18: The flag we raised’ll get picked up, they say.
“Hey, there’s a cave over here.”
After several days’ travel, we finally reached the foothills of the mountain range we were aiming for.
Rough, exposed rock faces stretched out on either side.
Beyond these treacherous peaks lay another country, but few ever tried to cross them—just a few merchants, maybe.
“A cave? Where?”
“Back there, behind the brush.”
At first glance, it looked just like a patch of overgrown weeds.
Following Leifan’s lead, we edged closer—only then spotting it.
No surprise, really, for someone with gnome blood.
“Think we can go in?”
“Yeah. Looks wide enough. Wanna check it out?”
“That’s the whole point.”
If there’s ore around, we’re not skipping it.
We signal Raidock and the others, shift into a narrow passage formation.
“‘Floating Light Sphere’”
Me and Raidock say it at the same time.
Two spheres of light bloom into existence, hovering above us.
The priest Bep and the hunter Jitarou light torches, and the glow is more than enough.
"Let's go deep into the cave and check the geology."
"Yeah, please."
Dwarves or gnomes would be a real help right now. Even for ordinary folk, telling iron ore from the dark is tough.
Leifan pulls out a dowsing tea drop and starts searching for ore. The mix of gnome blood and dowsing works like a charm.
"Right, let's move—keep an eye out for monsters."
Caves like this, especially ones big enough for people to walk through, usually have monsters roaming them for years.
Whether the beasts dug them out or they just settled in from the start, who knows.
"Hope it's not turned into a dungeon."
"From the entrance, I think we're safe."
"Yeah... I guess."
A dungeon’s just a place—some otherworldly pocket where monsters are born.
Strong ones roam the halls. And deeper in, you’ll find rare treasures. That’s why adventurers come in hoping to strike it rich in one go.
Sometimes, ancient ruins from the old magic age get called dungeons too.
This cave’s probably natural.
We moved forward carefully. At the back, we spotted a monster’s shadow.
“Back left! Three rock lizards!”
“Got it! Moda’s in front! Solar’s covering! If we can’t take ‘em down, we follow up!”
“Copy that!”
Only the ranger Solar answered. But silent Moda was already moving.
Good team.
Makes me think back to the days I used to dream of being an adventurer, traveling across every corner of the world.
Feels like it was ages ago.
“Huh!”
"Got it! We can handle this ourselves!"
"Good! The rest of you keep watch all around! It’s tight in here—watch your backs!"
"Yes!"
"Ah."
Guess I’m not needed here.
Shrugging my shoulders, I fall in behind them.
"Not much of a threat, is it."
"Guess it’s because it’s us."
The rock lizard looked like a giant gecko, with tough, rocky skin—damn hard to pierce.
A rookie adventurer would run screaming at the sight. And yet, they’re dispatching it like it’s nothing. That’s some top-tier adventuring right there.
"Sharpness oil’s a real game-changer. Look—Morda’s axe slicing through it like paper."
Yeah, okay.
Even though it’s more of a slashing weapon than a blunt one, the cut on the rock lizard was clean—like a knife had just carved through it.
"Alright. We're good. Once we strip the material, we move out."
"“““Got it.”””"
That’s how it went—every monster that showed up got swiftly taken down by Raidock’s party.
"The geology’s changed."
"How so?"
"Patchy iron mixed in the rock, but judging by the feel... could be mithril here."
"““Oh.””"
Me and Raidock both spoke at once.
To adventurers, mithril gear was the ultimate dream.
Leifan looked up from his dowsing.
"But the concentration’s low around here. Want to go deeper."
"Alright. Let’s go."
We pressed on, and suddenly Leifan stopped.
"What’s wrong?"
"I think... there’s a wide space ahead."
"Hm."
"Let’s take a peek."
We stepped through, and the ceiling rose high—opening into a vast chamber.
Not a stalactite cave, so how the hell did something this big form?
“Ah! There! Look!”
Where Leifan pointed, a faint green glow reflected off the surface.
“Told you! Mithril ore!”
“Wait—found it! Congrats… Get back! Leifan!”
