64
Chapter 64
After completely replenishing our Mana.
We immediately got up and resumed our journey.
"Hehe, let's go!"
"Ooh!"
We traveled for about two hours like that.
And strangely enough, the path to our destination was incredibly smooth.
Not a single accident or incident had occurred during our entire trip so far.
It wasn't that we didn't encounter any monsters.
We did run into wild monsters a few times.
However, those encounters never escalated into battles.
Fortunately enough.
The monsters we encountered were either docile or completely uninterested in us.
The world looked entirely different today.
This world was never originally such a peaceful place.
The discrepancy between this and the world I'd experienced so far was far too massive.
Perhaps this was also the power of the Luck Domain.
***
It felt like about three hours had passed.
From the halfway point, we used our respective movement skills to increase our Speed.
Despite that, we still hadn't reached our destination.
When on earth would we arrive?
I hadn't heard it was this far?
Of course, I hadn't heard it was close either.
"Ooh, ooooooh. Oooooh."
While we were running.
Tosuni said something to Fox.
"Eh? When will we arrive?"
Fox twitched her ears and reacted.
It seemed she was asking when we would get there.
Tosuni had the exact same thought as me.
"We're probably about halfway there now!"
"Ooh, oooooh."
"Don't worry! I definitely know the right way!"
Halfway, huh....
Then we should be able to reach our destination before it gets dark.
Though returning to the Dungeon today would be out of the question.
Simply considering the round-trip time, there'd be no problem returning today.
Because we'd have plenty of time to get back before night falls.
However, since mining the Natural Mana Stones was expected to take quite a long time, it seemed we'd have to spend the night out. I didn't tell Ailee we'd be staying out tonight, but I didn't tell her we'd return today either, so it shouldn't be an issue.
Though it might cause her a little bit of worry.
"Haaaaaalt!"
In an instant, Fox came to a sudden stop.
She flailed her arms and changed direction.
Then she pointed at a specific spot.
"Huhehe! I found a shortcut!"
Another shortcut?
Fox had mentioned countless shortcuts up until now.
But we had never actually taken a single one of them.
Because she'd always add that it was slightly dangerous, we chose to give up on the shortcuts and take the safer, longer routes instead.
There was no reason to take unnecessary risks just to get there faster.
It was the same this time.
If Fox said it was dangerous, I planned to abandon the idea without hesitation.
"Gom-jjang! To-jjang! That shortcut isn't dangerous at all! It's actually the safest route!"
Fox declared.
It's actually a safer route?
If so, there was no reason not to use it.
Unless you were completely out of your mind, who would turn down a shortcut that was even safe?
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
I trotted over and approached behind Fox.
Then I stared at the place she was looking at.
Hm? What is that?
Right before my eyes was a Wooden Slide.
The slide stretched out so long that its end was out of sight.
It somehow looked like a water slide.
Was it a structure created by nature?
Or artificially by someone?
If so, who would have built such a structure?
Even having these doubts didn't give me any answers.
I didn't know how it was made, but anyway, that seemed to be the shortcut Fox was talking about.
"It's super fun if we travel riding this! What are you going to do?"
"Oooooh."
Tosuni looked at me.
Once again, her eyes seemed to say she was leaving the choice to me.
It wasn't that she couldn't make a choice herself, but she was probably implicitly acknowledging me as the leader of the group.
Nod, nod.
I nodded my head in agreement.
It was a safe shortcut, and on top of that, it looked fun, so of course we had to go.
"Hehe, then I'll go first! You guys just have to follow me!"
Hop!
Clutching the luggage she packed tightly in her arms, Fox jumped with all her might from her spot and landed on the Wooden Slide.
Her body slid right down and began to descend rapidly.
"Huhehehehe!!!"
As Fox's cheerful laughter faded into the distance.
Jump!
Following her, Tosuni also clutched her luggage tightly and leaped up from her spot.
Plop. Having landed on the slide in an awkward posture, Tosuni slid down following Fox.
"Oooooooh!!!"
Tosuni's scream faded away.
Next.
Finally, I jumped from my spot and got on the Wooden Slide.
Gom-plop.
It was an absolutely perfect landing.
Gooooooom!!!
Like that, following the girls who went first, I rapidly slid down toward the bottomless abyss.
This was much more fun than I expected.
It felt like riding an amusement park ride.
***
When we had been going down for about 10 minutes.
The end of the Wooden Slide came into view in the distance.
A wave of regret washed over me.
This fun thing was already over?
No way! I want to ride it moooore!
"Huyahoo!"
"Oooooh!"
Fox, Tosuni, me.
In that order, we shot off the end of the Wooden Slide and flew into the air.
Our flight through the sky was brief.
We were immediately pulled down by gravity and plummeted.
Thump!
Plop.
Gom-plop.
Where we fell was a hard ground with a vermilion base dotted with black spots.
But the ground was moving?
The ground moved forward, swaying slightly up and down as if it were breathing.
...No, wait a minute.
This isn't the ground, is it?
I jumped up from my spot.
The result of my quick check.
