Chapter 147-148

Chapter 147 – I searched the Underground City!

When I reached the underground city by the railroad, I saw that the security unit was waiting there.

The security unit was made up of a variety of monsters, but were mostly Golems.

They were taking turns watching the entrance so that none of the Chimeras escaped to the surface.

Because of this, they were all equipped with Mithril armor and weapons. And the Golems were able to use Shield magic.

You could say that it had the tightest security of any place on the island.

I then addressed a Goblin who was on duty.

"Good work. There is something I need to ask you. Do you know where Ashton and Haines are?"

"Your Majesty! They just finished having a short meal and then they headed towards the great street near the center of the city."

"I see. The great street."

And so I left them and headed towards the street.

There were many streets in the underground city, and we called the biggest one the 'great street.'

It bisected the city into north and south, and all the tallest buildings were built alongside it.

You could reach the great street from the entrance by walking west for about five minutes.

At first, there had been many Chimeras there, and so we tried to avoid it.

However, thanks to the now friendly Manticore, Coppa, there were fewer Chimeras around. And it was relatively safe to travel through.

"This place has become quite peaceful… Uh!?"

Coppa, with his old man face, suddenly appeared in front of me.

There was a Chimera in his mouth. It seemed like he had just come out from the great street.

"Uh, hello. Coppa."

Coppa smiled broadly at me and then ran off.

Well, the ice had certainly been broken between us.

Still, it was a little alarming to see him come out of nowhere. It was just like Mappa…

From what I understood, the security guards would take the Chimeras that Coppa captured, and make them drink Aries's poison. And that calmed them down.

"There aren't as many Chimeras here now… Ah!?"

I was surprised by the black spider that suddenly appeared in front of me.

It was Taran.

"Oh, it's you, Taran. You shocked me, appearing like that out of nowhere. Ah, I see that Shiel is with you."

Shiel was riding on top of Taran's back.

Apparently, they were going to help me search for Ashton and Haines.

"Thank you, Taran and Shiel. Alright, let's go….huh?"

Just as I hopped on, Taran suddenly unleashed her webs at the ceiling.

And then she leapt up into the air and started to climb up the web.

I held on tight so that I wouldn't fall, but Shiel was binding my legs to Taran, so I needn't have worried.

"I-I see… It's better to look down from above. Well, I see the logic behind it, but…"

…I really hated being in high places.

But since Shiel and Taran came all of this way to help me, I couldn't complain.

Furthermore, Taran was using her legs to communicate with the other Cave Spiders who nested up here.

She was probably asking if they knew where Ashton and Haines had gone.

Taran saw that one of the Cave Spiders was pointing north with their legs, and so she shot out her webs in that direction.

And like that, we flew towards the north as if we were on a swing.

Once we had moved forward, she shot another web and jumped. She repeated this over and over.

Then we finally came out over the great street, and I could see two Kobolds below.

"There they are. Alright, let's go down."

Taran obeyed me and extended her web as she made for the ground.

"Oh. Master Heal. What are you doing down here?"

Haines asked. Then Ashton said,

"Lord Heal… I mean, His Majesty probably came down because he was worried about us. Your Majesty, I'm terribly sorry for making you worry."

"Ashton, you can just call me Heal. And more importantly, Baris told me about what was happening. The slimes… You're searching for people from the old empire, aren't you?"

"Yes. However, we found all of them but one. About thirty in all. Shiel wrote down the houses of everyone that we couldn't find. So we just searched the surrounding area, and it was not too hard to find them."

Ashton said. Then he bowed his head to Shiel.

Shiel shook her head as if to say that it was nothing.

However, Haines continued in a dark voice.

"But we cannot find the last person. A boy named Boren. We checked the house and surrounding area. But he was nowhere to be found."

"Yes. And so we are making a last desperate attempt by searching all the houses in the city…"

Ashton said as he looked at the surrounding area.

However, some of the buildings in the underground city were twenty stories high.

Such buildings could have as many as a hundred rooms inside.

It would be back-breaking work.

"Well, the slimes and Golems are currently helping maintain the buildings. So I'm sure he'll be found eventually…"

Ashton said. But it was clear that he hadn't given up.

This was a small boy.

He would want to rescue him as soon as possible.

That's when it happened.

I heard high-pitched barking coming from behind me.

When I turned around, I saw that Ril the Kobold and Mel the white bird were there.

Both of them were looking at me with confident expressions.

Were they saying that they would cooperate in this investigation?

"You two… I'm thankful that you want to help, but it's past your bedtime, you know?"

And then they transformed into humans.

Ril still had her dog ears and tail, but otherwise looked like a human girl with short white hair.

Mel had long silver hair and fluffy wings on her back.

"No! I want to help you investigate, father! I can help too!"

"Yes! I want to go with Ril!"

Upon hearing their voices, Haines suddenly burst into tears.

"Ohh…princess… You have grown to be so brave… And you too, Mel. What a good child."

Haines said as he patted them on the head.

They looked quite happy as they hugged the fluffy Kobold back.

