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TL: ALT
Chapter 182 – Day 13 of Management Life
Over breakfast, we share our destinations. Kahiman and I are heading to the Sealing Clan’s dungeon in the east.
Chel is going alone to pursue the Nushi of the demonic land. Jennifer and Katan are searching for insect-repellent herbs in the forest. Sylvia and Hel are exploring the mountain range and the abandoned port in the west. They will search for traces of the earth’s veins with the golems at the base. [T/N: Nushi can also mean “master” or “lord.”]
As for Lipa…
“I’m going to teach the dungeon dwellers how to fight again. It’s no good for them to live in the demonic land and not be able to survive.”
Covering our heads with cloth to avoid sunburn, Kahiman and I headed into the forest. We filled our water bags at the river and headed straight east.
Surprisingly, Kahiman had mastered the art of running using magic and kept up with me, ignoring the monsters. Maybe he was better at using magic than the others.
“Are you tired?”
“I’m fine.”
Kahiman was taciturn, but honest and straightforward.
He had apparently been hiding in the dwarf village so that no one would notice him. However, in the demonic land, lying and pretending could lead to death and would be exhausting.
“Let’s hunt for food while we’re in the forest.”
“Yeah.”
“Is there anything you want to eat?”
I asked, picking off the cam berries that tried to bite me.
“Um… That’s a difficult question. I’ll eat anything.”
“It’d be better if you could catch it yourself, right?”
“Yeah.”
A Maeshitsukawazu walked in front of us, unaware of our presence.
“What about lizards?”
“They’re big. I can’t eat them all.”
A Big Moth flew in the sky.
“What about insects?”
“There’s not much to eat.”
A Blue Snake was climbing a tree. It was probably going to eat a Forest Rat or a bird’s egg.
“What about snakes?”
“Snakes!?”
Kahiman didn’t seem to think that snakes were edible.
“Let’s have snakes! They’re delicious when made into soup.”
I pulled the blue snake down from the tree, cut its neck, and drained its blood.
Kahiman watched the whole thing.
“Want to try?”
“Yeah.”
Kahiman nodded and immediately disappeared.
He looked around to confirm the positions of the other Blue Snakes, then crept up silently and crushed their heads with a rock. He tossed them into a cloth bag.
Then, Kahiman took out a small magic stone and threw it toward the Blue Snakes. I thought it was a magic stone with some kind of effect, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
Taking advantage of the monsters’ tendency to be drawn to magic, Kahiman crushed the heads of the Blue Snakes that tried to swallow the stones, one after another. Only someone who could hide their presence could hunt like this.
In the end, he caught seven of them.
“That’s enough. We can use the rest for traps.”
“Y-yeah.”
Kahiman nodded, looking unconvinced.
“There are seven of them. That should be enough, shouldn’t it? Are you dissatisfied with something?”
“This hunting method won’t work on large monsters. Please tell me how to increase my power, Makyo-san.”
Lipa has a wooden sword, Hel has a crossbow, and Jennifer has a mace. Kahiman, however, has no weapon.
“Why don’t you try releasing the magic power spinning inside your body through your hands?”
“I can’t do that…”
“Don’t give up before you even try. Come on. Let’s run to the Sealing Clan’s dungeon before nightfall.”
Kahiman’s shoulders slumped, but he followed obediently.
Since he had mastered the technique of infusing his legs with magical power, he should be able to control the spinning magical power with practice.
Buh!
Kahiman, who was supposed to be following behind me, flew in front of me. I turned around, but there were no monsters in sight. He probably couldn’t control his magic power.
I picked him up and carried him while running.
“I failed.”
“Yeah, if it worked the first time, it wouldn’t be so hard. Keep trying.”
After that, Kahiman flew through the air countless times, rolling in front of me as we moved east. He may have figured out how to move while being blown away.
When the sun began to set and the temperature dropped, we headed south into the desert. We kept moving forward, avoiding sandstorms and fending off monsters that attacked us, until we saw a large valley.
I set up camp in the same spot as before and cooked snake meat. The juices dripped down, filling the air with a delicious aroma. Attracted by the smell, I heard the distant howls of Sand Coyotes.
While the meat cooked, I treated Kahiman, who was covered in wounds from being blown away. I wrapped him in bandages soaked in healing medicine, reset his bones, and loosened the tendons in his arms and legs to ensure he wasn’t in pain.
“Does it hurt?”
“No, it’s not a painful spot. But why does it hurt when you rub my arm?”
Kahiman asked me after I healed his sprained finger.
“All parts of the body are connected. It’s easier to heal if you remember the position of your bones and the state of your magic when you’re healthy because you can observe those things yourself.”
“I see. That’s amazing!”
“It’s not that amazing. You get injured a lot in the demonic land, don’t you? You’ve been poisoned many times. It’s important to remember what’s normal for you.”
“I understand.”
After dinner, we took a break as the sun set over the western desert. As I watched the bonfire, I released my magic.
The wind carried my magic power away, and I could see what was happening around me. Sand Coyotes and Desert Eagles were watching us. Monsters lurked in the sand and seemed to be targeting us.
It was the usual demon realm.
