Chapter 231

231st Episode: The Abyss of the Deep Valley, Erebore

“Warrrior of Mars, Hippolyte. Entering the abyss of the deep valley, Erebore.”

Hippolyte raised her finger and then wrote the same words that she had mumbled to herself on the side of the cave entrance.

Chiiing-.

The queer golden glow at the end of her gauntlets etched the words into the rock, as if branding a mark of sin.

“Alright, that’s enough. Now let’s go in.”

The entrance that had opened between the rock crevices of the cliff was only large enough for one person to barely squeeze through. Hippolyte entered the darkness without hesitation.

Gek, gek-.

The sound was horrifying as her iron chest and shoulder plates scratched against the walls, but she ignored it all and disappeared entirely.

Now, there are only me, Antiope, and Elpride left.

Antiope and Elpride were silently locking eyes in an unspoken battle of nerves.

They were originally distant with one another already, but things had worsened after Antiope had licked Elpride’s chest earlier.

Antiope asked, “Why don’t you go first?”

Elpride responded, “Why don’t you go first, you are the one responsible for the front line. You should break the way, shouldn’t you?”

“You’re right, but I’m actually responsible for the rear. You go first. Without my protection, mages can do nothing right?”

Antiope then came over to me and slid her arm around my waist.

“And before we enter, the two of us need to have a little private chat first. Just between us.”

Elpride’s expression deteriorated further.

When I thought about it, Elpride and Antiope were similar in their enjoyment of tormenting people but were opposites at the same time.

If Elpride was like a female who liked to nag and interfere, Antiope was the exact opposite: a rebellious student with tattoos, smoking cigarettes.

Bookworms and rebels can never mix, as water and oil never do.

White and dark skin.

Mage and warrior.

The color of their hair was similar, both white and gray, but apart from that, they had many incompatible features like the reversal of an image.

It is said that some people inherently don’t suit each other due to the five elements, as my father has often said.

I thought it was pseudoscience, but now looking at this, it seems somewhat fitting.

…

Elpride’s face was flushed as if she had much to say.

I couldn’t help but feel confused.

Because when the likes of Elpride’s face turned red like that, a fireball would usually come flying or there would be a whipping assault.

Tense and watching them, unsure what was about to happen.

“Alright. I’ll go in first.”

Surprisingly calm, Elpride entered the cave.

She was certainly mad but likely didn’t want to cause problems.

After all, she was the ‘client’ who paid 120 gold, and at the same time, the ‘assistant’ who wanted to take care of her missing companions’ troubles.

Thinking of it, Elpride had a fiery temper but I had never seen her get angry at anyone other than me.

With a whoosh, the elf’s leather-covered backside disappeared into the darkness. Only then did Antiope release her arm from around my waist.

“What a troublesome girl.”

“But even so, don’t you think it’s better if we get along well? We wouldn’t want fireballs flying to the back of our heads, right?”

“I just have a gut feeling. There’s something off about that elf.”

Antiope’s instincts were sometimes surprisingly accurate.

Like when she suspected and accused both Paranoi and me of being cultists and tried to k*ll us—though she went too far to even implicate Luna who wasn’t related to cultists.

If Hippolyte was a forgiving older sister figure, Antiope was someone with a much narrower mind.

She continued, “And my intuition says that you and that elf don’t have an ordinary relationship. What’s your connection? It seems like there’s a lot of women around you lately, aren’t there? And you, a barbarian-.”

Whoosh.

Her eyes were half-closed, and the corners of her mouth started to lift.

Having been bullied by the rebellious students, I immediately realized: she was about to start troubling and extorting me.

The moment our equality was restored, Antiope acted like an unleashed leopard, ready to wrestle and shake me.

Of course, I wasn’t someone who would be bullied easily.

I wouldn’t let myself be mauled like this.

“Antiope, if you keep creating problems, I have my own tricks too.”

“Tricks? What tricks? You’re trying to trouble me here and there like last time, aren’t you? I’m not as uptight about purity as big sister, but that was humiliating.”

When Antiope mentioned this, I remembered how in the inn room, I touched her thighs and between her legs. Reflecting on it, I’m not sure what I had been thinking back then.

It felt like there was a small Tinkerbell in my mind, driving me to torment and bother Antiope.

“…Sorry for that. However, you also tried to k*ll me, didn’t you? What I did was more merciful than that, right?”

“I can’t argue against that. Then, alright. If the God of the underworld feels uneasy, I’ll behave.”

Antiope was uncontrollably verbose. It felt like I had an inkling of how lion tamers feel, even though I had never seen one.

A voice called from inside the cave.

“Are you two coming or what?”

“Yeah, coming, sis-.”

Though she answered carelessly, Antiope continued in a voice only I could hear.

“If you draw me the thing you drew last time again, I’ll cooperate with you this time to keep up your dignity. What do you say?”

“What are you asking me to draw?”

“Strange monsters, right? I could feel their strength spread throughout my body. They’re wild beasts from the black wilderness, aren’t they? Golden-grade monsters?”

Strange monsters?

Golden-grade monsters?

When she mentioned the strange monsters, Pikachu and Charmander came to mind.

Antiope had her body tattooed with the images of monsters—starting from two-headed dogs and giant ogres she had defeated, gaining their strength.

Antiope clearly thought that Pikachu and Charmander were powerful monsters of similar strength. In a way, they were—just more like Red-version Pokémon than Gold-tier monsters.

“Alright, I can do that.”

“Yay-!”

With that, Antiope took off her leather suit that she had draped over her clothes and revealed her back. The many tattoos on this back had disappeared leaving it like a blank canvas.

