The Ultimate Sage Who Faked Incompetence and Was Disinherited Just Wants to Enjoy His New Life! - Episode 83: The Abandoned Mine

Episode 83: The Abandoned Mine

As everyone focused on her, Lilia crossed her arms and puffed out her chest. 

She looked very self-important. 

“Listen closely, okay? When processing mithril, you have to use a special mithril furnace to heat it. It seems it gets extremely hot. That’s how you can soften mithril.” 

It seemed like Lilia had read the blacksmithing manual more thoroughly than I had. 

I just skimmed through it, so I didn’t remember any of that. 

“That’s right. So if we can heat the Mithril Golem to an extremely high temperature, it should become soft for a while. In that state, even a regular sword should be able to cut it.” 

“I see. And if we destroy the Mithril Golem’s core during that time, we can defeat it.” 

Jill nodded in agreement. 

Indeed, with that method, even Jill’s sword might be able to destroy the core. 

Now there’s a chance we can actually defeat the Mithril Golem. But… is this really okay?

“But, wouldn’t Jill’s sword get ruined doing that?” 

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got plenty of steel swords. There’s no way I’d give up on mithril just because I lose one or two swords!” 

Yeah, no good. He’s clearly switched into weird battle mode. 

Better to leave him be. It’s dangerous to go against someone like that right now. 

“Then, it’s my job to heat up the Mithril Golem to super high temperatures.” 

I forced a smile as I said that. 

I could feel my cheeks twitching. 

Looking closely, Lilia and Pii-chan’s cheeks were twitching too. 

“We’re counting on you, Fel.” 

“I’ll use Freeze Barrier to protect everyone from the heat.” 

“Then we’ve got to draw the Mithril Golem’s attention as much as possible.” 

“If you take a hit, fall back immediately. This isn’t an opponent you can beat by pushing too hard.” 

Everyone nodded as we assigned roles to each other. 

Even if someone got hurt, Elise would immediately cast healing magic. So we didn’t have to worry. 

After finishing dinner, we went to bed early to prepare for the journey starting tomorrow.

—

The next morning. 

Just as the sun began to rise, we left the town of Mizuna. 

It seemed that the people who used to work in the mine didn’t commute there directly from Mizuna. 

Apparently, there used to be a small town near the mine. 

If possible, I wanted us to reach that town today.

“This is the right path, yeah?” 

“Yeah, no doubt about it. Still, I didn’t think the path would be completely gone like this.” 

We continued through the forest where there was no clear path at all. 

If we didn’t have Auto Mapping, we definitely would’ve gotten lost. 

There weren’t even any animal trails. 

Of course, we occasionally sensed some living creatures nearby.

“Look, there’s something like a signpost. It’s all rotted away though.” 

“You’re right. The writing……. doesn’t look readable.” 

“Well, that means we’re on the right track, right?” 

It really seemed like no one came around here anymore. 

Even if we reached the town near the abandoned mine, there was probably nothing left. 

After that, we silently continued through the forest. 

It seemed like this forest was just a regular forest. And wild animals were watching us cautiously from a distance. 

As the sun rose higher, we decided it was time for lunch. 

It had been a while since we had Ardan’s cooking. 

Ardan was enthusiastic as he prepared it. 

The ingredient was something we’d gotten on the ship—Kraken tentacle. 

Even though he was just grilling it, a wonderfully savory aroma wafted through the air.

“By the way, they said there was poisonous gas, right? Should we start using Wind Barrier, just in case?” 

“No need for that yet. I don’t smell any poison gas.” 

“Oh right, Jill has a good nose. Are you okay even if you breathe in some of it?” 

Yeah, Jill’s sense of smell was kind of insane. 

Still, I didn’t think he could actually detect poison gas by smell. 

What kind of nose does he have? Like a dog’s?

“A little bit is no problem. Besides, Elise can heal me right away.” 

“Still, be careful. If you breathe in too much, you could reach a point where it’s too late, you know?” 

“I know. Our lives are on the line too. If anything feels off, I’ll say something right away.” 

“We’re counting on you, Jill. Your nose is all we’ve got here. Alright, it’s done—grilled Kraken.” 

“That’s so literal!” 

Lilia widened her eyes and shouted. 

