EX: Karina and Zena’s Big Adventure
“Is there really a village in such a strange place? I inquire.”
“It appears more like a beehive than a village, I report.”
“Yeah, I know. But there’s totally a village just across that rope bridge.”
Nana’s sisters, along with Miss Karina of Muno County and her maids, had just reached the large cavern that contained the labyrinth village. Erina was the one to answer their doubtful observations.
“You explorers? There’s a water restriction right now, so you won’t be able to stock up on water.”
The men standing watch at the rope bridge were quick to supply this information.
“We are only here to deliver supplies at the request of the guild. Once we have handed over the goods, we will leave immediately, so we have no need for water.”
The eldest sister, Adin, spoke up on behalf of the group.
“Supplies, huh? That’s good to hear. If you could show us the tally sheet for the delivery, we can let you into the village without paying the fee.”
“Lady Karina.”
“Right, Mr. Raka… Will this do?”
At the prompting of her Intelligent Artifact Raka, Karina produced the tally sheet from her breast pocket. While the man was clearly distracted by her beauty, he still made sure to check the tally sheet thoroughly before permitting them to enter.
“There really is a village in the labyrinth, I exclaim.”
“Tria too! Tria is surprised, too!”
Karina and her company watched with a smile while Nana’s sisters exclaimed.
They probably reacted very similarly the first time they came here.
“The people in the village seem kinda on edge.”
“Maybe it’s because of the water restriction the guard mentioned?”
Erina and her newbie colleague whispered about the atmosphere, which did seem different than usual.
Fortunately, they didn’t encounter any particular issues with getting lost or hit on, and made it to their destination at the center of the village.
“Over there! There is a crowd there, I report.”
A throng of people was gathered outside a residence.
There was a clamor of loud voices angrily arguing about something.
“Alert! Tria has spotted Zena!”
The third sister was correct: The magic soldier Zena of the Seiryuu County Labyrinth Elite was right in the center of the ring of arguing people.
Her bodyguards and best friends—Lilio the scout, Iona the beautiful broadsword wielder, and Lou the shieldmaiden—were all with her as well.
“It looks like Zena is in trouble, I declare,” said Seis, the sixth sister.
“Wait here, everyone. I will go find out what is happening.”
Adin waded into the crowd.
“Excuse me, please let me through.”
“Huh? Don’t butt your head into our—hey, it’s the Shield Princess!”
A villager moved to stop Adin from interfering, then exclaimed when he saw her face.
“The Shield Princess! Is the young master with her, then?”
“If the young master’s here, little miss elf should be here, too, right? Maybe she can figure out why the village water source has dried up!”
“Shield Princess! Where’s the young master? We wanna ask his elf friend a favor.”
The villagers eagerly closed in around Adin.
“…Shield Princess?”
“C’mon, please! Our water source is running dry!”
All of them kept pleading to Adin, ignoring her confusion.
“I won’t allow rudeness toward Adin, I declare.”
“Tria is angry, too!”
The sisters stepped in between Adin and the crowd of villagers.
“Th-there’s more Shield Princesses?!”
“They all look the same!”
“How many of her are there?”
“Please slow down, everyone. They aren’t Miss Nana, the Shield Princess. They’re her sisters.”
Zena explained the truth to the alarmed villagers.
“Huh? Not the Shield Princess? But they look just like her.”
“I am Huit, I announce.”
“Yes! Tria is Tria!”
After the most emphatically self-asserting duo, the rest of the sisters each introduced themselves, and the village chief introduced himself in turn.
Karina attempted to introduce herself as well, but the village chief changed the subject without even noticing her.
“So, where is the young master?”
“Young master…?”
“Master Pendragon isn’t with you?”
The village chief was asking about Satou.
“Master is not here, I declare.”
“He is traveling around the continent with Nana, I report.”
“H-he’s not here? Then the elf princess…”
“Mia is with them as well, I declare.”
“Well, shoot…”
“Chief, even without the young master or the little elf lass, look at all of these Shield Princesses. If we send this nice young mage lady with them, maybe they can investigate the dried-up water source for us?”
One of the more influential villagers offered a solution to the disappointed village chief.
“What do you think, missy? Maybe you could make it if these ladies come with you?”
