Chapter 41 – 42

Chapter 41 – The secret of the facility!!

"Mappa! Hey, Mappa!!"

I started banging on the glass without thinking.

However, Mappa's gaze seemed to two around in the opposite directions.

"If-if we don't do something…"

Mappa will…he'll drown.

But how did he get inside of there?

It didn't seem like there was an entrance in any of the walls…hmm?

I noticed something different with the alchemist table.

One of the levers had been pulled down, and the door to one of the jar-like glass chambers was open.

Mappa must have gone inside of it.

And then he could have crawled through the pipe connecting the glass jar to the wine…

On closer inspection, Mappa's throat was moving as if he were drinking something.

I see… Well, at least he wasn't drowning.

Kamyu opened her mouth.

"Ah, Little Mappa. He was staring at the glass ever since he entered the room."

"…In other words, Mappa went inside on his own?"

"Yes. And he started playing on that table after that… Well, now you know that it isn't poisoned."

Upon hearing these words, all of the surrounding monsters looked exasperated.

Oh, so he had just done it all on his own…

In any case, it seemed that the liquid did no immediate harm to your body…

But then Rienna said what I was thinking.

"Wait. Everyone! We still don't know for sure that it's safe!"

"Rienna is right. We should… Hmm?"

Mappa made a circle with his hands. It was like he was trying to tell us something.

It was probably an 'okay' sign.

No, judging by how blissful his expression was, maybe he was saying that it was delicious.

"See, Little Mappa says that it's fine! Everyone! Let's drin-…taste it!"

And with that, Kamyu and some of the monsters started to move towards the wine barrels.

At this point, Mappa's head finally returned to the surface once. But then he went back in and continued to drink.

"Well, I guess it really is fine… But more importantly, doesn't this mean that Mappa knows how to control that device?"

Baris nodded at my question.

"Yes. Perhaps this facility is something that Mappa is quite familiar with."

"That would explain it. At a glance, it seems like a winery…"

But why would such a facility exist underground?

The shrine I had discovered before looked more like an ancient ruin.

But this place was very clean. Almost as if it had been used recently.

There was no mold or dust anywhere.

Perhaps those fallen dolls had been cleaning up until a short while ago…

"Still, it is strange. A storage or winery should not exist by itself."

If wine was stored here, then there must be someone who needed it.

So, it was possible that someone lived nearby…

And as was evident by the great interest Kamyu and the goblins and kobolds were showing, wine was not just something that humans liked.

So there was no telling what was living down here.

But then again, the dolls had been left broken on the ground. So maybe it has been abandoned for now…

Then Rienna said,

"In other words, it's possible that a house…no, a town lies somewhere close by."

"Aye. However, there are no doors that lead anywhere else…"

Baris, Rienna and I started to search the room again.

But we could find no doors or holes. Not even a trace of a blocked off entrance.

As for Kamyu and the others, their 'tasting' seemed to involve drinking down a lot of the wine.

It was important to relax like this occasionally, but I told them to make sure that they left some for the others.

"…Hmmm. But how did they get in and out of here?"

I was out of ideas.

Maybe I should just ask Mappa…

But the bloated Mappa was still behind the glass.

He was floating at the top with a satisfied expression. It looked like he was taking a nap.

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"Oh, well… I'll ask him later. Baris, make sure that they all share the wine. And ask Mappa about the facility when you can. If this place can be used, then we should give it a try."

"Of course. It looks like it can be used for storage. And perhaps we can make wine."

"Yeah. And if we're going to make wine, these grape seeds should be useful. I'll give them to Rienna… Huh?"

I was about to tell Rienna to take them.

However, she was now in front of a different shelf.

Perhaps she had found something, because she then turned to me.

"Lord Heal! I found a stone!"

Her dark black hair swayed as she ran back to me. And in her hand, there was a pale, glimmering stone.

"Oh, you found something?"

"Yes! It's this stone…"

She showed it to me. It was long and in the shape of a hexagon.

Unlike sapphires, it was almost white.

"I've never seen it before. Is it a precious stone? Let me take a look."

I touched the pale stone.

And then 'Cave King' automatically put it into my Inventory.

And the Advisor analyzed it.

<<Teleportation Stone…Use it to instantly move between other Teleportation Stones. The distance that you can travel depends on the size of the stone.>>

…Teleportation?

I've never heard of such a thing.

It sounded similar to a carriage, only it was instant?

So…if I put one on the surface and one here, I would be able to go back and forth in an instant?

<<That is possible. However, as I mentioned already, the distance depends on the size of the stone.>>

I see… I didn't understand how it worked, but it looked like we wouldn't have to walk so much anymore.

However, this was pointless unless there was more than one…

For now, I explained the purpose of the stone to Rienna and Baris.

But they didn't know what the word meant either. And it was difficult for them to imagine its effect.

Rienna nodded slowly and said,

"…In any case, it means that you can't do anything with just one of them."

