Chapter 73

After passing through the maze, I emerged into a spacious area.

I looked back at the maze.

It was a rather half-baked maze, like a screen made of rocks.

The ceiling was high, and there were no walls up to the top, so in a sense, anything that could fly over would have no problem clearing it.

What was the purpose of this maze?

Was there someone here?

Or was there someone here in the past?

Well, it doesn't matter now.

There was nothing in the space.

I was a bit shocked, having thought there would be something.

Disappointing.

Shion started digging at the wall with his front paws.

? Everyone approached, wondering if there was something.

The wall suddenly... it was a hidden door!

My spirits instantly lifted.

...Another maze, my spirits dropped again.

We pushed forward with the baby spider leading the way.

Another space, this time... there were dogs! Smaller than Chai!

Core and Chai had grown since we found them.

Core is probably over 2 meters now, and Chai is around 1.8 meters.

I feel small.

This time, the dogs... they are small now, but there's still hope.

Their heads should be about chest height for me, but they are still far away, so it's hard to tell the exact size.

But they are the smallest dogs we've seen so far.

Their faces... they look the same as the Core family and the Chai family.

They are barking aggressively, but the three of them seem too weak to stand up.

The other four dogs are barking aggressively in front of them, as if protecting them.

What should we do, let's try to handle this peacefully.

Core and Chai stepped forward... they've grown!

What?

I almost lost it at this first-time thing... but I held on.

The dogs we found are also cowering.

Yeah, I understand that feeling!

I tried to calm myself by shifting my gaze and taking a deep breath.

They are companions, so it's okay, it's okay... it's good they are companions.

The dogs are now completely in a surrendering state.

Yeah, that's right.

I approached to check their condition, and there were no signs of the curse's influence.

I cast "Purify," "Remove Curse," "Heal," and "Clean" on them, and that was it.

The weak ones seem to be able to lift their heads now.

There's still some worry, but they should be okay for now.

Core and Chai have returned to their original sizes, which is good.

The cave where we found the dogs was the end... what was the purpose of the maze?

Well, it's good we were able to protect the dogs.

...

I invited the dogs to my home.

Core must have communicated well, because after the initial aggression, we arrived at the house without any issues.

We crossed the bridge and passed through the fields... it's so wide.

I'm still not used to this vastness, but I guess I have to get used to it.

When we got to the house, I saw a large open space behind the house and the fields... something was there.

The view was different from the morning.

What could it be?

I asked the dogs to wait and checked it out.

...It's far away!

Part of the field has turned into a forest.

Looking up, I saw that all the trees had some kind of fruit.

Moreover, they seemed to be well-organized.

I judged them to be vegetables, with 6 types of leafy vegetables, each with 5 trees.

9 types of fruiting vegetables, each with 5 trees, and 17 types of fruit trees, each with 10 trees.

...The field is so wide, there's still plenty of room, it's amazing how big it is.

The agricultural team is working hard...

Yeah, let's face reality.

All of this in one day?

I remember the boss and Shuri, along with their families, were really motivated this morning.

Ha... amazing, thank you.

What else can I say?

Being able to harvest nearby is a good thing, I'm sure.