Chapter 51 – 52

Chapter 51 – We departed on an expedition!

"Ruff!"

Ril, the baby kobold…had been barking cheerfully for a while as she sat next to me.

Up until recently, she had been digging with me, but for the past few days, she seemed to do nothing but play with Mel.

Well, maybe that was misleading. She was just looking after the little bird.

After all, Mel had become very attached to her.

Speaking of Mel, another thing happened that deepened my conviction that it wasn't a white pigeon.

Mel's expressions were very unbirdlike… Hmm. Perhaps birds did have similar expressions. But surely pigeons did not smile like this.

From the beginning, I had noticed that Mel was rather too round for a pigeon, but it seemed like it was just getting rounder by the day.

A fat pigeon… No, its body was practically a sphere.

And every time that Ril picked up her pickaxe, Mel would latch onto her as if wanting attention.

Ril would then play with Mel, as if she were an older sibling that had no other choice.

Both of them were small, round and white. And it was very amusing and heartwarming to see them climbing over and licking each other.

While a puppy and a bird were very different creatures, they were very much like siblings…

But then a small change came over them.

"Kyan!"

Ril sounded a little different than usual.

There was a little anger in her voice.

I wondered if they were fighting, and so I stopped swinging my pickaxe and turned around.

I saw that Mel was pulling at Ril's arm with its beak.

But Mel wasn't trying to eat Ril. It seemed similar to when a human wanted to take someone to some other place.

As for Ril, she was shaking her head.

"What is it? You two?"

"Ruff! Ruff!"

Ril answered as she directed her small paw towards the cave's entrance.

"Outside? Ah, I see… Mel wants to play outside?"

"Ruff!"

Ril nodded. And then she started talking to Mel in a softer voice.

It looked like she was trying to persuade Mel to be patient.

"I see… Well, Mel can't really use a pickaxe, after all."

And even with the night vision ability, it was quite dark down in the caves.

Perhaps it was too boring for a baby like Mel.

"Alright… Ril and Mel. You two go and play outside."

"Rr…ruff?"

Are you sure? She seemed to ask as she looked at me.

"Yeah, go along now. Wait…I'll go with you."

Rienna had told me not to leave the babies alone.

To be honest, I didn't think there was any need to worry about Ril at this point, but she was right that I had to keep an eye on Mel.

Though, perhaps Ril was able to take care of Mel…

But then again, it would be nice to see what the others were doing during the day. It had been a while.

"…I can show you around then. Let's go!"

"Ruff!"

"Coo!"

Ril and Mel hopped up onto my shoulder.

"Alright, let's go and explore the Sheorl island!"

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I said, and Ril raised a paw, and Mel raised a wing.

And like that, the Sheorl expedition…inspection began.

As for our starting point.

It was the current deepest part of the cave, and that meant a 20 minute walk.

Well, it was one of the deepest parts, anyway.

The undergrounds of Sheorl were vast, like an ants nest, and had many split paths.

And since there were many others that were digging down here, there were quite a few tunnels that I wasn't even aware of. So perhaps there was someone who had dug farther than me.

Not only that, but there were traces in the caves that showed that someone had lived down here.

There was a small shrine with golems and then the wine cellar. Both were quite different in structure to anything I had seen in my country. The wine cellar in particular, had much more advanced technology than anything in the whole continent.

And then of course, there had also been a chamber with the Cave Spiders.

That was where we found the Sun Stones that helped plants grow. There was also something like soil. All of this was quite a revolution for our food situation, since we only had meat from Killer Birds and fish up until that point.

Aside from those places, there was also the giant freezer that we had made.

It was to freeze the fish and Killer Bird meat so that they didn't rot.

If I had to make a comparison, it was the size of the parade grounds back home. If it wasn't so cold, we could hold some kind of competition inside.

All of these places that I talked about could be reached from a single place. And that was the center aisle.

This was where the iron carriage passed through.

So did the metal pipes that carried the hot spring water up to the surface.

As this place was important, the walls and floors were neatly paved with stone. It made you feel like you were in a castle.

In general, monsters that were tamed by me were able to use night vision within the caves, so they were able to walk just fine.

However, a little more brightness wouldn't hurt anyone, and so lamps made from Shining Stones were installed on the ceilings and walls.

In my personal opinion, it was more resplendent than any palace.

"Alright, let's take the iron carriage up to the surface."

We got into the carriage that emitted smoke and was driven by goblins.

As we rode the carriage, we came into an area with a lot of monsters.

There were rooms near the surface where they lived.

It was once you passed them that you would arrive at the surface…

In a way, it was like there was a whole town underground.

It would get bigger the more we dug. And there would surely be new discoveries.

Perhaps in a year, it would be as large as a country.

And then Ril and Mel would grow up…

I patted their heads as they played against my chest. And like that, we waited for the train to reach its destination.

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Chapter 52 – A new place to play!

"We are nearing the cave's entrance! We will soon arrive at the cave's entrance!"

Said the goblin driver cheerfully.

The smoke from the chimney made it difficult to see ahead, but we were apparently close to the surface.

There were metal pipes with small holes in them that ran along the ceiling and sucked in the smoke so that we did not breathe it in.

