Two Suspicious Figures

We walked through the underground passage.

… It was a long corridor.

There appeared to be traps here and there, and each time, Finn signaled so we could follow her lead.

It was a straight corridor with no side paths.

Apparently she could tell if the path behind us had been blocked.

After a while of enduring the stale, stuffy air of a place that hadn't been cleaned or ventilated in ages, I began to clearly feel a current of air.

The exit was close.

The others kept their hands on their weapons and advanced tensely.

"Once we climb up here, we'll be at the exit. Stay sharp."

We nodded silently.

The stone staircase echoed our footsteps loudly.

Faint light was leaking through what appeared to be the ceiling.

We could get out from there.

Finn held a short blade in her left hand and pushed up against the ceiling with her right arm.

But it wouldn't move.

"Something heavy is weighing this down."

"Let me."

Elza swapped positions with Finn.

She gripped her mace with both hands.

Then she gestured for us to step back, so we moved far away.

"Here we go."

From below to above.

The mace traced a small arc to avoid hitting the narrow passage's walls, then collided with the ceiling.

With a tremendous impact, the ceiling burst open.

Apparently they'd placed a heavy stone over the board as a lid.

The stone was about as big as Azu, and she'd blown it away right through the board.

"The priestess is quite the powerhouse."

"Not at all. Hehe."

When Aogiri praised her, Elza brought her right hand to her mouth modestly.

… I don't think anyone would believe that.

In any case, we could now get through. With Finn taking point again, we emerged from underground.

The exit appeared to be a shallow cave.

The light leaking through the ceiling must have been from the entrance.

Finn looked somewhat exasperated.

"So they made the exit inside a cave like this. No wonder nobody noticed."

"Going to such lengths for just one of the kingdom's cities is what's abnormal. If this were the Royal Capital, I could understand."

"True. And they might have even created this cave for that purpose."

I agreed with Alexia's observation. This was too much effort.

There was no guarantee a conveniently located cave would exist.

Though it wouldn't be impossible with earth magic.

This was a premeditated crime.

Using this passage, they could commit all manner of wrongdoing.

There was nothing in the cave.

It was a small cave that only took a few steps to reach the back.

It probably had no value beyond being an entrance and exit.

Stepping outside the cave, a plain spread before us.

This was probably… the Felbina Plains to the west of Kassad.

I could see the large Felbina tree that served as a landmark from here.

"Is there anyone around? There's nothing blocking the view, so if someone's out there, we should be able to see them from here."

Everyone scanned the surroundings.

Then Aogiri, who was looking west, spoke up.

"Isn't that them? There's a pair with their backs to us."

Looking where she indicated, I could indeed see what appeared to be two figures from behind.

But something felt off.

One of the pair seemed abnormally large.

"Let's chase them for now. If it's not them, that's fine."

"Understood."

They were walking, so although there was distance, we could probably catch up if we ran.

Finn and Aogiri took the lead and started running.

The rest of us followed.

… If they ran at full speed, I wouldn't be able to keep up.

I worried that running would alert them with the sound, but we solved that with a silencing spell.

How convenient. Magic really can do anything. A mage would never go hungry.

Even just infusing magic stones with mana was worth money. I wish I had magical talent.

Gradually, the figures in the distance grew closer.

"Hey, is that…"

"You think so too, Master?"

"That's not normal."

It was natural that the figures would appear larger as we approached.

But if they appeared clearly gigantic, then the abnormality lay in their actual size.

"You two there. Stop."

Once we were close enough for our voices to carry, I called out to them.

Thanks to the magic, they should have only just noticed us.

The moment I spoke, they stopped moving.

I observed them from behind.

… One of the pair appeared to be a woman with pink hair.

The other was easily twice the height of an adult man.

Like a giant.

"Owen. Didn't you say you'd escaped successfully?"

"Strange. That passage shouldn't have been discovered."

Reluctantly, they turned to face us.

The woman with the bobbed pink hair was apparently Owen.

… So it was a woman.

The other one had probably come to pick Owen up.

There was no way someone that size could have passed through that corridor.

In fact, they'd be far too conspicuous no matter what.

"How troublesome. But very well. I wanted to do a test run anyway."

"Since we've been found, might as well. They look like good candidates for testing Nephilim's power."

A jingling sound rang out.

The giant drew a khakkhara from beneath their robe.

Their arms were abnormally thin. They looked like they might snap at a touch.

"Become kindling to light our god's fire."

The moment they drove the khakkhara into the ground, a barrier covered the area.

—The depths of my body felt as if they were burning.

"In the name of the Creator King."

Elza wrenched her rosary free and raised it in her right hand.

"Repel our enemies."

The moment the rosary glowed, the heat disappeared.