Chapter 180 (1/2)

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The Drakon Pa.s.sage

The day after Hikaru accepted the special request.

「That's it? Are you sure?」

『Yup. It's done.』

「It doesn't look like anything's changed.」

『I said it's done.』

「For real?」

『You don't trust me, do you?』

「Well, you do look like a gluttonous, drooling, bizarre creature.」

Hikaru and Drake the white drakon were in a forest located in the middle of Pond and Leather Elka. They came to this place since the latter said a Drakon Pa.s.sage was here.

It was starting to get dark. Worst case, they might need to make camp for the night. There were barely any vicious monsters around, so Hikaru believed they'd be safe.

In the middle of the forest stood a hill with a hole in it, too small to be called a cave. An experienced hunter might think a bear was hibernating in there.

Drake said the hole was the entrance to the Drakon Pa.s.sage. The drakon mumbled some incantation and that was it. It was dark inside, but Hikaru's Life and Mana Detection didn't pick up anything.

「Hikaru. Let's try going in.」Lavia urged.

「Okay…」

Drake wrapped himself back around Lavia's neck. Hikaru took out a magic lamp shaped like a flashlight. The hole went surprisingly deep, although Hikaru had to crouch down just to enter.

「You two wait for my signal first before going in.」Hikaru said.

『You really don't trust me, huh?』

Drake looked dejected. For a drakon, he sure is expressive and c.o.c.ky, Hikaru thought.

As soon as he entered the hole, the path quickly turned to a downward slope. Hikaru proceeded onward, half-sliding down. The pa.s.sage—made by simply boring through the ground—grew wider midway, and he could now stand straight up. The whistling of the wind indicated that the pa.s.sage was connected somewhere.

「This isn't a dungeon, is it? 」Hikaru wondered.

There would be life around if it was, but he didn't detect anything. Soon the slope turned into level ground.

「Hmm?」

Hikaru noticed the air had turned warm. It felt like winter's chilly grip loosened just a bit. As he advanced deeper, this time the slope turned upward. The feel of the earth seemed to have changed, but he couldn't explain exactly what had changed, since he wasn't a geological expert.

「Hm? Stairs?」

Nicely-shaped rocks set on the ground formed stairs, though some part of it had long crumbled. When Hikaru made it out, he found himself inside a small building—a shrine. He had no idea what kind of G.o.d was enshrined here, but a stone statue stood inside. On the entrance to the shrine was a double door, one side rotten and on the ground. From there, he stepped outside.

「No way…」

Hikaru stood there blankly, dumbfounded. He was in a deep forest just a while ago, and now he was on top of a hill. A town sprawled out below. Houses made primarily of sandstones lined the streets. The place looked just like the town where he freed Drake, Einganstadt.

There was still time before sundown—the sun sat a little bit higher in the sky than when Hikaru entered the hole, as if it climbed back up—and they managed to secure themselves rooms at an inn. Asking at the checkpoint would only draw suspicion, so instead Hikaru casually asked the owner of the inn where they were. As it turned out, they were in Nordenstadt, a town in Einbeast.

「Here you go. Eat up.」

『Yahoo! Deep-fried bread coated in sugar! One of my favorites!』

Hikaru brought Drake a bag full of deep-fried bread. Lavia and Paula already made themselves at home. After asking for tea from Paula, Hikaru turned his attention to Drake.

「So. What was that?」

『Like I keep saying, it's the Drakon Pa.s.sage.』

Hikaru knew already, but after seeing the real thing, he couldn't help but ask.

「With those things, border checkpoints are pretty much useless.」

『I told you, holy mana is needed to activate the pa.s.sage. A normal human being can't use it.』

Drake talked as if these things were common knowledge. Verifying every single one of them was a pain. The Drakon Pa.s.sage was a series of pathways that drakons used to travel all over the world. They were basically shortcuts. In this world, mana acc.u.mulated under the earth, running from one place to another. Hikaru didn't warp through the hole, but rather for a moment, s.p.a.ce was bent, allowing for short-distance travel.

Holy mana was more powerful than ordinary mana, able to perform things magic and sorcery couldn't. Humans couldn't acc.u.mulate this inside their bodies, but it was possible to seal it inside using a catalyst.

「How much mana did you use, then? You're getting mana from Lavia, right?」

Lavia provided Drake with excess mana which the drakon converted to holy mana so he could recover his strength.