Upon hearing Ian’s story, everyone began to search the nearby burrows.

Since such a large space had been excavated, this was likely the nest, meaning the place where their collection was hidden was highly likely to be close by.

Everyone scattered and looked around for a few minutes.

Before long, a voice calling the others was heard.

’It’s over here!’

’Where?’

Tanya was the first to discover the suspicious spot.

It was thanks to the fairies, who had a knack for finding interesting objects, informing Tanya of the location where many items were gathered.

Everyone flocked to where Tanya was upon hearing her voice.

It was a small pit dug into one side. When the thin layer of soil covering the top was cleared away, the items piled underneath were revealed.

’What are these... stones?’

’They look like ores...’

Everyone picked up the items gathered there one by one. At first, they thought they were ordinary stones, but as the dust was wiped away, a faint luster emerged.

Most of the items piled in the pit were those kinds of ore chunks.

...It’s a bit different from what I imagined.

The members clearing and organizing the ores from the pit all shared that thought.

Mika, who was wiping a dusty stone fragment with a cloth, muttered.

’They’re all just ores...’

’Are there no gold nuggets? Or maybe artifacts found while digging...’

’How would a monster know things like that?’

That’s true. There’s no way a monster could recognize something expensive and gather only valuable items. They probably just brought and buried everything that sparkled even slightly.

Even if there were artifacts, it was more likely they’d be buried deep underneath, as monsters wouldn’t show much interest in such things.

’Only that person will be happy...’

’Who?’

’Elena-ssi.’

’Ah...’

Looking at the minerals lined up on the ground, everyone nodded quietly.

Judging by the loot collected now, it looked like they had just visited a mine. In terms of minerals alone, it was the highest count among their expeditions so far.

First, they decided to set aside the cheap ores that clearly looked worthless and take as much of the rest as possible.

’Hm? What’s wrong?’

While examining the ores and choosing which to take, Tanya asked with a puzzled face as she saw one of the fairies pointing toward the pit.

’Is there something else over here?’

Tanya followed where the fairy was pointing and checked the pit once more.

Most of the items inside had already been removed, but the fairy was pointing further in as if there were more.

As Tanya dug out more of the soft soil, her hand grasped an object buried deeper than the others.

’What is this... ah!’

’What’s wrong? Ah!’

What Tanya held was a deep red sphere. Although it was covered in dust, the vivid red light emanating from within was not entirely hidden.

As Tanya carefully wiped the surface, light spread out as if a fire were blooming. it looked as if a flame had been trapped inside a crystal.

’Is this... a ge, gem?’

’Captain! What is this!’

Tanya and the members immediately brought the gem found in the pit to Ian.

Ian carefully picked up the gem Tanya brought and examined it.

’This is the item that the statue asked us to bring.’

’This? It was asking for a gem?’

It had asked as if simply requesting to find a lost item, yet it was demanding an incredibly expensive object.

Mika stared intently at the gem in Ian’s hand, then glanced around and quietly approached Ian.

Mika asked Ian in a lowered voice. It seemed she was trying to keep the fairies near Tanya—or more precisely, the fairies themselves—from hearing.

’Do we really have to give this back? Wouldn’t it be fine if we just took it out with us?’

’...This isn’t a gem, so it won’t have much value if we take it out.’

This item wasn’t an actual gemstone but a physical manifestation of a spirit’s power, so it would vanish upon leaving the Labyrinth.

In fact, it was quite bothersome to return to where the altar was every single time to activate it, so Ian knew this from having brought it out of the Labyrinth quite a few times before.

’It looks expensive...’

’If we could actually take it out, it would certainly be expensive.’

’I thought it would make a good staff...’

’...You still haven’t given up on an offensive staff?’

A mage’s greed for staves was endless.

Anyway, Ian tucked the altar activation item Tanya found safely into his bag.

He had a feeling it would appear here, and it was just as expected.

This activation item for the altar is randomly generated somewhere in the same Labyrinth.

