Chapter 279: 【Adventurer Mitran】Encountering a Mysterious Existence in a Mysterious Space

Chapter 279: 【Adventurer Mitran】Encountering a Mysterious Existence in a Mysterious Space 【Adventurer Mitran】Encountering a Mysterious Existence in a Mysterious Space

* * *

“”Uwaaaaaah!!?””

Splash!

Splash splash splash!

Splaaash!

Ibrabarleg’s scheme caused Leseida-san and me to fall to the bottom of the ruins, but we were able to survive thanks to luck, without being smashed against the hard ground.

Because waiting for us where we fell was something like a deep pool of water.

Surely, Ibrabarleg’s unique ability 【Scan】 had a limit to its range, and he couldn’t fully grasp that the place we fell into was a water surface.

In any case, we’re saved!

“...Puhaa! L-Leseida-san! Are you alive!?”

“S-Somehow! Ah, I’m glad I learned the trick to 【Body Strengthening】 from my younger brother...”

“W-Whoa!? There’s something in this pool! S-Something entered my clothes!!”

While in a state of confusion, we swam to the edge of the pool, splashing around, and got on land from there.

“H-Hii... I thought I was going to die.”

I unintentionally lost strength and looked up at the sky while lying on my back.

It seems we fell quite deep, and the large hole in the upper levels where we fell from is hidden in the darkness and can’t be seen.

And when I sit up and look around restlessly, this place gave the impression of being more like an underground canal rather than a pool.

A canal-like or pool-like structure, clearly artificially made with stone, stretched out in a straight line, and on both sides of it was the narrow path we were on, like a service walkway.

On the walls of that path, there were also magic lamps installed here, illuminating the area with a pale blue light.

“...Whoa!? W-W-What!?”

At this point, I remembered that something had crawled into my clothes in the water earlier!

It was still bouncing around in my clothes, making pitter-patter sounds.

I hurriedly grabbed it and pulled it out, and it was...

“H-Huh? Isn’t this...”

“...Hmm, Ahate River shrimp.”

...That’s right.

It was the Ahate River shrimp, the specialty of the town of Nebo that we had eaten so much.

Taking another look into the water, there were countless Ahate River shrimp swimming in it.

The shrimp must have been surprised by our sudden fall.

There were still several shrimp jumping out of the water surface, making pitter-patter sounds.

“Why are there so many Ahate River shrimp...”

“Hahaha... it’s like a shrimp farm... Well, anyway, let’s dry our clothes.”

Saying that, Leseida-san began chanting.

“‘Water, separate, fly away! 【Dry】!'”

This is life magic!

One of the parts that make this other world of Ardyst more convenient than Earth!

My and Leseida-san’s clothes dried up in no time.

The downside is that they dry a bit too much and the texture becomes rough.

“Thank you very much, Leseida-san. I’m not good at this magic. I always overdo it and nearly die along with the inside.”

I end up looking like a mummy.

I’m really glad no one has died!

“Hahaha... I see, I see... It’s a good thing I did it...”

Leseida-san showed a strained smile.

* * *

Well, we can’t stay in this place forever.

So we decided to proceed along the path next to the pool and continue exploring the surroundings.

This straight path, however, quickly hit a dead end on one side.

The path was blocked by a wall, and while the pool continued, it was blocked in a cross shape by a steel cage, and only small creatures like shrimp could proceed beyond it.

We immediately turned around and started moving in the other direction.

“Mitran-kun... I’m sorry. This whole incident was caused by my reckless actions.”

Leseida-san seemed to regret rushing out without listening to my warning.

Leseida-san apologized while looking down.

“Ah... it’s fine, don’t worry about it, Leseida-san. I’m also partly at fault.”

“In other words, this place is indeed a shrimp farm... However, the purpose of shrimp farming is not to make food for humans. The Ahate River shrimp were raised to feed these Ebi Eaters... Some of those shrimp escaped into the Ahate River and have been caught by us humans...”

Leseida-san’s brain was operating at high speed, coming up with one astonishing hypothesis after another!

“Wait, wait a minute, Leseida-san! So, what are these Ebi Eaters? Why did whoever created this facility try to raise these Ebi Eaters!?”

I held my head in confusion and asked that!

Leseida-san stopped taking notes for a moment and fell silent.

After a while, Leseida-san slowly opened that mouth.

“That’s... probably... to make them the guardians of these ruins.”

“Guardians...?”

“Guardians to protect... the relics sleeping in the deepest part of the ruins...”

“Relics...? Is that the... Magic Sword ‘Soul Devourer’ that villain mentioned at the end...!?”

Just as our discussion was starting to unravel the mystery of the ruins.

Splash, splash, splash!

My 【Super Senses】 picked up the sound of something hitting the water somewhere far away!

“...Leseida-san, be quiet... there’s something over there.”

“What...!?”

I drew my sword, took a stance, and slowly began moving in the direction of the sound.

“Could it be... an Ebi Eater that escaped from the water tanks... and is catching shrimp...?”

“............”

I didn’t know.

But that possibility exists.

Earlier, Leseida-san said, “Only shrimp were found in the stomachs of Ebi Eaters,” but according to the Adventurer’s Guild’s report, these mysterious monsters would indiscriminately attack humans when they found them.

In other words, if the source of this sound is an Ebi Eater, we can’t expect friendly contact.

I swallowed my saliva and carefully advanced.

Ebi Eaters were floating in the faintly glowing liquid.

Leseida-san and I gradually approached the direction of the sound while hiding in the shadows of the water tanks in that space where such water tanks towered like a forest.

Splash, splash, splash!

“”............””

The sound was getting closer and closer.

Leseida-san and I looked at each other, nodded, and slowly peeked out from the shadows of the water tanks, turning our eyes toward the source of the sound.

What was there was a pool similar to the one before.

However, it seemed quite shallow.

The bottom of the pool could be seen under the shimmering water surface.

And on the surface of the pool, Ahate River shrimp were jumping around.

Why?

Splash, splash, splash!

It was because of the existence that was making such sounds while plunging its arms into the water, grabbing shrimp at an imperceptible speed, and continuously throwing them into its mouth.

The shrimp were in a state of confusion, trying to escape from it.

And that existence that kept preying on the shrimp.

It was small.

About the same size as me.

That’s right, it wasn’t an Ebi Eater.

We were surprised by the true identity of the existence making the sounds and unintentionally froze with our eyes wide open.

I think this can’t be helped.

Because it was so unexpected.

The one.

The one catching the shrimp was.

A girl.

A black-haired, black-eyed girl wrapped in something like a pitch-black cloth all over her body.

That girl was single-mindedly catching shrimp and eating them.

Without even cooking them, raw.

“...What are you guys?”

After a while, that girl noticed us in our dumbfounded state, turned her face toward us, and said something like that.

“”No, what are you?””

My and Leseida-san’s retorts were in unison.