This Hero is Sleeping!



"Take down the entire place?"

Claude presented a bold idea and the others watched him, blinking their eyes in confusion at his words.

"It's simple really, we'll cause another landslide and then dig in our free time and take away all of these. Good job counting them all, Tiana. We'll not leave till we have them all."

Claude's words were disturbing but not something they disliked.

"Then, how do you suggest we go about getting them?"

"We'll herd them up first," Claude muttered.

"Veil the exits with your fog?"

"Yes," Claude nodded. "And instead of trying to hold them all down all at once, we can just make sure they're in the way where we will be breaking the part of the mountain.

The other three all looked up at the mountainside that had already largely broken off.

"Wouldn't crushing more of this place get the people of this place angry?" asked Erika. It was already a big enough problem for landslides to exist.

"It's an area already blocked off by landslides, I doubt they'll mind much, right Elric?"

"Eh," Elric shurgged.

"Alright, let's get this started then."

Claude stood up and stretched his hands above his head. Like an eagle eyeing its prey, he licked his lips and glared at the golems.

"Here I come, money…"

In two teams, the adventurer group of four split up.

***

Lord Leres. The Legend himself was now in front of a single wood cabin deep into the woods. The sounds of the little spirits laughing and giggling had grown manifold and the people around had completely disappeared.

Lord Leres almost believed that they were never with him, to begin with. There was no other explanation for such a disappearance.

"Fish…"

It must be the fish playing tricks on him.

Thinking back, even in that city of Soleda where his journey was to begin, everything had started to go to shit from the moment that man threw a fish cake to his face. Just what did lord Leres do to deserve that?

Nothing.

It was all a plan of those wretched fishes.

There was no other explanation. They had already had him kicked out of his family and had also thrown a wrench in his plans here.

Leres, holding his breath, moved ahead.

After walking through the forest, going past the dense mist that covered visibility everywhere the eye went, amidst the light of the small fluttering fairies, he found a wood cabin.

"This place…?"

He walked through the small clearing in the forest.

"Heheh!"

"Aha!"

The sounds of the giggles of the tiny little spirits in the air around him began again. The forest spirits were playful to the degree of being a menace.

It had already started to be cold and creepy. If he was indeed lost in the forest, then being around a cabin like this for shelter and making his path accordingly wouldn't be too bad. He had already been on the road all this time, so he still had enough rations to last him a week, three if he cut down.

Though water would be a slight issue, he was certain he could find the fruits in the forest enough.

Slowly, he pushed op[en the door of the cabin. A creaking spread through as the hinges opened after god knew how long.

Leres took a step inside the dark cabin, the misty white of the forest slowly making its way inside.

Some spirits followed right after and their faint, dim, glow lit up the cabin like neon lights on a party night. Leres, the lord himself, looked around, man different leaves and stone tablets inscribed with a red ink were left in the cabin.

Though there were no insects, almost by a miracle, the number of abandoned dolls and trinkets of different gods, some broken and some old littered the place, making it hard to almost walk.

As he took a step, the floorboards creaked, he wasn't sure if they had just rotted or were like this due to the weight of the garbage on the place.

His eyes were then caught by a slight opening in the wall on the deeper end. Hidden behind another large stone slab.

Though there was a crack there, he was certain he had not seen any large breakages outside the cabin.

With a sense of suspicion looming over his head, Leres moved ahead.

His legs hit something.

"KEKEKEKEKEKE"

Leres gasped at the sudden laugh that spread as the doll made of the stone rolled over. It hit the edge of the room and the sound stopped.

"W-what… demonic fish!"

There was no fish here.

Poor Leres moved ahead after taking in a solid breath and placed his hands on the stone. He pulled it away with all his might.

Dust clouds rose followed by the grating sound of stones scraping the ground.

Behind the stone, a large gap in the cabin going deep underground revealed itself to Leres. The small spirits around fluttered and giggled and they soon illuminated the path below, as if beckoning Leres to go inside.

Holding his breath, the young man gulped air down his throat.

He was unsure if he should, or if he shouldn't.

He was destined for greatness, though, and wasn't finding a secret passage in the middle of Nowhere Woods the same as receiving a handwritten invitation card from destiny?

If he didn't go down right now who knew if destiny would still acknowledge him anymore? For all he knew, he would just be discarded like a slightly curious trophy fish, that all fishermen wanted to catch once and once they caught it, they would make print or take a picture and then throw it back in for it had no other value besides its rarity.

Oh no.

Leres couldn't become a fish.

Not fish.

Taking a deep, sharp breath, Leres summoned all his courage and finally took a step inside. His eyes fluttered over the narrow and cramped entrance down. As soon as his legs passed down the incline and the time came for his head to go under.

"Oh fuck, Time out! Time out!"

He tried to pull himself outside the hole. He couldn't not so blindly! He could barely see anything thirty centimeters away before it was all blocked by the ground.

He should use something to measure the depth! Roll shit down! What if it falls down or if it keeps going endlessly? Yes! He had to check things first and there was a lot of stuff up there that he could check with.

Nothing was Leres' way.

He was all good! It was best to be safe in these matters. Fear? Hahah! As if!

The giggle of the spirits resounded once more.

Their glow flickered over his eyes.

And his footing slipped.

"No nnononononono! AHHHH!"

His nails tried their best to hook into the ground, but he never did go for a manicure to keep them in good shape. The boy fell down the hole and went deeper into the ground.

As if there to enjoy the show, more spirits came down the hole laughing all the while.

His fall was finally broken when Leres fell on a widening in the underground. His back slammed straight into the ground and sent jolts of pain up his poor spine.

Leres rolled on the ground, groaning in pain.

Dirt and soil had covered him up and down and the poor boy was gasping for air.

The legendary legend was too great to be taken down by something like this, though.

His eyes slowly opened up as he caught his breath.

Feeling a slightly damp, almost watery sensation on his skin, Leres raised and brought his hands toward his eyes.

Had he fallen into a well? Groundwater reserves or something?"

His blurry vision cleared up.

And the crimson taint on his fingers revealed itself.

Blood.

Leres' breath ran away once more and his vision blurred too. No matter how hard he tried, though, he knew this wasn't an illusion of his mind.

"Oh! Fuck! WHY!? WHY!?"

Leres screamed to the heavens.

He almost expected the words of the spirits to come back, he thought they would laugh some more, but they didn't.

The laughs never came his way.

He couldn't help but find this creepier. Did they have to break character all of a sudden?

Leres said fuck it and gave himself a derisive laugh. He slowly pushed himself up into the pool of blood.

Though the space should have been dark, it was lit up by the glow of the spirits.

He had never, ever in his life been more ungrateful for light.

For on the other end of the space, was a small stone statue, drained in blood.

All splayed all over and around it as far as his eyes could see .

The point that the ground was almost invisible near the statue.

Were ears.

Long, pointy ears cut off and soaked in blood.

All around the statue drenched in blood were the ears of elves.