Seeing the last wolf finally collapse to the ground, the two girls let out a sigh of relief, then slumped down. They looked at each other, both on the verge of tears.
Remembering the Female Mage's brave actions just moments ago, the Goddess Priestess said timidly, "Th-thank you." Honestly, at first, the Goddess Priestess had always thought the Female Mage looked so haughty that she was impossible to approach. But after what had happened today, she finally understood that the Female Mage was simply a girl who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside. She felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
"It's nothing. I'm older than you, after all. If someone has to die, it should be me first." She would have liked to stand up and adjust her glasses with a cool pose, but it was obviously impossible in her current state.
After resting for a few minutes, the Goddess Priestess and the Female Mage finally got to their feet. The Goddess Priestess hurried over to the young warrior and took out some Silverleaf Grass to treat him. Meanwhile, after a little while, Lin Yun's injuries had stabilized and his HP had recovered to 1. He opened his eyes somewhat dazedly, still not quite understanding what was going on.
The Female Mage had been staring intently at Lin Yun. When she saw that he had finally woken up, tears she'd thought had run dry welled up again. "You're finally awake. We were so scared." For once, the Female Mage wasn't acting tsundere. She simply voiced what she truly felt.
"Mm, this..." Holding his head, Lin Yun still felt a little dizzy. Then he looked around and saw the giant wolf lying on the ground, which made him breathe a little easier. Thinking about how he'd nearly been bitten to death just moments ago sent a chill creeping up his spine. It had been terrifying.
But at least he was awake now.
Lin Yun let out another small sigh of relief, then... finally remembered that he was the healer.
Trembling, Lin Yun got up from the ground and picked up the shield on his back. Then he activated Channel Divinity. "O All-Knowing Eye, all-knowing and all-powerful..."
"2D6=9." "2D6=7." "2D6=10." Since he hadn't been at full HP earlier and had let his guard down, the giant wolf had swallowed him in one bite. So this time, Lin Yun simply used up both of his remaining uses of Channel Divinity. Fortunately, he didn't need to go back and rest for the effect to replenish. Everyone's HP was restored to full, including the extra HP they'd gained from leveling up. Only Lin Yun, with a whopping 35 total HP, a veritable HP tank among Priests, couldn't quite make it back to full after nearly getting killed in one hit...
He could only recover to 27 HP.
Lin Yun checked the fallen enemies. Perhaps because so much time had passed, all the ones who'd been on the brink of death for too long had finally died, so they couldn't give him any experience. Only the unusually hardy Goblin Chieftain and the giant wolf were still barely alive, though they probably wouldn't last much longer.
Well, Lin Yun was going to finish them off anyway.
He gained 1,600 experience from one and 800 from the other. Clearly, the Goblin Chieftain had actually been the strongest. It was just that the Female Mage had killed it instantly at first glance. What a miserable end.
Or rather, these weren't enemies Lin Yun and the others should have been fighting in the first place. But through sheer luck, they'd managed to clear the whole thing. It was downright miraculous...
That pushed Lin Yun past the 10,000 mark in one go, bringing him to 10,800. Still, the next level was a long way off, requiring a whopping 14,000 experience.
Now Lin Yun and the others faced a problem. Their HP was fairly high, but they'd used up almost all their resources. To be fair, Lin Yun still had three Cantrips left, but they weren't much use in a fight. Since he had so much healing, all his Cantrips were offensive spells...
But they were still just Cantrips, so their damage was low. They were better than nothing, at least. More importantly, time had run out on Lin Yun's Shield spell and Protection from Evil, so both had worn off. And his scale armor was damaged. It was still usable, but even with his shield, his Armor Class had dropped to 15. His scale armor's defensive value had fallen from 14 to 13, and one more Critical Hit would probably destroy it completely.
Still, they'd already driven out most of the dangerous creatures in the mine, so things should be fine. Probably.
As for the problem, Lin Yun could only discuss it with the others. After all, he wasn't some self-righteous idiot who would send other people to their deaths just to save someone.
"We're going in. We've come this far, and there are bound to be goblin children like the ones we saw earlier in the mine. We have to clear them all out, and rescue the girls from the village too." The Female Mage adjusted her glasses as she spoke.
