Isekai Nonbiri Sozai Saishu Seikatsu - Chapter 161

“Such a big catch!”

“We caught a lot!”

Suddenly, I realized we had caught a large quantity of mantis shrimp.

Looking into the net, there were swarms of them.

Seeing them gathered like this was quite a sight.

People who are weak to this kind of thing might faint just from looking at it.

I feel like shrimp and crabs are allowed to exist because they live underwater or underground.

“I’ve completely gotten absorbed. This should be enough of a catch. Let’s find a suitable spot and eat.”

“Right now?”

I was a bit puzzled by Leilushka’s words.

It’s not even noon yet. I’m a bit hungry, but not enough to eat in such a hurry.

“Mantis shrimp lose their freshness quickly. It’s best to boil them while they’re still alive. Once they die and time passes, their flesh starts to dissolve due to their own secretions, and the taste becomes bland.”

“I see. In that case, it’s better to eat them a bit earlier.”

While surprised at how quickly they lose freshness, I nodded in agreement.

“Oh, it’s raining.”

Lumia murmured beside me.

Starting with those words, raindrops began to fall from the sky, quickly gaining momentum.

In no time, it turned into a steady rain.

Since there had been clouds looming that seemed like they would rain for a while, I wasn’t surprised by this.

“There’s a cave nearby where there aren’t many monsters. Let’s take shelter from the rain there and have our meal.”

“I agree.”

“Please wait! I sense the presence of a monster underground!”

Although I wanted to follow Leilushka’s guidance, my detection skills sensed the presence of a monster.

With a silhouette resembling a toad, it vigorously dug through the ground towards us.

Then, as the ground started bulging in various places, we jumped back from the spot.

Emerging from underground was a toad boasting a size about that of a medium-sized dog.

【Poisonous Swamp Toad　Danger Level: C】

A toad-shaped monster inhabiting areas such as the Terra Phios Marshlands.

It usually lives underground and attacks from below when it finds prey.

Unlike swamp toads, it stores poison inside its body and spits it out from there.

Characteristic for having some parts of its body surface turn purple.

Its stored tongue can extend up to about two meters.

Be cautious as contact with its saliva causes skin to blister.

Additionally, it has high jumping abilities, capable of leaping up to five meters.

“…A swamp toad?”

“No, it’s a poisonous swamp toad.”

Upon appraisal, it was indeed labeled as a poisonous swamp toad.

Covered in mud from emerging underground, upon closer inspection, its purple body surface was visible.

“It’s bad timing, but it’s one of the toxic materials we need.”

“Let’s defeat it and gather the materials here!”

“That’s right. Let’s take care of it as quickly as possible for sake of the mantis shrimp!”

Our female members are very combative.

Although it would be preferable to avoid dangerous monsters, since it’s the material we’re after, we can’t do that.

Let’s defeat it here and gather the materials.

“Hiyah!”

“Gero-gero!”

Lumia drew her sword and charged, causing the poisonous swamp toads to jump up and evade en masse.

She immediately turned around and slashed, but her sword only hit air as they evaded.

“Lumia, be careful!”

“Gero!?”

From Lumina’s blind spot, Leilushka cut down the poisonous swamp toad that had bounced towards her.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry. These guys are always hopping around. Just focus on one target to deal with calmly.”

“Yes!”

Countless poisonous swamp toads are constantly hopping in my field of vision.

Leilushka seems accustomed to fighting them.

Instead of chasing after the leaping toads, she calmly dispatches and kicks away the ones that expose themselves while leaping.

It seems unnecessary to fight on the opponent’s preferred field.

Perhaps Lumia also understood this, as she was calmly dealing with the situation without forcefully pursuing as she did before.

“Freeze.”

Aiming for the slight stiffness upon landing, I hit them with ice magic.
And that’s how the two poisonous swamp toads turned into ice statues.

There’s no need to forcefully target opponents in mid-leap. Let’s take them out steadily.

“Gero-gero!”

“Uwa! Thats dangerous!”

As I waited, a poisonous swamp toad spewed poison while jumping.

Unable to bear it, I choose to evade.

A purple, gooey liquid pours down where I stood.

There’s a sizzling sound as if something is dissolving.

Spitting poison while moving is terribly rude.

Moreover, because it jumps while still covered in mud, even mud pours down. My prided coat, a gift from the gods, is now dirtied with mud, which is quite unpleasant.

“Gero-ro!”

Once again, the poisonous swamp toad spits poison while airborne.

“To such ill-mannered fellows, take this! Wind!”

I blow away the poison being spat out with wind magic.

As a result, their own spit-back poison falls directly onto the body of the toad.

“Gero-ro-ro-ro!?”

“Oh, oh. It’s own poison is effective against it.”

