Chapter 15 (1/2)

Translator: Luk2048

I've woke up in the gloomy depths of the earth. When I fell into the pitfall I've prepared myself for death, but surprisingly trying to move my body didn't bring any pain. Seems like the reason I've fainted was a psychological shock.

Looking at the hole I came from it wasn't a vertical drop, but rather a long slide. In addition to the steep slope, the slide's stones were polished smooth, so unless I had suction cups chances of me climbing up didn't seem high.

”… I'm screwed.”

In the underground s.p.a.ce stretching ahead was an obscure tunnel. On the surface of the walls grew glowing moss, which served as a natural light source. Based on the incessantly trickling water from the ceiling, it might be a pa.s.sage utilizing the gra.s.slands rain flowing into the water vein.

Is there no clue how to get out — taking one step forward with such thoughts, —snap— I stepped into something.

Bones.

”… Uugh!”

While stifling a stupid cry, I shrank away and violently crashed into a wall. After I started taking deep breaths to soothe my thumping heart, I noticed those were most likely animal bones. They've had the shape of a four-footed animal, like a horse or a sheep.

”Did it get lost in the cave and fell down here…? Poor thing.”

It probably wasn't long ago since the bandits made this cave into their headquarters. If previously it was abandoned, such tragedy might have played out.

”It's okay… It's fine. If I wait one day Rēko will return and immediately find me. At that time I'll just fool her, saying that I've been taking a nap at this cosy-looking place…”

It's quite pathetic, but I was already giving up the option of proceeding deeper into the cave. As far as my nose could tell, there was no beasts' or monsters' stench ahead. Having said that, blindly moving forward without any guarantee would just be inane. And scary, above all.

However, when I've sat around for a while, I noticed that right next to the hole I slid down through was a single book. Coming closer to take a look, it wasn't damaged at all despite being neglected in a damp cave. It seems to be made out of a special paper. Written on its cover in the ancient human language with glowing ink, so as it could be read in dark, was the following t.i.tle.

『Exploration Notes: G.o.d of Hunt Sacrificial Grotto』