Chapter 207

There’s Space Behind the Pillar (1)

Fortunately, we didn’t end up having to fight a fierce battle against the guardian.

Just as different materials possessed different properties, the guardians also seemed to have different personalities.

While the orichalcum guardian had reacted aggressively to mana, the earth guardian showed no particular reaction.

It simply rose from the ground, stared intently at us, and then moved elsewhere. That was the end of it.

"Phew."

I breathed a sigh of relief as I watched the earth guardian leave.

In terms of fighting strength, our side actually had a considerable advantage.

Ludwig went without saying, and I had experience fighting a guardian as well.

Still, there was no reason to waste our strength, and a battle might inadvertently provoke the other beings in the surrounding area.

Besides, despite the fact that we had disturbed it first, it had simply left without making a fuss. It seemed to have a fairly mild temperament.

"...Let’s get going."

"Mm."

With the situation resolved, we resumed our journey.

This incident taught me not to touch anything shiny carelessly.

Especially if it was buried in the ground.

I headed toward the orichalcum cave, gathering medicinal herbs along the way.

A few beasts appeared as we advanced, but they immediately fled.

’We have a much larger group, after all.’

It had long been said that there was strength in numbers.

Moreover, most of our group members were quite formidable, so the beasts probably didn’t even want to approach us.

"Kyuooo! Kyu! Kyu!"

"Screeech!"

"Oh, come on, you two."

Except for the two weakest members of the group, of course.

I barely managed to break up the fight between the two over a rabbit they had just caught.

From the looks of things, they had caught the rabbit as it was fleeing, but there would be no end to it if they fought like this every time.

"If you fight again, neither of you gets a snack. Got it?"

"Kyuooo..."

"Piiing..."

After making them reconcile, we resumed our journey toward the orichalcum cave.

Perhaps it was because we had applied insect repellent, or perhaps because winter was approaching, but we weren’t troubled by insects.

’Come to think of it, wasn’t this the chickens’ territory?’

I glanced around. If I remembered correctly, this place belonged to the black chickens.

They were almost as tall as Largo.

I remembered Wonmo encountering them during his strange little adventure, leading to all sorts of trouble.

’There aren’t any signs of them. Did something happen?’

"Kyuoo."

"$%’#?"

Or perhaps they were simply preparing for the approaching winter.

In that case, I figured there was no need to go looking for them.

—Cock-a-doodle-doo!!!

Just then, a rooster’s crow echoed throughout the entire forest, as though warning us not to come any closer.

It seemed they had an uncanny ability to detect intruders entering their territory.

"Kyuoo!!!"

Upon hearing the cry, Wonmo came scurrying over to me.

He clung tightly to my leg, apparently still terrified by what had happened back then.

Well, he had been surrounded by chicks much larger than himself, so his reaction was understandable.

I probably would’ve pissed myself too if I’d been surrounded by chickens.

"It’s okay. It’s okay. There’s no one around."

"Kyuoo..."

Seeing Wonmo whimper, Ludwig tilted his head and asked me a question.

He must have realized that something had happened here after seeing Wonmo react to the rooster’s crow.

"Yes. Wonmo had a rough time with the chicks."

"Chi... cks?"

"You know, the little ones that go cheep, cheep."

When I imitated the sound of chicks chirping, Ludwig seemed to understand and nodded.

I continued onward while patting the trembling Wonmo on the back.

Tyranno watched us with a strange expression, but I ignored him.

"This is the place."

"Hmm."

After some time, we arrived at the orichalcum cave.

Ludwig carefully examined the cave entrance, which appeared perfectly ordinary from the outside.

Meanwhile, I took out the Light crystal orb I had received from King Leor.

Light might come from my eyes, but there was still nothing better than this for exploring a cave.

Besides, there was no guarantee that light would shine from my eyes every time I entered a dark place.

Maybe it only happened at night rather than simply in darkness. I needed to test it.

Flash!

After I tapped the Light crystal orb a few times, it began emitting light.

The crystal orb then floated gently into the air.

I could faintly hear Ludwig exclaim in admiration behind me.

King Leor had previously told me that it was quite an expensive item.

"All right. Let’s go."

"Mm."

"We’re leaving Largo here, right?"

We left Largo outside the cave due to his size.

One might wonder whether he would run away, but Ludwig didn’t seem concerned about that.

Still, just to be safe, I should have a set of reins made for him later. The dwarf would probably make them for me.

Now that all our preparations were complete, I entered the cave with the crystal orb floating above me.

Flash!

"Kyuoo! Kyuoo!"

"Screeech!"

The moment I set foot inside the pitch-dark cave, light burst from my eyes.

The beams moved wherever I looked. It was truly bizarre.

