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TL: ALT
Chapter 66 – Day 11 of Exploration
“Good morning. Are you okay, Makyo?”
Hel, looking pale, asked me.
“What happened?”
“You were bitten by a leech in the demon land. No, more importantly, look at your arm!”
My arm was covered with bite marks as if I had been bitten by a tick. Being bitten by ticks in the demon land is a common occurrence, but I think I was bitten a little too much. It itches more than anything else.
“It looks like Hel-san and Makyo-san were attacked by leeches and ticks, but where did you two go yesterday?”
Jennifer asked.
“It was the remains of a village from 1000 years ago.”
“Do you need insect repellent to explore that place?”
“It’s near water, so the repellent would be washed away.”
Hel and I applied the healing potion to the affected area, resisting the urge to scratch at the bite marks.
“An enemy you don’t notice.”
Chel was carelessly making a sandwich.
Next to her, Sylvia sharpened a bone sword. She had coated it with palm sap to harden it, but it was still soft and kept breaking.
“I’m showing too much skin because it’s so hot. Sylvia, can you get me some leather?”
Hel called Sylvia.
“Are you making something?”
“I was thinking of making a cloak for the swamp. I’ll need some fabric, too, so can you get some for me when you go trading?”
“Okay. Speaking of which, it’s time to build the trading hut. How was the sleeping flower garden?”
I asked the three people who had gone to plant the sleeping flowers.
“N-n-not much at all.”
“The construction of the hut is behind schedule.”
“It seems that they can’t even cut down the trees because they’re just putting up signs at the planned location. But we’ve planted the dormant flowers.”
Perhaps the discussions between the army and the current East Kenyans are dragging on.
“Well, I don’t really understand politics, so let’s just continue as we are.”
“Yay! Then let’s go exploring today!”
Chel is motivated.
“We’re not going to the swamp today.”
“Eehh!”
“We’ll go after we’ve made the countermeasure coats. Instead, we’ll check out the route to the desert and hunt monsters. The trade route with the bird tribe is also part of the plan.”
“What do you mean, hunting monsters?”
Jennifer asked.
“Well, you know how Sylvia drank the blood of a Lamia and was able to access the Lamia’s memories? I was wondering if that would be possible with other monsters.”
Sylvia, who was choosing monster leather for the coat, turned around.
“I-I-I can do it, but it’s not a universal ability. I can’t do it many times a day.”
“Is that so? But it’s an important skill for exploration. Could you help me without overdoing it?”
“W-w-well, okay.”
Suddenly, Sylvia’s movements quickened, and she piled the monster leather in front of Hel.
“Sylvia, we don’t need this much.”
For now, Sylvia, who had been on night watch, helped Hel and then rested.
It was decided that Chel, Jennifer, and I would go out to explore.
“It’s okay to go exploring, but let’s make a trap to catch catfish monsters in the morning.”
Jennifer was tired of living on crocodile meat.
“Great!”
Jennifer handed over a shovel made of palm sap and a kind of woven hat with a hole in the middle.
“Will this be a trap?”
“Yes. The monsters in the Demon Land are already very strong. I don’t think we can catch them with a normal net or cage, so we’ll use the ground directly.”
I don’t really understand what she’s saying, but Jennifer seems to have a plan.
For now, the three of us head south to the Rock Crocodile River.
“Please dig a hole next to the river. It doesn’t matter how far apart you dig them as long as the fish monsters can jump over them.
“I see, so the fish will go into the holes we dig in the ground, but they won’t be able to come out, right? We’ll put this torn braided hat at the entrance so they can’t get out, right?”
“That’s right. It’s easier than making a giant trap.”
“That’s for sure!”
Once I understood the trap, all that remained was to dig the hole. I’d made a lot of traps before, so I was used to it. The plan was to put crocodile meat and blood in the hole to lure them in with the smell.
I’d reinforced the walls with rocks from the riverbed in case the catfish monster broke through.
The Rock Crocodile came to check on us a few times, but I let Jennifer deal with it while I continued working.
“It’s too hard! My attacks can’t get through!”
Jennifer was successfully defending herself against the Rock Crocodile’s attacks, but it didn’t look like she was able to fight back.
“You have to put magic power into your fist when you punch.”
“You can also use your feet.”
Chel and I taught her counter moves, but she complained, “It doesn’t work at all!” “You’re terrible!”
“Why don’t you try releasing the magic power inside the rock crocodile at the same time you hit it with your fist?”
While Chel and I were working, we were just talking, but in the end, Jennifer was unable to land a single effective attack, and the Rock Crocodile escaped.
“I sent it away!”
“Yeah, I saw that.”
“You need to train! You can’t just keep defending yourself; you have to survive!”
Chel was right, so we decided to let Jennifer fight the monsters that appeared.
“You said not to fight them last time!”
