A Bit of a Trek till Outside

Chapter 22 - A Bit of a Trek till Outside

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I breathe a huge sigh of relief as all the pressure I've felt since the fight started to disappear when I saw that the 『Mini-Boss』 that I fought has finally been defeated.

Got to thank the high damage of my weapon—the 『Kusanagi』 and the added 5% Critical Rate of the 『Antipathy Gloves』. As expected, these two items truly are a godsend. But nevertheless, I'm also just glad it was finally done...

"Alright, I wonder what the drop will be?"

I head towards the corpse of the 『Green Mushroom Harre』 that had turned into a 『Monster Bag』 which appearance had the same color as the boss I fought.

Thinking of the possible drop, I can't help but smile as I'm about to open the bag. Unlike the 『Real Abomination』 I fought in the Mansion—who drops an Accessory and a crafting material, this monster, albeit a 『Mini-Boss』, drops a [Weapon] instead.

I began to open the Bag which magically disappears, then came a strange feeling of an item that suddenly was teleported into my pouch. And when I took it...

"Oh! this is the..."

A small black stave and a beautiful light green orb on its crystal point—the 『Spore Staff』. This staff shoots a dozen of hovering green spores that damage the enemies the spores came in contact with. Since it's a hover type weapon, it will be pretty useful on enemies who rely solely in melee combat.

While I was in my world appreciating the beauty of the weapon I got, Lily—who finally gets out of her hiding spot came running towards me then hugs me in excitement.

"Sai, you won! You're so amazing! Hahaha!" Lily cheerfully said as she hugs me, jumping vigorously.

She looks like a kid that was gifted with her favorite present. She's probably overwhelmed in her emotions right now that she didn't care that she was hugging me right now.

"You're finally calling me Sai, huh?" I reminded with a chuckle.

Finally realizing, Lily immediately took out her embrace to me. Aw, but I'm still enjoying it though...

"Ah! S-sorry, I was being overly familiar. I—"

"No. It's okay actually." I gently replied. "I would prefer if you called me that way from now on."

I actually prefer being too familiar at the start of our relationship. Putting up a persona won't deepen your relationship as you're truly not genuine to each other.

Anyways, since the 『Mini-Boss』 is finally no more, I put the 『Spore Staff』 back into my pouch and took the 『Beaver Shark』 after.

"Ah yeah, you came here to get all those red things in the walls, right?"

"Yeah. Though it'll actually take a while so can you wait for a bit?" I remarked then began to place a Campfire at the ground. "For now, you should rest here while I mine those red things."

"Of course." Lily nodded as she gently sat on the ground. "I'm sorry for not being of help."

"It's alright. Just you being here makes me feel at ease."

I'm not lying, though. To be honest, if ever that I ventured alone here underground would make a bitter experience. I can't help but imagine how torturing it is to be stuck here for quite a while. Yes, I'm talking about Lily. I still didn't know what happened but I'm sure it's an unpleasant experience. For her to experience such tragedy and can still smile... She truly is a strong girl.

""......""

A sound of a crackling of burned woods and the clanking of my pickaxe reverberates throughout the Cavern. I shot a look at Lily whom I see was currently sat near the campfire while I mine. Were pretty tired ourselves, so I really didn't mind the quietness of the surroundings.

Though, while I ponder such things, Lily—who was concerned on something breaks the silence.

"Actually, the reason I was here is because I accidentally stepped on a teleportation trap and was teleported here..."

"Figures." I replied as I mine. "It's impossible to get here without equipping yourself a strong pickaxe like the one I had right now."

The Cave Chamber is entirely covered with a very hard rock called "Corrupted Stone". It is one of the toughest materials in the early game before the 『Chaos Mode』 begun. That's why, no ordinary pickaxe can break it; hell, even a [Bomb] or [Dynamite] won't even make a crack.

"There must be a reason you went into this Cave, right? You won't get to step one if you didn't come in the first place."

Lily begins to tell her story in full details. Where she came from, her father and his circumstances, the assassination, and the reason how she was trapped here in the caverns.

It really was a tragedy. The innocent Lily was suddenly involved on something she has zero knowledge about and now is going to live alone from now on.

After hearing her story, I was honestly quite thankful that I accidentally stepped on the trap. It was the caused that I managed to save Lily at hair width.

"You're quite the clever to use the 『Life Essence』 as your food ration." I complimented. "I guess your father was to be thankful that you're still alive until now."

