GRRRR—!
With a harsh grinding sound, the entrance to Paradise opened.
It was what you'd call the Miners' commute time.
Yawning, I slung four empty sacks over my shoulder.
The old man standing beside me spoke.
"Was the bed uncomfortable?"
We'd all slept together at the inn where the old man had been staying.
Considering I'd lived alone for quite a long time, it hadn't been all that uncomfortable.
If anything, the bustling atmosphere reminded me of when I was younger.
Not that all of those memories were good ones.
"No, I just didn't sleep well."
I kept yawning as I walked out onto the surface.
"Mister, are you tired?"
"......I'm not a mister, you know?"
"So what?"
"Look at this little brat."
I'm only twenty-nine.
I'm still too young to be called a mister.
"Let's make it back safely."
I smiled as I said it lightly.
As for why I was still working as a Miner?
The first reason was money.
I couldn't exactly become an Expedition Member empty-handed.
I needed the exam fee for an Expedition Member license, and I needed money to buy equipment.
The second reason was.
'Obviously, the item.'
There was a reason I'd deliberately formed such a disadvantageous party with a child and an old man.
Me, plus the two people who trusted me, made exactly three.
There was an item you could only obtain if exactly three people went together.
What you'd call a Hidden Piece.
"We're almost there."
Following the old man's guidance, since he knew the geography well, we arrived at a ruined city.
THUD— THUD—.
A tremor ran through the ground from far away.
We hid ourselves and looked toward the source of the shaking.
A gigantic titan was walking around, smashing buildings apart.
I felt the girl press herself slightly closer behind me.
"It's okay. Earth Giants have poor eyesight."
No. 88, Lost Earth Giant.
That thing, about six stories tall, had extremely poor eyesight.
So even in the game, whenever you encountered one, you could simply let it pass as long as you didn't go out of your way to attack it.
'It's ridiculously strong, but there's no demand for the corpse, and its Compression effect sucks too.'
I patted the girl's head as she let out a relieved breath.
"Hmm......."
With a giant appearing at the old man's intended destination, we'd have to move somewhere else.
While he was thinking, I pointed somewhere and spoke.
"How about over there?"
A city could faintly be seen in the direction I pointed.
"I went there not long ago, but there was nothing there."
"It's still a city. If we search carefully, don't you think we might find something?"
"Perhaps, but......."
THUD—.
The Earth Giant stomped its foot as though telling us to hurry up.
"......I suppose we have no choice. Let's go."
The place I was heading for was the small city of El-Kamar.
Even after twenty years had passed, there was an item hidden there that no one would have been able to find.
***
[You have arrived at the small city of 'El-Kamar.']
[Travel Time : 2 Hours 11 Minutes]
[Monsters rarely appear in this area.]
"We're here."
"It's bigger than it looked from far away."
The city was about half the size of Paradise.
There weren't any particularly tall buildings, but it was fairly large for something called a small city.
Though it was basically a ruin anyway.
"Which side did you search last time?"
"The left side, using that building in the middle as the reference point."
The old man stretched out his hand and pointed to the largest building.
"Then how about we search the right side this time?"
I naturally took the lead and guided them toward the Hidden Piece.
"Let's do that."
"Wow! It's an adventure!"
We began thoroughly searching the buildings while staying alert to our surroundings.
"There's nothing here!"
"Nothing in this building either."
As expected, there wasn't a single thing worth picking up.
And what was I doing while those two searched so diligently?
'There was definitely a sewer entrance somewhere around here.'
I was busy examining the streets.
"Have either of you seen a manhole cover?"
"I haven't, but why do you ask?"
"I was thinking we might go in through there."
It had to be somewhere nearby.
Unlike in the game, the streets were covered in endless overgrown grass, making it difficult to find.
"Mister, what are you looking for?"
"A manhole cover."
"Man...... hole? Meh-long? What's that?"
"A round metal plate...... never mind."
"Why? I might be able to find it."
Berry answered with a pout.
Watching her, I let out a chuckle.
"Then can you look for a round, heavy-looking metal plate on the ground?"
"This?"
Before I'd even finished speaking, Berry pointed toward a corner.
"Uh...... um...... yeah, that's it."