“Last time, our goal was to gather wood. Today, we’re exploring, so we need you to stop them from getting in our way.”
“The monsters here are strong. I can’t defeat them alone. Let’s work as a team!”
“We can’t always work as a team. Look, a golden bat is coming at us from the sky.”
When I warned them, Jennifer used magic to create a protective barrier and block the attack from the sky.
“If you don’t fight back, it will keep attacking you!”
Jennifer tried to fight back with her mace, but the Golden Bat dodged her attack. It was her retreat that allowed the monster to defeat her. The strength of the monsters also changes depending on their habitat. The southern area might be a bit stronger. The Arachne was also strong.
“This might take a while.”
I also want to take the monster’s blood to Sylvia, so Chel uses wind magic to knock the golden Bat to the ground.
“It’s impossible to do it alone.”
Jennifer looked dissatisfied.
“To survive in the demon land, teamwork is necessary, but from our point of view, we have to cover for people who rely on others, don’t we? If we do that, someone else’s work will stop.”
“Does that mean I’m a burden?”
“That’s about it. To be honest, we need you to take out these kinds of monsters on your own. Magic is only as good as the way you use it. You won’t be able to survive in the demonic land if you just use conventional methods. Think about it.”
“You’re good at protecting people, so you’ll be fine.”
Jennifer made a wry face, unusually supported even by Chel.
“Now, let’s go ahead and put Golden Bat’s blood in the jar.”
We put the blood into the jar Hel had made, covered it with a butterbur leaf, and held it in place with palm sap.
“If we had a memory of the sky, we could fill in the blank spots on the map of the demonic land.”
There are still many blank spots on the map of the demonic land.
“If only Makyo could fly.”
“Don’t be so unreasonable.”
“But islands float in the sky, so I think Makyo would be able to come up with a levitation spell.”
That may be true, but I can’t imagine flying at all, and even if I flap my hands, I can’t fly.
“Why don’t you use a wind spell from your feet?”
I tried, but I kept falling forward and getting dizzy. The two of them laughed at me when I came out of the bushes.
We went further south from the ruins where Lamia was.
We cut down leaves and branches with the bone sword Sylvia had made for us as we made our way along the pathless path. We left Jennifer to deal with the monsters that appeared along the way.
As usual, she was on the defensive, but when Chel said, “If you set up a defensive barrier to block the monster’s movements, you’ll be able to land attacks as well,” she suddenly got the hang of it. She blocked the monster’s escape route with magic and then hit it with her mace, and this strategy worked against the monsters in the demonic land. After defeating them, she gained confidence and stopped being so afraid.
“I think I can do it!”
“So you’re not just an idiot after all.”
What did Chel think of Jennifer?
“But you’ve also become able to deal with the monsters here.”
“Yes! It was just a matter of attitude. “
Jennifer smiled and showed her white teeth.
But her composure lasted only until a fire-breathing lizard appeared, a monster that breathed fire from its mouth.
“Next, the black lizard! I won’t show any mercy just because it’s big!”
With that, she set up a defensive barrier in the path of the fire-breathing lizard. It looked like Jennifer had blocked the lizard’s escape route, but the fire-breathing lizard opened its mouth wide and breathed out fire. The flames hit the defensive barrier and attacked Jennifer with all their momentum.
As expected, both Chel and I rushed to help, freezing the fire-breathing lizard’s mouth and beating it to a pulp, but Jennifer was burned to a crisp.
“Are you still breathing?”
She didn’t answer Chel’s call. For the time being, we sprayed some healing potion on her face.
“Hah~!”
Jennifer opened her eyes so wide that her eyeballs almost popped out and inhaled. She seemed to have run out of oxygen.
“I thought I was going to die!”
“I’m glad you’re alive.”
“Bufuhh!”
Chel stifled a laugh.
Jennifer’s hair was curly, her clothes were burned black with holes in places, and her face was completely black. She had been reduced to a pitiful sight to behold.
“Chel, stop laughing and treat the burns first.”
“I know that!”
Chel dipped a cloth into the healing potion and pressed it against Jennifer’s reddened skin.
“What? My clothes are all torn! I only have one set of priest clothes! Huh? My hair is all messed up!?”
We carried Jennifer, who could not hide her agitation, back to the Rock Crocodile River for the time being. We cooled Jennifer off in the river and calmed her down.
“Do I look stupid?”
“That happens when you’re alive.”
“Strangely, it doesn’t change my impression of you. You’ll be fine.”
We were worried about continuing our exploration with Jennifer, so we returned to the cave.
“Jennifer, what’s wrong? You look ridiculous.”
Hel, who was sewing a coat, was surprised to see Jennifer.
“Hel-san! Just as I thought!”
After that, Jennifer had to apply various oils to her hair until new hair grew back.
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