Chapter of Magic Stone, Episode 4: Battle with the Band of Thieves

Bright light and the sensation of something cold like mist touching my cheek woke me from my slumber.

The Ujah Peak Ruins...

There I was, half buried in the sand at the sunny site that had once been a quarry. My pillow had been replaced with sand, which flowed around me as I struggled to free myself.

I felt well-rested from the sleep, but was troubled to find sand pouring down from my collarbone to my stomach. It was a terrible way to wake up, but, surprisingly, a part of me wasn’t too bothered by it. A morning’s pleasantness wasn’t completely determined by the view or weather.

I looked toward the weight against my chest and found a fairy-like sight right in front of me. It was said just seeing a single beautiful flower could make someone’s morning as they woke up. Though, this particular flower looked back at me with an unhappy expression.

Marie’s vivid lips parted, and she let out a voice of complaint, as expected. “I can’t believe I fell asleep so quickly! I’ll be wondering about what’s going to happen in the book all day!”

I suppressed my urge to touch her white hair, dazzling in the sunlight.

“Heheh, at least we have that to look forward to tonight. In any case, this sure is a whole lot of sand.”

The elf moved away, and I stood up after her. Then, just as it did before we went to sleep, the glow of the oasis entered our view from the platform. We looked up to find the sky was nearly azure in color, and even the sandy ground appeared fantastical to my eyes.

The mysterious monster from yesterday attacked us with a wave of destructive boiling sand. I thought we might wake up in a situation like that again, so I couldn’t say it was too pleasant, but knowing Marie was looking forward to the rest of the book made me smile to myself.

Sand poured down from my sleeve, revealing a dully glinting bracelet on my wrist. It was mainly for checking my current abilities, but I could also use a simple command to send a party request to the half-fairy elf next to me.

“There, added. I suppose this would be our first time forming a party together.”

“I think you’re right. This is somewhat exciting. I hardly ever team up with other people.”

She pointed out that that was mainly an issue with my personality as I pulled my half-buried bag out of the sand. I pulled her belongings out too, and sand was scattered down from the plateau where we stood.

Teaming up with other people usually just ended up being a source of anxiety for me. Things could get awkward if the conversation lulled, and if a team strategy didn’t work, I could have ended up being the one who was blamed.

However, I’d like to have thought that things would be different with Marie. I didn’t know why, but I just had a feeling, even with the massive gap between a level 72 and 32.

I thought about how I often found myself confused by my own thoughts and feelings lately as I dusted the sand off my clothes.

“Okay then, let’s get started. Our mission today is to rescue that half-beast child and defeat the bandits in hiding. If I come to the conclusion that it’ll be too difficult, I’ll let you know with the mind link chat.”

“Right. If that happens, we’ll regroup, and you’ll get us out of here with Trayn, the Journey’s Guide. Now, let’s execute our plan!”

She raised her voice boldly, then began preparing her Spirit Magic. Glittering specks danced around her robe, and I blinked, thinking it was a trick of the eye. She almost seemed to be disappearing in and out of view. I rubbed my eyes, then found that Marie had already vanished from view.

“Huh, so this is the spirit of light, Luminous Veil. Guess it really does make you completely invisible.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be much of a spell if a sleepyhead like you could still see me. I’ll be moving slowly from this point on, but I won’t be able to conceal my footsteps or scent. So, depending on what we’re up against, I may still be detected.”

That made sense. But that meant the places she could hide were limited. Luckily for us, Marie was a spirit sorceress. Few others had the power to profoundly affect a battle by themselves without taking a single step.

“All right, then I’ll be on the move, too. If anything happens, be sure to call me with the mind link chat right away.”

“Yes, you be careful, too. And be sure to read me the rest of that book tomorrow night.”

I couldn’t help but smile at that. The fact that Ms. Elf was looking forward to the book tonight was motivation enough for me, and I began walking toward the oasis with that positive thought in mind.

It was time to begin.

I activated Over the Road from the plateau, and I instantly appeared at the sandy grounds below. As I walked on the sparsely grown grass, I thought about what we would then be doing.

Our objective was to rescue the half-beast child. It was an extremely difficult mission that would require us to overcome numerous outlaws and an enormous monstrosity. Despite my high level, I wasn’t cocky enough to presume I could win a battle when we were so outnumbered.

