Chapter 14: Ash Kobold's Nest

After collecting the tail from the ash kobold that she defeated with a knee kick, Haruna stealthily peeked into the mine site from the entrance. The trolley rail on the ground extended to the back, but there are almost no light sources. There are only the crystals, which barely protruded from the wall, that are emitting a faint light. If you don’t secure your own light with a torch, you won’t be able to move forward.

「Yeah, I think I can make it. I will stand out if I use a torch, so let’s just proceed like this.」

However, it seems that this was also a trivial problem for Haruna, who can see well in the dark. She, who judged that the light from the crystal is enough for her, proceed into the mine site without hesitation. The more she stepped in, the more darkness covered the area. There are wolves’ crying voices that can be heard from deep inside, and when she listened carefully, she could also hear the sound of metal being struck.

(If I’m not wrong, Shishou said that ash kobolds have a habit of collecting shiny objects, right? Could it be that they are digging for ore with pickaxes from the quarry? Maybe they feel like crows?)

In the midst of an eerie atmosphere, such a thought came to mind her mind. Maybe Haruna really has a loose screw. There’s no hint of being nervous about the act of entering the monster’s nest and she indifferently proceeds further while paying close attention to the surrounding area. Then, the trolley rail, which was a straight path, came to an end and the end of it is transformed into a large space.

It is a large room with a large pillar in the center. The passage where Haruna came seems to be located in the upper part of the larger room and the space continues downward. There are wooden scaffolds in the form of layers here and there and the ash kobolds that are using it to move can be seen. There are several holes in the outer wall and ore-collecting sounds are reverberating from those holes.

(Rather than coming to an end, this rail was being torn off… I wonder if it’s because of this space? Hmm, well, it doesn’t matter. The problem is the number of ash kobolds in this space. At a glance, there are more than ten of them and it means that a surprise attack won’t work. Besides, with so many holes, it will take a long time to find them. Let’s see, if I want to defeat them as soon as possible and find the correct route to the destination――――)

Something that looks like black smoke starts to come out of Haruna’s head. At a time like this, her best friend Chinatsu might be able to give her a good idea, but now she has to think by herself. After wondering about it while that’s not her strong point, the honest to a fault Haruna decided to carry out the strategy that came to her head.

「Heeey, this waaay!」

She shouted. She shouted as loud as she could so that it would reverberate well in this large room where the ash kobolds are. As if to announce herself that she, the intruder, was here.

「Guo!?」

「Guoooon!」

Of course, when she did that, the ash kobolds, which hate humans, will be on high alert. Howls start to rise everywhere and the ash kobolds appear one after another from the hole in the wall. With each of them carrying a club or pickaxe, they begin to climb the scaffold and aiming for Haruna’s place.

Some of the scaffolds descend in a gentle spiral along the wall, while at the others you can ascend and descend by set up a ladder. However, the scaffold leading to Haruna’s place is only a single spiral path. It’s also very unstable with two meters wide or maybe smaller. If the scaffold is narrow and bad, the ash kobolds can’t come across all at once, and only about two of them at most that can take the lead. Furthermore, if they try to swing the weapon in the hand, their movement will be restricted because they will hit their friend from the side. Haruna paid attention to this point and decided to deal with all of the ash kobolds in this place.

――――Honestly, she also thought about breaking the scaffold when they are climbing, making them fall and then round them up in one go. But, considering the return time, rock-climbing is too late, so she gave up on that idea. Scaffold is important

「Guoo!」

Even though they are humanoid, their movement is the beast itself. In the blink of an eye, a group of ash kobolds ran up the spiral slope. Haruna looked at it while doing simple warming up and frankly said what came to her mind.

「Wow, they are angry. I guess they will be easier to deal with?」

Just that.

(I can attack with stones again, but that won’t raise my skill level. I want to preserve my magic in preparation for a pinch, so let’s do this by fighting with my back to the wall. Ooh!)

She motivates herself in her mind, turns around to the swarm of ash kobolds that are approaching, and sets up her stance. With her eyes fixed on the front, she puts her right leg and both of her empty hands out in the front. At that moment, the switch inside her was turned on and the air around her changed. A disturbing gleam dwells in her eyes, it’s something that made the opponents who once fought Haruna got frightened. However, the ash kobolds that get too emotional are unaware of it.

「Guooon!」

The ash kobold in the lead takes a wide jump and raises its club. The scene is strangely similar to the one in which Haruna was doing a knee kick at the entrance.

――――Although, what awaited was a completely different result.

「Hah!」

Haruna effortlessly dodged the club and lightly parried the ash kobold with her arm.

「Guon…!?」

The ash kobold was prepared for a counterattack, but it didn’t receive any damage. It didn’t, but its body was thrown into the air and blown away greatly.

「Guoooooo…」

It was a vivid sound, like a balloon filled with contents bursting. Haruna is at the top of this large room, in other words, at the top of the spiral slope. The ash kobold that was thrown away from there could not escape the fall, it screamed until the last moment and crashed to the ground. There’s no need to talk about it more than this. Even if it can’t keep the original shape, all that is necessary for Haruna is the tail.

「Fuu…」

Haruna let out a big breath. The martial art she used was aikido. She used the opponent’s power and blown it away with the double of the power―――― well, that master-like technique is something that even Haruna couldn’t achieve. After she learned the 『Hand-to-hand Combat』 skill, she received its blessing and finally created that fantasy-like scene.

「Guo!?」

「Guoon!?」

「Guooo!」

With that as the start, the ash kobolds were pushed into hell by Haruna in succession. No one could understand what was happening to them, some were brave, some were vigilant, and some were pushed to the back row and have the same results. By using advanced techniques, Haruna’s skill has been continuously leveled up, but she didn’t put her attention at that. There is only a consistent attitude of her waiting for her preys’ next move. When their number reduced to half, perhaps they realized that it was reckless, so they stopped before she knew it.

「Fuu, somehow my condition is excellent~」

Seeing that the ash kobolds were not attacking her, Haruna released her stance and returned to the soft atmosphere. In the ground below, the ash kobold’s corpses were piled up, forming a little mountain. While thinking that it will be hard to dismantle them, Haruna’s eyes met with the ash kobold’s eyes that stood in the front line.

「Ah, I’m sorry! It’s unfair that I’m the only one that has it easy, right? Then, I’ll be the one that attacking this time.」

Haruna takes a different stance than before. The ash kobolds, that understood the change in the air around her, were frightened by Haruna this time. Against those who have a little higher status than her, Haruna trampled them down without any struggle.