“Er…”
Zena hesitated.
“Hey, are you guys as strong as Nana or what?”
“No, Lilio. At our current strength, we would not be able to defeat Nana even if we took her on all at once, I declare. At best, we can only defeat a war mantis, I assess.”
Seis responded to Lilio’s question.
“War mantises? How strong are those?”
“About as strong as Sir Dozon and his crew.”
“Damn! That’s plenty strong enough, then!”
The villagers looked to the girls with hope in their eyes.
“Please allow me to make a formal request. We’d like you to investigate the cause of the village’s water source drying up. The deadline is about a half moon, when our water stores run out. Your reward would be thirty gold coins, and you’d all get a lifetime of free water supply and lodging in the village. How’s that sound?”
The village chief looked to Zena and Adin.
Zena remained silent, her expression still troubled. She herself wanted to help, but she couldn’t just take requests as she pleased, since she was staying in Labyrinth City on military business.
“Lady Karina, what should we do?”
“Oh, we simply must do it! As a noble and future leader, I cannot turn my back on people in need, I say!” Karina’s response was immediate. “Do come with us, Zena! Your Wind Magic would be ever so helpful!”
Karina reached out her hand to Zena.
Zena started to react in kind, then thought of her duties again and hesitated.
“Miss Zena, we are still on leave for three more days.”
“She’s right, Zena.”
“Let’s do it, Zenacchi.”
“Right!”
At her comrades’ encouragement, Zena agreed to the request.
Thus, Karina’s company, Nana’s sisters, and Zena’s squad formed a temporary party.
“It is damp and slippery, I declare.”
“They said it only completely dried up two days ago.”
As Huit complained, Zena shared some information.
The young women were at the bottom of the deep abyss that surrounded the labyrinth village, making their way up the dried-up waterway that connected to the dried-up bog.
Of course, the waterway itself wasn’t large enough to walk through, so Zena used her Wind Magic to investigate and found another route to take them to the source.
“Wait a minute. I hear water.”
“Yes! Tria hears it, too!”
Lilio and Tria both pressed their ears to the ground, unconcerned with the mud that stuck to their hair and faces.
“Let us follow the sound, then!”
“Yes, Lady Karina.”
The two scouts went on ahead, with Karina and Zena following.
It was difficult to walk, due to all the rocks and stones underfoot.
“The rocks seem rather fragile around here.”
“Yes, beware of falling rocks from the ceiling,” Raka warned.
“The floor here looks worm-eaten, I report.”
“The wall, too, I declare.”
Within the brittle bedrock, there was a multitude of holes.
“Depth is unclear, I report.”
The curious Huit dropped a pebble into the hole, but the sound of it hitting the bottom never came.
Even when they cast Mana Light on a stone and dropped it in, they still couldn’t see the bottom.
“Zena, perhaps you could determine its depth with Wind Magic?” Karina inquired, as she peered into a hole.
“I hear a sound, I report. Lilio, do you know what it is?”
“A sound…?”
Lilio listened closely and heard quiet cracking.
“Uh-oh! Zenacchi, Miss Noble, get back!”
Realizing what it was, she cried out a warning.
But it seemed it was a moment too late.
The floor crumbled beneath Karina’s feet.
“Eeeeeeek!”
“Lady Karina!”
Zena’s and Karina’s guardian maids looked into the hole.
But unlike the maids, who stayed on firm ground, Zena threw herself into the dark hole after Karina without hesitation.
“Zenacchi!” “Miss Zena!” “Zena!”
Her squad rushed over to look into the hole, only to find that Zena had already disappeared into the darkness.
Iona and Lou had to hold Lilio back by the hair to stop her from jumping in after her.
“… ”
Zena squinted into the darkness as the air flew past her.
As she curled up to avoid air resistance while she fell, Zena’s eyes spotted the blue light of Raka activating.
Once she caught up to Karina, Zena latched onto her and spoke the invocation word for the Resist Fall spell.
Their falling speed slowed abruptly, and they dropped more slowly through the ten-foot-around vertical cave.
Soon, the faintly lit bottom came into view.
“I can’t slow us down all the way!”
Unfortunately, Resist Fall wasn’t strong enough to cancel out their momentum completely.