"Hehe, you can praise me as much as you want."
"Y-Yeah. Good job."
I ruffled Berry's hair as I examined the cover.
'How did she find it in one try?'
It was tucked so far into a corner and buried under such thick, overgrown grass that countless Miners who'd visited this city had failed to find it.
"Hnnngh!"
I strained to lift the cover.
But it was so heavy that it didn't budge at all.
"What are you doing?"
The old man walked over to me as my face turned bright red.
"Hm, isn't that what you were looking for earlier?"
"Huff...... yes, I found...... it......."
Panting, I dropped down onto the ground.
If I'd known something like this would happen, I should've worked out more.
"Move aside for a moment."
"You're going to do it?"
The old man, somehow already holding a metal pipe, wedged it into the cover's handle.
"You come over here and help too."
"Yes, sir."
I stood behind the old man and grabbed the metal pipe.
"Push on three."
"Got it."
"One...... two...... three!"
"Hup!"
The old man and I pressed down on the metal pipe at the same time.
GRRRR—.
The manhole cover began to grind harshly.
"Open already!"
Just as my face turned bright red again.
CLUNK—!
The heavily rusted cover popped open.
"See? This is what experience gets you."
I gave the old man a thumbs-up.
Though I was starting to feel like my role in this party was getting a little vague.
[You have discovered the Hidden Field 'Watcher's Sewer.']
"Ugh! It stinks!"
"We're going in there."
"You're joking, right?"
"Nope."
Berry pinched her nose and frowned.
The old man chimed in after seeing her reaction.
"We're going in there? That's too dangerous."
"Just trust me this once."
I looked at him seriously as I spoke.
The old man watched me for a moment, then let out a chuckle.
"Hoho, there's something strangely trustworthy about the way you speak."
"Really?"
"Do you not remember what happened at the workshop?"
At the workshop? What did I do there?
......That must've been the expression on my face, because the old man continued.
"Didn't you say you'd pay back the debt?"
"Ah, right."
"Who in the Market would let someone buy on credit?"
"Well...... that's true, I guess?"
They'd be extending credit to a Miner who could be dead by tomorrow.
"Ahem. Anyway, let's go in."
Feeling strangely embarrassed, I changed the subject and headed toward the ladder leading down into the sewer.
[You have entered the Hidden Field 'Watcher's Sewer.']
[This is a dangerous area inhabited by monsters.]
The old man, the girl, and me.
The worst party in my entire history with Darker headed into the sewer.
All right, vroom vroom—!
The veteran carry bus is departing.
Everyone, hold on tight.
***
Relics.
That was the term for artifacts from the old era that even Paradise, with all its high technology, couldn't analyze.
Broadly speaking, they were items that fell under Hidden Pieces.
They sold for so much in Paradise that if an ordinary Miner found just one Relic, they could live the rest of their life without ever having to work again.
Why am I suddenly rambling about this?
Because that's exactly what I'm looking for.
"Uegh!"
"Just endure it for thirty seconds. Then you'll be fine."
"I want to leave!"
"No."
Berry complained nonstop.
But after about thirty seconds.
"Oh, it really doesn't smell that bad anymore!"
"Humans are creatures of adaptation."
That's one of humanity's advantages, brat.
"Let me join you."
"You made it down?"
The old man safely climbed down the ladder as well, and all three of us were now inside the sewer.
"Phew...... to think a place like this existed."
"Interesting, isn't it?"
The inside of the sewer was dark, but sunlight filtered in here and there, so visibility wasn't much of a problem.
This amount of sight range was plenty.
"So why did we come down here?"
The old man asked me.
Questions like that?
Always welcome.
[Hidden Fields Concealed in Each City]
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A guide I'd written in my first year of high school.
It was packed with information about El-Kamar's Hidden Field.
Watcher's Sewer.
'And the eighth paragraph says this.'
A Relic created with Lost Technology.
It's here.
Of course, I couldn't exactly tell them that.
So I started spinning a plausible explanation instead.
"When monsters first appeared on the surface, where do you think people would've run?"
"Naturally...... underground, wouldn't they?"
"Then what lies underground beneath this city?"
"......The sewer?"
