Chapter 17: The Long Road to the Imperial Capital – 34
The next day, as planned, I set out for the mining town with Freinir and Mariane.
Geshura expressed her desire to continue crafting magical tools, so she decided to stay secluded in the log cabin for a while. Just in case any other members of the Kin of Twilight caught wind of our information, we moved the log cabin to a location out of sight from the main road.
Miss Dorozitte also remained in the Dwarf Village, coordinating with the headquarters at the Adventurers’ Guild.
When I asked if it was really okay for the guild’s top brass to be so carefree, she replied with a laugh, “The one truly managing the guild is the Submaster, so it’s fine. I’m more like a figurehead in my current position.”
However, upon hearing that answer, Mariane let out a deep sigh.
By the time we arrived at the mining town in the early afternoon, we spotted Karma and the others entering the Adventurers’ Guild. I wasn’t overly worried, but seeing all five of them looking lively eased my mind a bit.
“Karma, how’s it going?” I called out.
“Oh, if it isn’t Soushi! We’re doing quite well here, and it’s turning out to be great training. There are plenty of tough monsters, so my ‘Slash’ and ‘Penetration’ skills are leveling up nicely. The materials we gather are abundant, but they’re heavy. I come to sell them to the guild twice a day.”
Even with an Item Box, Sakurahime couldn’t carry as much weight as I could. With Larni’s God of Plague and Karma’s Synergy, the number of materials dropped must be considerable.
“By the way, did everything go well on your end?” Karma asked.
“Yeah, the Kin of Twilight showed up yesterday, and we managed to defeat them. It seems they were of the same species as the ones from before.”
“I wasn’t worried at all, but hearing you took them down so easily makes me curious. Did it turn into another celebration?”
“No, while the Village Chief is aware, I asked the Grand Master not to make a big deal out of it this time. The dwarves can’t afford to delay their work any further.”
“That’s true.”
As we chatted, we entered the guild together.
A few dwarf adventurers were resting in the lobby, and upon seeing Karma and the others, they called out, “Oh, it’s the War Goddess! How much did you dig up today?” and “Did you bring back another mountain of mithril? I can’t believe your skills!”
“Impressive! You’ve become quite famous. But what’s this ‘War Goddess’ title? Did you give yourselves a party name?” I asked.
Hearing this, Sfenia approached and answered, “It seems adventurers have naturally started calling us that. We do mention ‘Soul’s Guidance,’ though.”
“A spontaneously generated title, huh? I can understand why they’d call you the War Goddess when they see the five of you together.”
“Hehe, thank you. By the way, did you defeat the Kin of Twilight with your bare hands again?”
“Well, they were unarmed this time. It was the quickest victory we’ve had so far.”
“I would have loved to see that. It’s rare to witness Soushi’s fierce form.”
As Sfenia’s heated gaze fell upon me, a nearby adventurer let out a low whistle and began chatting with his companions.
“With strength like that, it’s no wonder women flock to him. If he weren’t our lifesaver, I’d be jealous.”
“True. If you want to attract women, you might have to take down a member of the Kin of Twilight.”
“Even Princess Marishielle would struggle with that. I never thought someone could surpass that Reirou.”
“I hear this year’s Imperial Capital Martial Arts Tournament is going to be a challenge just to get a seat. I’ve heard the rights to seats are being traded for outrageous prices.”
“That makes sense. But what if the princess loses to a ‘Hero’?”
“Maybe she’ll join that party?”
I caught wind of a rather unsettling conversation.
Noticing Larni grinning, I pretended not to hear and stepped outside the guild.
Karma and the others decided to re-enter the mining dungeon, so Freinir, Mariane, and I joined them.
Although I suggested Karma remain the leader, she declined, saying, “I feel uneasy, so let’s not do that.”
As for the mining dungeon, the interior felt like navigating through hewn rock tunnels.
“Basically, the monsters here all have metallic exteriors. For someone like you, Soushi, a single hit from your mace should take care of them,” Shizuna, the Oni Priestess, remarked, and Sakurahime nodded in agreement.
“While I can handle the Mithril Lizards, I still lack the cutting power for the Mithril Golems. I must admit, I’m in awe of your strength, Soushi.”
“I’ve got strength to spare. By the way, are there any Orichalcum monsters around?”
“They seem to appear deeper inside, but before that, we gather so many materials that we can’t carry them all. We could give up on the ones along the way, but it’s said that iron and mithril have a higher demand.”
“I understand iron, but it’s strange that mithril is in higher demand than Orichalcum.”
Mariane answered my question, “Orichalcum can only be processed by dwarves, and it’s expensive and heavy, so the buyers are limited. In the market, mithril is overwhelmingly more circulated and in higher demand.”
“That makes sense when you put it that way.”
As we continued our conversation, monsters like Metal Lizards and Killer Worms that dropped metallic materials began to spawn in droves.
Shizuna and Sakurahime, with their lower skill levels, took the lead in defeating them, but as usual, the sheer number meant we all ended up fighting together.
“Having you here makes a huge difference. Just as Geshura said, it feels like our strength has increased by about 30%.”
“Your skill is truly remarkable, this ‘Vessel of the Commander.’ However, we mustn’t rely solely on it; we need to train ourselves, or we might find ourselves in trouble.”
As Larni and Sakurahime cut through the horde of monsters, I found myself with little to do, so I focused on collecting the dropped metallic materials into my Item Box.
Inside the dungeon, many other adventurers were also battling monsters and gathering materials. It struck me as a peculiar sensation, realizing this was how mining worked in this world. But I figured I’d get used to it eventually.
As we progressed, the monsters we encountered became stronger, like Mithril Lizards and Mithril Golems, likely close to rank B.
This mining dungeon is unique in that it doesn’t have distinct floors; instead, it features a web of interconnected paths, with increasing difficulty as you go deeper. There is supposedly a boss monster at the very end, but defeating it yields no skills, only rare metals.
When dozens of tough monsters appeared, I had Freinir use Divine Halo to weaken them.
“Freinir’s Divine Light is powerful. The Mithril Golems are falling apart like slimes!”
As Karma swung her Beast King’s Fang, she cleaved several Golems in half. Larni, Sakurahime, and Mariane darted around using Swift Run, dismantling monsters one after another.
I focused on gathering materials, but as I struggled to keep up, I decided to enlist the help of Shizuna’s Spirit, a metal golem.
“This is our first time entering this area as well. Let’s be careful, Soushi.”
“Understood. Caution is necessary.”
I prepared the Immovable Fortress Wall just in case. However, I figured it wouldn’t see much action against mere fodder.