Chapter 202
(202) Younger sister route 4
Translator: Tseirp
It was the third time I thought that I was about to be done in by monsters .
The first time was when I first fought with Kobolds . At that time, I really thought I was about to die and was extremely desperate . Unlike killing rabbits which I didn’t feel anything, that was when I started considering battle as an exchange of lives . The fear of kill or be killed still occasionally haunt my dreams even now .
The second time was when I fought the Leviathan . That was when I felt my powerlessness . It shattered my confidence that I could do anything into pieces .
And now was the third time .
The octopus monster Gourmand .
I didn’t expect the monster that I thought I could defeat easily to retaliate . I was careless .
I didn’t think that a monster weaker than me could do anything to me .
Just like the proverb a cornered rat will bite a cat, you never know what a cornered monster will do .
” … That’s why I hate this monster . ”
Miri said sulkily .
While having her whole body bathed in black ink .
That’s right, that Gourmand self-exploded the moment it sensed that it was about to be killed . Both Miri and I would be able to withstand a regular explosion . However, it wasn’t a regular explosion . I could say it was more of an ink bomb? The ink inside Gourmand’s body scattered throughout the entire room . There was almost no s.p.a.ce to escape from it .
Furthermore, it self-destructed so I didn’t get any experience points . Like it was stepping on and kicking us while we were down .
“It stinks … just what exactly did it eat to become this smelly . Wait, it was the curry I made that it ate . ”
“Onii, you can use Lifestyle Magic right? Please use Clean … I can’t even open my eyes . ”
“I get it so stop hugging me when you’re all wet with ink!”
Even though she was a Demon Lord her previous life, doing such things really showed that she was just a girl .
I applied the Lifestyle Magic Clean on Miri and did the same on myself to clean us up .
The ink on not just our faces but also our clothes cleanly fell off .
“Onii, to be safe, apply Cure too . The Gourmand’s ink contains toxins too . ”
“Really? … Ah, I heard that octopus ink has a type of strong toxin in it . ”
Although squid ink could be used to make pasta .
“What now? Miri, do you want to challenge another Gourmand one more time? I can teach you how to cook this time?”
“It will take about three days for another Gourmand to appear once you defeat it . So we’ll have to give up . ”
“I see, that’s a pity . ”
“That is the pity here . ”
Miri looked at the deep-fried cricket dish covered in ink and said .
“Even though I went through the trouble to make it . ”
“No, that can probably still be eaten . Clean . ”
I used Clean and removed the ink from the deep-fried cricket .
Then, I picked one and put it in my mouth .
The crunchy sensation spread throughout my mouth .
“Miri, although I understand that you want to bring out the ingredient’s taste, just deep-frying it can’t really be called cooking . If you devise a recipe to maybe deep-fry it with lemongra.s.s or something, maybe the Gourmand will also recognize it as cooking?”
Well, even with that, I don’t think that it would actually want to eat it .
However, I can’t call myself an elder brother if I don’t eat the cooking my younger sister made wholeheartedly so I ate it but I crossed gazes with the cricket when I ate it .
Hah, Miri’s fondness for strange cooking has not changed at all .
“It’s just like Onii said . Although it’s appetizing enough just like this . ”
Miri picked up two crickets and ate them just like that .
She chewed on the crickets and I could hear the crunchiness .
Then, Miri shoved the remaining crickets into my item bag as she pleased .
“Onii, you can eat them when you want to . ”
“Ah … okay . Yup, thank you . ”
I smiled bitterly as we exited the Gourmand room .
However, since there weren’t any monsters until this point, I was worried about the boss room .
“Miri, I want to exterminate some monsters so can we take a detour?”
“Of course . I shall see Onii’s true power . ”
“Miri won’t be fighting with me?”
“But Onii’s 20 times experience would be meaningless if Miri defeats them right?”
Ah, that’s true .
I nodded .
I somehow felt like I was being used by my younger sister .
The room we arrived at under Miri’s guidance had huge seahorse-like monsters flying in the sky .
It seemed like the monsters had not noticed our presence .
“How are they able to fly?”
“Most fish-type monsters on land are capable of flight . ”
” … It’s destroying my concept of fishes . Are there any points to take note of when attacking them?”
“Won’t Onii’s spell defeat them in a single shot? With Pet.i.t Thunder . ”
“You’re right ― Pet.i.t Thunder!”
I took out the Asclepius staff and chanted my spell .
The lightning that flashed from the tip of the staff caught the seahorse-like monster .
【Ichinojo Leveled up】
【Light Magician skill: 「Light Magic II」has skilled up to「Light Magic III」】
【Dark Magician skill: 「Dark Magic II」has skilled up to「Dark Magic III」】
【Sword Saint skill: 「Sword Equip II」has skilled up to「Sword Equip III」】
【Sword Saint skill: 「Sword Afterimage」acquired】
“Onii, you leveled up?”
“Yeah . All my levels apart from Jobless leveled up . Light and Dark Magician reached level 6, Sword Saint to level 4 and Pugilist to level 61 . ”
” … Seriously amazing . Even Advanced Jobs can be leveled up that easily . ”
“What about Miri?”
“Demon Lord didn’t level up but Commoner became level 4 . Help me change job to Apprentice Mage after I level up a little more okay . ”
“You’re fine with Apprentice Mage?”
“Yup . My magical power has mostly been sealed . Raising my MP a little more will widen the scope that I can transfer to so it’s convenient in various ways . ”
I see . Apprentice Mage certainly has skills that raise maximum MP .
Hn?
“Now that you mention it, I recall that Sheena entrusted me with a gem that is meant to seal the Demon Lord’s power but what should we do with that?”
I only thought of it now and asked Miri .
“Ah … Onii can hold onto that for now . It’s not like the seal can be undone even though we have the gem . We don’t know where the other three gems are anyway . ”
“Another three huh . ”
“Yup . And it seems like somebody took one of it away . Although it was located between Florence and Belasra . They left some mysterious message saying ‘Welcome to Centaur Labyrinth’ that didn’t serve as a clue but … what’s wrong, Onii?”
“N … nothing . ”
Even though I denied it, that manner of speech felt familiar .
Or rather, there’s no doubt about it?
It was probably Jofre and Elize who left that ‘Welcome to Centaur Labyrinth’ message behind .
Doesn’t that mean they are holding onto a gem that seals the Demon Lord’s power?
As I was thinking, I sensed presences approaching us .
“Miri ― there . ”
“Stop, Onii . ”
Miri restrained me and looked towards the corner down the path that the presence was coming from .
A group dressed in silver armor ran pa.s.s .
It was a squad of about ten people . A person from that group turned towards us and called out .
“Squad Leader, I sense some presence in that direction . ”
“Are they strong?”
“They are quite weak . ”
“Then leave them be . Our goal has been achieved . We’ll head for the transfer circle . ”
It seems like one of them had Presence Detection .
But, what did he mean by quite weak?
“(I used Status Forgery . The skill capable of altering status can even trick people with greater than Presence Detection II skill . )”
Miri said to me quietly .
“(Silent Room)”
I chanted and blocked the sound .
“Miri, who were those people?”
I asked in a normal tone .
“They seem to be a squad from the Church . I don’t know what they are doing here but we should let sleeping dogs lie . ”
“A squad from the Church huh . They seem like an army . ”
To me, they seemed like the Crusaders we had back on Earth .