Isekai Nonbiri Sozai Saishu Seikatsu - Chapter 168

“Leave this to me. I’ll cleanly cut off the branches with poisonous thorns.”

Leilushka, upon seeing the Tarantos, drew her sword from its sheath and spoke valiantly.

Although she seemed very reliable and cool, I had something I wanted to try.

“Wait a moment. There seems to be a safer and easier way to deal with this.”

“Hmm? Do you have a better method?”

Disappointed at having her plans thwarted, Leilushka obediently sheathed her sword.

“It seems that Tarantos are weak against alcohol.”

“Do you mean they get drunk like us?”

“It seems so. It might sound unbelievable, but I’d like to try pouring alcohol on them from a distance.”

“If it’s information you’ve gleaned from your appraisal, then it must be true. Alright, give it a try.”

“I have no objections either.”

With permission from Leilushka and Lumia, I retrieved some distilled liquor from my magic bag.

I poured the bottle of alcohol into a leather pouch.

“What’s that liquor? From the smell, it seems very alcoholic…”

Curiously sniffing the scent of alcohol, Leilushka asked.

“It’s a strong liquor called distilled alcohol, which has recently been produced in Eld. Would you like some later?”

“I’d appreciate it.”

It seemed Leilushka also loved alcohol.

“Even though it’s strong, I’m a little worried that my master drinks this every night.”

“…I’m sorry.”

It was like the statement of a wife supporting a useless husband.

It was me who gave it as a souvenir, so I felt bad, but if she drank it every day, it would soon run out, so a little more patience was needed.

After that, I didn’t want to think about what Saffy would do…

Once I finished pouring the distilled alcohol into the leather pouch, I threw it directly at the Tarantos.

Reacting to the incoming object, the Tarantos shook it off with its branches.

The sharp thorns tore through the leather pouch, spilling the distilled alcohol.

I watched the Tarantos, its branches wriggling, for a while.

Then, the movement of the branches became sluggish, and its whole body became limp.

It seemed as if it had lost moisture and wilted.

“Oh! The Tarantos got drunk!”

“It seems to have worked.”

“I never thought we could neutralize the Tarantos like this…”

Lumia and Leilushka were surprised to see the limp Tarantos.

It was a strange sight to see a plant get completely intoxicated.

“…It doesn’t seem to be moving.”

“Then let’s collect the poison thorns.”

Leilushka carefully prodded with her sword to confirm that everything was fine, then proceeded to collect them.

Wearing sturdy Black Slime gloves to avoid getting pricked, she used a collection knife to swiftly cut off the branches.

While there was leisure to enjoy breaking needles during the Caicedor incedent, here there was a concern that they might awaken if we took too long, so we proceeded quickly.

Once all the poison thorns were collected from the Tarantos, they were stored in a dedicated case.

“With this, the collection of Tarantos’ poison thorns is complete!”

“We did it!”

All the poisonous materials Klaus and Saffy wanted had been gathered.

All that remained was to deliver them properly, and we could consider the designated request complete.

“Congratulations. Despite this being your first time in the marshlands, you’ve gathered quite a collection of poisonous materials.”

“It was all thanks to the tools prepared by Lumia.”

“Oh no, it’s all thanks to your abilities, Shuu.”

We exchanged words of mutual courtesy, which somehow seemed funny, and we laughed together.

“At any rate, the collection of necessary poisonous materials is finished now.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Our business was done.

Usually, we would just head back from here, but I felt it would be impolite to leave Leilushka, who had guided us this far, and return alone.

“Now it’s time for Leilushka’s investigation.”

“Having Shuu and Lumia here is very reassuring, but… is it okay?”

As I said that, Leilushka asked, looking apologetic.

“You helped us with the collection, after all.”

“If it’s okay with us, we’ll help.”

“I appreciate it. Well then, if you don’t mind, I’d be glad if you could stay a little longer and assist.”

With that said, having finished gathering the poisonous materials, we decided to accompany Leilushka a little longer for her investigation.

♦ ♦ ♦

Having finished collecting the poison thorns from the Tarantos, we continued on into the depths of the marshland.

As we advanced deeper, the area gradually opened up, with several trees starting to appear. However, the ground remained muddy, and the terrain was rugged, making for poor footing.

During our journey here, we had been circling around points of interest identified by Leilushka, but had we found any signs of the supposed anomaly?

“How’s the condition of the marshland?”

“It seems there hasn’t been any significant change. At most, the habitat areas of the monsters have shifted slightly, as previously mentioned.”

“So, there’s no abnormality then?”

“…Not at the moment.”

Though Leilushka answered so, she didn’t seem entirely convinced from her demeanor.

“You seem unconvinced.”

“Visually, there’s nothing abnormal. But I can’t shake this feeling of unease. It’s like I’m overlooking something significant…”

“If Leilushka-san, who has been visiting here for years, feels that way, there might be something. Let’s investigate a little more.”

“My apologies. I hope it’s just needless worry…”

Fortunately, since the collection had ended quickly, we still had plenty of time.

We decided to investigate the surroundings a bit more.

As we followed Leilushka’s path, we arrived at a vantage point. However, the ground was covered with tall grass, reaching up to about my knees, obscuring our view of the ground.

“…Looks like fog’s rolling in.”

As we pushed through the grass with our collection knives, Leilushka muttered.

Raising my gaze in haste, I noticed thick, white fog rolling in, swiftly engulfing us.

“It’s incredibly dense fog.”

Lumia’s astonished voice echoed beside me.

The fog was denser than expected, and within five meters, visibility was completely obscured.

“Fortunately, the footing isn’t too bad around here. Let’s stay close and be careful not to get separated.”

We proceeded, keeping our distances as close as possible.

It’s a bit scary to walk, feeling like there might be snakes or alligators underfoot.

As I thought that, I heard a rustling sound from the left rear.

“What’s wrong, Shuu-san?”

Stopping in my tracks, Lumia let out a puzzled voice.

“You were right behind me just now, Lumia-san?”

“Yes, I was.”

Lumia was indeed trailing right behind me.

“Is something wrong?”

Leilushka was walking ahead of me and turned around to ask.

“There wasn’t any wind just now, right?”

“No, it’s almost completely calm.”

Despite that, the grass to my right rustled, which was odd.

While it could be a small animal, I activated my magic stone detection, considering the worst-case scenario.

Then, right behind Lumia, a large serpent with its mouth wide open was closing in.

Oh no! How could such a huge monster be right in front of me when we couldn’t see it at all with our naked eyes!

Though my mind was starting to panic, I decided to trust the silhouette revealed by my detection skill.

“Lumia-san, get down! Ice Pillar!”

“Huh? Hyaa!”

Confirming that Lumia quickly got down, despite her confusion, I aimed my ice magic at the serpent’s face and unleashed it.

“Kishaaaaaaa!”

The ice pillar I conjured pierced the serpent’s left eye, eliciting a pained cry. Along with that, I could now clearly see the opponent’s true form with my naked eyes.