Snake hunting (1)
When I opened my eyes in the morning, I saw Douglas, the last person in charge of the night watch, poking a bonfire with a tinder.
“Are you awake?”
“Yes, are you not tired?”
“When I get old, I don’t sleep in the morning, so it’s okay. Rather woke up earlier. If it was going to be like this, you should have stood up one more round first.”
Shaking off the light drowsiness that still remained, I stretched and relaxed my slightly stiffened body.
When I turned my head to the side, I saw that Rize was sleeping soundly in the sleeping bag.
Rize was happy until she went to sleep, but seeing her like this, I also felt that she was making her suffer for nothing.
So one by one, the clergy and the party straightened their seats and prayed to their respective gods.
In the meantime, Irina and I prepared a light breakfast, and Rize, who smelled the scent, got up for the last time and everyone sat around to greet the morning.
It was the same yesterday as well, but while everyone was eating well, Astell ate as if he were eating poisonous delicacies.
“All of Irvin’s dishes are delicious. The food given at church is the taste of being healthy, but this is just like gaining weight.”
“Right? My dad’s cooking is the best.”
“I’d rather be by Irvin’s side. lize would be nice I’m not going to eat this every day. If you become independent, you should actively encourage eating meat.”
I wondered if a priest could say something like that.
In the first place, the meals eaten by religious people had no choice but to exclude stimulating tastes.
Overcoming the temptation of food is also a kind of mental training.
I’m not the type to use that taste too much, but I prepared dishes that are light but strong at the time of the ruins exploration.
It seemed like that alone made a huge difference to Astel.
I was worried about when I would be able to rebuild Digenaism with that.
Even so, when I saw her praying for thanks and helping to clean up after the meal, she looked fine again.
After cleaning up the bedding, Astell and Hudson put on the armor they had taken off all night, and Rize, who was watching them, tilted her head and asked,
“Isn’t it hot wearing that?”
The heat delivered by the sun, which suddenly poked its head out, was already hot.
Under such scorching sunlight, no matter how much a cape was worn, it made me wonder why he was walking in full body armor like that.
The one who answered that question was Grace, who was next to her.
“Because me and the other two are both blessed by God. It protects the body from environmental hazards, such as extreme heat or cold.”
“Wow, then you were okay walking in the desert?”
“I do feel the heat to some extent, but… … Even if my physical strength is low, I can make up for it with divine power, so I was able to come more easily than others.”
“If you have divine power, that is possible. The priests are amazing.”
At Rize’s admiring words, Grace smiled and calmly expressed her gratitude, and Hudson nodded once with her eyes closed.
Only Astel did not know the word humility.
“Huh, isn’t it great? This is Di Zena-sama’s power. how is it? Rize also gathers Dee Gena-sama with me, uwaaagh!”
“Where are you trying to trick me into taking my daughter away?”
Since I added a useless sound, I grabbed Astel’s head and shook it up and down.
Seeing Astel screaming and swaying helplessly, I felt a sense of exhilaration.
For some reason, when I saw Astel, I strangely wanted to torment him.
He might have been born with the ability to provoke to the point where he was chosen by Dijenna.
“Dad, can I use divine power too?”
After punishing Astel like that, Rize expressed such a question.
After looking at Grace and Hudson once, I turned my gaze back to Rize and opened my mouth.
“If you pray hard every day, help those in need, and follow the teachings of God, he will surely lend you his strength.”
I didn’t even say that I didn’t lend it anyway.
Still, it was because I felt that it would be different for Rize.
Glancing at Grace and Hudson, the satisfied smiles seemed to indicate that they hadn’t given the wrong answer.
After all, the spies dispatched by the Dark Truth Church were also using divine power, so there was no reason why they couldn’t use Rize.
If it’s to save the world, won’t you help me at least once?
If not, now I have no choice but to go to the gods.
At my words, Rize thought deeply, and in the meantime, everyone was able to finish their exploration preparations.
“First of all, could you share the results of your research around here so far?”
“Yes, I have some things organized in my spare time.”
At my words, Grace took out a piece of paper from her bosom and held it out. When she opened it, a picture was drawn that seemed to outline the area.
“I drew all the traces of the ruins I found while wandering around. I tried to connect the lines along the corners or walls, but there are some that are medium heating, so I only marked them as they are visible.”
There will also be buildings that have collapsed as they are covered in sand.
It was clear that it would be difficult to find out what the complete form was unless all of this sand was dug up.
I knew exactly which side the entrance was on, but I pretended to be worried while looking at the map, and Douglas and Irina also stared at the picture and thought.
As if I wanted to see it myself, I handed the paper to Rize, who was holding up her tiptoe, and said,
“Would you take a look at Rize and tell me where you think the entrance is?”
“Yeah, I’ll look for it too.”
Rize, who had just received the guidance, moved her head back and forth for a while, comparing the picture with the actual landscape, then turned and steered her body correctly.
Then he looked at the paper carefully, then raised his head again and looked at the ruins carefully this time.
After a while, he tapped on a part and pointed to it.
“I think it will be here.”
“Why did you think that?”
“This side and this side don’t line up with other places, so it looks like it’s collapsing, and the places where the lines line up don’t look like buildings. If you connect here and here, you can see a large building. Could it be that only this place was built stronger than other places so it did not collapse? So, if there is a holy relic, I think it would be in this building.”
