第８５６堀：海の竜 (Part1)
Side: Taiki
Man, the world is truly wider than I thought.
I was impressed in a strange way. Because...
“So you, or rather, Shera-chan-dono, were also raised by humans. What a strange connection.”
“Indeed. So Shi-chan-dono also had an encounter just like me.”
“Hmm. Though it was in the distant past.”
And just like that, they somehow found common ground.
Normally, I would have expected a ‘Let’s boss battle!’ situation, but I never dreamed they’d become so friendly so quickly. But to have the same naming sense too, that’s incredible...
No, it’s not that Aslin-chan has no sense, okay? If I said something like that, the members of the ‘Cherish Aslin-chan Club,’ led by Mino-chan, would make me listen to Aslin-chan’s good points all day and even make me repeat them... I thought it was some kind of religious cult.
“...So, shouldn’t we move on to the main topic now?”
“...Indeed. Shera-chan. I apologize for interrupting your pleasant conversation, but could we move on to the main topic now? If there don’t seem to be any particular problems, we can also discuss our own matters. If they’re this friendly, it would be better for the future to show proper sincerity.”
Certainly, with such a friendly opponent, it’s better to state our purpose honestly. Even if it were to lead to hostility, they would be less likely to feel that we had deceived or betrayed them.
“Understood. Um, I’ll hear your reminiscences later, so may I proceed with the business that brought us here?”
“Hm? Oh, come to think of it, I haven’t heard why you came here yet. What business brings you all the way to such a mana-depleted region?”
“Ah, so this area really is low on mana?”
“Indeed. Inside this hole is fine, but a strange barrier was suddenly erected several hundred years ago. From this hole, or rather, up to about the upper half of the hole, it’s within the range of a barrier that drastically reduces mana. Well, only a god could do something like this, but I wonder what their purpose was. Thanks to that, I, who happened to be resting here at the time, became unable to move from this spot.”
...Ah, I know that reason. Some useless god put up a wide-area barrier to keep monsters out of their world. As expected, such problems were brewing behind the scenes. Forcibly twisting nature is really no good, is it? Well, Hairen has no such awareness at all...
But half of this blue hole means Hairen’s barrier extends to about 100 meters deep, right? Even for a barrier using a Dungeon Core, to affect a place like this, it’s needlessly high-performance. Should I say, ‘As expected of a goddess,’ or should I be dumbfounded that it’s causing such a nuisance?
I could see Yuki-san’s face, listening beside me, growing even sterner. I get it, I understand that anguish of having to deal with such a damn nuisance. I also had plenty of stomachaches because of Bits.
“So, what is it that Shera-chan-dono wishes to know?”
“Ah, well, recently my kin have been appearing around here, and I was wondering if you knew anything about it.”
“Hmm. I do know about that. You might find it hard to believe, but they are creatures that emerged from the multiple orbs that Shera-chan-dono retrieved earlier. And in large numbers, too.”
...As expected, Magic Gear is at the center of this commotion. Or rather, she already knew that Shera-chan had retrieved the Magic Gear. She truly lives up to her title as ‘Mistress of the Abyss’. Even if her name is Shi-chan...
“Moreover, they couldn’t be reasoned with. We drove them out because they attacked us, but Shera-chan’s kin seem to find this hole a comfortable dwelling. They settled in the upper, mana-depleted layers. As for the other monsters, I don’t know if they fled to the open ocean or mana-rich waters, or if they simply perished.”
“Ah,