Day 60: A Strange Sound
Holy Era 6102, Month of the Water Serpent, 12th day.
Weather: Unknown

It was now the fourth day since we entered the abandoned mines. I was starting to feel exhausted.
And I could tell at a glance that Rai was tired as well… But hang in there a little longer, alright?
It was actually impressive how well he was doing in this situation.
Normally, it would not have been strange for him to cry and scream.
And so for Rai’s sake as well, I needed to get us out safely no matter what!!

While feeling concerned about Rai, who walked with heavy footsteps, I checked the map.
I now had a good idea of what the symbols meant.
However, my conclusion was that it would be best to avoid the places with the markings.
I had checked a few more after that, but the risk was too high.
In that case, it was significantly safer to avoid them altogether.

Because of this, we were going down the passages without markings. This meant walking more than double the distance of the shortest route.
That was one of the reasons that Rai and I were more tired.
Another reason was that it was simply quite difficult to rest… While Rai was able to sleep, even if only for a short while, I have barely been able to sleep at all.
After all, I could not leave watch duties to him… Ah…I was starting to feel faint…

But I repressed a yawn and started walking again.
If we continued to walk in this direction, we should be able to see the stairs that lead to the fifth floor.
…I want to meet some Kobolds… It would make things so much easier if I could ask them to guide us.

As I thought about such things, I saw a shadow moving up ahead… Surely, it wasn’t a Kobold?
Just in case, I had Rai hide behind my back, and while relying on the weak light, I squinted.
Clink, clink. Echoed the strange noise. And then what appeared, was a human skeleton with a spear…

…Wait, they are skeletons!?

I could tell that Rai was shrinking back in terror as he stood behind me.
Skeletons were usually armed, as they used to be humans.
When corpses are left in places with dense mana, such as dungeons, they usually turn into zombies. And once there are only bones left, they turn into skeletons… In other words, they are what remains of Adventurers who failed during exploration.
I had heard rumors about them, but they made quite an impact when seeing them with your own eyes.
The dark pits of their eyes seemed to be filled with hatred, which struck fear into the hearts of their prey.

…I wanted to run away, but we could not advance without a fight.
And so I held swords in both hands and went into a battle stance… Young Rai, you hide behind the rocks over there.
I had heard that you needed holy water when battling skeletons… Oh, well.
As I waited to see how it would attack, it held up its spear and started to charge at me.
Of course! We were in a narrow passage, so you would attack like that with a long spear!!

I dodged to the left, and making use of its momentum as well, I slashed at its right leg and right arm as it passed me by. However…
My blades bounced off with the sound of metal hitting metal… It was hard… But I saw a crack appear in the bones!!

I put one short sword away and held the other up as the skeleton turned to face me again. This time, I slashed at both the skeleton and the spear…
My hand went numb at the impact. However, I had put all my weight behind the attack, and it managed to go through my opponent.
At the same time, the mana crystal in its heart shattered, and with a clinking sound, the skeleton collapsed.

…It wasn’t that hard after all. Now, young Raig, let us hurry on.

…But he was just staring at me and would not move. And so I pulled his hand and we started walking once again.

Today’s earnings and expenses:
(Mana crystal(small) x1(Shattered)
————————–
Balance: 47 silver, 71 bronze
Unconverted: Various ore

ε=(￣｡￣;) Phew …We still have a long road ahead.

Next Chapter

Senpai boukenshasan ga tasukete kureru no de kitto daijoubu nano desu! Shinmai boukensha no nikki-chou