[Alfine: A Child of Beastman]

After completing the preparations, I attach the device Meila presented with a rope tied to the large tree and then we descend into the hole.

“I’ll go ahead, kay.”

“Wait a sec, Meila. You’re descending too fast.”

Kicking off the wall smoothly, Meila went down.

She is specialized in ruins investigation, so the technique to get into such a hole seems to be her forte; I could barely keep up with her.

“See ya later—”

The figure of Meila who kicked the wall strongly disappeared into the depth of the hole.

Looking up, the sky seen from the inside of the hole had begun to fade, covered by thin haze, we already got down into a considerable depth.

“Wait!? Meila.”

In order to chase Meila who had got down ahead, I kick the wall and go down into the hole.

When I went down further, the sunlight was blocked by haze, and the surroundings were getting dim.

I could see Meila who had come down earlier had begun to closely investigate the location of the hidden door that she had found before.

“I finally caught up. Is this the door that Meila found?”

Inside the steep cliff-like hole, only that place protrudes a little.

However, though I said protruding, it was only a narrow foothold that would be filled if two adults stood on it.

After I untied the rope next to Meila who was working, I decided to watch over the work.

She sure did well to find such a place…

No one will notice that there is a door in such a place unless they were told in advance.

Without even glancing at me arriving, Meila is pouring water from the water bottle she brought to the seamless wall where she thought the door is.

“The water disappears!?”

“That’s right. The fact that the water disappears midway means that this is a hidden door. In other words, there must be a device to open and shut the door on this wall…”

Having pulled out a small wooden hammer from her pouch, Meila began to hit the wall.

Seeing Meila listening to the sound of the wall with a serious expression she never shows before, I was reminded that she was an adventurer specializing in ruins investigation once again.

“Here, huh. Maybe, like this. See, it is here.”

After she pry the place where there was a weird sound with the flat and sharp pointed iron rod, a part of the wall opened and something like switch device that she was looking for came out.

“If we turn this, it should open. Al, are you ready?”

“Wait a sec, I’ll turn on the lantern.”

Being asked by Meila who was full of energy to open the door, I hurriedly take out two lanterns from my luggage, lit the fire and secure the light.

“Done.”

“Then, let’s start exploring!”

Having said that, Meila began turning the handle of the device, then the door made a noise and started moving to the side.

On the other hand, I pull out my stiletto and illuminate the inside of the door with the lantern in case something pops out.

Then——

I see something moving in the dark; it was leaping toward us.

E-enemy!?

I tried to thrust out the stiletto I had in my hand, but what was illuminated by the light of the lantern was a very young child of beastman.

A-a child!?

Couldn’t judge whether it was an enemy, the hesitation to attack appeared within me.

She is unarmed.

The opponent is a child anyway, let’s just hold her down for the time being.

Judging that the opponent was unarmed in an instant, I catch the child of beastman who leapt out so as not to hurt her.

“Who are you? Why is there a child of beastman in such a place?”

“W-water… I want water.”

The caught child of beastman had dry lips and appeared to have a mild dehydration.

“Water? You can drink this.”

When I presented the water bottle before me, the child of beastman took it as if snatching it and started to drink the content with several quick gulps.

For the time being, she doesn’t seem to be hostile to us.

I wonder why there was a child of beastman in such a remote place, inside a hole where no one should come.

Seeing the child of beastmen drinking water, I became increasingly confused about the meaning of the place before me.

“Haah… I thought I was going to die from dehydration. Did big brother and big sister were asked to come here by father and the others? Father told me to hide, but is it okay not to hide anymore I wonder?”

The child of beastmen who had calmed down after guzzling down the water looked at us and asked if her father had sent us.

“No, that’s not the case, but… For the time being, let’s start by introducing ourselves, shall we? I’m Al. And the one over there is——”

“Meila. Young lady’s name is?”

“Maribel… if you weren’t told to come here by father, are big sister and big brother thieves? Father and the others said that this is an important place, so it’s no good if it was exposed though.”

The gaze of Maribel sitting on the ground was getting grimmer.

I want to say that we’re not thieves, but…

I wonder if it’s counted as trespassing in this case.

Having trouble answering, I glanced at Meila next to me.

“Fufufu, Maribel-chan. We’re a search team you know. We’ve got permission from the Adventurer’s Guild to investigate this place. So, we’re not thieves you know. Do you understand?”

Meila was proudly showing Maribel a map containing the design of the Youg Hannotes Adventurer’s Guild.

It’s true that some of Meila’s statements are correct, but…

The search was only in the surrounding area of the surface, and she got no permission to search to the inside of the hole.

While thinking about such thing, I looked at Maribel; she was looking at the map that Meila showed intently.

“Ahh———! This person was together with father and the others!!”

“Eh? What was with your father and the others?”

“This! This one! The unpleasant person!”

What Maribel pointed at was the search target drawn on the map, the Abyss Walker.

Lol, Frick had gone to the distant land to search for Abyss Walker, and here Al found a solid lead in just a day searching.