Of course, it wouldn’t just be lying on the floor, so it was obvious where it would appear. It showed up tucked away in places with rewards, like inside a treasure chest or a mid-boss room like this one.

’But we found it quicker than I thought. Are you going to bring it back right away?’

’No. Later, after the investigation on this side is finished.’

’I see. Well, it won’t know if we dawdle a bit.’

Mika, still unaware of Ian’s plan, nodded without much thought.

Since the giant Moler’s nest was quite a large space, Ian and the members settled there and took a brief rest.

It was a place where monsters rarely approached.

Ian used that spot as a base and began exploring the surrounding area.

Since it wasn’t much different from the cliff on the opposite side, the seasoned members were able to speed up and proceed with the exploration quickly.

’I think we’ve climbed quite high now.’

Rin peeked outside through a hole that opened to the exterior.

The bridge they had used as a reference point for their search was visible below. It meant they had climbed quite high upward from where they entered.

They were getting closer to the ceiling of the cliff, the area where Harpies flew.

’I think I have the hang of it now. Let’s go this way.’

The time Ian spent deliberating in front of forks in the road also decreased significantly.

This was because as they neared the upper section, the number of burrows dug by Molers decreased, along with the number of forks.

As long as they kept the general direction, they could climb toward their destination without getting too lost.

Perhaps because the Harpy nest was nearby, Molers no longer passed by.

After spending about a full day searching for the path leading to the upper layer of the cliff, Ian discovered a terrain different from before.

’This... doesn’t look like a burrow dug by Molers.’

’It looks like a natural cave, doesn’t it?’

It was a fairly wide cave.

The cave, which seemed to have been part of the cliff originally, stretched long toward the outside.

Since there was a possibility that other monsters might be living there like last time, everyone stayed vigilant as they walked through the cave toward the exterior.

No traces of other monsters were seen along the way.

’I guess no monsters live here...’

’I can hear Harpies outside.’

The sound of Harpy wings flapping outside the cave was reaching them.

’I’ll go check outside.’

’Wait. It’s better if Airi goes first.’

’Y-yes. Me?’

Airi, whose name was called, was startled, but it was just because she was suddenly called after a long time. Scouting was originally Airi’s role.

Until now, Rin had been sufficient, so Rin, the frontliner, had handled it for convenience, but this time Ian entrusted it to Airi, who had the highest rank in stealth, just in case.

Airi suppressed her presence and walked very quietly toward the cave’s entrance to peek outside.

’Hiek!’

Airi, who had cautiously poked her head out to survey the outside, let out a small groan and hurriedly retreated inside.

’What’s wrong?’

’The, the Harpies...’

’The Harpies were always there.’

’There are so, so many...’

Just how many were there?

Everyone peeked out with that question, only to quickly flee back in a manner similar to Airi.

An immense number of Harpies were flying outside. It was a scale incomparable to the small Harpy flocks they had seen before.

At the very top of the cliff. A massive Harpy nest was situated not far away.

This was the path leading up to the Harpy nest they had been searching for all this time.

Returning deep into the cave, the members sat in a circle and discussed the Harpy nest they had just seen.

’Um, Captain. Did you say the Source is there?’

’Probably. That’s what was written in the old exploration records at the guild.’

The Harpy nest served as the boss room for this region.

When Ian affirmed, Rin recalled the considerable number of Harpies they had just seen and asked.

’How do we get in there...? We can’t possibly fight all of them.’

It was an overwhelming number of Harpies. Although they had won fairly comfortably against Harpies so far, this number was impossible no matter how they thought about it.

Ian nodded as if agreeing with Rin’s words.

’Normally, the standard is to lure them out bit by bit from a distance to reduce their numbers.’

’Right? As I thought...’

Rin quickly noticed a strange atmosphere thanks to her experiences with Ian and her recently sharpened intuition.

’...Normally? That’s the standard?’

It felt as if he were implying that while luring them bit by bit was the standard, they wouldn’t be using that method now.

Ian quietly turned his head and looked at Airi.

’...???’

Only then did Airi sense something unpleasant, and her expression stiffened.