“Mr. Raka!”
“Indeed.”
Karina quickly steeled her resolve and gave Raka the signal.
Raka’s barrier wrapped around the both of them, producing white scales that protected them just before they reached the bottom.
When they made impact, a column of water sprayed into the air. Luckily, there was enough water at the bottom to break their fall.
The pair came up to the water’s surface, crawling onto the shore by the dim light of glowing moss.
Karina let out a cute little “Achoo!” drawing a concerned look from Zena.
“Are you okay, Lady Karina?”
“Yes, I’m quite all right.”
“Lady Karina, you should use the brazier Sir Satou gave you to warm up.”
Following Raka’s suggestion, Karina brought out a heat-producing Magic Item that resembled a small charcoal grill, providing warmth for herself and Zena.
“This is nice and warm.”
“Oh, yes. I shall have to thank Satou when he returns.”
The pair half closed their eyes as they enjoyed the pleasant warmth.
“So Lady Karina…did you meet Sir Satou in Muno City?”
“No, we first met when I was lost in the woods of Muno and he came to my rescue.”
“In the woods?”
“Yes, I had set out on a journey to the giants’ village to ask for aid in stopping a demon that was plotting to take over our land.”
Karina went on to explain how Satou helped mediate for her and got help from the giants despite their dislike of Marquis Muno’s family line.
“Satou has come to my aid countless times now. Why, we even fought together against a swarm of goblins attacking the castle gates.”
“That’s very romantic.”
“…Quite so.”
Raka wasn’t quite sure what was romantic about that scenario. Still, he remained silent rather than object to the young ladies’ reminiscing.
“And where did you meet Satou, Zena?”
“He rescued me from a dangerous fall after a wyvern sent me flying.”
“So Satou rescued you, too. We have a lot in common, I say.”
“Yes, we do.”
Zena and Karina smiled at each other.
“I believe Liza mentioned that you saved them t—”
Karina was interrupted by the sound of whistling wind, and looked up just in time to see an enormous splash.
“It appears that a rope fell down here.”
“Perhaps it was Lilio and the others?”
“Judging by the way it fell, perhaps they dropped it by mistake.”
The rope sank for a while, then resurfaced at the other end of the cavern.
“Let’s try and retrieve it! We might be able to use it to get back up.”
“Not to worry. I’ll fetch it at once.”
Karina stopped Zena from jumping into the water, and instead skipped across the surface to pick up the rope.
“You can walk on water, Lady Karina?”
“I learned the trick of it while catching dragonfish.”
Karina demonstrated that she could walk in the air, too.
“Would you be able to get back up that way?”
“Impossible. We haven’t enough mana.”
“What if we combined it with Zena’s magic as well?”
“It might be enough, I suppose…”
“We can do it! We’ll just take breaks on the way up!”
With Zena’s enthusiastic encouragement, Karina kicked off the wall and made it to a foothold a few dozen feet up with the help of Zena’s Wind Magic, then lowered the rope so that Zena could climb up, too.
Soon they were out of range of the glowing moss. Luckily, they had glowing hair bands from Satou to light the way.
“We’re quite fortunate to have Magic Items for illumination.”
“Yes, and the Pure-Water Bag to quench our thirst. We’ll have to find a way to thank Mr. Satou.”
“Agreed. Perhaps we can look for something he’d like together?”
“Yes, let’s!”
The pair fended off the fear of climbing in the dark by chatting about their shared crush.
“Let’s move on to the next, shall we?”
Shouldering the rope, Karina hopped from foothold to foothold.
They repeated this cycle until they ran out of magic and were forced to take a break some 650 feet up.
“Looks like there are some flying monsters up here.”
“It appears their nest is over there.”
“Shan’t we simply defeat them? They hardly look very strong to me.”
“There’s a lot of them, though. And I’d be worried about losing our balance.”
“I concur with Lady Zena. Perhaps it would be best to investigate the tunnel we passed not long ago.”
The pair took Raka’s suggestion and moved into the tunnel.
“… Air Hammer Kizuchi!”
“Hi-ya! Hah!”
There were monsters in the tunnel, too, but Zena’s Wind Magic and Karina’s martial arts made quick work of them.
