’Phew. It’s all cleared out now.’
Thanks to Airi’s successful lure, they were able to easily deal with the flock of Harpies that had entered the burrow.
After finishing the battle and sorting out the Harpy loot, everyone stepped outside and naturally looked up.
The Harpies that had been drifting in the sky, targeting prey crossing the bridge, had completely vanished.
Ian pointed toward the now-safe bridge and spoke to the mbers.
’Let’s cross now.’
’Other Harpies won’t co, right?’
’It should be fine for a while.’
Other Harpies might claim this territory later, but at least for the duration of this expedition, it would be okay.
Harpies were monsters that wouldn’t leave their territory unless sothing extraordinary happened.
However, even if that was true in theory, it was unavoidable to feel an underlying anxiety, so everyone kept glancing up at the sky while slowly crossing the bridge.
The bridge, made of entangled tree roots and vines, looked precarious at a glance, but once they stepped on it, it was surprisingly sturdy.
Having crossed the bridge, Ian and the mbers entered the burrow on the opposite side.
They had traveled around this region quite a bit by now, but the burrow on the other side was a place they were setting foot in for the first ti.
Thinking that sothing unexpected might appear, everyone moved with tension, but the interior looked almost identical to the beast burrows they had explored so far.
’It’s not much different on this side either.’
’Since it’s the sa terrain. It seems there are only Molers here too.’
Sa terrain, sa monsters. If so, they would have to repeat the exact sa search here as they did on the other side.
Everyone thought of this and let out a small sigh. It was a simple but tedious task.
’...Huh?’
Not long after starting the search of the new area, the mbers discovered an unusual terrain.
Unlike the narrow burrows they had passed through, it was a large burrow where two or three people could easily pass through.
’Why is it so wide here?’
’It seems like there might be a different monster. Let’s follow it.’
It was a suspicious passage that looked like it held sothing to anyone’s eyes. Everyone nodded and began walking along the passage with heightened vigilance.
Since they had gone through the trouble of crossing to the other side, there was no point if they didn’t check out a place like this.
It seed other Molers didn’t often approach this large passage.
After going through a few simple battles and descending deeper, Ian and the mbers discovered an even more suspicious space.
’Ah, there’s sothing.’
Rin, who was leading the way, said as she raised her lantern. At the end of the passage was a large space.
It was a cavern large enough to be called a room.
Except for the room with the altar, which had special circumstances, it was a wide space unlike any they had seen while exploring the beast burrows.
Everyone surveyed the space inside and spoke.
’Why did they dig this out?’
’Is it a place to sleep?’
’A place to store food?’
It certainly looked like it was dug by Molers, but its purpose was unknown.
Rin, Tanya, and Mika exchanged opinions, but no answer seed quite right.
anwhile, Lia and Airi were looking at the large passages connected around the cavern.
The fact that such large passages existed must an sothing equally large had to pass through. In such cases, usually...
’Ah, over there!’
Airi was the first to discover sothing and shouted.
A red light flickered in the darkness of the passage Airi pointed to.
A pair of red eyes. They were the eyes of a Moler, which they had seen to the point of exhaustion while exploring this burrow.
However, the difference from before was that the eyes were positioned much higher than usual.
’It’s... big?’
The Moler that walked out of the massive passage had a body several tis larger, fitting the size of that passage.
The giant Moler roared at the intruders in the cavern and lunged imdiately.
- Kyaaaak!
’Uwaah!’
Mika hurriedly raised her staff.
The space in front shimred like a heat haze as an invisible wall was created.
Since it was a barrier deployed in a hurry without enough mana, it shattered imdiately upon colliding with the monster.
However, thanks to the monster stopping its charge in confusion after hitting the barrier, they gained enough ti to respond.
’Rin! Lia! Lure it to the side!’
Receiving the signal, Lia and Rin split to both sides and circled to the monster’s flanks.
Since it could charge again like before, they moved to change its direction so the backline wouldn’t get caught in the fray.
As Lia swung her fla-wrapped sword to catch the monster’s attention, the giant Moler, instinctively wary of fire, turned its body toward Lia.
