Magic Warrior Chapter 81

Mine in Mineina

As I walked along the west street of the town toward the mine, I gradually saw more and more ore and jewelry stores and blacksmithing-related establishments.

"Maybe we can buy some ore for blacksmithing here."

"If there are facilities we can use, maybe we can make weapons."

"Sis, Rilfana-chan, can you make weapons?"

"I have some knowledge, but I've never made one before. I've never made one before, though."

As expected, I think it is difficult to fool Clare if you make weapons in a hurry....

I didn't make blacksmithing a specialty at SeveChro, but I had raised my skills to the point where I could cast about intermediate level weapons for my own repair work. So I think I can do blacksmithing if I have the right materials and tools, and I should be able to get something much stronger than my current weapons.

I would like to at least try to see if I can produce it, and I would like to gather information while I am in town.

For now, we must prioritize mining for the request.

At the end of the road, there was a gaping hole at the entrance to a cave.

This is a tunnel that was used in the early days and is now being used for storage and other purposes, so it is apparently not open for mining.

If one does not enter the cave, but continues up the gentle slope on either side, there seem to be a number of tunnels.

According to the map we bought at the guild, the left side is a controlled area, so we decided to take the right upslope.

When we reached a steep slope, we found a stairway. After climbing up for a while, we found the first tunnel.

It was pitch-dark inside and we could not see anything. The tunnel that is often used seems to be lit by the light of a magic machine, but this tunnel is probably rarely used.

"Is it crowded because it's the first entrance?"

"I don't see anyone near the entrance."

"Sis, we don't know anyway, so why don't we just go in?"

I decided to go in and see if Clare was right.

I take out the lantern from the mage and turn on the light. Since one hand was occupied, I decided to hold it, since my left hand was free.

I also put the lighting torcha on the dagger of Rilfana standing in front of me. I can put it away by putting it in its scabbard.

"If we deviate from the first path, we can mine, right? For now, we'll continue on to where the side holes are."

The main path is wide enough for five people to walk side by side to find the entrance. (You don't want the main path to be too wide for wheelbarrows to pass each other, do you?

The fork in the road is marked with arrows pointing in the direction of the entrance.

With Rilfana leading the way, we soon came to a side passage, which was also well lit by lanterns and lighting torchas.

The side hole seemed to have enough room for people to pass each other.

Glancing into the hole, we could see the remains of mining from a short distance ahead, and shards of bluish crystal glinted in the light of Rilfana's dagger. It's a solge crystal, I think, but it would be too small to collect.

"I guess we should look for the big one of that glowing stone. Let's go a little deeper."

We passed through some side holes and came to a wider area. There seemed to be a railing leading down.

The map shows it roughly flat, so I don't know if it is a three-dimensional structure.

"Looking at the map, I'd say we're about halfway there so far."

"What about the main road?"

"There are multiple paths from where we got off, but only the straight path is marked as no mining, so I think the others are side holes."

At the bottom of the stairs, we decided to veer off into a side hole and try mining.

Adventurers seemed to come here to mine, and there were signs of digging here and there. The walls had been chipped away here and there like insect bites, and piles of dirt had formed in large areas where they had cut away. The soil in the vicinity must have been dumped here.

"Okay, let's go."

We dug into the wall with a borrowed pickaxe at a spot about one person's width down. As he dug into the earth, he soon heard a resounding "squeak" sound. It must have been the ore.

"There are two of them coming up to me."

The high-pitched mining sound that hit the ore seemed to attract monsters.

He propped the pickaxe against the wall and drew his sword.

With a clattering sound, I saw a dome-shaped monster, a petit cannon, walking toward me. Its lens glowed red like an eye.

Even though it was carrying a small cannon, it had not been rifled to increase its range and hit rate, so its range was not very long, I thought.

If possible, we would like to defeat them with magic from outside the range. If they get close to you, you should be able to fight them without standing in front of them.

In SeveChro, many of the machines were unattributed, so it is better to shoot them with your best magic.

"Fire Sword"

"Ice Needle".

First, Rilfana intercepted them with double chanting. A fireball exploded and an ice pillar pierced the one that came alongside. The movement has slowed down somewhat, but there is no change in the movement approaching us.