Kahiman’s magic began to circulate within his body.
“Shall we go?”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
We descended into the valley and headed straight for the back.
Dead plants were scattered about, but there were no monsters lurking.
There were buildings on both sides of the valley, but they all collapsed, with no lights on.
Since there might be magic-activated traps, we didn’t light the magic stone lamps. We relied only on the moonlight, but tonight was close to a full moon, so we could see far ahead.
Kahiman must have good night vision because he was making his way forward without tripping over any stones.
I inserted a doughnut-shaped key into the door of the deepest dungeon and turned it with a little magic.
“From here on out, if you use magic, you’ll burn to death, so be careful. Make sure you’re ready to escape at any moment.”
“Got it.”
Kahiman nodded and entered the dungeon without hesitation. Was it his courage or his confidence in his ability to hide? He was truly reliable.
After a few seconds, Kahiman emerged.
“What happened?”
“Hmmm.”
He opened his palm, revealing several iron stakes about the size of his index finger.
“I think the trap was disabled.”
“What?”
“Hel-san taught me about fire magic circles…”
“I see.”
Apparently, Kahiman had heard various things from his seniors.
“How does it look inside?”
“Not much different from outside. It’s bright, though.”
I spun my magical power around inside my body, imbuing it with a sticky quality. I tried spinning slowly to prevent any magical power from escaping my body.
“Is any magic leaking out?”
“No, it’s fine.”
After receiving the infiltrator’s approval, I entered the dungeon.
Unlike the moonlit night, the dungeon was as bright as day, revealing an undestroyed town.
I took a cautious step forward, trying not to break a sweat.
“Phew…”
I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that the trap hadn’t activated with my first step.
I couldn’t hear the woman’s voice from before, either.
“How did you disarm the trap?”
“I heard that the sand moves…”
Kahiman crouched down and brushed the sand off the ground.
A black magic circle was carved into the neatly cut sandstone ground. Several small, square holes were carved into the curves of the magic circle.
“Someone must have been here, so Hel-san and Sylvia-san must have left an easy way to disarm the trap in case they returned…”
“They know more than I do.”
They even made me a pair of King Anaconda sandals.”
Kahiman showed me the sandals he was wearing. King Anaconda leather is impervious to magic. I wonder what else they taught him during the night.
“I should have asked them to make me a pair, too. We should explore inside carefully, even though the first step was fine. I can sense slime-like monsters nearby, so be careful.”
“Okay.”
As I brushed the sand off the ground, I saw several black magic circles drawn on the sandstone rocks. However, they were not flame magic circles, but rather something I had seen before.
“It’s P.J.’s armor! Is it reinforced with magic circles? What are these black things?”
“Iron?”
“I don’t know, but it’s quite extravagant.”
Ping!
As we were about to enter the abandoned house, something thin caught my foot.
Three arrows flew toward us, but I caught them with my bare hands, so it wasn’t a problem.
“Be careful. There are other traps besides magic circles.”
When I turned around, Kahiman was gone.
“Kahiman!?”
I looked around and saw him hanging upside down from the doorframe, caught in a trap. He was waving his hands. He was in a tight spot, but he was smiling. He was much braver than I am.
I handed him a knife, and he cut the rope tied to his feet. He fell down.
“I thought I was going to die.”
“Let’s explore where we can see each other.”
While searching the abandoned house, we found the bones of a monster sitting in a chair. Its skull and lower jaw teeth looked like an orc’s. The monster was wearing ragged clothes and had iron handcuffs with magic circles drawn on them.
“The clothes have horizontal stripes. A criminal?”
“Do monsters drink tea?”
There was an empty teacup and a pot on the table.
“It might be a patient with a beast demon disease.”
“Oh, right.”
There were no external injuries on the bones, and there was no blood on the chair or floor.
Did someone eat everything except the bones, or did the monster survive for a while as a skeleton? In a demonic land, anything is possible, so looking for a corpse that can speak might be faster.
Shrrk…
A sound like sand being scraped came from outside, where no one should have been.
“Is anyone there!?”
I leaned out the window, but there was no one there.
“Did you see anything?”
“I saw something, but I can’t see it now. Let’s go back to exploring.”
In the abandoned house where the orc’s corpse was found, it seemed that they had been making jars with magic circles drawn on them. There were countless jars lined up on the shelves. There was even a large kiln for burning the jars in the backyard.
I borrowed a pot and a pan, then decided to leave the dungeon for now.
Kahiman’s magic power seemed to be reaching its limit. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
When he stepped outside, he stopped circulating magic through his body.
“I only moved a little, but I’m pretty tired.”
“Yeah, I’m already sweating…”
I wiped the sweat off with a damp cloth and felt the cool desert breeze, which felt good.
I made snake soup in the pot. The clear soup was refreshing and just right for my tired body. I chewed the meat with bones in it, making a crunching sound. Even the bones tasted delicious.
“Can I have this?”
As he was about to go to sleep, Kahiman showed me an iron stake.
“Sure, you can have it. You pulled it out, so it’s yours.”
“I see…”
Whoosh.
Bang!
Kahiman threw an iron stake at the rock. It seems he has found a good weapon.
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