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Vol 2 Chapter 20: Exterminatio II
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As formidable as the stone golems were, their power was formidable only within the fourth tier. Against a team of nine seasoned fighters, they soon crumbled, eae felled by Aris and her panions.
“Is that all? A bunch of rubble, really,” Elyssa scoffed, nudging the remains of a stone golem she had shattered into mere pebbles.
“Hold o not to say such things,” Misako interjected, a cautionary tone in her voice. “In worlds like these, that’s what’s called a ‘fg,’ or ‘jinx.’ Saying it could bring about some nasty surprises.”
“Yes, I’ve heard that myself,” agreed Sisi, nodding knowingly.
Elyssa took their warning to heart, deg it wise to refrain from any further dismissive remarks.
Meanwhile, beside a cavernous pit, Marlyno and Farkonia peered into the shadows, assessing the sight before them.
“Is this… a rubbish heap?” Marlyno muttered incredulously.
Withi y mountains of waste: discarded monster parts, remnants of magical materials, and pools of old potion ingredients. It was nothing short of miraculous that these chaotic reas hadn’t led to an explosion.
“Looks like these leftovers somehered a strange effect, turning nearby rocks into golems,” Marlyno specuted. “Perhaps those golems were even hauling stoo make more of their kind.”
Golems typically didn’t move without orders, but who could say? The very formation of these stone golems was out of the ordinary, so their behaviour wasn’t bound to follow any ventional rules.
“What do we do about it?” Farkonia asked, deferring to Marlyno’s superior experience.
“To prevent new golems from f, destroying this pce ht would be best. But that might scatter inants, polluting the area…”
The safest route would be to return to the Adventurers’ Guild a the i, letting experts ha. But that would take time--time in which molems might form.
“Why not just notify the guild now?” a voice chimed in. Veridith had appeared beside them.
“Ah! That could work... wait---yes!” Marlyno suddenly recalled something. “Miss Farkonia, could y out your adventurer’s card?”
“This one?” Farkonia produced her golden card, a mark of her elite status.
“Iry elling your spirit energy into it.”
Unlike magic or life force, spirit energy was unique, but that detail wasn’t relevant just now. Farkonia focused her sciousness into her adventurer’s card, only to discover a familiar magical circuit.
“Amazing… magitech is remarkable, isn’t it?” she murmured.
It was a unication spell circuit- -plex and finely crafted. Not only could it transmit messages reat distances and through obstacles, but it also encrypted them. And here it was, etched into this small card.
“All higher-ranked adventurers have this feature on their cards as a safety measure. Could you notify the guild about the situation?”
“With pleasure.”
Farkonia activated the circuit and ected with the Adventurers’ Guild almost instantly.
“Miss Farkonia! Has something gone wrong with the ission?” came the receptionist’s voice.
“Yes, we’ve entered some plications…” Farkonia proceeded to rey the situation with the stone golems and the waste-filled pit.
“Uood. We’ll dispatch specialists at once. Please hold your position and await their arrival.”
…
By early evening, Aris and her group were startled by the sound of approag engines.
“Thank you for your patience. We’ll hahings from here. You may return to town for some well-deserved rest,” said a figure emerging from an armored vehicle, reinforced and sturdy. Several individuals in white protective suits disembarked, carrying specialized equipment toward the pit.
“We’ll leave it to you, then,” Aris replied with a nod.
“On the trary, we should be the ohanking you-- for both your efforts and the valuable intel,” the white-suited figure replied politely.
After exging a few formalities, the team in white proceeded towards the pit, tools in hand, while Aris’s party prepared to head back to town.
“Didn’t expect them to call in the heavy hitters,” Elyssa remarked, gng back toward the pit as they walked away.
“You know them?” Sisi asked, her curiosity piqued.
“Ran into them once, back before I was an advehe local adventurers had called the guild, and they showed up.”
“They’re with the guild, specializing in handling the messes left after adventurers plete their jobs. Don’t be fooled by the up role--they require just as much skill, ce, aermination as any adventurer. Some of them are retired adventurers, in fact. I’ve heard people call them the ‘White Sweepers’ or ‘Daylight in the Dark.’”
“White Sweepers? That’s… so cool!” Sisi’s eyes sparkled, her imagination running wild.
“They work silently behind the ses, taking ooughest jobs. They’re like the ‘shadow powerhouses’ of this world.”
“Not sure about ‘powerhouses,’ but they’re definitely skilled,” Elyssa replied, her gaze steady on Sisi’s exuberant face.
“Right, time to get moving. If we dey much longer, dinner will be a midnight snack,” Farkonia said, gng at the darkening sky and urging the group onward.
“The’s stay up and drink!” Dianna’s voice suddenly perked up at the mention of food.
“Yes, drinks all around!” Veridith chimed in, a rare twinkle in her eye.
“Absolutely not. Children don’t drink,” Farkonia tered sharply.
“Ugh… I’m not a child…” Veridith muttered, but her protest faltered under Farkonia’s stern gaze.
“No underage drinking, and definitely no te nights. Juily-- aime at a reasonable hour.”
“But… Sister never sleeps either,” Veridith protested, looking implly at Aris.
“Ah, she’s an adult-- older than your aunt, actually!” Farkonia’s tone was unyielding.
After all, Aris had spent hty thousand years in the Abyss. pared to her, Veridith ractically a newborn.
“Hmph…” Veridith mumbled, half i.
“Let her off the hook just this once,” Aris’s voice, surprisingly soft, interrupted them. The others looked at her, taken aback-- Aris had hardly spoken a word.
“Yes, I suppose so… Look at me,” Mira said drowsily, patting Marlyno’s shoulder before promptly dozing off against her.
The sight earned a round of bemused smiles from the group.