"It's so hard."

"Ice Needle."

"Wind Blade."

Clare and I immediately fired a follow-up attack.

An ice pillar and a weasel attacked the one in front of us. More icicles pierced it, and one of its legs was shredded by the wind blade, and it stopped moving.

Another one approaches, climbing over the petit cannon that has stopped moving.

Just as we think it is about to enter range, we hear a heavy thud. It seems to have opened fire.

The range might be a little longer than SeveChro's distance.

Normally, I wouldn't be so carefree about it, but it's slow enough that I can tell the trajectory, and it looks like it might hurt if it hits me, so I don't feel too much danger.

It seems that there is obviously some kind of level or status correction.

If it were a battle with bullets flying around at normal speed, we might not be able to fight no matter how high our level is, which would be a big help.

"Shield!"

I was wondering what to do when Clare magically produced a barrier to protect us. Behind the transparent shield, a cannonball causes a small explosion.

I didn't think you had learned that kind of auxiliary magic too. When did I learn it? 

Rilfana rushed in and cut him down with a single sword.

Most of the cannon types, including minis and petites, are level 10 enemies, so it seems they are no match for us.

I could concentrate on mining.

"When did you learn to use a shield?"

"Hmmm, after I bought the book, I consulted with the sisters about the magic listed in it and learned it."

This look on his face suggests that he is still hiding something else.

Protective Shield Scudo, as I mentioned earlier, is a magic that protects you by putting up a barrier, but it was more of a magic used against the rear guard when the wall tank was attacked at range.

If it wasn't for SeveChro, the rear guard could use similar magic to protect the vanguard, though it wouldn't be odd.

"I'm going to keep digging, so if anything comes in, please do me a favor."

"Yes!"

"Okay."

I dug in the place where I had heard the echo earlier and found a large lump of crystal. Was it "harder to dig a stone"? It sure seems to be easy to dig.

I used a pickaxe to break it into pieces small enough to fit in my Magic Bag. The size of the crystal would be too small to fit in a pouch, so I crushed it into pieces small enough to fit in Rilfana's backpack.

Every once in a while, I hear gunfire behind me, so it seems that the cannons are coming closer.

I check each time, but Rilfana and Clare were able to handle it with plenty of time to spare.

We silently just kept digging. The soil was harder than the quartz when we wielded the pickaxe. I was concentrating on my work, and before I knew it, there were many small chunks of quartz scattered around.

"Oh my, you must have dug a lot."

"I thought I'd use them for Magic Enchant."

The first large chunk would be enough for the request; I had collected many because I wanted to try to make a medium for Magic Enchant.

"I've killed a lot of them, sister!"

There were about 10 petite cannon remnants lying around. Some of them were small, so there might be some mini-cannons mixed in.

As for the material, the part that looks like an eyeball can be used as glass and is expensive. Other parts like springs and black spongy cushioning material can be taken, but many parts have been broken in battle.

There must also be circuits for control or something to replace them, but the contents of the black box containing them seems to be loaded with a self-destruct system when the aircraft is damaged, so nothing is left.

Some people have tried to capture and remove the cannon while it was still in operation, but no matter how hard they tried, they could not leave anything behind.

The cannon itself can be melted down and used as scrap iron. It is also a monster that has nowhere to throw it away.

With this many cannons, I don't think there are any adventurers in the vicinity. There was probably nothing of note left in the tunnels near the town.

"Mina-sama, I'd like to take it all back, please."

Rilfana smiled and handed me a dagger. I guess he wanted me to cut these guys into just the right size.

"Fire Sword!"

I cut them with the magic sword I hadn't used in a long time.

Magic sword is not a skill for work, but it is not used so much because of the damage to the weapon, and I think it is used like this more often...

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After packing up the collected items into Rilfana's Magic Bag, we decided to explore a little more, as we still had some time to spare.

"I'm curious about something on this map, aren't you?"

"What's bothering you?"

"I'm sure it's just my imagination, but let's take a look."

When I first looked at this map of the tunnels, there was one place that caught my attention.