Chapter 1
There was a mine tunnel narrow enough for a single child to squeeze through by twisting their body and scraping their clothes against its jagged rock walls; the miners called it a "Badger Hole."
"We found a Skill Orb!"
I was taking a drink from my canteen and having a breather after setting down my battered backpack when a high-pitched voice came from the Badger Hole, so I got to my feet.
"That clears today's quota!"
I called toward the depths of the Badger Hole.
By "the depths," I don't mean it was pitch-black. A strange force that made the walls faintly glow kept the passage lit.
This was apparently a feature of what were called "dungeons"—"places where monsters appear."
But the dungeon Lark and I were in was a little different from the others—it was one of only eight places in the world where Skill Orbs could be mined.
"...Lark? What's wrong?"
Since she hadn't come back for quite a while, I stuck my head into the Badger Hole and called her name. Lark was thirteen, three years older than me, and until I was sold to this mine three years ago, she had been the youngest.
That was why she always acted like she was "older" than me.
But... it didn't really bother me. We were poor, with barely enough food to share—and, compared with the days when even my meager rations were taken from me because I was so weak, Lark's "big-sister" act was almost something to be grateful for. After all, I hadn't been given food—or even a "name."
Lark always took on the hard work first. She'd tell me to eat more and share a tiny bit of bread with me—and, well, I apparently hadn't gotten enough nourishment, since I'm still quite short.
In any case, Lark usually came hurrying out of the Badger Hole to fulfill our quota: "digging up ten Skill Orbs a day."
If she wasn't coming out, that meant—
"A monster, maybe?!"
A chill ran down my spine.
This was a mine where Skill Orbs were excavated, and only a limited number of adventurers and mine slaves were allowed inside. But we weren't the only ones roaming these tunnels.
Monsters.
In the Badger Hole, youngsters like us had to take the lead in collecting Skill Orbs. This was partly because of our physical limitations and partly because monsters were less likely to appear there.
But "less likely" didn't mean "never."
Apparently, a slug monster had once appeared in a Badger Hole with no escape route. The unlucky child who happened to be inside was attacked by the slug and dissolved—
"W-wait for me!"
When I remembered the slug, I grabbed the chisel hanging from my waist and slid my upper body into the Badger Hole. Bracing myself with both arms, I shoved my entire body into the passage.
We miners were allowed to carry weapons, too. Apparently, that was considered safe because magic made it absolutely impossible for slaves to rebel. But the only weapon given to children like us was a single knife with a chipped tip, and my "big sister," Lark, would never have handed it to me.
So I had a chisel.
But a chisel could be a weapon, too. It could chip away at rock, and it ought to be able to gouge out a goblin's eye. Not that I'd ever seen a goblin.
Rumble, rumble, rumble...
Just then, I heard the earth rumble, and my little heart shrank with fear. But I couldn't leave Lark behind.
"I'm coming to save you—mmph!?"
When I charged in, something damp and soft appeared before me, its surface feeling like cloth.
"Aagh!? Hey, what are you doing here!"
"Mmph-mmph!?"
In short, my face was buried in Lark's butt,
"Don't move, moron! You idiot! That tickles... gya-ha-ha-ha!"
"Guh!?"
Apparently, it tickled Lark, and she burst out laughing. Her leg shot up and struck me in the chin, and the impact sent my head crashing into the ceiling of the Badger Hole...