The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-71

Seol pointed at a unique looking terrain.

It was a strange terrain that looked a bit like a shoddily made trap.

Furthermore, the stone that Seol was pointing at was a different color from the ground.

Almost like… a new lid has covered it.

Seol turned around and spoke to Jamad and Karen.

“Suspicious, right?”

“Very.”

“I see… so it was like that. No wonder we couldn’t find any spiderwebs.”

Jamad stepped forth.

“First, do you want me to try breaking it?”

“Can you?”

“If I can’t then we’ll just have to think of another method.”

After saying that, Jamad equipped the Mountain Fist on his right arm.

His powerful fist collided with the oddly-colored stones.

BAAAM!

Rumble…

“It was weaker than I thought.”

“Really?”

“Just look.”

As the dust settled, the oddly-colored stone was broken.

As the stone was broken, they quickly learned that this strange terrain led to something quite big.

“A passage?”

Beneath the stone floor was a hole that acted as a passage.

“Suspicious, right?”

“Suspicious…”

“Definitely suspicious.”

It was finally revealed why they had discovered nothing over the past five days.

They had been looking around the canyon thinking that the spider would be above ground, they never expected that there would be an underground.

“Where do you think this goes?” asked Karen.

“Obviously underground.”

“Then… whose territory is the underground?”

“I don’t know… I don’t know about that either.”

Karen laughed at Jamad’s response, “Well, we’ll just have to find out!”

Jump!

Karen instantly leaped into the hole. Since Seol didn’t even have time to stop her, he just sighed and waited.

After about a minute, she returned.

“Bwah, it’s blocked!”

“It’s blocked?”

“Yeah, it was a bigger tunnel than I thought and at the end of it, a stone was blocking my way like the stone we broke at the entrance.”

“Did you break it?”

“I tried to. But it didn’t break.”

“And it wasn’t because you were too weak?”

“Me? Weak? Are you kidding me? I bet the one you broke was just weaker since it was exposed to the air!”

Seol organized the information.

Something lurks underground in the Shade Canyon.

Judging by how the goblin scouts they first saw didn’t leave any traces of moving elsewhere, there was a high probability that the scouts were attacked by the thing that lives underground.

“It burrows underground… and then blocks it off?”

“No wonder… There's also no way we wouldn’t have noticed those holes either if it was all over the place. Then it must mean that it’s quite careful.”

“What do you want to do, Master? Should we try going down the tunnel again?”

“I thought you said you couldn’t break it? It’s not like we have equipment for that either.”

“That’s true. Ah! But there was something strange about it.”

“Something strange?”

“Yeah. The stone that was blocking the tunnel wasn’t completely hard. It also had some muddy parts to it. Well, I’m just letting you know because it seems like it might be useful to know.”

Seol thought for a second.

‘The artificially made rock is hard in some parts and muddy in some parts… huh? This is just like…’

Concrete which had yet to fully set.

It seemed similar to the rock.

Obviously, though, judging by how Karen couldn’t break it, it was still much stronger than concrete.

‘Still, were those parts muddy because they hadn’t fully hardened yet?’

Karen asked again.

“So, what do you plan to do?”

The monster, which lived underground, climbed to the surface to feast, then returned to its tunnels while using a material similar to concrete to block off anyone following it.

If Seol wanted to track the monster, it was now clear when he’d have to do it.

“When it comes up to eat… or, when the tunnel isn’t fully blocked yet…”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing. Still, there’s another strange thing as well.”

“Another one?”

“How did that monster know that goblins were here?”

“I don’t know… Ah! Maybe it was the fire?”

“Fire?”

“Yeah, the only difference between us and those goblins was that they lit a fire.”

Jamad disagreed with Karen.

“That’s way too far. We also made a campfire on the first day.”

“Yeah, but we were at a tall point so the monster was probably unable to reach us that high. Also, we had two people awake, didn’t we?”

“Hm…”

Karen’s words gave Seol a lead.

‘Everyone going to sleep with a fire lit? This seems exactly like…’

Kiri.

Kiri was Seol’s piece and Koopa’s master.

Kiri’s party had also all fallen asleep with a fire lit like the goblins. And just like the goblins, they were unable to see the next day.

“What do you think, master? How’s my theory?!”

“It’s possible. Even so, keeping a fire lit might not be an absolute condition to bring it out. Still, it should still increase the chances. For example, the monster could have a special characteristic that makes it react to heat.”

“Does it not react to warm stones then?”

