A day passed, and morning arrived.
“Is this the place?”
“Yes.”
I led the four people who had spent the morning in the Golden Carriage into the ant nest.
“Today, Instructor Esta and I will step back, so Senior Yurha, could you lead the Vermilion Bird Class?”
“Me?”
“Yes. You’ll see.”
“Hmm….”
The party members looked confused, but I checked the condition of the ant nest once more, which Instructor Esta and I had inspected the day before.
‘This place is sufficient for the four of them to gain experience.’
Originally, the ant-type monsters in the underground of the Barony of Balzac did not have magic stones on their exoskeletons as hard as diamonds.
They were simply large ants.
Their appearance was sharp like blades, and they had an agile and ferocious form.
This kind of form could be found in the Trial of the Four Founders, at the Tower of Earth.
When Instructor Esta raided the second floor of the Sealed Tower of Earth, this form had already been revealed.
Then why had the monsters before us now taken on such a golem-like appearance rather than their original biological form?
If they had been sealed for 500 years by the [Sage], shouldn’t they have retained their original form from 500 years ago?
‘Physically, only the ceiling was closed.’
They evolved to survive.
For 500 years.
They were trapped inside the barrier the Sage had created.
They weren’t confined in some subspace.
It wasn’t a time-frozen dungeon where they remained still until an outsider broke the barrier.
The Sage had simply cast the barrier, preventing them from leaving.
‘They were just trapped, suddenly and unexpectedly.’
Except for those hunted by the Four Founders, the young ants, which the founders had assumed “our descendants will take care of these later”, remained.
‘When they hatched, the soldiers and adults were already dead, and they were left to survive inside an inescapable magical sphere.’
Inside a huge sphere-like barrier deep underground, they were unable to escape for 500 years and had to survive within.
It was no different from capturing a queen ant from a field and locking it inside a styrofoam cage.
Fortunately, the barrier was large enough for them to establish a colony over 500 years.
But survival was difficult.
‘When people raise insects in cages, they at least provide food regularly, but the Sage wouldn’t have done that. He just threw them underground.’
Some groundwater did seep in.
But since it was blocked by the barrier, the ants could not drink it, no matter how much they licked it.
Trapped deep underground, they were affected by strong forces.
Most importantly, they had no food other than minerals, so they had to change their diet.
Using mana, they gradually transformed their biological parts, turning their bodies into living minerals.
Instead of bodily fluids, ether-like mana flowed through them.
Their blood vessels became circuitry, and as they no longer had competitors for food, they hardened their bodies to fight new enemies.
Themselves.
Even in their original form, ants engaged in cannibalism.
Ants of the same pheromone group did not attack each other, but in a situation where there was no food, what else could they eat but the earth beneath them?
They sank their fangs into each other’s necks, sucking out bodily fluids.
They devoured the soft internal organs, leaving only the exoskeleton behind.
Amidst that, the only energy source they consistently received was—
‘The miasma slowly rising from the depths of the earth.’
Mana.
The mana rising from the Demon World.
Before being sealed 500 years ago, these monsters had lived in a world rich with mana mixed with angelic energy.
But for 500 years, they had absorbed the miasma that seeped from below.
For 500 years, without any angelic energy in the mana.
Their colony size had shrunk, but each individual had become stronger.
And now, after 500 years, their seal was broken, and they made their first contact with humanity.
Kiaaaaaak!!
Thus, they released an overwhelming hostility toward the beings who had imprisoned them underground for 500 years.
Slash!
However, despite their aggression, not every creature in this underground was S-rank.
Even in the Trial from 500 years ago, there had only been one S-rank ant and hundreds of A-ranks, not fifty S-rank creatures.
That meant—
“Haah!”
With a swift thrust of her spear, Ludmila easily split the Diamond Ant into three pieces—head, chest, and abdomen.
It was proof that the Vermilion Bird Class was more than capable of handling them.
“Be careful!!”
Although Ludmila had taken down the Diamond Ant with just two strikes, a sharp voice called out to her.
Was it because an attack was coming from her blind spot?
“Don’t damage the magic stones!”
Not at all.
