Chapter 175 – Sealed In!?
"Haa…ha… We lost them."
Fule caught her breath as she saw that the Golems were now far away.
The Skeletons had even attacked them, but the Golems paid them no mind as they ran and stomped all over them.
"I guess bones aren't intruders? Still, swords and magic won't work… But it's no surprise that friends of Mappa could make such things."
Haines muttered as he checked his scimitar for cracks.
Ashton listened to this and tilted his head.
"Friends… But those Golems said that he was exiled. Was Mappa…exiled from this place?"
So, it wasn't only me who had been able to hear the voice of the Golems.
Like Ashton said, the Golems had said something about a list of exiles.
Our eyes turned to Mappa.
But he just folded his arms with a serious expression.
And so I asked him, just to be sure.
"Mappa… Is this place your homeland?"
Mappa nodded his head.
So, there was no doubt about it now.
"And were you…exiled from this place? Is that what happened?"
However, Mappa just stood there silently in reply.
"Mappa. There's no need to hide anything from us now…"
"Wait, Lord Heal."
Said Fule, and then she started shaking Mappa's shoulders. However, Mappa did not react. And then something like a transparent balloon started to spread out from his nose.
"It looks like…he's just sleeping…"
"He-he's sleeping while standing?"
The others started to shout at him to wake up. Fule played with Mappa's hair and made different shapes. But he would still not wake up.
Haines said in an exasperated voice.
"Perhaps he is just really tired… Well, at least we got him back. We should hurry up and leave this dangerous place."
"That's right. While there are still a lot of unanswered questions about this place, we cannot stay long when there are Golems here."
I answered. And Fule muttered with annoyance.
"Whaat! But don't you think there's a treasure hidden somewhere? Some place that only Old Mappa knows about. There must be!"
According to Ogus and the guardians, all of the treasures here were taken by the royals and bandits.
However, perhaps Mappa knew of treasures that were hidden. After all, those Golems from earlier had only appeared because Mappa had done something with the chair.
The guardians had said that they had never seen these enemies before, and so it was likely that they had not appeared up until now.
Ashton turned to Fule.
"It does make me curious… But as long as the Golems are immune to our attacks, any exploration would be too dangerous."
"Well, that's true… Besides, there are plenty of treasures on Sheorl already…"
Fule was suggesting that even if we did find something, that it wouldn't compare to the riches of Sheorl island.
"Hmm. Well, I am curious about their armor. But not enough to fight… He-hey!"
Haines's voice suddenly rose as he was talking.
He was looking at the ravine that we had traveled through. It was blocked by a great metal gate.
Before we knew what was happening, the gates of the other ravines were closed as well.
"Have we been locked inside!?"
Like Fule said, it looked like we no longer had a way of escaping on the surface.
"The Golems must have done it… Well, we'll probably still be able to escape with the help of the Cave Spiders."
But as I was talking, I noticed huge shadows on top of the gate.
It was the Golems from earlier…no, there were too many of them. Perhaps they had not only closed the gates, but called for reinforcements.
"They haven't seen us yet, but it won't be hard to spot us from that height… And then there are the Undead. It will be very hard to get out without being noticed."
That being said, we should still be able to make it out as long as I keep casting Shield. We could just stay tightly together and advance.
However, guardian Ogus opened his mouth.
"Then why don't we escape to the underground ruins and wait for Mister Mappa to wake up? There is an old resting place that Adventurers used to use. You can drink water and sleep. It's close to where we are now."
"There is such a place? But…"
As I began to reply, Ashton muttered something.
"Perhaps Mappa knows of an easy way out of here. Besides, he has likely come here because he wanted something."
Indeed. It had seemed as if Mappa had come here with a purpose. He must have come here by brute force because there was something that would benefit Sheorl and Arancia. Well, it was possible that it was just personal gain…
And then Ogus and Vanessa looked at each other and turned to me with embarrassed expressions.
"To be honest, we also want to wait for Karla to recover…"
Perhaps it was from motion sickness, but Karla was now laying flat on the Cave Spider's back.
"Alright… Let's go to this resting place then."
"Certainly. It's right over there."
Ogus had the Cave Spider let down a web from the roof, and then we descended down to the bottom of the temple.
There were no Golems nearby, so we were still safe.
Once we were all at the bottom, Ogus started to run towards a certain building.
But just then, I detected magic energy right above our heads.
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When I looked up at the sky, I saw a bird spreading its wings. And it was no ordinary bird, as it was made of metal. Like the humanoid Golems in the temple, it was sounding an alarm.
