Day four of my life as a mole.
While life underground is beyond miserable, our beastkin hunting is going better than expected. If my calculations are correct, we’ve already defeated over two hundred and fifty beastkin. Seiya’s Jolly Piper level also went up, apparently, so he can now use the special ability Modest Flute, which further helps him reduce noise when using Burst Air. It increased the range as well, essentially making the blowpipe a sniper rifle with a silencer. Seeing Seiya steadily take out the beastkin without being noticed is like watching an elite assassin.
That’s when Seiya lays out the new plan.
“It’s about time we go looking for Bunogeos.”
…While hunting is progressing well, we still haven’t reached our target of three hundred beastkin. I feel like going after Bunogeos now is a little hasty for such a cautious Hero.
“Are you saying you want to find Bunogeos so you can locate the spell stone?”
If we break the spell stone, we’ll be able to go back to the spirit world and train. That’s probably why Seiya is willing to take the risk. But Seiya merely lets out a “hmph” before briskly walking off into another underground cavern.
“H-hey?! Wait up!”
“Just follow me.”
I watch Seiya from behind while thinking to myself:
Is Seiya also sick of living underground? Is that why he’s in such a hurry to defeat Bunogeos? Actions that spring from impatience and anxiety oftentimes don’t lead to good results.
Even then, I still inwardly shake my head.
No… I need to trust Seiya! He’s not the same reckless Hero anymore, so I’m sure he has some sort of plan! Besides, I want to be freed from living as a mole as soon as possible, so I’m not gonna argue.
We leave the desolate residential area where we’ve been hunting and head for the slave market because we heard a few beastkin talking about how Bunogeos had a mansion nearby. Apparently, he’s using a noble family’s house as his own. After arriving at the market, Seiya uses Clear Ceiling and begins searching for a building that matches the description. He eventually finds the house. Despite being somewhat run-down, it’s still the biggest residence in town, and it sounds exactly like the house the beastkin were talking about when we were eavesdropping. Seiya heads straight for the mansion without even a moment’s hesitation.
“A-are you sure we’ll be okay? He won’t find us, since we’re underground, right?”
I’m sure we’ll be okay, since Seiya values safety above all, but if Bunogeos were to somehow find us, it’d be over. His stats are far greater than any other beastkin. However, Seiya seems to be brimming with confidence.
“Don’t worry. Cave Along is evolving. Not only are the walls down here soundproof, but we’re currently three meters underground as well.”
“Ohhh! No wonder everything looks farther away with Clear Ceiling.”
“Exactly. And if deemed necessary, we can hide up to ten meters under the surface. Normal attacks won’t be able to hit us if we’re that far underground.”
After hearing Seiya’s explanation, I continue following him until we’re right underneath the mansion itself. Even though we’re using Clear Ceiling, all we can see are the residence’s dark floors over the earthen ceiling. However, if we listen carefully, we can hear someone pacing while stomping on the floor.
“Damn it!! That cowardly Hero’s been sneaking around and killing my meeeeeen!”
I hear Bunogeos’s rage-filled voice. Seiya then takes a seat on the cavern floor and pricks up his ears to listen. Bunogeos is a powerful enemy with stats that rival those of the emperor in Gaeabrande. Fighting him head-on would be suicide for Seiya in his current state. That’s probably why he’s risking getting caught by going right under Bunogeos’s mansion and looking for an opportune opening. When I strain my ears, I hear Bunogeos’s wild cry:
“L-Lord Grandleon!”
The Beast Emperor?!
Hearing the name of the monster who rules over the entire continent of Rhadral sends me into a panic, but it sounds like Bunogeos is the only one in the room. He repeats, “Yes. Of course. Yes, my lord…” as if he’s talking to himself. He must be using a crystal ball to communicate with Grandleon, who’s somewhere else. Incidentally, Grandleon’s voice is muffled, so I have no idea what he’s saying.
