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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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Morning dawned.
But it wasn’t the usual leisurely morning.
I woke up at sunrise, something I hadn’t done in a while, and began to prepare.
I donned my leather armor, gauntlets, and greaves, fastening them securely.
I checked the sack at my waist, ensuring it was properly stocked with first-aid supplies, poison for my arrows, and other necessities.
The small cloth bag snug against my back held items for navigating the cave, food, and a leather water skin filled with water.
I checked the number of arrows in my quiver and inspected the blades of my sword and dagger.
They gleamed, sharp enough to cut at a moment’s notice.
Good.
Preparations were complete.
Satisfied with my readiness, I tied the black cloth over my eyes one last time, put on my brown robe, and left the house.
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After I met my companions at the guild, we followed Wagner’s lead towards the mountains near the Tillasden Forest.
Deeper, and deeper still.
We ventured much further than we normally would, far beyond any signs of human activity.
To think people had gone missing in a place like this.
Why would anyone come this far into the forest?
There had to be a reason for venturing so deep.
And what was that smell?
After walking for several more hours, even after I thought we had gone far enough, we finally reached the entrance of the unknown cave.
Mr. Wolf, looking up at the cave entrance, muttered,
“It’s taller than I expected.”
I agreed.
The cave entrance was remarkably high.
I had anticipated it wouldn’t be small, but this far exceeded my expectations.
The interior, devoid of light, was pitch black, and only the ominous sound of wind being sucked inwards echoed eerily.
Staring into the dark cave, I turned to look at Wagner.
His face was noticeably stiff.
“What’s wrong, Wagner?”
“…”
“Wagner?”
“It doesn’t seem like it was this tall before.”
Wagner muttered softly.
But his gaze, fixed on the cave entrance with a hardened expression, soon returned to focus.
The others were all looking at him.
“…Let’s go in.”
Wagner entered first, followed by the rest of the party in formation.
I, positioned at the rear, was the last to step into the cave.
“…Huh?”
What was this familiar feeling?
The moment I stepped into the cave, a strangely familiar energy enveloped me.
I was certain I had felt this energy somewhere before, but where?
Puzzled by the strangely familiar sensation, I touched the cave wall…
Thrum
I felt the cave wall vibrate slightly.
As if it were shivering.
What was this…?
“Iyer, is something wrong?”
Wagner, walking ahead, called out to me when he noticed I wasn’t moving.
Perplexed by the familiar energy in this unfamiliar place, I had no choice but to follow my companions deeper into the cave.
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Once inside the cave, we maintained our formation.
As the scout, I moved ahead of the others, fulfilling my duty to guide Wagner’s decisions and ensure the party’s progress.
This tension… It had been a while.
“Alright, another one here.”
One of the scout’s crucial tasks in a cave like this was to find the path.
I tracked the sounds of wind and water, prioritizing escape routes, and marked them with the spherical light source in my hand.
The key was to proceed slowly and cautiously in a cave where unseen dangers lurked.
The party followed the path illuminated by the light sources, systematically searching each fork in the cave.
And as we continued like this, I encountered…
Whee! Whew! Whee!
Sensing the presence of monsters approaching from ahead, I whistled with two fingers in my mouth.
The whistle indicated friend or foe identification, the number of opponents, and the direction of encounter.
Having relayed the information to Wagner, my next task was to manage the number of approaching monsters.
And this is where my advantage came into play.
The approaching monsters gradually came into view.
Rotten Rats.
True to their name, they were undeniably rats, but they were the size of dogs.
Their red eyes, glowing in the dark cave, were quite unsettling.
And they smelled awful, too.
“Hey, you guys. Go away. Shoo.”
I tossed a nearby stone, hitting the ground near the Rotten Rats’ feet, alerting them to my presence.
But they didn’t attack me.
Or rather, they couldn’t.
Despite their squeaking, the rotten rodents cautiously backed away, seemingly afraid.
I guided three of them towards Wagner’s party.
“Good, they’re gone… Now, the rest of you, stay put.”
After confirming the three rats were headed towards the party, I warned the remaining two, herding them into a corner and keeping watch.
Now, about the advantage I mentioned earlier, the reason I was perfectly suited for the adventurer’s life.
‘Something other than human.’
After my body changed, there was one thing that made it undeniably clear I was no longer human: monsters feared my presence.
Just like when I cleared out the goblin village, monsters like goblins and Rotten Rats felt an instinctive fear towards me.
Of course, not all monsters reacted the same way.
