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TL: ALT
Chapter 88 – Day 33 of Exploration
I left the cave one misty morning, rubbing my sleepy eyes.
By the campfire, Hel and Sylvia were slumped over, drinking tea.
“Good morning.”
“Oh, good morning. Hah.”
“G-g-good morning.”
Last night, as the excavators, Hel and Sylvia must have been sorting through the relics with Jennifer in the room they made at the back of the cave. Both Chel and I went to bed early to avoid this, but Lipa was called.
“Where’s Jennifer?”
“She finally went to bed a while ago. The general affairs of the demonic land had completely drained her energy.”
“S-s-she ate something strange on the sky island and went crazy?”
Hel and Sylvia both drink tea and breathe heavily. They must have worked hard.
“The air on the sky island was thin. Maybe she couldn’t control her strength. What about Lipa? I didn’t see her in the men’s room.”
“He collapsed at the back of the new storage room. Please don’t move him.”
“H-h-he worked hard. H-h-he’s a good guy.”
It seems that both Hel and Sylvia recognized Lipa.
While I was washing my face and relaxing in the swamp, a huge fish monster came to the shore and attacked me.
“You’d better not come to the surface if you’re breathing through gills.”
I stuck my hand into the gills of the fish monster, which was as big as me, and pulled it ashore. I smashed the monster’s head, which was bouncing on the ground, and tied it up. I took a knife from the cave, removed its scales, cut open its belly, and threw its entrails into the swamp. In an instant, the entrails were eaten by the small fish monsters and disappeared.
“So, grilled fish for breakfast?”
When I carried it to the cave, Hel and the others saw the fish monster and said, “That’s the one with teeth.”
“T-t-that thing attacks me a lot when I dive in the swamp.”
“You can see its teeth in its mouth, right? Sylvia was bitten a few times and had to use the healing potion.”
“I see. It attacked me when I was washing my face, so I brought it ashore and smashed its head in. Shall we barbecue it?”
The two of them handed me a palm sap scoop, and they themselves prepared large leaves and salt.
“I feel like I’ve been digging a grave since this morning.”
We put the burnt charcoal in the hole and put the fish monster wrapped in leaves on top. Then, we put more charcoal on top, covered it with soil, and let it cook slowly.
“Hey, didn’t you say that there were the bones of a giant monster at the bottom of the swamp? What happened to them?”
I asked Sylvia as I waited for the fish monster to cook.
“I-i-it was too heavy to lift.”
“I saw it too, but if there was a monster that big, it’s no wonder Yggdrasil was destroyed.”
Neither Hel nor Sylvia had ever seen a disaster-class giant monster. They must have guessed from the bones at the bottom of the swamp.
“But even such a huge monster can die, so I’m glad I wasn’t born in an ancient demonic land.”
“T-t-that’s true.”
“I guess the people of the demonic land couldn’t control the huge monsters they raised either.”
Hel muttered something unexpected.
“So you’re saying they had the technology to make monsters grow huge?”
“Probably, but…”
Hel crossed her arms and started to explain.
“First of all, I think there would not be enough food to sustain such a huge body. It is hard to imagine a hungry monster being able to coexist with humans. I think there may have been some technology that allowed the monsters to grow rapidly.”
“There was a picture of a monster growing on the jar.”
“So there was a growth agent? Is that okay?”
“It wasn’t okay, so it died.”
“Could it be that the size of the monsters in the demonic land is related to this?”
If you think about it, the wild boars in the demonic land and the earthworm monsters are both too big. Even the golden bat is large.
“That may or may not be the case. But since we who eat things from the demonic land haven’t grown huge, we can assume that the influence of that technology has died out.”
Sylvia nodded in agreement with Hel’s explanation. It seemed that while we were gone, the two of them continued their explorations and had a discussion.
“W-w-we don’t know what the purpose was.”
“Even if the monsters were enlarged, we can’t tell from the pictures on the urn if they were used as a fighting force, as food, as an experiment, or if they had some other religious significance.”
“B-b-but I think there are traces buried around the swamp.”
“That is true. Does that mean I have to use my ability to explore underground?”
The two nodded vigorously at my question.
“Very well. But after breakfast today, you two should go to sleep. We’ll start exploring the ground around the swamp in the afternoon.”
“Understood.”
“I-I-I understand.”
There are underground ruins and ruins in the desert, and the remains of a city are buried in the mangrove swamp. There is also an underground lake at the bottom of an old well to the north, and there are traces of civilization in the nearby swamp. Many people must have fled after the magic kingdom of Yggdrasil was destroyed. However, too little history has been handed down.
The holy knight who committed mass murder at the temple of Lamia called for the abolition of discrimination and was executed in the demon land across the sea. Even in the history books, there were many descriptions of disasters that occurred in the demonic land. It seems that 100 years ago, P.J. used space-time magic and flying technology to search for the truth. He probably had an adventure like an adventurer.
But I am the landlord of the demonic land. I have to live here, develop it, and attract more people. Therefore, the lives of the people who lived in Yggdrasil 1000 years ago should give us some clues.
Just as Chel woke up, I smelled the delicious smell of roasting fish.
“Can I make a request regarding the demonic land exploration?”
I asked Chel, Hel and Sylvia who were there.
“What is it? I just woke up. Can I at least wash my face?”
“It won’t take long. I’ll tell the other two later, but I want to tell you now before I forget. I’m not that smart, so I might forget what I want to say while you’re washing your face.”
“Okay. You can ask me when my eyes are all crusty.”
With that, Chel sat down by the fire.
“When exploring the demonic land, I want you to primarily investigate how the ancients lived their lives, not ancient events and catastrophes.”
“You want us to look for traces of their lives?”
Hel asked.
