Hi, all!
Since the vote favored filler story, here is the next chapter.
Cliffhanger warning. ;)
[X][X][X]
Ryu and Lily browsed the job board at Adventurer's Guild, they were trying to find a suitable job to pass time while waiting for Ainz to call Ryu back.
"An archaeology team is looking for an escort for their expedition to a newly discovered ruin. Gold Rank, five gold coins"
"Wanna take it, Ryu-san?"
"I don't think so. There's no telling how long the expedition will last"
Ryu's main reason was that Ainz might call him back during the job, and Ryu could guess that he wouldn't wait for him to finish the job, so leaving the job midway was quite likely. Therefore it would be best to avoid any jobs that involved working with other people for extended period of time for now.
Ryu kept combing the posted papers with his eyes, and soon something caught his attention.
"Investigate the contents of a newly discovered cave. Platinum Rank, twenty gold coins"
"Sounds strange if you ask me"
Ryu couldn't help agreeing with Lily. The text on the paper was very short and didn't provide much information. There's not even any information about the location of the cave in question, and why such a seemingly simple task asked for Platinum rank. Ryu got curious, so he took the paper and went to the receptionist lady.
"I might want to take this job, but first I would like to hear more info about this job"
"Please wait in a conference room. A staff will be there shortly"
Ryu and Lily then went to a vacant conference room as instructed. The two of them took a seat and waited for a few minutes until someone entered the room.
To their surprise, it was Pluton Ainzach.
"Good day, Ryu-san and Lily-san. It's nice to see you again"
"The same applies to me, Ainzach-dono"
Ryu stood up and he shook hands with Ainzach. Lily did the same, and then all three of them sat down.
"Let's get to the point. First, the background of this job. Two weeks ago, a group of hunters went missing in a forest. Some scouts were dispatched, but they didn't find anything other than a cave. Therefore, an investigation job on that cave was posted. This job was only Silver rank at first, but unfortunately the group which accepted the job one week ago never returned. Therefore the job has been raised two ranks up"
"In short, this is likely a dangerous mission. Investigation, maybe also search and rescue in addition"
"Exactly, Ryu-san. Depending on what you find the rewards might increase"
"I see"
"I highly recommend working together with another team. It will be a great loss if we lose a capable team such as yours. We already lost a Mithril team thanks to the vampire incident which Sir Momon cleared"
"Is Platinum rank already rare?"
"I told you that you are supposed to be Orichalcum if not for circumstances, didn't I?"
"Oh, right..."
"I won't stop you if you feel confident, but please be careful"
"We will. So, where is this cave?"
"I will arrange a wagon to carry you to the village near the forest. You will arrive there before sunset if everything goes well. You will have to provide the way back yourself, unfortunately"
"Alright then"
With the job decided and accepted, Ryu and Lily arranged their rations before going to ride the assigned wagon. After making sure that they had enough supplies to last at least three days, they went to the back door of the guild building. That entrance was usually supposed to be staff-only, but they had been told to use that door because the wagon would pick them up there.
Indeed, a wagon pulled by two horses arrived there ten minutes later. The driver stopped the wagon right in front of the door and looked at Ryu and Lily.
"Ryu and Lily, I suppose? Get in and sit on any available space"
The two of them went into the wagon, and then their trip began. There was not much space to sit inside the wagon because of the number of stuffs inside. In fact, the remaining space was so small that in order for them to be able to sit down, they had to sit next to each other packed like sardines in a can.
"Sorry about the lack of space. Even I don't have much space here"
The driver said it looking at the stuffs put along with him at the driver seat. The wagon was pretty much overloaded it didn't feel right.
"Is there a reason why the wagon is overloaded like this?"
"I got carried away taking orders without keeping mind of my wagon's capacity"
The driver said it sounding embarrassed. It seemed that he was still a new merchant.
"I just hope that I won't get too cramped to do my job once we arrive"
"Your destination is Padstow Village according to the notes I received. We will stop at a different village halfway to drop some deliveries. You should have more space by then"
"That's reassuring"
The cramped trip continued on for about two hours. It felt so uncomfortable and hot that Ryu tried casting Nabarta, an 'icethrower' photon tech, to act as an air conditioner. Thankfully, casting it without the weapon made the tech weak enough to not freeze the whole wagon.
