When the party was in full swing, a concerning topic ca out.
“There’s a monster on the highway?” [Ryouma]
“Yes. We ca here through the southern plains, but before leaving Kereban, we heard sightings of an ‘ant’ in the plains. Because of that we were on alert the entire trip. It was really exhausting.” [Prenence]
Ant is the universal term for all ant-type monsters. There are all sorts, but in general, they all possess a hard carapace that protects their whole body, as well as an inclination to swarm their enemies. How dangerous an ant actually is. however, depends on the variant.
“Could it be a murder ant?” [Ryouma]
Murder Ants possess a hard carapace and a sturdy pair of jaws. They are carnivorous and they love to fight other living creatures. A swarm of such ants is undoubtedly a threat. Depending on the size of the nest, the Adventurers Guild would rank an extermination job for them as Rank C or above.
“Oh, no. If that were the case, we would’ve surely chosen a different route. It should be a tunnel ant.” [Prenence]
“Hmm… Sorry. Can you tell more about that variant?” [Ryouma]
“Let’s see… First of all it has the sa hard carapace that ants are known for, but their jaws, claws, and overall strength is weaker compared to the other ants variants. They also don’t have any venom. Overall, their attacking power is low, but they’re also more gentle compared to the other ants and won’t attack other monsters or people.
They specialize in digging soft ground and are known to expand their nest proactively. The problem is that if you accidentally pass over one of their nests without knowing, their nests will cave and your carriage will fall with it.” [Prenence]
The tunnel ant nests are reinforced by their bodily liquids, so it won’t cave in if it’s just a Peron walking over it, but a carriage filled with luggage plus passengers is simply too heavy.
Tunnel ants aren’t very dangerous, but they’re considered to be annoying pests for people traveling on carriages.
“They must be a headache to the transportation industry.” [Ryouma]
“Hopefully it doesn’t affect the number of custors and the preparations for the festival…” [Serge]
Serge-san, who was quietly listening beside us, seed to be concerned as well.
…In that case, why don’t I pay them a visit tomorrow?
“You, Ryouma-dono?” [Prenence]
Prenence-san made an odd face when I said that, so I explained to him that I was an adventurer. I also told him that I was planning to go to the Great Forest of Shurus.
“I see. So, that’s why you asked if it was a murder ant.” [Prenence]
In the great forest, other than the murder ants, there are also other ant-type monsters, so seeing those tunnel ants should prove to be good reference.
“They might affect the flow of goods too, so I’m thinking of checking them out just in case.” [Ryouma]
“That would put at ease.” [Serge]
“It would be a great help to us too.” [Prenence]
Not just Serge-san but Prenence-san too?
“We can’t afford to show a poorly practiced show to the audience, so I was thinking of using the plains near Gimuru as a practice area.” [Prenence]
Itinerant entertainers like themselves have to travel from one town to another, so oftentis they do not have a designated practice area. Moreover, their performances are the products that they sell. They cannot afford to show them when still unrehearsed, so they can’t practice in a place where other people can see them.
Unfortunately, tunnel ants have recently been sighted in the plains. Although there’s only a chance that they might happen into one, that’s still enough to make them want to avoid it. That’s probably why it would be a great help to them if I could do sothing about the tunnel ants.
“…In that case, why don’t you use my place for your practice?” [Ryouma]
If they just need a place away from the public, then the Abandoned Mine should be good enough. The duke’s family did tell to use the place as I saw fit, so I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if I lent it to so people to use for their rehearsal. There also won’t be any dangerous monsters there. And in the rare case that a monster does appear, it will be weak enough that Soldio-san can deal with it himself. He looks strong, after all.
“Are you sure? The rumors about itinerant entertainers like ourselves aren’t exactly flattering. Many of them say that we steal from other people and kidnap children. Of course, we don’t do such thing nor plan to, but…” [Prenence]
“Ah, don’t worry about it. It’s not like I have anything worthwhile in my house.” [Ryouma]
Most of my stuff are inside my Item Box, so it really doesn’t matter if I lend the place. Besides, it’s actually more dangerous for them if they try to enter my house. There are plenty of stuff there that could cause a person a world of pain if handled poorly. All the more so if there are still so uncured soap or caustic soda left.
“It’s fine. Really.” [Ryouma]
“In that case, thank you.” [Prenence]
“When will you be starting?” [Ryouma]
“If you’re alright with it, we’d like to start as soon as tomorrow morning.” [Prenence]
I’m pretty sure they just arrived. Are they really alright with that?
“Alright. I’ll be waiting for you tomorrow morning then. The place is straight from the northern exit of Gimuru. I don’t think you’ll miss it.” [Ryouma]
Like this we made plans for tomorrow and concluded the social gathering.
?Volu 3 Chapter 102 part2
The next day.
The Semroid Troupe visited my house, and I provided them a place to practice. I didn’t really do anything special, though. I just told them not to go inside because it’s dangerous, and prepared so water for them. The rest I left to Prenence-san. When I got to the adventurers guild just before noon, there were fewer people than usual.
It’s nice not having to wait, but…
“Oh, Ryouma-kun.” [Maelyn-san]
“Good day. I hear that Tunnel Ants have recently been sighted in the southern plains.” [Ryouma]
“I see word got to you quickly. If you’re looking for work relating to that, I’ve got so here.” [Maelyn]
I just thought I’d ntion it, but before I knew it, several job requests have already been piled up on the desk.