First, I had to get some distance away from Marie so she wouldn’t be deemed a threat. Then, I had to draw their attention somehow. We still didn’t know where our opponents were hiding, and we needed to find that child somehow.

As I approached the waterfront to do just that, the reptilian monster known as a Koopah burst out with an eruption of sand. There was no need to go easy on it like last time, so I butchered it as soon as it appeared, making it shriek out in pain.

“Hm, I think they finally noticed me. Marie, how are the preparations going?”

“Not bad. I’m creating more fire lizards and having them hide in the sand for now, but are you sure you want me to hold back their power?”

“Of course. We want to overwhelm these guys with numbers rather than raw power this time around. If we do it right, this could give us a greater advantage than outright killing them.” I told her so via our mind link chat, then took a look at my surroundings.

According to my Intuition, there were less than ten of them. I sensed the faint sound of voices and eyes looking at me, so I quietly moved away from the oasis. Now I had an idea of where they were, so there was no more need to cause a ruckus by fighting Koopahs.

I tried detecting their presence, but my gaze slowly moved upward. Then, inside the partially dilapidated building, I caught a glimpse of a dirty-looking man as he hid his face from view.

“Oh, there he is. Question is, where could that kid be?”

They must’ve been wondering why I’d shown myself after running away, and where the elf who was with me may have gone.

After spending some time to think about it, it seemed they decided on going with the same approach as before. Well, that was probably the only thing they could do.

Just as I sliced up an approaching Koopah into little rings, the ground shook. The sand vibrated with the tremors, and I felt an impact as if something was making its way up from the ground. Then came the piercing roar that made even the Koopahs shiver in fear.

Grrraaaaaarrr!

The booming roar blasted up sand in a radial pattern, but I was one to learn from my past experiences. I took advantage of the fact that I was alone and activated Over the Road so I could escape into one of the crumbling buildings. The building was immediately crushed by the shockwave, and the remaining Koopahs were immediately flattened to dust.

That intensity and those tremors were something else. But as someone who had only trained his ability to run away, the situation was far from unmanageable.

After deftly dodging the falling debris, I shifted myself to the roof of the building, then again to another building in the distance. It was there that I saw something glinting from far off: the stone held in the half-beast child’s hand.

The child was wearing a tattered robe, just like yesterday, with his hands and feet bound in chains.

“It’s a bit far, but I have a good idea where the others are now. I think we can begin.”

“Be careful, okay? And if you need to retreat, don’t hesitate to do so. I’ll draw that monster’s attention, so you won’t need to worry about it for a while.”

I replied with a “got it” to the assuring voice in my head.

If I had to guess, that giant monster must have been around level 100 or so. To think a level 30-something elf was going to face it head on... It was like I was in a strange dream or something.

I thought about pinching myself, but I realized I actually was in a dream, so it wouldn’t even hurt.

“All right, I’m going now. See you later, Marie.”

I gave my parting words to the invisible girl, then stepped on the ground with both feet and activated Over the Road. Not only did the skill have weight and travel distance limits, but I had to physically see my destination and have both feet on the ground. Despite the rather strict restrictions, it was a vital skill when trying to close a gap.

I instantly moved myself to the wall, then shifted to a building that was against the cliff. As I stepped on the crumbling rooftop and flew into the air again, I felt like I was running straight into the sky.

From behind me, I could hear the monster screaming as if to tell me to stop running away. Its bellow was enough to shake the ground, but as I looked down the cliff and observed the sight, I uttered to myself, “Huh... That’s actually really useful.”

There was Marie, making full use of her abilities as a spirit sorceress. She’d already created about ten spirits in total. I’d heard Spirit Magic was about supplying the spirits with magic and firing that magic at enemies, but it seemed they could dig into the sand and travel underground too, like single-shot guerrilla tanks.

The spirits were hidden far from their caster, and they fired sporadic magic bolts at the monster, proving to be the ultimate distraction for me. I was astonished to see the monster charging in the opposite direction of Marie as more and more spirits appeared.

In that moment, I felt I understood. Her versatility to adapt to any situation was what set her apart from the average sorcerer. It was thanks to that ability of hers that allowed us to come up with strategies that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.

“That seems like it could come in handy in all sorts of situations. Oh, but more importantly...”

Considering the amount of magic power she had left, I probably didn’t have much time. I had to fulfill my own role, or she’d be giving me a scolding later.