As the driver had said, the wagon stopped at a village after a total of two and a half hours trip. The driver unloaded the wagon in front of the chief's house after he received payment. Almost half of the stuffs were left there, so indeed afterwards there were much more space inside the wagon.
The trip continued, and this time it was much more comfortable for all three of them. The rest of the trip was uneventful, and as Ainzach had said, they arrived at Padstow Village right before sunset. An old man, seemingly the chief, welcomed the driver.
"Welcome back, Garret"
The man said as Garret, the driver, got off the wagon.
"Nice to see you again. As usual, I will be staying here for two days"
Garret shook hands with the man.
"Your lodging is always ready. By the way, who are these fellows?"
"They are adventurers coming to investigate the cave, according to this note"
"Oh, I see. But... only two?"
Ryu then replied to the question.
"Our team is only the two of us. Is there a concern?"
"The adventurer team before you had six people, but they went missing like the hunters. I don't want to add more casualties if I can help it"
"We will be careful"
"Well, your plate is Platinum so at least I know you're more capable. In any case, you should go there tomorrow since it's getting dark already"
"Is there a place where we can spend the night?"
"Garret, I suppose you don't mind sharing your lodging with them?"
"I was about to offer exactly that"
Garret's answer settled things for Ryu and Lily. He then led the horses into a designated spot nearby, which was a water trough next to a small house. He tethered the horses to a pair of stakes next to the trough, and then he began unloading his stuffs into the house.
"Let me help you unload"
"Sure, I could use some help"
The unloading went smoothly and quickly, especially thanks to Lily being able to carry heavy load casually. The unloading which normally would take half an hour was finished in ten minutes.
"Aaaand done!"
Lily put down the last of the cargo inside the house's storage room.
"Your strength is amazing. How did you get that strong?"
Instead of Lily herself, it was Ryu who covered for her.
"Her armor has some magic enchantments"
It was not a lie because indeed Lily's armor had enchantments from Ainz, but Ryu himself had no idea where her strength came from because she was already strong even before she was given her enchanted armor. Ryu gave that answer because he felt that it was the most sensible answer at the moment. There's no way someone as short as Lily and without significant muscle build could have such physical strength without magical enhancements, right?
"Oh, I see. That would be handy for me. Where I can get something like that?"
"Unfortunately we have no idea. Her armor was a gift from an acquaintance and he didn't tell where he got those"
"That's unfortunate"
Ryu decided to divert the topic before he got inquired further about it.
"By the way, you seem familiar with the chief. Have you known him for a while?"
"Yes, he is a distant relative. Once a month I come here to open up shop for two days"
"What do you sell to them?"
"Clothes, farming tools, food seasoning, and other stuffs. The business goes two ways since I also buy their available harvest to sell in the city"
"Sounds like good business"
"Not as sweet as it sounds. Sometimes sales just don't go as high as expected, or bad weather ruining my stuffs, and other bad things that may happen"
"Like monsters and bandits"
"Exactly! I actually always hire escorts for trips like this, but bringing you two saved me the cost! I'm thankful for that!"
"The gratitude goes both ways. You provided us transport for the job"
The idle chat between the three of them continued for a short while until they decided to call it a day and sleep. The small house only had one bed, but Garret stacked some cloth sheets on the floor to act as a mat, and stuffed clothes into two cloth bags to act as pillows. The end result was comfortable enough to sleep.
"Are you sure you don't want the bed? I don't mind sleeping on the floor"
Garret expressed his concern, but Ryu refused.
"The bed is yours from the beginning. Don't worry, we have slept in the wilderness a few times. This is already comfortable than those times"
"Alright then"
The three of them went to sleep, and nothing happened until the time the sun rose. Garret was definitely the first to wake up, since when Ryu and Lily woke up Garret was not on his bed and they heard some noise outside. The two of them went out to check, and they saw Garret setting up his shop. The sky was still a bit dark at this point.
