The tension in the air was so thick, I doubt I'd be able to cut it with my sword.
I stood silently, sword ready, muscles tense.
I could feel the power - the one I just recently used - at the edge of my perception. One small push, and my body and sword would be thrust forward, piercing whoever came from the other side.
The dwarf(?) in front of me stopped as well. His companion behind him reacted even earlier, daggers already raised in a combat stance.
The deep, sharp breaths of one of the women farther behind them were the only sound to be heard in the shaft.
Slowly, shield raised, the dwarf backed away from the hole. With a silent motion of his hand, I heard heavy footsteps, and a tall, lean man clad in similar armor to the dwarf, holding a silver sword even larger than mine, made his way closer to the opening.
For a moment, neither of us said a word, silently looking into each other's eyes. His expression was grim, but calm. I could only hope my own expression managed to maintain a similar level of calmness.
"Who are you? Why are you here?" The man spoke first.
Who am I? Why am I here?
Hearing those questions almost made me laugh.
What answers, exactly, could I give this man?
'My name is Sebastian, but actually it's Alex Smith. I suddenly find myself in this world, in an unfamiliar place and body, and the sword of Damocles hanging above my head. Shortly after I arrived, I got attacked by a goblin, and now, I'm trying to find a way out of this place, and figure out what the hell is going on. '
Yeah, no way I'm saying any of that. The best thing that could happen is them assuming I'm some kind of lunatic. At worst, if the concepts of evil spirits or demonic possession existed in this world, they could easily mistake me for one of those.
'Alright, I need a bit more time to think. Wait, maybe I will say some of it, after all.'
"Sebastian. My name is Sebastian. And you are?"
Gathering every shred of composure, and perhaps with the help of the instincts ingrained in this body, I managed to utter those words in a cold, neutral tone.
The man in front of me furrowed his brow, ever so slightly, but a moment later his expression returned back to its previous stoic state.
"I am Bern, leader of the Silver Claymore party. You haven't answered my question. Why, exactly, are you in this mine, alone?"
'Alright, so I have a name. I already overheard they were adventurers, so this doesn't come as much of a surprise. At least he's not trying to hide it. Maybe somebody who's actually from this world would recognize that name, which would grant him more credibility. However, I have no clue. Actually, pretending I know the name might be even more suspicious.'
Once again, I could think of three options on how to proceed.
Option one – simply refuse to answer their questions, and demand they leave. Just remaining silent could also count as choosing this option.
In this case, the best case scenario is they actually leave, and I get to return to my original plan of trailing them.
However, this plan already had a serious flaw, even in the aforementioned best case scenario – they've already seen me.
Even if everything went as planned, they'd probably be returning to some village, city or town.
They'd likely tell others what they saw, and if I decided to head into that same settlement, at best, I'd already have a very suspicious reputation – at worst, there'd be an arrest warrant on my head, that is, if they even have warrants here.
Not going to that settlement was also an option, but my supplies, limited as they were, would not last for long, and I had zero experience foraging in the wild. I'd have to find a different settlement, and who knows if there even is another settlement nearby, let alone where it is.
Option two – attempt to negotiate.
Their combined (and probably even individual) strength is much higher than mine, but right now, we are on even footing.
They are clearly on some kind of escort mission that's nearly complete – perhaps those women in the back were a rescue target, and now they only have to escort them back.
In this case, they'd rather avoid confrontation, and perhaps we could reach some kind of compromise despite my suspicious background.
The only thing to keep in mind in this case would be that I can't allow them to get into a position where I am surrounded, and preferably, to maintain a position where I can escape – either back here, or to the outside.
I had no idea about their mobility, but apart from the dwarf, it was probably higher than mine, so this would be tricky.
Option three – when in doubt, bullshit your way out!
Having occasionally read a few Korean manhwas, I suddenly remembered how the weak MCs would feign strength and mysteriousness when in a similar position to mine just now.
Honestly, I didn't know why this came to me just now, but I decided to entertain this option for a moment before dismissing it.
That being said, my contemplations were short.
How, exactly, can I bullshit those guys, if I don't even know half a thing about this world?
I don't even have any ability which would appear to be more than meets the eye. Maybe I could bait one of those adventurers to target my soul, but I was somehow very doubtful any of those rough looking men had anything to do with souls, except helping them leave bodies.
Yeah, maybe basing life-and-death decisions on some computer drawn slop posted online was not the best bet. This option was out.
"Not going to answer?"
'Alright, guess I'm going with option two.'
"I don't exactly know how I got here myself. I just woke up in a cave nearby, with no memory of how I got here."
The man's brow furrowed once more, this time more distinctly. It was clear he wasn't buying it - well, not that I could blame him.
"You wanted an answer – this is the answer I have. I only want to get out of this place. If you want to, you can go ahead – I'll follow you from a safe distance, so we can both avoid any misunderstandings."
There, I laid out all of my cards. Now the ball was in their corner.
The man threw another long glance at me, before turning around and gathering his companions farther back, before all three started discussing the situation with hushed voices.
I relaxed my stance. If one of them decided to suddenly sneak back near the hole, I was confident in my ability to hear even the (half) elf.
Moreover, despite what the four whispering adventurers thought, I could also make out their hushed voices.
"Any of you actually buying this crap?!"
The dwarf was the first to talk, in a less than 'hushed' voice, to the extent I thought even a regular person could hear him from where I was.
"Keep your voice down, you damn maniac. Of course nobody is buying it."
The (half) elf's voice was much quieter than the dwarf's, remaining calm even when reprimanding the latter.
