Chapter 431

431 The Treasure Warehouse #3

We paused momentarily at the entrance of the mine.

Gooo-.

The entrance, resembling the gaping mouth of a giant, appeared dark and intimidating with its shadowy passages.

Hippolyte spoke.

“It’s an abandoned mine tunnel. There are many such abandoned mines and tunnels around Sodomora. They often become nests for monsters, bandits, or beasts.”

As she spoke, she dropped to one knee and swept her hand through the sand on the ground.

She then picked up a handful and rubbed it between her fingers, seeming to derive some answer.

“It seems there are monsters inside, too.”

Better safe than sorry.

Shshsh-.

The group paused before entering, surveying the area.

The setting sun cast an eerie glow.

The mountain path had seemed like an ordinary winter mountain until now. Yet, discovering this strange tunnel filled the atmosphere with an ominous, suspicious air.

Indeed, the rod Metelior created pointed directly here.

There must be a secret warehouse made by the Pluto priests somewhere inside this tunnel.

Actually, as Hippolyte mentioned, there are quite a few abandoned mines around Sodomora.

It makes sense since the city of Sodomora grew rich by mining ores in the name of Pluto worship.

Such a thriving mining industry eventually declined due to the hunts for cultists, leaving behind these creepy abandoned mines. Sodomora became nothing more than a messy city.

“Well, we’ve rested enough; let’s go inside now. Paranoi, use glowing stones to mark the way, so we don’t get lost.”

“Yes sir…! Given the complexity of the abandoned mine, marking the path is very important…”

“Alright, the rest of you—.”

The rest of us will fulfill our roles as assigned.

Our party’s combined level is close to 200, so I don’t really expect to encounter anything in this mine that could truly threaten us.

Hoo-.

After a small breath, I moved into the abandoned mine.

Jebook, Jebook-.

Our footsteps reverberated off the walls around us as we entered.

“Light-.”

I held out the only magic I was confident in, lighting up the dark tunnel.

I could see wooden pillars, nails, and wires supporting the mine around us.

It looked old, but it didn’t seem like the tunnel would collapse.

Then,

“Hassan, look at that…!”

Luna, who had been quietly walking beside me, tapped my arm.

She pointed to the ceiling, where I saw black objects clinging to it.

“What, just bats.”

“Not normal bats…! Be careful not to wake them. Getting bitten can cause you to develop a fever and cough, and if it gets serious, you could d*e…”

“That’s right.”

Here on the Gaia Continent, the common cold is one of the most dangerous diseases.

In a world without proper medical knowledge, a contagious disease that could be fatal cannot be taken lightly.

Bats carrying such a terrible disease were no laughing matter.

Very annoying.

Luckily for us, we were able to carefully step past the bats as Luna advised, moving further inside.

Inside, we found scattered piles of animal bones and skeletons on the floor.

After inspecting them, Luna announced:

“These are saber tiger bones! Look at those fangs—they’re so long. These bones aren’t something you’d find just lying around. A single fang is worth over 2 silvers.”

“Probably left over after being eaten by beasts or monsters…”

According to Luna, the rank of a saber tiger is Bronze level. The presence of something capable of devouring such creatures implied there might be a dangerous monster lurking within.

Thus, we prepared ourselves for the unexpected danger, unsheathed our weapons, and lowered our stances as we slowed our pace.

Sreeeak-. Sreeeak-.

Wooouuung-.

As we ventured deeper, the vibrations from the rod in my hand grew stronger. It was certain that the secret warehouse of the Pluto priests was nearby.

When we finally approached the end of the mine passage,

“What the—.”

I was left speechless.

Before us stood a massive steel door. So thick and sturdy, it resembled the entrance to a nuclear bunker.

More troubling was that it clearly bore five deep gouge marks, as if attacked by something sharp and powerful.

After lightly tracing the scars, Hippolyte commented, “This must be the entrance to the warehouse. But it’s been torn apart. Looks like claw marks. It’s been ripped to shreds.”

“Someone has already entered…”

Wooouuung-.

The pendant connected to the rod resonated strongly against the mangled steel door, confirming Hippolyte’s assessment that this was indeed the warehouse entrance.

Judging from the damage, it seemed that someone else had discovered it and forced their way in, perhaps over 20 years ago.

Of course, it’s not strange if competent treasure hunters found and breached it. The treasures might already be gone.

But upon entering, I realized my worries were unfounded.

“Wow, unbelievable.”

Inside the steel door was a room filled with shelves.

And on those shelves were placed old antiques, relics from the temple, ritual tools, and holy water containers. Hippolyte confirmed this, saying:

“These must be relics used by the temple. As expected, this was a warehouse for items used by the temple.”

Overjoyed, Luna asked, “So are these valuable? Can we sell them?”

“Being possessions of Pluto’s followers, selling them is going to be tough. They’ll likely be labeled as cultist items, and merely possessing them could be considered a crime.”

That’s true.

It was disappointing that so many relics couldn’t be sold.

“Ah…! Lord Hassan, there’s a chest full of gold coins here!…!”

