By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 2 - Chapter 4

Chapter 2 Episode 4: Abandoned Mine Investigation

“Everyone ready?”

““Yes!””

We immediately got to work investigating once we arrived at our destination. Right now, we were in front of the entrance of one of the mineshafts. However, the ground was covered in tall grass and the exposed rock around the mineshaft was covered in crawling ivy... It must have been a long time since any humans were here.

Eliaria entered the mineshaft with the four usual escorts. The other escorts had come along as well, but they were apparently going to hunt monsters down a different shaft to us.

Furthermore, Reinhart and Elise were going to investigate as a pair, while Reinbach would be on his own.

When I asked if that was all right, Jill answered.

“Don’t worry. The three of them used to travel as adventurers. Lord Reinbach has even received medals for his service in the squabbles of neighboring kingdoms. Monsters lurking in an abandoned mine so close to town won’t even scratch him.”

“They don’t actually need us to escort them. The three of them like walking where they want to go and prefer to look after themselves. They have everything they need if Sebas is with them. We didn’t follow them into town, yeah?”

“Unlike most high nobility, the young miss’s family doesn’t like exaggerated formalities. They’ll hire brazen fellows like us as long as we’re capable of working, and tell us to talk to them normally if we’re not in public or before other nobles.”

Apparently, the three of them were fairly strong at swords or magic too. I could understand that, but was that really fine? Yeah, I guess it must be.

“We’ll do our best too, Ryoma!”

Eliaria usually wore a simple dress made of fabric that even I could tell was high quality, but she was in a shirt and pants today for easier movement. She had what was probably monster leather armor on top of that, and was brimming with motivation.

Did her nerves ease a little?

As we were talking, I noticed Elise waving at us from the entrance of another shaft a distance away. Did Eliaria’s voice reach her? After we returned her wave, she gave one more big wave before entering the mineshaft with Reinhart.

Once we saw her off, we also headed inside the mine. Zeph led the way, followed by Jill and Hughes, then Eliaria and I. Camil and my slimes brought up the rear.

We formed a line and walked, but the inside of the shaft was dark. A dozen or so steps in from the entrance and the whole area near the entrance was dark.

“Tch, looks like there aren’t any shaft lamps after all.”

“Maybe they took them all to use in the east mines?”

“They should have kept them installed until the mine was officially declared abandoned... but based on how it looked outside, the management had been sloppy. If they reused the facilities from here, they’d be able to keep down costs of the east mines for a bit.”

“And then they pocketed the extra cash, I see.”

“That’s the logical conclusion...”

“No matter the truth, it is easy to suspect them. Such is the fate of someone who has betrayed the trust of another. Please be careful, young miss. Light.”

Jill wrapped up the conversation and casted a ball of light with basic light magic.

The ball of light hovered above our heads and lit the mineshaft. It didn’t reach all the way to the back, but it was enough to see around us.

“Young miss, young master. Please watch where you step. While there won’t be any here for obvious reasons, labyrinths and the like can have traps. Spotting them is the role of scouts like me. Today is just a practice, but you must always take care not to step out in front of us.”

“Okay!”

“Got it.”

We continued walking until something came into view in front of us, at which point Zeph ordered us to stop. I took a closer look, and...

“A bug?”

It was a praying mantis-like bug. However, its body was the same size as me — absurdly large for a mantis. It was no doubt a monster.

...If that was a normal insect instead of a monster, people who hated bugs would find this world hell.

“Do you see it, young master? That’s an insect type monster called a cave mantis. It uses its raptorial forelegs to dig holes or find caves and mineshafts to live in.”

“Tch! How annoying...”

“Is it strong?”

“It’s not strong. Its forelegs aren’t exactly sharp and its carapace is soft, so the miners who spot them can beat them up with their pickaxes to eradicate them. But they reproduce fast so there’s a high possibility there’ll be many of them, including the occasional advanced species, the blade mantis. They look similar to the cave mantis, so it’s hard to tell them apart.”

“Blade mantises have sharper forelegs than the cave mantis, so if you let your guard down and miss the blade mantis among them you could end up injured. Always take caution.”

Jill added to Zeph’s warning about the blade mantis. In that case...

“How do you tell them apart?”

“The blade mantis is a little bigger. Though not by much, mind you. The only thing that can help you tell them apart quicker is experience. We just so happen to have a cave mantis over there. I’ll pull it over here, so take a close look.”

Zeph said, approaching the cave mantis alone, then returning as soon as he was noticed. Then, he blocked the attacks of the cave mantis with a small shield where Elia and I could see.

“That is a cave mantis. Its forelegs can attack at a fairly rapid speed, so watch out.”

“Young miss, try defeating it with magic while Zeph’s tanking the attacks.”

“Don’t use fire magic. There’s nowhere for the smoke to go inside a cave.”

“I understand...”

“Ready anytime, young miss!”

“Then... Ice Arrow! Ah! Ice Arrow!”

The first Ice Arrow she launched had been evaded, but the second one she sent immediately after that finished the cave mantis off.

“Your magic activation speed is a pass, but you have to take more care with your accuracy.”

“I understand...”

After that, we walked for another two minutes to find more cave mantises. This time there were four.

“What should we do... I was thinking of letting Ryoma have a turn, but is four too many at once?”

Since that was directed at me, I answered that I’d try.