“Sigh. That Hero has killed a lot of my men… Huh? How many? Um… It’s around—it’s a lot. Sigh… I promise I’ll make sure to know my numbers next time we speak…”
He seems to be at a loss when asked how many beastkin were killed, but his sorrowful tone is short-lived, for his voice suddenly lights up.
“Oh! You’re going to send him?! What an honor! I have nothing to fear now! Heh. What…?! Are you serious?! Wee-hee-hee! Thank you very much, my lord!”
I whisper to Seiya:
“I’m getting a little concerned. What do you think they’re talking about?”
“Keep quiet.”
“S-sorry…”
I shut up, not wanting to disturb Seiya while he’s concentrating…
“Oink.”
I hear a pig squeal by my side. Naturally, Seiya’s the only one by my side, though. I think I’m hearing things when…
“Oink. Oink.”
It turns out it was Seiya. Wearing his usual dignified expression, he oinks like a pig.
“Oink, oink, oink-oink, oink.”
What the…?! What is going on?! Why is he oinking all of a sudden?!
Worried he might still be confused, I use Scan, but I can’t see his status, since he seems to be using Fake Out.
H-he just got his cautious personality back, and now he’s a pig?! The harsh underground environment must be causing his mind to deteriorate!
I’ve been pretty down the past few days, but this is no time to be worrying about myself. I’m far more concerned about Seiya’s decaying mental state…
Day five of my life as a mole.
We finish hunting early for the day and go back to Bunogeos’s mansion to eavesdrop.
“Hey, Seiya. How are you feeling? Have you found Bunogeos’s weakness yet?”
I whisper in his ear, but he doesn’t reply. He must be getting irritated because he hasn’t been able to find any clues as to how to beat Bunogeos. I cut a death worm in half and give it to him.
“You shouldn’t push yourself too hard. How about having some death worm to relax? It’s actually pretty good once you get used to it.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Okay…”
I munch on the death worm all by my lonesome when out of nowhere…
“Weeee-hee-hee-hee.”
Seiya laughs like a disgusting pig!
“Wh-wh-wh-what’s wrong?! Why are you laughing like a maniac?!”
“It’s nothing.”
Oh no…! Oh no, no, no! This is seriously bad! He has genuinely lost his mind! I recommend temporarily sneaking back to Little Light when the beastkin aren’t looking, but he immediately turns down my suggestion. I don’t even want to think about what will happen to me if I say something that rubs him the wrong way. I decide to keep everything I say mild for as long as he’s like this.
Day six of my life as a mole.
To no one’s surprise, Seiya continues to eavesdrop on Bunogeos underneath the mansion today as well. However, this time, we hear the footsteps of someone other than Bunogeos. It sounds like another beastkin has come to the mansion, and Bunogeos’s voice is bubbling with glee.
“Ohhh! Thank you for coming!”
“Screech! It was a long flight here, but these were Lord Grandleon’s orders, after all!”
“Anyway, let’s get down to business! Let’s use those powers of yours and find the Hero!”
“No need. He could already be nearby!”
And then…
Skreeeeee!
I hear a faint high-pitched sound, thanks to having a better hearing range than humans. It looks like Seiya was able to hear it as well, though.
“He said he flew here. A bat-type beastkin, perhaps? I’m not familiar with bats, but he used echolocation. He probably found these caverns.”
“What?! But we’re underground!”
“Echolocation is effective, whether underground or in the water.”
“Wh-what?! Then we have to go deeper!”
“No. Even if we descend ten meters, which is Cave Along’s threshold, we risk the chance that Bunogeos’s attacks will still reach us, burying us alive.”
“…?! I thought you said we had nothing to worry about?!”
“I said that normal attacks wouldn’t be able to hit us, not Bunogeos’s. Anyway, we need to make a move unless we want them taking the initiative.”
Seiya promptly undoes Cave Along, sending our bodies up toward the surface. When we arrive at the narrow space between the ground and the bottom of the mansion’s flooring, I try to crawl out from under the mansion, but my head bumps into a floorboard and cracks it open.