“There’s a fork here.”
“This one is marked. It must be the one we went through before.”
“Indeed, the path on the right is unexplored. It would be best to investigate that one next.”
“All right. It’s a great help to have you remember our path, Mr. Raka.”
“You’ve helped quite a bit by leaving marks and leading the way, Zena. Oh, I feel ever so useless…”
“You always take charge of defeating the monsters, Lady Karina. And you’re investigating each path without ever tiring.”
“Quite so. Each of you is using your respective strengths to the fullest.”
With encouragement from Zena and Raka, Karina kept pressing onward in hopes of reuniting with their friends.
“Wait a minute, please.”
There was an enormous mole-like monster in the cave up ahead. It appeared to be sleeping.
Since the passage they were in connected to the cave partway up its wall, they were positioned above the monster, looking down.
“It’s really quite large, isn’t it?”
“I do not think it is an areamaster or its spawn, but I estimate it is at least as strong as a war mantis.”
“Do you think your magic could defeat it, Zena?”
“I don’t think so… My strongest spell is Blade Storm, which I just learned recently, and I don’t think even that could cut through its hide. It would probably be impossible to land a fatal blow unless I could cast the spell directly into its mouth. What about you, Lady Karina?”
“I feel much the same. I imagine I could fight it well enough with Mr. Raka’s protection, but I doubt I’d be able to mortally wound the beastly thing.”
Although both of them had leveled up significantly in the boot camp Satou organized, fighting a monster of this class would still be a life-threatening endeavor.
“Is there any way we can detour around it, Mr. Raka?”
“I’m afraid not. Our only option is to return to the cavern through which we first fell, or…”
“Sneak past that sleeping mole creature, right?”
“I should hate to turn back after coming all this way.”
“All right. I’ll use my Wind Magic to silence our footsteps, then.
Zena cast the same silencing spell she used for harvesting mandrakes, and the pair of them crept along the cavern wall.
Fortunately, the mole seemed to be sleeping very deeply.
As she peered down at it, the foothold Karina was standing on began to crumble.
“Eek!”
Karina turned pale and nearly lost her balance, until Zena’s hand shot out and caught her.
“Phew.”
“Thank y—watch out!”
They had barely breathed a sigh of relief when a rock fell from the ceiling toward Zena’s head.
Karina quickly put up a barrier and protected her.
“Ah…!”
The rock bounced off the barrier and dropped past both their eyes.
Zena quickly jumped to catch it, nearly falling from the passage. This time, Karina was the one to catch her.
“Goodness, what a fright.”
“That was a close one.”
The two of them sank instinctively to a seat on the narrow passage, exchanging a smile.
Then, just outside their line of sight, the wall on the opposite side of the cavern crumbled, and caved in directly on top of the mole.
ZMMMMMMOGYU.
Awoken from its pleasant slumber, the mole monster—called a yellow mole—let out a roar of rage.
Zena and Karina immediately ducked, but the mole’s eyes swiftly fixed on them.
“It spotted us.”
“Then we must make the first move!”
With Raka enhancing her strength, Karina ran along the wall far faster than any human should be able to move, launching a flurry of blows at the mole.
The mole went on the defensive, evidently surprised that its target had attacked first.
Its claws slashed back in a frantic counterattack, which Karina dodged with a midair sidestep, positioning herself just below the giant monster’s chin.
“Karinaaaa… Uppercuuuuuuut!”
Karina’s fist went right through the monster’s defenseless chin. She must have picked up the idea of naming her attacks from either Arisa or Pochi.
The mole reeled back and hit the ground with a resounding quake; possibly the punch had shaken its brain.
“Why, I’ve done it!”
“Not yet, Lady Karina!”
The mole jumped back up and swiftly sent its tail flying toward Karina.
“Air Cushion!”
Zena’s spell, which she’d been saving to activate, protected Karina from the tail attack.
However, it couldn’t completely block the claw attack that followed when the mole quickly whirled its body around.
“Eeeeeeek!”
Raka’s protection kept Karina from taking any serious damage, but it still sent her flying into the wall within the protective barrier.
The fragile surface collapsed from the force of the impact, and a rain of falling rocks buried Karina, barrier and all.
