We started exploring the interior of the tunnel after extracting the venom from the fangs of the dead spider.
“Let’s change formation a bit. Kikel and I will take the front, so Wolfgang, please handle the ones we might have missed with Laute.”
I stuck the useless Wolfgang next to Laute and moved ahead in his place.
Having Wolfgang in front would just make the fight drag on unnecessarily, and soon we’d be covered in spider webs, making it hard for us to move.
So, it was more efficient for Kikel and me, who could take down the giant spider in one hit, to take the lead and quickly cut down a few before engaging in battle.
“Hmm! Just leave it to me!”
Maybe I was too polite when I told him to step back because he’s useless.
Wolfgang nodded confidently, colliding his fist holding the torch with his other hand. Completely clueless.
“……”
On the other hand, Laute just stared at me silently. Her eyes seemed to say it was unfair to dump such a burden on her.
Of course, this was unavoidable.
Two shield-bearers and two without. Naturally, it made sense to pair the shielded and unshielded party members.
If Wolfgang and I were in the rear, we wouldn’t have a way to block the incoming spider webs and would have to dodge them at all costs.
So, this combination was the best choice. Really.
◆◆
We kept moving forward.
After about two more minutes, Kikel glanced back and started whispering in my ear.
“Human, do you have claws?”
It was a whisper-like voice and a question that was hard to decipher.
“I have…? They’re thin and flat compared to a lizardman’s though.”
“I see….”
Kikel slightly twitched his eyes.
“But why do you ask?”
“That human, looks like a juvenile. Fights barehanded without weapons.”
Kikel explained that among the lizardmen, minors aren’t allowed to wield weapons, so younger kin fight barehanded like martial artists if a fight breaks out.
Although a fight for us meant a bloody battle against monsters, for them, it was just a scuffle between peers.
“So?”
“That human, small claws. No tail. No scales. Wrong fight. That’s not how humans fight.”
Kikel sighed lightly as he spoke.
A wrong fight.
Since I fell into this world, it was the wisest and most artistic expression I had heard.
Indeed. If a lizardman were to wield a bare fist, I could accept it.
With sharp claws that could slice through tough skin like paper and an immense physical strength several times greater than a human’s.
A tail that seemed like a mix of a whip and a mace, and scales that were like armor.
Except for the slight disadvantage of reach, they were born with all the minimum conditions required to be a martial artist.
In other words, Wolfgang, who lacked any of those traits, was less than a lizardman boy. He was a being fundamentally flawed from birth.
Wasn’t the reason his head was so smooth for this?
He was a being inferior to a lizardman boy.
Having the same level as an unborn fetus that hasn’t even hatched from an egg, his head was round like a lizardman egg and smooth as well.
Thinking about it this way, it made sense.
◆◆
“Kiiiiiik! Kiiiiiiik!”
“Here they come again! A lot of them!”
As we ventured deeper into the tunnel, the giant spiders began to pour in.
The wave of spiders crawling along the walls and ceilings, making a rustling noise.
Each one was barely as tough as a goblin, but with dozens of them coming at us at once, it was a bit of a hassle to deal with.
“Kishaaaah!”
“Laute, six of them, over there!”
Kikel, having impaled one spider with his spear, blocked the web with his shield and pulled out his axe, smashing down like he was chopping firewood.
A giant spider, the size of a human torso, was split in half and rolled away, while another spider was smashed into the wall by Kikel’s tail, its eight legs shaking.
“Ha!”
I pulled out my dagger and threw it at the writhing spider, then swung my longsword diagonally to cleave the head of another spider that lunged at me.
The giant spider, with its relatively weak belly skin pierced, oozed its dying fluids, while another spider, with its face split, crashed into the ground, spraying its brain matter.
“I’ve confirmed six!”
Dealing with the spiders that slipped past Kikel and me was Laute and Wolfgang’s—no, Laute’s job.
“Haah!”
Laute charged forward, covering her head and upper body with her round shield, shouting exuberantly.
“Kiiik?!”
The bewildered giant spider tried to jump into the air to dodge, but before it could even reach the ceiling, Laute’s shield mercilessly smashed into its body.
Thud!
With a heavy impact sound, Laute didn’t stop; she drove it against the tunnel wall with her shield.
Crash!
It was like a speeding vehicle crashed into a child against a wall. The giant spider, caught between the wall and the shield, burst like a squashed worm.
“Kiiiiiik!!”
Then came the attack of another spider. A giant spider, elongated as it descended down a web like a rope, swung its clawed front leg toward Laute’s back.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
Laute quickly turned around and blocked the spider’s front leg with her shield while simultaneously drawing her sword and slicing off the spider web connecting its backside.