Personally, I thought they were growing up a little too fast… But more important, I kind of wanted to feel Haines's fur too… And Ashton's tail looked so soft and nice.

No, no… I was an adult. And there were more important matters to deal with.

"…Alright, fine. We will all search together for an hour then. And if we still can't find him, then we'll call it a day. Got that?"

Everyone nodded to this.

"Okay. Then…Huh?"

That's when I noticed that magic energy was moving at a tremendous speed.

It seemed to be moving from building to building…

When I turned my head in that direction, Ril said,

"Father! I noticed that something passed too!"

"As did I! The smell went to the north side!"

Both Haines and Ril had sensed something.

North…that's where the palace was.

"I see. I also sensed it move. That was no Cave Spider… But it wasn't the size of a Slime or Chimera either."

Then Ashton said,

"Then let's go in that direction. Maybe we will find a lead!"

"Aye, let's go!"

And so we headed north… Towards the palace in the underground city.

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Chapter 148 – We entered the Underground Palace!

"So, this is the palace…"

The building itself was quite massive, but it was a little lacking in terms of splendor.

It was made of white marble stone, and looked more like a temple.

Especially compared to our palace on the surface… Well, perhaps any building would look plain after seeing a building decorated with statues of Mappa.

Besides, being underground would mean they had limited resources. Perhaps Shiel and the others had to practice simplicity and frugality.

After all, these were the people who had gone to the extent of sending their souls into the bodies of slimes…

But then again, they were also making mass amounts of wine.

Had they wanted to drink wine even when they turned into slimes?

Ashton said,

"Coppa has already entered this palace several times. But it is our first time entering it."

"I hadn't gone inside yet either. Shiel. You said there was nothing left inside, right?"

Shiel nodded with her whole body.

According to Shiel, this place had often been used as a gathering hall and for meetings.

Not only was there no treasure, but there was hardly any furniture.

"Perhaps something is living here in secret… We should be careful."

And so we climbed up the stairs to the palace.

The first thing we saw upon entering was a huge hall.

There were only a few slimes scattered inside, but it was very quiet.

"It's kind of sad when buildings are this empty…"

"Yes. This would be such a beautiful banqueting hall if decorated… That being said, it will also be easier to sniff things out like this."

Haines said as he moved his nose around and sniffed the air.

Ashton and Ril did the same.

However, they all scowled.

"This…it's just Coppa's smell…"

Haines said with an expression of disgust.

And while Ashton and Ril were more polite, it was clear that they did not feel well.

As a human, I couldn't really detect it. But it seemed like it was a horrible stench to them… Coppa never took baths, after all.

After some time, Haines's shoulders fell in disappointment.

"No. It's no use. The smell is so strong that it overwhelms everything…"

"…I'll have to ask Mappa to give Coppa a bath next time."

"Please do… However, the slimes here seem a little different."

Haines said as he watched Shiel talk to the slimes.

After communicating with the slimes in the great hall, Shiel turned to us and shook her body horizontally.

"It looks like there is no one here… I guess we should go somewhere else then."

"There is a hallway in the back. There should be more rooms there."

Ashton said. And so we moved towards the back of the great hall.

"There, huh… Okay, let's go."

And so we cut through the great hall and walked towards the hallway.

But that's when it happened.

Suddenly, something jumped down towards us from the ceiling.

When I looked up…

"A Chimera!? …No, what is that!?"

I immediately cast Shield.

The Chimera bounced off of it, but quickly regained its posture.

However, there was something strange about it. There was no sound of impact when it landed. It was like a…

"A gh-ghost!? What!?"

It definitely had the shape of a Chimera.

But to me, the body seemed to be made of a black mist instead of flesh and bone.

As for its magic energy, it was very weak.

Undead…a ghost?

Perhaps it had lost its body, but some art or hatred had caused its soul to remain like this. The magic that Oren had used on this island was an example of that.

That meant that holy magic would be effective on it. However, it didn't seem all that aggressive…huh?

"What? It-it disappeared!?"

Haines looked around frantically.

Apparently the Chimera ghost had vanished.

"A-are you serious… Hey, brother. Did you smell anything? He-hey! Brother?"

Haines shouted at him, but Ashton did not reply.

Ashton's mouth was wide open and he was shivering.

It was no surprise.

I had felt a chill run down my back. Ril and Mel were also shaking.

But then again, Ashton was always so calm, so it was a little surprising.

"I-I'm sorry, Master Heal. My brother is weak to these kinds of things."

"Uh, no. I was scared too… It can't be helped."

"Of-of course. Now brother, let's go."

But Ashton shook his head without saying a word.

"Brother! Why are you so scared! Do you want to go home alone?!"

Ashton was silent.

"Pathetic! Are you really a warrior of the Tibris tribe? Were you once feared as Thunder Wind Ash!? Princess, please say something to him!"

However, Ril and Mel were hugging each other and shaking violently.

"Y-you too… Everyone. What happened to your fiery spirits from a moment ago?"

"No-now, Haines. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. I'll go in the lead. In any case, I'm the only one here that can use Shield."

"I feel so ashamed…"

And so we continued to walk through the eerie palace.