waist was only describable with one word: stunning.
Her limbs were muscled, however it’s absolutely not buff, but like that of a girl her age, coupled with her slightly tanned skin she’s overflowing with beauty.
Turning around her body her large healthy a.s.s which could only be called magnificent was shown floating. Even through the water the s.e.x appeal could be felt.
tl note: Dafq? 0_o – Tensaiz
“Since my journey is also long. These kind of things are necessary.”
Race-wise many Elves can be called delicate but Urza can be called an exception.
She’s the so called stand alone type, now that she isn’t wearing anything it can be understood that she has a very balanced style.
It isn’t at the level of big b.r.e.a.s.t.s but they have a beautiful shape, not vulgar or filthy, she was a beauty who you could put in a royal palace as art.
Still, sitting on the end of the bath and possessing such n.o.bleness while having long blond hair that reaches her waist, together with the appearance of her white nape she emanated a mysterious charm.
“How nice…”
Lize says, while comparing her own bare undeveloped chest to Urza’s large b.r.e.a.s.t.s and sighs.
“Is it like that? In the village I was raised in, it was said that having a waist like Lize’s would be popular.”
“Re-Really?”
Lize looks at her a.s.s which has developed opposite to her chest.
“Yeah, since you’ll be able to give birth to a lot of healthy children.”
“……The old grannies in my town told me that a lot. But if I had a figure like Urza-san’s…. Ah, a heart.”
On Urza’s white skin there was something that looked like a heart shaped birthmark, right on her a.s.s.
“P-Please don’t tell anyone. It has always bothered me……”
Urza says embarra.s.sed while trying to hide herself inside the baths water.
Even though she’s older Lize thought of her as cute, while Urza’s face was blushing fiercely inside the hot water.
Lize praised the instant hot spring with a light ‘aha ha’ laugh.
“But still, magic is as handy as expected. I’m envious since I can’t use magic”
“No, I think it’s already amazing that you can beat a bear with your bare hands without help.”
Just now she glanced at the dismembered bear, and judged it was roughly an adult bear around the size of two people.
“Well I’ve trained both my body and mind as a monk, something like that wouldn’t pose a problem”
“As expected is it…… All for Kail’s sake?”
“Eh? Ah, yeah…. I guess, I don’t have any redeeming features except for this”
Lize says, while scratching her cheek with an embarra.s.sed smile.
After that she straightened her posture and said to Urza with a serious face:
“Well Urza-san, it may not be that convincing coming from me….. But you don’t have to worry so much about it.”
“Worry?”
“Even I get Kail is trying to hide something and that it concerns Urza-san’s true name…..”
“…………”
Urza’s face becomes serious. The reason why Urza is here, is because her true name is the thing she cherishes even more than her own life, was found out.
“The only thing I can say is for certain is that guy might make us angry, but he would never do something that would make us cry. That’s why he won’t do something that would hurt Urza-san, I’m planning to wait until he tells me about it.”
By seeing the smile on Lize’s face which shows that she trusts him from the bottom of her heart it felt as if she was pulled out of a deep miasma, then she felt the strength leaving her shoulders.
(Well it could also just be that I’m tired of trying…..)
“Even so, since I’d be worried if I let my eyes off him, I’m here now. Ah, that’s why you don’t have to worry, if that guy ever thinks of doing something to Urza-san I’ll take responsibility and….”
Lize clenched her fist and said that to Urza while laughing lightly.
“Just Urza is fine.”
“Eh?”
“I’m saying you don’t have to add -san anymore.”
“Understood………. Urza.”
The two began to laugh.
While the two women were shortening the distance between them.
“Let me go~~! I’m going to peep!”
“Won’t you stop already! How disgraceful.”
Kail was holding back Seran who was desperately trying to peep.
“It’s a bath, It’s an open-air bath you know! You would peep right! Normally!?”
It was a cry straight out of Seran’s soul
“Don’t you want to see!?”
“Of course I want to look!”
Kail also cried out with words directly from his soul.
“However I won’t let you see the two of them naked! That’s something for me alone…..!”
“You just said the two of them! Not only Lize but Urza-chan too!?”
“…………”
“Why did you go silent!?”
“Shut up already! Look forward to tomorrow! So just go to sleep already!”
“I don’t give a d.a.m.n about tomorrow! I live now! In this moment!”
The two men were furthering the distance between them.
“Ugh, d.a.m.n it all. Today was also a failure…..”
“Ma-Making me waste physical strength for nothing….”
“What the h.e.l.l are you guys doing, just after washing it, it’s already this dirty!”
