Chapter 145: Decisive Battle – VS Large-sized Magic Beast! Just Kidding (part 1)
Chapter 145: Decisive Battle – VS Large-sized Magic Beast! Just Kidding (part 1)
So, here we are at the spring where that large-sized magic beast supposedly settled down. Well, not exactly settled, but rather grew abnormally huge. Anyhow, our goal was to get rid of it, whether by exterminating it or some other way.
Speaking of this spring, I was picturing something smaller when they said spring. But its actually pretty darn big. You could almost call it a little lake.
But yeah, at any rate, this waterside, or beach, whatever you wanna call it, was a pretty vast sandy beach. Theyve probably cleared it out to make it easy to use since the opposite bank is all overgrown with trees.
Anyway, looking around you could see fragments of broken trees and the wreckage of traps and nets that got trashed Just by looking at this state, it was clear that the magic beast definitely had a wild time.
Wow this looks pretty dicey.
Yeah So, Ren, what do we do?
Huh? Im the one coming up with the plan? Lily, dont you have any ideas?
I cant think of anything in particular. Plus, youre the one who suggested taking this job in the first place, Ren. I thought you would have some plan?
Well, its not like that, but yeah, I guess.
Hmm First, Id like to know what this big magic beast is like, but I heard its learned from past failed attempts and hardly ever comes out of the spring
For now, maybe we should check out regular, I mean, regular-sized turtle monsters? Based on that, we can estimate how big the larger one might be. So, Id like to try and catch at least one regular-sized turtle. But looking around, it seems there are none in sight. Too bad.
Hmm They say the big one goes wild when you try to fish or use nets, but what if we tried catching one through fishing?
Alright, lets give it a shot.
So, a little further to the right, there was a slightly steep but not too high cliff-like spot, so I decided to try fishing from there. I dug up some earthworms from the ground for bait Do turtles even eat earthworms? Well, its not your average turtle; its a magic beast, so lets just hope for the best.
Ren, are you sure about this? What if the big one shows up?
If that happens, we run for it, full speed.
Ren, youre way too carefree.
Hey, wait a minute! Arisa, youre the last person who can tell me that, okay?!
After this exchange, I cast my fishing line, and in just a few minutes, I felt a tug on the rod! Oh, it was pulling pretty strongly, or maybe not so strongly? Either way, it felt like I could reel it in without much trouble, so I went ahead and did just that. Fish!
Actually, does Fish! work when its about fishing turtles? Shouldnt it be Turtle!? Well, whatever.
Now, lets check the turtle I caught. It was about 30-40 cm in size. Its mouth seemed slightly pointed I guess? I heard that it was a freshwater turtle, and since they had mentioned using it for cooking, I had a suspicion but doesnt this thing look quite a bit like a softshell turtle? I mean, the shell felt quite hard, and its claws on the feet were pretty sharp, so in that sense, it was similar but possibly a different species. Then again, this world was different, and above all, this turtle was a magic beast.
Hmm, this is intriguing. How else was it different I wonder?
My natural curiosity had kicked in, and I decided to observe it further. Hmm, it was like a land turtle, but not quite the same. It was really interesting.
You know, my intellectual curiosity had been a bit like that. It was fully apparent even during tasks, but once I got curious about something I couldnt stop. If something caught my attention, I researched it thoroughly! Im a man who has even dismantled a pasta machine once. Or rather, In my past life, I was a man, and in this life, Im a woman. But thanks to that Im not troubled with money and my intellectual curiosity hasnt been so bad!
White I was at it, I decided to try using [Appraisal] and [Analyze] on the turtle. It seemed to be edible and mild in flavor but exceptionally tasty. Well, well, is that so?
As I flipped the turtle around and examined it from various angles, I felt a tugging on my sleeve. Huh? Annoying! I swatted my arm away but then, my sleeve was tugged again. I swatted it. It tugged again. I swatted it. It tugged. I swatted Ugh, persistent!
What is it!? Im in the middle of something, dont bother me!
Reluctantly, I turned around, and there were Lily and Arisa, pointing towards the spring and making strange jerky movements.
R-Ren, that that, thats
That thing over there poking out a bit there
Huh? That? Over there? Poking out? What?
When I took a closer look in the direction they were pointing, I noticed that there was now some sort of small island-like object on the waters surface And also, something was growing on the waters surface ahead of it?
Wait, could it be!? I activated my [Hawk Eye] to enhance my vision and looked closely at the mysterious object A face? No, a head? Actually wait, thats a turtles head!?
Its huge! Wait, really huge!? And its gradually getting closer to us!? Huh? What? What should we do? What should I do?
Aaahhhhhhh, what should I do, what should I do!? Wait, could it be that this turtle I was holding in my hand was the cause of this?! Would returning it to the spring solve this?! Okay, Ill do it! I quickly tossed the turtle I had in my hand into the spring! Body Enhancement! Yaaah! Splash!
Did it stop moving? No, its still looking at us, and I have no idea what will happen. I didnt let my guard down and slowly began to step back, tugging on the edges of Lily and Arisas clothing to prompt them to move as well, slowly slowly
Oh, its gone.
After taking about five minutes to carefully, cautiously, and slowly retreat, the large turtles head gradually sank. That was close
Its gone, right?
Yeah.
I thought it might work since there was nothing at first, but it didnt, huh?
Yeah.
Are you reflecting on it?
I kinda do, but if we dont take action, we wont learn anything, so I think it was inevitable, you know? And in terms of results, it wasnt a failure, right?
Sigh Yeah, youre right! So, what next?!
Whyre you upset!? Isnt this what being an adventurer is all about!?
Lily, it turned out alright, didnt it?
I know that! Geez! So whats the next move?
Next? That would be
Should we try fishing it out?
Youre going to fish it? That thing?
Yes.
Well, this seems to be the only option.
Huh? Shouldnt we just fish for small turtles like before to lure it out, you say? No, no, that giant monster rampages to protect its companions, right? And it had such a reaction to that small turtle from earlier. No way, its definitely going to go berserk.
Oh, Lily is looking distant again.
At this point, just do as you please.
I will.