"Yeah, I... Kuh..."

Lily who was overwhelmed by her emotions began to cry once again, covering her face as she sobs heavily. I—who was mining just continued to do so while she weeps, unable to say anything.

In the end, I finished everything without saying a thing. By that time, Lily had finally calmed down, and is now wiping off her tears. Her face was a mess, though.

"You alright?" I concernedly asked. "I still have plenty of water here, do you want some?"

"No, I'm okay." Lily replied with a bit of sobbing. "Thanks for your consideration."

"You can stop with the formalities, Lily." I frankly informed. "At any rate, you're awfully not alright. You should've have force yourself to tell me the story. I can just wait for it, you know?"

"You are the only person who tried to help me. You gave me food and drink, let me borrow your clothes, and even protect me from the monsters."

"Y-you're saying it like I've done so much to you..." I shyly said. "There is a person in need of help in front of me so helping you until you're okay is a given."

"You might think it's just a simple help but for me, it was everything..."

"I-is that so...?" I said as I scratch my head in embarrassment, then immediately stood up. "I'm done on my side, so we should get out of here."

"Fufu~"

I took out the Campfire and starts walking towards the passageway. Luckily, we didn't encounter any monster on our way, so we trek the underground smoothly than I expected.

Lily and I would occasionally have a conversation to kill our boredom. I openly shared my life before I started the journey, and she'll also share hers.

Just like in the game, Lily has quite the talent in archery. Since we'll be going on the same Academy, I might as well teach her more about archery.

We're walking for quite a while now. And while were deep inside our conversation, a glimpse of light came into my peripheral vision.

"Lily! That's the...!"

Seeing the faint light before us, both of us began to speed-up our pace. Looking closely, the place was faintly familiar to the place that I last saw before I was teleported. And at last,

All the remaining pressure inside my body starts to dissipate. I can't help but squint my eyes rapidly as my eyes became sensitive due to how long I was in a dark area. Nonetheless, it was the place that I remembered before I was teleported.

"I-I can't believe it..." Tears began to fall out of Lily's eyes, then suddenly falls into her feet. "It really is the outside... sob! sob!"

I started caressing the back of Lily who was weeping in happiness.

After that and I noticed a person in front of us. It was Luna, who is slumped on a wall and is fast asleep. Poor girl, she must have waited for me here for so long...

Now that I think about it, I'm also feeling exhausted. I still haven't gotten a proper rest since we left on our journey. I'm probably going to sleep like a log after this. Anyways,

"Luna, wake-up." I gently tap the face of sleeping Luna.

With just a faint tap to her cheeks, Luna groaned and started to open her eyes slowly. Her beautiful blue eyes start to wander around and when it directed at me, her eyes widened and leaped at me. I who was startled hurriedly catches her—and when I did, Luna hugged me tightly.

"Master!" Tears appeared in the corner of Luna's eyes. "Thank goodness you're okay!"

She must have been really worried, huh. I'm really glad she stayed here instead of calling for help. it would be quite problematic if someone knew about this.

Luna after leaping into me widened her eyes when she saw a girl behind me.

"Master, who is that person behind your back?" Luna calmly asked.

"Ah, this girl is Lily." I introduced as I gestured with my palm. "Apparently, looks like she was also trapped here."

"I see. And?"

I kept my face as expressionless as possible. Because to be honest, her current demeanor was kind of scary right now....

I let out a small sigh and told Luna everything that happened inside the Cave Chamber. Of course, I asked for her permission in which she immediately agreed upon.

"I see, so that's what happened to you..." Luna's brow dropped dejectedly. "I'm so sorry for earlier."

"N-no, it's alright. Moreover, I was saved by Sai so I'm okay now..."

"Um... It's getting pretty late now so we need to get out of here." I informed, then turned to Luna." Luna, can Lily come with us?"

"Of course, Master." Luna nodded, then shifted to Lily. "It might be a little late now but I'm Luna. Nice to meet you Lily-san."

"Yes. My name is Lily—Lily Helianthus." Lily gracefully bowed. "You can call me Lily, nice to meet you, Luna-san."

"Yes. You can call me Luna too." Luna replied also with a bow.

"I'm glad to know you're both already close." I said and began to walk. "Come on, let's get out of here."

""Yes!!"" Both girls replied in unison and started following me.