CH 47

The Divine Herb Exa

“Mize. Does <Wisdom Road> have any memory of the terrain ahead?”

“No… There’s almost none left already. The memories I’ve been referring to are quite ancient, so in this time when various paths have been pioneered, there are many cases where they are of no use.”

Since we’ve started exploring the Labyrinth, “The Roots of the Divine Tree”, more than 1 hour has already passed.

If we expect the enemy to search inside the Labyrinth, we should stay here for another hour or so.

“This is…”

As we reach the end of the passageway, I notice something strange had fallen.

“A stone monument, isn’t it?”

The stone monument was lying on the floor, covered in moss.

It must have been abandoned for a long time.

“The fact that there is a stone monument here means that… this Labyrinth was created during the Second Great Hero-Demon War or earlier.”

In the first place, the Ancient Civilization– was a civilization that flourished before the Second Great Hero-Demon War.

As soon as the Second Great Hero-Demon War had ended, that civilization had declined. That is why there are no stone monuments found in Labyrinths created during the Third and Fourth Great Hero-Demon Wars.

“Tweight-san, have you seen stone monuments in the past?”

“Yeah. When you delve deep into the Labyrinth, you can occasionally find them. Although… the engravings on the stone monuments are written in the unique ancient script, and only experts can decipher them… Even if they are deciphered, the content is usually a warning of danger… Honestly, it’s not something you’d like to see often.”

To put it simply, stone monuments contain messages from people who lived before the Second Great Hero-Demon War.

It may just be because the people of that time were kind, but in many cases, stone monuments warn people when they are approaching a dangerous part of the Labyrinth.

“I… can read this.”

Albeit slightly– I had a premonition that she could.

Mize’s <Wisdom Road> contained the way to use ancient magic, so it wasn’t surprising for her to have knowledge of the ancient script as well.

“What is written on it?”

“Umm– There is a hidden treasure ahead, is what is written.”

“It’s so simple, which makes it kind of disturbing.”

After worrying about it for a bit, I finally nodded my head.

In any case, I was planning on advancing deeper. If the stone monument isn’t warning us of danger, then we could continue advancing as is.

Moreover, even if the enemy comes this far, there is a high possibility of them seeing this stone monument and turning back.

If the enemy has people familiar with Labyrinths, they shouldn’t advance beyond the stone monument. Naturally, the enemy wouldn’t have anyone capable of deciphering the ancient script in their ranks.

“… Hm?”

“Tweight-san, what’s wrong?”

“I sense a strange presence up ahead. It’s not a Demonic Beast… but it’s not a person either.”

But it had a humanoid silhouette.

There was an inorganic presence in the midst of the gloom. It’s true identity was–

“A Golem…?”

It was a Golem, similar to the ones used at the Adventurer’s Guild’s Basic Combat Ability Test.

Its appearance was somewhat different. The Golem before us was covered in sand and dirt, both its arms were thick, and it had short legs. If we looked closely, its legs weren’t even touching the ground; it seemed to be floating.

The Golem’s eyes lit up with a pale light.

As soon as it lifted its arms, I activated <Rage>.

“Mize, stand back.”

As soon as Mize, who is beside me, gets back, the Golem rushes to attack.

While floating in mid-air, the Golem attacked by rotating its body like a spinning top, using its thick arms as blunt weapons.

Its responses aren’t agile, but I mustn’t defend against those arms from the front.

While jumping diagonally backwards, I quickly release <Bullet>.

The bullet made of magic power that was fired couldn’t penetrate the Golem’s hard body, ricocheting with a loud noise.

I don’t know how a Golem’s field of view compares to that of a person, so I attempt to attack it from a blind spot. As long as I can create an opening, there’s a possibility that I can defeat it with <Flash Blade> just like at Guild in the Royal Capital.

However, the Golem quickly turned to face me as soon as I approached from behind.

— Is it protecting something?

It doesn’t seem like it just doesn’t want me to get behind it, but rather, it moved as if it did not want me to advance further.

