CH 44

Chapter 44 – It was a Trap!

“Sir Joshua, please stand back!”

Iria must have sensed the danger, as she quickly unsheathed her sword and cut through the black mist.

However, the blade merely swung through it like air.

Iria held her sword up again and muttered.

“…It cannot be cut?”

“This mist is…shadow magic.”

I had seen it many times on the battlefield.

Demons were of the upper class within the Demon King’s army, and many of them could use high-ranking magic.

And so I was quite sure this was magic of the shadow attribute…magic that summoned the undead.

It must mean that a trap had been set here to activate this magic when there are intruders.

“Iria. Be careful. An enemy will appear.”

I had heard that it was typical for such traps to be found in dungeons.

I think that they were called ‘monster rooms.’

Rooms where monsters and undead suddenly appeared and surrounded you.

As the mist started to fade away, white bones…Skeletons, appeared around us.

There were around twenty in all. And they all wielded swords and spears.

“So we’re surrounded…”

“It is fine. Leave this to me!”

Iria swung her sword immediately and began to attack the skeletons.

At the same time, the Iron Golem began to swing its arms, thrashing the enemy to the ground.

And so I too crafted a War Hammer, and joined the fight… Or tried to, but Iria was mostly finished by then.

It had taken her less than two minutes to dispose of all of the skeletons.

There had been nothing for me to do.

The only thing I really did was cast Magic Shield on Iria, so she would not take any damage during the fight.

After being defeated, the skeletons turned transparent as they disappeared.

Summoned undead always disappeared when dying. And that included their armor and weapons.

Iria sheathed her sword and turned to me.

“Sir Joshua. Were you hurt!?”

“N-no. You and the Iron Golem took care of everything… Huh?”

Suddenly, Iria threw her arms around me tightly.

“W-what is it, Iria? Are you feeling alright?”

I asked, and Iria shook her head.

“I-I’m sorry… But I’m no good with these things. Animated skeletons! …How can it be. Skeletons, moving on their own!”

Iria said with tearful eyes and a quivering voice.

W-well, it was true that they were an eerie, frightening sight…

I would be quite scared if I bumped into such creatures in the middle of the night.

But in spite of that, Iria had been fighting as calmly as always…

Perhaps she lost herself a little in battle.

Really, the difference before and after was striking.

“In any case, I’m glad that you are safe. If there are any other places like this in the area, you must warn the others to never step foot inside.”

“Of course! I will be especially firm when telling the children. They will be too scared to get close.”

I had a feeling Iria wouldn’t need to say anything, just make a scary face, and they would all obey… Especially if they have seen her fight.

“I don’t know if it’s necessary to scare them that much. But yes, they should be discouraged from coming here.”

After that, we decided to leave the dungeon behind us.

Of course, I took the scroll with me.

However, it really had been a simple dungeon.

I had heard that they were a lot more complex.

They had intertwined corridors like a labyrinth. There were traps everywhere, and many Adventurers would die inside.

Perhaps this was only a small part of it.

In that case, I should make the Golem be more careful.

I could have them stop gathering stone materials here. We could get materials by knocking down Cobis’s castle instead.

If we left that castle standing, the slave hunters might try to use it again. It was also possible that bandits would live in it. The sooner we tore it down, the better.

It was with such thoughts that I stepped outside.

Iria looked relieved as she turned to me.

“Th-that was so horrible…”

“Are you alright? I think that next time we visit a dungeon, you better wait outside.”

Iria shook her head and insisted that she was fine.. And so my eyes turned to the scroll in my hand.

“Oh, so what was that?”

“Yes. I’ll open it now.”

And so I opened the scroll without delay.

When it opened, the shining words appeared on the paper.

The letters were unknown to me, but my mind could tell what was written.

“This is…Search… Oh. This magic…”

It was high-ranking shadow magic. It allowed you to know the density of the mana around you.

There was mana floating in the atmosphere, and everyone who used magic had to gather it.

Those who had more mana had more magic energy.

And with this, you would be able to tell how much magic energy a magician had.

Furthermore, as humans and monsters always had a certain amount of mana inside of them, it could also work as magic to simply detect any living creatures.

So if someone was behind a wall or in the forest, you would be able to sense them.

Of course, the range and accuracy of this detection would depend on the amount of magic energy the user had.

“We’ll be able to detect any hiding enemies or prey.”

“Oh! That would be incredibly useful.”

“Aye. However… I feel like it would be a waste for me to use it.”

Even if I did learn this magic, how large an area would I be able to detect with the amount of magic energy that I had…?

I did not know much about this magic, and had not learned it yet. And so I had no idea what kind of range it would have.

Scrolls were disposable.

Once someone used them, they vanished.

“Perhaps we should save it until we find someone who is good with magic…”

“But Sir Joshua. There is no one in the village who can use magic, aside from you. Surely you are the person who should use it?”

“…Well, it would make things more convenient…”

It would let me know who had a lot of magic energy, and then I could teach such people low-ranking magic.

As long as we were close to each other, even I would be able to tell their mana level.

“Fine… I’ll use it.”

“Yes. Please don’t hesitate!”

I nodded to Iria and then ordered the use of the scroll.

And then the scroll vanished.

At the same time, I realized that I could sense this thing called mana.

It was as if I had a grasp on it, as far as my eye could see.

“I don’t know what it is like for the average person… But everything is so clear.”

As the mana was in the shape of a human, if someone was inside of a tent, I would be able to grasp their silhouette.

“In any case, this will be very useful.”

We could make use of this magic and… However, the opportunity did not arise.

Because for the next three days, things continued to be peaceful.