Chapter 171-172

Chapter 171 – We chased after them!

"This way! Their scent continues in this direction! Mappa's as well!"

Haines ran like a dog on all fours through the black field.

He was said to have the best nose on the island. And he was able to immediately differentiate everyone's scent.

However, I suddenly detected a great swelling of magic energy in the direction that he was going.

Then I saw an explosion that reached the sky.

"Tsk?!"

The ground shook as the explosive sound and violent winds forced us to stop in our tracks.

However, this magic was familiar to me.

It was Hell Explosion. Elto had shown it to us before.

"It must be Fule!"

I couldn't help but shout.

There was no doubt about it. It had been Fule who used this magic.

She must be getting attacked by the Undead that we fought earlier.

"Let's hurry!"

"Yes!"

And with that, Haines and the Cave Spiders started running again.

Not long after, there was another explosion. But this one was smaller.

Furthermore, while it was difficult to follow, I saw that someone was cutting down Undead.

It was likely that Fule was causing the explosions with magic, while Ashton cut them down with his blade.

"My brother!"

Haines shouted happily.

Apparently, Fule, Taran and Ashton were fighting in the front.

We quickly moved to join them.

However, the fight ended by the time that we reached them.

"Are you all alright!?"

I called out to them, and then Fule turned to face us.

"Ah, Lord Heal! This was nothing at all!"

Fule showed her usual cheerful smile.

Even Taran, who Fule was riding on, waved her front legs at us.

"So you came, Lord Heal. I…am ashamed…"

Ashton said in a voice filled with regret.

While he didn't have a single cut on his body, he was angry at himself for not being able to rescue Mappa.

"No, I'm just glad that you're all safe…"

I said, and then Haines asked the others.

"So, where is Brother Mappa?"

Fule had a troubled expression after hearing this, and then turned to look behind her.

A young woman was limp behind her. It was Karla, the guardian.

She was leaning against Fule as if she was drunk.

"Uh… Ashton was following after Old Mappa's scent, and then Miss Karla here told us that there was an ancient temple in that direction. And so she guided us there…"

Taran must have also worked hard in order to avoid the undead.

Apparently, Karla had fallen during that time.

Ogus, the other guardian, muttered with a conflicted expression.

"How shameful… And you call yourself a guardian?"

"Karla. She always was too weak…"

Vanessa, who was also a guardian, agreed with a sigh. But then she turned to Fule.

"Karla said something about an ancient temple?"

"Yes. She thought that Mappa must be headed towards one of them."

Fule said, and then Vanessa and Ogus turned to face each other.

And then Ogus turned to me.

"There is a valley farther on from here. And within it is a cluster of ancient temples that are said to have existed before the founding of Arancia. They were seen as holy, just like the World Tree and the Holy Place. But after the World Tree was burned, they were considered to be heathen structures, and so going there to pray was then forbidden."

"There is such a place… And is there anything there?"

"It is said that great weapons and tools once lay there. But the royals have since picked the place clean, so it should be an empty shell now. I suppose the place may be crawling with monsters… No, with the Undead."

Why would Mappa head towards a place like that?

There must be a reason for it. Something that even the royals of Arancia did not notice.

I said to Ogus,

"Mister Ogus. Will you take us to this place?"

"Of course. Let us go at once."

Ogus nodded.

Just then, I detected great magic from far away.

A single human figure was being chased by others of various sizes.

"What? No."

I quickly took out a telescope from my pocket.

It was the telescope that Mappa had made out of the Leviathan's scales.

You could adjust the focus by turning a gear on the side. It was a brilliant piece of craftsmanship that allowed me to get a clear image of the horizon.

And when I looked in the direction of magic energy…

"That's…Mappa!"

It was none other than Mappa.

He was riding on a two-wheeled contraption that I had never seen before.

It was like two metal wheels that were connected by a metal rod. And there was a seat that Mappa was sitting on as if astride a horse.

And it was on this metal horse that Mappa rushed through the field.

"Lord Heal. Did you see Mappa!?"

"Ye-yes. He's riding on some weird vehicle. Not only that, but he's being chased by a horde of Undead!"

However, Mappa seemed quite amused by it as he rode on his metal horse.

He would go over hills as if they were ramps, so that the metal horse would fly into the air, and then he would zigzag as he continued.

It looked quite fun…

I wasn't sure if it was something Mappa had made himself, but there was something very exciting about it.

Well, there was still a horde of Undead right behind him. So I doubted that I would be able to enjoy myself if I was there in his place.

Besides, Mappa didn't seem like he was running away from them. He was headed towards a clear destination.

While the Cave Spiders and Ashton were fast, the metal horse was their equal.

We would not be able to catch up if we started chasing them now.

In that case, we should just go around.

I pointed in the direction that Mappa was headed in.

"Ogus. What is in that direction?"

"The valley of the ancient temples. The one I was just talking about."

Apparently, Mappa really was trying to go there after all.

"That is where Mappa is headed. We must go there too!"

And like that, we ran in the same direction that Mappa and his metal horse were headed.

0

0

0

Chapter 172 – The Homeland!?

"Hey, Brother Mappa! Where are you going!!"