"A flying Golem!? Lord Heal, leave it to us!"
Once again, Ashton and Haines volunteered to guard our rear.
However, I shook my head.
"No, there is something that I want to try… I want information about them. You all go on ahead!"
"…Understood."
Ashton seemed to understand what I intended.
And so he and the others headed towards the building that Ogus had run to.
Apparently, Fule was standing by the entrance and casting Shield.
I was grateful. It allowed me to concentrate on what I would do next.
The metal bird flew straight towards me, though I was unarmed.
However, I brought out my pickaxe at the last second and—smashed the bird with it.
With a loud crash, the bird crumbled on the ground.
Just as I had suspected, the pickaxe was effective. I could destroy metal. Or was it because of 'Cave King'?
"Alright! So this works! Oh…"
Apparently, there were more in the sky.
I detected their magic energy gathering towards us.
And so I quickly stashed the bird's carcass into my inventory and rushed towards the building that Ogus and the others had entered.
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Chapter 176 – Moving While Sleeping!?
After they entered the building, Ogus and Vanessa immediately shut the heavy doors.
"Phew… We made it. But, is this door really enough?"
I asked. Ogus looked a little worried, but still nodded.
"It should be. One time, we ran down here after being chased by a giant cyclops. And though it hit the door many times, it did not break."
"So it must be very strong then."
Perhaps the Golems were made of the same metal.
I wanted to take some of it with my pickaxe, but refrained, as the enemy would get into the building.
"In any case, let's go down the stairs. There is water there."
"Yes, let's do that."
And so we followed Ogus as he led us down the stairs.
There was a very wide space there, and in the center was a fountain with clear water. And there was an entrance to a passage in the far back.
However, the area around the entrance had collapsed.
Upon seeing this, Ogus and Vanessa became very pale.
"What… Now we will not be able to go outside. We'll have to search through a different building."
As Ogus stood there with a look of disappointment, Fule called to him in a cheerful voice.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that! Lord Heal can easily dig through it!"
"D-dig?"
Ogus looked puzzled.
"We-well, I wouldn't say that it's easy. Besides, there is a danger of causing more of it to collapse. But I should be able to dig a little. I have a crest that gives me power when I'm in caves."
"A crest? What power?"
I had thought that all humans knew what crests were. However, apparently, Ogus and the others didn't know what it was. Did the people of Arancia not have the ability to discern crests?
"Uhh…yes. It's like a special power. I'm sure you and the others have it too. Mine just happens to be related to caves."
"It might not sound too impressive, but it really is! He can break any boulder, no matter how huge!"
Fule added.
Ogus nodded understandingly.
"I see… While this has piqued my interest, we must get out of here first."
"Yes. You don't need to worry about that. I have my pickaxe right here."
I answered. And then Haines asked me,
"Ah, now that I think about it. Were you able to use the pickaxe to gather the body of the bird?"
"Aye. I don't know if it's because of the pickaxe or my own power, but I was able to do it. And what was used to make it…is a metal that I've never seen before. In any case, I'll tell you all about it as we rest."
And so we sat down near the fountain so that we could rest for a while.
Vanessa then took out something like a pot and started to boil some water from the fountain.
Then she poured it in a few cups and added a brown powder which she mixed with a spoon.
It smelled very nice… A coffee-like aroma spread out around us.
"I'm sorry that we don't have enough cups, but this is a tea made of beans. Please have some."
"Oh! What a wonderful smell! Brother, let's drink some!"
"Yes, I'll have some!"
Ashton and Haines shared one cup and started to drink.
Fule too seemed to enjoy it as she took a sip.
"It's not very sweet, but it's delicious. A very mature taste! Here, you try it too, Lord Heal."
"Huh? Oh, uh…"
I accepted the cup from Fule.
It could not be helped, since there were too few cups. But I felt a little embarrassed to be sharing one with her.
As for Fule, she looked at me as if it was the most normal thing.
But Vanessa looked a little concerned.
"Is the fragrance not to your liking? I have something else then…"
"N-no. Not at all. Thank you."
And so I drank the bean tea. It was good… Hmm?
I saw that Fule was now grinning as she stared at me.
As if she were saying, 'we kissed!'
I didn't know why she found it so amusing to make me uncomfortable…
"Lord Heal, what is it? Your face looks a little red."
Fule said. Now Vanessa seemed even more anxious.
"What? Was the tea that bad?"
"No, no. It was delicious! In fact, I want the others on the island to drink it as well! It's very different from the tea we make from leaves. Yes, we must trade when we get the chance."