"Good morning, Garret. As expected of a merchant"
"Good morning, Ryu-san and Lily-san"
"Do you need help?"
"I got this, so don't worry. You have your own job to do, right? Go see the chief. His house is that one"
Garret pointed at a distant house. The house was slightly wider than the houses near it.
"Oh, right. See you later then"
Ryu and Lily went to the house, and when they arrived Ryu knocked on the door. It took less than ten seconds for someone to open the door. It was the old man.
"Ah, you two. I believe you came for the location of the cave, right?"
Ryu nodded, and the man came out from his house.
"Follow me"
Ryu and Lily followed the man to the edge of the village where a small grass plain was located beyond. In a short distance further there was a forest which looked like just an ordinary forest.
"The cave is inside that forest. If you walk straight you will see a small river. Walk along the river against the current, and then cross it once you see a natural bridge made from a large fallen tree. The cave should be visible by then"
"I see. We will be going immediately then"
"Uhh, I'm not questioning your skills, but are you totally sure about going with just two?"
"Yes, rest assured"
"Alright then. Good luck"
The old man then went back to the village. Ryu looked at the forest at the distance, and he felt that he wanted to try something.
"Lily, I want to test something. But this might hurt you a bit"
"I'll bear it, Ryu-san!"
"Are you sure?"
"I will surely bear any pain for you, Ryu-san!"
"Get on my back"
Ryu said that, turning his back to Lily and lowering his body.
"Uhh... what?"
"Get on my back and cling to me"
"Okay..."
Lily was confused, but she did as Ryu told her to. Once she got on his back, Ryu stood up. It was a little difficult because she was pretty heavy, probably because of her armor and weapons.
"Hold on tight"
"Okay!"
"...but not too tight that I can't breathe..."
"Sorry..."
"Alright, here we go"
Ilzonde!
Ryu casted the lightning tech which propelled him forward at high speed. He stopped at the very edge of the forest five seconds later. Lily was still clinging to him.
"Are you alright, Lily? Do you feel hurt somewhere?"
There was no answer.
Don't tell me she fainted.
"Hey, Lily?"
"That was... amazing! What was that, Ryu-san?!"
Lily sounded really excited saying that. In a way, it gave Ryu a relief.
"Tell me first. Are you hurt somewhere?"
"Nope! Not at all!"
"Not even any pain?"
"Just some minor stinging sensation. Nothing else!"
"Alright. Get down then"
After Lily got down, Ryu then looked at the grass plains behind. There were no trails of burned grass at all.
It turns out to be true.
Ryu suspected something from the moment he tried using Nabarta inside the wagon back then. Using photon techs without wielding his Weddle Park would render Ilzonde weak enough to not cause any significant collateral damage or friendly fire. With his weapon wielded, Ryu's control was still sufficient to adjust the covered distance of Ilzonde, but the lightning aura was still very damaging.
Wthout the weapon, Ilzonde became much slower than the fully powered with weapon version, but eliminating the collateral damage and friendly fire almost completely enabled Ryu to use it more often for its utility.
"That was a lightning spell which moves me forward at high speed. I rescued you with it back then, remember?"
"Yeah... vaguely..."
Oh, stupid me!
Ryu just realized that he had just made Lily remember the horrible experience she had with the foxmen. He cursed himself for not being careful with his words.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to make you remember the experience!"
"Huh? What? There's nothing wrong with that. I just couldn't remember that moment clearly. Anyway, that spell was amazing! Can we make use of that more often?"
"Probably not. The lightning aura I emit during the spell might hurt someone else too close"
"Aww..."
"Let's go to the cave"
The two of them went into the forest and walked according to the directions provided by the old man. The directions was accurate in the end, because once they crossed the river the cave was visible a short distance away.
Once they got close to the cave entrance, they stopped to look around. At a glance, the cave itself seemed like just another naturally formed cave, but the size was noticeably larger than the one cave they had entered once during their Copper rank days.
"We have nobody like Saku and Kusa now, so let's prepare the torches"
Back in the guild before their departure, they had also supplied themselves with a few sticks of torches. They also bought some flints to light the torches, but Ryu's recent discovery made things easier.
