Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 029
Chapter Title: Episode 007 (4)
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5.
—Clang clang.
……Scraaaape!
"Sa-save me……!!"
Not far off in the forest beyond, the clash of blades rang out alongside screams from who-knew-who, echoing endlessly without respite.
The trial had begun about ten days ago.
Even though plenty of time remained before the month was up, a portion of the Red Bone Mountains was engulfed in untimely chaos and clamor.
As if reacting to the uproar and noise, the monsters' ferocity boiled over in kind.
———Grraaaaaah.
Kuhn brushed past the din and disorder pouring in from all sides without a care, continuing to shift his position.
He leaped freely between thick branches, his sharp gaze scanning the forest and mountainsides.
The three days' worth of jerky he'd been issued at the start was long gone.
He'd gathered fruits, mushrooms, and the like in advance bit by bit, but even that wouldn't last more than a couple of days.
But—
'Securing food matters, but first things first: shelter from the rain?'
He looked up, and there along one edge of the mountain sky, heavy gray clouds sprawled thick and dark.
Clouds visibly laden with rain—a squall.
'That scale… it's no ordinary squall. A squall line fits the bill.'
Squall line.
Not just a brief downpour, but a relentless band of heavy rain lasting days on end—a kind of storm front.
Until now, clear weather had let him sleep in the trees without proper shelter, but once the rains truly hit, that wouldn't be feasible anymore.
And the rains would start today.
As if heralding the fact, the forest air already hung thick with moisture.
'Heavy rains will swell the rivers, so steer clear of valleys or spots prone to flash floods……'
Shelter took priority over foraging.
Strapped to Kuhn's waist were four swords in total—the original issued one plus three more.
Trophies seized from the Shagal brothers.
Each time Kuhn kicked off a branch to leap, the scabbards clinked against one another, the sound resounding ceaselessly.
After scouring the mountainside for some time like this, what Kuhn spotted was a massive shadow carved into a cleft between boulders.
Unlike a typical shadow, this one draped in a slightly distorted shape.
'That……'
His wealth of field experience let him recognize it at a glance. Such a shadow only formed if an unexpectedly vast space lay behind the rock.
And in those cases, it sometimes led to a stone gate formation, where the forward boulder acted like a giant door guarding a cave.
A cave would serve perfectly for rain shelter—and as a base.
Peering around the back with that in mind, Kuhn muttered in disappointment soon after.
'Well, damn. Close, but no cigar.'
Sure enough, a sizable cave mouth yawned behind the boulder.
The entrance was narrow—barely enough for one person to squeeze through—but the interior looked spacious and deep.
Size-wise, it was more than ample for use as shelter.
The problem was the spiderweb traces draped all around that tight entrance.
Which meant some spider or similar arthropod or insect-type beast had likely claimed the depths as its lair.
Such creatures were far more troublesome than standard monsters.
Especially if fought inside their own domain.
The difficulty would skyrocket.
'Of course, with my current strength, nothing I couldn't beat……'
Still, hours remained before the rains hit. No need to bother with the hassle just yet.
As Kuhn wrapped up his thoughts and turned to leave the cave mouth—
A few strands of fur in a distinctive hue caught on the webs and scattered haphazardly snagged his eye.
The somehow familiar texture made him halt unconsciously. He tilted his head and muttered.
'…Why the hell is this here?'
Golden hue tinged red.
Fox kit fur, unmistakable—caught grotesquely in the webs.
.
.
Thud, thud—
Dry cave floor, almost moistureless, pressed against his shoe soles.
Nothing like the damp dankness most imagined in caves.
This felt more like a massive burrow used by bears or similar wild beasts.
Stepping deeper inside, Kuhn let out a short sigh.
Hoo—
'What am I even doing, putting myself through this?'
No helping it, though. He'd double-checked: the distorted fur at the entrance was definitely the kit's. And he'd received favors from it.
If it were some random beast or blood enemy, maybe different.
But ignoring the burrow after that debt nagged at him uncomfortably.
Not long after venturing inside like this.
Confirming not a speck of light penetrated the depths, Kuhn spoke.
"Monkey's Eye."
⟨ Monkey's Eye ⟩
In the world of the nether realms, legend told of a monkey-formed beast king who pierced the dark with these eyes to sift out evil.
This spell, derived from that tale, granted sight straight through darkness, literally as named.
'Of course, higher mastery unlocks even greater feats—'
For now, mere illumination was the limit.
The spell activated, and Kuhn's eyes erupted in eerie crimson glow, unique to him, banishing the surrounding gloom.
—Fwoooosh!
The cave darkness retreated in a stride.
What emerged matched Kuhn's expectations closely.
'As expected.'
Unlike the barely one-person entrance, a broader-than-anticipated passage snaked inward.
Webs scattered along the walls like territorial markers. And—
Kuhn's fingertips brushed the wall where something glinted amid the gaps.
'A vein?'
A faint dark crimson ore vein traced the wall.
Too sparse to mine easily, and tricky to extract besides.
Among the myriad ores in the Red Bone Mountains, only one bore such a unique shade.
Kuhn murmured its name cautiously.
'Kalior.'
Also called blood gold.
This metal, named for the goddess of destruction Kalior, gleamed dark crimson and hardened further the more blood it absorbed.
Hence its use in demon swords or cursed blades.
'Value: over thirty times pure gold by weight.'
Rare to find, let alone mine—it fetched whatever price asked.
Who'd have thought a blood gold vein stretched into this cave.
'Not a huge amount……'
Still, enough to forge an impure dagger at least, if extracted and taken back. No longsword, but serviceable.
A few minutes later.
At the passage's end, Kuhn faced a sheer drop like a cavern cliff.
Whiiish—
Cold wind rose from below, tousling his hair. Depth: about four or five meters.
'Not a cliff—more like a cavern proper?'
The passage connected to the wall a few meters above the floor, creating the illusion.
Vast enough to swallow a whole house.
Webs and traces like those in the passage blanketed the interior thickly.
And dangling amid them: beast corpses, skeletons, cocoons.
A grotesque scene, stench of rot practically wafting.
As Kuhn's brow furrowed at the nose-stinging reek—
His shifting gaze locked on one spot.
Something amid the long-dangling cocoons from the webs.
A protruding muzzle piercing the cocoons, ringed in reddish-gold fur, perked ears.
The muzzle rose and fell with breath—undeniably alive.
Yet Kuhn didn't leap down to rescue it.
————Chill.
The unease building since arriving spiked to its peak, a cold warning racing down his spine.
The next instant, BOOMCRASH!
A massive bulk slammed straight into the passage mouth where Kuhn had stood.
Not enough to collapse the whole thing, but plenty to crumble his footing!
Rattle-rattle—
Debris rained down; floor skeletons clattered, kicking up dust.
In the nick of time, Kuhn dropped into the cavern depths and looked up.
Confirming his attacker's identity.
—Krrrr.
Body length alone: six to eight meters easy.
Compound eyes shrunken to near-rudiments; jaws tough enough to gnaw stone.
Crimson carapace, hundreds of legs wrapping the ceiling as it skittered forth.
'Hundred Boots.'
Also dubbed the mine digger—a specimen transcending its kind's limits, glaring down.
—Krrrrra.