A sliced-up white piece of meat sat on the plate. 

Both sides were nicely browned and smelled great. 

I cut it with a fork. It had a nice bouncy texture. 

I placed a slice on Lilia’s plate too.

“How do you eat it?” 

“I was thinking of using this, something I got in Suiren—soy sauce.” 

“Soy sauce, huh.”

We stared at the dark brown liquid that Ardan had given us. It was the same thing we’d seen at a restaurant in the royal capital. When did he even buy something like this? The soy sauce went really well with the grilled Kraken.

It had a firm texture. But when bitten, it cut easily and softened in the mouth. The flavor juicily oozed out from inside. That mixed with the soy sauce and brought out a savory aroma. Yes, it was delicious. Lilia put her hand to her cheek with a satisfied look. She was chewing contentedly.

With our stomachs full, we began walking again toward the remains of the mine. The mountain slope gradually became steeper. Because of Elise’s stamina, we moved while taking breaks. Even so, we managed to reach the town near the abandoned mine before sunset.

“As expected, it’s in ruins.”

“Ruins, indeed.”

“I thought at least one house might still be standing. But this looks hopeless.”

The houses were miserably collapsed. Looking closely, it seemed they had been intentionally destroyed. Since there were no signs of a struggle, it didn’t seem like an attack.

“Maybe they did it to keep others from taking the mine?”

“That could be it. Adventurers like us might defeat the Mithril Golem. If that happens, they might be able to mine mithril here again.”

“Then there’s still the poison gas issue. Jill, do you smell anything?”

“No smell. Maybe all the poison gas has already been released.”

While looking around the town, Jill seemed to be checking the surrounding air.

That makes the theory about destroying the town to keep it from being taken over even more likely. Though it seems a bit excessive…

Rebuilding a town here would be tough. They’d have to create a road through the mountains. And if they did that, someone would quickly notice.

“All right, sorry to ask, but Fel, Lilia, can you build a house? I didn’t expect things to be this bad.”

“Leave it to me. I’ll build it right away. I’ll also set up Wind Barrier around us just in case.”

“That would be a big help.”

We immediately started building a house. We had to finish it before nightfall. Working together, Lilia and I built a stone house. Once we set up a hearth in the dirt floor, Ardan began preparing dinner right away.

Meanwhile, Jill and Elise went to check out the abandoned mine. With Jill able to sense poison gas, we could ensure a certain level of safety in the tunnels. Still, given the situation, there’s a high chance of cave-ins. Starting tomorrow, we should proceed using earth magic to reinforce the tunnels as we go.

The Mithril Golem is probably deep inside the tunnel. We didn’t sense any presence nearby.

Before long, Jill and Elise returned. They seemed to have made it back safely and without issue.

“How was it?”

“Looks like there’s no more poison gas. I peeked into the tunnel from the outside and saw part of the ceiling had collapsed. If we’re not careful, we’ll be buried alive.”

“It’s fine. I’ll take care of that with earth magic.”

Hearing that, Jill looked relieved. It seems like even near the entrance, the tunnels are already close to collapsing. We should definitely proceed with caution.

While we were thinking about all this, dinner seemed to be ready. We helped Ardan carry the food to the stone table.

“It’s been all fish dishes lately. Today, it’s meat!”

“Yes! That’s what I’m talking about! You really get us, Ardan.”

Jill clapped his hands with joy. It’s true, we’ve only had fish recently. Not that it wasn’t tasty.

As we ate, we talked to Ardan about the state of the tunnels.

After hearing it, Ardan seemed deeply concerned about how unstable they were. Despite being in the middle of dinner, he closed his eyes and began thinking. Maybe, as the party leader, he considered it too dangerous.

“If possible, I don’t want to go inside the tunnels.”

“Then what do we do? Give up?”

That’s what he said, but Jill’s face clearly said, “I don’t want to give up.” In that case, we’d have to lure the Mithril Golem above ground. Hopefully that works…

“Tomorrow, let’s investigate the tunnels in more detail. Maybe we’ll discover something new. We can decide whether to go in or not after that.”

“You’re right, let’s do that.”

Ardan seemed to agree with my suggestion. Otherwise, this delicious meal would be ruined. I want to enjoy our meals together properly, after all.