I flew from roof to roof one more time, then found the child from earlier right in front of me.

The hooded half-beast recoiled as I arrived. The child, a boy, was even smaller up close, like a grade schooler.

He backed away from me, terrified. I crouched down to eye-level, then opened my mouth.

“Hey there. Would you like me to help you? If so, I can lend a hand.”

The child twitched in reaction. This time, it may have been out of a faint sense of hope instead of fear. After all, I was talking in the language of half-beasts, which few people knew how to speak.

“What? You know... our language?”

“Yup. It’s a little hobby of mine. I’d love to talk some more, but we don’t have much time. Now, which would you prefer? Should I leave you alone? Or...”

The chain shook with a metallic clink as little paws reached out to me. He was covered in white and brown fur that was so dirty, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy. The tendons on both of the child’s feet were horribly damaged, and he was clearly in no condition for running.

“Please... Help me! I can’t take this anymore... I can’t bear summoning monsters with the stone to attack innocent people!”

“All right, then,” I replied.

We were too high up for the mist from the water veins to reach us, and it was difficult to even breathe. Whoever lived there long ago may have been of a lower social rank.

Slowly, I rose before the half-beast who was hunched over, as if in prayer. The group that was closing in on us from behind were the very men who had been committing crimes in the area. There were about eight of them, each wearing a sunburnt hood and holding broadswords in their hands.

Though they were mangy-looking, their bulging muscles and the sharp look in their eyes told me they were quite high in level. In fact, it made me question if they really were really just some ordinary bandits.

The man who lead the group, who I presumed to be their captain, was perfectly calm despite walking atop the unstable roof ridden with holes. He stroked the black beard on his chin as he approached me and said, “Good job making your way back here, kid. I finally figured out how you made it out of there alive yesterday. You’re specialized in mobility-type skills, and you escaped with the elf just like how you flew up here.”

“Ohh, yeah, you’re actually not too far off the mark there. Anyway, would you mind removing the Dominance from this little guy?”

Glancing at the chains, I could tell he was bound with the power of a contract rather than ordinary metal. In other words, it couldn’t be physically destroyed. If I were to free this child, I needed the contract stone in that grinning man’s hand.

“Then, let’s make a deal. Give me your bag full of treasures, and I’ll let the little twerp go.”

Huh... Why would this guy bother telling such an obvious lie? I may have looked like a kid, but I was an adult on the inside. I didn’t know how they were doing it, but they were clearly using that half-beast child to attack adventurers. There was no way they would give up their golden goose so easily.

It seemed negotiation time was over. Actually, I could hardly call it a negotiation in the first place.

I drew my sword, and they slightly braced themselves. They seemed to assume they were still out of reach, but as their leader had guessed, I was a mobility specialist. I immediately activated Over the Road, appeared at their leader’s flank, and swung my sword without hesitation.

My aim was true, and the contract stone was split diagonally as the noise of steel on sword resounded. I nearly smiled at the leader, but his face fell, and he stared at me with a piercing gaze.

“That’s it. I’m cutting off your arms and legs, then rubbing salt into your wounds.”

The words of a grown man who intended to do you harm could be really scary. Or it would have been, if I was just an innocent kid.

The man signaled with a point of a finger, and an overweight man came rushing toward me. He seemed to be the tank of the group, and he flexed his barrel-sized arms before me as he approached. It was like he was asking to get his arms cut off, but my eyes widened as my sword bounced off with a metallic clang! The man’s arms had solidified like reinforced plating, and I was surprised to see sparks fly at the impact.

His level alone appeared to be quite high.

I could have attacked his legs as he continued pushing me back, but stopping his pressure would have been no easy task. Before I knew it, the edge of the cliff was right behind me.

“Haha! Fall, you little shit!”

“Oh, okay. See ya.”

He threw his full body weight into one last tackle, ramming right into me... but he passed right through, charging off the cliff alone. The other bandits watched with their mouths hanging open as the “me” that had been thrown into the air became deformed. I became distorted, like a painting dissolving in water from the spot that been tackled, then vanished into the air.

This was my final primary skill, Phantom Image, which allowed me to create an illusion of myself. This skill was most likely where my class, Illusory Swordsman, got its name.

