“Wait.”
Yakumo casually fired Magic Claw at the chest.
He received a hit response.
“All right.”
“Let’s go.”
“That’s a Mimic.”
“You can tell that quickly?”
Himmel asked curiously.
“I’ve heard some mages have spells that can determine whether a chest is a Mimic, but apparently those methods aren’t perfectly accurate.”
“Mine works differently.”
“The spell I used automatically targets enemies.”
“If something I can see is a hostile living creature, the attack will hit it.”
“But normal chests, items, flowers, plants, and similar things don’t react at all.”
“My spell just registered a hit.”
“So it definitely isn’t an ordinary object.”
“A trap itself doesn’t count as hostile.”
“That only leaves one possibility.”
“It’s a monster.”
This method had never failed Yakumo.
“I see.”
“Then let’s go.”
Himmel immediately turned around.
Yakumo had explained it.
That was enough for Himmel to trust his companion.
A Mimic wasn’t worth wasting time on.
It wouldn’t contain anything valuable anyway.
“Wait!”
“Spells for identifying Mimics can make mistakes, so other methods could be wrong too, couldn’t they?”
Frieren’s feet seemed to have rooted themselves to the floor.
“Exploring that possibility is part of the fun of adventure!”
“Wait, Frieren…”
Heiter watched her walk toward the Mimic and couldn’t help speaking up.
“Yakumo.”
“I can sense mana inside this chest.”
“There must be an exciting grimoire in there!”
Frieren was already crouching in front of it.
She gently stroked the top of the chest as though caressing some priceless treasure.
“If we open it, perhaps we’ll discover an incredibly rare grimoire we’ve never seen bef—”
Before Frieren could finish, the wooden chest opened a massive mouth.
It swallowed the entire upper half of her body.
“…”
Silence descended upon the corridor.
“Uwaaaah!”
“It’s dark!”
“It’s scary!!”
Frieren’s screams shattered the silence.
Good heavens.
This was the first time Yakumo had ever heard Frieren sound this energetic.
It almost made him want to listen a little longer.
“Whoa!”
“Frieren got eaten by the treasure chest!” This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Himmel immediately panicked.
He rushed over and tried pulling Frieren out of the Mimic’s mouth.
Unfortunately, it had bitten down tightly.
There was no way to simply yank her free.
“Wait, Himmel.”
Perhaps because she realized someone was helping her, Frieren had calmed down somewhat.
“You can’t pull outward in a situation like this.”
“The Mimic could tear me apart.”
“When a Mimic bites you, you need to push deeper inside.”
“That gives the Mimic a sensation similar to nausea, and it’ll spit out whatever it’s biting.”
Frieren hurriedly explained.
“What kind of induced-vomiting technique is that…?”
Yakumo muttered.
By the time he finished complaining, Himmel had already rescued Frieren.
Frieren casually killed the Mimic with a spell and began fixing her hair.
After spending so long inside its mouth, her hair had become an absolute mess.
Yakumo’s attention, however, was drawn toward the Mimic’s remains.
He didn’t know whether Himmel and the others could see it.
But Yakumo could clearly see something among the remains.
“What’s wrong, Yakumo?”
Noticing him staring blankly, Himmel came closer and looked at the wreckage.
“You guys…”
“Can’t see this?”
Yakumo rummaged through the remains and pulled out two objects.
Their lower halves looked like stone, while crystalline formations protruded from the top.
In the game, they were called Monster Crystals.
They were crafting materials used to create equipment.
“Himmel, hold out your hand.”
Yakumo placed one Monster Crystal in Himmel’s palm.
Himmel could feel something being placed there.
But he still couldn’t see it.
The weight in his hand, however, was unmistakable.
“Interesting.”
“I can definitely feel something in my hand.”
Himmel continued holding the crystal with his left hand while using his right to feel its shape.
“It feels somewhat like a newly mined crystal ore.”
“Indeed.”
“But I can’t see it either.”
Eisen also tried touching the Monster Crystal.
Everyone, Frieren included, could physically touch it.
But none of them could actually see it.
“What are these used for?”
Himmel asked curiously.
They had never encountered anything like this before.
Naturally, the strange phenomenon caught his attention.
“How should I explain it…”
“They can probably be used to make equipment.”
Yakumo thought for a moment.
“If I collect enough, I should be able to craft weapons and armor.”
“There aren’t that many types I can make yet, though.”
“Even that would already be a tremendous advantage.”
Himmel handed the Monster Crystal back. New chapters come out on g.com first.
“If we find any more, make sure you tell us.”
“We’ll help you collect as many as possible.”
Being able to craft equipment was extremely important.
Everyone’s weapons and armor could become damaged or worn down.
Maintenance could extend equipment life to a certain degree.
But it couldn’t preserve most equipment forever.
Aside from a handful of truly exceptional items, replacements would eventually be necessary.
Yakumo didn’t know whether the original story ever showed the Hero Party replacing their weapons or armor.
But now that this was reality, it was something they had to consider.
“I agree.”
Heiter sounded optimistic.
“If this lets us save money, then it’s definitely valuable!”
“I don’t particularly care either way.”
Frieren finally finished fixing her hair.
“I don’t need another weapon, though.”
Frieren’s long staff really was an excellent piece of equipment.
Yakumo had borrowed it before to inspect it.
At his current level, he couldn’t even fully draw out its power.
“I think…”
“I’ll try making a mage shield first.”
Yakumo scrolled through his crafting list.
Blacksmithing contained many items.
One was the Electromagnetic Light Shield, which had once been one of Yakumo’s favorite pieces of equipment.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough Monster Crystals yet.
He would need to collect more.
“All right!”
“Then let’s look for more Mimics!”
Even if they weren’t real treasure chests, they still gave useful loot.
Given the party’s current financial state, that was already a pretty good result.
“No grimoire…”
Frieren alone looked disappointed.
Compared to equipment, grimoires were far more attractive to her.
“Frieren.”
“If Mimics exist here, that means real treasure chests must exist too.”
“If there weren’t any real chests in the dungeon, Mimics disguising themselves as treasure chests wouldn’t make much sense, would they?”
Himmel optimistically encouraged her.
“Well…”
“That’s true.”
Frieren only spent a moment feeling disappointed before recovering.
Himmel had a point.
They had explored only a small portion of the dungeon.
There were still plenty of unknown areas ahead.
“I wish some of that optimism would rub off on me.”
Heiter’s shoulders drooped.
“That stone sphere scared me half to death already.”
“Hahaha!”
“I already shared some with you, didn’t I?”
Himmel slapped Heiter’s shoulder.
“Besides, we got through it safely.”
“That’s what makes it an adventure!”
“Would you really prefer a journey where we simply walk straight to the destination without anything happening?”