Chapter 148 – We entered the Underground Palace!

“So, this is the palace…”

The building itself was quite massive, but it was a little lacking in terms of splendor.
It was made of white marble stone, and looked more like a temple.

Especially compared to our palace on the surface… Well, perhaps any building would look plain after seeing a building decorated with statues of Mappa.

Besides, being underground would mean they had limited resources. Perhaps Shiel and the others had to practice simplicity and frugality.
After all, these were the people who had gone to the extent of sending their souls into the bodies of slimes…

But then again, they were also making mass amounts of wine.
Had they wanted to drink wine even when they turned into slimes?

Ashton said,

“Coppa has already entered this palace several times. But it is our first time entering it.”
“I hadn’t gone inside yet either. Shiel. You said there was nothing left inside, right?”

Shiel nodded with her whole body.

According to Shiel, this place had often been used as a gathering hall and for meetings.
Not only was there no treasure, but there was hardly any furniture.

“Perhaps something is living here in secret… We should be careful.”

And so we climbed up the stairs to the palace.

The first thing we saw upon entering was a huge hall.
There were only a few slimes scattered inside, but it was very quiet.

“It’s kind of sad when buildings are this empty…”
“Yes. This would be such a beautiful banqueting hall if decorated… That being said, it will also be easier to sniff things out like this.”

Haines said as he moved his nose around and sniffed the air.

Ashton and Ril did the same.

However, they all scowled.

“This…it’s just Coppa’s smell…”

Haines said with an expression of disgust.

And while Ashton and Ril were more polite, it was clear that they did not feel well.

As a human, I couldn’t really detect it. But it seemed like it was a horrible stench to them… Coppa never took baths, after all.

After some time, Haines’s shoulders fell in disappointment.

“No. It’s no use. The smell is so strong that it overwhelms everything…”
“…I’ll have to ask Mappa to give Coppa a bath next time.”
“Please do… However, the slimes here seem a little different.”

Haines said as he watched Shiel talk to the slimes.

After communicating with the slimes in the great hall, Shiel turned to us and shook her body horizontally.

“It looks like there is no one here… I guess we should go somewhere else then.”
“There is a hallway in the back. There should be more rooms there.”

Ashton said. And so we moved towards the back of the great hall.

“There, huh… Okay, let’s go.”

And so we cut through the great hall and walked towards the hallway.

But that’s when it happened.

Suddenly, something jumped down towards us from the ceiling.

When I looked up…

“A Chimera!? …No, what is that!?”

I immediately cast Shield.

The Chimera bounced off of it, but quickly regained its posture.

However, there was something strange about it. There was no sound of impact when it landed. It was like a…

“A gh-ghost!? What!?”

It definitely had the shape of a Chimera.
But to me, the body seemed to be made of a black mist instead of flesh and bone.
As for its magic energy, it was very weak.

Undead…a ghost?

Perhaps it had lost its body, but some art or hatred had caused its soul to remain like this. The magic that Oren had used on this island was an example of that.

That meant that holy magic would be effective on it. However, it didn’t seem all that aggressive…huh?

“What? It-it disappeared!?”

Haines looked around frantically.

Apparently the Chimera ghost had vanished.

“A-are you serious… Hey, brother. Did you smell anything? He-hey! Brother?”

Haines shouted at him, but Ashton did not reply.

Ashton’s mouth was wide open and he was shivering.

It was no surprise.
I had felt a chill run down my back. Ril and Mel were also shaking.

But then again, Ashton was always so calm, so it was a little surprising.

“I-I’m sorry, Master Heal. My brother is weak to these kinds of things.”
“Uh, no. I was scared too… It can’t be helped.”
“Of-of course. Now brother, let’s go.”

But Ashton shook his head without saying a word.

“Brother! Why are you so scared! Do you want to go home alone?!”

Ashton was silent.

“Pathetic! Are you really a warrior of the Tibris tribe? Were you once feared as Thunder Wind Ash!? Princess, please say something to him!”

However, Ril and Mel were hugging each other and shaking violently.

“Y-you too… Everyone. What happened to your fiery spirits from a moment ago?”
“No-now, Haines. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. I’ll go in the lead. In any case, I’m the only one here that can use Shield.”
“I feel so ashamed…”

And so we continued to walk through the eerie palace.

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