I entered the underground passage with Mohamofu, but was separated from him by a sudden fall.

　Fortunately, thanks to the marker I had placed in Mohamofu's horn ring, I could see that Mohamofu was still alive and kicking.

　I'm glad that Mohamofu didn't get caught in the fall.



"Well then, let's go and meet up with Mohamofu.



　I dug the ground with my excavation magic while hardening the soil with my earth magic, and emerged into a large underground cavern.



"Cu-cu-u!"



　Then, there was Mohamofu, who was energetically fighting against the demons.

　Thank goodness, I knew he was alive, but it's still a relief to see him in good health.

　Well then, let's first fight off the demons that are crammed in the underground caverns!



Chase Thousand Javelins!



　I fire countless tracking spears of magical power at the demons to keep the cavern from collapsing.

　The spears fly toward the monsters, chasing them wherever they try to evade.

　Fortunately, Mohamofu had killed quite a few of them, and soon we had completed defeating the hordes of demons.



"Mofumofu!"



　After confirming that there are no more living demons with the probing magic, I head down to Mohammed.



"Cu...... cu~"



　They must have been worried about my absence.

　Fluffy lets out a weak cry.



"Good, good, you were scared."



　When I stroked his head to reassure him, he seemed to have reached the limit of his anxiety and peed his pants.

　He must have been really scared. It can't be helped, Mohamofu is still a baby.



　I quiet Mohamofu and clean him up with magic, stained red with the demon's blood.

　Next, I collect all the dead bodies of the demons in the underground cavern into the magic bag.

　Leaving so many corpses in the cavern, it would be a big problem if they rotted or turned into undead.

　Besides, if we collect them, we can use them as materials later.



"Cu-cu-cu~"



　I guess the absence of the pack of scary demons has relieved Mohamofu, and he rubs himself against my leg.



"Well then, let's explore this place, shall we?"



　I deploy multiple light spells to illuminate the interior of the underground cavern.



"Hmmm, it's unnaturally large after all.



　I could see by the light that this subterranean cavern is unnatural.

　For the size of the cavern, there are no pillars to support this space.

　It would be no surprise if a cave-in were to occur at any time.



"It seems to be an artificially processed space after all.



　I touch the walls of the underground cavern, and from their smooth texture, I realize that they have been magically processed.



"Maybe they were magically reinforced to prevent cave-ins. But I can hardly feel any traces of magic, so it must have been a long time ago.



　That's probably why the cave-in happened earlier.

　This subterranean cavern, where the reinforcement magic has worn off, could cave in at any moment.



"I don't think the herd boss is here.



　The last demon Mohamofu was fighting seemed to be a little stronger than the others, but it was still not strong enough to be the leader of the pack.

　The walls of the underground cavern had large side holes here and there, through which the demons were traveling to and from the surface.



"Is the boss in another part of the cavern, or is he above ground?"



　Then, there is a possibility that the boss will come back later.

　If so, it is better not to fight in the basement, which may collapse at any moment.



"But it doesn't look like he's close by."



　According to the search magic, there is no sign of a boss-like demon in the vicinity of this place.



"Hm?"



　As I was exploring the underground cavity along the wall, I noticed a small side hole ahead of me.

　The hole was small compared to the other underground passages, but it was actually large enough for a human being to pass through.



　I was curious about the fact that only that part was the size of a human being, so I stepped into the hole.

　Then I heard the sound of something light crushing under my feet.



"Is this ......?"



　I move the light closer to see what I stepped on, and it turns out to be what I stepped on.



"Bone?



　Yes, it was a bone. It was a bone, but only the upper half of a bone.



"Could it be someone who escaped from the monster?



　Probably, this person took refuge in this cave to escape from demons.

　But he/she must have been attacked by a demon and cut his/her body in half.

　And ironically, only the upper half of his body was left here.



"Pity."



　I was about to say a prayer that at least this man's soul may rest in peace.






"Cue!"



　Mohammed sucks on something beside a white corpse.



"Mohammed?"



　And look, it's a bone.

　I thought it was a dead person's bone as a toy, so I hurriedly took the bone away from him, but I immediately felt something strange about the bone.



What is it?　Where are these bones from?"



　The bone I took from Mohammed was different in shape from any human bone.

　I look at the ground again to see if there might have been bones of different animals lying around, and finally I realize my mistake.



"...... are these human bones?"



　Yes, it was not a human bone.

　The bones scattered on the ground had large bird-like feathers on the upper half of the body, and large horns sprouted from the skull.



"Perhaps these bones ......"



　I can think of only one species with a feathered back and a horned head.



"Bones of a demon!



　Yes, scattered in the pit were the bones of a demon.