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Chapter 58 – Day 3 of Exploration
Hel lit the kiln. This was to check for holes or cracks. Once that was done, the pottery and brickmaking could finally begin. Jennifer also helped with the inspection.
“This is a punishment for using mind magic on Sylvia yesterday. Let’s not let her leave the cave today.”
Hel’s suggestion resulted in Jennifer being restricted to a certain area.
“Okay.”
Jennifer also obeyed.
Chel and I headed south with the large sword and staff that Sylvia had made while working late at night. Sylvia also came along to check the performance of the weapons.
“Can you really wield a sword that’s bigger than your height?”
“D-don’t worry. Ma-Makyo has a lot of strength…”
“Even if you say that, it’s still a blunt weapon.”
Yesterday, Sylvia was in a hurry to make up for her humiliating appearance. The great sword she made was made from the bones of a monster and shaped like a great sword, and it didn’t look like it could cut anything.
Swosh!
However, it looks like it could be used as a hatchet to cut branches. The forest, which was covered with thick branches, opened up in front of us as I swung it, and the sun even shone through.
“This will make collecting firewood much easier.”
In high spirits, we continued deeper into the forest.
“It’s dangerous to give Makyo too many strange things.”
Chel looked worried, but her premonition was soon realized.
Unaware of the nest of poisonous bee monsters, I brushed away a branch. A large number of poisonous bee monsters flew out of the fallen nest and attacked me.
“Look!”
Chel said, releasing a fireball of fire magic. The fireball hit the swarm of poisonous bee monsters, but the poisonous bee monsters flew out of the flames and continued to attack. It seemed that the hard skin of the poisonous bee monsters did not allow fire to pass through.
“Agh! Ouch!”
The parts of our bodies that were stung by the poisonous bee monsters swelled up red with intense pain, causing us a lot of pain.
“O-ouch! Ouch!”
“If it comes to it, I’ll do it like this!”
I warmed up some sticky palm sap, put it on the bottom of the great sword, and swung it like an insect swatter at the flying bee monsters. With each swing, the bee monsters clung to the sword and made a buzzing sound.
Chel and Sylvia set fire to the branches and swung them around, apparently trying to smoke out the insects. Smoke is very effective against insect-like monsters. Probably because their respiratory systems are narrow, the carbon would clog their airways.
The strategy was successful, and soon, the poisonous bee monsters disappeared from the area, leaving only the poisonous bee nest behind.
There was no honey, as they weren’t honeybees, but we were able to collect a large amount of bee larvae. I would eat them later as a snack.
“Are you going to eat that?”
Chel was surprised, but bee larvae are a valuable source of protein.
More importantly, I had to deal with the sting. I sucked out the poison with my mouth, but the itch remained.
“I wish I could wash it off with water, but we’re pretty far from the cave now.”
I used the staff with the swamp bird’s magic stone to make a water ball and washed the affected area. The itching was gone, but it was still red and swollen, so I applied some healing potion.
“I hear the sound of water! Let’s go cool off in the river!”
As Chel said, we could hear the sound of water flowing from somewhere. We could also hear the sound of something else, like something hard-hitting something else.
As we approached, swinging my big sword toward the sound, we came to a muddy river about 10 meters wide.
“C-c-crocodile!”
Sylvia was right, there was a crocodile at the river. But it was just eating rocks.
“Crocodiles eating rocks? That’s a monster.”
“It was in P.J.’s notebook, too. It’s called a rock crocodile. Apparently, if it bites you, you’re finished.”
There’s no sign of it attacking us right now, but it’s still a dangerous monster.
“Crocodile meat is delicious.”
Chel seems to want to cook it for dinner.
“Sylvia, the bottle of healing potion we used earlier was made of palm sap, right?”
“Y-y-yes, but what about it?”
“Let’s replace the contents. Chel, you have the juice of the sleeping flower, right?”
“Yes, it’s in the leather bag.”
“I-I-I see!”
Chel filled the empty bottle with the juice of the sleeping flower that was in the leather bag.
“All that’s left is to throw it in when it opens its mouth.”
The stone-eating crocodile, now satisfied, dived back into the river.
“Oh, my dinner… Makyo could have killed it with his bare hands.”
Chel said recklessly.
“Well, let’s wait. It can’t stay underwater that long.”
As we wait patiently on the riverbank, the rock crocodile begins to emerge from the water, looking at us warily.
“Should we throw a stick at it?”
“N-n-no, try the great sword.”
Sylvia suggests.
I tried to provoke it by striking the surface of the river with my great sword. A spray of water rose, and the rock crocodile opened its mouth wide and jumped at me. I threw the bottle into its mouth and stepped back.
The rock crocodile chewed the bottle, and the sap of the sleeping flowers spilt out of its mouth, but it still jumped at me.
“Don’t the sleeping flowers work on it?!”
I panicked and rolled away to get some distance.
Chel, who was watching, tried to fight back with magic, but it had no effect on the rock crocodile’s tough skin.
“My magic doesn’t work on the monsters of the demonic land?”
Chel lost her confidence.
Sylvia tried to fight it from the side with a bone hammer, but it was easily blown away with a single blow from its tail.
“Damn, I guess I have no choice.”
I swung my great sword at the rock crocodile’s head, but with a clang, the great sword broke in half.
“Not good!”
“Makyo, use magic to hit it!”
Following Chel’s instructions, I gathered magic power in my hands.
Meanwhile, the rock crocodile’s attacks continued, and I continued to roll along the riverbank.
“Chel, use magic to aim for its eyes! Just for a moment! Give me an opening!”
“Got it!”
Chel’s fire magic hit the rock crocodile’s head, sending sparks flying.
I didn’t miss the moment when the rock crocodile reared back, and I closed the distance in one fell swoop.
Bang!
My fist, covered in magic power, sank into its lower jaw.
The rock crocodile turned 180 degrees. It fell onto its back and stopped moving.
“Makyo, cover its mouth!
I took the vine from Chel and tied the rock crocodile’s mouth.
Next, I plunged a knife into the soft skin of its neck and severed a large blood vessel. After confirming that its heartbeat had stopped, I finally took a breath.
“Phew, that was a little rough. Where’s Sylvia?”
Sylvia, who had been blown away, was lying on the riverbank in a wide-open position. She had some small slime in her clothes, so we took them off and threw them into the river.
“Sylvia would be better off as a nudist!”
Chel shook her awake while casting a healing spell on her.
“Wh-why did you take off my clothes?!”
Sylvia asked Chel with teary eyes.
“There was a little slime in your clothes. Nobody wanted to humiliate you, Sylvia. Let’s call it a day for today’s exploration and carry the rock crocodile. We have good crocodile skin.”
“W-w-wait! By the way, how did you defeat it?”
“With bare hands.”
Chel made a fist and gave a short answer.
“I guess I don’t need weapons, huh? Oh, sorry. The big sword Sylvia made is broken.”
“I-I-I will make a weapon that won’t break next time!”
Sylvia explained as she got dressed.
Chel and I carried the rock crocodile upstairs. Blood flowed, and the monsters gathered at the river. The constant fighting was hard, so we decided to return to the cave quickly.
“Makyo, if there are monsters that eat rocks, do you think we’ll find the ruins?”
Chel asked while running.
It’s true that there is a possibility that the ruins have been eaten.
“I think there’s bound to be some tracks left. Let’s try to look again tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
“I-I-I will have to make armor that won’t make me faint by tomorrow!”
As usual, Sylvia is in a hurry.
“Sylvia, don’t push yourself too hard.”
The rock crocodile meat we had for dinner was light and tasted similar to chicken.
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