Chapter 501 Overprotective Aruji
General adjustment to make the text smoother.
After lunch, we continued with the dungeon challenge.
For a long time, we did not see any worthwhile prey as we sailed peacefully on [Mizumaru].
Suddenly, the peace was broken by a gra.s.sland fire that flared up in front of us.
“Ugh, what is that?!”
Fer squinted for a moment and said, “That’s Dora’s Pseudo-Dragon Breath,”
“What? What is he destroying?” I asked, feeling a little anxious. Dora-chan tended to use his Ice Spears more when it comes to prey we wanted to keep for eating. Even so, it was rare for him to unleash something like this.
“Looks like ants,”
“Ants?”
“See those sharp stone tower-like things?”
“Yes? The ones that look like spires? Are they some kind of unique stone formation?”
“Those are ant hills.”
“Ant hills? Those… those…!!?”
Even from this distance, I could tell that those stone spire-like things had to be about ten storeys high! What kind of ant build those things?!
While I was busy panicking to myself, Dora-chan returned with a smug grin on his face, “There were some termites ahead, I killed them.”
“T-termites…?”
Just then, Grandpa Gon also arrived and landed on [Mizumaru].
“I could have dealt with them, but Dora wanted to do it,” said Grandpa Gon in an indulgent voice.
‘Dealt with them?’
Grandpa Gon?
If Dora-chan’s ‘Pseudo-Dragon Breath’ is already that devastating, what would a real Dragon Breath look like?
I… really don’t want to think about it.
While I was busy panicking some more, we reached the area where Dora-chan had unleashed his Pseudo-Dragon Breath. It was still on fire.
Within the smouldering fire, I saw 10 large white ants, about a meter long, twitching and crackling as the fire ate them up.
As for the ant hill, no, the termite hill, it was really about 10 stories tall.
“Those are Killer Termites…” Gaudino-san muttered under his breath.
“You know what those things are?”
“Indeed, it was around the time when I first started my Adventuring career. A certain village was beset by whitish ant monsters that suddenly appeared and started devouring the crops. A subjugation request was put out for them.”
“And you were drafted in? Even though you were new? ”
“Not at first. A single ant monster is fairly low rank, but where there’s one, a nest is bound to be nearby. Therefore the Guild decided to send out a B Rank party to subjugate the ‘white ants’. However, we never heard from them again…”
I could sense the heavy feelings connected to the story.
Aahhhh, I want to know! But at the same time, I don’t want to know!!
Unaware of my dilemma, Gaudino-san continued, “The party leader was a friend and my senior. He was only two or three years older than me at that time. A promising young Adventurer on the verge of reaching A Cla.s.s. Even so, a week after they went on that mission, we never heard from them again.”
“I- I see…”
“Well, the Guild had a lot of hopes for this party and put out a fact-finding mission request to check on their condition. Naturally, my friends and I accepted it. I had to know what happened to him.”
“O-oh,”
“When my party reached the village, we did not find a single person there. The village was completely empty. There were no farm animals either not even a rat. Thinking it was strange, we tried exploring the forest beyond the damaged fields. That was when we encounter the tower-like anthill. Surrounding the tower were corpses of the dead termites.”
“And, um, your friend?”
Gaudino-san was silent for so long that I thought he was not going to answer me, but then, he said, “That B Rank party was completely devoured. We saw bits of their corpses scattered among the ants… While we were standing there, the tower seemed to shake and more Termites appeared. I… I remember screaming and swinging my sword desperately as my party tried to get away. If those white ants had not stopped to feast on the downed bodies of my friends, I…”
Woah, that’s seriously gruesome.
“Heh, I was just 15 or 16 at that time. A shocking sight for a country b.u.mpkin who had just run away from the countryside to seek his fortunes in adventuring. Anyway, I looked up these monsters and found that they were more dangerous than most common ant-type monsters. It was also the first time in 30 years since Killer Termites had appeared in that area.”
“So that’s how the Guild misidentified the monsters,” I said.
“Indeed, the matter haunted me for a long time so I desperately researched them. Although there was really nothing I could do about it, I continue to do my best to refresh my knowledge of obscure monsters. Just in case.”
“Woah…” So this is what a real Adventurer is like.
If it were me, if I had gone through that at 15 or 16, I’d have quit and become a merchant or something. Gaudino-san, I respect you!
“Well, that’s an old story by now. For me, seeing the Killer Termite that had once tormented my past be trampled on so easily is…”
“No, no, you shouldn’t think that way. My familiars are just too strong.” Ahem, let’s change the subject, “Shall we move on?”
“Wait! There are a lot of Drop items there, are… are we really going to leave them all there?!”
“Eh?” I looked at the smouldering sh.o.r.e again and finally noticed the sparkling brown things on the floor. They looked sharp. “It seems kind of troublesome to pick up all those sharp fiddly things, surely it’s fine to just leave it?”
Gaudino-san stared at me.
I stared back.
“Mukouda-san, Killer Termite jaws are highly valued as materials for knives and daggers. Not only is it incredibly sharp, but it is also a popular craft material since it becomes transparent when polished.
“Eh, really?”
I turned around and cast [Appraisal] on the glittery brown things.
[Killer Termite Jaws]
Light yet durable, ideal for making knives and daggers. Becomes transparent when polished.
Huh.
Well, frankly speaking, my party is not hurting for money, but…
“Okay, my party will collect about one sack worth…”
“Wait, that’s it?”
“What about the rest?”
“Mukouda-san, are you really going to leave the rest?”
“!!??”
