Chapter 208

There’s Space Behind the Pillar (2)

Contrary to what Ludwig had said, the mimic was extremely fast.

Having arms and legs was horrifying enough, but the way it crawled made it look like something straight out of a horror movie.

Even Ludwig seemed to have never seen anything like it before, judging by the dumbfounded laugh he let out.

"Why?! Why are you only chasing me?!"

"ROOOAAAR!"

It didn’t even glance at the others and relentlessly pursued me alone.

Maybe it was because I had disturbed it while it was sleeping, or perhaps because I was the only one overflowing with mana.

It could have been both. I shouted at Ludwig.

"Mister! Do something!"

At first, he had fled alongside me, but once the mimic began chasing only me, he stopped to take a breather.

At my urging, Ludwig stared blankly at the four-limbed mimic.

Then he picked up a chunk of orichalcum from the ground and hurled it.

Thud!

The orichalcum Ludwig threw struck the mimic’s leg.

The impact caused it to lose its balance and stagger.

This was my chance.

Slash!

While the mimic was stumbling, I spun around and swung my sword horizontally.

As I had mentioned, the mimic was crawling on all fours like a beast.

My horizontal slash neatly severed both of its arms, sending it crashing to the ground.

All that remained was to finish it off. Since that enormous tongue might still snatch me, I used aura for the finishing blow as well.

Stab!

I thrust my aura-clad sword through the slightly open lid.

The mimic’s tongue shot upright as though it had been startled.

Despite its terrifying appearance, I thought it might die easily.

"...Gulp."

"Huh?"

"Gulp. Gulp."

The crazy bastard started gulping down my aura.

It wasn’t absorbing it like the guardian or a sponge, but the sight was still deeply unsettling.

However, thanks to my previous experience, I reacted without hesitation and used cold energy.

Crackle! Crack!

The mimic began freezing from the inside out. The rate at which it devoured my aura gradually slowed.

Eventually, its entire body froze solid, bringing its movements to a complete halt.

"Phew..."

I had been worried that even the cold might not work, but fortunately, that didn’t happen.

Once the others realized that the situation had been resolved, they gathered around one after another.

They all seemed fascinated by the four-limbed mimic and examined it from every angle.

Clatter!

"Kyuaak!"

"Screech!"

Despite being frozen all the way through, the mimic suddenly shook violently.

Apparently, it was still alive. We needed to finish it off properly.

We also needed to find out what had caused the mimic to glow.

To do that, we would have to stab around inside it with actual blades rather than aura.

"Tyranno, can you use your breath?"

"Pii!"

"Mister, you know what to do once the ice melts, right?"

Instead of answering, Ludwig gripped his mithril-orichalcum sword.

With that, all our preparations were complete. I told Kkobong to hold the mimic’s mouth open.

It might go berserk the moment the ice melted, so this was meant to prevent that.

"Tyranno, do it now!"

"Pii!"

Fwoosh!

A small burst of dragon breath erupted from Tyranno’s mouth.

Flames sometimes escaped from his mouth when he played with Wonmo, and seeing that had made me realize something.

Even a hatchling was still a dragon. He should have been capable of using dragon breath from a young age.

Hiss—

As the ice melted, the mimic began writhing more and more.

Fortunately, Kkobong was holding it firmly in place. Otherwise, it would have thrashed around wildly.

"Now!"

Once enough of the ice inside had melted, Ludwig and I thrust our swords into it at my signal.

We didn’t merely stab it. We completely tore up its insides.

"Gueeeeh..."

Only then did the mimic stop moving entirely.

Judging by its tongue hanging limply from its mouth, it was finally dead.

Its unexpected appearance had delayed us somewhat, but the subjugation itself had been relatively easy.

"So what do we do now?"

"#96?"

"Doesn’t it spit everything out on its own?"

I mimed pulling something out of my mouth as I questioned Ludwig.

Wasn’t a mimic supposed to vomit up everything inside it once it died?

Ludwig seemed to understand what I meant and kindly explained it to me.

"#%#$%."

Unlike me, he mimed reaching his hand inside its mouth.

"..."

He was telling me we had to retrieve the treasure ourselves.

I immediately turned toward the mimic.

Its limp tongue was covered in thick, slimy saliva.

The inside of its mouth would undoubtedly be even worse.

Just imagining it made my skin crawl. I turned toward Ludwig.

"...Rock-paper-scissors?"