Reprise, which let me set and repeat certain actions; Over the Road, which allowed me to travel a short distance away; Phantom Image, which created an illusion of myself. These were my three main combat skills.

A loud thud! could be heard, and sand flew up into the air as the man landed, drawing the monster’s attention as a result. The bandits and I let out an “ah!” at the same time. The man who fell ran away from the monster, and the ground rumbled loudly as it gave chase.

Try not to die, I mentally told him.

The more time the monster spent chasing him, the easier it’d be on Marie.

There was a big, round hole in the mountain that reached all the way down to ground level. The oasis was basically surrounded by precipitous cliffs of sorts, with buildings that were once dwellings still left on the wall surfaces. This was the stage of battle this time, and to be honest... it was so heavily in my favor, I almost felt bad.

“Hey, he’s behind you! Kill him!”

“Aaaaaargh!”

I silently emerged behind one of the bandits, and another raised his voice in warning. Faced with an elusive opponent like me, all they could do was try to watch each other’s back like this.

The man turned around and swung his broadsword wildly, but I had flipped in the air and pierced holes into his feet while dodging two arrows at the same time. An arrow whizzed by my cheek, but I used the full momentum of my spin to slam the flat of my sword into the crown of my opponent’s head. A loud crack echoed out, and the man’s eyes rolled over. As he crumpled, I spotted a tall man with a blade in each hand approaching from his shadow. Fighting someone who was prepared to face me sounded like a bother, so I left an illusion and vanished before someone shot another arrow at me.

There were safe spots for me to travel to all around us with no way for my enemies to follow, so I was able to enjoy their screams of frustration as they discovered they had just attacked another illusion. They roared and demanded to know my whereabouts, but all I could’ve told them was that I was in one of the many buildings nearby. Though, I didn’t say it out loud, of course.

“There isn’t much good footing with everything being so worn down, but they’d have to deal with the monsters if they go down to ground level. This oasis is a good hunting ground, so I’d like to take my time and hunt them one by one.”

But still, their leader’s action had caught my attention. Without even looking at me, he simply observed the giant monster thrashing around the oasis. It didn’t seem like he was just taking me lightly, considering how he had two men guarding his back for him.

“...I have a bad feeling about this. This is why I don’t like fighting other humans.”

My Reprise allowed me to memorize movement patterns, but it had its limits. As the number of enemies and the tricks up their sleeves increased, it became harder and harder to utilize the skill effectively. It was more suited for facing simple-minded monsters, rather than humans.

I thought about going all-in and diving toward them, when the leader suddenly shouted, “There, the elf is hiding behind that pillar! Men, get over there and drag her out!”

Then, it hit me: He wasn’t observing the monster. He must have been using a detection-type skill to find Marie through her Luminous Veil.

The bandits were bloodthirsty as they leapt down from the building, and they didn’t even fear the giant monster ahead.

As I watched them go, I felt my overconfidence quickly draining away. Marie was a magic user, and a low-level one, at that. She wouldn’t be able to fend off melee attackers. I was in such a fluster, I didn’t realize the leader had deliberately raised his voice to bait me into action.

“I can’t let you do that. Over the Road!”

I had no other choice but to take them all down. I swiftly moved in front of them and prepared to strike, when the leader shouted yet again.

“Now, roast ‘em whole!”

“What...?!”

My surroundings were instantly engulfed in a sea of flame, and a wave of crimson heat set me and the bandit henchmen ablaze. The surface of my skin burned, at which point I immediately realized I was in danger and held my breath. If I hadn’t, the flames would have entered my lungs and scorched me from within. In a sense, the experience of getting killed by monsters so many times in the past may have been what saved me.

“Gyaaaaaa!”

But things ended poorly for the others who weren’t used to situations like these. The henchmen clawed at their heads as they ran off the edge of the cliff. The sight of them falling off while being burned alive seemed horrifying enough to give me nightmares.

I rolled onto the ground to escape the infernal heat, but I realized there was something wrong with my right arm.

“Ugh, a debuff!”

My arm was still burning, suffering from a temporary negative effect that reduced the power of my sword attacks by half. For a fire-type skill to have a debuff effect, the caster must have been either specialized in fire, or they were simply powerful to begin with.

“Hahaaa! Zip around all you want, but you’re easy to deal with if I know where you’re going, brat!”

