Chapter 61

"Here, it's not very bright, is it?"

"I'm glad I brought this."

After hesitating about entering, we decided to go inside.

Since the walls here don't glow like in a labyrinth, we are reluctantly using a high-end lamp.

I've entrusted it to Estelle, who is the best at handling magic, and the lamp emits a brightness as if we were outside.

"I'm a bit worried it might collapse."

"Yeah... How did such a hole even form?"

This place is unnatural, like a labyrinth, but that side is at least a rock-like wall. However, this side is quite hard but seems to be all soil.

Surprisingly, the inside is quite spacious and has a gentle slope. The width is enough for our four people to walk side by side.

It would be quite a task to dig such a large hole... I wonder how the labyrinth was formed.

"Hmm? Something's coming..."

After walking for a while, we heard the sound of something running from the depths.

We stopped, and Noelle and I stepped forward to be on guard. Then, five goblins with bows appeared.

The goblins, upon confirming our presence, immediately nocked arrows and fired them.

"Whoa!? Archers!?"

"You have a great sense of timing."

"It's kind of anticlimactic, isn't it? Well, here."

Until now, I had only seen goblins with clubs, so I was surprised. However, the arrows weren't that fast and were easily deflected with a pot lid.

Noelle also deflected the arrows with her shield, and she sounded a bit exasperated. Then, when Estelle waved her staff, the five goblins' bodies were instantly torn into pieces of flesh.

There was no visible attack, so it was probably a wind spell. She must have decided that fire or earth magic was too dangerous in a hole. It's always a bit gruesome to see monsters torn apart by wind magic...

Still, it's impressive how these goblins can move in such darkness. Do they have night vision?

"Such a ruthless scene..."

"Before we leveled up, this might have been a threat... but it's completely out of our league now."

Looking at the goblins that had perished so easily, Sisha seemed a bit solemn.

Is this place designed for low-level adventurers? It would have been just right for us before we went to the capital... but now we're around level 60, and goblins don't even scratch us.

For them, this might be a place with no challenge. They seemed to have expected an adventure, but it might be a bit disappointing.

"But it feels a bit dangerous here because it's so dark."

"That's true. Plus, can we use the beacon? We couldn't in the labyrinth, so it might not work here either."

You're right. I haven't even tried to see if the beacon works on my smartphone yet.

Taking out my phone, I tried to select the beacon on the screen, but it said that movement was not possible.

"Oh, it doesn't work."

"See? We might not want to go too deep."

"Hmm... But there might be something at the end. Besides, we have a way to escape quickly. This."

"That's the item we got from the item gacha the other day."

Indeed, this place is like a labyrinth, so we don't know what's at the end. Estelle is worried, and going back is an option.

But we might get something if we clear this place. I think it's worth pushing forward.

Considering the goblins we just encountered, this place doesn't seem too difficult.

It's a good opportunity to see what's at the end and how far we can go with our current strength. Plus, we have a trump card this time.

---

● Escape Device

Pressing the button allows the party to escape to the outside.

It can only be used when inside something, and it won't work if the party is too far apart.

It disappears after use.

---

I put this in my pocket before entering. It's a square box with a sunken red button in the center.

It looks a bit like a self-destruct switch...

"I was thinking of using it for the labyrinth, but we can use it here too. Besides, based on the monsters we've seen, it doesn't seem like there are any strong enemies here."

"Are you really sure it's safe?"

We have two of these items, so it's fine to use one this time. If things get too dangerous, we can escape with this.

We've only encountered goblins so far, so it's hard to judge. We decided to keep moving forward and turn back if it gets too dangerous.

---

After reaching an agreement, we moved quite far ahead. Since then, we've gone through several gentle slopes and wide, flat areas.

Each time, we encountered various goblins with bows, swords, and shields.

Then, after passing another slope and reaching a flat area...

"Whoa!? What is this!?"

As soon as we emerged from the slope, a fireball flew towards me. I instinctively blocked it with the pot lid, and it exploded in front of it.

Even so, the heat I felt was only about as warm as a hairdryer.

Looking in the direction it came from, I saw six goblins with staffs. Could they be using magic? I didn't expect to see goblins that can use magic...

The goblins tried to cast more spells, and magic circles appeared at the tips of their staffs, but before they could use them, Noelle casually ran forward and sliced them up.

"Phew, monsters that use magic. They're dangerous."

"Even if they're goblins, using magic makes them a bit more dangerous."

Noelle quickly finished off the goblins and returned. It seems that even goblin mages are slow, as they didn't even try to run and were easily dispatched.

Hmm, so we finally encountered magic-using monsters. With Estelle's innate ability and the holy shroud, we have 60% magic resistance, so we can reduce 60% of the damage. Even if they ignore our defenses, goblins can't deal much damage.

"I didn't expect to encounter magic-using monsters here..."

"We need to be more careful if we're going to keep moving forward."

"Warriors, archers, mages... goblins come in all sorts."

"They're all here, indeed."

Even so, since we've encountered magic-using monsters, we need to be even more cautious from now on.

There are a variety of goblins in this hole...

"Look what I found."

"What is that?"

Sisha showed me something she was holding. It was a goblin with its face hidden by a black hood and wrapped in black cloth.

She had grabbed it from behind and was choking it, and it was struggling.

Is this... an assassin? They even have these?

"I caught it sneaking around. It's probably an assassin. I'll strangle it."

As she said this, she applied more force, and there was a cracking sound followed by a dull thud. The goblin's body twitched and then went limp, turning into particles of light and disappearing.

Scary!? Sisha is scary!? I'm used to killing with weapons, but she just casually broke its neck with her bare hands... I couldn't do that.

"Hmm? A black one appeared."

"That's a Black Goblin."

"Is it a rare type!?"

"Probably."

As we moved further, about ten goblins with black clubs appeared. Noelle said they were Black Goblins.

Since Black Orcs are rare, these might be rare types too.

If so, we need to eliminate them immediately! Magic stones are just running towards us!

"Hehe, this is amazing. Does this mean rare types appear from here?"

"Seems so. Hunting here might be efficient."

Even though they're rare types, they're still goblins. When I attacked with Excalibur, they were cut in half with one hit.

We all attacked together, and it took less than ten seconds to wipe them out.

Checking my phone, I saw that more than ten magic stones had been added in that instant.

This is insane. The magic stone efficiency is overwhelming. I almost want to stay in this hole.

I want to farm magic stones here after clearing this place... I don't know how long the respawn time is, though.

"What is this? We've come to a very wide area. And this...?"

"It's the same as the walls in the labyrinth."

"Right. Is this where the real challenge begins?"

After encountering rare types, we moved further and came to a very wide area. We had already encountered rare types and obtained over fifty magic stones. This dungeon-like place is amazing.

Feeling excited, we arrived at a place where the soil walls ended, and the walls and floor glowed green like in a labyrinth. It looked just like a labyrinth.

"I've never been to a labyrinth, but this is what it's like, right?"

"I went to the labyrinth before Sisha arrived. But how do we proceed from here?"

The change suggests we've made some progress, but looking around, there's no way to go forward, and it seems to be a dead end.

If it's a dead end, there should be a boss-level monster, but there's nothing. What is this place?

Puzzled by the strange space, we moved towards the center.

"What is this!?"

"This... is a magic circle!"

As we reached a certain point, the light from the walls suddenly intensified, and a magic circle appeared on the ground.

"Hey, Ohtake! Let's use that to escape!"

"Ah, right, just a—"

Caught off guard, I was slow to react, but Sisha's words reminded me of the escape device.

I was about to press the button in my pocket, but the light from the magic circle intensified, and my vision was filled with a green glow.