"That being said, this doesn't really change anything."
The one named Xin clicked his tongue.
"A lone, unknown human, clearly armed and versed in combat, suddenly appears in a cave with no relocation of how he got there? Even if we were to believe that tale, it wouldn't make him any less suspicious. Hells, he could even be some kind of cultist or demon worshiper for all we know."
"Damn, this is bloody frustrating. If not for this damn hole, I could just go bash his head in. But, things being as they are, all we can do is sit here, like a bucket of damp coal in front of a damned furnace!"
The dwarf sounded far less calm than the elf, but at least he understood the situation. Or maybe he misunderstood it.
If I (or rather, the original owner of this body) had offensive skills, there was no reason for someone like him not to have defensive ones.
And if he did, I wasn't sure someone like me, who barely just managed to use his skill to successfully strike an empty tunnel, would even be able to stop him from pushing me back, at which point my chances of survival would plummet to zero.
Of course, the other party clearly came to the conclusion that trying to push through wasn't a viable plan, so at least I had that going for me, if nothing else.
"Actually, there should be a way to verify at least part of his story. Xin, you get what I'm saying?"
Bern, apparently, had an idea, and after a few seconds, I heard the (half) elf's light footsteps.
However, they weren't exactly going in my direction – rather, he started slowly walking around the goblin littered battlefield, stopping from time to time.
After a few dozen seconds, he passed by the hole, and after throwing me a cautious glance, continued onward, to the other side of the battlefield.
Another minute or so passed, and the (half) elf passed by the hole again, returning to his companions, who gathered around him once more.
I couldn't see their expressions, but given their next conversation, I could only imagine Xin shaking his head.
"None. Not a single trace."
"What in the hells are you talking about? What did you even check in the first place?"
The dwarf was seemingly unaware of his companions' intentions from the very start. However, I already had a guess as to what was going on. After all, what led to this situation from the very start was-
"Footprints. Any traces at all, for that matter. I checked our side as well. Either he cleaned his traces perfectly, or he really did come from that hole."
For a few moments, there was silence, until the dwarf spoke up again.
"If he did clean up his traces, maybe he left those last footprints on purpose, eh? Perhaps he wanted to lead us into a trap?"
"Unlikely. If that was the case, he would try to ambush you two in the tunnels, not hold the passage."
"Well, if that part is true, what of it? Even if he told us the truth - or, what he believes to be the truth - he could still be some kind of cultist, or even worse, fully possessed!"
After catching his breath, the dwarf sighed.
"Haaa... You wouldn't want to walk into a goblin ambush, only to have some demons summoned behind us, would you?"
The (half) elf was still far from convinced. Then, another voice, one which I haven't heard for a while, spoke up.
"A-actually, if you don't mind, I have a way to check that."
While I couldn't see the conversation, I could imagine three heads turning towards the short blonde woman (I think her name was Amelia?), whom I managed to see for a moment during the short negotiation.
"Oi, what do you mean? Ain't you only an apprentice? I thought only real priests could do that."
"Y-yes. I'm still only an apprentice. But just recently, the Goddess has granted me my second miracle. The same one 'real priests' can do."
"Hmm. I know that one. [Detect Evil], that's how it's called, right?"
"Yes!"
Bern's contemplating voice was answered by an enthusiastic affirmation.
A few more seconds of silence passed. In my mind, I could mentally see the party exchanging glances, waiting for the leader to make a decision.
Did he nod? Or did he shake his head? I would know the answer soon enough.
Moments later, I heard footsteps approaching the hole. Two sets of footsteps.
On the other side, two figures came into view – the party leader, Bern, and the apprentice priest, Amelia.
"We have considered what you said. Before we make a decision, our priest wanted to check something."
He waited for me to respond, and as I kept my silent gaze on him, he continued.
"As you probably know, nearly all priests have the ability to detect evil. Our priest agreed to spend that miracle on you. If you are indeed free of evil, we shall consider your proposal."
Finally, he finished speaking, and the tension settled in once again, as it was now my turn to silently contemplate his words. Of course, having overheard them earlier, I already expected most of what he said, but there was still some new information.
Naturally, I would be very skeptical if some unknown person in this strange place wanted to use some kind of ability on me. However, having heard their earlier conversation, this Amelia didn't seem like a bad person – in fact, she sounded like the least suspicious person in that group.
On the other hand, he did call her a "Priest" rather than an "Apprentice Priest" – but, given the dwarf's earlier surprise, I could only assume he did that to avoid further suspicion, which was not that suspicious in itself. Not that I really knew the difference, but of course, he wouldn't know that.
I also considered the possibility she was lying, but then, why would she lie to her own group? As paranoid as I was at the moment, it really didn't seem likely.
The last thing to ask myself was – would I be detected as "Evil"? I didn't really know anything about priests and abilities. All things considered, I was never an "evil" person, and most of the stuff I saw in my status panel (that's how I decided to call the translucent text for now) didn't exactly seem evil.
However, one [Trait] and the [Soul Conditions] could, perhaps, fit that criteria.
Well, it was no use pondering that farther.
'If this ability considers me "Evil", I guess I'd just have to hold this passage until they leave, and figure it out from there.'
After a few seconds, I asked the only question left on my mind.
"Can she do that from over there?"
"Yes! I can call upon this miracle from here!"
The (apprentice) priest was strangely enthusiastic, with a hint of nervousness, but I decided to chalk it up to her being an upbeat person in general.
"I-it would just take a moment, so just stand over there if you don't mind!"