The Strongest Onmyoji and the Shikigami With AI are Unparalleled in Another World ~ A Second Life Properly Enjoyed Using Artificial Intelligence ~ - Chapter 157

After waking up early in the morning, we had breakfast, finished our preparations, and teleported to the foot of the mountain.

“Now, how should we proceed…?”

We looked up.

“There’s a hiking trail, and you can also climb up through a cave,” Lily informed us.

“You’ve been here before?”

“Well, I have, but elves don’t come here much. Griffons appear in this area, and it’s hard to aim with a bow because of the strong winds.”

Griffons?

“What are those?”

“Flying beasts. They’re C-rank monsters, but since they fly, their threat level is higher.”

That does sound threatening…

“If there’s a dragon, I’d imagine it’s hiding.”

“Who knows?”

It’s dangerous.

Being attacked from the air is far too risky. Even with detection skills, the sky is a blind spot for humans.

“What about this cave you mentioned?”

“Lizards show up there. I think it’s easier to deal with. It blocks the wind, so it’s not as cold.”

Lizards… big lizards, right?

I didn’t see any in the forest, after all. Probably due to the dragon’s influence?

“The cave sounds good.”

“…Agreed.”

The two who don’t like the cold clearly prefer avoiding the outside. I can’t blame them, and honestly, I prefer the cave too.

“What about you two?” I asked Natalia and Leanne.

“I think the cave. Not just because of the cold, but I’m scared of griffons,” Natalia said.

“Me as well” added Leanne.

Fair enough. AI-chan, Alice, and Leannne are small, so they’d likely be targeted even more.

“Alright, we’ll go with the cave. Lily, lead the way.”

“Got it! This way, this way!”

Lily said that and began leading us, so we headed to the right.

After walking for a while, we spotted a hole in the rocky face of the mountain.

“Here!”

Lily stopped in front of the hole, and I took a look. It was less of a “hole” and more of a cave.

The cave was wide and tall enough to allow our group to pass through comfortably. The inside was dark and hard to see, but upon closer inspection, I noticed metal brackets for torches mounted on the walls.

“An artificial cave?”

“Yeah. It seems it used to be an old mining site,” Lily explained.

A mine, huh?

“Is there any risk of a cave-in?”

“Hmm, I think it should be fine. The villagers sometimes come here to gather stone, and I haven’t heard of any incidents.”

Still, elves are kind of… special, after all.

“If anything happens, we can use Riane’s teleportation to escape, right? It’s way better than being outside. The mountain has sudden gusts of wind, and while Riane can teleport or AI-chan can survive no matter what, Alice might actually get blown away.”

I could always summon the crow or the bees in that case, but it would still be dangerous.

“…I don’t want to fall,” Alice murmured, shaking her head, likely imagining what Annie had described.

“Falling rocks are a concern outside, too… Well, this seems like the better option,” I said.

“…Yeah, definitely,” Alice nodded this time, after shaking her head earlier.

“But it’s so dark…” I commented, peering into the pitch-black cave.

“Should I use a light spell?”

“…I can use one too.”

“Oh, me too!”

“And me!”

“I can….make the sun shine.”

Everyone can use it, huh?

Leanne’s magic is probably ridiculously bright. But it uses up a ton of mana, so that’s a no-go.

“Alright, everyone except Leanne, I’ll leave it to you. AI-chan, keep an eye out with your search ability.”

“Leave it to me,” she replied confidently.

In a cave, there are only two directions to worry about—front and back—so AI-chan’s search ability should prove useful.

“Alright, let’s go.”

We decided to enter the cave. As soon as we did, the four of them all activated their light spells at once, and the place instantly lit up.

“Whoa! I can see everything clearly now.”

“Right? Maybe I should learn this spell too.”

“That’d be a good idea. It looks pretty useful.”

It’s probably something you can buy anyway.

“By the way, everyone. It’s nice and bright now, but can you still use attack magic in this state?”

“Nope,” came the unanimous response.

…Seriously?

“Ugh, come on…”

“Using magic inside a cave is dangerous anyway. You do it, Yuuma,” one of them suggested.

Well, that’s true enough…

“Fine, I’ll handle it.”

I pulled a talisman from my pocket, infused it with spiritual energy, and materialized a sword.

“Wow, so dependable!”

“Right?”

“…So cool,” someone murmured.

“You must’ve been really popular in your past life.”

“Let’s give him rank A.”

The women showered me with praise.

“Master, since Koma-chan is carrying Leanne, wouldn’t it be better to have something guarding the rear?”

That’s true…

“Yeah, you’re right. Unlike before, this is a one-way path. We need to secure the back.”

Saying that, I took a talisman from my pocket and threw it behind us.

“…”

Everyone stared at the talisman. The smiles they had while praising me earlier were gone, replaced by silent, displeased expressions.

“It’s Big Centipede-chan. With this, we should be safe.”

Big Centipede-chan raised its upper body (if you can call it that) and loomed over us. Its height easily surpassed ours.

“I’m counting on you,” I said.

In response, Big Centipede-chan looked around, its head swiveling as it surveyed the area.

“It’s asking where the dragon is. It says it wants to melt and eat it,” AI-chan translated.

So aggressive… Probably awakened its predator instincts after eating someone earlier.

“Eat any lizards that come from behind.”

“It says it’ll do it if it has to,” AI-chan added.

“Alright, let’s move.”

Leaving the rear to Big Centipede-chan, we set off into the cave with me and AI-chan leading the way.

“Um…” someone behind me muttered.

“Don’t turn around,” another whispered.

“…Isn’t it staring at us? I can feel an intense pressure on my back.”

“Isn’t it the one that melted and ate a demon?”

“That’s what I heard… And out of all of us, the tastiest one is ….you, Annie.”

The women in the back whispered nervously among themselves.

“Master, there’s a creature up ahead, likely a lizard. It’s 30 meters away… Wait, what?” AI-chan suddenly reported.

“Hm?” I turned to look.

Sensing something, I looked up and saw Big Centipede-chan scuttling along the wall.

Then, with incredible speed, it dashed deeper into the cave.

“Hey, you’re supposed to be guarding the rear!”

As usual, it completely ignored me.

“Master, the enemy signal has disappeared. It seems Big Centipede-chan has dealt with it,” AI-chan reported.

“That was fast… but it’s not coming back.”

“I recommend waiting here. It’s probably best not to expose everyone to… shocking visuals.”

So it’s eating, huh…