Vol 1 Chapter 16 (1/2)

Chapter Sixteen: The Two-Headed, Black Dog

We headed to the town that the weapon shop owner had told us about

The village was called Riyute It seeood place to base our operations There was only one inn there though, and a roo merchant visited once every other day, and he would buy loot from us if he needed it

There was no apothecary, but the townsfolk wanted medicine, so I could sell my wares there, but at a lower price than in Castle Town

If the quality wasn’t good they were sure to complain

My reputation had precededstupid, I’d have to introduce them to my balloons

Anyway, I went to the shop to sell some loot that we’d earned in the area around town

“So… That’s what I got”

“That’s it?”

He paid ly accepted them

He bought theh

“Isn’t there a faster way to get money?”

“Why, you need so?”

Didn’t he know that I was the shi+eld Hero? Either that, or he already knew but was pretending not to That would give hie over me

“Well then, there is a coal ot soood price”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah If you can figure out how to get it out of there, you’ll e”

“… Why don’t other people do it then?”

If it was so easy, the place should have been crawling with prospectors

“Before the waves of destruction came, it was pretty popular But now the place is filled with dangerous monsters”

“I see”

“I don’t knohat our adventurers, knights, or the suuess that’s what you should expect from an abandoned mine”

This story was getting good A coal ood amount of money for it

“There are some rare types of ore there, if you can find theood price”

“Really? Thanks for the heads up”

In truth, I didn’t believe him entirely, but I still wanted to check out the mine

“… Where are we going today?”

Raphtalia was shi+vering in fear as she asked

“We’re going to a nearby mine”

“Okay…”

“Apparently there are dangerous monsters in there You better stay close, in case we have to run away”

“Okay!”

I opened the map and found the coal mine

It was near the roeeds and shrubbery It had been abandoned long ago Near the entrance we came upon a number of pickaxes that had been dropped They were old and ratty, but they didn’t seem unusable

Very near by, we found an old rest station

The door was locked But it wasn’t being used, so I couldn’t think of a reason not to let myself in

“Raphtalia, I’ to break the lock”

“What? Oh… Okay”

She picked up a rock and started to slah, so it only took a few good hits to break it

Inside, we found sos But they had all been abandoned and were not in very good condition We did find a ood

My shi+eld absorbed the other items we found

Pickax shi+eld: conditions met

Rope shi+eld: conditions met

Pickax shi+eld: ability locked:

equip ability:1

Rope shi+eld: ability locked:

equip bonus skill: Air Strike shi+eld

Special Effect: rope

Air Strike shi+eld? What was that?

And if it was a skill, hoas I supposed to use it?

I decided to try out the Rope shi+eld

It turned out to be a shi+eldwas so low I thought it was a joke at first

I didn’t want to try it out in an actual battle

And as this special effect “rope?” I’d better try it out

Maybe it was so hook?

I thought about the rope and the beams of the small shelter, and it flew from my shi+eld and tied itself around them

Wow! This would be useful

As for the Air Strike shi+eld… I’d better check the help menu

Found it

Skill:

While in battle, a skillits title There are also skills that raphed motions

So it was like the abilities and skills from an RPG Or like the skill set in an MMO

All right, I think I got it Time to try it out

“Air Strike shi+eld!”

As I shouted the co that I should indicate the direction to send the attack A circle indicating the attack range appeared on the ground

I focused on the ground just before e Air Strike shi+eld appeared there, hovering in the air

It was a strange shape, so like an oversized shi+eld It was ical power

I wonder what it does?

I reached out to touch it It did not uess all the skill did was summon a shi+eld If this was et strong attacks anytime soon

“What is it?” Raphtalia asked me

“It’s nothing I just got some useful skills That’s all”

“Oh… So, are we going?”

“Yeah, let’s go”

Raphtalia was acting more bravely than she had been, but I needed to watch out that she didn’t get too familiar That could be a problem

The Pickax shi+eld was certain to be of use considering the reason we’d come to the mine

Now then, let’s get down to business I held out a torch to the entrance, and we stepped inside

“There are dangerous monsters in here, so keep an eye out”

“Okay”

I took the lead, and went in ahead of her

For a little while, the tunnel was supported by wooden beams, but as ent deeper, the cave was just formed from natural stone walls You could hear the soft sound of a distant waterfall and river, and there was a soft light co froht filtered through the dusty air

Now then, where to go? We started looking for ore

I opened the map and took a quick look

It wasn’t a maze The map was marked with an “X” up near the source of the waterfall That’s where ould go

“Master…”

“Hm?”

Raphtalia was tugging at my sleeve

“Um… Look”

She was pointing down

I followed her gaze There were large footprints there, and they appeared to be fro

So they weren’t lying about the , but not abnor

“We need to keep going”

If ays tried to avoid danger, ould never get anywhere

If we ran into a monster, all we needed to do was defeat it If it was only the size of a dog, I’m sure we could handle it

“All right, let’s go”

“Oh… Okay”

“Don’t worry We can beat it”

“I’ll try”

That’s the attitude

So we kept on h the cave Until…

“Grrrrrrrr”

We ran into it right e reached the top of the waterfall

It was like a big, black dog But it had two heads

But the footprints were so much smaller… Maybe it was a puppy?

This dog was taller than I was!

We had no choice…

“Hawoooooooo!”

The dog let out a bellowing howl and turned towards us It started running

I hadn’t taken dae from an enemy yet, but could I take on a monster like this and come out unscathed?

Well, even if it landed an attack, one hit shouldn’t kill me

I held up my shi+eld, and waited for the attack

Ugh… It was so heavy

“Gahhhh!”

Its thick nails were scratching atto bite me

… As if I would let it!

To avoid its teeth, I threeight into the shi+eld, pushed the beast back, and juet some distance

Apparently, I could stand up to its attacks for now

“Yes! I got it!”

There was a chance for Raphtalia too… But that’s when I noticed it

She was shaking in fear, and her eyes were locked at some random point in space

No! This is just how she acted when she was getting ready to cry in the night

“Nooooooooooooo!”

Her shrill cry cut through the cave and rang in my ears

“Grrrooar!”

The dog howled and jumped back for a moment

It then turned to Raphtalia and began to dash in her direction

As if I would let it

I quickly knocked her out of the ith my shi+eld She fell over by the waterfall

“Ah! H…Help!”

Even if she fell, she shouldn’t die But she looked like she was about to fall over the edge

“No! No! Dad! Mom!”

daood Better pull back

It was a risk, but it was our only chance

I ran over to her, wrapped her in ave myself over to the waterfall

You fall over waterfalls in games all the ti irling, and I had no idea where I was

We were suddenly free froh the air We fell into a small lake at the bottom

The current wasn’t strong, so am to the shore

Cough… Cough…

“What was that?! You can’t just freak out on me”

“Dad?”

“No! What are you talking about?”

I looked up as we talked The dog ran to the edge of the cliff, looked down at us, then turned and ran off

It had to be thinking of a way to get to us

“Are you okay? Are you conscious?”

“I… I…”

“What was that?”

“It…”