I looked up to find his men pointing staves they’d been hiding right at me. Ah, so they’d been hiding the fact that they had sorcerers among them this whole time. That was surprisingly clever of them. I may have taken them too lightly, assuming them to be nothing but a bunch of ragged thugs.

“Still got some fight in ya, huh? Hey, twerp, want me to guess where you’ll appear next? Right here. You’re gonna show up right next to this half-beast brat... Hey, burn him.”

My eyes widened at his words, and I watched as the men turned their staves toward the half-beast.

This was bad. They’d taken control of the situation, and I felt my options becoming more and more limited.

“So this is why he took out his own men to get at me...”

If he’d aimed at the half-beast from the start, I probably would have assumed it was a bluff. But now, he left an impression that he would do whatever it took to get results, even if it meant killing off his own source of income. Furthermore, he had his men aim at the half-beast right away to force me into action with little time to think.

What should I do here? What would he do if I ignored the path he’d laid out for me? It was obvious: He’d show off his brutality by hurting the child just enough to put the boy on the brink of death. He presented the worst possible path for me without losing anything in turn. From there, he’d be able to take his time in making me do as he pleased.

“...Over the Road.”

With a feeling of disgust for the evil before me, I appeared in front of the half-beast. I slid across the stone roof and silently looked up from a kneeling position. The bandit leader looked down on me with a face that seemed slightly surprised by my actions.

His eyes were narrowed, with a smile that resembled that of a snake’s. He was probably debating whether to swallow me whole or play with his food a bit first.

“I already know your ability has a weight limit. If it didn’t, you would’ve run off with that half-beast already. Am I wrong? I’m not, am I?”

“...”

He was right. I couldn’t activate my ability because of its restrictions. Trayn, the Journey’s Guide was one thing, but Over the Road was quite strict when it came to the weight limitation.

Just then, another path was shut out.

The terrified half-beast clutched my clothes with pleading eyes. In that moment, my Over the Road became completely disabled. And since my arm was still burned, the temporary debuff was still in effect. Even if I picked up the boy and jumped off the building, my back would be an open target for their sorcerers. I already knew from experience that those sink or swim options rarely ever ended well.

The bandit leader pointed his broadsword at me. I had a feeling his level was very high, and that he could easily slice off my limbs with just a flick of his wrist.

“Haha, you finally give up, kid? Throw down your sword. Now.”

“Sure. Here you go.”

I tossed it aside without hesitation. The man’s gaze was drawn to my sword, which spun in the air as it slowly fell.

I wondered if he considered why I’d given up so easily. Or maybe he was so excited for what was to come, he didn’t even think about it.

If the weight limit was the problem, that was all I had to do...

Discard my sword and take the child instead.

That put me barely under the weight limit, allowing me to escape to the empty space in the building on the other side. With this much weight, that was probably the furthest I could go.

“Hold on tight!” I shouted, then regretted it right away.

In the next moment, I saw there were twenty meters between me and the ground below, and the sheer distance made sweat bead out of my every pore. I was free of gravity for a split second, and then the scenery blurred as I was put into a state of free fall. I screamed, and I felt sorry for the half-beast clutching onto me because I couldn’t activate Over the Road at the moment. One of the requirements to activate it was to have both feet on the ground, so that was out of the question. All I could do then was to clutch the child in my arms and brace for impact.

“Aaahhh, damn it! My Magic Stone! What are you waiting for? Go get ‘em!”

I heard the bandit leader shouting, and I was then was met with a sudden, violent impact. My body had been slammed against the sandy ground, and I felt my life draining away. But at the same time, I could hardly see with the cloud of sand being blown into the air. I was too numb to move, but I knew I had to get up and out of there right away. Even though I’d greatly reduced their numbers, the enemy could still shoot at me from far away.

As I balled up a fist in the sand and managed to sit up, I found the child clutching my chest and trembling.

“Wah?!”

“Ah, I’m glad you’re all right... but we need to get out of here, quick...”

I was relieved to see him unharmed and got up unsteadily.

But as if to laugh at my efforts, a shadow loomed over the both of us. I knew it was the monster without even looking up, and I couldn’t help but voice my marvel before the fear set in.

“Wow... So big...” I had to crane my neck just to look at it.

Countless eyes stared at me as it turned its terrifying face in my direction. Tentacles were writhing in what seemed to be its mouth. I barely managed to stay conscious as the monster breathed on me, its breath blazing hot, and it kicked more sand into the air.

