Chapter 257: Chapter 253: Underground condition

Translator: Tseirp

I didn’t expect miasma to pour out from the underground path Cathy brought us to which led to the castle.

Although it was lucky that I activated Sanctuary Barrier in time, normally I would have been completely subjected to the miasma.

“Cathy, is this underground path pretty long?”

Even though her tail and ears were drooping down, Cathy was the only person who knew about this underground path so I immediately asked her for confirmation.

Cathy apologized with her head down.

“It would take about ten minutes at walking speed … nya. Luciel-sama, I am sorry nya.”

It would be unreasonable to scold her for this so there wasn’t any need for her to apologize.

Since it was filled with that much miasma, there must have been something producing the miasma.

“There’s no way you could have known about the miasma so it’s fine. Leaving that aside, with miasma so strong that it can actually be seen, I’m unsure if Aura Coat can actually prevent harm.”

“Luciel-sama, what is that Aura Coat?”

“It is a Holy Attribute magic that can ward off miasma in the air for a period of time, delay the progression of disease as well as make a person more resilient towards status abnormalities. I’ve only used it a couple of times until now though.”

After listening to my explanation to Aura Coat, Lionel took the lead to make a suggestion.

“You have such a convenient spell. Then I’ll check it out. Since Luciel-sama’s spell efficacy has increased, there shouldn’t be any issue.”

“That won’t do nya. Lionel-sama is the key person for this mission. I wish for an opportunity to redeem myself so please let me do it nya.”

“Then I’ll go too.”

It was the first time I saw Cathy shoot down Lionel’s opinion.

If Kefin was going too, maybe I’ll leave it to them …

“Then, Cathy and Kefin, after I apply Aura Coat, head down to the underground path and scout it out. Once in the underground path, if you sense any abnormalities with your body, if you discover enemies, or if visibility is poor, return immediately.”

“”Yes!””

I applied Aura Coat on the two of them and they moved forward to investigate.

Nevertheless, a regular person would not able to withstand this amount of miasma.

Miasma acts similar to a virus to normal people.

It would cause illness once it accumulates in a body and it has been said that it might also cause status abnormalities.

However, this Cloud person has been researching miasma and causing people to undergo demonization. In other words, was he originally from a research position? The more I thought about it, the more I felt it was a waste of talent.

As an excellent talent capable of giving birth to demons with a mere couple years of research, it would have been a lot better if he directed his talents elsewhere …

According to Mr. Bazak, the demonization process was only successful 20% of the time and 80% of the individuals died so just how many people were sacrificed for this? I could tell that this Cloud person was insane.

“Luciel-sama, we probably can’t avoid a fight with the demons so it might be good to recover your magic power while we have the chance now.”

“Well, it certainly seems like it will be continuous battles but I’ll make do somehow. More importantly, I’m more worried about the direction of this country after all this is over.”

“That’s certainly true.”

Lionel agreed with my words and touched his beard that had grown out slightly.

Cathy and Kefin had disappeared into the underground path for a couple of minutes but I noticed something else.

Estia and Paula had not said a single word.

Although they don’t really talk much normally, I have kind of left them alone.

They are companions that I could rely on and trust but now I wanted to improve further.

“Estia, was there anywhere you recognized along the path we took?”

” … No, there wasn’t any. Furthermore, when I was in the Imperial Capital, I rarely got to come out so I don’t really have much memories of the place.”

“We can take a look later riding on the golem. If you still can’t tell from there, we can search from the skies.”

“Okay, thank you Paula-san.”

My words caused Estia to show a fleeting smile as she shook her head.

Paula spoke to her to comfort her.

I had a warm feeling in my heart as I saw that scene and we waited for Cathy and Kefin’s return.

The two of them returned from the underground path after some time.

“Welcome back. So how was the underground path?”

“I’m unsure if they are demons or not but I sensed a dozen presences. The underground was not that dark but the miasma made visibility poor.”

“This Aura Coat is amazing nya. I totally couldn’t feel the miasma at all nya.”

“Is that so? Do you think we would have to fight in the underground path?”

“Yes. Fighting is probably unavoidable.”

“Is there a branching path in the underground path?”

“There is nya. However, those presences are gathered before the branch so it doesn’t really matter nya.”

“I see. Looks like we will not be able to avoid a battle. Ha~ I sure hope the underground path won’t collapse.”

“Making sure it won’t collapse is simple.”

Paula said and pat her chest.

“By the way Luciel-sama, what do we do with this person?”

Estia asked about Mr. Bazak.

After Estia put him to sleep, there has not been any signs of Mr. Bazak waking up.

“Even if we wake him up now, he would be a nuisance during the battle with the demons so let’s bring him along like this.”

“Is there any utility value for this person?”

I could tell that Lionel didn’t have a good impression of Mr. Bazak but I must somehow bring him along.

My heart was telling me that.

“Yeah. He might be a nuisance now but I somehow have a feeling that it would be better to bring him along.”

“Intuition huh … let’s bring him along then.”

“Okay. Then we’ll proceed down the underground path once I apply Area Barrier and Aura Coat on everyone.”

I cast magic on everyone and we walked down the stairs leading to the underground path.