Those who watched Rize’s story, which continued step by step, nodded involuntarily.
I couldn’t help but be surprised, because I actually found the exact location of the dungeon.
It was also a good excuse for me to think about how to induce judo this way.
“Then let’s go this way today. Any other opinions?”
I asked if I wanted to, but no other opinion came out.
The three people who were investigating first were people who did not know the details of the ruins, and Douglas and Irina were completely left to me.
That’s how I led the party side by side with Rize and took a seat near the entrance.
It was a little higher than the rest of the area, and the corner of the ruins was exposed between the sand dunes on one side.
Sitting in front of it, I took out a shovel from my bag and stuck it in, then took out five guns.
It was fortunate that I had brought enough of it, so there was no shortage of things.
He picked up one of them and held it out to Astel first.
“What are you doing? green onion.”
“Me?”
“We should dig together. Or do you have any other sharp tricks?”
“… … .”
From noble mtl dot com
there can’t be
Originally, I was going to try another method, but there were so many people, so there was no reason to risk it.
Because this method was the simplest, standard, and safest method.
“First of all, let’s try to find the wall of the ruins along the line that leads from the corner you see there. Rize just needs to cool down the surroundings a bit like she did on the carriage. Understand?”
“huh! I’ll make you cool!”
It was a time when he was going to give out shovels to others after giving Rize a role, and entrust Grace with restoring physical strength and treating the injured.
“Are you okay for a moment?”
It was Irina who had been thinking for a while with her shovel stuck in the ground.
As everyone’s eyes focused, Irina looked at Astel and said.
“There is one thing I want to ask you… … Didn’t Dee Zena say that she was the goddess of the earth?”
“Yes, it is. The one who protects the fertile Mother Earth is Dee Gena. In case you’re interested… … .”
“If I ask Dee Gena, wouldn’t it be possible to expose the entrance?”
“… … .”
Everyone, including me, looked at Astel with wide eyes at the completely unexpected words.
It was the same with Astel, so she stood firm with a clear expression of embarrassment, then lowered her head.
After a while, Astel raised her head and asked in a stupid voice.
“Uh, shall we try?”
* * *
Astel’s prayer was successful.
Not just the ruins in front of me, but the entire ruins were shaken, and the sand began to come out as if something was sucking it from the bottom.
As the sand disappeared, the true nature of the ruins was revealed, and along with the surrounding buildings, it was possible to find a place that was used as a road.
Was this really the place that had to do with Dee Jena?
When I came alone, I couldn’t find any trace.
The ruins, which were lower than the surrounding area and mostly exposed, were more like places to enshrine gods than villages.
None of the buildings in the vicinity, including the largest building right in front of it, were residential.
“This works.”
When the door to the temple was finally revealed, Astel voiced that she couldn’t believe it even if she thought about it.
After raising Astel, he took the lead and opened the door to the temple ruins.
It was darker than I thought, as if the light wasn’t coming in, so I turned on the magic lamp I brought to illuminate the surroundings.
The passageway, where four people could pass through, was completely buried in sand, so it was very well preserved.
When Irina, who entered last, followed my instructions and closed the door, the atmosphere became even more gloomy.
With Astel standing at the head of the shield, we started advancing into the ruins.
“It is very quiet.”
“Since we’ve been in the sand for at least a few hundred years, we must be our guests after a long time.”
“You mean to be polite?”
“No, I’m telling you not to relax and be careful.”
I said that to Astel and swung my sword at a snake that fell over it.
“Shh!”
With a short breath, the decapitated creature wriggled on the floor a few times before falling limp.
Even in that state, the sight of him threatening to ask me something with his mouth wide open was quite creepy.
Realizing that a snake as thick as his forearm had almost bitten him, Astell swallowed his saliva and asked cautiously.
“Irvin, would you like to change seats?”
“What if I get scared while wearing the armor?”
“But they say they’ll pierce through your armor!”
“I’ll kill you before that, so practice hitting it with a shield.”
I hated Astel, who was trying to come back, and encouraged me by pushing the back.
I didn’t know all the locations of the snakes, but it wasn’t hard to spot them the moment they were about to attack.
Still, I moved on with my nerves on edge in case I missed something.
A few of them were cut down by Hudson behind me before I could warn them, and Douglas and Irina were protecting Rize from the back, so I didn’t think I had to worry.
However, he couldn’t let his guard down because he remembered what had happened in the process of finding the holy relic before.
This time, I will absolutely protect Rize.
With that thought in mind, as we continued to cut down the pouring snakes and proceeded to the inside, Astell spoke with tears in his eyes.
“Wow, that’s disgusting. Too many. Irvin, can you tell me where you appear?”
“How am I supposed to know that? Even if you get hurt anyway, Priest Grace will treat you, so trust your strong body and keep moving forward.”
This guy knows his physical abilities well, but I don’t know why he’s so scared.
Or is it really simply afraid of snakes?
As I was thinking about how to appease her, I suddenly heard Rize’s voice.
“There are four of them at the top about 5 meters in front, and two on the floor close to the wall.”
At that, Astell stopped walking, and when I raised the magic lamp and adjusted the brightness to shine forward, I could see four snakes clinging to the ceiling and two snakes on the floor, just as Rize had said. .
Turning her head and looking at Rize, she cautiously added her words with a slightly embarrassed expression.
“I want to help… … I tried some detection magic.”
I’m dying pretty, really.