Chapter 63

Even if I'm told it's dangerous, I can't understand what's dangerous, since I can't even sense the presence of monsters.

When I try to peek, Alru, who is still clinging to me, stretches up to block my view.

"What's going on here?"

"I'm joining in too."

Then, Sequoia joined in from behind.

No, that's it, right?

There must be dangerous monsters ahead, and they're trying to hold me back, right?

Is it really okay to play around like this...

"Stop pushing, stop pushing. Sequoia, you're so strong."

"Kyaa"

She ended up pushing Alru down flat!

"Did you hit your head?"

"I'm fine. How about you, Joshua?"

"I'm fine. I'm sorry, Alru, for making you the one to get squished."

I stood up in one breath, with Sequoia still clinging to my waist. Due to the sudden movement, Sequoia slipped and fell to the ground.

"Let's get serious now."

"That's right. The enemy lurking in the darkness is a monster called 'Geyser.'"

Sequoia, who started her explanation abruptly while patting her short skirt, was probably trying to cover up her overdoing it. Well, it's fine, I'll go along with it. If I tease her here, we might end up back where we started.

"Geyser? What kind of monster is it?"

"An eyeball."

"Um..."

"An eyeball."

She repeats it like a broken speaker. What kind of eyeball is it!

"Is it too vague to understand?"

"It's delicious?"

"I don't understand at all..."

I'm getting tired of pointing out the inconsistencies... Sequoia, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?

When I glare at her, she turns away, placing her small finger on her chin.

"They often stick to the ceiling. They wait motionless, blending into the scenery."

"So, if we know where they are, we can take them out with a single shot from a distance?"

"If we know where they are, yes. The key is to pinpoint their exact location."

"Didn't you say you sensed something earlier?"

"Indeed. Joshua, the bow."

She holds out her right hand, but I don't have one.

"I don't have such a thing..."

"Joshua, this."

Alru points to the handle of a knife sheathed horizontally at her waist.

"Sequoia?"

"I'll praise you for not trying to do it yourself."

"Please."

"Indeed."

Sequoia pulls the knife from Alru's waist and slowly moves forward. She throws the knife diagonally forward. As the sound of the knife whizzing through the air echoes, a red light flashes from the back. Before I can think, Alru jumps on me from the side.

Joshua and Alru roll on the ground. The spot where I was just standing is now smoking...

That, a heat ray?

"Sequoia!"

"The Geyser detected the attack and retaliated. I'm sorry. I still need more training."

"Did you take it down?"

"Perfectly. Let's retrieve it and move on."

We cautiously follow Sequoia, who leads the way, and approach the Geyser that fell to the ground.

"I see. This is indeed an 'eyeball.'"

"Right?"

The Geyser is about the size of a human's eye, enlarged, with a skin-like membrane on top and tentacles extending from it. It sticks to the ceiling and waits for its prey. The heat ray must have come from the black part of the eyeball.

"Watch out! Joshua!"

"Eh?"

This time, Sequoia jumps on me. Smoke rises from just in front of her feet.

What is it?

Thud—

The sound of something falling to the ground echoes, and Sequoia gets off me.

"There was another one. It might have been actively attacking after the other one was taken down."

"Another one?"

"The catgirl took it down. We're safe now."

"Alru!?"

I sit up and look ahead to see Alru. She meets my eyes and scratches her cheek, sticking out her tongue.

"The eyeball. It's just good at hide-and-seek. Sir Joshua."

"It's not strong, but it's hard to find?"

"Yes. Alru can see in the dark."

"I see. Thanks, Alru!"

I take her hand and shake it up and down to show my gratitude. On the other hand, Sequoia stands with her arms crossed, looking displeased.

"Catgirl... that's... "

"Huh? What's wrong? You don't have to pout like that. Alru did a good job, so a little bit is fine."

"I'm not pouting!"

She pats my waist, and I give her a triumphant smile. If I keep this up, she might really pout. I whistle and act like I don't notice, then move on.

"Do we need the eyeball?"

"Let's collect it."

We collect the eyeball and resume our exploration.

◇◇◇

From the room where the Geyser was, a narrow path continues, branching left and right. Alru sniffs the air and points to the right, and Sequoia agrees, saying, "Right."

Since their opinions match, we proceed to the right and see light from outside. This must be the exit.

Before going out, we check the other path. Ah, there they are!

A large group of bats!

We avoid the areas with droppings and collect samples from the rock-like areas, then head for the exit. Just before the exit, Alru raises her right hand sharply.

"I'll go out first."

"Sure, I'll leave it to you."

It might be a cliff, so it's safer to let the lightest one, Alru, go first. I definitely can't go first; it would be a burden to everyone... unfortunately.

The exit is like a chimney, opening up above the ground, and we have to climb the wall to get out. It's about two meters high, but Alru easily climbs up and sticks her head out.

"It's safe!"

Alru goes out and peeks back into the hole, waving her hand.

"Alright, let's go."

"Right."

Sequoia, who climbed up first, seems to have noticed.

"Joshua, can you use a rope?"

"Probably."

Yeah, I couldn't climb up easily.

Haha.

I grab the rope they dropped and finally make it outside! It turns out we're on a cliff, and the spot where we climbed out is a few hundred meters behind where we descended. We can use this hole for mining in the future. Yeah.

We set a marker so we don't lose the location of the hole and head to the blacksmith.