Dungeon Miner Slave

DMS Chapter 185

Flinx dispelled his Galder's Log Cabin and continued his journey. Thanks to the Shape Water cantrip, he remained completely dry despite the steady rain.

The best part of the spell was that it didn't obstruct his vision, and it lasted for an hour. Once it expired, he could simply cast it again.

Unlike carrying an umbrella, the spell allowed him to admire the scenery while remaining protected from the rain.

Flinx enjoyed the rain-soaked landscape. The gloomy atmosphere of autumn reminded him of many of the horror movies he had watched back on Earth.

He had encountered countless undead monsters inside dungeons, so he was no longer frightened by such things.

Oddly enough, that realization made him feel a little sad.

It almost felt like losing the magic of Christmas simply because he had grown up.

When he was younger, Flinx had been afraid of horror movies, especially those involving demons and demonic possession.

He wondered if those films would still frighten him now.

He decided to test that theory sometime later.

The road remained muddy, and before long, his boots and the hems of his pants and robes were once again caked with mud.

Every so often, he stopped to clean himself with Prestidigitation before continuing on his way.

As he walked, another thought crossed his mind.

Would his journey be more enjoyable if he traveled in a cart?

He dismissed the idea of using his off-road vehicle almost immediately. Sitting inside it would prevent him from fully appreciating the scenery.

Nor did he want the responsibility of caring for an animal to pull a cart.

He briefly considered purchasing a simple cart from the System Shopping Site and moving it with Telekinesis.

Still, he admitted to himself that he genuinely enjoyed walking.

Traveling the roads on foot made the journey feel like a real adventure.

By noon, the rain was still falling steadily, but Flinx hardly noticed it since he remained perfectly dry beneath his magical umbrella.

Eventually, he reached a fork in the road.

According to the signpost, the left road led to Nemronor, while the right led to the village of Harpsidol.

The sign also indicated that Harpsidol was farther away.

Flinx chose the right path without hesitation.

He had no desire to enter a kingdom where slavery was commonplace.

They might call it serfdom, but to him, it was simply slavery by another name.

Satisfied with his decision, he continued on his way.

A couple of hours later, Pip contacted him.

The owl reported that a merchant caravan was fighting a group of monsters consisting of goblins, kobolds, and two giant ogres.

Flinx wondered where such a mixed group had come from.

Pip replied that they had emerged from deep within the forest to the west.

Since nothing interesting had happened all day, Flinx decided to join the battle.

According to Pip, the caravan was struggling.

Before heading over, Flinx hung his Adventurer's Guild card around his neck like a medallion so the caravan guards would immediately recognize him as a Diamond-rank adventurer from Ilioven.

He also cast his usual defensive spells.

Although Pip had described the monsters as weak, Flinx had no intention of developing the bad habit of underestimating his enemies.

Such carelessness could cost him his life someday.

Finally, he cast Fly.

Running through the muddy road would only slow him down, and he wanted to reach the battle as quickly as possible.

When he arrived, he immediately realized that Pip had underestimated the situation.

Several caravan guards already lay dead.

Flinx had expected the caravan to hold out until he arrived.

Instead, it was clear that without assistance, the merchants would eventually have been overwhelmed.

While flying toward the battlefield, he had already cast Crown of Stars several times.

The instant he arrived, he fired two motes of light at each giant ogre, carefully aiming for their heads.

Since he didn't want to risk hitting the caravan guards, he relied exclusively on single-target spells.

He repeatedly cast Magic Missile, sending volley after volley of glowing darts into the monsters.

Barely a minute after Flinx entered the battle, every monster lay dead.

At first, the caravan guards had been startled by the sudden barrage of magic.

Their concern quickly turned into relief when they realized every spell was targeting the monsters rather than them.

Flinx also cast Light on his Adventurer's Guild medallion so everyone could immediately identify him.

Once the fighting was over, a middle-aged guard cautiously approached him.

"Sir, I see from your Adventurer's Guild card that you're a Diamond-rank wizard adventurer from Ilioven. Thank you so much for helping us. I'm Captain Lerono, commander of this caravan's guards."

"I'm Flinx," he replied. "And you're correct—I am an adventurer from Ilioven. I'm on my way to Harpsidol to meet someone when I noticed your caravan under attack. It looked like you needed help, so I intervened without asking first. I hope I didn't offend anyone by doing so."

"Offend us?" Captain Lerono shook his head. "Not at all. On the contrary, we're incredibly grateful."

"Is anyone injured?" Flinx asked. "I can also cast healing spells."

Several guards had suffered injuries, so Flinx treated them using his Cleric magic.

Judging by the expressions of both the captain and the merchants, they hadn't expected to encounter someone capable of wielding both arcane and divine magic.

The merchants watched him nervously, their expressions filled with anxiety.

Flinx suspected they feared he would demand an exorbitant payment for saving them.

Once the last injured guard had been healed, Flinx turned back to Captain Lerono.

"My work here is finished," he said. "Good day to all of you. I'm already running late for my meeting, so I'll be on my way."

The captain looked genuinely surprised.

Flinx guessed the merchants had already assumed he would ask for payment.

Instead, he simply said goodbye.

Not wanting them to insist on rewarding him, Flinx immediately took to the air and flew away before anyone could stop him.

He didn't even bother collecting the monsters' mana stones.

Based on experience, creatures of that level would yield only low-grade mana stones, hardly worth the effort.

That was also why he had been able to eliminate them so quickly.

Once he had put enough distance between himself and the caravan, Flinx landed and resumed his leisurely pace.

The fact that such weak monsters had emerged from the nearby forest suggested that this region wasn't particularly dangerous.

Still, Harpsidol lay far from any major city.

Like Bertol Town, it was probably protected by walls.

Its surrounding farmland was likely enclosed within those defenses as well.

By the time the sun set, the rain was still falling steadily.

Flinx simply cast Galder's Log Cabin beside the road.

After stepping inside, he enjoyed a long, hot shower before settling into the same comfortable routine as the previous evening.

Before ordering dinner, he contacted Olivia through Telepathy to check whether anything important had happened.

She assured him that everything was normal.

However, she reminded him once again to return in a week so he could restock the ship's inventory.

After that, Flinx proceeded to eat his dinner, then settled himself in front of the fireplace to continue reading his book. Then he remembered his earlier decision to watch a horror movie to check if he was still a scaredy cat.

Based on a casual internet search, one of the scariest films about demons and demon possession was The Last Exorcism, so he chose that.

After a few minutes, Flinx had decided that he was still very much afraid of horror films and stopped watching the movie.