"What a relief! The people of the city will be overjoyed to hear it."
Yes, we could trade our own tea for it. There was nothing on the island that was this similar to coffee, and so the island residents should be happy.
"So, as for the metal…"
In order to change the subject, I took out the golden metal and red gemstone.
"This red thing is a Heart Stone. It's the Golem core that we're all so familiar with. However, I've never seen this metal before, which was used to make their bodies. Apparently, it's called Hihirokane."
"I've never heard that name."
Ashton said, and I nodded.
"This metal is not known on the Barleon continent. As for what it can do, it's so hard that even magic will bounce off of it. And it has the ability to erase shadow magic…apparently."
"But then that means it will be perfect for fighting the Undead who are currently attacking Arancia."
As Haines said, the Undead were enveloped in a black miasma that was made of shadow energy.
And so if they used this metal, Arancia would be able to strengthen their defenses.
Fule looked up at Mappa, who was sleeping while still standing, and she muttered.
"Old Mappa… Perhaps he thought that Arancia could be saved if they had Golems made from this metal."
"Maybe. Though, I could also just go out and dismantle the Golems with my pickaxe."
The fact that magic didn't work made them very dangerous. And so it would be necessary for me to go out alone.
Just then, Guardian Karla, who had been unconscious all of this time, suddenly sat up.
"Where…am I? Who am I?"
"Karla…you. I'm ashamed to see a Guardian act in this way."
Ogus said with exasperation.
"I-I'm sorry! But there have just been so many surprises… But this place…"
"Yes, we're under the temples."
"I see… While I don't quite understand the current situation, it appears that you found the person you were looking for."
Karla said as she looked at Mappa.
Fule must have told her that we were searching for a half naked old man. And there weren't many of those around here.
But then Ogus opened his mouth as if remembering something.
"That's it, Karla. You're quite knowledgeable about the history of these temples, aren't you? Do you know anything about this metal that Lord Heal is holding?"
"No… That isn't just gold? Let me see… But there is supposed to be a room deep in the temple where gold is kept."
"What? Are you saying there is a treasure room?"
"It's just speculation. Apparently Adventurers have already checked every place imaginable, but since these buildings cannot be harmed, there were places that they couldn't enter. Especially the large temples. There are supposed to be great halls that are closed off."
A large temple… The one that Mappa had run into was the biggest in the city.
So perhaps the Hihirokane was hidden somewhere behind the throne.
"The temple we were in would be in this direction, right?"
Before I knew it, I was looking in that direction.
There was just a plain golden wall there.
"Lord Heal, you don't mean to…"
"Aye. If I'm going to dig anyway, it might as well be here. Especially if we want to save Arancia."
"We want to dig too! But I didn't bring my pickaxe…"
"You can have Mappa make one when he wakes up. I happen to have a little Hihirokane with me… Huh?"
I realized that Mappa was walking towards us, even though his eyes were still closed.
"Ma-Mappa? Are you awake?"
But Mappa did not say anything, he just reached out towards me with his hand.
This…did he want the Hihiirokane?
And so I hesitantly took it out of my inventory and handed it to Mappa. As the bird had been very big, there was quite a lot of metal.
Then, with his eyes still closed, Mappa grabbed the hammer that hung on his waist.
"Yo-you're going to do it? While sleeping?"
Of course, Mappa did not open his eyes or answer me.
But he was probably going to do it. Perhaps the rare metal and our voices asking for tools had made Mappa's body move on its own. While this would usually be unthinkable, I had a feeling that Mappa would be able to do it.
"You're sure? …Fire!"
And so I started to heat the Hihirokane with fire magic.
After that, Mappa was as incredible as usual.
With a speed that the eye couldn't follow, he cut the heated metal with scissors and then started hitting it with his hammer.
Before a minute had passed, the pickaxe was complete.
"Wh-what magnificent work!"
Ogus cried out. Vanessa and Karla were also watching with expressions of shock.
"He-he isn't just a half-naked old man!?"
"I thought he was a pervert…"
Well, they were right that his appearance gave off a very different impression…
As for Fule, she used wind magic to cool off the pickaxe, and then picked it up.
"Well done, Old Mappa! Now! I can dig too!"
"Brother Mappa! Make pickaxes for us too!"
"I want to dig!"
Ashton, Haines, and even Taran raised their front legs in front of Mappa.
In answer to their request, Mappa made one pickaxe after another.
He had even made one for me out of the Hihiirokane.
And like that, we took our pickaxes and started digging through the wall in the direction of the temple.