Gyaaarrrr!
“““!?““”
“Damn it!”
Raidock lunges out beside Leifan.
“What the hell was that noise!?”
“Idiot! Stay back, Jitarou!”
He hurls a light sphere at the massive rock beside them.
A deep shadow forms—something huge rising from the dark.
“Cyclops…”
It was a giant. The first giant.
Three times the height of a man, muscles straining at the seams. The massive club in its hand looked like a felled tree.
A killer of adventurers.
A Cyclops.
"Moda, join up with me! Solal, fall back! Bardack, full-force magic attack! Bep, support magic!"
"“““Got it!!””"
We reorganize instantly, but the enemy’s too strong.
Even if we run, we’ll take damage—otherwise we’ll get hit from behind.
"Nuun!"
Warrior Moda swings his axe at the Cyclops’s shins, but it dodges with surprising speed.
"What?!"
Raidock shouts in shock at the unexpected movement.
GOGGYUGGEAAARRRGGHHH!!!
Despite its huge frame, it swings the massive club with surprising agility, slamming it straight at Moda.
The club collides with Moda’s shield—thud echoes through the cavern.
"Uugh?!"
Moda’s flung backward, tumbling across the ground.
"Moda!"
Priest Bep rushes to help, but Moda raises a hand to stop him.
I’m fine! Use the potion! Bep, keep up the support magic!
Yes, sir!
I pour the Healing Potion from the leather sack straight onto Moda, and smoke rises from every inch of her body as her wounds seal shut in an instant.
It works too well—kinda makes me queasy.
You alright!?
...Yeah!
Moda stands up strong, then dashes straight to Raidock’s side.
...That first bastard... I can’t forgive him!
I summon the spell with fury.
Fire’s forbidden in the cave.
Wind’s no good either—could stir up gas pockets.
Soil’s too unreliable.
Area spells are dangerous.
Then—
"Freezefang Ice Strike Cavalry Lance!!!"
A massive ice lance shot toward the cyclops, scattering ice dust, veering sharply mid-flight to strike where the giant tried to dodge.
It pierced straight through the one-eyed giant’s chest.
And not just that—frost spread rapidly from around the wound, freezing the creature’s body solid.
“Wha—? That spell just now!?”
“Think later, Solar! Target the eye! I’ll finish it, Morda!”
“Got it!”
Despite the massive hole in its chest, the cyclops stubbornly refused to die. Raidock launched a full assault.
“Take this! Gale Sword Lance! Wolf Charge Collapse!! Rock Slash Collapse!!”
“Uuuuuhhhhhhhhh!!!”
Raidock hammered the cyclops with a barrage of techniques, while Morda kept swinging his massive axe with brute force, over and over.
Still reeling from the barrage of Solar’s arrows and Bardack’s magic, he collapsed, spent.
“Hah! Hah! Got him!?”
“Yes! He’s dead!”
“Alright! We did it!”
“S-So amazing, everyone!”
“Eeeeee! We actually beat something that scary!?”
“Damn, Raidock.”
To have nearly shut down a cyclops known as the Adventurer Killer in such a short time—impressive.
Really turned into something amazing.
“What’re you talking about!? Craft was the one who actually finished him off, right!?”
“Yeah. We just delivered the final blow.”
“Unbelievable magic. Seriously, were you really powerless before?”
“Craft-san. You’ve finally unlocked your power, huh?”
They all slap my shoulders, my waist, my back.
“…Yeah. I hope so.”
Never thought I’d be this happy—using magic I’ve never been able to use before to actually help my friends.
On the other hand, what I got was the alchemist’s sigil. Feels kinda off, getting stronger through magic like this.
Right now, I’m a member of the Production Guild. No arrogance. Gotta improve my alchemy skills.
“Alright, alright. We’re safe now, right? Can I dig up some ore?”
“Yeah, that’s priority. Gather all the materials you can from the cyclops, Solal.”
“Leave it to me.”
“Got your back.”
“Wait a sec. There’s something I wanna try first.”
“What’s that? Craft?”