Haines shouted as he ran after him. His voice was like a wolf's howl, and it echoed far.

However, Mappa was far ahead, and he did not even look back as he dashed forward on his metal horse.

And since the gap between him and the Undead was increasing, it was probably a good thing.

"Ah, he's so fast! In fact, I want one of those! Hey, wait! Old Mappa!"

Fule shouted after him.

"A horse that doesn't get tired, huh…? That is quite interesting."

Ashton said with a hint of jealousy as he watched Mappa's ride. He must be angry that someone was able to outrun him like this.

I would not have been surprised if Mappa had made the metal horse by himself.

He had probably not made one before because it was simply unnecessary with the limited space we had on Sheorl. Either that, or he lacked the materials.

However, there was also the possibility that Mappa just picked it up from somewhere.

"There's no space on the island, even if we did have something like that. But still, look how fast it is… I can't even catch up."

It was unusual to see Haines sweating this much.

The other Cave Spiders also looked quite tired.

"All of you, don't press yourselves too hard. Besides, the Undead won't catch up with him anymore."

I told them. But then again, we didn't know what kind of dangers lurked in the place that Mappa was headed.

And so Haines and the others did not slow down as they continued to run.

We were all worried about Mappa.

It wasn't because of his contributions on the island. We would all be just as worried if it were any other resident.

However, no matter how fast we ran, we could not catch up.

Just then, I saw a massive cliff slowly become visible from the corners of my vision in the direction that Mappa was headed.

Guardian Ogus pointed at the wall-like cliffs.

"That is it. Zenranbara, the valley where the ancient temple lies! Over there!"

And so the Cave Spiders headed in the direction that Ogus was pointing.

As they continued, we reached what looked like a narrow ravine.

This seemed to be the entrance of the ancient temple.

I cast Shield on everyone and we carefully moved forward.

There was no magic energy in the area to detect, and it also seemed to be free of enemies or traps.

But I could see the familiar shape of Mappa's energy in front of us, so he must be headed in the same direction.

"This place is kind of…"

Fule looked at the walls of the ravine and let out a sigh of wonder.

When we first entered it, it had seemed like an ordinary ravine. It was made of stone and there were small rocks on the ground that looked like they had fallen from above.

However, the deeper we went in, we noticed that the floor and walls became covered in metal plates. And then we saw doors in the walls.

Guardian Vanessa explained.

"From what we understand, the people who labored at this temple had houses. But before they came here, this place was…"

In other words, like the temple, it was made a very long time ago.

The patterns that were carved into the walls were a design that I had never seen in Sanfaris.

While some were hard lines and angles, there were also realistic flowers as well. We became completely taken in by the richness of the artwork.

However, a certain man's face entered my mind.

"Mappa… He too…"

Mappa also had incredible artistic sensibilities.

Not just with sculptures and handicraft, but you could even see it in his sword hilts and the shapes of his pickaxes.

Just then, Fule muttered.

"Hey, that…"

Fule was looking at a sculpture carved out of the wall.

It was of a roundish man who had short arms and legs.

He also had long hair and a bushy beard.

"Doesn't he look like Old Mappa?"

Fule was right.

After a while, we started to see even more of the statues.

They weren't just on the walls, there were some that were in the center of the road and were made of bronze. And without exception, they all had a similar build to Mappa.

However, there was one glaring difference, which was that they all wore armor or clothes. Not a single one was naked.

Well, it was likely that Mappa was just special. Yes. He was just very different.

But other than the lack of clothing, it was clear that Mappa was a dwarf in every sense of the word.

"Ah. So they are all dwarves… Huh?"

After some time, I could see that there was a clearing up ahead.

"This place!"

I couldn't help but shout.

When we came out of the ravine, we saw that there was a vast basin spreading out in front of us.

And in this basin, and in the walls that surrounded it, were clusters of glimmering, golden houses.

And in the center was a tower that was also gold. And at the very top, there was a statue of a man who had his fists in the air. He too looked like Mappa.

"This…there's no doubt about it now. It's the home of the dwarves."

Dwarves. People from Sanfaris knew about dwarves.

They were good at making things, and were supposed to have built a civilization that surpassed humans.

They liked a golden metal that was similar to Orichalcum, and they used it to build houses.

Of course, they were seen more as mythical beings, and no one had ever discovered any of their ruins.

However, since I knew that Mappa and the slimes we found under Sheorl were dwarf survivors, I no longer saw those stories as mere myths.

I was certain of it. This place was built by the dwarves.

Ashton muttered as he gazed at the city in astonishment.

"Could it be…that this place is Mappa's homeland?"

"It's possible. In any case, let's chase after Brother Mappa!"

Haines said, and I nodded.

"I can sense numerous presences here. They are likely Undead."

Mappa continued to ignore everything as he ran.

But according to the guardians, this place was inhabited by monsters. So I assumed that it was the Undead that I was sensing.

In any case, we would not be welcome here.

That meant that even if this was Mappa's homeland, the others would already be…

I was even more worried about Mappa now. I had to catch up with him.

"All of you. Be careful."

Ashton nodded and said,

"Aye!"

And so we headed towards the center of the city in order to catch up with Mappa.