Chapter 22 – In the Hole….Japanese

The wall that had been blocking the way disappeared so I entered the hole.

The entrance was narrow but the inside was connected to a wide passage.

Looking at the surroundings, I could see that someone had definitely tampered with it.

The path was cobblestone and the walls were stacked with bricks of a slightly different colors but the same shape.

Could the three idiots have built this place?

If they did, there might be some kind of trap here.

I turned around to my companions who had come into the hole with me.

Attacks using divine power couldn’t be prevented by magical power.

I have to think of a way to defend against it.

Could the silver power that shattered the wall, defend against it?

I don’t even know what that power is but if it’s useful, I should use it.

Can I make a barrier using it?

Should I make another barrier on top of my magic barrier in case it fails?

Let’s give it a try.

I wrap myself with magic power and was about to change that magic power the same way as I did earlier.

However, if a gust of wind occurs again, it will be a disaster.

What could have caused that wind?

Is it the power of change?

For the time being, I’ll imagine something else and make the power transformation as slow as possible.

「Change to silver power」

The magical power around me slowly changes into silvery glowing power.

Strong wind broke out but not that much.

I made sure that all of it completely changed first.

「Barrier」

I often use defensive barrier so I don’t even need to imagine it that much.

My imagination about it seems to be saved up on my mind so I only need to cast it.

Strong wind came up and the silver power disappeared.

I checked to see if it is working and I could feel that there’s a new layer of barrier outside my magic barrier.

I succeeded.

I moved my body around a bit to make sure that there were no problems and then, applied the silver power barriers around my companions.

「Now, no matter what happens after this, we will be okay. Will you go deeper with me?」

I pointed to the deeper part of the hall while calling out to my companions.

Koa and the others’ tails immediately wag.

Boss-san and the others made a tickling sound on the ceiling right above me.

I’m sure they’re anxious but they’re always there for me.

I’m really grateful.

I looked deep into the hole but it was pitch black and I couldn’t see anything.

Come to think of it, it’s pretty bright around here.

When I look around curiously, I noticed that there were glowing stones embedded on the wall.

Is this a house?

Am I being too cautious now?

Ball of lights are casted at equal intervals, on the left and right of the passage.

It seemed that the passage was longer than I had imagined so I had to cast more than 20 light balls in total.

Koa took the lead and started walking.

Boss-san took the lead on the wall.

I’m still being protected as usual, aren’t I?

I’ve been able to create barriers easily but to be honest, I don’t think I have good offensive capability.

The only thing I can do is cut using wind magic.

Maybe I should learn how to attack to alleviate my companions’ worries.

Attacking, well, to be honest, is something I’m scared to do.

I mean, what kind of offensive attack should I learn?

Is it a good choice to increase the number of offensive magic I can cast?

Come to think of it, some of the beastkins I’ve seen before were equipped with swords on their hips.

Then, should I learn swordsmanship?

….no, I don’t think so.

I can’t imagine myself wielding a sword at all.

I’m not going to waste time learning too.

In my case, offensive magic is the best choice.

While I was thinking about that, it seems like we have reached the end of the passage.

….before I learn how to attack, I better learn to learn how to stay alert.

No, concentration comes first.

I regained my composure and shot out a ball of light from the passage into the pitch black space.

This space seemed to be quite large and I increased the number of light balls until the entire space was illuminated.

「Ugh….seriously」

As the space was illuminated by the light, I could see bone like objects piling up by the wall.

When I approached a little, I saw the skull. That means they are human bones.

What the hell is this place?

I check the rest of the place: desk, chair, and ten cages.

The doors of the cages are open and nothing’s inside but a noticed a piece of paper inside one of the cages.

As I approached the paper, I saw something written on it.

Come to think of it, I’ve never seen the characters of this world.

I picked up the paper and checked.

「………Japanese?」

The lines were ragged and hard to read but it was Japanese.

“I suddenly appeared in this place when I opened my eyes and I thought my knees hurt. Upon looking, my legs down from my knees are gone. I was asked with a lot of questions by someone who introduced himself as god. I don’t know what was going on but I was put in a cage. Why? He gave me a piece of paper to write down the changes I feel everyday. I asked him for help because I’m in more and more pain but he ignored me. I can hear voices. It seems like I’m no t alone in this room.”

I checked the following piece of paper.

“I’m in a lot of pain. Help me. It hurts. God doesn’t do anything for me. The other one died. I suddenly heard a loud scream. A new one was brought in. This is terrible. He’s a lot of pain too. God is screaming saying things are not going well. I don’t know what went wrong. It really hurts. Someone, help me.”

And another one.

“I want to go home I want to go home I want to go home. Am I going to die? I want to see my family.”

There are eight sheets of paper in total but only three are readable.

There were many places on those three sheets that I couldn’t read and those I read are only a small part of it.

「Haa～」

I look at the pile of bones.

The god who had come to explain to me said that summoning is difficult and not everyone could do it.

I look around the entire space again.

A desk and a chair where you can see all the cages.

They were placed as if the person using it can observe all of the cages.

They must have been practicing, trying to make their summoning work.

This place is an experiment lab, a place to observe.

The core of my head is getting cold.

I feel like screaming in full rage.

I suppressed my anger and grabbed one of the skulls from the pile of bones.

At that moment, I heard a buzzing sound.

「What was that?」

The barrier seems to have worked well as there’s no paint but I see to have been attacked.

By what?

I only picked up a skull.

I looked at the pile of bones.

The next moment, the pile of human bones was engulfed in blue flames.

Started, I took a few steps back and Koa and Chai stepped forward to protect me from the flames.

Boss-san and the others are also moving cautiously to surround the flames.