Golden Experience - Chapter 152: “The Great Mole”

“…Well, it seems nobody else will be coming.”

I stood there for a while after finishing the battle against the clan, but no player who seemed to be targeting us appeared. Occasionally, beginner players who seemed unaware of the recent development from social media would come to the grasslands, but upon seeing Yoroizaka-san, they would quickly flee.

<In the recent battle, I apologize for the damage that reached you, boss…>

“No, there wasn’t much damage to speak of. It was more their fault for not listening to me, or just impatience on their part. You don’t have to worry about it.”

I had declared that I wouldn’t interfere until the battle with Sugaru was over, so it would have been better if they had just focused on fighting Sugaru. Even if it was for provocation, adding me to the battle, when it wasn’t certain they could even defeat Sugaru alone, was meaningless and reckless.

“Did I underestimate myself… or rather, did I underestimate Sugaru? It seems like they intended to attack me more, and if they could involve Sugaru in it, that would be even better.”

Certainly, in cases where there is a difference in strength between the boss and its entourage, such tactics may be employed. However, that assumes the entourage is much weaker than the players. Speaking of the boss’s entourage, it could be considered one of the gimmicks itself. In boss battles, you couldn’t win unless you dealt with the gimmicks reliably. However, this battle wasn’t winnable, and it didn’t seem like the gimmicks were manageable either.

“I think the conditions fell a bit short. I’d love to see them try again when their production players are able to produce items closer to artifact-level on their own.”

If it’s artifacts, even rare or legendary ones can be made. If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be impossible for other players. Even if not artifact-level items, a sword at that level would be enough to pose a threat to Yoroizaka-san. I would still take damage, and taking damage means there’s a possibility of death.

“Still, a clan, huh…”

If we can’t track them on social media, we won’t have any information if they coordinate in a place we can’t check. I had thought that if I kept an eye on the players’ movements, we wouldn’t have to embarrassingly lose to traps like I did that time, but being coordinated in a place I couldn’t check was a blind spot. This time, we were lucky to finish unscathed because the opponents were weak, but it might not be the same next time. No, to ensure it’s not the same next time, we should work harder to strengthen our own side.

This time, Sugaru was able to single-handedly dominate more opponents than in the previous capital, but a significant advantage was due to the ability to fly. I can’t imagine what kind of conditions normal players like humans would have to clear to unlock abilities like [Flight] or [Sky Dash], but if players could acquire such abilities, it wouldn’t be so one-sided. That’s when the real battle would begin.

But if the opponent becomes stronger, it’s okay as long as we become stronger too. The ideal situation is to gain enough combat power to defeat a 50-person raid party solo, even if they use the aforementioned artifacts. We’re not there yet.

“For that, will customers come to the Old Hiers Capital?”

The difficulty has already been lowered to ☆4. I thought it wouldn’t go below ☆5 as long as Sieg was there, but apparently not. It seems that the difficulty judgment makes a distinction between the capital and the royal castle. If Sieg takes even one step out of the castle, it immediately jumps up to ☆5. If the system recognizes the royal castle as a separate field, it wouldn’t be strange for there to be a teleportation service directly to the royal castle, but there is no such thing. There seems to be a rule that states that another area within the region cannot be chosen as a teleportation destination. You have to go through the proper steps to get to the boss area, and that might be the case.

This is probably the same for the lord’s mansion of Erntal in Blanc’s region. Deas is there, but the town is still only at ☆3.

I have already received more than enough publicity for the matter of the calamity being out, so I honestly have no further use for this meadow. However, the ants are working hard, so I think I’ll make this grassland an ant paradise. There’s a town that can be used as a portal right nearby, so there should be no problem for visitors. If we keep it at around ☆1 to ☆2, beginners should continue to come. If we raise the difficulty too much, there’s a possibility of unnecessary speculation due to the difference from the portals of other towns. The difficulty level has to be fixed at ☆1 here.

