Chapter 115-116

Chapter 115 – We fought the old man!!

"This is bad!"

I said as I created a powerful Shield in front of us, right before the man's face hit us.

However, once he saw that there was a shield, the old man suddenly changed directions.

It moved away and then landed at the top of one of the towers.

"Is…that a Chimera?"

Fule asked. Well, it had four legs like a Chimera. And it had a lion's mane. However, it was bald on the top of its head…

Still, I couldn't see any snake-tail or the head of a goat on its back.

This creature had a thorny tail and the face of a human man. These were not features you would find on a Chimera.

"No, that's not a Chimera… It's a Manticore!"

Aries muttered. And so I turned to her.

"A Manticore?"

"Yes. Though, I have never seen one before. They are said to have poisonous needles on their tails, and they attack with sharp claws and fangs. They are much more dangerous than a Chimera!"

Shiel nodded as if to agree with everything that Aries said.

"I see. That's why even the Chimera were frightened. Still…"

The Manticore was looking at us with an expression that seemed very sad.

Not only that, but it let out groaning sounds like 'Uuuuuu…' and 'ooooooo.'

…I wished that it wouldn't do that.

But after a moment, the Manticore suddenly let out a great howl, 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!'

And then it pointed its tail at us and unleashed its needles.

"The poison needles!?"

They weren't just poison needles.

Some were as long as spears, but others were the size of sewing needles.

And now they were coming down on us like rain.

However, Shield was still able to stop every single one of them.

The needles sparkled as specks of light when they bounced off. It was clear that they were magic, and not real needles.

However, the attacks kept coming.

That Manticore's magic reserve was immense. If it attacked only with magic, it would be able to repeat the last attack many, many times.

"Damn it…I'll have to take it down then."

It was hard to be enthusiastic about it, when it had such a human-like face.

And one that looked so sad… You could feel a sense of loneliness from it.

As I thought of such things, the Manticore moved away from the tower.

Perhaps it had realized that it could not break through my Shield, and now it was jumping towards us while firing its needles.

"No!"

It was so fast that I wasn't able to react in time.

Perhaps being protected by the Shield had made me lower my guard.

The Manticore was close to us now.

It charged towards the Shield and…rammed its head right into it.

"Ooooooo…"

It let out a cry of pain. Then it slid down the shield as if wiping it clean.

It landed on the ground with a great earth-shaking thud.

Then it rolled onto its back and held its head.

"It self-destructed…"

"Uh, I knew that they were not the smartest of creatures…but I didn't know it was this bad…"

Fule and Aries were both stunned.

"Well, you know, the Shield is clear. So it must have been difficult to see! You shouldn't be so harsh on it!"

I muttered, as I couldn't help but feel sorry for the thing.

While the Manticore was still twitching, it didn't look like it would be able to continue fighting.

"It's breathing. But…"

I wasn't able to tame it, which suggested it was still hostile towards us.

Perhaps if it felt a little more pain, it would be possible… But I couldn't do that, not in this condition.

"I guess I could defeat it painlessly… Or maybe we could trap it in a cage?… Hmm?"

A man had suddenly appeared in front of the Manticore, and he was spreading out his arms as if to stop us.

"Mappa…"

Mappa then put his hands together and looked at us with big, teary eyes as if pleading with us.

"Co-could it be…that Old Mappa wants to keep it?"

Fule asked. Mappa nodded his head.

And so I said to Mappa,

"Hey, now. That's not a dog… It's incredibly dangerous. We don't want to kill it, but…"

If we left it here, it might attack us again. But it would be too dangerous to take it to the surface without taming it.

However, Mappa would not give up.

It was unusual for Mappa to ask for something so desperately. Perhaps he felt a kinship, due to their similar appearance…

"That being said… Huh?"

The Manticore who was behind him, looked at Mappa and suddenly started to cry, 'Aaaaaawwaaaa…'

Mappa then walked up to it and began to pet its bald head.

After that, he pulled out some dried fish from somewhere, and fed it to the Manticore.

The Manticore ate the fish and finally stopped crying.

Mappa then patted it on the head as if to say that he was very proud of how brave it was being.

Was that Manticore just a child… Oh?

<<There is a tamable monster. Will you tame it?>>

Apparently, it was no longer hostile.

