The target cave was about a few hours from the town, so it wasn’t very far. According to Kuuza, the entrance can sometimes close due to the tides, but it seemed fine for now.

It was a cave located beneath a cape, with a naturally formed downward sloping path. We quietly approached it… and arrived at the cave entrance.

There was no sign of monsters from the entrance. Were they good at hiding, or were they underwater, making them undetectable?

“Well then, let’s go.”

Kuuza said. We nodded, created light, and entered the cave.

Inside, the temperature was low, and it was damp, likely due to the proximity of the sea. We proceeded carefully, watching our steps… and eventually reached a fork where the path split left and right.

“Something’s wrong.”

Here, Lefin appeared and spoke.

“There should be Nereids here, but there’s no sign of them at all.”

“Are they hiding, or…”

Kuuza narrowed his eyes and spoke. The worst-case scenario—had all the Spirits in the cave been destroyed?

“No, there’s no point in thinking about it. Let’s move on. Which way should we go?”

Just as I asked that—a splashing sound, like footsteps, echoed through the cave.

We immediately got into battle formation. The sound was coming from the left. Judging by the sound, it’s not an Orc or Goblin.

As I waited with my sword ready… a bipedal monster that looked like a merman… a Sahagin.

It’s an enemy that Sofia and the others can easily defeat now. However, it has the characteristic of calling for allies, so if we don’t defeat it quickly, it will become extremely troublesome.

Just as I thought we’d defeat them all at once, I heard a sound from the right side as well.

“…It seems there are quite a few of them.”

Kuuza muttered. It was likely because he understood the characteristics of the Sahagin.

They don’t have any weapons, and their methods of attack are fists or body blows… but it’s troublesome if they come in numbers. It’s better to defeat them quickly.

“…If they’re coming from both sides, should we stand back-to-back?”

Here, Kuuza made a suggestion. Then Sylvie moved to Kuuza’s side.

“Then, it’s me and Kuuza.”

“Alright. Are you okay over there?”

“Yeah.”

Nodding, I stood next to Sofia and thought as I stared at the Sahagin in the left passage. There were no Demon Race members, so I might as well go all out… but considering Kuuza, I’d deal with them with restrained power for now.

“…Sofia, let’s deal with them with teamwork.”

At my words, Sofia nodded slightly.

“Understood. I’ll do my best to match Lord Ruon’s movements.”

…You don’t need to be so tense.

I watched as a Sahagin attacked me head-on. At the same time, I stepped forward at the exact same moment as Sofia.

While holding my sword, I aimed for the Sahagin’s right leg with ‘Holy Shot’. As a result, it hit the instep of its foot directly, stopping its movement.

“Ha!”

Then, Sofia’s slash. The blow aimed at its chest landed firmly, and the monster flinched.

“Sofia, there’s a possibility of a leader-class battle. Conserve your magic power as much as possible.”

“Understood.”

In response, Sofia swung her sword. Her precise movements were indeed the result of her training. She easily defeated the Sahagin without it being able to counterattack.

If this is the case… just as I thought that, a ‘thump’ sound came from behind. I immediately thought Kuuza must have used ‘Fireball’, and then there was a ‘crackle’ sound of lightning.

I glanced back for a moment. Just like in the game, he was demonstrating his ability to constantly use lower-tier magic, defeating enemies. It seemed that the abilities he had in the game were still intact… I understood and returned my gaze, only to see more Sahagin approaching from the front.

“…Could this be a Sahagin nest?”

However, these aren’t the Demon King’s forces; I think they’re the type that went berserk after being exposed to miasma… and more Sahagin are coming from behind.

“Ruon, are you alright over there?”

Kuuza’s question from behind. The right path must be in a similar situation. I was worried about them calling for allies, but it seems they might have been a group from the start.

“I’m fine… you be careful over there too!”

As I shouted, I swung my sword at the approaching Sahagin. Since I was holding back, I didn’t defeat the Sahagin—but Sofia followed up with her sword, successfully defeating it.

More Sahagin pressed in from behind… and Sofia and I dealt with them with teamwork. We hadn’t fought side-by-side much until now, but even so, she and I were coordinating well.

I would shoot a part of the Sahagin with magic, and Sofia would finish it off with a follow-up attack. Meanwhile, Sylvie and Kuuza in the back were mostly defeating the Sahagin solo. This felt less like teamwork and more like each of them was defeating enemies as they pleased.

However, this fact also proved that Kuuza, a magic-user, possesses the ability to fight alone. He traveled alone until he met us in town. He must have teamed up with others, like with Sylvie, but he must have also often fought monsters alone. The ability to do that is likely due to his ability to rapidly cast magic.

Once again recognizing that he possessed the characteristics of the ‘Three Powers’… it was about fifteen minutes later that they were all defeated.

Finally, there were no more enemies attacking, and we took a breather. Then Sofia spoke to Kuuza.

“Your magic, I didn’t sense any incantation.”

“Incantation is the act of preparing the magic power sleeping inside the body, so it can be done without it, depending on training.”

Kuuza answered with a laugh, but in the game, he was the only one like that.

I also have some of my favorite magic spells where I’ve almost eliminated incantation time by mastering them to their limits, but that’s the result of training. In his case, it’s probably a matter of talent.

“Sofia also used magic during the battle.”

Kuuza turned the conversation to her. Sofia nodded slightly,

“Yes. I have a contract with Spirits, and I also have Magic Sword Technique.”

“I see… It looks like you mainly focus on swordsmanship, but is there no option to train your Magic?”

“It might be important in the sense of strengthening my Magic Sword Technique.”

“…If I have the chance, I might as well strengthen that area.”

I mentioned. If I’m going to utilize Spirit’s Power, strengthening my Magic would be a good idea.

“Oh, are you coming to the Academia? If you’d like, I can introduce you to someone.”

Kuuza asked cheerfully. I just replied, “I’ll think about it,” and then,

“Let’s move on.”

With those words, we started moving. After discussing, we decided to take the left path.

After that, Sahagin appeared sporadically, but they weren’t our enemies, so we proceeded deeper. It was probably about an hour after the first battle… We reached a place where we could feel a strong Miasma directly ahead.

It seems the end is near… While thinking that the Cave itself wasn’t that large, we proceeded there. Even at this stage, the Spirits Nereids were nowhere to be seen. We should probably look for them after defeating the Monster.

What we arrived at was a wide space where seawater flowed in. Should I call it an inlet…? There was a shimmering sea directly ahead, and it looked like something could emerge from the depths of the Darkness at any moment.

“There’s Miasma, but I can’t see it.”

Kuuza muttered and approached the slightly rippling water surface—I had a bad feeling about it, so I Incanted under my breath.

While I was chanting, Kuuza stood at the waterside. Just as Sofia and Sylvie also tried to walk over in the same way—

Suddenly, the water surface directly ahead swelled up. At the same time, a gigantic squid tentacle appeared from the sea surface.

“—!?”

The moment I heard Sofia’s small groan, the tentacle approached Kuuza, who was closest to the sea surface, as if to drag him in, and then,

“—Flame.”

I intervened there. The ‘Fire Lance’ I unleashed blew away the approaching tentacle.

Kuuza immediately pulled his leg back, and Sofia and the others also entered battle stance. He, for his part, said “My bad” to me and readied his staff.

The water surface swelled further, revealing its form. In a word, a giant white squid… Wait, this has to be a Kraken!

A formidable enemy that appears quite often in various media like manga and anime. It’s a Monster with top-class recognition among aquatic Monsters and considerable abilities… But in this ‘Elder’s Sword,’ it was an unreleased Monster.