Arim-chan cheerfully woke us up the following day and we had breakfast at the inn.
I wondered if the dwarf's cooking specialized in especially strong flavors as I felt my stomach already getting heavier for the morning so I gave my remaining breakfast to Teto after eating half of it.
"It's really delicious!"
"I feel bloated despite the day only just starting......"
"Ah, I'm sorry. We, dwarves, are generally gluttonous so I made the food the same way as I cooked for my kind. I’ll halve the portion from tomorrow on!"
I felt grateful to the dwarf shopkeeper who replied to me energetically, showing his consideration.
I also asked the dwarf shopkeeper to guide us to the abandoned mine’s entrance when we left the inn.
We met Arim-chan just as we were about to leave.
"Where are Chise-chan and Teto-chan going?"
"We're going to see the mines for a while. We’ll come back before nightfall."
"Amazing. I'm going to uncle's place to help out in the fields then I’ll help my dad and mom when I come back home!"
I flashed a smile at Arim-chan's smiling face while she cheerfully told us about her plans for the day.
"Oh, how commendable of you."
"Arim-chan, how admirable!"
"Ehehehe, but I also sometimes go out to play with friends so I’m not that praiseworthy."
I beckoned Arim-chan who was just about to bolt away after saying that.
"Wait, I'm going to perform candy magic again."
"Really! Thank you!"
"You can also take some to your friends too this time."
I again created some candy with «Creation Magic» and handed them to her.
I also felt like playing a joke so I mixed one mint-flavored candy that children often dislike. I felt like an evil adult imagining the face of a child who's going to get the short end of the stick, mint among the sweet candies in this case.
"Alright, shall we get going?"
"Yeah, please guide us."
Teto and I were led to the abandoned mine’s entrance by the dwarf shopkeeper.
The vigilante corps that was made up of dwarven males armed with hammers and wearing armor was guarding the entrance. The dwarf shopkeeper briefly explained to them the situation.
"Excuse me. These girls are adventurers who are staying at my place. They want to investigate the mines, apparently."
"Investigate the mines? Why are you girls even interested in such a place? There's nothing for you to see in there."
After saying that, the dwarves looked at us curiously.
"It's just a simple investigation. Entry into the mines isn't explicitly off-limits anyway."
"It's explicitly not a place for strangers to enter and I would suggest for you guys to stay away too. Monsters appear inside."
I flashed a bitter smile at the expected answer, they were just worried about us.
That being said, I hope they believe that we were adventurers and that we know the risks of going inside.
"I wonder if there are things we ought to look out for in the mines?"
"When it comes to the dangerous parts, it's either the monsters, the tunnels caving in, or the lack of air."
"Don't forget about that aristocrat who once entered the mines in the past to try out his skills but ended up running away with his tail tucked between his legs. His failure stemmed from him being unable to prepare a light source."
When we asked, the two guards told us the points that we should be careful about.
"Light source? You're talking about a torch or a lantern right."
"That's right. We, dwarves, have night vision but not you humans. That's why it would be better to prepare several light sources. Besides, places lacking air are dangerous and the light of torches can disappear at any time so you better have multiple torches and lantern magic tools prepared."
The dwarf shopkeeper turned to us to see if we were prepared after hearing that.
"We're fine for now. 一一«Torch» «Light»!"
The dwarves looked at me in admiration when I showed them my lamp and light orb magic.
"There should be no problem if you can do that much. Ah, also一一"
Apparently, the people of the vigilante corps forgot to say something as they requested us one last thing in the end.
"Please try not to hurt the bats inside as much as possible."
"...... Alright. We’ll pay attention to that."
"You ladies take care of yourselves, too."
Teto and I then entered the abandoned mine while being sent off by a group of dwarves.
"Majou-sama, what did they mean by the bats in the end, I wonder?"
"Hmm. I have a guess but I’ll explain it later once I actually see them. Anyway Teto, how do you feel about mines?"
"I feel an awfully unpleasant magic down here. Oh, and the routes are all a jumbled mess."
I was also trying to understand the structure of the mines from inside by using earth magic like «Earth Sonar» and was able to sense many paths and innumerable holes that were apparently dug by monsters. I also sensed a lot of crawling monsters.
Their numbers were not just one or two thousand. They have, in fact, formed a colony and their number surpassed ten thousand.
That being said, it was bizarre that there were so many monsters here yet they still hadn’t run amuck.
"Alright. I think this is a nice enough place to start."
"I'm going to do it. Haaaaa!"
Teto placed her hand on the wall when we weren’t visible from mine's entrance anymore and used her magic.
With a *fwoosh* sound, the stones in the mine compressed, forming a wide room in which I put my hand in.
"Let's start, 一一«Creation» Iron plate"
I covered the inner walls of the room with bulky iron plates to avoid being disturbed by the monsters that were even able to open so many holes in the mine and welded them with earth magic.
After that, I installed a light magic tool and the «Transfer Gate» to connect to the «Empty Wilderness» in this iron-walled room.
Then, I set up a barrier magic tool to further improve the safety of the room.
"Alright, let's use this as our safe point and start our investigation of the mine."
"Yeaaaah-nanodesu!"