The mole stomped forward to deal the finishing blow.
“Over here!”
Zena scorched the mole’s back with the Fire Rod she carried on her belt.
The monster stopped and glared down at Zena as if she were an insect.
It galumphed over to Zena at a speed far higher than it had demonstrated mere moments ago, swinging its claws down at her.
“…… Air Thrust funshafuu!”
Zena used Wind Magic to accelerate out of the way of the mole’s claws.
Since she’d never used this technique in actual combat before, she fumbled the landing and went tumbling across the ground before skidding to a halt.
As Zena stood, her vision filled with the jaws of the mole about to close over her.
She quickly jumped out of the way, avoiding the bite by a hair’s breadth, but her cloak got caught between the mole’s fangs and the floor.
“I-it’s stuck!”
The mole raised a short paw to crush Zena underfoot.
As Zena reached for the clasp of her cloak, it seemed she would surely be too late.
“Karinaaaaa… Kiiiiiiiiick!”
Karina jumped in to her rescue.
The powerful kick cracked the undefended side of the mole’s head, causing its claws to miss their mark.
“…… Entangle Air Kara Kiryuu!”
With her cloak freed, Zena quickly finished a chant and blocked the mole’s leg with Wind Magic before it could strike Karina.
But it wasn’t quite strong enough to stop the enormous monster’s movement.
At most, it only knocked the creature slightly off-balance.
“ ……”
Karina dodged and weaved, waiting for an opening to strike back, while Zena began chanting her strongest Wind Magic spell in order to create one.
“…… Blade Storm Yaiba Arashi!”
A windy vortex of invisible blades struck the mole.
There was a spray of blood, and the mole howled. But…
“…It’s not working!”
While they did deal damage, the blades only cut away fur and left shallow gashes in the hide and fat layer. Its flesh and bones were completely unharmed.
“Submission, I say!”
Karina aimed a body slam at one of its joints, but a sweep of its tail knocked her away in midair.
Since even a clean hit from her fists or feet didn’t do enough damage, this must have been her last resort.
Though the pair continued working together to fight the massive mole with their magic and martial arts, none of their efforts amounted to more than a minimal amount of damage.
Soon, they were backed into a crevice in one corner of the mole’s cave.
Fortunately, the mole couldn’t fit into it, nor could its short arms reach inside.
Zena and Karina downed magic potions to heal their injuries and recover their spent magic.
“Mr. Raka, do you have any ideas?”
“Neither your martial arts nor Lady Zena’s magic can do much harm to the creature. Even if we found a way to deal a small amount of damage, its healing skills would allow it to recover faster than the damage can accumulate. Thus, the ideal strategy would be to retreat. However…”
“I don’t think we can get away.”
“Indeed, the creature is very shrewd for its size. It has already blocked off the path through which we came, and the other exit is half-buried. It would inevitably catch up before we could break through.”
“Why, we needn’t run away anyway. We simply must defeat the hideous thing.”
Zena giggled. “You never cease to amaze, Lady Karina.”
“The only true defeat is giving up—at least, that’s what a wise friend once told me.”
Karina’s words comforted Zena, too.
It was somewhat ironic, given that those words were originally used to motivate Karina when she was about to give up on her feelings for Satou.
The two of them set about reconsidering a strategy to defeat the mole. Their only option, it seemed, was to force the monster’s mouth open and send Zena’s Blade Storm spell inside.
However, that would be near impossible without several consecutive strokes of luck. As a backup plan, they resolved to try to tough it out until their friends arrived to help them, and to run away immediately if they got the opportunity.
“If only Satou were here…”
“It’ll be fine! My squad, Hachiko, and the others are bound to find us! Let’s just keep fighting back until help arrives!”
“But of course! I’m quite sure my maids will be here soon, too!”
Zena and Karina locked eyes and nodded.
Then the mole’s claws tore the fissure open, as if in mockery of the light that had just returned to the young women’s eyes.
“…… Air Hammer Kizuchi!”
Zena’s spell struck it on the nose, and the pair darted beneath it while it howled.
“‘Achilles Hunter,’ I say!”
Like rubbing salt in the wound, Karina dealt a spinning kick to the mole’s eye.
