“Eh, a cave in the forest?”
“Yes. There’s a cave in a kind of open area, but I was thinking it’s weird to overlook a cave of that size from the outside.”
From what I can see in Enril’s vision, I thought the forest would just keep going, but suddenly, there’s a cave. It was surprising enough for me to get cautious and call Enril back, but…
“Yes, we should be careful.”
“Bears frequent this place. Wouldn’t it make sense for there to be caves for them to hibernate, darling?”
“Eh? Is it that realistic?”
“Shouta, I agree that we should be careful, but we aren’t going to find an answer by thinking about it. We should go see directly.”
“Yes. The map doesn’t show me any red dots.”
After leaving the forest, we see a giant cave. It’s like a man-made carving on the mountain. Even the six meter tall Enki can easily enter.
“This is unnatural. The gentle slope and the tall trees shouldn’t have prevented us from seeing this, even if we weren’t riding Enki…”
“And you didn’t see this when you were seeing Enril’s POV, did you darling?”
“No.”
“Then does it appear when we get close?”
“Maybe.”
“A cave that is seen only from a close distance… Shouta, where is this on the map?”
“We should be clear of the snake and boar zone. Halfway up the mountain.”
I look at the map again, and see different paths inside the cave. But unlike Unlucky Hall, there are no lights. It’s completely dark, so it’s hard to see anything in front, and the only information on the map is where the light from the outside reaches.
There are three options here.
First, ignore the cave and aim for the top.
Second, prioritize fighting bears around here, and explore the cave after gauging their strength.
Third, explore the cave.
Now what…
I use Mental Haste to consider the advantages and disadvantages quickly.
“…Let’s explore the cave.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. With the map, it’ll be easy to return to the same place, but we don’t know if it will still be here next time. We can’t let it get away, since we don’t know why we couldn’t see it from far away.”
“That’s true. We never know what might happen in a dungeon, or what conditions could make it appear, so we have to go.”
“Enki, please take the lead. Enril, follow Enki.”
‘Goh!’
‘Popo!’
“Maki and Ayane, can you illuminate it with Aurora Magic?”
““Yes!””
We take the same formation we had before and enter the cave.
After a few dozen minutes of careful walking on a mostly straight path that curves gently, we find a huge hollow. There are three altars and three reliefs, with a small pedestal in the center of the altars.
There’s nothing particularly suspicious about the pedestal, but the reliefs are of a snake, boar, and bear.
…What is this place?
“It’s a dead end.”
“It’s like where a ritual would take place.”
“Hm… There are no monsters, and it seems safe, but…”
“These reliefs are like the ones on the treasure chests.”
“…Yes.”
I stand in front of the snake one and touch it, but it doesn’t respond.
I try the same with the other two, and the same happens… Is it not the trophies? Do I need them all? But then why split them in three?
Then…
“Aira,can you give me a Bacchus cup?”
“Very well.”
I take it and place it on the altar with the snake relief.
“…Ooh!”
It shines, and the light extends to the pedestal.
“I get it.”
“This is a new one.”
“Is it the items!?”
“W-what do you mean?”
I lift the cup, and the light slowly dies down.
“Basically, we have to offer the drops of the three powered up ones, or this gimmick won’t activate.”
“Hoee. It’s amazing how you figured that out, darling!”
I give the cup back to Aira, and pat Ayane’s head. There there.
“But what will happen if we use this?”
“Maybe there are no locked treasure chests.”
“I don’t know… We can’t deny that something completely different might appear, or that the offered items might disappear. It’s tricky.”
“Taking down powered up monsters takes time. I’d rather keep the cup, but…”
Says Aki.
“And I’m just getting used to this leg equipment too…”
It’s comfortable, and if I lose it, the girl’s effort sticking the fur to the armor will have gone to waste. I guess we could take down another one.
“Anyway, this looks like a place to earn qualifications after defeating all the powered up monsters, so let’s go back. And if it’s not here later, we’ll look for other traces of treasure chests.”
Everyone nods, so we head for the exit.
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