Chapter 108
I'll have the culprits clean up the flooded plaza.
The river amoeba can't do it... I see.
Shuri's family and Ai's companions, do your best.
Getting it done instantly with magic doesn't count as a penalty, right?
Too bad.
...
Sorry, it's not that I forgot... Um.
I bow my head before Marshmallow and the snow amoeba.
They definitely would have heard us after all that noise.
...Honestly, I forgot.
Um, is Big Boss-san buried in the snow?
Hahaha, I really want you to forgive me.
I'll bring some next time.
But don't go on a rampage in here, okay?
Please.
Big Boss-san approaches, shivering.
Hm? Core was here too?
Hahaha, it's especially cold today.
Tonight, I'll bring a little something just for Marshmallow and the snow amoeba.
That's what I'll do.
Thank you for forgiving me.
For now, some warm drinks!
...
The forest exploration is still far from over.
It's supposed to be only within the barrier, but it's huge.
My caterpillar sensor is going off... I'm changing our route.
Not that way!
Absolutely not!
That shape I caught a glimpse of in the trees... there's no mistaking it.
No way am I getting anywhere near it!
Ooh...
I found a cave.
...An entrance bigger than any I've seen before.
A gigantic opening that looks to be about seven meters high.
I can tell from the entrance that it continues deep inside.
I send up a drone with Clairvoyance to look down at the cave, but it seems to lie beneath the forest, so I can't tell how large it is.
Even Spatial Awareness can't fully grasp its size.
...Does that mean it's huge?
Or is it connected to the earth, making it impossible to distinguish?
Either way, I'm curious.
I try entering the cave.
It feels like the air changed a little... Is it just my imagination?
It was hard to tell from the entrance, but a path that slopes gently downward continues on and on.
I've kept walking, but... nothing changes.
I'm getting bored. I've been walking through this cave for quite a while.
I cast recognition magic again, but I still can't determine the cave's full extent.
Still, I was able to mark the path I've walked.
It seems I've come farther down than I thought.
It has taken quite a while, too.
I didn't prepare for this today, so maybe we should turn back here.
If I'm late, everyone will worry.
For some reason, everyone worries about me a lot.
Is it because I'm weak?
But, you know... if I want to get stronger, I need practical combat training... with Core and Big Boss-san?
All I can see is a future where I die in training.
On days when they don't hunt, they play in the plaza, but no matter how I look at it, it seems like training.
Join that training?
...I'd definitely be headed to the afterlife.
I've finally learned how to survive, so I absolutely don't want to.
I'm relying on everyone too much, aren't I?
For now, let's call it a day.
I tell everyone we're turning back, and we all start moving.
Even so, this passage is huge.
...There's no way a monster this size lives here, right?
...I check its size once more.
Hahaha, no way.
Um, should I stop exploring this cave?
Though it's a little late to be wondering that now.
What sho... What's that!
"Fireball!"
When flames flare up near the cave entrance,
the countless creatures crawling along the ground turn black and charred.
I look around and see them in the trees, too...
"Mudball!"
I trap the creatures in the trees inside mudballs.
If I burn them in the trees, the fire will spread to the trees.
Just as I start to relax, the mudballs come crashing down from the trees under their own weight.
Could they come out from inside the earth?
"Fireball!"
What I'm doing is cruel, but... I can't help it; I can't stand those things!
I can't sense any sign of them, even after looking around.
Hm?
What's wrong, everyone?
They're all gone now, so it's okay.
They even frighten my companions—those things are my natural enemies!