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Chapter 14: Under the rift in the earth [above] (Part one)

When Ren returned to the guild, he still attracted a lot of attention.

That’s what happens when he who was always calm suddenly behaved like that. He was looked at with questioning eyes.

Ren, who was the one involved, returned to his meal with a wry smile on his face, thinking back to the appearance of the woman in the robe earlier.　

“Yo!”

It was shortly after that.

An adventurer with a coarse tone, with whom he had often exchanged words, approached him.

He was smiling as he sat down in the chair opposite Ren.

“Are you going to the East Forest again today?”

“Yes. I intend to.”

“Then, how about I go with you today? The guild members have asked me to hunt for them in the vicinity of the forest.”

Not as much as a request for an escort, but if anything comes up, I’d like you to lend a hand.

The guild official probably told the man these things as small talk and the man just nodded since he had no big business to do.

However, Ren has a job to investigate the situation of monsters.

He was unable to nod because of his ongoing work to report on habitat conditions, population numbers, and anything else that caught his attention.

The man shrugged his shoulders and said, “I guess I can’t help it”.

“I’d love to hunt with you when the opportunity comes.”

“Of course.”

“Hahahaha! If hero-dono says so, I’ll have to work hard for that time.”

Then, the man stood up from his seat with a hearty laugh.

He looked at his werewolf partner who appeared at the entrance of the guild.

“I’m off. Don’t get hurt, hero-dono.”

They said a prayer for each other’s safety and left the guild.

Ren who was left, after finishing his remaining meal, was deep in thoughts.

I wonder who that woman in the robe was —-.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

The morning had been a strange encounter, but by noon Ren had forgotten about it and was immersed in the investigation and the hunt.

Today, as usual, all is well.

However, the wooden magic sword is still not progressing as it should.

He was curious about the requirements to reach the next level, but without any clues, he had no choice but to continue hunting and wait for a change to come.

“That’s enough.”

I decided to call it a day and go home.

The reason was that the hunt was going well and I realized that I was going to have a hard time transporting them.

I’ve been lucky enough to hunt three earthworms, so I’ve got plenty of fight left in me. I’ve also completed my work to investigate the monster situation as planned.

If I go back to the town now, I can arrive there before evening.

Once that is decided, I will immediately go to —-.

…………Uwah! 』

…………Gaaa—-!』

Screams and high-pitched roars.

Startled by the powerful sound that unexpectedly pierced their ears, the birds that were staying in the trees of the forest all took off at once.

Ren also stopped and looked in the direction of the sound.

“……Why is it so close to town?”

Ren, who recognized the roar, let go of the earthworm he was carrying.

Thinking it was an obvious anomaly, he naturally moved his feet.

Kicking the ground with a zap—- he ran in its direction.

Between the trees, like the wind.

He headed in a straight line in the direction of the sound, cutting through the branches and leaves that got in his way with his iron magic sword.

Soon, he could smell it.

It was the smell of thick blood.

(……It must have come from somewhere around here.)

After a dozen minutes of running, he arrived at a place where he could smell blood.

What he arrived at was a gaping chasm in the earth below him.

The crevice was wide, but it was complicated by the roots of trees and half-collapsed slopes, making it difficult to climb up if one fell in.

Ren noticed a few men and women at the bottom of the cleft in the earth.

Every last one of them was bleeding.

(They are alive …… but)

It would be difficult to escape from this chasm.

Without a doubt, they would eventually die out without the help of a third party.

So Ren decided to help them.

With the power of the wooden magic sword, it wouldn’t be difficult to rescue them.

And just as he was about to take the first step, he heard a loud.

“Oraaaaaaaaah!”

“Ku…… that’s hard!”

In the rift in the earth.

A familiar voice came from a short distance away from the fallen man and woman.

The two men’s voices made Ren turn his head to see the werewolf man and that man with the rough tone of voice.

He heard the deafening sound of metal clashing with metal.

And when Ren saw the black-iron-colored monster in the opposite direction, he thought, “I knew it,” 

—- After all, that monster is…

“Why is a steel eating gargoyle in a place like this?”

There is no doubt about it. 

The figure flapped its wings and flew freely in all directions at the lowest level of the rift in the earth. Its entire metallic physique is like a deadly weapon.

The strength it possesses to fight with its agility and strong physique sets it apart from ordinary gargoyles.

It’s a special monster that’s counted as a unique monster along with the Thief Wolfen, which is one of the top D-ranked monsters.

What makes me wonder is that the steel-eating gargoyle was in the eastern forest.

As I recall, it was located further away from Clausel. The information Ren had seen in the guild would certainly have mentioned such a thing.

“Ku …… if it continues like this!”

The werewolf muttered.

The bodies of the two men who were fighting have numerous wounds.

The man with the rough tone of voice still seems to be okay, but the werewolf man seems to have no strength in one arm and is unreliable.

The steel-eating gargoyle still flies agilely around the wall and on the footholds of the spreading tree roots.

It caught the wolf man off guard and took his back.

“Gah! 』

“— eh?”

“Shit! “

A pitiful voice and a black iron arm swung down on the werewolf who uttered that voice.

“You bastard!”

The werewolf is just in front of the swing.

The man with a rough tone intervened and blocked the black iron arm with the shield in his hand,—- but the arm pierced through the shield and hit the man’s shoulder as if to gouge it out.

“Aaah!”　

The man was blown away quite easily.

The werewolf who was left glared at the steel-eating gargoyle.

The steel-eating gargoyle, still afloat, came at the werewolf with great force and raised its black iron arm. —-

“Kakak! 』

A moment later, Ren, intervened.

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