The one who shouted was Yurha, and her concern was not for Ludmila but for the Diamond Ant that had just been killed.
“A-Ah…! The product…!”
“Senior Yurha, I think you’re a little out of it right now.”
Yunia teased, playfully poking Yurha in the waist.
They had become close enough to joke around like this, but more importantly, Yurha’s current state was beyond words.
“You’re absolutely out of your mind! This place is a paradise! Miss Ludmila? I’m sorry, but could you try to capture them with as little damage as possible? Just enough so we can sell them in their current condition!”
“Ah, understood.”
That was how much Yurha was losing herself in excitement—even Ludmila, who would normally have said something about it, was intimidated by her sheer energy and had to be careful while swinging her spear.
It couldn’t be helped.
If the exoskeleton was destroyed, the magic stones would be damaged, and if the bodily fluids leaked out, the mana would dissipate.
“A-Ah…! Their entire bodies are mana?!”
Even though they appeared diamond-like, these ants were practically creatures made entirely of gold.
Think about it.
Their exoskeletons were golden, and the fluids flowing inside them were also golden.
When hunting them, who wouldn’t want to minimize any loss of gold?
“Senior, another one is coming.”
“Miss Yunia! Bind it with magic! Ludmila, deflect its attacks—but don’t damage the exoskeleton!”
That was why Yurha was actively giving orders to the party.
“Evangeline! Summon your teddy bear and suppress the new ones coming in! Hold them down until Ludmila slashes through the one in front!”
Though the students looked bewildered, they still followed Yurha’s instructions seriously.
Normally, she would just smile quietly and wave her staff at the right moment, but now that she was actively commanding them, some of them subtly thought, ‘Why doesn’t she always do this?’
Still, no one disobeyed or questioned her commands.
Normally, they followed my orders, but now Yurha was proving herself as a leader, exerting her charisma to its fullest.
“Miss Ludmila, fall back for now! Miss Yunia, get ready to bind! Evangeline, start unsummoning your doll! The timing is… now!”
In the first place, the easiest way to make money in this world was by hunting monsters for magic stones.
Kyaaaahhh!
“Bind it and strangle it!”
The reason Yurha didn’t often take the front lines was simply because she prioritized financial gain above all else.
But that didn’t mean she wasn’t exceptional at hunting monsters.
Crack…!
The ants’ movements stopped.
These creatures, driven by the miasma of the Demon World, instinctively targeted those with angelic energy, attacking with a deep-rooted hatred.
Yet now, bound by magic ropes, they collapsed to the ground.
“Senior Yurha … aren’t you working us a bit too hard?”
“But if we sell even one of these, it’ll be worth two million gold.”
“…And how much are you planning to share?”
“Even split. I’ll take the commission out of my share, so just hang in there a little longer.”
She was working them hard, but at least she wasn’t shortchanging them.
And the amount was enough to make Yunia, Ludmila, and even Evangeline think, ‘Well, that’s fair,’ and continue fighting enthusiastically.
“Phoenix.”
“Yes, Instructor.”
While watching the four-person party from a short distance, Instructor Esta and I examined the various tunnels within the ant nest.
“So the plan is to clear out all the monsters, then bring in the Blue Fire Squad to transport the magic stones to the surface?”
“Yes.”
“And they won’t try to steal some for themselves?”
“They will. There’s no way they wouldn’t.”
A magic stone mine.
When miners hired by a diamond mine owner found raw diamonds, it was only natural for them to slip a few into their pockets.
“We can inspect them with magic. These magic stones are a bit special.”
“…They’re certainly different from the ones on the surface.”
“Yes.”
These were pure magic stones, untainted by angelic energy.
“But, Instructor, do you really think she would sit still if someone tried to steal from her?”
“…She’d chase them to the ends of Hell to get it back.”
“Juniors!!”
Yurha shouted in excitement.
“Let’s keep farming until we can afford to buy the entire Barony of Balzac with these magic stones!!”
Enough to buy a city.
…And she wasn’t wrong.
‘Not a city—an entire nation.’
Because pure mana stones, untouched by angelic energy—
Were essentially ultra-magic stones.