I discreetly held out my fist as I asked. I had no idea whether rock-paper-scissors existed in this world.

Had Ludwig understood what I wanted?

He stared at me for a moment, then pointed at my eyes.

He had no detection ability, whereas I did.

More importantly, I was the one who had suggested coming here. I should take responsibility for it.

Unable to argue, I eventually decided to retrieve the treasure myself.

Grimacing as hard as I could, I shoved my hand into the mimic’s mouth.

A sticky, unpleasant sensation traveled up my arm, accompanied by the slick touch of the mimic’s tongue.

’Please let it be something good...’

If I pulled out something useless, I would smash it on the spot.

I prayed desperately that I would receive a worthwhile reward for all my "hard work."

After rummaging around for a while, my hand finally closed around something.

The instant I realized I had found an object, I pulled it out without hesitation.

"Heave-ho!"

The moment I yanked it free, the mimic’s saliva splattered across Ludwig’s face.

Let me make one thing clear: it was absolutely not intentional.

It had simply happened that way.

After apologizing to him, I examined the object that had been inside the mimic.

"...What is this? A statue?"

What I had retrieved from the mimic was some kind of statue—and an extraordinarily detailed one at that.

Although it was covered in saliva, its shape remained clearly distinguishable.

This was truly absurd.

Sparkle! Sparkle!

The statue was even glowing. So this really was what I had seen.

The question was, what exactly was this small statue, and why did it contain such tremendous mana?

’First, I should clean off the saliva.’

We had brought water with us, so I decided to wash away the saliva first.

I poured water over the statue and finally got a proper look at it.

The first thing I noticed was its thick suit of armor. Its appearance alone made it obvious that the figure was a knight.

It also had wings on its back and proudly held a massive shield before itself.

A helmet concealed its face, but even the helmet had been carved with exceptional precision.

The wings on its back and the enormous shield gave it an unmistakably extraordinary presence.

"...Cain?"

While I was examining the statue from different angles, Ludwig quietly muttered something.

When I looked at him, I found his eyes wide with surprise.

Judging by his reaction, he seemed to know whom the statue depicted.

"Who did you say it was?"

"Cain."

"Cain?"

When I asked again, Ludwig nodded.

Apparently, the statue depicted someone named Cain.

Naturally, I had no idea who that was. I would have to ask the gallery.

’More importantly, what is this statue that makes it glow so brightly?’

It had been inside an orichalcum cave—and inside a mimic, no less.

It was clearly no ordinary statue. I should take it with me.

I placed the statue inside my spatial backpack and headed out. We had finished everything we needed to do in this cave.

All that remained was to return to the shelter. We didn’t bother taking the mimic with us.

I could purchase a chest through the gallery, and we had already squeezed everything of value out of the mimic.

When we finally emerged from the cave, we encountered an extraordinary scene.

"Cluck, cluck!"

"Cheep! Cheep!"

"..."

There was a chicken—the same one we had encountered before.

Behind it, countless chicks huddled together, chirping noisily.

That alone would have been absurd enough, but there was more.

"Cluck! Cluck, cluck!"

"Grunt."

"Cluck! Cluck-cluck!"

The enormous black chicken was circling Largo as though performing a courtship display.

Largo himself merely wore a sullen expression.

The sight left me utterly dumbfounded.

’Judging by its comb, that chicken is male. Don’t tell me Largo is female?’

They weren’t even the same species.

Did species not matter as long as he found Largo attractive?

That was taking open-mindedness a little too far. I was speechless.

"...Mister."

"Mm."

"Let’s get out of here."

We hurriedly fled.

Fortunately, Largo listened to us better than he did the chicken.

And so, we departed from the orichalcum cave.

"COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!!!"

The chicken’s sorrowful roar echoed throughout the forest.

After returning to the shelter, I began by examining the statue in detail.

Its overall size was similar to that of a model kit or collectible figure.

The craftsmanship was so intricate that it looked as though it might come alive at any moment.

Moreover, it must have spent a very long time inside the mimic’s stomach.

Despite that, it remained perfectly intact, without a single damaged spot.

There was definitely something special about it.

’One thing’s certain: it contains tremendous mana.’

After pondering it briefly, I photographed the statue and uploaded the picture to the gallery.

Ludwig had called it Cain, so someone there would surely know who he was.

Title: Anyone Know Who Cain Is?