“Ah, well, um. Hey, Dora-chan, is it alright if you let others collect the Drop items? It’s your kill, kills? Anyway, is it okay?”
Dora-chan flew over and shrugged, “”Sure, we can’t eat those things anyway.””
“Right, Dora-chan says it’s okay for you to collect them too. He doesn’t want them.”
“… THANK YOU!!”
I guess they decided not to question their good luck.
Sui moved closer to the sh.o.r.e. I had her spray down the area with water, aside from making sure no stray flame would suddenly flare up, it also dampens down the worse of the ashes so we don’t choke on bits of burnt Termite corpses.
After we all got off the [Mizumaru], Sui bounced out of the water and transformed back to her normal size.
“Sui?”
“”Aruji~ Aruji~ can I go inside Mister Ant’s nest?””
“Uh, what? You? You want to go alone?”
“”Yes~~””
“Uh, no, no, that’s dangerous! Sui, you… you… it’s dangerous!” I said in a panic as I hugged Sui’s cool body to my chest. “Nooo, I can’t let my Sui-tan venture into unknown danger.”
“… …”
I can feel your eyes, alright? I can totally feel everyone judging me!!
“”Muu~~ Sui wants to go~~ Sui wants to have fun~~ Sui don’t want to be a boat~~ Sui wants to pew pew! Pew pew! Sui is bored~~!””
“Kuuhhh… this… hey, Fer, aren’t you kind of free too? Go with Sui!” I ordered.
Fer turned to me, one of his eyes was twitching. “Oi, did you see the entrance? It’s just over half my size, there is no way I am going there.”
“Gunununu…”
“Hey, I can’t help my size.”
I turned blazing eyes at Grandpa Gon.
“That is… I know what Master is thinking, but there is a limit to the shrinking spell. This is the minimum size. Please accept my apologies.”
“Tch!”
“”Heyy~!! If you’re so worried, I’ll go with Sui~~!!””
“Dora-chan…”
That’s right, although Dora-chan was small, he was a fully grown adult dragon. Surely… it would all be fine?
“”Yay~! Let’s go~~!!””
“”Ou!!””
The two of them rushed off before I could stop them.
“Aaahhh… my Sui-tan…”
“Oi, aren’t you being too ridiculous? Sui is a powerful monster, you know?”
“Who are you calling a monster!?” I was immediately enraged. “Ahh, it felt like it was just yesterday that my Sui-tan was a tiny, three-day-old Baby Slime. Ahhhh, my sweet little Baby Slime!!!”
“Nuu, she became a proper Slime in less than a week-”
“My Baby Slime~!!”
“Master, it will be fine. Dora and Sui together could take down a dragon. No matter what opponents they meet in the nest, none could stand against them.”
“I supposed you’re correct…”
[1] “Oi! Why do you only listen to him!!?”
“Whatever, here, a magic bag. You go pick up the Killer Termite jaws. I’m going to sit here and wait for Sui.”
“Nuuuuu!!!” Fer sounded angry, but he picked up the magic bag and left me to sit on a rock to stare at the opening to the Termite Killer’s nest.
“Has… Master always been like that?”
“As Master said, Sui has been with us since she was three days old, I guess she never grew up in his eyes,” Fer muttered.
“But, she is an Emperor Slime…”
“Has Master ever been normal?”
“Hmm,”
“Whatever,” sc.r.a.pe sc.r.a.pe, “there, I picked up some of these stupid jaws. I’m going to sleep now.”
“I believe I shall rest as well…”
“Ooof,”
“Hohoh,”
“What great harvest,”
Gaudino-san, Gideon-san and Siegwald-san were practically grinning ear to ear. Feodora-san was looking quite cheerful too.
“Thank you very much, Mukouda-san~!”
“Ah, good for you,” I said listlessly.
“Mukouda-san? Are you alright? Did you collect any Drop items?”
“Fer collected some, I think…” I said, not caring at all. “Sui and Dora-chan have gone into the termite hill, I’m just… worried for them.”
“Worried?”
“Them?”
“You mean your familiars?”
“???”
“AAhhhh!! My Sui-tan~! My precious Baby Slime~!!!”
The [Ark] stared at me for a moment, before looking at Fer and Grandpa Gon.
“The Master is feeling a little emotional now,” said Grandpa Gon.
“Tch, that’s a nice way of saying he has gone a little insane,” muttered Fer.
Before the good people from [Ark] could comment…
“”We’re back~!””
“”Aruji~~””
“Ah!” I leapt to my feet. “My Sui-tan~!!!”
I immediately grabbed Sui and rubbed my cheek against her cool jelly-like body. Ahhh, my sweet Sui is finally back~~
““Oi, what about me?””
“Hi, welcome back, Dora-chan.”
““Tch,””
“”Aruji~ souvenir for Aruji~~””
“Oooh, Sui brought me a gift? I’m so touched~~”
“Hmm, Master didn’t act like that when I brought a souvenir,” commented Grandpa Gon.
However, I was too busy inspecting the special souvenir from Sui to care about snide remarks from others.
Sui had dropped a magic stone the size of a large marble and a white oval stone about 5cm long that sparkled a lot onto my hand.
“”Those popped out when Sui and I defeated the big white ant,”” said Dora-chan.
Well, whatever. The most important thing is that Sui and Dora-chan returned safely.
Gumihou: I figured that instead of ‘Aahhh, panic for no reason protective Mukouda!!’, it would be more hilarious to see ‘Idiot parent Mukouda who still thinks Sui is still a Baby Slime~~’
[1] This is the second time I made this joke. Eguchi-san really missed out by not including these ‘why does Master not listen to me?!’ hilarity.
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