STGB Episode 525

Giant 4

Traces of human activity from about five hours ago.

There’s no need to wonder who left these tracks. It’s impossible that another explorer has come to this island.

They must be some of the survivors.

“Two people in total. Judging by the large footprints, they’re both male, and they appear to be travelling very stealthily.”

“Stealthy? Are you saying it’s hard to track them?”

“No, not at all. They haven’t tried to cover up their footprints. It’s just that the footprints indicate that they were moving low to the ground, looking around, carefully taking one step at a time, probably guarding against monsters.”

Mikhail Rectors.

A middle-aged explorer who used to work for the Royal Investigation Bureau.

It seems that this guy has a position in the Armin expedition similar to Amelia’s role in our group…

“It would be better to leave the search to him. As a former member of the Royal Investigation Bureau, he’s probably a step above me.”

Hearing Amelia’s praise for him suggests that his background is more impressive than I thought.

“Rectors, was it?”

“Yes, Baron.”

“I’ll leave the tracking to you.”

“Understood. I’ll carry it out flawlessly.”

After that, I took the lead while he directed our path.

And before long—

As we followed the trail, we suddenly stopped.

We had encountered something unexpected.

Or rather, discovered it?

“That’s…”

A corpse lying in the middle of the forest.

Not a human’s, but a giant’s.

“It’s the same giant we saw at the sea…”

It was heavily decomposed, emitting a foul smell, suggesting it had been dead for a while.

What could have killed the giant?

“Judging by the wounds… it seems to have been killed by another monster, not a human.”

Could it be another monster from the rainy season? Even as I thought about it, I couldn’t help but sigh.

“Jandel, you don’t look so good. Is something wrong?”

“Well… the corpse is still here.”

The fact that the corpse hasn’t disappeared suggests that it doesn’t yield an essence.

“Ah…”

I’d been so excited—wondering what its passive would be, what its stats were like.

I had my hopes up, but in the end it was all for nothing.

While I felt empty, others reacted differently.

“…giant! It’s the giant’s corpse!”

“Not just any giant! Didn’t the Baron say it? This giant’s name is Hipramagent.”

“What are you all doing? Before it rots further, let’s harvest what we can!”

The mages from Armin’s team acted as though they had stumbled upon a priceless treasure, eagerly dissecting the giant’s corpse.

“Wait! Be careful! Even as you harves it, make sure to properly record its original anatomical structure!”

“The stomach! What’s inside the stomach? Wait, does it even have a stomach?”

Honestly, these people would probably be happy in hell as long as they had a book to read.

“You’ve got some pretty passionate mages on your team.”

I muttered in a half-bewildered tone, and the expedition leader, Myul, gave me an awkward smile.

“They’re mages who joined our expedition team even though there’s no money in it and nothing but danger. Haha…”

Well, that’s true enough.

Although I’m not as enthusiastic as they are, I was still a bit curious myself, so I watched the mages happily dissecting and examining the giant’s corpse.

“How’s the hide?”

“…It’s extremely soft. The basic tests also show that there’s no anti-magic property in it.”

“So it’s not suitable for making equipment?”

“Yes… It would take a lot of research before we’d know how to use it as a material.”

Basically, that means the hide isn’t worth much as a resource.

“Then what about the bones?”

At my next question, the mage’s face brightened slightly.

“Ah! The bones are very durable, light, and enormous.Given their size, a skilled blacksmith could maybe make armor out of them…”

“Oh, really? What tier would they be as a material?”

“Well… it’s lighter, so it might be more valuable than ordinary steel…”

What kind of answer is that?

I had higher expectations for the bones, but if they were only slightly better than steel, then obviously it makes more sense to use steel, which is cheaper and easier to work with.

I had higher expectations for the bones, but if they were only slightly better than steel, then obviously using steel—which is cheaper and easier to work with—makes more sense.

“Well, there are advantages to making equipment out of bone. It doesn’t rust, for one thing…….”

The mage gave me the look of a researcher who wanted more time and money, but none of it was particularly compelling.

“Got it. Let me know if you find anything noteworthy.”

“Yes…!”

After that, I lost interest in the corpse and focused on guarding our surroundings. By the time I had killed about ten monsters that charged at us using [Gigantification], something happened.

Tap.

Reacting instinctively to the sound from beyond the bushes, I swung my hammer—

“Agh—!”

A scream made me stop mid-swing.

“…Ghk, kuh… Hah… hah…”

It was a person.

And a familiar face at that.
***
My hammer stopped just above his head.

The man collapsed backward, letting out a choking cough as if he’d lost all strength.

Versil was the first to recognise the man’s face.

“Mr. Miltane?”

Ah, right. That was his name.

He was part of the five-person team that lost their warrior just before descending to the Basement Floor 1. Later, they went to the human island, got caught up in trouble, and sought refuge with the Hex Clan.

“…Hah… hah…”

“Calm down. No one here will harm you.”

“L-Lord Jandel…!”

As Berthil patted his back, the man regained his composure and immediately prostrated himself.

The first thing he said was:

“P-Please help us! Berion fought the monsters and… got badly hurt…”

I looked up and saw a small man on his back, strapped into a bag. We hurriedly unwrapped him and laid him on the ground.

Just as we were about to call a priest—

“…It’s already too late.”

Amelia, who had checked his breathing, delivered the verdict. The man broke down.
“N-No way…! H-He was talking just a moment ago…!”

He shoved Amelia aside and clung to his comrade’s body, desperately checking for breath himself.

“…….”

His behavior was rather rude, but neither Amelia nor I said anything.

Any explorer has gone through something like this at least once.

The pain of losing a comrade in the labyrinth.

Whether it happens sooner or later, it takes time to accept.

