Chapter 24 – Planning
“I think it will be okay to go down now.”
Having said that, Lina, as if trying to prove that she was safe, jumped to the ground first.
“Oh clothes!”
Though her ground was a little unstable as the mental arithmetic predators ran amok, Lina landed on her floor without any problems.
As she landed on the floor, Lina waved her hand at the Hero party, who had not yet descended from above.
From there, in order, Mirian, Yuria, and Martha descended, and finally the hero descended to the floor holding the Horde.
“He ran a little wild here, but he didn’t get caught, right?”
YuRia, who was listening to the hero’s question, spoke.
“… It’s just my guess, but it’s probably not completely controlled.”
Yuria said she couldn’t use black magic, but she did, and that didn’t mean she wasn’t without knowledge.
There is not just one type of magic that deals with demonic beasts, and there are many different types.
If there is magic that treats the beast as if it were one’s own limbs, then there is also magic that only guides directions or obeys pre-determined commands.
The more precise and powerful the obedience magic was, the more complex the command was, the more magical power was required.
“Considering the strength and number of mental arithmetic predators… Even if there were several executives in this room, they wouldn’t have been able to precisely control it.”
And above all, if she had known the situation here, because she was so precise, she would of course have ordered the iron to be fired into the sky.
Considering that she left without capturing the group of heroes, it was reasonable to assume that she was not very precise.
“Good. Then… Can we leave without worrying now?”
“Huh. Let’s leave quickly, I don’t want to stay here because the air is dirty…”
Just like when they came down, the hero and the others climbed up again using the earthen stairs made by YuRia and got out of the mine in a matter of hours after entering the mine.
“Ha…”
After taking off his mask and realizing that the air outside was so refreshing, the warrior smiled involuntarily.
The sky was dyed black like the inside of a mine, but the village was blazing with lights as if it were on fire.
It was time for adventurers to enjoy entertainment after the hard labor hours had come.
“I hope those bastards are comfortable.”
Lina frowned when she saw her playing so comfortably without knowing what was going on inside her.
“How about… It’s nice that it looks peaceful.”
“What if you think so… So what do you do? Shall we start right away?”
Even though it was dark, it was urgent, so the sooner we started, the better, but there was no need to rush.
“No, there could be an accident because it’s dark on the way, so let’s sleep here for the night. Did you say you got a place to stay?”
“Huh. It’s not such a nice place… What a good place to sleep.”
“Okay then let’s go and rest…”
All of the warriors’ faces were tired, and considering what they had done in the mine, it was only natural.
Besides, the clothes were black with mine dust and dirt, and were soaked with sweat and had a very unpleasant smell.
Both men and women wanted to change clothes and wash themselves as soon as possible.
“Huh? Are you finished with that investigation?”
On their way to the inn, Hero’s group ran into a village chief whose nose was stained red as if he had had a drink.
‘Chew…’
Lina, who was thirsty at the time, was playing comfortably outside, and when she saw the village chief drinking wine, she spontaneously clenched her fists.
Seeing that the expressions of the other party members besides Lina were not serious, the warrior opened her mouth to quickly end this conversation.
“The investigation is over. There was nothing special, so I think we can go on like this.”
“Okay! Glad for that! So let’s go and have a cold beer! And what can I say here… I have prepared the night attendant in advance.”
The village chief was probably planning to please the warrior dispatched from the guild, but what he saw inside was so serious that it only had the opposite effect.
“What is this…”
In particular, when she heard that she was waiting for the night, in Martha’s mouth, curses that she couldn’t bear to say were swirling around without form.
“No! It’s okay! I’m a little tired today, so I want to go to bed right away!”
The brave said Martha in a hurry, intending to expel her chief before her curse came out of Martha’s mouth.
“Oh, is that so? Then, please take good care of the guild.”
However, when he saw the village chief handing him money to tell him about the neglect of the sealed mine without understanding the atmosphere, even the kind warrior started to get angry.
“No need.”
The hero said firmly and headed for the inn that Lina had saved, leaving the village chief behind.
The village chief called me from behind, but it was all because of my mood.
*****
As soon as they arrived at the inn, after washing their bodies, the Hero group gathered at a nearby bar to have a meal and a simple after-party.
Perhaps because it was a village where many people were doing physical work, the snacks were usually salty and strong, but the warrior liked it.
“Ha… !!”
Taking a sip of her beer placed in front of her, Lina let out a sigh mixed with the smell of her alcohol and placed her beer glass on the table with a loud noise.
“What can I say, but… To be honest, I don’t like this town very much.”
The warriors’ party stayed in Grid Mall for a short time, less than a day, but during that short time, Lina’s evaluation of Grid Mall hit bottom.
Lina wasn’t the only one who thought so, but she said, agreeing with Miriando Lina, who kept making her face.
“It is as you say. It’s a town far from the front line, so I think it can be a little lax, but this is just that much!”
Mirian, who resents that she couldn’t even remember what they had done until a few days ago, laughed at Lina, but she agreed with that opinion itself.
For the villagers and the lord, a mine that couldn’t mine iron would be a good existence, so it was understandable that they neglected the management of the sealed mine.
The entrance to the mine was blocked and even sealed, so it was understandable to be careless.
In fact, even if things hadn’t gotten this big, no one in Hero’s group would have been outraged by the village’s behavior.
However, since the incident happened, I couldn’t help but blame the laxity of the villagers and the lord.
“What… I like it because it looks peaceful, but what?”
Unlike the angry party members, the warrior’s party was a little different.
