The Ultimate Sage Who Faked Incompetence and Was Disinherited Just Wants to Enjoy His New Life! - Episode 97: The Danger That Lies There

Episode 97: The Danger That Lies There

The next day. Right after eating breakfast, we departed from Kikyo Town. 

Our destination was the “Coastline Dungeon”. 

We went even farther into the wasteland where we tested out our new weapons.

Maybe because we had defeated a decent number of monsters yesterday, the number of monsters for a while was low. 

However, gradually, their numbers started increasing.

“Hey, isn’t this kind of bad? I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.” 

“I think so too. It looks like we’re almost at our destination though…”

While defeating the Wild Panthers that attacked us, we continued moving forward. 

The individual strength of each one wasn’t that great. But there were a lot of them. 

In the end, to preserve Ardan’s and Jill’s stamina, Lilia and I used magic to wipe them out.

“Fel, Lilia, you okay?” 

“I’m fine. I can still go on.” 

“No problem.” 

“Hey, isn’t that it?”

When we arrived at a place where we could look down the coastline from high ground, Jill pointed at one spot along the coast. 

There, a large gaping mouth was open in the middle of the sand dunes. 

It looked like the mouth of some huge monster. And if you went inside, it seemed like it would gulp you down.

But more than that, there was something that bothered us even more.

“What’s with that number of monsters?”

Ahead, where Lilia muttered, were enough monsters to cover the entire beach. 

It seemed that a part of this massive group had flowed out into the wasteland. 

So this is a monster overflow. 

It’s my first time seeing one.

“If that many monsters head to the city, it’ll be bad.” 

“Yeah. Looks like we have no choice but to take them down.” 

“Hmm, looks like they’re coming out of that hole.”

Elise was observing the surroundings with binoculars in one hand. 

In my Analyze spell too, I picked up reactions coming from that place. 

It seems there’s no doubt that hole is the dungeon entrance.

“Mmmmmm.” 

“What is it, Pii-chan?” 

“Faintly… very faintly, I can feel the presence of the Water Spirit.”

Everyone’s attention turned to Pii-chan. 

As if saying “no doubt about it,” Pii-chan firmly nodded up and down. 

I couldn’t feel anything myself. But since they’re both Spirits, maybe there’s some sort of connection.

“So, the Water Spirit is controlling the dungeon and producing a large number of monsters?” 

“That’s nonsense! N-no, wait, could it be… just like me, it’s being controlled by this planet through a magic stone!? Ooooooh… That must be it. There’s no way that kind and gentle Water Spirit would do something like this!”

Pii-chan covered its face with both wings and slumped down. 

I supported its body and gently rubbed its back. 

It seemed to be quite shocked that a fellow Spirit was going through the same thing. 

At this rate, there’s a high chance that the remaining Earth Spirit and Wind Spirit are also in the same state.

“So the Water Spirit is gentle, huh?” 

“Indeed. That child always watched over the ships crossing the sea and gave them blessings to ward off monsters so they wouldn’t sink. It would calm the waves near the coast so that small fishing boats wouldn’t be swept away. And it would make it rain so plants wouldn’t wither, ahhhh…”

Eventually, Pii-chan started crying. 

Maybe… Pii-chan has feelings for the Water Spirit? 

I don’t know if Spirits have genders or if they feel romantic emotions, but… 

If that’s the case, I want to do something to help.

“First, we need to do something about this horde of monsters. We’ll investigate the inside of the dungeon afterward. We might find a clue about the Water Spirit.”

“Then isn’t it our turn? Looks like there’s no one else around nearby. So I think it’s okay to use wide-area annihilation magic. No, if we’re going to take on this many monsters at once, we have to use wide-area annihilation magic!”

Lilia raised her eyebrows and the corners of her mouth into a grin. 

Seeing her face, Pii-chan stopped crying. 

Now it was trembling. 

Looks like it’s scared.

“I won’t stop you. But both of you, don’t overdo it.” 

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” 

“What a coincidence, Elise. So do I.”

The three of them forced bitter smiles. 