“Draw it there. The back is where charisma absorption happens the most easily!”

So there are different effects and performances for different body parts?

Thinking this, I used my fingers to draw some pictures on Antiope’s back.

Swoosh.

“Huuu-.”

“Why are you making such a sound?”

“…It’s none of your business. Quickly, finish the tattoo.”

“Alright, whatever.”

I didn’t draw Pikachu or Charmander but instead etched a simple lighting bolt on her back.

When the Z-like pattern reached down her toned back, her body began to tremble.

“Hh, mmm….”

Seductive sounds came out of her mouth, but I ignored them, thinking she was mocking me.

And thus, the drawing was finally completed.

Like Harry Potter’s scar on his forehead, a thunderbolt was now tattooed on Antiope’s back.

“I’m done.”

“What? Why did you end it so quickly? You hardly drew much! Draw what you did last time again!”

“No, last time it was…”

Last time, I had drawn her a bad picture as a punishment.

If I had drunk a barrel of alcohol, I might have dared to draw Pikachu and Charmander on her, but it was unthinkable to do it sober.

If someone found out I had drawn such pictures on a pretty girl’s body, I was sure to get showered in insults.

In that sense, the lightning bolt carried meaning.

This girl was not only a knight of Jupiter, the god of lightning, but I had also tattooed it in the form of Harry Potter’s mark, meaning perhaps she could use magic someday.

“Not lightning!”

Though Antiope was dissatisfied with the new tattoo on her back this time.

“Try to rub your hands together. Like creating static electricity.”

“Static electricity? What’s that?”

Antiope, perplexed, followed my instructions and rubbed her palms together. While watching her do this, I thought her movement resembled a raccoon washing its hands.

“Whoa, it’s working-.”

Papzzic-.

At that moment, something similar to static electricity sparked from Antiope’s hands.

“This, this means I can become stronger. Hah-. What if, what if I become stronger than the big sister-.”

Her mouth opened wide, and her brown eyes had a hint of madness, red veins appearing. Watching this, I couldn’t help but wonder if what I had done was right.

“Lightning Spear-, Ganlunga-. No, no, Wallbreaking Spear-. No, isn’t there a better name-.”

Antiope took out the dagger from her waist and swung it around this way and that.

She looked like a child who had received a gift and was ripping open the wrapping paper. It reminded me of how I felt when I first learned about the necromancy arts.

I said, “We’ll add the flames if all goes well. So, be careful and don’t cause any accidents.”

“Alright understood-. Mr. Hassan. But-, are you really not a son of the gods? One of the countless children Jupiter had?”

“If I was, would I be hanging around here? Wouldn’t I be in a position of authority?”

“Is that so? Strange. My grace shouldn’t be usable by just anyone. Anyway, I’ll go first.”

Finally, she put her dagger away and entered the cave before us.

I alone remained and with a deep sigh, looked up at the sky while catching my breath.

The blazing sun.

I probably wouldn’t see the light for a while.

30 gold.

Contribution of the Silver Tier.

It was said that establishing a health center became possible from the Silver Tier and above.

Health Center.

Large amounts of quest points.

“Hold on-.”

I visualized the keywords I needed to achieve and filled them into my mind to boost my determination. Then, I joined the others in the darkness.

*

Click, click- whoosh-.

A spark from the flintstone set the torch alight, revealing the insides of the narrow cave that was previously deprived of all light.

Stalactites grew upward and downward, spiky and sharp, making it feel like we were looking into the throat of a giant.

Hippolyte, who had been resting on a nearby rock, spoke in a rather solemn tone.

“Don’t let the torch d*e. In the abyss’s darkness, you never know what might attack. Elfin, you can use fire magic?”

“More or less.”

“Even so, your magic power must have limits. Your fire magic is to be saved as the last resort. Most things will be handled silently with our blades.”

Hippolyte stressed multiple times about making sure the torch stayed on.

This place was deep and dark.

Having a light source is a fundamental necessity for adventurers.

“Then, let’s follow the markings and proceed. Proceed according to our earlier plan.”

Following Hippolyte’s words, the four of us formed a diamond formation.

Hippolyte took the lead, with me on the left, Elpride on the right, and Antiope handling the rear.

We had a somewhat stable formation, though the part on the left that I was handling seemed like the largest gap.

It’s been a while since I’ve ridden a bus.

Therefore, I diligently focused on keeping the torch lit and tuned my ears to listen carefully for any sounds.

However, the cave was eerily quiet.

It was so quiet that it seemed like there was absolutely nothing else but us. The only sound was occasionally the dripping of water.

Is it usually like this?

When I was feeling strange, Antiope at the back asked, “Sis, isn’t it too quiet?”

“In the abyss, it’s more dangerous when you start to hear things.”

“I know, but this silence feels strange. Normally, there should be small creatures living in the upper layers here.”

“True, your comment is valid.”

Last night’s strategy meeting also discussed the ecology of this valley.

It was said that in the upper layers of the valley of Manticores, there were small lizards, large rats scavenging on carcasses, and killer grasshoppers, among other fairly dreadful small animals, which is why we needed to quickly descend to the lower layers.

However, contrary to what was said, the upper layer situation was the epitome of a deathly silence.

Even Hippolyte, the party leader, seemed unsure if she should be happy about not encountering any random beasts or if she should be on high alert.

Right at that moment, Hippolyte clanged in her armor.

“There’s something up there.”

Indeed, at the end of her pointed finger, there was some form of artificial structure.

“A tower…?”

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