At least my eyes didn’t hurt. That was some consolation.

If they had hurt, I would have done everything in my power to learn how to control it.

’There might be animals that are sensitive to light.’

Caves were naturally extremely dark.

Consequently, many cave-dwelling animals either had poor eyesight or eyes that had completely degenerated.

Well, this was a fantasy world, so there might also be animals whose vision had developed to an extraordinary degree.

Besides, there was no guarantee that light would shine from my eyes every time I entered a dark place.

Maybe it only happened at night rather than simply in darkness. I needed to test it.

Flash!

After I tapped the Light crystal orb a few times, it began emitting light.

The crystal orb then floated gently into the air.

I could faintly hear Ludwig exclaim in admiration behind me.

King Leor had previously told me that it was quite an expensive item.

"All right. Let’s go."

"Mm."

"We’re leaving Largo here, right?"

We left Largo outside the cave due to his size.

One might wonder whether he would run away, but Ludwig didn’t seem concerned about that.

Still, just to be safe, I should have a set of reins made for him later. The dwarf would probably make them for me.

Now that all our preparations were complete, I entered the cave with the crystal orb floating above me.

Flash!

"Kyuoo! Kyuoo!"

"Screeech!"

The moment I set foot inside the pitch-dark cave, light burst from my eyes.

The beams moved wherever I looked. It was truly bizarre.

At least my eyes didn’t hurt. That was some consolation.

If they had hurt, I would have done everything in my power to learn how to control it.

’There might be animals that are sensitive to light.’

Caves were naturally extremely dark.

Consequently, many cave-dwelling animals either had poor eyesight or eyes that had completely degenerated.

Well, this was a fantasy world, so there might also be animals whose vision had developed to an extraordinary degree.

Even so, that wouldn’t change the fact that they would be sensitive to light.

"Let’s head down this way."

The rope I had installed previously was still there.

It wasn’t a sheer descent, and there were places to plant one’s feet along the way.

I had only installed the rope because the slope could be dangerous.

"Kyuoo. Kyu."

"Pii. Pii."

True to their small size, Wonmo and Tyranno hopped their way down.

Ludwig, Kkobong, and I slowly descended while holding on to the rope.

If any of us slipped here, there was a good chance we would be seriously injured.

"Heave-ho."

It had been a long time since I last visited the orichalcum cave.

It was still as dark and gloomy as ever.

The guardian had already been defeated, but just in case, we planned to avoid using mana as much as possible.

"$%$..."

"This is all orichalcum. Take a look."

I gave Ludwig a brief explanation as he took in the orichalcum cave for the first time.

The entire cave was made of orichalcum, and he was free to take some if he wanted.

However, he needed to be careful about using mana. There was no telling what might emerge.

"Crunch! Crunch! Munch! Munch!"

"Kyuoo..."

Just as he had happily eaten mithril last time, Tyranno began eating the orichalcum.

The highlight was Wonmo staring at him as though he couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing.

To Tyranno, it probably felt as though delicious snacks were scattered everywhere.

"I don’t see anything glowing."

Orichalcum was sensitive to mana but contained almost no energy of its own.

It seemed that only orichalcum saturated with mana glittered like gold dust.

’We’ll just look around and leave... Hm?’

Sparkle! Sparkle!

Having completed my experiment, I had been about to leave when I noticed something glittering behind an orichalcum pillar.

It was even much larger than the core that had been buried underground.

It was shining that brightly despite being surrounded on all sides by mana-absorbing orichalcum?

There was a high probability that it contained a terrifying amount of mana.

’Hmm... Maybe we shouldn’t go over there.’

Curiosity killed the cat.

Considering the circumstances, approaching it would be dangerous.

Hadn’t we nearly landed ourselves in serious trouble just moments ago by disturbing a guardian?

Still, I couldn’t ignore the glimmer behind the pillar.

It would be best to gather everyone’s opinions first. I called out to Ludwig, who was examining a stone.

"Mister, take a look over there for a moment."

"Hmm?"

"There’s something over there. Should we go?"

Perfect communication was still difficult, but he could understand me to some degree when I used hand gestures.

When I pointed in that direction, Ludwig turned his head toward it.

Once he realized that something was there, he paused to consider it.

I intended to decide whether to approach it after hearing his opinion.

"@#."

Eventually, Ludwig nodded and spoke in a tone that suggested we should go.

When I asked whether it would be dangerous, he replied,

"Know. Not know. Difference. Big."

There was a big difference between proceeding while aware of the danger and proceeding without knowing about it.

That seemed to be the gist of what he meant. His tone conveyed as much.

My eyes widened at how much Ludwig’s Korean had improved in such a short time.

Were most of the people and animals here simply gifted with languages?