The place we had fallen was none other than the glossy carapace of a giant ladybug.
A situation where we accidentally landed on the back of one of the many ladybug monsters moving in a swarm.
Fox and Tosuni also noticed this fact a little late.
"Gasp? Emergency, emergency! These weird-looking guys kidnapped us!"
Fox was making a fuss as she stood up.
Tosuni patted Fox's back to calm her down.
"Ooooh? Ooooooh, oooooh."
"Ah! You're right! We weren't kidnapped! We just hopped onto their backs without permission!"
The ladybugs continued running without stopping.
Completely ignoring us.
[Mask Ladybug lv.40]
┗Pw.120
┗Rnk.Superior
The guys also knew we were on top of them.
Because the ladybugs following from behind would glance at us every now and then.
Perhaps they had very docile personalities, or maybe they just didn't sense any hostility from us, so they didn't seem to care.
Whatever the case.
It didn't seem like we'd be fighting these ladybugs.
"Eh? The direction these guys are running is exactly the same as our destination! I think we can just keep riding them!"
"Ooh?"
Oh, really?
That works out perfectly.
I was planning to look for an opportunity and jump off at a suitable spot, but since they're heading in the same direction as our destination, there's no need to get off.
What good luck.
I wonder if this is also the power of the Luck Domain?
Luck, luck, luck!
We settled down and took a seat on the ladybug's shell.
This autonomous driving is pretty sweet.
As we traveled comfortably, I turned my head and observed the faces of the ladybugs one by one.
The ladybugs' faces were diverse.
The face of a Venomfang Rat.
The face of a Thunder Ant.
The face of a Barrier Spider.
The face of a Thorn Boar.
The face of a Shadow Wolf.
On top of that, there were faces of monsters I was seeing for the first time.
It seemed these ladybugs were capable of mimicking the faces of creatures they had eaten or encountered.
It's quite fun to look at.
The journey won't be boring at all.
***
After traveling for a long time.
"Ah, we have to get off now! We need to go over there!"
"Ooh!"
The moment to disembark had arrived.
We simultaneously jumped off the ladybug's shell.
Then, after landing safely on a side path, we waved at the retreating backs of the indifferent ladybugs.
"Thanks for the ride! Bye-bye!"
"Ooooooh!"
Thanks, ladybugs!
Thanks to you, we were able to get here comfortably!
I really wanted to give them some fare if I could.
But since they've already left, it can't be helped.
"Let's get moving again, too! We just have to go a little further from here!"
"Ooh!"
Tap tap tap tap.
Trot trot trot trot.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
We started moving again at a leisurely pace, and not long after.
"We've arrived!"
"Ooh!"
We reached the entrance of a certain cave.
This cave seemed to be the native habitat of the Natural Mana Stones that Fox had mentioned.
Phew. We finally arrived at our destination.
"Follow me inside!"
"Ooh!"
The inside of the cave was ordinary.
It was a moderate size, neither too big nor too small.
And let alone Mana Stones, not even a single ordinary mineral could be seen.
It was completely empty.
"Actually, we haven't arrived yet! To get Natural Mana Stones, we have to go deep into the cave!"
"Ooh?!"
"And I know a shortcut to the deep part of the cave! This shortcut isn't dangerous at all either, so trust me and follow!"
Just how many shortcuts did she know?
She really was a Guide Fox, wasn't she.
Fox moved forward while looking around.
About 10 minutes into moving like that.
Fox suddenly wagged her tail and hurriedly ran toward the cave wall.
"Found it! Right here is the shortcut!"
There was a narrow crevice in the cave wall she pointed at.
It was a passage narrow enough that a Human would have to turn sideways to move through, but it was wide enough for us to enter.
But how did she really know about a path like that?
It was a place you would have carelessly passed by if you hadn't been moving while carefully examining the wall.
You wouldn't even know there was a crevice unless you looked closely.
It was even less noticeable because the inside of the crevice was dark and no light leaked out.
"Ooh, ooooooh."
"You're asking if it's too dark inside? Don't worry, it gets brighter as you go in a bit."
Saying so, Fox squeezed her body into the crevice first.
Tosuni and I also trusted Fox and followed her in.
Just as Fox said.
As we walked a little, the space truly began to brighten.
The passage was gradually widening, too.
While we were moving like that.
A forked path appeared in front of us.
"Ah, it's a crossroad. From here, we need to take the left path─"
"Ooooh?!"
Without even listening to Fox's words to the end.
Sniff sniff! Tosuni flared her nostrils as if she caught a scent, and suddenly started running urgently down the right path.
"Eh!? Not that way! We have to take the left path! Stoooooop!"
Flustered, Fox chased after Tosuni.
I also used the Rolling skill and followed them.
At the end of the short chase.
Fox and I discovered Tosuni's back, standing restlessly in the distance.
"Ooh, ooooooh!"
"Ugh, urgh......."
In front of Tosuni, someone was sitting slumped with their back leaning against the wall.
While injured.
A woman with a familiar face, letting out painful moans.
...Huh? Miss Vampire?