Volume 29 - CH 3

「Eh, what's wrong? Hannah.」

「This bear is not a monster. It's a Nutbear, a cowardly animal that eats nuts.」

Hannah explained with a clear face as she put away her rapier.

「Eehh?」「What ......?」

「Oh, come to think of it, Master, I don't smell any blood on this bear.」

Meena also added an important piece of information. If it doesn't smell blood, then this bear apparently has nothing to do with the missing girl.

「Allrighty, then, abort the attack.」

「What the ...... , I thought it was a monster.」

Everyone tensed up. The bear seems to have noticed us, but it's just shaking and shrinking. It's harmless, after all.

「Probably just wandered into the mine while looking for nuts to feed on.」

「Good boy-good boy, look, don't be scared. Come here. There are no nuts here.」

Serina took out a loaf of bread from the 【Item Storage】 and flicked it to guide the bear.

「Gurururu?」

The bear was cautious for a while, but it seemed to be hungry and couldn't stand it, so it ate the bread Serina offered. It looked at her as if to ask for more.

「Here, come here.」

「All right, Serina, send the bear straight out of the mine.」

「Roger that.」

「Do you have enough bread?」

「I'll be fine. I've got plenty.」

「I see. Well, with breasts like that, it's no wonder.」

「Hmm. ......? Hey, Alec! My breasts have nothing to do with this. Don't talk to me as if I'm a glutton.」

Serina tilted her head and started to get angry when she saw her own breasts.

「Nobody said anything like that. I just said you're growing out of it.」

「It's not the same thing, geez ......」

「Hoe~, are your breasts still going to get bigger, Serina-san?」

Nene compares them to her own breasts and makes a strange face.

「Hmph, it's not all about being big, Nene-chan. If you don't get the right balance of nourishment for your brain, you'll end up looking like an idiot like Serina.」

「Ah, auhh. You're wrong, Letty-sensei, I think Serina-san is smart. ......」

「Mm」

The flat-chested Mare nodded widely and proudly stuck out her chest, but Serina glared at me with a great expression. Ooh, how scary

「Fufu, well then, darling, let's leave that bear to the growing Serina, and we'll search for the girl.」

Saki was right. I nodded, of course.

「Yeah. Let's resume our search.」

「「「Roger that!」」」

As we continued down the tunnel, we came across a place where, unlike before, the rocks had collapsed and piled up.

The path is blocked by rock rubble here, but ......

「Master! It smells like a girl! She must be behind here!」

Meena shouted.

「All right, let's get this rock out of the way.」

「Leave it to me~. Kukuku, a rock like this can only be defeated by the dark god of destruction, Crusher Letty!」

Letty, the purple-blue mage, even has some kind of pale aura, showing her motivation.

「No, Letty, you're good. Is there anyone else who can move this rock?」

I called for someone else.

「Hey, why!?」

「No, you're a bit dangerous when your motivation――No, ahem, I thought it would be a shame to use the party's greatest trump card here.」

「Hah, I see, so you're saying there's a boss ahead!? I hadn't thought of it that way, either. As expected of Alec, you're very careful!」

Thank God Letty imagined it on her own and convinced her, but she could have overdone it and wiped out the whole mine.

「All right, if there's no one else around, I'll just haul the rocks away by force!」「Gue! Gueh!」

Jouga and Matsukaze are getting into the spirit, but it's going to be tough to carry this thing.

「Mm」

In the midst of all this, Mare takes a step forward.

「Hmm? Mare, you mean you'll do it?」

「Mm」

Nodding her head, Mare seemed to have a lot of confidence.

「All right, then, give it a try. But don't overdo it. And don't do anything dangerous.」

「Mm, leave it to me」

Mare then motioned with her hand for us to step back a bit, and faced the rock on the spot.

「Tsuu....」

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and unified her mind.

Then, she quietly set up her bow.

There is some kind of pale aura dancing in the air. ......

「That's ......! Could it be that the rumored 『God-Sewn Archery』, the 【Rock Eraser】!?」

「What, do you know about it, Ione?」

「No, not in detail. My father just told me to watch out for archer priestesses who emit a pale aura. ...... If the rumors are true, watch it. The rocks will disappear.」

「Ohh?」

「Huuh, bows and arrows don't make rocks disappear, it's just enough to sting.」

Some of us don't believe it, but ...... we'll see what happens.

As we watched from behind, Mare finally released the arrow.