When I asked him about that as well, he shrugged. Apparently, he didn’t know either.

’Could it be the influence of the Forest of Four Seasons?’

Perhaps those who were barely affected physically became more intelligent instead.

It was only a hypothesis, but it wasn’t entirely ridiculous.

After all, I was already evolving into a superhuman myself.

This might be something I needed to watch out for in the future. Once I had finished preparing, I moved forward.

’There’s a space behind this pillar...’

There really was.

It had been concealed so cleverly that I had never noticed it before.

I also hadn’t examined the place thoroughly since every surface around me was covered in orichalcum.

The orichalcum was so valuable that I hadn’t felt any need to explore farther, and its splendid appearance had captured all my attention.

’Just in case, I should have the others stay back.’

I took the lead with my sword and shield in hand, while Ludwig stood directly behind me.

Kkobong would protect Wonmo and Tyranno. This was the best formation.

We then rounded the dark pillar and slowly peered ahead.

The space behind it was surprisingly large. I had no idea a place like this existed.

"...A chest?"

"..."

There was even a lone chest sitting there.

Perhaps it was the object I had detected, because it glittered so brightly that it made my eyes ache slightly.

Why in the world was there a chest here?

Just as the question crossed my mind—

"Mimic."

"What?"

"Mimic."

Ludwig deduced the chest’s true identity in a slightly tense voice.

A mimic. It was a name I had heard before as well.

A monster that disguised itself as a treasure chest to deceive anyone who approached it.

Come to think of it, the very fact that a chest was sitting alone inside an orichalcum cave was suspicious.

"What should we do?"

"Hmm..."

Ludwig pondered my question.

Normally, we would have simply ignored it and moved on. However, this was a mimic.

If we killed it, it would surely drop treasure of tremendous value.

There was no telling what kind of treasure it might yield. It could be gold and jewels, or perhaps even a miraculous elixir.

I didn’t particularly need riches, but an elixir would be a different story.

’And that glow doesn’t look ordinary.’

Furthermore, an elixir seemed more likely than gold or jewels.

Ludwig seemed to know this as well, because he nodded gravely.

It was a signal that we should subjugate it. Understanding his intention, I asked him for advice.

"Do you know how to kill a mimic?"

Ludwig nodded at my question.

According to his rough explanation, mimics were generally extremely slow.

Since they were essentially nothing more than lumps of flesh, they apparently moved at a snail’s pace.

Their tongues, however, were unbelievably quick, and people often had their weapons snatched away by them.

Therefore, ranged attacks were essential. I, in particular, could launch ranged attacks using aura.

"So you’re saying I should attack it with aura from a distance?"

"Correct."

"Stay back for a moment."

Now that I knew the strategy, all that remained was to put it into action.

After telling Ludwig and my animal companions to back away, I circulated my mana.

Hummmmm!!!

A pillar of aura rose into the air. Perhaps thanks to Pumpkin Jack’s internal core, the pillar had grown even larger.

I wondered when I would finally be able to use an Aura Blade.

Setting that lament aside, I prodded the mimic like a fencer to provoke it.

To kill it efficiently, it would be better to tear up its insides than to smash the chest itself.

Tap, tap—tap—

"Grrrrrr..."

After I poked the chest several times, an ominous growl emerged from it.

So it really was a mimic.

In that case, I needed to provoke it further. I continued jabbing the mimic.

Perhaps it could no longer endure the irritation, because the mimic finally reacted.

Slaash! Whip!

First, long arms emerged from the slightly open lid.

Then—

Shwoooop!!!

Thick, elongated legs burst from underneath the chest.

Its form resembled the mushroom people I had seen a few weeks earlier.

As I stared speechlessly at the sight, a huge tongue slid out of the chest.

As an added bonus, its gaping opening was lined with razor-sharp teeth.

"ROOOOOAAAR!!!"

"..."

The creature sprayed filthy saliva everywhere as it roared.

The rest of the group was safely behind me, but I took the entire spray directly to the face.

"...Mister."

"Do mimics normally have legs?"

Before Ludwig could answer my question—

"ROOOOOAAAR!!!"

The mimic, now sporting two arms and two legs, began crawling toward us like a wild beast.

Contrary to what I had been told about mimics being painfully slow, it charged at us with terrifying speed that rivaled a cheetah’s.

"AAAAAAARGH!!!"

"Huhuhuhuhuh!"

"KYUAAAAARGH!!!"

"SCREEEEEECH!!!"

For now, we ran.

Meanwhile, while the group was struggling inside the orichalcum cave—

"Cheep! Cheep!"

"Cheep! Cheep!"

"Cheeeep! Cheep!"

Outside the cave, Largo had been surrounded by chicks.