"Exactly. However, this stone might be the reason that there is no entrance to this room."

I suggested. Baris and Rienna looked puzzled.

I wasn't too confident, but explained to them what I thought.

"If this stone is in this room, then there may be a different stone in another room… Then people can get in without an entrance."

Baris nodded thoughtfully.

"Hmm… In other words, you can go through walls? That is quite hard to believe. But it would explain everything."

"Well, I'll look into it a little more. But for now, this stone…"

It wasn't too useful to us right now.

Well, aside from the possibility of teleporting to some unknown place nearby.

But what if it was dangerous? What if it was crawling with Golems…

In any case, it would be foolish to use it without making preparations…

"I'll hold onto it. I don't want anyone to use it by accident."

"That is wise. Well, I shall go and wake Mappa so that he can help find out more about this place."

Baris said as he walked over to the glass in order to bang on it.

Rienna and I continued to search the place for a while after that.

But we did not find anything else of interest.

However, thanks to Baris's investigation, it was discovered that you could make wine here.

Strictly speaking, Mappa did not really know much about this place.

He had just played around with the device and seemed to learn how to use it by accident.

Baris had been watching him restlessly, and later explained it to me…

According to him, you are able to put grapes in the glass container next to the device, and the liquid is extracted on the other side of the glass.

And the extracted liquid could then be sent to a different glass container… In any case, we decided to remove the stuff that had become Mappa's bathwater. Apparently, he was going to take responsibility and drink it himself.

What was surprising, was that there was even a button you could press that cleaned the glass container with water. So of course, the container that Mappa was in was washed.

Furthermore, there was already quite a lot of wine in the storage, so the monsters who liked to drink would have plenty of it for quite a while.

Not only that, but if we started growing grapes on the island, we would be able to make more of it.

I didn't drink yet myself, but Kamyu, Erevan and Ashton were very happy.

But while the island was filled with the smell of wine, a shadow approached Sheorl from the bottom of the sea.

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Chapter 42 – A trolley was made!!

The day after we discovered the wine cellar.

I had once again spent the entire day mining.

It was already evening outside, and so I showed the other miners what I had found that day as part of my report.

"And lastly… I found a lot of this stuff!"

From the palm of my hand…well, from the Inventory, the small transparent and glimmering stones began to come out.

Fule saw the pile of stones…Diamonds x80, and shouted.

"Diamonds! I've never seen so many of them before!"

She scooped them up in both hands.

The goblins and kobolds were also looking at them with wide eyes.

Apparently, quite a few of them had never even seen a diamond before.

It was also my first time seeing so many diamonds at once. Especially of this size.

They would still be big even after they were processed and polished.

In fact, the diamond that sat at the top of my father's crown looked small in comparison.

If someone had this many diamonds and lived on the continent, they would be able to buy any lands or titles that they wanted.

But then again, the very value of diamonds might drop if there were so many.

In any case, it was up to a craftsman to really bring out the beauty of a precious stone.

If only there was someone here who was a jeweler… Well, I suppose I could ask Mappa for now.

Besides, even if we were to sell them, we still needed a ship to carry them.

Kamyu was currently modifying the small ship that the kobolds had arrived in, but she was still unsure as to when it would be seaworthy.

"Ah, it is so amazing… I was just thinking about how rubies and sapphires were becoming rare, and then we got diamonds."

She couldn't seem to take her eyes off of them. I nodded.

"Well, we've dug quite deep now. Perhaps this current area has a lot of different materials."

I said as I looked at the walls. They seemed a little whiter than before.

Limestone was also becoming more common.

"So there must be more than just diamonds lying here! I'm going to go and…oh, that's right…"

Fule sounded like she was about to go digging again.

She and the others down here were the best miners in Sheorl.

In other words, they were like me, and digging was more important than eating.

And so I understood how she felt… But eating was important too.

We needed to be healthy. And so mining during the night was generally forbidden.

Fule coughed and corrected herself.

"…Alright, let's work hard tomorrow as well!"

She said as she raised her fist into the air. The others all shouted in agreement.

As if in sync with them, I also lightly raised my fist.

Now that this little ritual was finished, we cleaned up and started to walk back to the entrance. However…

"It's so far…"

The more we dug, the further we became from the surface.

There was probably a 20 minute walk ahead of us now?

Fule said that it had been a longer walk just to gather water for her old village, and so she didn't really mind.

However, it was tough for me, as I had been raised in the palace…

I would just have to bear it for now.

However, if this continued, it would take us a whole hour before too long.

And even Fule would find that exhausting.

If only there was a good method for transportation we could use…

For instance, if we had two of those Teleportation Stones that we found in the wine cellar. That would make things easier.

However, we had only found one of them.

If I could just dig up another one…

As I was thinking this, I realized that my stomach was growling loudly.

I was clearly quite hungry.

What had Rienna made tonight?

"What do you think dinner is… Hmm?"

I saw that some monsters were gathering together in a corner of the cave.