I hid the little room that I built as our safety area with the earth magic. Now we could dive as deep as we want into the mine and we could just use teleportation magic to return to this room at any time and easily be able to go out from here.
"Now we wouldn't have to worry about causing trouble with the dwarf shopkeeper."
"That's good!"
After that, we moved towards our goal 一一 the deepest part of the mine.
We were able to advance properly without losing our way with «Earth Sonar» but there was one problem.
"There seem to be lots of reactions from monsters. It also seems like there are many air pockets opened in this mine considering the amount of airflow I can sense. But there are still some parts where the air is stagnant."
I covered my mouth with the hem of my robe and then checked the air.
"First of all, «Barrier». And, «Creation» air!"
I erected a barrier around us and then filled the inside with clean air made through creation magic.
I don't know if there was any poisonous gas or carbon dioxide gathered in the mine so we made our way while being covered with the barrier filled with fresh air.
"Oh, Majou-sama. I can see light."
"This should be where the tunnel collapsed and connected to an outside area. And it seems like the bats we had been told about at the entrance entered from here and settled down there."
We found a large number of bats that had settled down in the tunnels after we started moving for a while from the entrance.
It was daytime so they were still sleeping while hanging upside down from the ceiling.
"It's amazing. There are so many of them. Could you now tell me what they meant earlier, Majou-sama?"
Teto asked me as we moved slowly to make sure we don't startle the bats and I explained to her my hypothesis.
"These bats are a very important lifeline of this town."
"Lifeline? What do you mean?"
"These bats are most likely the food of the monsters living in the mines and at the same time the fertilizer for this abandoned mine's town."
I investigated the mine with «Earth Sonar» and the place from where iron and copper could be collected was a bit deeper and further away.
Also, the bats hadn't just made this place their nest recently. They should have lived here for more than tens of years for sure, and yet the volume of sh*t on the ground seemed to be quite low.
From what I understand, the bats would go out to feed on nuts or fruits from trees at night and then come back to this place in the morning to sleep where they drop their sh*t or become a corpse when they reach the end of their lifespan.
"So the people of this town are turning the sh*t of bats into fertilizer?"
"That's what I think. Especially in abandoned mines or caves like this where the air is stifling so it makes fermentation of their sh*t easier. The reason why they can farm despite there being less fertile soil or fertilizer available in the surroundings is because of their earth magic and good quality fertilizer."
No one would be able to raise the crops if they hadn't even prepared the groundwork to farm even if the ground here was filled with mana flowing from the earth veins.
And the key to that should be the fermented sh*t of these bats.
"I see, Teto learned new things again today."
I blocked the tunnel air with the barrier to make sure the smell of fermented sh*t didn’t leak inside while Teto looked at the group of bats on the ceiling with keen interest and then we moved on while making sure to not startle them.
We left the bat-infested zone not long after and reached the part of the tunnels that no longer had any monster-repelling barrier effects applied to them. "Insect-type monsters are coming from that side!"
"They're fast!"
I readied my wand and fired several wind blades at the monster that had appeared on the tunnel's walls.
Teto also took out her magic sword and began to weed out the monsters one after another with compact movement.
"What’re we going to do about the defeated monsters, Majou-sama?"
"Let's put them in the magic bag for now. We’ll leave the matter of the mana stones for later."
The bodies of the dead insect-type monsters would mostly be eaten by other monsters if left behind in this closed mine region.
In that case, it would be more prudent to carry their corpses outside and spread their ashes to the farms after burning them.
Soon after, it was about time for us to call it a day as we progressed through the mine while taking down monsters.
"Majou-sama, isn't it about time for us to go back?"
"Ah, I didn't realize it was already that late. Alright, let's set up this place so that we can continue from here tomorrow."
When I took out my pocket watch from the inside pocket of my robe to check the time, it was already 4:00 pm.
The closed environment of the mines made it hard to feel the flow of time here but, thankfully, Teto was here to remind me that it was time to go.
Just like the hidden room I created near the mine's entrance, I turned a part of the tunnel wall into a room and secured it with iron plates and a barrier.
"Let's end our exploration for today here. «Teleport»!"
Thus, we were back to the safety area we made near the entrance with teleportation magic before evening.
We spotted the vigilante corps composed of different members from the morning time guarding the entrance when we made our way to the exit.
"Oh, the rumored ladies are back safely! How was your investigation?"
"There were quite a lot of insect monsters so we defeated some of them."
"Woah, that's incredible."
The dwarven vigilante corps members looked excited but didn't let their guard down.
"Although we barely scraped the surface of the monster population, I believe we’ll be able to defeat more monsters in the deeper regions after beating a bit more of the monsters in the outskirts."
"Oh, alright. We’ll listen to your ladies' advice."
Teto and I agreed with the people of the dwarven vigilante corps and returned to the inn.
In the inn, the dwarven couple and Arim-chan were waiting for our arrival. I could see their relieved expressions when they saw us coming back safely while Arim-chan rushed up to us.
"Welcome back! Chise-chan!"
"We're back. Just as we promised, we’re right on time."
"We’ll be in your care today, too."
My expression slackened slightly into a smile when I was welcomed by such an adorable girl. We had dinner with the dwarven family that day and, after listening to the stories of Arim-chan, I slept with Teto in our room.