Golems aren’t Demonic Beasts. They are beings that were created by people who lived during the time of the Ancient Civilization. So then, its creator must have wanted this Golem to protect something.

“Tweight-san! Could you stop the Golem’s movements!?”

At this time, Mize shouts.

“What are you going to do!?”

“I want to try something!”

That answer is somewhat lacking.

But, pierced with those determined eyes, I nod my head.

After luring the approaching Golem to the limit, I leap into the air before it collides with me.

At the same time, I dropkick the top of the rapidly revolving Golem’s head with my heel.

Gong. With a loud sound, the Golem, which had been floating in mid-air, had both its feet slammed into the ground.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Mize goes behind the Golem and thrusts out her arm.

Immediately after her palm touches the back of the Golem’s head– the Golem’s eyes lose their light, and it drops its head loosely, ceasing its functions.

“… As I thought, this Golem works the same way.”

Mize explained to me, who doesn’t understand what had just happened.

“Golems have emergency switches built into it that stops it from functioning. I tried to interfere with it through magic power.”

“… Is that also from a memory in <Wisdom Road>?”

“Yes. I haven’t told you this, but… the person who developed <Wisdom Road> is probably the same person who developed this Golem.”

In other words, <Wisdom Road> is a magic that was created before the Second Great Hero-Demon War.

Mize’s head is filled with 200 years’ worth of knowledge.

“In fact, when we took the Basic Combat Skills Test at the Guild, I pressed this switch at the same time it started… Looking back at it, I feel like that was cheating.”

“… That’s just part of your true abilities. It’s not a power that came into your hands from making a deal. Even if you use it as you like, no one has the right to complain about it.”

While trying to cheer up Mize, who feels a slight sense of guilt, we advance forward.

As we advanced beyond the narrow passageway, a mystical scenery unfolded.

“This is–”

In the vast underground space, there were plants growing as far as the eye could see.

Gleaming with a phosphorescent glow, the lush, green plants looked somewhat familiar.

“It’s the Divine Herb Exa… isn’t it?”

“… Yeah.”

I nodded to Mize, who was wide-eyed and astonished.

The Divine Herb Exa. It is the medicinal herb that is indispensable in making the Divine Medicine Elixir. The Divine Medicine Elixir is the highest class of potion, which takes pride in having of the highest level of effectiveness, making it a high-class item. But in recent years, there has been a shortage of its main ingredient, the Divine Herb Exa, and Elixirs have only been produced a few times.

It is a valuable medicinal herb. Most people will die without ever seeing this herb in their lifetime.

And now, there were an uncountable number of them growing before our eyes.

“It’s surprising… in a place like this, we’ve found a colony of Exa.”

“Amazing… It’s so beautiful.”

Mize mutters in a trance.

The Divine Herb Exa itself was emitting a faint light, which brightened the surrounding area. Together with the dimly lit passageway that we took here, we felt as if we had stumbled into the centre of a mystical place, separated from the rest of the world.

“C-can we bring it back with us?”

Mize says, coming back to her senses.

Exa is a medicinal herb that is extremely difficult to obtain. If we sold it, we could obtain a large sum of money, but–

“No… In order to preserve Exa, we need to follow a special procedure. We haven’t prepared the tools now, so we have no way of bringing it back.”

As I explain this, Mize becomes visibly depressed.

In the first place, our objective was to obtain funds from defeating Ogres. If we were able to bring back Exa, it would greatly help in our elopement.

But we can still use this.

Even if we can’t bring it back with us, just knowing that there is a colony of Exa here is of exceedingly great value.

For example– as a bargaining chip.

“Let’s camp here for today.”

“W-we’re going to stay here?”

“Yeah. By the time the night has passed, the pursuers would have drawn back.”

“… Sleeping beside the Divine Herb Exa, it gives a really strange feeling.”

We decided to camp here, by the most magnificent spectacle in the world.

The next day, we returned aboveground.