"Correct."
Of course, the sewer would've only been relatively safer than the surface.
It wouldn't have been as safe as Paradise.
Paradise would've still been under construction back then, so they couldn't have fled there either.
"Let's look for traces of those people."
"You don't look the type, but you're quite the thinker, aren't you?"
"Excuse me?"
"Ah, I did not mean it in a bad way."
Hmm.
That might've hurt a little.
Anyway, we searched for any traces left behind by survivors.
While staying alert, of course, in case monsters appeared.
"Stop."
I didn't know how long we'd been walking.
I raised my hand and halted the group.
"What is it?"
"Why? Is something there?"
I brushed my hand across the floor.
'The dust is clumped together strangely.'
That meant someone had already passed through here.
It couldn't have been surface survivors or Miners.
"A monster's going to show up."
"W-What?! Then let's run!"
Startled, the old man wrapped his arms around Berry as if to protect her.
That part made sense.
But there was something oddly familiar about his tone.
How should I put it?
He didn't seem all that afraid of monsters.
"No. It's too late to run."
Putting my suspicions aside, I lifted my head and looked ahead.
A faceless, plaster-white monster was staring at us.
'That was fast.'
"Everyone, don't look at it!"
The moment I finished speaking, the old man turned his head and covered Berry's eyes.
'That was close.'
No. 669, Watcher.
The moment it received my gaze, the creature's slow steps came to a halt.
The three of us couldn't kill even one of them, but they had an unusual trait.
Once you recognized them and looked directly at them, they stopped.
Of course, having enough light increased the effective viewing distance and made things much easier.
'This much light is enough.'
Anyway, despite being called Watchers, they displayed a strange pattern whenever they themselves were watched by someone else.
If one person watched them, their movement speed decreased by 98%.
If two people watched them, their movement speed decreased by 70%.
If three people watched them, their speed actually increased by 10%.
How many sacrifices had it taken to figure that out?
"Sir, take the rear. Berry, stay in the middle."
I calmly assigned our formation.
Even while doing so, I never took my eyes off the creature.
"You can open your eyes now."
Gulp—!
The old man and Berry swallowed dryly before opening their eyes.
"W-What's going on?"
"Don't turn your head. Just listen."
I calmly explained the creature's characteristics.
"So as long as only one person looks at it, we're safe?"
"Yes."
"A-All right."
"Okay......."
After making sure Berry and the old man understood, I slowly started moving.
This was the reason I'd formed a party carrying the massive risk of an old man, a child, and me.
A human's central field of vision was roughly 110 degrees.
Even if you moved with your back against a wall, that still left another 70 degrees uncovered.
In other words, you'd allow monsters to approach.
But with three people, you had 330 degrees.
Enough to cover all directions.
"We're moving."
Everyone stayed silent with tension as we advanced slowly.
GRRRT—!
A few times, our gazes slipped and the creature moved.
But with my directions, we were able to keep moving safely.
"S-So where exactly are we going?"
"For now, we're going straight ahead."
There was a route up ahead that led to the laboratory I was aiming for.
Without letting our guard down, we continued forward.
GRRRR—!
The moment we passed through a sewer intersection.
The one Watcher became two.
"O-One's on my side!"
Berry reported in a trembling voice.
GRRRR—!
"T-This time, one's on my side!"
"I've got another one in front of me too."
One in front of me.
One on Berry's side.
Two on the old man's side.
A total of four Watchers had attached themselves to our party.
Without taking my eyes off them, I examined one side of the wall.
[700M Straight Ahead to Shelter]
A sign with those words stood there.
The fact that the sign was there meant we were heading in the correct direction.
"We'll go about another 400 meters."
I calmly explained the distance as we moved forward.
In the middle of it, Berry grabbed my hand, which had grown damp with sweat.
"I-I'm scared."
"You can hold on as tight as you want."
Step...... step.......
GRRRR— GRRRT—.
Our footsteps and the footsteps of the Watchers.
Those were the only sounds filling the sewer.
"One more block."
GRIP—.
Berry's hand tightened around mine.
"Slowly."
We were almost there.
A ladder leading upward came into view ahead.
This was where the real ordeal began.