ZMMMMMOGYU.
With another bellow of pain, the mole lashed out with its tail, which happened by a stroke of bad luck to catch both girls and send them flying in a tangle.
“Eek!”
“Whaaaah!”
Raka’s protection saved them just in time, though it wasn’t enough to prevent the momentum that kept them tumbling across the ground.
As they rolled, a shadow passed overhead.
The mole had leaped into the air, about to land on them both with its massive body.
Karina probably could have escaped on her own. Instead, she chose to protect Zena with her magic barrier. There was grim determination in her eyes, as if she knew perfectly well that they might be crushed to death even if they survived the initial impact.
“‘Javelin’!”
Several familiar voices rang out at once, and a barrage of see-through spears assailed the mole’s body.
Karina held tight to Zena and rolled out of the way just in time, the mole landing directly behind them.
“Zenacchiiiiii!” “Miss Zena!” “Zena!”
“Lady Karinaaaaaa!” “Karina!”
Behind the mole, Iona and the two guardian maids charged with their swords.
The mole yowled as more attacks pummeled into it all at once. When it tried to stand, another volley of “Javelins” rained down and pinned it to the ground.
“Now’s our only chance!”
Karina leaped right into the mole’s wide-open mouth, holding it open with all her might.
“Zena!”
The magic soldier chanted even as she ran up to Zena, unleashing the spell beside her.
“… Blade Storm Yaiba Arashi!”
The strongest Wind Magic spell in Zena’s repertoire unleashed inside the mole’s vulnerable mouth.
ZZZZZZMOOOOOOG.
The whirl of “Windblades” swept down the mole’s throat and tore its lungs and vital organs to shreds from the inside.
This proved too much even for the powerful yellow mole, and soon its life was snuffed out.
Zena and Karina were blown back by the recoil but protected by Raka’s barrier; when their friends came running over, they were happy to find them unharmed.
“How very noisy.”
As the girls rejoiced in their reunion, a man suddenly appeared before them.
He had deathly pale bluish skin, handsome features, and wavy violet hair.
“…Who is this pale fellow? Did you all make a new friend on your way here?”
“Lady Karina! Be careful! That is no ordinary man!”
Raka’s tone was warning as Karina quickly stood.
“An Intelligent Item? …Marstill, is that you?!”
“How do you know that name? Are you by chance…the progenitor? Ban Helsing?!”
The man, who was indeed the progenitor vampire Ban, addressed Raka by a different name.
“Do you know this fellow, Mr. Raka?”
“I-indeed. My master many years prior challenged him many times, and was never once victorious.”
“I did so enjoy those battles of ours. So this lass is your master now, eh?”
Ban peered at Karina.
“E-excuse me!”
Once there was an opening in the conversation, Zena spoke up.
“Hmm. I know your face.”
“Yes, you saved my life from monsters. Thank you so much!”
“Aah, so you’re the lass from that day. Not to worry. I’ve already been well thanked for that occasion.”
Zena had once been gravely injured on her first expedition into the labyrinth, and Ban rescued her.
“Zena, you are a friend of the Blue People? I inquire.”
“Yes, he saved my life.”
“Blue People? So this is one of those folks that the explorers talk about?”
Karina recognized the phrase from Huit’s question and seemed to accept that explanation.
“But why is Sir Ban with all of you, Lilio?”
“We ran into him while we were looking for you, and he helped us out when we explained that our friends got lost.”
“…I happen to have a knack for tracking people down in the labyrinth, that is all.”
Ban looked away, hiding his embarrassment.
As he gazed across the room, there was a sudden collapsing of rocks, and a worm peeked out from the wall.
“I knew it. Wall eaters…”
Ban produced a shuriken and threw it expertly at the worm, killing it instantly.
“These creatures are fond of damp rocks. No doubt they are the cause of the labyrinth village’s water source drying up. They must have chewed holes in the walls and floor of the waterway, causing the water to leak into the Lower Stratum.”
“That may be why the floor gave way beneath Lady Karina, too.”
Iona nodded thoughtfully at Ban’s explanation.
“So if we defeat those worms, that would remove the cause of the waterway’s destruction? I inquire.”
“Precisely.”
“Me! Tria has insect repellent!” Tria raised her hand eagerly.
