Chapter 70: | Into the Mine

Theo stepped out of the inn and walked toward the village gate. There, he found two men standing guard, dressed in light armor, holding spears and torches.

The moment he approached, their attention locked onto him. One of them smiled and greeted Theo, recognizing him right away as the adventurer who’d come into the village.

“Where are you headed, Sir Theo?”

“The adventurers I traveled here with got captured by those goblins. I’m going to rescue them,” Theo explained.

“Rescuing them at night? That’s a huge risk, Sir Theo.”

He knew that. But he felt like he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. Lives were at stake, and Theo worried that if he waited until morning, they’d already be dead.

He reached out and gave one of the men’s shoulders a gentle pat. “I’ll be fine.”

“Wait, Sir Theo,” one of them said, digging into his pocket and handing over a small pouch. “This should help you deal with their night pollen.”

They must mean that fragrance thing.

Theo accepted it and pressed it over his face, a cool, refreshing scent of mint washing over him.

He thanked them and walked on ahead, entering the forested area. Theo glanced to the side and asked Avara to fly ahead and scout for him.

“If you spot any monsters nearby, peck my shoulder.”

As he walked, he let Avara handle the scouting through the forest. By the time he neared Yuraja Mine, Avara came back and landed on his shoulder.

She didn’t peck him, which meant the forest was clear of monsters.

His steps stopped as he reached the rocky edge of the mine. Theo crouched down and lowered his head, looking down into the depths, spotting torches lit and moving around below.

They’d get suspicious if one of the torches suddenly went dark. That would just draw more monsters toward us.

While scanning the area, Theo spotted a small, narrow path he could use to sneak into the mine undetected.

Theo kept moving through the darkness, telling Avara to fly off and caw loudly to draw their attention elsewhere. Avara nodded and carried out the task.

Theo looked ahead and found the mine’s main entrance unguarded, since the goblins were too distracted watching Avara overhead.

Right as he was about to step inside, one of the goblins caught Theo’s scent and noticed him. It spun around and shouted toward Theo, raising a stone axe.

“Change of plans!”

“Kill them, Ava!”

Avara obeyed instantly, swooping low and launching a burst of sharp thorns forward, striking down two kobolds, piercing them fatally.

Meanwhile, Theo dodged the swing of the goblin’s stone axe and drove his sword straight through its stomach, repeating the same move on the second goblin.

[Congratulations! You have successfully killed a monster]

[Type: Dark Goblin (C-Rank)]

[Count: 2]

[Reward: +50exp]

[EXP: 155/700] [+50exp]

That exp yield looks promising.

Lucky for Theo, the sound of their deaths didn’t lure any more goblins out of their den.

Theo stepped inside, gripping both swords in each hand, Avara flying over and shifting back into her human form beside him.

“They were pretty easy to kill,” Avara said.

“Stay alert, there are plenty more goblins and kobolds down here,” Theo said.

“I doubt that,” Avara replied. “Goblins and kobolds wouldn’t be willing to share their den with each other.”

With a lit torch in hand, Theo led the way inside, Avara staying close by his side. Beyond rescuing the captured women, Theo’s main reason for coming to Yuraja Mine was to collect the Claukgard material.

Their steps paused as they reached a fork in the path, left or right. Theo hesitated for a moment, unsure which direction to take.

“Avara.”

“On it.”

Avara swung her arm and shifted back into her crow form. She flew off from Theo to scout both paths, while he stayed put at the starting point.

Before long, Avara returned from the left fork and transformed back into her human form. She told Theo there was a treasure chest down that way, but the dead ended there.

“A suspiciously treasure chest.”

“We’ll take the right path,” Theo decided.

Avara and Theo continued on, now following the right fork of the intersection. The closer he got toward the end of that path, the stronger a putrid stench grew.

The woman covered her mouth and told Theo the place reeked just like it had earlier that day. Theo wasn’t scared, but he felt relieved and reassured.

That meant the night pollen the villagers had warned him about wasn’t present in this part of the tunnel, at least they were safe from that particular danger here.

Unexpectedly, Theo and Avara ran into another fork, this time not two paths, but three.

“They’re such a pain.”

“One of these paths has to be a trap, but we have no way of knowing which one’s the right one,” Theo replied.

He raised his hand, stretching it forward to illuminate all three paths. It felt too risky to send Avara off scouting again, given how deep they’d already ventured into the dark goblin den.

He started exploring the left path first, but it turned out to be a dead end with nothing there.

Theo turned back and walked down the middle path instead, his steps pausing briefly.

His eyes went wide at the sight of the middle path opening into a wide chamber, piled high with skulls and bones, a grim mix of human and goblin remains.

Could this be some kind of burial ground for them?

“Tch! Disgusting creatures.”

Theo and Ava returned to the starting point and headed down the last remaining path, the right one.

He kept his torchlight pointed forward, lighting the way to spot any early signs of danger.

But the farther he walked, the clearer he could hear screaming and cries for help coming from somewhere ahead. Not just one voice either, but several, shrill and desperate.

It has to be them!

The two of them moved quickly through the passage, spotting a bright light at the end of the path. Theo drew his sword, bracing himself for a fight.

As they reached the wide chamber, Theo’s eyes went wide with shock, and even Avara’s face drained of color at the sight before them.

“W-What the…”