Lize who was angry at them and gave them a lecture since the first thing she saw after getting out of the bath, were those two, who were muddied and dead tired while trying to catch their breath, increasing the laundry.
Noon the next day, having finished lunch and finishing the break, Kail was going to continue the digging when Urza began to talk to him from behind.
“To think the legendary labyrinth would be conquered in this way….. It’s a little late but I’m still having second thought if this is really alright….”
“It’s not like we have another choice, if we went in from the front we’d be annihilated so we can only use this way”
Kail says while remembering when he really did go in from the front.
There was a map, but even if we knew what kind of traps there are, it’s not as if they’re easy to pa.s.s, and there were many traps that weren’t mentioned on the map.
The irony of mentioning shady traps. The map itself was also one of them.
The magic cast on the map only activated after we got closer to the treasury, the map was filled with many complex new paths that appeared on the blank areas. Of course I had to pa.s.s through them, also on the new paths a lot more traps appeared…..
I don’t have that feeling of despair this time, even thinking back about it I still feel a chill in my back, Kail recalls.
(The author of this map either has a screw loose or has a bad personality….)
I look at the signature of the author which was written on the corner of the map.
“Syldonia-Xarles”. This is what was written on the map in ancient words.
Anyway, never again do I want to enter this labyrinth, but I want the treasure.
The idea of digging the tunnel came forth from this thought.
“By the way has Seran still not returned?”
After he finished his lunch, Seran said he was going to take a nap and left the cave, but he still hadn’t returned.
“That guy always slacks off one way or another…… Now that I think about it, he said something like “I’ll try to find a safe place where I can look from up close!” I wonder what he meant by that?”
“No you don’t have to worry about….. since I’ll keep him busy.”
“By the way Kail. I have something to ask you.”
Just when Seran isn’t here, Urza began to speak.
“Since I don’t like to be roundabout it I’ll ask you straight up. Those two have known you since you were little so they trust you but I’m different….. Kail, why do you aim to become a hero?”
On the journey to this location, when I heard Kail’s goal was to become a hero I thought he was an owner of megalomania.
tl note: Yeah, we switched to Urza’s POV. -Tensaiz
However after hearing about his goal I thought about what he was doing now and what he had to do and he showed that he kept going forward firmly, he puts in all his effort.
“That ring is also part of your training isn’t it?”
“Ah so you’ve noticed it. It’s a ring with [Gravity] cast on it”
I look at the simple ring on Kail’s left hand.
[Gravity] is a magic that controls gravity and it can change the weight of its target, it’s a magic that usually gets used in order to capture magic beasts alive or in order to trap them.
In the case of the magic tool that has [Gravity] inside, it usually gets used in order to make war prisoners or criminals powerless, it’s also called the “Ring of restraint.”
“Of course I can release it whenever I want. Sudden battles won’t be a problem.”
If I wanted to I could release it in an instant, so as long as I’m not completely surprised by an attack, fights aren’t a problem.
“That ring doubles, triples your body weight right?”
“It’s around that. It’s my teacher’s advice, it seems like a good way to strengthen your body by putting a load on the body in a daily basis.”
This may be simple but it’s very efficient, I used to wear it a lot..
Anyway I’m raising my basic physical strength while digging this hole, it’s like killing two birds with one stone.
“At first I thought you had some m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.tic hobby including the ring with it…..”
“Hey?”
“Well I also thought….. That you had such needs, daily we, Lize you….. with that playful love….. Pl-Play? Or something like that….”
“What kind of misunderstanding are you having?!”
“No, Seran is the one who told me that…..”Those guys’ playful love is a high level play, so it’s better that you don’t mind them” is what he said.”
“That guy really doesn’t say anything good….”
“When I first heard it, I thought you had some sort of perversion, so I looked at you with eyes of contempt while I pitied the depths of your human being….. However it seems like I was wrong, I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s alright…… Don’t mind it.”
Kail almost felt like crying.
“So I want to hear it again, why do you aim to become a hero?”
“Because….”
When Kail tried to say something, together with a ‘CLNCK~’ sound Kail felt the scoop in his hands. .h.i.t something.
“This is…. Gold? Yes, we’ve arrived!”
Touching it with his hands he felt it was cold and hard, the reaction from [Detect magic] was also at its max.
“We only need the finishing touches, I have to tell Seran and Lize.”
Kail tries to go outside, but he looks at Urza with a sorry face that also looked a little sad then he said.
“Sorry, I can’t say it now. However one day….. Together with Lize and the others I’ll definitely tell you about it one day.”
Looking at Kail’s back going outside after saying that, Urza noticed something and sighed.
“Being with these guys messes up my flow….” she muttered on her own.
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