Demon Prince 54.1

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Chapter 54.1. Deep Within The Ruins

Today, we're at a ruin located east of the royal capital.

This ruin has already been thoroughly explored and contains no treasures, but recently, goblins have taken up residence here, so we received a request to eliminate them.

Goblins have high reproduction rates and steal crops and livestock, so it’s recommended to exterminate them as soon as their nests are found.

Their intelligence is low, but they use weapons, armor, traps, and tools like humans, and some even use magic.

There are also higher-ranking goblins like Hobgoblins, Goblin Knights, and Goblin Kings, though they appear rarely.

While a swarm of regular goblins has a difficulty rating of D, a group led by a Goblin King is more organized, raising the difficulty to B.

"Still, this ruin is huge."

"This ruin was discovered decades ago. It has been fully surveyed, and all traps have been disabled. That’s probably why the goblins find it a suitable place to live."

"I knew about this ruin, but this is my first time here."

"That's right, Kuu-chan."

Today, Kuu and Ruu have joined the usual team.

Kuu and Ruu, along with Tina and Nina, have been trained as maids by Noella and Sebasto, but they also receive combat training.

Now, they’re being brought into real combat to gain experience.

Though one might think combat skills aren’t necessary for maids, in a world full of beasts and bandits, it’s better to know how to protect oneself.

I don’t think they need to study anything else for now.

"Did you two know about this ruin?"

"Ah, um, yes."

"Kuu-chan and I grew up in a village nearby."

I see, so it’s close to their hometown.

I asked if they wanted to visit the village on the way back.

But they declined.

"No, it’s fine. I mean, um, no need to go."

"We don’t have family there anymore, and I think it would be awkward for the villagers if we went back."

According to their story, the village wasn’t exactly wealthy.

They couldn’t help the two when they became orphans.

Though the villagers pitied them when they were enslaved, they couldn’t do anything about it.

So, it made sense they didn’t want to go back.

"Got it. If you ever want to go back, just say so."

"It’s okay. No, really, it’s fine. Stop teasing me."

"Ahaha, you’re ticklish."

Feeling a bit somber, I patted their heads.

Kuu seemed sulky, but Ruu smiled.

I want to believe Kuu is just hiding her embarrassment.

"There's quite a lot of goblins in this nest."

"Yeah, they’re small but nimble. In ruins like this, they have the advantage. Be careful."

By the time we reached the entrance of the ruins, we had already taken out twenty goblins.

They were all goblins, though some had poisoned weapons.

We couldn’t let our guard down.

Eventually, we reached a large room where goblins attacked us from three directions.

"Ha! Ha!" 

"Ei, ei!"

Ruu and Kuu moved as if covering each other.

As expected from twins, they were perfectly in sync.

Their weapons, like Sebasto’s, were claws, and their main fighting style was hand-to-hand combat.

Using their high physical ability as beastmen, they fought nimbly.

Sebasto and Noella stayed ready to assist them at any moment.

"Ha! Sei!" 

"[Magic Arrow]!"

Ai and Yuu were also handling things well.

Ai’s Fist Emblem had recently evolved into the Fistfighter Emblem, boosting her combat skills.

The power in her punches was incredible for a nine-year-old girl.

Yuu’s magic had also improved.

She seemed to focus on increasing the speed of her spells, quickly casting them while moving elegantly.

I guess you could call it magical martial arts.

"Garrr!" 

"Hati-chan, the one on the right is from Lily!"

Hati and Lily made a great team.

Hati, the Fenrir pup, attacked the goblins with her fangs and claws, darting around swiftly.

Lily, not to hit Hati, was attacking with her bow.

Lily’s Emblem had also evolved from Archer to Bowfighter, and her arrows now created small shockwaves, making them incredibly destructive.

Any goblin with small arms would be blown away by the force.

Her range had also greatly increased.

"Whoa, looks like a big one."

Amid the small goblins, one stood out as much larger.

A Hobgoblin, perhaps?

"That one seems to be the boss of this group. I’ll take care of it."

"Got it. Leave the others to me."

"Onii-chan, good luck!"

I drew my twin swords and charged at the Hobgoblin.

The surrounding goblins tried to attack me, but Yuu’s magic and Lily’s supporting fire, along with my own magic, quickly wiped them out.

I left the remaining goblins to Ai and the others and focused on the Hobgoblin.

It swung a huge club at me, but I dodged it and severed the arm holding it.

Then, closing the distance, I launched a series of strikes with my sword, disassembling the monster.

"Good job, Jun."

"Wow, Onii-chan, you took down the Hobgoblin so quickly."

"You all did great too."

I truly meant it.

I may not know other adventurers, but this party is probably one of the strongest I’ve seen.

Although, considering Ai used to be a martial artist in her past life, it’s surprising that Yuu and I, who weren’t really combat-oriented before, have become this effective.

Maybe it’s the influence of being born as a demon in this world?

"Jun-sama, what should we do next?"

"For now, gather the goblin corpses. Don’t forget to collect parts for the proof of extermination. There might still be some alive, so don’t let your guard down. Then, let’s continue searching for any survivors."

"""Yes!"""

The goblins’ bodies were gathered in one place per room.

We’ll burn them on the way out.

If we don’t handle it properly, they could rot, cause disease, or even turn into goblin zombies.

It’s an important task.

We continued searching the ruins and eventually reached the final room.

It seemed the Hobgoblins had been the last ones.

"Well, let’s head back."

"Woof!"

"Huh? What’s wrong, Hati?"

Hati had her claws extended against the wall.

Was there something there?

"Woof woof!"

"She’s saying there’s a hollow space ahead."

"Ruu, you can understand Hati?"

"Ah, yes. She says there’s a strange smell coming from there. I can sense it a little too."

"I don’t understand."

"I can’t sense it either."

As expected, Hati, a wolf, and Ruu, a dogkin, had exceptional noses compared to the rest of us.

"Indeed, there seems to be a passage beyond this wall, though it looks more like a tunnel. There are no traps. But something’s off. According to the map from the Adventurer's Guild, this passage shouldn’t be here."

"So it’s a new discovery?"

"Looks like it, thanks to Hati."

If it’s a new discovery, it’s quite the find.

Just reporting it to the Adventurer's Guild would earn us some merit.

"Can we open it, Noella?"

"Yes, here it is. It should open now."

Noella pressed a part of the wall, and a hidden passage door opened. It was exciting.

"Hey, hey, maybe there’s treasure in there!"

"There might be."

Ai and I exchanged mischievous grins.

We were on the same wavelength.

"Treasure! Let’s go!"

"Kuu-chan, calm down."

Kuu got excited at the thought of treasure.

Ruu scolded her, but her tail was wagging furiously.

She was clearly eager to get going.

"Well, let’s take it easy. Since this is a newly discovered tunnel, there could be traps ahead. Noella, you’ll lead, and Sebasto, you’ll bring up the rear. Noella, you can spot traps, right?"

"Yes, I can, Jun-sama."

"Alright, let’s go."

We proceeded down the tunnel with Noella in the lead.

It was a pretty wide passage.

But...

"This is strange."

"What’s strange?"

"There’s not much dust on the floor."

"So what?"

"If this tunnel was truly undiscovered, it would have accumulated more dust. But this looks like it was used up until a few months ago."

"Do you think the goblins used it?"

"In that case, there would be too much dust. I don’t think the goblins discovered it either."

"Jun-sama, there’s a door."