“Screech! See? There they are!”
A frowning bat-like monster looks down at me as my head pokes out from the cracked floor. I’m overcome with despair, but Seiya is already bringing the blowpipe to his lips. As the bat beastkin carelessly stares at the hole in the floor, he is hit with Burst Air at point-blank range. His head explodes, and his body tumbles to the floor. Then Seiya bursts out from under the floor to send the headless body flying before firing Burst Air at Bunogeos. He must have already figured out Bunogeos’s location while under the floor. Unfortunately for Bunogeos, the orc doesn’t have the reflexes to dodge Seiya’s sudden, accurate attack, and Burst Air’s bullet hits him right in the head. However…
“Tch! That huuurt! Ya little…!”
Bunogeos places a hand over his forehead while glaring at Seiya. It looks like the attack was only strong enough to leave a small cut!
“Ya little shiiiiiiiiit! You’ve been hiding under my hooouse?!”
C-crap, crap, crap! This is bad! Burst Air was Seiya’s one and only attack move as a Jolly Piper! But it hardly did any damage!
In the extremely spacious, dilapidated room, Bunogeos grabs the ax on his back. He then points his weapon at us as it glows with the sinister aura of Chain Destruction.
“I’m not lettin’ ya get away this tiiime!”
Seiya can’t use fire magic to create a smokescreen anymore, and if he uses Cave Along to dive underground, Bunogeos will smash the ground and bury him alive!
“Wh-what are we going to do, Seiya?!”
When I glance in Seiya’s direction, he’s already putting his platinum flute away in his breast pocket! H-he’s lost the will to fight?! Noooooo! We’re done foooooor!!
But at the very next moment, he holds a hand before his face and mutters:
“Class Change…! Jolly Piper / Earth Mage to Earth Spellblade!”
I watch Seiya in astonishment as he is wrapped in a blinding light.
“What…? No way! You can change classes without even asking Enzo in Little Light?!”
“There’s no reason that toothless old fart can do it and I can’t. I only had to watch him do it once to figure it out.”
What he’s saying is extremely rude, but this isn’t the first time he has done this. He learned Elulu’s Fire Arrow and my Appraise ability in the blink of an eye.
The light disappears, and Seiya is no longer a Jolly Piper. His equipment has transformed into that of a Spellblade.
D-did he really change classes? …Oh yeah! Why don’t I just use Scan and see for myself? He probably hasn’t had enough time to use Fake Out, since he just changed jobs!
I focus mainly on his class while using Scan…
SEIYA RYUUGUUIN |
||||
Class: Spellblade (Earth) | ||||
LV: 99 (MAX) | ||||
HP: 321,960 |
MP: 88,155 | |||
ATK: 293,412 |
DEF: 287,644 |
SPD: 268,875 |
MAG: 58,751 |
GRW: 999 (MAX)… |
I—I saw his stats! He really did change classes! …Wait! What the…?!
“Tch. Stop.”
After noticing that I was using Scan, Seiya immediately uses Fake Out, blurring his status.
At any rate, it looks like Seiya was telling the truth. He changed classes on his own. But…that’s not what shocked me the most.
H-he’s at max level already?! How?! When did that happen?! W-wait… Hold on! That’s it! It only makes sense for him to level up like this after sniping so many beastkin! Especially since he started out with the EXP Boost ability as well!
Leveling up after defeating monsters is only natural, but given this Hero has never leveled up like this before, it didn’t even cross my mind. Oblivious of my surprise, Seiya calmly brushes back his glossy black hair.
“I hit my target of three hundred after defeating that bat thing. I was able to surveil Bunogeos as well. There’s no point staying here any longer.”
“Enough rambling! Are ya prepared to fight me or whaaat?!”
“‘Prepared’? Hmph…”
Seiya unsheathes his platinum sword. He elegantly swings it a few times as if to refamiliarize himself, then points it at Bunogeos.
“I’m perfectly prepared.”