Isekai Nonbiri Sozai Saishu Seikatsu - Chapter 192

“They should be around here.”

Franryule muttered, looking at the map as we hunted the demon monkeys and neutralized them with stun needles while advancing.

Did Franryule just say “they are”? If it were just a material, she would have said “it is” since it would be growing naturally.

Since she said “they are,” it suggests that Explosive Corn is not a plant but a creature.

“Franryule, may I ask what Explosive Corn is like?”

“Now that you mention it, I haven’t explained in detail. Explosive Corn is the ingredient name, and the monster name is Bombcorn.”

“Ah, so it is a monster.”

I had a hunch from the way she was speaking.

“It’s a large corn that walks on two legs.”

“…Specifically, like the one walking right in front of us?”

As we were talking, a bipedal corn walked right past us.

It had a humanoid shape, complete with arms.

Long whiskers grew from its head, its leaves looked like clothing, and its mannerisms were strangely human-like.

“That’s it! Bombcorn!”

…It’s different from what I imagined Explosive Corn to be.

However, the corn visible from its prominently emphasized chest looked big and firm, almost like well-developed muscles, and seemed quite appetizing.

It looked denser than regular corn.

“How do we collect it?”

“Bombcorn will start shooting corn at you in battle, so you need to dodge them with determination and then collect it!”

“I-I see.”

“Now, provoke the Bombcorn and make it angry. Burning the whiskers on its head should do the trick.”

“Got it!”

Following Franryule’s advice, I conjured a fireball and set the Bombcorn’s whiskers ablaze.

With its whiskers suddenly on fire, the Bombcorn panicked and ran around frantically.

It swung its long head wildly, using its arms to forcefully extinguish the flames.

Once the fire was out, it made a gesture like a sigh of relief, then glared at me, trembling with rage.

Its yellow body turned bright red in an instant.

Then, as if exploding with anger from within, it shot out its corn.

The densely packed corn on its body flew towards us with incredible speed.

“Eek!”

The corn whizzed right past me and shattered a tree.

The corn blasted through three trees, with the third tree stopping its momentum, embedding itself in it.

Smoke rose from the impact.

“It’s like a cannon…”

If a human took a direct hit, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

At best, they’d be flattened or suffer multiple fractures.

If collecting ingredients only required dodging attacks, it would be easy.

That’s what I thought, but this is more difficult than I expected.

“Be careful, Shuu-san! The explosive corn from the Bombcorn has incredible power!”

“You should have told me that first!”

Meanwhile, Franryule had already taken cover behind a large rock. Sneaky.

“But if it’s shooting out so much corn, it can’t keep doing it for long, can it—”

While I was speculating, the Bombcorn replenished its surface with new corn as if reloading.

“What! No way!”

As I panicked, the Bombcorn shook its body again and sent another barrage of corn blasting towards me.

I desperately ducked to avoid the incoming corn.

Taking a cue from Franryule, I hid behind a large rock, but the Bombcorn chased after me, blasting its reloaded corn.

“Gyaa! Stop chasing me! And why is it only targeting me!?”

Franryule was behind me too, but it didn’t pay her any attention, which was strange.

“Because you’re the one who burned the Bombcorn’s whiskers, Shuu-san.”

“Yeah, but that was because you told me to provoke it—ah! You knew this would happen and made me do it, didn’t you!?”

“Oh ho ho, the right person for the right job. I’ll focus on collecting the explosive corn now…”

“That’s unfair! I want to do that too!”

While I was running around, Franryule was calmly storing the corn shot by the Bombcorn into her magic bag.

That definitely seemed like the more enjoyable task.

However, it wouldn’t be feasible to have Franryule, who lacks combat skills, face the Bombcorn.

“Ice!”

I hurled an ice chunk at the pursuing Bombcorn.

Though it hit the Bombcorn’s body with a thud, it kept charging forward, undeterred.

The thick corn on its surface seemed to act as a sturdy armor.

An offense-defense combo, huh?

While I was contemplating this, there was a loud pop as more corn exploded behind me.

Corn flew everywhere.

With no obstacles and no way to dodge, I quickly conjured an ice wall.

The corn pelted the ice wall with a series of thuds and stopped.

Relieved that I managed to block the attack with magic, I noticed the corn embedded in the ice wall turning red hot and swelling.

Sensing something bad, I quickly moved away from the ice wall just as the embedded corn exploded.

The ice wall shattered, and the blast knocked me back slightly.

“Ahh! Our ingredients!”

Our goal was to collect the corn that was being shot at us. What a nuisance to have them explode like that.

Defending ourselves with magic meant we couldn’t get the crucial ingredients.

However, dodging the corn flying irregularly in all directions was proving difficult.

“Franryule, were you able to retrieve the Bombcorn?”

“Yes! Thanks to Shu drawing its attention, I managed to collect plenty!”

As soon as I got up and asked, Franryule was holding several large Bombcorns.

While I was running around, she had easily collected about a hundred corns that had been shot.

With enough collected, it was time to neutralize them.

Bombcorns were creatures infused with natural ingredients. It would be best to avoid defeating them.

“Appraisal!”

I readied my Stun Needle and examined the points where I could administer a stun.

Then, marked in red dots were spots on the Bombcorn’s left chest, right shoulder, and left waist.

Knowing where to administer the stun was enough.

As the Bombcorn shook its body again and shot out more bombs just like before.

“Detection, Explosive Corn.”

Activating my skill, I charged at the Bombcorn.

With the assistance of the skill, I could clearly discern the incoming explosive corn.

I consciously selected only those that would hit my body, dodging them one by one.

Slipping past the corns like a dancer, I leaped into the Bombcorn’s embrace.

My target: its left chest.

“Stun Needle!”

I inserted the Stun Needle into the red point indicated by the Appraisal skill and pressed the switch to unleash lightning.

“Alright, now it should be stun— it’s not!?”

If it were any other monster, it would have immediately convulsed and fallen.

However, the Bombcorn in front of me remained unperturbed.

I thought I might have aimed at the wrong spot, but the Stun Needle was accurately inserted into the red point displayed in my sight.

Yet, in that moment, I realized.

“Ahh!”

The needle of the Stun Needle was blocked by the corn.

Trying to pull out the Stun Needle, but it won’t come out due to the thick corn.

Upon closer inspection, the corn on its chest seemed to be pumped up.

Seeing my panic, the Bombcorn shook its body with a defiant smile.

I could see the surface corn undulating.

If I were to take a hit from the corn at such close range, it would be all over.

“Th-This is bad…”

“Flame Arrow!”

Just as I was prepared to use ice magic, risking freezing the Bombcorn, an arrow of fire came flying from the side.

The arrow hit the beard on the head of the Bombcorn, igniting it fiercely.

Unable to bear this, the Bombcorn began to roll around.

Thanks to this, I was able to pull out the Stun Needle and step back.