"Good job, Mappa. So, you really want to take care of it?"

Mappa nodded his head eagerly.

"Alright, I'll tame it then."

And like that, the island had a new resident.

The Manticore was named Coppa, and it was to be looked after by Mappa.

0

0

0

Chapter 116 – A Reliable Man!!

"OOOHH!"

Coppa howled happily when Mappa got onto its back.

Mappa also looked like he was having fun as he made Coppa run.

"They're already friends."

Muttered Fule. Then Mappa slapped Coppa's rear as if to tell us to get on as well.

"Uh… I think I'll pass. Besides, Lord Heal. Are we really going to take Coppa with us?

Aries answered her first.

"I think that would be a great idea! It keeps the other monsters away!"

"I see. The other Chimeras won't come near us if they hear its voice."

Fule agreed as I nodded.

"Yes, we should be able to avoid any fighting. Coppa. Will you come with us?"

"Oooo!"

"I guess that's a yes?"

I asked, and Mappa nodded eagerly as he petted Coppa's smooth head.

"Alright then, let's go. Shiel, if you could lead the way."

And with that, Shiel began to move through the underground city.

We passed the same storage house on the way.

But the Chimeras still seemed to be afraid of Coppa, and they would not come near us.

"Things are a lot easier now… Hmm, are there?"

After about ten more minutes passed, Shiel suddenly stopped.

Apparently, the giant, round building in front of us housed the machine.

"We need to fix what is in here."

Shiel's body shook vertically.

"Then let's go in. But we don't know what might be waiting for us inside, so be careful."

And with that, I tried to enter the building.

However, I paused upon seeing the condition the door was in.

"It's broken… Did the Chimeras do this?"

"Then they might still be inside?"

Fule suggested, and Shiel nodded.

"I'll cast Shield and walk in the lead then."

I walked over the remains of the door and came out into a hallway.

It went out into a straight line with no branching paths.

However, there were Shining Stones in the walls and ceiling, making the path very bright.

"It's a nice hallway. Ah, we're almost there."

Once we were out of the hallway, we were in a wide open space the size of some temple.

"Uh, what is this…?"

Much like the other places we had seen, everything was white and uniform.

However, when I looked at the floor, I saw that there were lots of fragments of metal scattered everywhere.

And there were also some blue, glowing stones among them.

After gathering them all, I realized they were Mithril, Magic Stones, and Heart Stones.

"So, are they the remains of Golems? Something like this has happened before."

"Yes, the place with the wine."

As Fule said, this wasn't the first time we encountered the remains of Golems.

There had also been fallen Golems in the temple where I found the first Ascending Stone.

"Did they just fall down naturally? I wonder."

However, these Golems were made of Mithril.

It was hard to believe they would just crumble like rock.

…Could it be the work of Chimeras? However, judging by the fragments, these Golems were equipped with swords and armor. Could the claws and fangs really turn them into rubble?

In fact, even Shiel looked very surprised by this scene.

"In any case, that can wait. We should continue on our way and fix the machine, Shiel."

As if she suddenly remembered about that, Shiel turned around and headed for the room in the back.

Here, there were numerous metal pipes that wound into each other in a complex nest.

"So this is it. I see, it is definitely broken."

There were several places where the pipes had burst. So that's why the control device didn't work properly.

Was this also the work of claws and fangs?

"So, Shiel. Can you fix it?"

Aries asked.

Shiel was quiet for a moment and then slowly shook her body horizontally.

Then she lowered her head as if to apologize to us.

"There's no need for you to apologize, Shiel. I doubt many people would be able to fix something like this… In that case, our last hope is…"

Our heads all turned to Mappa, who was riding on top of Coppa.

Mappa pointed to himself and then scratched his head.

It was like he was saying that he was waiting for us to ask.

He quickly got down from Coppa and inspected the pipes.

It was unusual to see such a serious expression on his face, and he took his time.

After a while, Mappa nodded to himself.

"Ohh! So you can do it?"

Mappa nodded.

Apparently, he could do it with the Mithril scraps scattered around and some fire magic.

"You're so reliable. Alright, let's do it."

And so we got to work on fixing the control device.

However, it did not take long before we heard the echo of footsteps by the entrance.