“…Have you calmed down a bit?”

“Yes… First, let me say this. I couldn’t say it earlier, but… thank you. For saving my life.”

“Sorry about your comrade. Can you handle the arrangements?”

“Yes. It’s… my duty. Could you cast [Distortion Magic] for me…?”

“Of course.”

After that, the man collected all his comrade’s belongings, including his equipment, then used [Distortion Magic] to store the body in a subspace bag.

It felt a little awkward to bring it up, but in a way, he was actually luckier than we had been.

Back then, our mage had died, so we had no choice but to leave the body in the labyrinth.

Well, that was then, and this is now.

“…Now, I’d like to ask a few questions.”

I’d waited long enough.

“Are the others alive?”

“…The survivors are hiding in a shelter.”

According to him, the shelter wasn’t far from here.

“How secure is the shelter?”

“…It’s been safe so far.”

“I see. Then why were you two outside?”

“We thought we needed to learn more about the island to escape. So… the fastest among us, me and Berion, were chosen to scout.”

Ah, so they were a recon team.

Tch. If they had just stayed hidden, this wouldn’t have happened.

‘…Better not say that out loud.’

I decided to hold my tongue and listen to the rest in the shelter.

He led us to a rock hidden by bushes not far from where we were.

“They’ve used magic to disguise it as a wall.”

“I’ll send a signal now.”

The man knocked on the rock in a pattern, and after a moment, the “wall” disappeared, revealing someone inside.

“Miltane! What took you so— Huh? Baron Jandel?!”

The Hex Clan leader, who had been scolding his late comrade, widened his eyes at the sight of me.

“Long time no see, Wyat Hex.”

“Good gods…!”

“Mind if we come in?”

“O-Of course! Please come in!”

The cave was much bigger inside than it looked from the outside.

“I’m truly surprised. I never expected to meet Baron Jandel here…”

“Really? That’s surprising.”

“Surprising…?”

“I thought your first question would be about the rest of the explorers I came with.”

“Ah…! R-right, that too! It’s just that only 60 of us descended that time, so—”

He acted like he’d just now realized it, but somehow it didn’t feel entirely sincere.

So, is he the evil spirit that called for help?

Well, there was no need to press the issue.

“Wh-what in the world happened?”

Wyat asked, so I filled him in on the basics.

How time was passing in the city while we were here, how the labyrinth had opened again recently, and how more explorers had entered the first underground floor.

“One of you sent out a distress signal during the gathering of the evil spirits, and the word spread even in the city. Thanks to that, we learned this island’s location and came to find you.”

“I-Is that so…?”

“Any idea who the evil spirit might be?”

“I’m not sure. But… it could be one of those who have already died.”

“Like the one who died today?”

Wyat Hex pressed his lips together, perhaps to protect his comrades, so I dropped the subject.

Come to think of it, this was a bad habit of mine.

Even when unnecessary, I kept poking without realizing it.

“Never mind. Let’s hear your story. What happened after we parted ways?”

I ended the subject of the evil spirit and changed topics.

However, their expedition turned out to be uneventful.

They explored the library we had left but found nothing, so they changed plans and returned to the sea.

“We were sailing blindly, searching for new areas, when suddenly, monsters started raining from the sky.”

Unlike us, who had spent the Rainy Period in the village, they had been caught out at sea.

Their ship was destroyed just as they reached this island.

After that, they fled in a panic and found this cave to hide in.

No wonder their number is less than half. Most of them must have died during the rainy season.

They were lucky to find the shelter within a few hours, If they had stayed outside longer, they would have been wiped out.

“You’ve been through a lot. You have my condolences.”

“Lord Baron… what about you? If time is passing outside, we must find a way to escape this island… Have you found anything?”

“Not yet. We’re still looking.”

At my honest answer, Wyat bit his lip, then cautiously asked—

“…There must be a way, right?”

“Yes, there has to be. I will definitely find it.”

Those words were the greatest comfort to someone looking for something to cling to.

“…We’ll help you too, Baron. Even if our strength is limited.”

Wyatt spoke with a voice full of resolve, as if I was his only hope, and I counted the number of explorers he was leading and respoded.

“Thank you for saying that. Let’s give it our all together.”

It seemed I had acquired twelve unpaid helpers.

It wasn’t time for our usual camping break, but we decided to end the day’s exploration here.

“Everyone, rest up. We’ll stay here for today.”

With our numbers increased, I figured it was best to take some time to reorganize.
Plus, there was some preliminary research to do.

“Wyat. Have you learned anything about this island?”

Even though they’d mostly been hiding in the cave, since they’d arrived here much earlier than us, Wyat’s information was still useful.

At the moment, we had no other information except that the monsters could use [Gigantification].

“After the rainy season ended, Berion went out to scout at one point, and he spotted a giant monster in the distance.”

A giant monster.

But from the details, it didn’t sound like the Hipramagent we’d encountered.

“He said that when he first saw it, it was easily forty meters tall…”

Hipramagent wasn’t even half that size.

“And it ripped apart a Balksus with its bare hands.”

No way it could kill a Level 2 monster like that.

“Honestly, we wondered if it might have been an illusion-type monster… But I thought you should know anyway.”

“I see. Good call. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Since the witness was already dead, I couldn’t ask for more details, so I set the issue aside for now and listened to the rest.

Scout reports, maps of the area.

And about new types of monsters we hadn’t encountered yet.

It was a lot of useful information that we could use during the exploration tomorrow.
But the highlight was yet to come.

“And finally… there is something I would like to show you, Baron.”

“Something to show me?”

“If you would follow me…”

I followed Wyatt into a small chamber deep inside the cave, there was an artificial structure.

I was taken aback as soon as I saw it.

“This is…”

It was a portal stone.

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