At the end of the narrow cave was a vast space.

　The height to the ceiling was about ten meters high and probably twice that in depth.
　But the most distinctive feature is neither above nor below, but rather below, a vertical hole that is almost invisible to the bottom.

　A path runs around the perimeter of the hole, and this is one of them, including the one you're in now.
　It's about two meters wide, so you won't have to worry about falling even if you walk through it, but it's an amazing place in many ways.

I didn't know there was an underground space like this in this forest: ......
"And just like the other place, this one looks like a natural formation. I'm amazed that they found a place like this.
"We searched for the demon's base and what we found was a huge vertical hole. Well, that's just as well, isn't it? Anyway, are those guys living in a place like this?
"Hmmm... I wonder if ......　For now, though, I can't find anything that looks like a human figure at the moment: ......

　As he said this, Allen looked around the place.

　The space is vast, but most of it is occupied by a vertical hole.
　It's not a place where you can live as a matter of course, and if you wanted to live here, you'd have to cut a hole in the wall to make room for a dwelling.

　But the bare rock face of the wall doesn't seem to have any such thing, except for the place where Allen and his friends have just come from.
　That means that at least there's a good chance no one lives in the vicinity - and

"If you look closely at ......, do you see a pathway down there similar to this one?
"There's something for you to go down somewhere: ...... You don't jump directly from here, even if you're a demon.
"Yeah. Hmm ...... probably the farthest one?

　It's too far to see from here, but there's probably a path at the far end that leads downward apart from the ground that circles the place.
　Or maybe it's somewhere along the way, but at least there's no place around here to go down.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to try walking for now.
It's like asking them to find you if they can find you. ...... The gift of Milene is really useful. Just how long will it last at this rate?　If it's going to stay on all the time, it's going to be a lot of wear and tear, right?
"...... at least it still lasts.
Well, depending on the situation, maybe we should consider taking a break or retreating somewhere?

　To be honest, their speed is slow because they have to pay attention to the sound of footsteps.

　In addition, there are unexpectedly no demons or even demons in sight, so there is no information available at this point in time.
　We don't know how far this pit goes, and considering that we haven't heard a single sound, let alone any sign of life, this might just be a passing point.

　If that was the case, you should think about pulling out as soon as you find the real base, prepare yourself, and then head back to the base again.

The only thing that Henriette and the others have captured is that the demon is going to enter here.
Certainly, the fact that there's not a single trace of those guys up to this point suggests that this isn't their base yet.
...... just doesn't seem to be unrelated at least?
It's more than just what we saw, and it's unnatural to not even have a demon in sight.

　The demons in the forest were too large to have gotten this far, but then they would just have to roost in the cave.

　However, the fact that you can't find a single trace of it means that this is likely to be done intentionally.
　And it is needless to say that we don't need to say who would do such a thing.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find some testimony to back up such a theory. ...... I glanced over at him, but as usual, Chloe is slightly downcast and silent.
　Well, if we continue on, we don't need to listen to the story to find out.
　There's no need to listen to what they have to say.

The best thing to do is to go to ...... and see what's going on.

　There would be no more reasoning involved in talking here.
　Keeping an eye on their surroundings, Aren and the others turned their feet to the back.







　Even though it's a little wider, there's no reason to force them to line up side by side.
　Cautiously, with Allen in the lead, they proceeded ahead, just as they had done when they passed through the cave.

　It's a decent size if you think of it as a hall, but not so big if you think of it as a walking distance.
　Even though they walked carefully, it didn't take long, and they got there without incident, as it appeared.

As expected, there was a path to the bottom at the far end, or ......
"The road is about the same width and the slope is gentle. It doesn't look too dangerous.
"Even though it's dim, my eyes have gotten used to it, so I can see a little better. Just ...... what are you going to do about it?　Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with going on like this, though.

　Without an immediate response from Akira, Allen looked around the place.

　Although nothing happened on the side that Allen and the others came from, the same cannot be said for the other side.
　Well, I guess that's almost true, but we should check that side if we want to be sure.

　Or maybe you could take a break while you're at it.
　If you're near the cave, you'll be able to notice and respond quickly if something goes wrong.
　Considering that you don't know what's going to happen next, it's not a bad choice.

　But Milene, who will need the most rest in this one, shakes her head.

...... at least, you don't need to rest.
"Hmm, I'm going to respect it if you think it's a good idea for Milene to do it, but I'm not going to take it easy ......, okay?
"...... I know. It's useless if you drag your feet in a pinch.
"If you know that, it doesn't matter. Now do you want to check the other side?
Personally, I don't think it's necessary. Although I didn't see it clearly, it looked like nothing happened.

　Allen agreed, but just to be sure, he turned his attention to Milene and Akira, and they nodded in return.
　Finally, I looked at Chloe and got a small but clear nod, so it's settled.
　I continued on my way to the back of the room.

　As Henriette said, the slope is gentle, so it's easy to walk on.
　It didn't take long for them to walk up the slope and down the passageway again.

　But the scene in their field of vision is much the same as the one they just walked through.
　The only difference is that you can see the place you just walked five meters above, and from a quick look, there doesn't seem to be any holes in the wall here either.

Well, that's what I knew.
If someone lived here, you could sense their presence and hear things. Well, it's possible that both of them are being held back: ......


They'll know we're in at that point. Well, there's no way.
"...... After all, this is just a passing phase?
It's still hard to say. ......

　You can't see the bottom of the pit, but you can't see the bottom.
　If so, the possibility of living somewhere here cannot be denied, but there is also the question of whether it is necessary to live in such a place.

　But in the end, you'll have to move on.

Well, for now, we'll continue--

　It was as he was about to continue walking.
　Slightly but surely, Allen's ears caught some sound.

　And if he wasn't imagining it, it was coming from deep within this pit.
　Turning his gaze back to the pit, Allen squinted his eyes as if to see into its depths.