“Oh-ho? This is quite a high-quality item.”
Ban stroked his chin, looking impressed.
The repellent had been specially produced by Satou at Arisa’s request.
“This ought to make quick work of the problem for the most part.”
Tria fired up the torch-like repellent at Ban’s signal, and he used his Blood Magic to enhance the smoke’s effects.
“Zena, was it? Perhaps you could use your Wind Magic to send this smoke through the holes in the walls and ceiling.”
“Of course!”
Zena’s spell sent the smoke into the wormholes, and before long, the creatures began dropping from the ceiling.
Karina and the others destroyed every last one.
“…It looks like we’ve gotten just about all of them now.”
“Yes, Zena. We shall begin recovering the materials, I declare.”
Nearly fifty wall eater corpses were piled up in the cavern. The homunculus sisters began collecting the monster cores and placing the remaining corpses into their transportation Fairy Packs.
“I have found a treasure chest, I report! Tria, I request your unlocking assistance.”
As they were breaking down the mole corpse, the youngest sister, Huit, found a treasure chest.
“Tria will try her best!”
When Tria finally managed to open the chest, they found a great deal of treasure, including coins, gems, antique accessories, and even a staff.
“I have found a Magic Staff! Vier, I request your analysis.”
“…Unclear. My skill level must not be high enough, I appraise.”
“Hmm. Let me see it, eh?”
Ban took the staff and used “Analyze” on it.
“…An Earthply Staff. Perfect. Use this to reinforce the walls of the waterway. I trust you can take things from here…”
With that, Ban handed the staff back to Vier, then turned into a cloud of mist and vanished.
The sisters led the rest of the group back to the waterway, where they took turns using the Earthply Staff to repair the hole-ridden waterway.
“What a useful staff, I remark.”
“But the gemstone at the end is smaller than before. I think maybe it has a limited number of uses?”
Lilio was right: The Earth Pearl at the tip of the staff had shrunk to around half its original size.
“Well, the water isn’t leaking anymore. This should be good enough.”
The water was now flowing through the waterway instead of into the holes, even if it was still only a trickle.
“I dunno, something’s still off. This ain’t enough water for the whole village, is it?”
“Maybe there’s some blockage somewhere?”
Lou responded to Erina’s remark.
Agreeing that this was likely, the group made their way upstream to investigate.
“It is indeed stuck, I report.”
“Yeah, we can see that.”
“Tria knows all about this! That rock is the keystone! If we destroy it, the dam will break, I declare!”
Tria pointed at one of the rocks.
She didn’t remove it right away, presumably because she knew what would happen.
But apparently, not everyone was aware of that vital information.
“Huit will do it, I declare!”
“Wait—”
Before Tria could stop her, Huit used “Body Strengthening” with her “Foundation” abilities and pulled out the keystone.
An instant later, the dam broke, and the massive amount of water it was holding back burst out in a muddy torrent, swallowing the girls up and sweeping them away.
The water gushed out into the muddy bog beneath the labyrinth village.
The magic lights that had been set up there to investigate shone on the pillar of water, alerting the people in the village who peered down below.
“Water!”
“The water’s back!”
“Now we won’t have to leave our home!”
“That mage gal and the Shield Princesses really did it!”
The villagers cheered, all else forgotten as they celebrated together.
“…Wait, it stopped already!”
“No, it’s still flowing a little bit…”
“Something’s stuck in there.”
Their observations were correct.
The earth gave into the pressure and broke, and an even more powerful torrent of water gushed into the air.
At the top of the pillar was the entire group of girls, cradled in a bowl-shaped version of Raka’s barrier, though it seemed rather cramped, since there were so many of them.
“A ball of light…?”
The shape dropped to the ground, and Raka’s barrier vanished, revealing the girls safe inside.
“No, it’s a busty lady!”
“The mage girl and the Shield Princesses are there, too!”
The villagers’ cheers grew even wilder.
Zena and Karina looked at each other, completely drenched.
“Our mission succeeded, Lady Karina.”
“Another victory for those who refuse to give up, I say!”
They bumped their fists together, both grinning widely.
At the end of their ordeal, it seemed their friendship was now stronger than ever before.
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