“…Destroy the tunnel ants, look for nests… And dig? The first two I get, but what am I supposed to dig?” [Ryouma]
“That mission is to dig out the nests. Just destroying the eggs isn’t thorough enough, as there’s a chance they might still co back later.” [Maelyn]
“I see… Is this why there are so few guild mbers here today?” [Ryouma]
“Correct. We’ve already found several nests. There’s a people out there hunting right now.” [Maelyn]
“…How much damage have the tunnel ants caused so far?” [Ryouma]
“Not much right now. But…” [Maelyn]
Maelyn-san’s expression turned dark. I wonder if sothing happened.
“I told you we found several nests, right? There’s a high probability that the tunnel ants either ca from sowhere to breed or they ca here after breeding to look for a new ho. Because of that the guild thinks it’s still likely to find new nests, making the odds for casualties on our side higher.
That’s why the guild wants to allocate more people into searching for nests. The Tar Guild is also cooperating with us to so extent, so we’ve been making progress.” [Maelyn]
The tar guild?
“Can you tell more about that?” [Ryouma]
“There’s not much more to it. Guilds can work together too depending on the problem. One such example is the tunnel ant infestation, which we’d all like to be dealt with sooner rather than later. Besides, this town is close to the mines,
so there are a lot of people on the Tar Guild’s side to help us out.” [Maelyn]
“…I don’t know if it’s okay to ask this from you, but is it also possible to get the job from the Tar Guild?” [Ryouma]
“Probably. Are you planning to take the job from there?” [Maelyn]
Uu, that look in her eyes…
“Actually, I’m also a mber of the Tar Guild, and its guild master has helped out quite a bit, but given my monsters, there’s not really a lot of jobs I could accept from the Tar Guild. So, I was thinking of going there to accept the job.” [Ryouma]
“So you want to return a favor? Alright. You don’t have to make that face. It’s up to a mber whether he wants to accept a job or not.” [Maelyn]
She laughed as she said that. Looks like I didn’t offend her.
“That’s good to hear. Still, though, I’m sorry I couldn’t accept the job here.” [Ryouma]
“I hear you. Feel free to accept a job from here when you feel like it.” [Maelyn]
“Thank you very much.” [Ryouma]
I thanked Maelyn-san and left the Adventurers Guild.
“Take care!” [Guard]
The guard at the southern gate saw off as I left for the southern plains. I almost never dropped by the Tar Guild, so when I went there, I was mistaken for a new applicant. There were no problems after clearing up that misunderstanding, however, and I was able to accept a job normally.
“Let’s go!” [Ryouma]
“KURURURU!” [Ril Birds]
As I yelled that out loud, the ril birds I took with flied up in the sky and assud a formation shaped like the letter ‘V’. I’m having them look for tunnel ant nests in places likely to have one.
According to the Tar Guild, the tunnel ants have a disposition to eject earth and sand to their surroundings when digging out their nests. In other words, while they may not make a mound when digging out a nest, any area with signs of having been recently dug could possibly be a tunnel ant nest.
“KE!” [Ril Bird]
“Oh, found one?” [Ryouma]
I used Shared Perception to see the world through Eins’ eyes, who was currently flying still in the air. When I did, I saw a patchy area of earth within the verdant plains. With just my bare eyes, the plains seed endless, but from up above, everything was a lot clearer.
I have no business with places that others have already started to dig or places where people have already started hunting.
I used Dinsion Magic and left the empty road.
Let’s take a look around here then…
“Dinsion Ho.” [Ryouma]
I brought the iron and tal slis with from the abandoned mine, so I released them and had them line up. There were about 400 of them all in all.
I fed them a lot because I wanted to make a big sli, but I fed them a bit too much and now they’re too many. Just 100 is enough to make a big sli, but now I have 200 iron slis and 200 tal slis. Still, with this many, there are also more things that I can do.
I ordered the sli most skilled in transformation to turn itself into a katana, then I gave out an order to the rest of the slis.
“The rest of you don’t have to transform. Just proceed carefully.” [Ryouma]
At that, a line of tal and iron balls pushed their way through the grass.
A few minutes later.
“Found anything?” [Ryouma]
Although the slis were weak, they had a strong sense for danger. That sense might have weakened after evolving, but the iron slis were still able to detect sothing. There seed to be sothing just a little up ahead. The slis were cautious in their own way. So even if it were just sothing that stopped their movents, they would still proceed carefully.
One step, two steps, three steps… When we reached the place the Iron Sli was pointing at, in that mont—
“!” [Ryouma]
An antenna peeked out of the ground. After which ca several eyes. A giant ant that was big enough to reach my chest had appeared.
Its appearance resembled that of cave mantises, but before it could fully co out of the ground, I lopped off its neck with a swing from my katana.
“PIKI…” [Tunnel Ant]
“So this is a tunnel ant.” [Ryouma]
Two more ca out after the first one. I hunted them in the sa way.
After that no more appeared.
According to the information of the tar guild, the tunnel ants move in the night in order to avoid the ti period when most of their enemies are active. Hence, they rarely left their nest in the morning and just slept inside. Because of that only a few guards would be found in the entrance. Unless the guards co back, there won’t be any more.
The guards for this nest happens to be those three ants I just killed.
“With this, I’ve managed to find one nest… Oops. ‘Earth Needle’.” [Ryouma]
My job today is just to look for the nest, not exterminate them, so I just need to record the location and leave a mark sowhere nearby. There’s no need to needlessly alert the nest, so I left with my slis and went to look for another entrance. I went to the next likely location.
“Might as well let them roll.” [Ryouma]
The iron and tal slis usually don’t have any opportunities to roll other than in the abandoned mine, so I took this opportunity to let them roll through the plains. When I told them that, a happy atmosphere began to emanate from the two types of slis. As soon as I gave them the signal, they all started to roll.
Wow. They’re fast. Recently, they’ve been getting faster and faster like so kind of a speed demon.
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