And when I moved closer, I saw that they had gathered around Mappa.

Mappa was looking very smug at all of them. And behind him, there was what looked like a metal box on four wheels.

And next to it, there was a mysterious iron box with a chimney coming out of it. This thing also had wheels.

Both came up to my waist, and there was a hole on the top.

And underneath this mysterious object, there were two lines of metal rods that seemed to stretch towards the entrance of the cave… I had never seen anything like it before.

"…What is this? Did Mappa make something again?"

As I looked at it with a puzzled expression, Mappa saw me in the crowd and gestured for me to come over.

Apparently, he wanted to show off his new creation as soon as possible.

…For some reason, I was worried.

Perhaps it was because Mappa was always so unpredictable.

But then again, he did always seem to make great things, in spite of appearances…

As I approached him, Mappa bowed grandly and then grabbed the handle that was on the outside of the iron box.

And then the side of the box opened like a door.

Was it something like a carriage?

It had wheels, and there was a section inside that was elevated so that two people could sit in.

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However, there were no horses or donkeys to pull it…

I was a little confused, but Mappa just nodded as if to say that I should ride it.

"Alright…excuse me."

"Ah, me too!"

When I sat down, Fule quickly took the other seat.

Shiel the slime and Ril the kobold baby also got in.

Upon seeing this, Mappa closed the door of the iron box.

And then he got into the one with the chimney, and started to move some levers.

And then…

"Woah!?"

The iron box started to move suddenly.

So, it really was like a carriage.

The iron box that we were riding in was being pulled by the box with the chimney.

As the monsters cried out in surprise behind us, the iron carriage continued to accelerate.

Apparently, it was moving along over the metal lines on the ground.

I couldn't understand how he had accomplished it, but Mappa had done it again.

This meant we would be able to return to the surface without all of the hardships we faced earlier.

And it was so fast too.

Fast enough that I felt like we were being drawn by a horse.

"Wow! That guy doesn't like to wear clothes, but his creations are incredible!"

Fule said excitedly.

Ril and Shiel seemed to be enjoying themselves too, as they were hopping up and down.

"Indeed… Mappa is amazing… But this…"

It showed no signs of slowing down.

It was less like a carriage now, and more like riding a horse… No, it was even faster than that.

At least there seemed to be a metal railing that separated the tracks from the rest of the tunnels where people walked, so no one would get run over…

Furthermore, there were pipes that traveled along the ceiling, much like the ones that carried water.

From what I could tell, these pipes had holes in at regular intervals that sucked in the smoke that emitted from the chimney.

In other words, he had put a lot of thought into creating this carriage… That being said, this speed almost seemed excessive.

And so I couldn't help but turn to Mappa and say,

"He-hey. Isn't this dangerous…? The wall!"

As we moved at breakneck speed, I saw a tight corner appear before us.

And while the tracks curved along it smoothly, I didn't see how we could stay on the rails at this speed.

And so I immediately cast Barrier in order to keep us safe.

At the same time, I repeatedly shouted to Mappa. 'Up ahead! Up ahead!'

However, the iron carriage maintained its speed and turned at the corner beautifully.

Not only that, but it kept making sharp turns one after another.

"AHHHHHHH!!!"

The incomprehensible speed and the suddenness of the curves caused me to cry out loud.

However, Fule and Ril seemed to be enjoying themselves. They raised their hands into the air and screamed.

We hadn't been riding it for a whole minute yet, and it was already going up the steep slope to the exit.

It was here that it finally slowed down, however, we were now close enough that we would reach the surface within a minute.

"Ahh…that was scary…"

I muttered.

But Fule looked very pleased as she replied.

"Oh, that was so fun! I can't imagine how amazing it will be to go down this slope!"

Ril looked just as happy as her.

I could not agree with them at all… In any case, it was true that it was very useful.

Still…it would be difficult to get used to…uggghaahh…

As I held back the urge to vomit, I saw someone rushing down the slope at a tremendous speed.

It was the Mithril Golem…Number 15.

Seeing that it was ringing the alarm bell, there must be some kind of emergency.

"What is it? Did something happen up there?"

Number 15 nodded as we moved alongside it.

So, it seemed like something had visited the island again.

"I see… We're going to the surface now. Go and tell the others."

Number 15 bowed and then continued to go down the slope while ringing the bell.

Fule suddenly looked very serious as she turned to me.

"…What could it be?"

"Ah, I have no idea… Hmm? This…!?"

As we got closer to the surface, I detected magic from the sea.

And it wasn't ordinary magic.

It was so vast that it seemed to cover the entire sea.

This was much larger than even the Leviathan.

It was as if the sea itself was magic, and it was pushing towards us.

What the hell was it?

I had barely been able to defeat the Leviathan.

If something else came that was stronger, I doubted I would be able to defeat it.

But more importantly, could such a large creature even exist in this world…?

When the iron carriage arrived on the surface, the first thing I saw were the red waves pushing in from the sea.