These pipes also brought fresh air down to the depths of the caves.

Thanks to this, the tunnels were filled with air that smelled of the sea and the leaves of the World Tree.

Up until the pipes were installed, the caves had been dusty and the smell of sweat was thick in the air. But there was none of that now.

I didn't understand how it worked, but it was clear that Mappa was very knowledgeable.

In general, Mappa and the others did what they pleased, and so it was quite often that tools and facilities I had never seen before would suddenly be complete.

Oh, I can see the sky now…

"Sheorl's entrance! Please watch your step as you get out of the vehicle!"

The iron carriage stopped at the cave's entrance.

However, this wasn't where the tracks ended.

Apparently, they now extended towards the sea, meaning that the fishermen used it for transportation as well now.

It was a ten minute walk from the cave to the farthest fishing spot, so there must have been some demand for it.

"Well, we arrived!"

I said as I let go of Ril and Mel and got off.

Ril and Mel wasted no time in chasing each other.

So, where should I go first…

As I scanned the island, I saw how much larger and lively it had become.

However, it still felt very small compared to the underground.

Ashton had gone diving into the sea, and according to him, quite a lot of the water around the island was shallow, so perhaps it would be good to reclaim some more ground.

Thanks to the support features of Cave King, we didn't have to worry about digging into the sea, but it was still a little scary to think about how much water was above our heads.

What if a monster like the Leviathan rammed into the ground…

I would have to make this island safer somehow…

Now that I thought about it, Erevan had talked about making a watchtower.

I could see a great stone tower at the farthest point of the reclaimed ground, so that was probably it.

"First, we should go and play in…inspect that tower. Let's go."

And so I started walking towards the stone tower.

Ril and Mel ran ahead of me.

By the way, Shiel the slime was currently on my chest.

Shiel was usually busy taking messages and transporting materials, but I recently found out how cool and comfortable it was to have Shiel on my chest.

And Shiel seemed to enjoy being close to me, and didn't want to leave.

While it no longer surprised me, we continued to discover slimes while digging in the tunnels.

And thanks to Shiel's ability to persuade, I was able to tame them. I believe…there were over 500 of them now.

In other words, there were more slimes on this island than any other race.

And as always, they were full of mystery. But as they were useful in so many ways and learned quickly, I was very thankful to have them.

Besides, Shiel quivered happily every time I patted it on the head… It was so cute.

When we reached the tower, I raised my head to look at the top of it.

And I saw something that was very hard to believe.

"What!?"

Goblin children were floating in the air near the top of the tower.

No, there were also kobold and orc children there as well.

However, they showed no signs of being afraid.

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On closer inspection, I saw that their bodies were bound in strings.

These strings were attached to the ends of a kind of metal umbrella that was at the top of the tower.

"…What the hell is that?"

Then the children began to move.

They were now spinning in a circle around the tower.

"…What the…"

Were they being punished by the adults?

When I was a child and did anything careless, they would hang me from a tower that was taller than the mountains.

I still haven't forgotten the fear that I felt back then.

Perhaps the monsters had similar methods of discipline…

However, the children seemed to be enjoying themselves as they flew around the tower.

"Ah, Chief. How unusual for you to come out here."

I turned around and saw Erevan the goblin.

"Ah, it's you, Erevan. What's happening here?"

"That thing? It's a kind of swing that was made with Taran's webs."

"A swing? I know what a swing is…"

It was something that children played on.

They even had them in the palace gardens.

"But that doesn't look like any swing that I know… Is it a goblin swing?"

"Yes. Well, we usually don't make them so high, as you never know if they might break… This was only possible because of Mappa and Taran."

"I see…"

Mappa must have made the pole and the umbrella in the center.

Indeed, it looked very durable.

It was the same with Taran's webs. There was no need to worry about them snapping.

But…

As I watched the swing, Erevan looked at me with an anxious expression.

"…Uh, Chief. Do you want us to take it down?"

"Huh? No, not at all!"

"Really? Well, you did not seem too pleased. I thought that we had offended you."

"No, no. I'm not angry at all. It's just… Well, I've been through some things. In any case, I'm really not upset."

'I see.' Erevan answered in a somewhat puzzled voice.

"If anything, it's great that the children have a place to play. It was one of the reasons that we reclaimed this ground in the first place. See, Ril and Mel are already…headed towards it. They seem to like it already."

"That's a relief! Will you like to give it a go, Lord Heal?"

"Uh, no… I…"

"It really is enjoyable for adults too, and not just children! Now, let's go!"

"Wait…Erevan. I'm fine."

I'm… Due to my past experience, I was not very fond of heights.

Just standing up there would be fine. But to be suspended…

"Now, don't be so embarrassed! Don't worry, I saw plenty of older men enjoying it too!"

"No, that's not what I mean!"

I hate heights… Saying that would make me sound childish.

However, now that Baris and Kamyu could fly, there may be times when I would have to travel with them.

Perhaps this was a good opportunity to get over my fear…

"Lord Heal, you really should allow yourself to relax sometimes! Besides, you'll get a great view of the sea!"

And so Erevan pulled me forcefully towards the tower, and I was put into the swing.