“I think P.J. and the others were adventurers, so they were looking for dungeons and the truth. The royal family of Estinia is looking for the dragon city of Midgard. But let’s put that aside for now and try to find out how the ancients lived. That’s the technology we can use in our lives.”
“I understand. This is about our survival and our lives, isn’t it?”
“I understand. That’s typical of Makyo.”
“I-I-I understand!”
We dug up the grilled fish monster and had a breakfast of grilled fish dishes full of fat.
Hel and Sylvia went to sleep, and Chel and I washed the dirty clothes we had gotten on the trip and maintained our equipment. We also tested the swords and hammers that Sylvia had made.
Weapons made of monster bones have a good conductivity of magic power, and the attacks go through well, even against monsters.
“But you know…”
“It’s faster to just hit the monsters here, so there’s no point in using weapons.”
Chel nodded in agreement.
“Monsters are generally pretty bad at using magic.”
As Chel said, monsters only use magic on certain parts of their bodies, and it’s easy to tell when they’re about to cast a spell. Even if they say, “I’m going to hit you,” when they come to hit you, there’s no way you’re going to get hit.
“But what if a monster that knows how to use magic attacks us?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, if there was a monster that could put magic into its legs when it ran and into its hands when it hit, could we beat it? Could we avoid being killed by it even though we obviously have less muscle mass?”
“Are you saying we need weapons and traps to do that?”
“No, I’m not saying that. I’m saying that we need a special move that can get us out of a tight spot, not a weapon like a sword that’s so obvious.”
“Can’t Makyo change the terrain?”
“Is that like interfering with nature’s power or using your opponent’s power? But it’s not my power.”
“That’s a luxury problem. Even if you’re alive, your heart is still beating, and you’re still breathing, so why not interfere with your own power?”
It’s probably true when you put it like that.
I took a deep breath and blew out through my puckered lips.
As I used magic to interfere with the forceful exhalation, a gust of wind blew in front of me, scattering twigs and leaves.
“What is that?”
“I wonder what it is. But if I can become more aware of my own power, maybe I’ll be able to make my hair fly like needles or make my shoes fly really far.”
“Makyo is getting weirder and weirder.”
Chel was stunned.
We ended up experimenting with things like when to put magic power into a sword or hammer to get the most power out of it, and we ended up making a hole-ridden mess of the old tree monster Treant in front of us.
Eventually, Lipa woke up, so we gave him a grilled fish meal for breakfast.
“Sorry, I’ll clean up after I eat!”
As always, he’s so serious. Maybe Jennifer scolded him because he’s known as the cleaner of the demonic land.
“Well, you can clean up until the evening. There are also things in the warehouse that I don’t know what they are. But more importantly, you should ask Chel to teach you how to use magic after you’ve eaten.”
“Okay! I’ll do my best!”
“Yes. Bread and magic are hard to get right.”
“Yes!”
Lipa practised magic with Chel.
I checked the history books I got from Cliff Garuda to see if there was anything about life in the demonic land. It seems that the ancient demonic land of Yggdrasil was struck by disasters such as earthquakes and plagues of locusts. However, there were few descriptions of life there. It was mentioned that there were waterways and that magical martial arts competitions were held in the arena.
What was interesting was that there was a genius who made magic tools. It was said that he created a guard with low magic power.
“Was the desert golem created by a genius?”
I wonder if Hel was able to decipher the cube.
“Makyo, try to take a hit from Lipa.”
Chel called me.
“Yes.”
I spent the whole day fighting Lipa, using the power of the sword to sink him into the ground or spin him around like a top.
For lunch, I had some of the fish I’d grilled in the morning. The monster didn’t seem to be getting any smaller.
“Maybe I should smoke it.”
I was thinking about preserving it when Hel and Sylvia woke up.
“H-h-hey, Jennifer, I can’t move.”
“You’ve overdone it, and you’ve got muscle fatigue.”
The two ate lunch together. Lipa fell asleep while eating.
“The demonic land cleaner sleeps a lot.”
“I think he’s still nervous. He’ll get used to it eventually, whether he likes it or not.”
According to Chel, Lipa’s magic power is the weakest and smallest of all of us.
“I guess you can’t ride a flying broom if you’re not that weak.”
Hel and Sylvia tried it, too, but they almost got hurt.
“Hey, Hel, did you manage to decipher the magic circle on the cube?”
“No way. Even if the elves spent a thousand years on it, they still wouldn’t be able to solve it.”
It seems it’s that complicated.
After eating, we drank some tea and then explored the area around the swamp. Lipa was carried back to his room and put to bed.
“Okay, let’s go.”
The four of us started walking from the ground, where we always washed our faces. The other three also practised releasing magic power into the ground, but they said it was impossible to find buried objects there.
“I can’t figure it out.”
“I-I-I don’t know.”
“It’s just that Makyo is a weirdo.”
“Oh, something came out.”
As we searched carefully, a badger monster attacked us. It seemed to think that its lair had been attacked.
“Stay back.”
Hel paralyzed it with her staff, and Sylvia finished it off with her sword.
“You’re getting better at working together.”
“T-t-this is nothing.”
After that, I let Hel and Sylvia deal with the monsters while we walked around the swamp.
But all we found were monster caves, bones, rocks, etc. We found a Haze Turtle egg buried a short distance from the swamp and a King Anaconda that had hibernated and turned into a dried-up carcass, but we couldn’t find any traces of civilization.
We stopped to eat some cam fruit and then continued along the swamp’s edge.
The sun began to set, and the number of imp cries increased. On the first day, we thought we had lost our way, but we discovered what looked like the remains of a stone walkway on the opposite bank of the cave.
“The fact that there is a path means that it leads somewhere. Let’s call it a day for now and follow the pavement from here tomorrow.”
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[“The demonic land cleaner sleeps a lot.”]
What a job title lol
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