“Likely not since they’re warm and not hot. You can hug them as you sleep, after all.”

Chiiiirp…

Seol could hear Koopa’s cry from far away.

It reminded Seol of his first day here. It also reminded him of how after Koopa’s attack, his party did not light any fires. It was contradictory, but Koopa’s attack had put them into safety.

‘...There’s no way that would be the case though, right?’

Seol believed that it was nothing more than coincidence.

After all, it would be impossible for Koopa to act in a way that keeps humans safe.

“Regardless, let’s test it out right away.”

“Alright!”

The plan was simple.

After they hunted a few wild animals in the canyon, they would place them in a suitable spot and light a fire nearby.

Then, they’d observe it until something hopefully showed up.

“Do you really think it would show up?”

“If it doesn’t, we just have to restart our investigation of the canyon.”

“Please show up. I don’t care if it’s a spider or a monster anymore, I just want to stop looking at this damned canyon.”

Jamad laughed at Karen’s words.

“I bet nothing will show up at all, elf.”

“Again, again! Swordsmanship isn’t the only great thing about me, alright?! Why don’t I show you right no—”

“Shh, the preparation is done.”

It was completed, with hearts filled half with doubt and half with hope.

They laid down the dead wild animals, who were still dripping blood, and prepared a campfire next to it.

The preparation was all complete and all Seol had to do was ignite it. But just before then, Seol turned back at the two of them and asked them a question.

“Let’s prepare what we’re going to do beforehand. What are you guys going to do if a monster does appear?”

“If it looks weak, we’ll grab our weapons and chase after it!”

“And what if it doesn’t?”

“We have more opportunities so we’ll calmly plan ahead for next time.”

- They have perfect synergy now LMFAO

- This ship… it’s not bad.

- Since Jamad and Karen are always so busy fighting each other, having Snowman mediate just lets him easily be the leader LOL

Seol nodded.

They were ready.

Burn…

The party lit the campfire and went to a spot where they could clearly see everything happening. They then quietly observed.

“Do you think it’ll come?”

“We don’t know how deep underground it is. I’m sure it’ll come right away when it senses it though.”

“I hope so too.”

However, things never go according to plan.

Chiiiirp…

“Damn it…”

“That bird’s coming again. What should we do?”

Chiiiirp!

“We should kil—”

“Shh. Let’s just watch.”

As the bird noises grew closer, so did Koopa. Koopa, the massive vulture, landed where Seol had set up the trap.

And then…

Peck.

Swallow… Swallow…

“Th-that stupid bird!”

“Quiet.”

“Argh… I’m going to get back at it for sure.”

The corpses they had worked so hard to prepare became dust.

What was surprising though was that Koopa swallowed the wild animal hole in one gulp. Koopa’s intestines were almost more amazing than his size.

- Plans? What’s that? Can you eat that?

- 😋😋😋

- They put a spoonful of love into those corpses and Koopa definitely noticed it. There’s no way he wasn’t touched.

- Plans are a great source of protein.

Seol felt strange while watching Koopa.

Though he was let down from his plan failing, he was also happy to see how much Koopa had grown.

Chiiirp…

As Seol was feeling mixed emotions, Koopa let out a yawn and prepared to fly back up.

But… almost like it had forgotten something… Koopa turned around to look at the scene.

Kick!

Koopa’s talons kicked up the sand and put out the fire. Koopa, with a satisfied look, flew back up into the sky.

Fwooosh… Fwooosh…

“I never thought the day would come when I’d be unable to do anything as a bird annoyed me.”

“We should prepare it again.”

As Karan and Jamad dusted themselves off, Seol thought about Koopa’s last actions.

‘Why? Why did he put out the fire?’

Perhaps the reason that Koopa attacked Seol’s party near the canyon’s entrance was to simply put out the fire.

‘Koopa, why are you doing that?’

Was it… because of Kiri?

If the reason that Kiri’s party was wiped out while asleep was really because of the fire…

And if Koopa became alone in the Shade Canyon because of it…

Koopa might hate fires.

- You’re so smart Koopa, aren’t you?

- Coo…

Seol recalled a portion of his conversations with Koopa as Kiri.

As always, the first emotion that Seol felt when he recalled his piece’s memory was guilt. He felt guilty that he wasn’t able to let them all reach the halls of Ascension.

“Master!”

“Yeah, coming.”

“Tsk… it’s troublesome if you keep doing this, you know? I mean I can understand you’re a little lax since I, Karen, am by your side, but—”

“Elf! Stop rambling on and on about some bullshit and come over here already!”