Wild Grylls

(Photo of Cain’s statue)

I got this after killing a mimic, and Ludwig says it’s Cain.

Does anyone know who Cain is?

└ Heavenly Demon: What an uncanny statue. It looks as though it might begin moving at any moment.

└ SwordMaster: A mimic? There are mimics in the Forest of Four Seasons too?

└ Wild Grylls: It was inside the orichalcum cave. But are mimics supposed to have arms and legs? This one even crawled around.

└ SwordMaster: I’ve never heard of such a grotesque mimic before...

└ Why would a mimic have arms and legs? Is that even anatomically possible?

└ Maybe it was an adult mimic or something?

└ Adult mimics live in places much larger than mere chests.

└ Where?

└ There have been cases where an entire cave was a mimic. They’re extremely rare, though.

└ Now we won’t even be able to enter caves without worrying, lol.

└ What if the cave Grylls lives in is actually a mimic?

└ Wild Grylls: Don’t say things like that. You’re making me nervous...

└ Starlight Princess: If it’s Cain, wouldn’t that be the first paladin? That’s what I was taught.

└ Wild Grylls: The first paladin?

└ Starlight Princess: Yes. He served as the shield of the goddess Ares. He was a figure who transcended legend and entered the realm of myth.

└ Wild Grylls: Then there must be a lot of statues of him.

└ Starlight Princess: Yes. There should be a statue of Cain in El Dorado’s capital right now.

└ Don’tAbandonTheHero: I’ve read about him too! Lord Cain was also the first person to hold the title of Guardian! The most recent Guardian was Lord Ludwig!

└ But Ludwig is in the Forest of Four Seasons now, right?

└ Then who’s the Guardian right now?

└ No one. That’s why El Dorado has gone to hell.

└ Don’tAbandonTheHero: A new Guardian will appear someday!

To summarize, Cain was the first paladin as well as the first Guardian.

Ludwig had once held the title of El Dorado’s Guardian, so that alone demonstrated the magnitude of his reputation.

’This guy was incredibly important, wasn’t he?’

He had held the same title as someone who had transcended legend and entered the realm of myth.

Then again, El Dorado wouldn’t have been turned upside down by a single revelation if Ludwig hadn’t been someone of that stature.

└ Don’tAbandonTheHero: If you have no use for it, could you give it to me?!

└ Wild Grylls: I’ll have to see. It might be a little dangerous.

└ Don’tAbandonTheHero: Dangerous?! It’s a statue carved in Lord Cain’s likeness! There’s no way it would harm anyone!

└ Wild Grylls: The very fact that it was in the Forest of Four Seasons is suspicious...

└ Don’tAbandonTheHero: Ah! That’s true! Then could you give it to me once you’re sure it’s safe?!

└ Wild Grylls: No. I’m going to sell it.

└ Don’tAbandonTheHero: Don’t do thaaat!!!

└ A statue of that quality would sell for a fortune, lol.

└ It would probably be popular with collectors too.

└ But who made it? I’m starting to wonder.

└ Especially since it was hidden inside an orichalcum cave...

Well, if the opportunity arose, I might give it to the head moderator.

Keeping it here probably wouldn’t help me in any—

"..."

Or would it?

I looked toward Ludwig.

He was currently kneeling reverently before the statue and praying.

I didn’t know what he was praying for, but it was probably something along the lines of asking Cain to protect El Dorado.

"..."

’I should leave it here.’

Faith was essential to the devout, and Ludwig was an exceptionally faithful man.

Furthermore, faith could strengthen one’s resolve, so it would greatly aid his survival as well.

That didn’t mean I intended to pray, though.

I hated the gods because I didn’t want to hate people.

’Hey, your country is a complete mess. How about lending them a hand?’

Still, I could at least say a word for Ludwig’s sake.

Countless people wished for El Dorado to return to normal.

Once Ludwig finished praying, I spoke to him.

"Mister, let’s get to work."

Work still had to be done.

***

Grylls left the cave with Ludwig and all the animals.

It was almost time to prepare their meal, and there were also a few things he needed to inspect carefully.

Consequently, Cain’s statue was left alone inside the cave.

Until then, the statue had shown no reaction whatsoever.

Flicker—

Amazingly, light suddenly shone from the eye slits of its helmet.

Then it began murmuring something.

"...the call..."

"...shall..."

"...answer..."

Click—

The moment the statue finished speaking, the light vanished.