Despite the horrific sight before me, the sky was a clear, dreamy blue...

This was bad. I couldn’t afford to die there, and I couldn’t use my long-distance mobility skill to escape with the child, considering Marie was still in the oasis.

Grk, grrrk... Grrrark...

But nothing seemed to happen, and I tilted my head in confusion. I’d expected to be engulfed in a fiery blast of boiling sand like before. Either that, or I thought it’d crush me with its enormous body.

We stared at it dubiously, but the monster slowly extended its tentacles toward us. There was no hostility in its movement, and it almost seemed like it was looking for something.

I realized the monster had first appeared because of the magic catalyst the child was holding. Then I remembered the bandits shouting about the Magic Stone. The half-beast still clutched it tightly against his stomach even through the fall.

“Don’t tell me that’s the Magic Stone? I heard it disappeared a long time ago.”

The child in my arms looked up to me in response. I couldn’t see his expression under the hood, but his repeatedly blinking eyes were clear like marbles.

“I’ve heard of this story. My ancestors dug it up, and the ancient monster that came after them destroyed Ujah Peak.”

I looked back up toward the monster stretching its tentacles toward us. I didn’t know how important this item was, but that monster had been searching for it for two hundred years.

Just then, my vision was filled with a warm light. I looked down to find the bluish-white light was coming from the Magic Stone. It filled its surroundings with a glittering glow, and I couldn’t help but stare, despite the situation we were in. There was a mysterious warmth to the illumination, and I heard something like a heartbeat, full of life.

The half-beast looked up to me with eyes that seemed to request permission for something. It seemed he wanted to return the Magic Stone, which was the origin of this tragedy.

“...Don’t mind me. You can do as you want.”

He nodded, then lifted the Magic Stone up with both hands.

“I’m sorry for calling you all this time. I will now return the Magic Stone passed down from my ancestors.”

The monster began moving even slower as it saw the stone brimming with shimmering energy. Finally, its tentacles wrapped around the stone, as if it had finally found what it was looking for.

Grrrk!

As it cried again, it almost seemed like it was trembling in joy. The monster let out a roar, then shook its massive body as it sank back into the sand.

The land rumbled, and sand blew about, forming a sandstorm. I held the child against me, and we stayed low until the rumbling died down.

When things calmed down again, the air was filled with complete silence. We slowly rose to our feet, and a surprising sight filled our vision. Despite my exhausted state, my eyes widened as I saw the giant hole left before us.

“Could that be... an underground labyrinth?!”

The giant hole was so deep that we couldn’t see the bottom, and the path that seemed to be a walkway spiraled lower and lower into the ground. The unmistakable feeling in the air was exactly like that of an underground labyrinth.

What... just happened?

Did giving the Magic Stone to the monster reveal a completely unknown underground labyrinth? I’d never seen or heard of such a thing before.

We stood there blankly, and the air coming up from the hole felt like the breath of ancient times. It also reminded me of something...

The catastrophe that had occurred ages ago.

“So this is the reason Ujah Peak was destroyed... Seeking the Magic Stone eventually lead to the forbidden underground labyrinth.”

The child looked up to me in response to my comment. His animal-like eyes were round and filled with surprise and a faint sense of hope.

Nobody knew why, but the fact remained that an underground labyrinth had appeared. If we were to traverse through this labyrinth, we may have been able to uncover the mystery of both the Magic Stone and this city’s forgotten past.

A shiver went down my spine as I thought about the undiscovered world, when I finally noticed two things. The first one being that those dirty bandits were still coming right for us. The second thing was that Marie had deactivated her Luminous Veil and was also coming toward us.

“Huff... huff... What was that? I heard a loud noise...”

“Hmm... I’ll explain later. I’d like to get away from those bandits as soon as possible. Agreed?” I asked the profusely sweating Marie, and her eyes widened as she, too, noticed them. She then told us to get us out of there, and quick. The child was incredibly light, so the three of us wouldn’t be a problem.

“Well then, goodbye, everyone. Trayn, the Journey’s Guide.”

“Aaa—”

Their foul voices rang out as we descended into the world a layer below. This world was unmanaged by man—the domain of the travel god, restricted by no one.

The one thing that was different from usual was that I couldn’t move with someone holding onto me from either side. In any case, it had been a while since I felt relief from entering that world of complete darkness.