Seol already knew that Karen was making jokes to uplift Seol’s spirits as she had already noticed his shift in mood.

Smile.

Karen shrugged and led the way.

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

Chiiirp…

Flap!

“Aaaargh! Again! That fucking bird…”

Coo…

Peck! Peck!

“I’m going to kill it. Forget the spider, I’m going to kill that damned bird first…”

Karen was furious and in despair since each time she set up her trap, Koopa would come and ruin it.

- Hello darkness my old friend…

- Honestly, I would be pissed too LOL

- Fucking Koopa! Are you ever going to stop blocking it?!

In the end, Seol’s party decided to prepare an alternative approach.

“So you’re saying that you want to prepare one on opposite sides, right?”

“Exactly. If we set up two traps a bit far away from each other, that damned bird won’t be able to do anything about it, right?”

“Who’s going to light the fire then?”

“Only one of us has to go to do that anyway. I’ll do it. It doesn’t take too long to come back anyway.”

“Hm… you’re not wrong. Still, I feel like two won’t be enough. Why don’t we just make a whole bunch of them?”

“And you want me to light up all of them?”

Seol asked back with an innocent look on his face.

“I thought you said you’d do it though?”

“I mean… I did.”

- I thought you said you’d do it though?

- Look at his fucking face LOOOL

- Are you saying that I, your superior, should go?

The plan progressed quickly.

They prepared four different locations ahead of time and sent off Karen to ignite two of them while Seol and Jamad ignited the other two.

As the promised time came, Seol’s party moved quickly.

Burn…

In a short amount of time, four campfires were lit in the canyon.

And after that, Karen met up with Jamad and Seol at the rendezvous spot.

“It’s done, right?”

“Yeah.”

“That damned bird still isn’t here yet, right? Hahaha!”

“Nope, it’s over there.”

Koopa was devouring the wild animals prepared in one of the four spots.

Chirp…

“This fuc— Ah. I almost swore again.”

- LMFAOOOOOOOOOOO

- Koopa’s already here.

- Man proposes and Koopa disposes.

- Koopa: Four times the joy! I love being a Paratroopa!

Still, the plan was effective as the rate that Koopa was putting out the fires was slower.

Seol went into deep thought while observing Koopa.

‘Is it a failure this time as well…?”

But then…

Crumble…

“Master.”

“Hm?”

“Look over there.”

Crumble. Crumble…

Seol heard a strange sound.

It was almost like… something was moving underground.

Seol observed some strange movements near the campfire that Koopa hadn't put out yet.

“The ground is…”

“Moving?”

And then it happened.

The ground erupted and a huge hole was made.

Rumble Rumble Rumble…

“Ha… Haha… so it was true.”

“It’s a spider.”

The massive, disgusting spider showed its eight legs first before revealing the rest of its body. The spider was red with red hair all over it. Furthermore, the huge eyes gave Seol an uneasy feeling.

The spider looked almost exactly like a caricature of how a person would imagine a disgusting and scary spider.

‘But… why isn’t Eyes of Perception activating?’

This meant that the spider here likely wasn’t the Anachindria’s descendant that Seol was looking for.

It could even be the descendant’s descendant.

Krkrr…

The spider slowly approached the dead animals that Seol’s party prepared as bait.

“What should we do? Should we just run at—”

“Damn it, it noticed!”

“What? Who?”

“Who do you think? The damned bird!”

Chiiiirp!

When Koopa spotted the spider, it charged straight at it with hostile intent, unlike the previous attacks that Koopa made.

Frsssssh!

“Koopa!”

Before he realized it, Seol had already shouted.

But then, Koopa dodged the sulfuric fire easily like Seol’s worries were for nothing.

Kieeee!

And then Koopa swung its talons and grabbed the spider by its legs. Seol’s party was shocked by what had happened in that short moment.

“...What?”

And just like that, Koopa disappeared into the sky.

“What should we do?”

“Should we chase after it?”

“No, we won’t be able to catch Koopa.”

There was no way they, who had no wings, would be able to catch up to a flying bird.

Seol focused on something else instead.

“In fact, it might even be better this way. The tunnel isn’t blocked at all.”

“Ah!”

The tunnel that the spider traveled through was completely open without its owner.

“We’re going in there!”

Now, it was confirmed that spiders lived beneath the canyon.

The same spiders that killed countless merchants and adventurers like Kiri.

Turn!

Seol’s party leaped into the tunnel that the spider left behind. Then, they were drawn down into the earth.