CH 154

Chapter 154 : Breaking Into The Mine

We got up from our chairs and approached the edge of the flat ground to see Weikel and his companions on the other side more clearly.

They looked so excited somehow. I’m not sure but they’re probably heading toward the mine while yelling, “Weeii~ Weiii~” like last night.

By the way, Nicola has woken up, but she is still leaning on the table. She doesn’t seem to care about the adventurers.

After they walked for a while, Weikel and his companions arrived at the mine entrance.

The person that looked like Luck waved his hand as he noticed that we were watching from a distance. Nei and I then waved our hands back at him.

Jack, who was standing next to Luck, was just glancing at us, but then Luck grabbed his hand and forced him to wave at us.

After Weikel talked with the miners on the lookout, one of the miners entered the mine. Weikel then followed him. I believe Nei called him Jimza.

「Nei, who is the miner who entered with them?」(Mark)

「Ah, you mean Jimza? He is the leader of the miners in this town. Looks like he is guiding those adventurers.」(Nei)

「I see.」(Mark)

While we were exchanging such conversations, Weikel’s companions entered the mine one after another, leaving the two other miners at the entrance.

「So, Mark! What will we do now?」(Nei)

For some reason, Nei clasped her fists and asked me excitedly.

「Umm… Wait until they come out?」(Mark)

「Eh? We’re not going to do anything until they come out?」(Nei)

「I guess there’s nothing we can do.」(Mark)

「Eeeehh… It’s more boring than I expected…」(Nei)

Nei looked disappointed. She looked away from me and sighed.

「Well, even if we go there we will only get in their way. All we can do now is pray for their safety and wait.」(Mark)

Although I said I wanted to see how they do their job as adventurers, as long as they are fighting inside the mine, there’s nothing we can do. Still, I believe there will be something I can learn even though I can’t see them fight.

「Even though I can’t see them, knowing that they are fighting inside the mine is enough to make me excited!」(Delica)

While saying that Delica looked toward the mine with shining eyes.

「I’m gonna practice sword for a bit!」(Delica)

As soon as she said that, Delica rushed to an open area and started swinging her sword.

She is aiming to become an adventurer, so I can understand why she is excited.

「Hoo… That girl may be right. Mark, while we’re waiting, can you show me your earth magic? I’m kinda interested.」(Nei)

「Alright.」(Mark)

Dwarves seem to be the race who like making things, so it’s not weird if Nei is interested in earth magic.

「So, what kind of spell do you want to see?」(Mark)

「Hmm… I don’t know much about magic. Besides, this is the first time I’ve seen a boy who can make a pavilion by himself. Just show me anything that you think is interesting.」(Nei)

「Alright then. I’ll make some play equipment like the ones I made at the playground in my town.」(Mark)

I stretched my arms and made a slide, a seesaw, and a mini horse statue with earth magic.

「Whoaa… Is this a seesaw? I’ve never seen play equipment like this. How do you play with it?」(Nei)

While saying that, Nei hopped onto the seesaw, stood right in the middle, and tried to balance her body.

I’m quite impressed by her sense of balance, but that’s not how you play with a seesaw.

「No, you don’t stand in the middle like that. You sit on the edges of either side.」(Mark)

「Ah, I see… Like this? And then?」(Nei)

After Nei sat on one side of the seesaw, I hopped onto the seesaw and sat on the other side, and when I leaned back a little, the seesaw lifted Nei up and lowered me down at the same time.

「Whoaa! It feels good when it lifts me up!」(Nei)

「And it’s time for you to go down. Be careful.」(Mark)

There’s no tire cushion underneath each edge, so we need to be careful.

When I slowly pushed the ground with my feet, I went up and Nei went down. Nei immediately put her feet on the ground and landed slowly.

「I see, so you repeatedly do this alternately! The feeling when it lifts your body up is interesting!」(Nei)

I’m glad that she likes it. After all, seesaw is the most popular play equipment in the vacant lot in Fatia.

After we played with the seesaw for a while, the next thing that caught Nei’s interest was the mini horse statue.

「How do you play with this?」(Nei)

「You sit on it. Simple.」(Mark)

「I see. Certainly, from the shape, it looks comfortable to sit on.」(Nei)

Nei mounted the horse statue and tapped the statue’s head with her right hand.

「Is this a solid rock?」(Nei)

「No, I made it from soil so it shouldn’t be that hard.」(Mark)

「Hee… Can I punch it?」(Nei)

「Eh? Why?」(Mark)

「I don’t know. I just feel like punching it.」(Nei)

「…I’m not sure why you want to punch it but you better not do that. It’s not as hard as solid rock, but you will hurt your hand for sure. Well, I can always heal your hand, but…」(Mark)

I can always heal her, but the problem is she will likely cry like last time. I wanted to say that but I stopped so as not to hurt her feeling, but apparently, she could read my mind from my expression. She puffed her cheeks and yelled at me.

「Hey, I won’t cry anymore, okay! Even though I’m still young, I’m a dwarf. I’m confident in my strength!」(Nei)

「Is that so? You can try hitting it then.」(Mark)

「Alright, here I go…!」(Nei)

Nei jumped off the horse statue, spun her right arm around several times and punched the belly of the horse statue.

「Haa!」(Nei)

As soon as she punched the statue, she was frozen for a moment while her fist was still stuck to the statue, and then she crouched while holding her bright red fist.

「ーKhhh!!」(Nei)

「A, Are you okay…? L-Look! The statue is dented! Your punch is amazing!」(Mark)

I pointed to the dented belly of the horse statue, hoping that she would be satisfied from that, but for some reason, Nei glared at me with a grudge while still crouching and holding her fist.

「Kuuuuhhh!!! You said it wasn’t hard! I was intending to destroy it but it’s only dented a little!」(Nei)

「Even if you say so… I really did make it with soil though.」(Mark)

Well, because this is an attraction for children, I hardened it a bit so that it won’t crumble easily, but I didn’t make it to be as hard as rock.

「Let me see your hand.」(Mark)

「Uuu…」(Nei)

I gently grabbed Nei’s right hand and cast recovery magic on it.

「Th, Thank you…」(Nei)

She thanked me, but for some reason, she looked away with a blushed face.

I wonder why she wanted to destroy the statue. Did she want to show off her power to me? Well, that’s kinda cute.

Celine, Nicola, and Delica who were watching nearby, looked at Nei with warm eyes and gentle smiles.

Nei couldn’t help but stay silent while her face became redder.

――――――

After we spent time for about an hour, the leader of the miner who guided the adventurers came out of the mine.

Soon after, a figure who seemed to be Weikel rushed out as well. He then kneeled on the ground while breathing heavily.

Judging from his condition, he and his companions didn’t seem to successfully defeat the Mother of Stone Lizards.

「Hey, seems like there’s something wrong going on in the mine!」(Nei)

When Nei said that, Celine approached us and looked at the mine.

「Hmm… This is bad… Looks like we should go there and ask them what happened.」(Celine)

Nei, Delica and I immediately nodded to Celine.

Meanwhile, Nicola looked at me with ‘dead fish’ eyes.

『Don’t tell me… Are we going to go to the other side…?』(Nicola)

『Yup.』(Mark)

『Eeeehhh….』(Nicola)