But that disappointment quickly dissipated when Paranoi excitedly announced the discovery of a chest full of gold coins.

My eyes widened in awe at the sight of the gold coins stacked in boxes; I almost teared up from the beauty of it all.

“I’m rich!”

I held up the gold coins to check their weight, shaking them with glee.

“What? These aren’t gold, dummy.”

“Hassan, what do you mean ‘these aren’t gold’?”

“Look.”

At Luna’s instruction, I brushed aside the coins at the top of the chest, only to reveal that beneath a few gold coins lay a pile of copper coins.

You bastards, playing tricks like this.

I’ll find whoever did this, and I’ll k*ll them.

While I was fuming, Elpride and Hippolyte, ignoring the gold, were busy admiring and selecting antique items caked in dust.

“Look at this. It’s a cloak made from red lion fur. I heard that red lions were all hunted to extinction, but here it is.”

Hippolyte tried the cloak on her shoulders.

“It’s durable, fire-resistant, and useful for defending against mages. Very impressive.”

Meanwhile, Elpride opened a jewelry box and was trying on some rings.

“The opal ring. They say opals combine the fire of rubies, the darkness of sapphires, and the sea of emeralds. Might it allow for more precise control of magic?”

Each of them seemed to find items that pleased them and were stuffing them into their pockets. At that moment, I suddenly snapped out of my daze.

If I keep fixated on this chest of coins, I might miss out on the treasures like at lunch when all the good side dishes are gone.

“Ket! Let’s explore the treasure warehouse!”

We started our “looting.”

It was so simple; all we had to do was pick up items from the shelves and try them on.

These were the fruits of our quest for the skeleton key and the answers we sought from Metelior. It was gratifying.

We continued our search for a while.

Luna’s pick was a dagger glowing with a red light.

“Wow–. It’s infused with the magic of the night! This might be enough for me. It’s perfect. I don’t need anything else!”

Although I don’t fully understand, the strange markings etched on the stone dagger seemed to have stolen Luna’s heart.

Thus, Luna obtained the red stone dagger. Hippolyte claimed the red lion cloak, and Elpride got a selection of rings adorned with various gemstones, mainly opals.

As they searched for more items, a feeling of déjà vu struck me.

“Maybe this isn’t the right time.”

Thinking back, hadn’t we come here for something that could lead us to Pluto’s labyrinth?

Realizing this, I turned my attention away from coins and jewels, rummaging through piles of artifacts and bowls, seeking something like a key, a compass, or a map.

Of course, there was no promising find.

Should I take more time to search?

Just as I furrowed my brow, a rumbling sound approached.

Lelerele-.

Something massive was stampeding towards the cavern where we were.

Kung, kung-.

As time passed, the sound grew even closer. Finally, we saw an animal forcing its way through the broken iron door under the lantern light.

“That, that thing—.”

Luna was the first to cry out.

“That’s a bear!”

Even without Luna yelling, all of us already knew it was a bear; it was a savage creature with jet-black fur.

This was likely the mine’s owner, having consumed numerous creatures like saber tigers. The hairs scattered among the relics obviously belonged to it.

Could this warehouse be its home?

Gruaaaah-!

It was clear that it didn’t like us trespassing into its den. The beast raised its four massive paws high and charged toward us like a freight truck rushing down a narrow straight road, exuding overpowering intimidation.

“That’s a Corona Bear! Silver-grade monster!”

According to Luna, its eradication level was silver grade. Indeed, an ordinary adventurer would be shredded and scattered by those four powerful paws.

But to me, who’d fought Gloria, the bear’s charge wasn’t particularly threatening.

“Where are you going, kid?”

I directly rushed at the bear with a charge fueled by the anger of having my looting interrupted. My Hell Iron Mountain ramming technique finally struck the beast.

KWAANG-!

GooOOOONG-!

The bear, struck by my charge, let out a terrifying roar and fell against the wall.

It was dead instantly. The vivid feeling of its ribs shattering upon collision with my shoulder confirmed its demise.

GuuUUUU-.

The problem was the ceiling of the mine; my body slam had been too powerful, and now dust was falling from above.

Gururr-.

“Is the whole thing gonna collapse?”

The walls and ceilings let out ominous groans, making me even more scared of the mine collapsing than the bear.

GooUUUU-.

After a few worrying tremors, the abandoned mine interior finally fell silent, allowing us to breathe a sigh of relief.

“We got a Corona Bear’s corpse now…! We can make nice fur caps and scarves from its hide for nymphs-.”

Sling-.

Just as Luna drew her dagger to handle the fresh corpse of the bear I had just killed, the unstable lantern dangling from the ceiling snapped and fell.

“Aiyaaah-!”

Paranoi, who was hit on the head by it, screamed.

“How dare you, just a thing, strike the head of Paranoi? Unforgivable. That’s a very nymph-hating lantern!”

In what seemed like an act of revenge, Paranoi kicked the lantern.

Spinning and hitting Paranoi’s foot, the lantern went out right after it hit the floor.

In that instant, I noticed something strange.

“Wait, wasn’t something just a little weird?”

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