I placed my hand on the giant cyclops’s corpse and chanted.
“Spatial Storage.”
With a faint drain of magic, the cyclops’s body vanished completely.
“W-what!?”
“T-That’s impossible! You can store something that big!?”
“Looks like it. Never tried it before… but I just knew it’d work.”
“T-That’s… beyond belief…”
The party members of Raidock, dumbfounded.
Come to think of it, Raidock was the only one who’d seen the direct insertion and removal.
"Still full of nonsense, as always."
"Handy, though."
"Damn jealous... oops, materials, materials."
Putting the cyclops back in its spot after having stowed it away once.
It’d be fine to dismantle it back in the village, but I want to toss out the useless organs right here.
The scent-eliminating reagents were already fully prepared.
Unfortunately, neither the cyclops’s organs nor its blood are much use as alchemical materials.
Licking their lips, Raidock and the others strip away the materials at breakneck speed.
The sharpening oil smeared on their knives seems to be doing the trick—dismantling progresses visibly fast.
Soon, Leifan’s voice calls out.
"Hey! Craft-kun! Over here! Store the ore!"
"Got it, leave it to me!"
Rushing over to Leifan, who was digging through the ore with a mattock, I saw already about two barrels’ worth piled up.
“Keep going!”
“Yeah.”
Leifan was fully into the ore digging.
The rumors were true—no one’s eyes light up like a gnome’s when it comes to ore. Yep.
“Hmm. Think we’ve pretty much dug this whole area out?”
“Four barrels’ worth. Not bad, but should we call it quits?”
It was a decent amount, considering it was mithril, but four barrels of raw ore wouldn’t make much of an ingot.
“Probably could find more if we dug past that wall, but there’s a thick rock layer. Pick alone? Might be tough.”
“Right. Then let’s use the gear we brought.”
What I pulled from my spatial storage was a candle that looked big at first glance. A tiny gemstone stuck to the end of a cylinder.
"What's that?"
"A mana bomb."
"A bomb?"
"Basically, something that explodes from a mana surge."
"Wait— is that safe?"
"As long as you don’t twist and push in that gemstone, it’s fine. No heat, so no risk of fire."
"I didn’t mean it that way... but what now?"
"Obviously, we try it. Everyone! Get behind the big rock’s shadow!"
"Huh? Got it. What’re we doing?"
"First time for me too. Staying back’s just for safety. I’m gonna try blasting the bedrock now."
"Bedrock? Eh, whatever. Everyone, clear out!"
"Yessir!"
"Copy that!"
After making sure everyone was hidden, I set the mana bomb and dove into the rock’s shadow myself.
Three! Two! One! Boom——
At that moment.
A deafening roar filled the cave. The blast lifted dust into the air. The shockwave slammed into my body.
"AAAAAHHH!"
"KYAAAAA!"
"WHAAAT!?"
"What!?"
"EEEEEH!?"
The ringing in my ears faded. I waited for the swirling dust to settle, then slowly got to my feet.
Everyone, lit by the glow of the light orb, seemed unharmed. Except one.
They were all covered in dust, white as snow.
"Uhh. Good thing we didn’t use that on a cyclops."
"Too much, Craft!"
Nah. The shock value was perfect.
Scolding would have to wait. With Leifan now aware of the explosion’s power, a new mining method was born.
Name of the technique: Piercing Detonation.
The technique works like this: drill a hole into the bedrock just big enough to fit the magic bomb, shove it in, and detonate. The force travels straight through the rock—efficient, clean destruction.
Leifan came up with this in an instant. Is he actually… that good?
The blast wind spreading across the square was drastically reduced. We smashed through the stubborn bedrock in one go.
That’s how we ended up gathering a massive haul of mithril ore and heading back home.
“Can’t just tidy it up neatly, you know!?”
That night, I got two hours of scolding and was forced to sit in a formal stance. Oh, the shame.
I’ve read all your thoughts. Sorry I haven’t replied to each one.
Can’t answer every single one, but just picking a few feels weird too…
Anyway, I cracked up when I found someone who knew the original source of Golden Dune. W.
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