112-Episode 111




We went down a vertical hole that looked like a well without water.
The ladder was sturdy, and the three of us, including myself, were able to climb down without any difficulty, not to mention Mee who was light.

Incidentally, I had prepared to use the Feather Fall spell in case someone stepped off the ladder.
This is a spell that causes the target to fall slowly, and is one of the few spells that can be activated instantly.

Fortunately, none of us were affected by this spell, and we succeeded in descending to the bottom of the 20-meter-deep pit.

When I was the last one to descend, Mee, Satsuki, and Cyril were waiting for me at the bottom of the hole.
Before I could get down the ladder, Satsuki called out to me from a few meters below.

'Will, you can jump down from there. I'll catch you.'

'...... What's the point in that?

'I'm happy to hold Will.'

'No thanks.'

I descended the ladder as normal.
What Satsuki says sometimes makes no sense at all.

Well, that's beside the point.

At the bottom of the hole, in addition to Satsuki and the three of us, there was a hanging basket as expected.
It was tied to the end of a rope hanging from above.
There were also several hand-pushed carts, probably used to carry the mined ore.

On the other hand, from the bottom of the vertical hole, there was a cavernous side hole leading to the side of the hole.

The ceiling of this cavern, which Mee had illuminated with a lantern, was so low that I could have reached the ceiling if I had reached out to touch it, probably because it was designed for dwarven miners.
If I jumped lightly, I might hit my head on the ceiling.

'With this height of the ceiling, William seems to be cramped.

'I'm afraid I'll get caught if I raise my sword too. Mee is good for this kind of situation. She's too small.'

'Why do you fight so naturally, Satsuki? Can I slit your throat with my dagger?'

'Stop it. It's sad that I'm going to be killed by my friends before I can become the world's strongest swordsman.

Cyril, Satsuki, and Mee walked through the side hole, talking lightly about such things.
I followed them, smiling as I listened to their conversation.

Now, the quest is to 'exterminate the Rockworm'.
The task required is to literally exterminate the Rockworm.

The key to this quest, then, is how to deal with the characteristics of the rockworm monster.

The Rockworm is a huge monster, over five meters long in its adult form, and its rocky black-gray skin is as hard as rock itself, making it an extremely powerful monster in both attack and defense.
However, while this point should not be underestimated, the real problem lies in the monster's habitat and its uncanny ability to appear and disappear.

Rockworm is a D-ranked monster, and if we only look at this point, for example, Satsuki, who is equivalent to a C-ranked monster, would be able to fight it alone.
However, this is a rank value based on the strength of the monster alone, and does not take into account the conditions under which the monster is fought.

For example, if a rockworm appears in the middle of a prairie and rushes towards you from tens of meters away, you can deal with it in any way you like, and it is not a problem.
You can calmly hit it with attack spells such as Fireball or Lightning Bolt as it approaches, and ask Satsuki to deal with it if it gets close enough to you.

However, in reality, we are not in the middle of a prairie, and not all of them will just appear a few dozen meters away, asking you to shoot their magic slowly.

They move through the earth.
There's no guarantee that they won't appear at this very moment, right under my feet, with their mouths wide open.

But even so, they usually make some kind of noise, and I don't expect them to actually appear at my feet at this very moment.

What's more, I had already cast an alert spell before approaching the tunnel.
This spell, which casts a magical film around a 50-meter circumference around the sorcerer, works regardless of whether the monster is moving underground or not.

There has been no response to the alert spell.
Therefore, it's hard to imagine that there are rock worms closer than fifty meters around me at this stage.

In any case, if I'm under the effect of the Alert spell, I should be able to eliminate most of the threat that the Rock Worm poses.
With that in mind, I followed the three girls down the rather cramped tunnel.


Meanwhile...


Meanwhile, around that time.
The other group of adventurers who had visited the mining city of Novan with William and the others had descended into a different tunnel from the one the boys and girls were in and began their search.

'd*mn, the low ceiling is annoying. It's so cramped.

The leader of the group, a fighter, was walking at the front of the tunnel.
He seemed to be particularly concerned about the smallness of the tunnel because he was the largest of the group.

Then, a hunchbacked man in the style of a thief, who was following behind him, called out to him as if to say.

'Don't complain. It was originally designed for dwarves, so it can't be helped.

'Since we're going to let humans kill monsters, we should have properly maintained them for humans. What a bunch of useless dwarves.

'Don't be absurd. ....... And don't say that in front of your clients or anyone else.

'd*mn. I know what I'm talking about.

With that, the leader warrior strode forward, looking unhappy.
The remaining three men - the Thief, the Mage, and the Holy Order - follow behind him, sighing.

But the warrior's frustration did not abate.
He vents his frustration on his comrades who are following behind him, under the guise of issuing a warning.

'But you guys know what you're doing, don't you? We're considered by the client to be lower than that picnic-looking gentleman. If we lose to that lazy bastard with three girls... Our pride will be rattled.

'Well, you know, ......, but he didn't look that smug. And he seemed like a smart guy. He was full of quiet confidence. ...... I guess we're not the same race. ......'

I'm sorry. That's why they make fun of you! Look, they're ranked E and we're ranked D. We'll never lose to them. All right!

Yeah. But not dying is more important, okay? Pride can't buy you a life, and it can't eat you.'

'Ah, I already know that!

While exchanging such words, the men continued to walk down the tunnel.


And then...


And around that time.
Two other adventurers had arrived in the mining city of Norban.

One was a well-built, red-haired young man in jet-black armor and black robes, with a large sword on his back.
The other was a young woman in black robes who followed him.

Each of them had a silver adventurer's card on their chest.
The silver adventurer's card was proof that they were B-rank adventurers.

At the entrance to Novan, the young man in black asks the woman beside him.

'Are you sure that the request that the party of three good women received - that their destination is here, Cecilia?

The woman in the black robe replies with a pensive look.

'Yes, I am. As I said, there was one man, though. And all three of them seemed to be under the control of that man.

'That's not the point. It doesn't matter if they were hand-me-downs or not, just take them and eat them again. ...... But Cecilia, are you mad at me by any chance?



When the young man looked into the woman's face, she turned away further.

'I'm not mad at you, but I hope you'll forgive me if I'm jealous and cranky because the person I love is trying to find another woman.

I like it when you say that. I'm coming by the inn. I want to eat you for an appetizer.'

'You call me an appetizer? Well, it's my fault for liking you including that part of you, so I'll give it all to you. Please eat it.

'You're really the best woman I've ever met.

'Thank you for that. I'm very happy.

They hugged and kissed each other on the spot, even though they were in public.
Then, as the young man had said, they went to the inn.