They seem to lack resistance to their own poison, which is a bit strange, considering they can spit it out.

I finish off the three struggling from inhaling poison with an ice pillar.

Then, something wraps around my leg.

“Hot!”

In that moment of realization, a burning pain shoots through my leg.

Looking down at my foot, I see something resembling a pink tongue wrapped around my ankle.

It’s the tongue of the poisonous swamp toad. I remember that it has strong acidic liquid on its tongue. Is this pain because of that?

Following the tongue back, I see a toad in the distance with its mouth open, extending its long tongue.

When I try to counter with magic, the tongue wriggles, pulling my body towards it.

“Whoa!”

“Shuu Are you alright?”

I almost lost my balance due to the strength of the tongue, but Leilushka cut it off, saving me from trouble.

“Thank you!”

The severed tongue wriggles on the ground, resembling a large worm.

“Gero! Gero-gero!”

We defeat the poisonous swamp toads, but more keep coming from underground.

There seems to be quite a number of them, as no matter how many we defeat, they keep emerging.

“…This won’t end at this rate.”

To break through this situation, it would be best to take them all out at once with area-of-effect magic.

“Shuu-san, Leilushka-san, could you come over to me?”

Before I can even call them, Lumia beckons us over.

Surprised by this, both Leilushka and I obediently move closer to Lumia.

“Leilushka-san, please attach this to the soles of your shoes.”

“Ah, I see. Understood.”

Lumia hands something like shoe soles from her pouch and Leilushka puts them on.

“I’ve put them on.”

“Please both of you, stay still.”

After confirming the attachment of the shoe soles, Lumia takes out a round, transparent sphere from her pouch.

Inside, strong energy mingled with yellow and green can be seen.

“Ei!”

Lumia throws it near the poisonous swamp toads.

As it hits, the transparent glass-like membrane shatters, releasing the energy inside.

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

In that instant, lightning spreads across the ground.

“Gero-ro-ro-ro-ro-ro-ro-ro!”

The muddy ground contains a lot of moisture, causing the poisonous swamp toads to get electrocuted.

Even those leaping soon become prey to the lightning.

“Whoa!”

“It’s alright, Leilushka-san. Our shoe soles are made of a material that prevents electrocution.”

“I see. That was quite sudden, my heart skipped a beat.”

There’s probably an insulating material mixed into the shoe soles.

Despite standing on the muddy ground, we didn’t get shocked at all.

I trust Lumia, so I wasn’t worried about that, but we were surprised by the power of the item.

“It’s incredible power, isn’t it?”

“It’s a discharge sphere made using thunderstones. It doesn’t reach the level of my master’s magic, but it still packs a decent punch.”

Though she says “decent,” it felt like it had the power of intermediate-level magic.

Not only the poisonous swamp toads on the surface but also those underground seem to have met their end.

Upon checking with my investigation skill, I see many poisonous swamp toads flipped over underground.

There probably won’t be any more emerging from below. I had been thinking of using area-of-effect ice magic, but this surely turned out to be more effective.

“Come to think of it, you mentioned being an apprentice alchemist. Making items like this is an impressive skill.”

“Oh no, compared to my master, I still have a long way to go.”

Leilushka praises Lumia, who modestly deflects the compliment.

There’s no trace of arrogance in her expression.

I’m not familiar with the standards of alchemists, but being one of only four apprentices to a master alchemist in the country speaks volumes.

Lumia’s skill is probably far above average.

“More importantly, Shuu-san, is your leg alright?”

“It’s tingling a bit.”

“Let me see them.”

Upon hearing Lumia’s concerned voice, I suddenly remembered the pain.

After Lumia calls out to me she slowly rolls up the hem of my pants for inspection. Upon seeing the area where the tongue wrapped around, it’s completely red and stings.

The tongue of the poisonous swamp toad contains acidic fluid after all.

“This should heal quickly with a basic potion.”

With that diagnosis, Lumia takes out a glass tube from her belt and pours potion onto my ankle. Instantly, the redness and pain in my skin subside.

“Thank you. The stinging pain is gone now.”

“I’m glad. Just to be safe, I’ll wrap your ankle with a bandage soaked in potion. The discomfort should disappear quite soon.”

After explaining, Lumia wraps the potion-soaked bandage around my foot that she took out of her bag.

“I see, so there’s a use like that.”

“This helps wounds heal faster.”

Leilushka expresses admiration for Lumia’s treatment method.

It’s a unique tidbit of knowledge only an alchemist would know.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, the pain is completely gone.”

“Oh no, this is my duty! If Leilushka-san ever gets injured, please come see me immediately.”

“Ah, I’ll count on that.”

I feel very reassured by Lumia’s cheerful smile.