Foie
A single cast of Foie without his weapon made a small fireball enough to light a torch stick, and just that. There was no oversized fireball which could incinerate tens of undeads or burn down a forest.
With the torch alight, Ryu used it to light another for Lily.
"Alright, you ready?"
"Ready!"
With everything settled, the two of them entered the cave. Once they got pretty deep inside, their viewing range was limited with only their torches as the source of light. However, so far the cave seemed to be just a normal cave. The rock formation seemed natural, and the cave was tall enough for Ryu to walk without lowering his body.
"Keep your eyes open. Remember that adventurers have gone missing in this cave"
"Yes, Ryu-san"
The two of them kept advancing slowly, being careful with possible traps within the cave. Eventually, the cave branched into two separate paths.
"What are we going to do, Ryu-san?"
"One thing for sure: separating is the worst idea"
"Fully agree!"
"Lily, draw an arrow on the ground pointing to the way back"
With her sword, Lily slashed the ground three times, creating a figure of an arrow pointing right where they had come from.
"Let's head... left"
The two of them advanced to the left, hoping that there would be no more branches. Soon, what they saw was a dead end. Just a rock wall with nothing special. However...
"The ground near the dead end seems off"
"Yes, Ryu-san. It seems something was recently buried there"
"Let's dig it up"
Ryu and Lily began digging the ground to see what had been buried there. Because they had no shovel, they had to make do with Lily's swords. Lily was of course the one digging faster thanks to her strength.
Clink!
"I think I hit something"
"Let's continue digging slowly with hand"
The two of them continued digging with their hands. It took a minute until they saw an object which looked like a part of a leather armor. At this point both of them had a really bad feeling.
And their hunch was true.
Further digging revealed that it was a corpse of an adventurer. The flesh had completely decomposed, leaving only a skeleton under the armor. Further deeper into the hole they just dug, some other equipment and skeleton parts could be seen, telling that the one they just found was not the only one.
"This is strange"
"Why, Ryu-san?"
"If these are the adventurers missing from one week ago, the body should have not become a skeleton yet. It normally takes at least one month for a body to lose all flesh"
At least that was how things worked back in Ryu's place. This world had true magic, so things might worked differently.
"Now that you mention it, yes indeed it is strange"
"No need to dig further. We now know that something dangerous is inside this cave"
"So what are we going to do now?"
"Let's proceed to the other way with caution"
The two of them went back to the fork. The arrow mark was still there pointing to the way they had come from. They went into the remaining path carefully with Lily covering the front and Ryu keeping watch at the back.
Suddenly...
"Waah!"
Lily fell down into the ground and disappeared, as if there was a deep hole there.
"Lily!"
Ryu quickly ran towards the spot where Lily disappeared. There seemed to be nothing strange there. No holes or trap mechanism or such was visible. Ryu tried probing his free hand to the ground.
And it went through.
His hand went through the ground as if the solid ground he saw was not there.
"Illusion magic?"
Without much thinking, Ryu stood up and jumped into the false ground. No matter what lied beyond the trap, he had to save Lily. That was what went in his mind.
Inside the false ground was a steep slide. The sliding experience lasted for less than ten seconds at breakneck speed, and in the end Ryu found himself in a a large space within the cave. The space was a roughly circular dome about a hundred meters diameter and ten meters tall. Strangely, the space was well-lit so Ryu could clearly see everything. But other than the hole where he had come from, there was nothing else in sight.
"Lily! Are you there?!"
Ryu shouted, calling Lily. There was no answer, but suddenly something appeared out of thin air.
It was a red energy vortex, seemingly a portal. The vortex was about five meters tall.
The vortex disappeared as quickly as it appeared, and once it disappeared something was left in its place.
It was a humanoid creature, seemingly armored with stone-like material. The creature was about four meters tall, and its armor was of dark color with several stripes of red. It was carrying a huge curved sword almost as big as itself.
Ryu couldn't believe what he saw in front of his eyes.
There was no mistaking it.
The creature was definitely something he had known for a long time.
It was Hunar, the humanoid form of a Dark Falz.