“Kieek?”
The giant spider fell, having had its web cut while attempting to leap.
Laute switched to a reverse grip on her sword and stabbed into its neck, then dropped the dagger and grabbed her mace to smash another spider away.
Nice fight.
It was quite skilled of her to seamlessly swap weapons and attack fluidly like water.
“Haah!”
While Laute was fighting hard, Wolfgang wasn’t just standing idly by.
“Feel the Dragon Slayer’s wrath!”
Wolfgang swung his right leg like a whip, kicking over a spider and then furiously stomped on its exposed belly.
Like a hiker trying to extinguish a cigarette burn on a leaf.
It was a pitiful sight that made me cringe just watching, but he managed to take down one giant spider like that.
“Kiiiiiik!”
“What?! A sneak attack?! That’s cowardly!”
Of course, the moment there were two enemies, he was immediately rolling on the floor.
I had casually hinted that maybe he should burn the enemy with his torch, but he wouldn’t listen at all.
What did he say? Something about being a martial artist even if it was cheating?
It seems Wolfgang was a devout believer of Judaism. Judging by how he treated the wisdom a human should have as “evil”.
After that, I gave up trying to persuade Wolfgang.
There was no way a gentleman like him, who should have been born when Adam and Eve roamed Eden, would listen to the words of someone who had eaten from the tree of knowledge.
I could only treat him as a mute beast and move on.
…Anyway, we continued deeper into the tunnel while battling like this.
◆◆
How much further did we go?
After more than two hours since we entered the tunnel, we finally reached what seemed to be the end.
“…It’s a fork in the road. Which way should we check first?”
I pointed to the branching paths and asked for my companions’ opinions.
A sign above the entrance to the left path read “Storage,” while the right side was just wide open.
Before we started the request, the Village Chief explained that if we saw storage, we would have almost finished our exploration.
It was said that either way, we could see the end after walking about ten to twenty minutes.
“Caw! Let’s check the storage first. It’s shorter!”
“I agree. If we’re going back and forth, the closer one is better.”
Since Kikel and Laute insisted on exploring the storage first, we headed down the left path.
Ten minutes later.
“Is this really a storage area…?!”
We arrived at a space that had been used by miners as a storage area.
Originally a rest area where they kept spare pickaxes, helmets, sleeping bags, and emergency rations?
“…It is a storage area, after all.”
Indeed, seeing it in person, it felt like a storage area. There were sleeping bags and something resembling food piled up all around.
“Seems like it has become a pantry for spiders now.”
“Oh my….”
The issue was that it contained food, not for people, but for spiders.
In the storage filled with webs, there were dozens of elongated cocoons hanging like columns, connected by spider silk to the ceiling and floor.
Most of the cocoons were wrapped tightly in webs, so it was hard to tell what was inside. Still, some cocoons were wide open, as if they had served their purpose.
And inside them….
“Ugh….”
Laute turned her head slightly away, letting out a light gag.
It was a scene that warranted it.
Inside the split cocoon were the remains of miners who couldn’t escape the tunnel or those kidnapped by the giant spider.
The corpses were oozing black liquid from their eyes, noses, and mouths, as if all the insides had melted away.
There were corpses half-eaten by baby spiders the size of a human palm.
And there were even semi-corpses that looked relatively intact but were enormously swollen, full of baby spiders in their bellies.
Ugh. Gross.
The protruding abdomen squirming like spider legs was grotesque enough to make anyone’s eyes rot.
◆◆
The storage that had become a hatchery and food storage for the giant spiders.
We sliced through the webs inside the storage to gather the corpses in one place and cautiously set them ablaze with our torches.
If we were outside, it would have been as simple as pouring some oil and tossing in a match, but handling fire in a place like this required utmost caution.
Because a sudden flare-up of smoke could make us all suffocate, or a fire could spread to the supports, causing the entire tunnel to collapse.
Thus, we took great care to burn the corpses without letting the flames spread too much.
Whoosh!
A small bonfire blazed fiercely, fueled by the spider webs and flesh.
“Kiiiii! Kiiiii!”
“Kiiiiiik!”
The baby spiders inside the corpses popped out in a frenzy, startled by the heat.
A disgustingly dreadful sight.
The only consolation was that the little ones that sprang out didn’t manage to do anything and were quickly engulfed in flames, dying instantly.
Just as we intended.
They looked like there were nearly a hundred of them at a glance, so there was no way we could squish them one by one at that rate. We had to take the risk and burn them all instead.
The smell of rotting flesh roasting filled the air.