“I like to see people being so excited about it even though they are relaxed rather than cowering in fear.”
“What… That’s not wrong either. Tsk… You backed away too much from this part.”
Saying that, Lina ate the sausage she had placed in front of her.
Mirian, who recalled the mental arithmetic predator at the sight of the stringy sausages Lina was eating, said to her brave man.
“By the way, warrior. To be honest, I didn’t expect much when I came here, but I was surprised that there was a bigger player than I thought.”
Mirian, who was unaware of the village’s behavior, thought at best that the officers were digging ore using demons or undead.
However, I never dreamed that a powerful witch like a mental arithmetic predator could barely work as a miner.
“Huh… To be honest, I never imagined it would turn out to be this big. It’s not confirmed yet, but it’s sure to be intertwined with executives and above.”
“More than an executive…”
Speaking of more than a cadre, of course, it was not the demon king, but the corps commander of the demon king’s army who leads and manages the cadres.
Unlike officers who had only words and no power, the corps commander was a powerful demon who was still fighting against humanity on the frontlines, leading at least thousands to tens of thousands of soldiers and officers.
That much iron and growth stones were gathered and it was enough to manage dozens of monsters like rock predators, so it was virtually certain that there would be a commander in the Demon King’s army.
“… The corps commander will be waiting for you, so you have to become stronger than now…”
The warrior has never met the corps commander in person, but rumor has it that he is a fearsome being far beyond the human realm.
Of course, since it was a rumor, you would have to filter it to some extent, but it was all just rumors that made your ears suspicious, such as cutting a mountain with a single swing of a sword or annihilating thousands of soldiers with a single stroke of magic.
‘Can I win… ?’
The hero said that he was the chosen one, but he doubted whether he could really defeat such a monstrous tribe.
Perhaps recognizing the hero’s anxiety, Lina asked the intimidated hero.
“… Hero, didn’t I tell you to leave the tracking to the guild? Then how about leaving and training somewhere else in the meantime?”
“Different place?”
“Yeah, I think there must be a good place to train magic or divine power, like the academy where Yuria came out, for example… It will take time, so wouldn’t it be okay to go a little farther away?”
Hearing her words, YuRia opened her eyes wide and said to the hero that she had an idea.
“… Hero, I have a good idea.”
“Good idea?”
“How about going to the great library in the magical city of Elysium?”
Elysium is famous as a city of wizards, and it was a place where lords and wizards from all over the world gathered for magic training.
“Elysium is… I’ve heard rumors too, isn’t it too far away?”
“If you take an airship from Madis, a city near Tektis, you will be able to arrive in no time.”
“Airship…”
It was clear that if he went by airship, he would arrive at Elysium soon and be able to return by the time the guild scouts completed their search.
“Good… Let’s do it, that’s a very good idea!”
“Yeah, but the Great Library is a place where only wizards can enter, so non-magics can’t enter…”
After saying that, YuRia looked around at the other party members and said.
“Everyone will have a little free time… Are you fine?”
“…”
Everyone except the hero nodded her head with a bewildered look on her face, and Yuria smiled and said to the hero.
“Then it seems to have been decided… Hero, start magic training with me from now on…”
“Hero! Let’s do magic training later and do the lack of divine power training now!”
When Marta, who had meekly nodded her head, suddenly said that, Yuria said with a puzzled expression.
“… Why is that? Right now, anyone can see that we need to focus on magic training…”
“Sacred power is a matter directly related to survival. And you should prioritize divine power over magic, which cannot be expected to achieve great results right away.”
She was definitely a warrior at a certain level, but compared to that, her divine power was still immature, so the greatest growth could be expected.
In the end, when Yuria, unable to find words to refute her, kept her mouth shut, Martha approached the hero and she raised the body of the hero and said,
“Okay then, since you’ve eaten enough, let’s go train together.”
“Ah, yes… I’m sorry, but I’ll go first.”
So Marta left the bar with the hero, but she suddenly came into the bar alone without Hero, and she whispered into Yuria’s ear.
“I’m sure you won’t do the same dirty training as last time. Because of that incident, the hero went to apologize to Mr. Hod, and if you train like that again, what would the hero think of Mr. YuRia?”
“You you… !”
“Then, since I have finished talking, I will go to the warrior’s side. I hope YuRia-san will also act sensibly.”
After that, Yuria couldn’t help but stare at Marta, who ran to the hero’s side without saying anything.
“… I’ll go back to my room for now.”
“Me too…”
The atmosphere at the seat cooled down in an instant and became cold, and while the other party members left one by one, only YuRia and Rina remained.
– Gulp.
YuRia gulped down alcohol like she used to in the old days, trying to calm this resentment even a little.
Lina, who had been watching the scene with a smile on her face, said as she snatched a glass from YuRia.
“Hey, stop drinking. Who are you trying to hug again this time? The chief? Or me?”
“Noisy… Don’t mind me.”
Her fully intoxicated Yuria struggled to snatch her drink from Rina, but it didn’t go her way as her body had no strength.
“Oh really…”
Lina, who subdued Yuria, who was trying to snatch her glass, with one hand, shed tears and said to Yuria, who was trying to snatch her glass.
“Are you that upset?”
“… I’m upset, so give me a drink quickly.”
Hearing her words, Lina put her drink on the table, but when Yuria tried to take her cup, she put her hand over the cup and said,
“… If you’re that upset, can I teach you something good instead of drinking?”
At Lina’s words, Yuria turned her head from her glass to Lina’s side and looked at Lina’s mischievous face and asked.
“… What is that?”
“What do you mean…”