“Be careful.”

I nodded and drew the two daggers at my waist, activating the neutral magic Physical Hardening. When I ran at the cave mantis, one of them turned my way and raised its right foreleg.

Before it could swing it down, I used my left leg to kick the right foreleg supporting the cave mantis’s balance and broke it. The cave mantis lost its balance and collapsed. I crushed its head under my feet and turned to the second one approaching.

The second mantis had swung its left foreleg up, so I waited for the right timing when it swung down to turn my body 90 degrees. Avoiding its attack by a hair’s breadth, I used my right dagger to slice through its joints, then my left dagger to send its head flying as I turned my body back.

Behind it was the third one. I adjusted my left dagger from an underhand grip to an overhand one, spinning my body anti-clockwise. Evading with my right arm, I closed in. Then dropped its head with my left arm.

“Kyah!”

The fourth one cried out, swiping its left foreleg out horizontally. It was aimed at my head, but I was moving closer so it missed. All that was left was to parry with my right dagger, then cut off its limbs with my left. Next came the right foreleg. In the same way, I blocked with my left arm and cut it off with my right. The cave mantis had no way of resisting once it lost both its forelegs, making it easy to behead.

...There was no particular problem. There wasn’t even a scratch on my daggers.

I confirmed that they had been finished off completely before returning.

“Good work. Looks like you have no trouble with close combat. Young miss, insect type monsters can be tenacious, so never let your guard down unless you’ve twisted its neck or trampled its head like Ryoma.”

“I understand.”

“It was a good choice to guard yourself with hardening magic. A cave mantis’s attacks would be no problem at all with a hardened body.”

“That’s amazing, Ryoma.”

I was used to insect type monsters from the green caterpillars in the Forest of Gana, after all. They were weak monsters that had a lot of vitality. Having to catch them for slime food meant that I grew unwittingly used to them.

Once we had finished our first battles, we continued down the mineshaft path. Ten minutes later, I was walking in the lead with Eliaria behind me, fighting the monsters we encountered.

The only monster in our way was the cave mantis. Rather than practice, it was more like a monotonous pest extermination, so Jill and the other agreed it wouldn’t be a problem for me to do so, but... the more we progressed, the more the number of cave mantises increased. On top of there being four to five of them at once, there was a shorter interval between them. This wasn’t a big deal for me.

“Oof.”

Cave mantises were really weak.

But it was a different matter for the young miss. With her ice magic, she could aim at enemies in the distance and weaken them, lowering their numbers. While it was helpful for me to have support, the continuous battles were a strain on her stamina. The amount of magic energy she used each time was gradually increasing.

I’m sure the four at the back would protect her if it came to it, but...

“Playing Clay!”

“?!”

The foot the mantis stepped out with suddenly sunk, knocking it off balance and making it easy to finish off.

“How about a break?” I suggested.

“Here’s some jerky. Eating a little will help you feel better.”

“Thank you very much.”

The break was accepted easily.

We were still wary of the depths of the mineshaft that could contain unseen monsters, but we sat down to rest ourselves. It was bright enough with the Light spell, and there was air ventilation coming from somewhere too. That’s why it didn’t feel suffocating at all. It was a little humid, but it was good enough to rest in.

“Are you okay, Miss?”

“Thank you for thinking about me. My physical and magical energy are still fine. But I do feel like I’m getting more tired than usual.”

“It’s a common thing, being more tired fighting in a place you’re not familiar with. Especially in places like this, where you can’t tell that time’s passing. There’s nothing you can do but get used to it — that’s what practice is for. How are you holding up by the way, Ryoma?”

Camil gave his advice before turning to me, but it was already a familiar environment to me.

“My house felt like this, so.”

“Ah, that’s right, I remember.”

Camil nodded in understanding, which seemed to make Hughes recall something.

“Come to think of it, Ryoma. What was the spell you used on the cave mantis that made it trip earlier? I could tell it was earth magic, but...”

“Playing Clay? It’s a magic that temporarily turns dirt and stone into clay.”

It was a spell that used the same combination as Create Rock, which I used during the landslide: Break Rock to break down dirt, and Rock to keep the particles connected. And it was also the magic he created to play around when he still couldn’t use magic well. He’d given it the name Playing Clay for that reason.

“Back then, I found it difficult to make the shape I wanted in one use of Rock, so I shaped most things by hand. I’d hold the rock in my hand like so, then pour magic energy into it and knead it into clay. Eventually I grew more experienced and got better at using Rock too.”

Also, the material would return to its original form after the flow of magic energy ran out. Dirt would return to dirt, and stone would return to stone.

That’s what made it a convenient magic to use when filling in cracks in the walls and repainting them. Though I wasn’t thinking that far when I first created it.

While I was talking, five sets of eyes including Eliaria’s were looking at me in exasperation.

“Hey, Camil, Jill. What do you think? You guys are in charge of magic.”

“Creating a new magic just because you can’t do a certain basic magic well... Ryoma’s actions never cease to surpass expectations...”

“I won’t say it’s impossible, but it’s certainly tiresome. It would be one thing to be taught it, but creating magic yourself takes more effort than simply practicing hard at it.”

They discussed the topic as I rested at ease. For the record, my slimes had been eating the monsters we had defeated this entire time. It was plain work, but they were extremely useful in clearing the path.