I don’t think it’s something to be that scared of, though.

The problem is which magic to use. 

Fire magic is out, since we’d have to wait for it to cool down after using it. 

Then should we try to sweep them away with water magic? 

Hmm, with that, there might be monsters we can’t defeat. 

What we need now is definite annihilation power.

“Wind magic, I guess, after all.” 

“We could freeze everything with ice magic, but melting it afterward seems like a hassle. Burying them with earth magic would make the terrain in this whole area all bumpy. So we probably shouldn’t.” 

“Lightning magic is noisy, so let’s go with wind magic.” 

“Yeah.”

Lilia and I nodded at each other. That settles it. 

If we sweep that entire area with blades of wind, we can probably defeat most of the monsters. 

By the way, if annihilation magic is used by one person alone, it puts considerable strain on the body. 

So, basically, it’s used by two people together.

“I’m thinking of using Heaven Storm.” 

“With that number, that should be enough.”

Lilia’s estimate seemed to confirm it too. 

If we used something too powerful, the terrain in this area might change drastically. 

It’s better than earth magic, but still, we should be extremely careful. 

The altered terrain won’t return to its original state right away. And if we were to fix it ourselves, it would be a major task.

“Hey, what’s ‘Heaven Storm’?” 

“I don’t know. Why don’t you just ask them directly?” 

“Like I’d have the courage to ask something that scary.” 

“Calm down, you two. You’ll find out soon enough.”

From behind us, we could hear voices—just barely enough to make out. 

It was a bit distracting. 

Even so, we began to gather magical power in our bodies to use the spell.

“Aniki, Boss lady, be careful, okay?” 

“We know.” 

“It’s fine, it’s fine. This kind of magic isn’t that big of a deal.”

Ah, Pii-chan is trembling more than before. 

Maybe… it already knows about the spell? 

Looks like Pii-chan is more knowledgeable than I thought. 

Even though Lilia said it was a top-secret magic.

Alright, we’ve gathered enough magic power. 

After nodding at each other, we stepped a few steps ahead of the others.

“Alright, let’s go, Lilia.” 

“I’m ready anytime.” 

“Heaven Storm!” “Heaven Storm!”

A dense green-colored air appeared before us. And It immediately began moving toward the target. 

Like wind swaying ears of wheat, it cut down monsters one after another. 

The monsters that were sliced up turned into magic stones in the blink of an eye.

What remained after the wind had passed through were only magic stones that occasionally sparkled with seven colors under the light.

“Yeah. Looks like we took down the monsters without any problems.” 

“Doesn’t look like we missed any. Alright, let’s go gather the magic stones!”

Pushed forward by Lilia, I stepped ahead. 

Pii-chan, perched on my shoulder, was clicking its beak. 

Maybe this was the first time it had actually seen the magic with its own eyes.

“What kind of monsters are they…..…” 

“You really don’t want to get them angry.” 

“C’mon, let’s go gather magic stones too.”

Um, I can hear you clearly, you know…

Once we finished gathering the huge number of magic stones, we decided to have lunch. 

In the meantime, we would use Analyze to check the structure of the dungeon.

“I threw a bit of that earlier magic into the dungeon too. So I don’t think any monsters will be coming out for a while.” 

“Got it. If anything strange happens, let us know right away.” 

“Hey, aren’t we… kinda useless now?”

To Jill, who was uncharacteristically sounding discouraged, I explained a weakness of magic users.

“In wide-open spaces, we can use magic freely. But in narrow places, the kinds of magic we can use are limited. When that happens, we have to rely on non-magic power. That’s why we need close-range fighters like you and Ardan.”

“Good point. If flashy magic ends up destroying the dungeon, that defeats the purpose.” 

“And healing magic will be necessary if anything happens. So we won’t be completely useless,” 

Elise added helpfully.

This is *that*, huh? 

We absolutely must not let it slip that Lilia and I can use healing magic too. 

I secretly glanced over at Lilia. 

Lilia placed both hands over her small mouth. She nodded up and down repeatedly.