Stronger monsters felt less fear, and even weaker ones would resist if there were enough of them.
That’s why I couldn’t single-handedly wipe out hordes of monsters, but I could easily pressure a small group like this.
And then, I could divide them into manageable numbers for my companions to handle.
Extreme effectiveness against monsters.
This was one of the reasons I was suited to be an adventurer.
“If only these guys were a little cuter…”
And contrary to the monsters’ fear of me, I felt a sense of familiarity towards them.
The way I sensed monsters’ presence was through this familiarity.
If these rotten rats looked even remotely like cats, I might have hesitated to send them to their deaths, swayed by the familiarity I felt.
So, I guess, be reborn as cats in your next life.
Then you won’t die like this.
“…Ah, looks like they’re done. Alright, the rest of you, follow them.”
After confirming the screams of the Rotten Rats had ceased from the rear, I sent the remaining two I had cornered.
Wouldn’t it be easier if I just took care of them all myself?
True, but that wasn’t my role.
The division of roles within a party was crucial.
If I overstepped my boundaries, it would disrupt the balance.
My job was to send a manageable number of monsters towards the party and eliminate any potential threats.
That was my role as the scout.
“But what is that smell…?”
It wasn’t the putrid stench of the Rotten Rats.
It was almost sweet…
Hadn’t I smelled this since we entered the forest?
Tilting my head in puzzlement, I started walking again.
As I continued through the cave, illuminating the path with the light source and dividing the monsters I encountered, I suddenly realized I could no longer hear the footsteps of my party members.
Oh dear. Had I gotten too far ahead? I should wait a bit.
But even after waiting for about five minutes, I still couldn’t hear any approaching footsteps.
“…?”
Had someone been injured?
No, I couldn’t sense any presence at all…
I stood up and retraced my steps along the path marked by the light sources.
As I walked back the way I came, I rounded a corner and stopped abruptly.
I had to stop.
“…Huh?”
The path I had clearly come from was now blocked by a wall.
Staring blankly at the wall, I bent down and picked up the light source placed right in front of it.
It was the light source I had placed there.
“What happened here…?”
Holding the small, yellow-glowing sphere in my hand, I muttered to myself.
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“Iyer? Iyer!”
Wagner shouted desperately into the pitch-black darkness.
But only his echo returned.
No answer came from the darkness that consumed the cave.
Wagner gritted his teeth and looked down.
The path illuminated by the light sources ended abruptly in front of them.
It was the path Iyer had marked.
But despite the apparent continuation of the path, it was cut off.
“What happened, Wagner…?”
“…I don’t know.”
“…Did he get lost…?”
They realized Iyer was missing when his signals stopped.
Monsters attacked them even without Iyer’s signals.
They could have suspected Iyer had missed them, but Wagner knew Iyer wouldn’t make such a mistake.
Driven by a sense of unease, they quickly moved forward, only to find the path Iyer had created was broken.
“Someone didn’t intentionally remove them, did they?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, you mutt. There were no side paths. How could someone remove the light sources between him and us and disappear without a trace?”
“Then it’s even stranger. He’s not someone who would be defeated by these monsters. Where could he have gone?”
“…How would I know?”
Guinness also stared ahead with a complicated expression.
Like Wolf Who Chases the Wind, she didn’t believe Iyer would be defeated by a Rotten Rat attack.
But the fact remained that he was gone.
Vanished without a trace, as if he had evaporated into thin air, right where the path of light sources ended.
All that remained before them was a dark abyss, seemingly ready to swallow them whole.
“…Wagner, what are we going to do?”
“…”
Their excellent scout, Iyer, was gone.
Losing their scout meant losing their guide, the one who illuminated their path.
Could they continue searching the cave without a guide?
Impossible.
It was impossible, but…
‘I can’t just leave Iyer like this.’
If they left the cave, Iyer would simply be listed as missing.
Iyer was a friend who understood his unspoken request and stepped forward without hesitation.
Moreover, Wagner owed Iyer countless favors.
He couldn’t just give up and leave him behind because they couldn’t proceed.
But as the party leader, it was foolish to proceed with the significantly increased risk.
Iyer’s life versus his responsibility as the party leader.
Two scales weighed heavily in Wagner’s mind.
Wagner made his decision.
“We’ll move forward.”
He couldn’t leave Iyer behind.
And he believed in the strength of this party, with its highly skilled individuals.
That was Wagner’s conclusion.
The party, now reduced to four, slowly advanced, using torches as their guide.
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[Living ahh cave]
Thanks for the chapter