When he finished preparing, he attached the device Meira offered him to a rope tied to a large tree and went down into the hole.


'Al, I'll go first,'

Hey, Meira. You're going down too fast.


　Kicking off the wall, Meira was descending.

　She specializes in researching archaeological sites and seems to be very skilled at getting into these holes, and I could barely keep up with her.


"After you!


　Meira's figure, who had kicked the wall heavily, disappeared quickly into the depths of the hole.

　Looking up, I saw that she had already dived quite deep, and the sky visible from inside the hole was beginning to be lightly hazy and hazy.


'Hey!　Meira.


　I kicked down the wall into the hole, chasing after Meira as she went down first.



　As I went further down, daylight was being blocked by the haze and it was getting dim.

　I saw that Meira, who had gone down first, had already begun to examine in detail the location of the hidden door she had found.


'I finally caught up with her. Is this the door Meira found?'


　In the hole like a sheer cliff, only the place where we are now is sticking out a little.

　But even though it's sticking out, it's only a narrow foothold that could be filled with two adults standing up.

　I untied the rope next to Meira, who was working, and watched her work.


　How did you find a place like this ......?

　If they hadn't told me there was a door in such a place, no one would have noticed it.


　Without even looking at me as I arrived, Meira seamlessly poured water into the wall from the water bottle she brought with her to what she thought was just a wall.


'The water's disappearing into the wall in the process!

That's it. If the water disappears in the process, that means this is a hidden door. That means that there must be a switchboard in this wall somewhere: ......


　Meira produced a small wooden hammer from the porch and began to bang on the wall with a conk.

　Seeing Meira listening to the wall with a serious expression on her face that had never been seen before, I was reminded that she was an adventurer specializing in archaeological research.


'Here. Maybe it's like this. See, there it is.


　I pried at the spot where the sound had been strange with a flat-tipped iron rod, and a section of the wall opened, revealing what looked like the switchgear I was looking for.


If you turn this, it should open. Al, are you ready?

Wait a minute, I'll put the lantern on.


　Meira, who was ready to open the door, urged me to get ready, and I hurriedly pulled two lanterns out of my pack and lit them to secure the light.


'Okay,'

Then let the search begin!


　As Meira said this, the door began to move noisily right beside her as she began to turn the handle of the device.

　On the other hand, I, for one, pulled out a small sword and illuminated the inside of the door with a lantern, just in case something jumped out at me.


　Then--

　I saw something moving in the darkness, and I saw it leap out towards us.


　Teh, enemy!


　He quickly tried to thrust out the small sword in his hand, but the light from the lantern illuminated the little beastman's child.


　Hey, child!


　I was hesitant to attack because I couldn't tell if they were enemies or not.


　I don't have a weapon.

　The opponent is a child, so let's just seize him or her for now.


　It took me a second to figure out that my opponent was unarmed, and I jumped out and grabbed the beastly child so he wouldn't be injured.


''Who are you?''　Why is there a beastly boy in this place?

Mi, water...... I need water.


　The captured beastling had chapped lips and appeared to be mildly dehydrated.


''Water?　You can drink this.


　When I held out the water bottle in front of him, the beast child took it as if to snatch it and began to gulp down the contents.


　At any rate, it doesn't seem to have any hostility towards us.

　Why was the beastman child in such a remote place, and in a hole that no one was supposed to come to?


　Seeing the beast child drinking water, I was becoming more and more unsure of the meaning of the place in front of me.


'Huh ...... I thought I was going to dry up and die. ...... Have your sisters been told by their fathers?　Father told me to hide, but do I have to hide anymore?


　The beast child, who had calmed down after gulping down some water, looked at us and asked if his father had sent us there.


'No, not exactly, but ....... Anyway, let's start with your name. My name is Al. And you are...

Meira. What's your name, little girl?

'Maribel ...... If your father didn't tell you to come here, are your sisters thieves?　Our fathers said that this is an important place and we can't let them find out.


　Maribel's gaze grew steely as she sat on the ground.


　I'd like to say it's not the same as being called a thief: .......

　In this case, would it be trespassing?


　I've been struggling to reply, so I glanced at Meira next to her.


The only thing you need to know is that you're not going to be able to get your hands on any of them. We are a search party. The Adventurer's Guild has given us permission to check out this place to see what we can find. So we're not thieves. Do you understand?


　Meira was proudly showing Maribel a map with the designs of the Adventurer's Guild of Ygghanotes.


　It's true that Mayra is partially correct, but it's .......

　The search is only on the periphery above, and I don't have permission to search all the way into the hole.


　Thinking about that, as I looked at Maribel, she was looking at the map Meira showed her, devouring it.


''Ahh!　This was with your fathers!

'What?　What's been going on with you?

Here!　That's it!　You're creepy!


　Maribel pointed to the Abyss Walker, the object of the search that had been written on the map that accompanied it.