Volume 2 Chapter 19 (1/2)

We entered the secret passage hidden behind the waterfall. The thought had crossed my mind but it doesn’t seem like it’ll be that easy to reach the boss room.

[Fortress!] (Selene)

Selene activated her skill as a wall of light emerged from the center of Renoir’s shield and directly received the Lizardman’s heavy shoulder charge. The Lizardman was an extremely muscular bipedal reptile who held an axe in his hands and a pad on his shoulder, resembling something people wore in the 1890s.

(Note: I am unsure on what this part means so it’ll be great if someone could confirm this for me. Raws: 　斧を手に持ち、とげ付き肩パッドでの体当たりを得意とする世紀末スタイル。)

Two of them had appeared at the same time. The other Lizardman that appeared was currently my opponent. The Lizardman raised and dropped his axe as I deflected the attack and drove my sword into its neck, severing its carotid artery. After severing its carotid artery, I continued to move behind to its back and slashed his back once more. The Lizardman fell to the ground as blood gushed out from its back and neck, turning into blue particles as it landed onto the ground.

On the other hand, the Lizardman which charged directly into Selene had its weak points exposed to Luna who flanked and thrust her dagger directly into its body. Meanwhile, the last member of the party, Til was also busy.

[These bats, there are so many of them.] (Til)

[We can only rely on Til for the enemies in the sky, do your best.] (Youya)

Til was continuously firing arrows this whole time. Her opponents were the Mouse Bats, bats with large buck teeth that were also strangely fleshy for a bat. It was a monster that mostly spent its time in the air, and only Til was capable of attacking them unless they were descenting for an attack. Even while muttering complaints, she was accurately shooting arrows onto the Mouse Bats, knocking down one bat after another. No matter how many times I see it, her archery skills is an exciting sight. One of the surviving Mouse Bat’s signature buck teeth began to glow as it suddenly descended towards Til who had just released an arrow and was unprotected.

[Finally Luna is able to land a blow.] (Luna)

Our party’s middle guard, Luna followed up with a thrust from her dagger into the body of the Mouse bat. The blade penetrates deep into the Mouse Bat’s small body and turns into blue particles.

[Thank you Luna. Fuuee, I was a little bit surprised by that.] (Til)

With this, all the enemies have been safely defeated. Somehow we managed this far without suffering much damage.

[This is already the seventh ambush since we entered the passage.] (Selene)

[Amazing amount of monsters. Luna is surprised.] (Luna)

[I have already used up most of my arrows and my inventory is going red soon. I have to start creating new arrows soon.] (Til)

[At least it seems that no one has entered the passage ever since the monsters respawn earlier this week.] (Selene)

Since this path was hidden behind the waterfall, the number of monsters here have not been controlled by other adventurers. Thanks to this, it’s basically an all-you-can-hunt buffet for us. Normally we would welcome the monsters with open arms however we would prefer to conserve our strength for the battle against the boss making these encounters a pain in the ass.

[Selene, from this point on avoid using your skills and preserve them for the battle with the boss.] (Youya)

[I understand.] (Selene)

Fortress and Shield Bash were both powerful skills in their own right however they still required mana from its user, it’ll be better for us to consider conserving our mana and strength from now on.

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After walking through the secret passage, we have finally arrived at the the end of the passage in front of the boss room. Once we open the door, the boss battle will begin.

[As expected I’m exhausted. Luna’s legs are wobbling.] (Luna)

[I’ve lost some of the feeling in my arms. The monsters here are strong and persistent, and they have their own strange abilities. It was tough.] (Selene)

[It’ll be tough for us to battle the boss with how it is now.] (Til)

The three girls each had an exhausted look on their faces from the repeated battles. It wasn’t unexpected since we had fought another five group of monsters before finally arriving at the boss room. In a short period time, we have already encountered and fought twelve battles. Aside from our mana, our physical strength and spirits were already completely sapped.

[Let’s continue on to the boss room! Is what I would like to say but it’s time for a change of plan. Let’s take a break and have some food while drinking recovery potions.] (Youya)

[Hurray! As expected of Youya. Luna is happy.] (Luna)

[Snacks, food!] (Til)

[Physical condition aside, is this really okay?] (Selene)

[It’s fine since this is a one-way trip. Since we’ve already defeated all of the monsters on our way here, there isn’t any chance of a sneak attack from the back whereas the boss will never take a step out of its room. We should only challenge the boss once we are fully prepared for the battle.] (Youya)

As such, I took out a sheet from my magic bag and spread it out on the floor. The two children took off their shoes and sat on the sheet. I smiled bitterly and began to pour cold juice into cups and handed them to everyone. Times like these are when I appreciate the handiness of the Magic Bag as items that are placed into it remain as it is. Food placed inside will not go bad, making it possible for us to enjoy cold drinks and even snacks when we’re outside.

[Ah! Youya, is that the fruity rice cake! It was really delicious.] (Til)

[That is why I thought about buying it. I thought it was delicious too.] (Youya)

Til immediately began eating the rice cake.