<Boss, the engineer reported a giant beast underground.

…I’m sorry, the reporting engineer just died.>

“Oh, found it. Let’s go.”

The engineers only have combat power that can be defeated solo once they get used to it, even if they are just starting as genuine beginners. Therefore, at this point, we have no idea about the opponent’s strength. Caution is necessary.

“At least they shouldn’t be more formidable than us. The nearby town is an important base for players and the administration. The boss area is treated separately to prevent the dungeon boss from being defeated. While unlikely, there’s a possibility that a calamity-level monster is placed inside. Let’s proceed with caution.”

<Yes, Boss.>

The engineer ant flew to the location where the previous one was killed and descended into the underground through a cave entrance that looked like a raised mound right beside it. It resembled the entrance icon of a cave on a map in an old game. The entrance was large, but the underground passage was spacious enough for Yoroizaka-san, a three-meter-tall figure, to stand and walk.

While walking in the completely dark underground cave, it Reminded me of the Liebe Great Forest. The underground grand cave in the Liebe Great Forest was built by engineer ants, making the walls smooth due to the effects of acid. In contrast, this cave had exposed soil, appearing on the verge of collapsing. If moles dug this cave, it made sense. Typically, mole burrows serve both as residence and traps, fulfilling a role similar to spider webs. They wait for prey like earthworms and larvae to fall into the holes they dug in the ground, sense it, and prey on it. Therefore, maintaining the original strength of the soil is desirable.

However, the moles in this grassland don’t seem to rely on such small prey. It appears they detect the footsteps of humans walking on the surface and try to obtain food by jumping out of the nest to attack.

Even though there was no light, I, who could see through her Demonic Eyes, could easily act. Since I couldn’t lend Yoroizaka-san that field of view, I’m currently controlling Yoroizaka-san. Sugaru also seems to have no problem with movement. Originally, she was active inside the Liebe Great Forest cave, so it’s natural. I remember she used her antennae to touch and move around, but now I don’t see any such movement.

<It’s about time, Boss.>

“Yeah, I see it. That hall over there, right? Judging from the visible MP, it seems to be a magical beast of no significance, about the strength of a newly born Queen Ant.”

Upon reaching a hall-like place, a large mole was seated. Since the ant was defeated at the same time as the report, I thought we might be attacked as soon as we entered the hall, but that wasn’t the case. Come to think of it, the ants couldn’t actually see inside the cave. They were just moving along the walls with their antennae. They probably mistakenly touched the giant mole, got crushed, and that’s how they died. The giant mole likely has a similar lack of visibility. It probably just crushed the ant because it felt a bug coming into contact. In other words, an unfortunate accident.

“Now then. It seems the opponent hasn’t noticed us yet, but shall we give it a try?”

<Do you want me to [Subordinate] it?>

“It doesn’t seem to go well with forest-type fields. It probably won’t multiply easily like insects or treants, and if ants can do similar things, I’d rather stick with ants.”

Insects are the most diverse group of creatures. Even though there might not be as many as the set one million species in reality, it can still generate quite a variety of followers at the moment. Many more can be unlocked depending on skills and situations. In terms of overall diversity and individual specialization, there’s basically no need for new types of subordinates.

Currently, since there are no useful fields under my control, I haven’t created any, but monsters inspired by aquatic insects and arthropods are increasing in Sugaru’s [Birth Allocation] list. There are only monsters called [Queens] in the [Breeding: Insects] list that I’ve arbitrarily named, so it might be the difference between species that can form their own followers or not.

Not only are social organisms included, but also creatures that lay a large number of eggs at once seem to be the motif. Perhaps beetles and spiders are included due to the large number of eggs. If not, it might be due to the large number of eggs in spiders.

<If that’s the case, please leave it to me. While we confirmed my reasonable combat power in air-to-ground combat in the previous battle, ground-locked combat experience is still insufficient.>

“I’ll leave it to you.”