"Yeah, and I can still fight." The young warrior waved the longsword in his hand. After Lin Yun had healed him with Channel Divinity, he'd wiped the blade clean. The fierce battle had left the once-decent sword battered and dented, but the young warrior at least knew what he was doing. He'd taken out a whetstone and sharpened the blade a little, so it was usable again. More importantly... thanks to Channel Divinity, the young warrior was probably back to full strength. He was about as strong as before the fight—or perhaps even stronger than when they'd first arrived, since he'd leveled up...
So warriors really were great: reusable cannon fodder. How real.
"I want to help rescue the girls in there too." The Goddess Priestess was probably the kindest member of the group. She hadn't said they should slaughter them all, nor had she asked if there might be any kind goblins. She just wanted to help people and save them.
"Mm, but we still need to be careful. There might be more goblins inside." Lin Yun nodded. If there were even stronger creatures in the cave, they'd probably be screwed. But since they'd already blocked the air vents, there shouldn't be any creatures inside that were still conscious. Still, Lin Yun was worried there might be more goblins at the other entrance to the cave, and they simply hadn't had time to come over yet.
That had Lin Yun very worried.
Another thing was that, before he lost consciousness, he'd seen the Goblin Chieftain send four goblins riding wolves away. The wolves had come back, but the four goblins had disappeared without a trace, which worried Lin Yun. Still, if it was only four goblins, then they should... probably... be fine.
Lin Yun was really worried about the village below.
But no matter what, they were already here. They couldn't turn back halfway.
Lin Yun and the young warrior went to the air vent first. They used a shovel to dig away some of the dirt blocking it, then entered with their weapons ready. As usual, Lin Yun carried the Lantern Staff and a shield, while the young warrior had a longsword and a shield. The two girls carried Light Crossbows already loaded with bolts, ready for a fight at any moment.
Since they'd already been fighting for a while, Lin Yun refilled the Lantern Staff's oil as a precaution. He might not have been clever, but experience was enough to make anyone grow, and Lin Yun was slowly learning.
Lin Yun began walking in slowly, Lantern Staff in hand. Sure enough, perhaps because the oxygen level was low, the flame started to flicker unsteadily. Still, as long as it kept burning, that was good. If the Lantern Staff went out, Lin Yun and the others would have to retreat, because it would mean the oxygen level inside was too low.
That was why people tossed something burning into basements and the like: to check whether there was oxygen, or even flammable and explosive gases.
At least it seemed relatively safe.
Following the narrow passage, Lin Yun and the others continued onward. Before long, they reached what was clearly a main tunnel. The mine passage suddenly widened considerably. Lin Yun reckoned that if they fought here, just as they'd thought earlier, a whole crowd of goblins could surround them and attack. Some of the ones carrying spears could even stab at Lin Yun through their goblin companions. Fortunately, the spear-wielding goblins were mostly the ones who rode wolves, and they didn't tend to appear in very large numbers at once.
There was a rail running along the middle of the passage, probably for mine carts.
They took a moment to work out which way to go.
"D20+2=18, success." Well, at least that let Lin Yun know they were probably headed the right way. If he'd failed, it would have been troublesome, since they wouldn't have known which way to go.
Figuring that the other side probably led outside, Lin Yun and the others continued deeper in. The mine was truly vast, and the worst part was that the passages connected in every direction. It would be easy to get surrounded if they weren't careful. Fortunately, at least up to that point, Lin Yun had stayed alert as they advanced and hadn't seen any creatures at all. Bugs didn't count.
As Lin Yun continued deeper, they reached the end of a passage. He'd picked the largest tunnel, and when they got there, they were met by the stink of feces and a strong body odor. The lack of ventilation made Lin Yun feel lightheaded, but he still resolutely went in—and stepped right on top of something indescribable...
Better not dwell on the details. Fighting back his nausea, Lin Yun was already thinking that he might have to throw away his shoe when they got back. Then he spotted something.
There was a wooden fence, and inside it lay several wolves. When they sensed Lin Yun and the others approaching, they sprang up as if their fur had stood on end, glaring fiercely at Lin Yun and barking nonstop.
In the enclosed mine, the wolves' barks echoed terribly. Combined with the awful stench, they nearly made Lin Yun's head explode.
"D20+4+2=16, success." Lin Yun spotted several small, fluffy creatures behind the wolves. They looked like little balls of fur, their coats still somewhat gray. They seemed to have only just grown their fur, so they were probably wolf pups.
If he'd guessed right, these wolves were being kept by the goblin tribe. The ones inside were either old wolves or mother wolves.
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