And yet, I still had one worry on my mind...

Could an elf and half-beast get along? Elves valued purity, and some of them expressed contempt for those of so-called tainted blood...

Just then, a gentle wind lifted the child’s clothes, flipping off the hood that had covered his face. It revealed two pointed ears and marble-like eyes. His body was completely covered in fur, but Marie immediately raised her voice at the sight.

“Kitty?!”

The child with round eyes was a member of the Neko tribe. Marie’s eyes glimmered at its lovable appearance, and she let out a gleeful “aww!”

He just so happened to be the species she loved most right now. I couldn’t help but feel surprised by the coincidence of their meeting. It seemed my worries were unnecessary, and I was relieved to know the elf would take good care of him.

“Okay, all we have to do now is report those bandits. Let’s go eat something tasty after that.”

Marie held the Neko child in her arms as she agreed to my plan.

That was quite the eventful leveling session, but I was glad we got through it alive. I didn’t think anyone could’ve guessed we’d get attacked by monsters and bandits, find the legendary Magic Stone, and even discover a brand new underground labyrinth.

＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋ ＋

The sandstorm settled, and the teardown of the simple campsite began. The members of the group began pulling out the half-buried cloth and folding it, and each featured a crest on the gear they wore. Sand had gotten on both the inside and outside of their clothes, but they continued moving with unchanging expressions.

Among them was an odd-looking individual. This one was shorter in height than the others, with no crest featured on his equipment. He was clearly not from around these parts, with his black hair and eyes, and it was odd to see him walking alongside the leader of the group at the front.

The leader said to him, “I see... That must have been quite a disaster for the Neko tribe. They are a timid race, so I’m sure that was a terrifying experience.”

“Yes, and the bandits have inhabited the oasis. They must have learned by chance that the stone can summon the beast, and there have been many victims as a result.”

There were over ten people trekking steadily through the sands, each of whom were tasked with protecting the peace. There was some height difference between the adults and children, but, surprisingly, it was a little one who had resolved the recent incident and even discovered a labyrinth.

“So please, protect that Neko clansman as promised.”

“No need to be hasty. I must first check whether the labyrinth is real before we speak of granting any protection.”

If the story of the new labyrinth were true, the position of the Neko tribesman, Mewi, would change dramatically. And if Magic Stones could be excavated again, Mewi’s ability to refine magical catalysts would be incredibly valuable for the country.

But this was nothing more than a report by some unknown boy. It could have been a lie or some sort of mistake, so there was still skepticism in the man’s eyes.

The boy responded to his dismissive tone by lifting the cover over his mouth up to his nose, then proceeded to walk wordlessly. It seemed the boy wasn’t very good at dealing with adults.

This new region was still out of reach for adventurers and guilds. The discovery of a new labyrinth would make the local authority move first, since it was yet unknown whether it would lead to great wealth or immense danger. If there were both wealth and danger, that would be when the Adventurer’s Guild would be appointed to deal with it.

That Neko tribesman, Mewi, had just given the details the day prior. The tendons of his feet had been cut, and he was currently being treated along with an elf girl in the desert country. It was a shame, but it was unlikely he would be able to walk for a while.

Wind howled from the depths of the ground. The giant hole in the corner of the oasis would never be flooded, despite being near a water vein. Its bottom was invisible even in the sunlight, and there was a strange beat to the wind coming from those depths. It was almost like the civilization that was thought to be destroyed long ago was awakening once more.

“It can’t be... No, there’s no mistaking it. It’s an underground labyrinth!”

“How many years has it been since one was discovered here in the country of Arilai? And look, such a high level monster, and it’s only the entrance!”

The group raised their voices in surprise. But even among their excited comments, the boy only knelt and quietly stared at the sandy ground. There were many sets of footprints there, and as his eyes followed them, he found a familiar object.

As expected, it was the sword he’d lost. It was broken in half and seemed to be warning, “This will be you the next time we meet.”

The footprints continued on, leading to the giant hole of the ancient labyrinth. That must have meant...

“Damned bandits... So they finally made their move into the labyrinth,” the boy muttered. It was already expected to be a difficult situation, but now they had to think about how to deal with bandits, as well.

His heart beat loudly, like the drums to ancient music. But the boy looked down the gaping hole, then smiled slightly.