’I’m using it now!’
Once the frontliners were in position, the orbs Tanya sent out imdiately activated. A faint glow enveloped the two.
These were buffing consumables that had just been taking up space in the bag since there had been no need to use them until now.
’Tanya! Give a Vitality Potion and a Strength Enhancent Potion!’
’Sent them!’
Rin pulled out a new potion from the belt at her waist.
Perhaps because they were bored from having nothing to do, the fairies were flying around much more actively than usual.
The large Moler swung its claws at the two moving around nearby.
It was a considerably threatening montum compared to the small Molers they had seen, but because the space to move was wide, it was actually easier to dodge.
Rin, finally eting a space where she could move freely, dashed toward the monster’s rear.
The priority when facing a large monster was to restrict its movent. Just as she had learned from Frey, Rin targeted the legs first.
The hind legs, which could be considered the blind spot of such a four-legged beast. As several attacks accumulated, wounds on the hind legs increased.
- Kyak!
The giant Moler, receiving continuous attacks from behind, turned its head toward Rin, but that only resulted in exposing its back to Lia this ti.
If other monsters had sward in this situation, it would have been a headache, but by nature, Molers were not monsters that commanded subordinates or cooperated with allies.
Everyone was able to accumulate damage step by step without any particular interference.
’A-arrow... watch out!’
Along with Airi’s signal, which still looked a bit awkward, an arrow flying from behind struck the giant Moler.
It didn’t manage to pierce through the thick hide and cause a wound, but soon a black light leaking from the arrow flowed into the Moler’s body.
’Next, use [Worsen Wound] or [Decrease Stamina]. Use whichever is easier.’
’Y-yes.... Then I’ll use [Decrease Stamina]...’
[Decrease Agility] and [Decrease Stamina].
Since it wasn’t an opponent with strong magic resistance, the curses eroded the monster’s body without much resistance.
The giant Moler, whose movents were gradually slowing due to the increasing injuries and curses, soon could not steady its body and collapsed on the floor.
’Rin!’
’Ah, I’ll finish it now!’
A defenseless groggy state. Taking that opportunity, Rin lunged, and her sword pierced the weakness she had been aiming for.
Ultimately, the life force of the giant Moler, unable to withstand the attack, dropped to the bottom.
’...Is it dead?’
Rin, who was perched on the back of the giant Moler, muttered as she lightly jumped down.
’It’s just big, nothing special about it.... Is this the leader of the Molers?’
’No, it probably just grew big from living a long ti. Molers don’t really have a leader of the pack.’
’It’s strange since they live in such large groups...’
While living in the sa region, it was a monster that was the extre opposite of the Harpies, who had a strong flock ntality.
After the battle ended, the mbers approached the giant Moler’s corpse and examined it.
’So, this is just a giant Moler, then?’
’Then there won’t be much to take...’
Molers were monsters that didn’t provide any separate materials. Since they were cheap loot that only took up space, they had left all Moler loot behind until now.
It was the sa for the giant Moler. Despite its size, the fact that it was cheap material remained unchanged.
’I thought we finally caught sothing big...’
Even though it was an easier opponent than expected, it was the first major battle they had fought since entering here. Everyone seed inwardly disappointed at the ntion of it being a wasted effort.
After all, there’s no reason to take risks in a Labyrinth if rewards don’t follow.
’No. This guy isn’t worth money, but there might be sothing else.’
’Sothing else?’
Ian walked around the large cavern and spoke to the mbers.
’See if there’s sothing like a pit nearby.’
’What does it look like?’
’Just anywhere, there will be a hole dug reasonably well. If it’s there, it’ll be near this burrow.’
Everyone tilted their heads in confusion and looked around. For now, no pit like the one Ian described was visible nearby.
Ian explained a bit more to the mbers who were curious about the reason.
’Molers collect all the shiny things they find while digging the ground in one place.’
’Shiny things they find while digging?’
Hearing Ian’s words, everyone imagined what the shiny items the Molers might have discovered while digging could be.
Wasn’t there... only one thing it could be?
The eyes of everyone, who had thought it was a wasted effort, sparkled.
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