Episode 91
cleanup
091 ? Spring Cleaning #1
“Ugh!”
Luna screamed as if she was going to squeeze out every last bit of her strength. Her arms, which were holding the witch Nemea from behind, were filled with strength.
Gulp.
As I look at it, large beads of sweat run down my forehead. What on earth is going to happen?
Luna has previously subdued Hippolyte, who is considered a strong fighter in Sodomora, with a suplex, so expectations are high.
Right now, Luna is showing off her ultimate skill to Nemea.
“Ugh!”
“Huh-. You-, what are you doing-? Don’t press your stomach like that-. The baby’s going to come out, kid-.”
But Nemea just burst into laughter as if her side was tickled.
For some reason, Luna’s attack of lightly lifting and striking Hippolyta seems to be completely useless against Nemea.
“It tickles-. Stop it-.”
slap.
“Hic!”
Even when Nemea lightly hit Luna’s hand, Luna was startled and jumped away.
“Ha, Hassan…!”
Luna looks at me, caressing the back of her hand that has soon turned red and swollen. Her wide-open eyes shine brightly.
That gaze seemed to imply, ‘Why did my attack work on Hippolyte as well?’
Luna, who had grown in many ways and even defeated Hippolyta, was brimming with confidence these days.
But, when you face another wall like this, you probably don’t understand it at all.
Of course, just looking at it like that didn’t mean I could come up with a clever idea or give Luna the answer she wanted.
Knock, knock-.
Nemea smoothed out the wrinkles in her crumpled one-piece dress with her palm and smiled lazily as if nothing had happened.
“Anyway-. Nice to meet you, friends-. I thought I might see you if I walked around the streets-. I never saw you-. We finally got to meet like this today-.”
“Is there anything you would like to see for us…?”
Honestly, I was really uncomfortable with this witch named Nemea.
Because of Elfriede, I was particularly afraid of people who called themselves witches. Also, there was something more to Nemea than just acquaintances.
What kind of relationship can I have with this woman? I don’t know. Honestly, now that I think about it, it feels like a dream.
Anyway, I couldn’t help but be wary of the witch Nemea.
Luna doesn’t seem to know what happened between me and this woman, but if Nemea opens her mouth, it could create a huge rift between me and Luna.
Shit, is this how you feel when you meet your ex-girlfriend while hanging out with your current girlfriend? I don’t know because I don’t have any experience. Anyway, it wasn’t a very good feeling.
Nemea, who speaks with a calm expression, whether I am feeling embarrassed or not.
“Hmm-. Buddy-. Don’t be so scared-. I just wanted to see how my cute friends are doing-. Actually, it’s not me who has business with my friends, it’s my colleague who lives underground-.”
“Are you Mr. Nemea’s colleague?”
“Yeah-. You guys must have met them once too-. The flute player who lives in the sewers-.”
I searched my memory at the mention of the piper living in the sewer. When had I ever met such a person? – Luna spoke instead.
“That guy, the rat trainer?”
“Yeah-. That guy’s been having a lot of worries lately-. Well-. It’s only natural that he’d have a lot of worries since he lives underground-. Anyway, this here is the deposit that he gave me-.”
The witch Nemea took out a small pouch-like thing from between her ample breasts, just big enough to fit in the palm of her hand.
Okay, that’s fine.
I took it in absentmindedly and looked inside, and there were a few pebble-like things inside.
Since it wasn’t money, I couldn’t help but be disappointed.
“I don’t know if you’re trying to make a request. I don’t think something like this will work.”
“Hassan, this is black onyx! My goodness, you’re giving me something this precious as a down payment…!?”
“Please tell me what your request is.”
“I don’t know the details either-. It’d be quicker to hear it from him directly-. Just follow this guy here-.”
Nemea once again thrust her hand between her exposed cleavage. Soon, a young rat with an impressive long tail jumped out from her grasp.
Subal, I don’t know what the hell you’re carrying around in your chest. Is it like Doraemon’s pocket?
A small mouse cries at that moment.
Tick tick.
To be honest, I don’t really like rats, but it had a small red ribbon on the end of its tail and its fur looked clean, so I could tolerate it. Maybe it was a pet rat.
“Wow, so cute.”
Luna seemed delighted to receive the mouse from the palm of her hand, forgetting that she had been antagonizing Nemea until just now.
“What is this person’s name?”
“Of course I will-. Actually, I don’t know either-. Anyway, that little guy will guide me to my colleague-. I’ve told you all the story, so I guess I’ll take my leave now-.”
Nemea, who had placed the mouse in Luna’s hand, turned away from us as if she had finished her business.
Crunch, crunch.
I thought I could just walk a few steps to make some distance.
Towering.
Soon the sound of high heels stops and Nemea turns slightly towards me.
“Friend-. I apologize for what happened last time-. It seems the world needs more meticulous things than reading books-.”
After saying that, he walked away again along the path he was supposed to take.
Next to me, who was blankly staring at the red hair fluttering under the cone-shaped hat, Luna frowned as she placed a small rat on her shoulder.
“I really don’t like that woman because she’s too irritating. Hassan shouldn’t trust that woman either. She’s definitely the type to plot something terrible. That’s my opinion as a voodoo doctor.”
Tick tick.
It’s only now that I realize it, but Luna’s intuition was pretty accurate.
But the problem is that the feeling comes a little slowly. If it’s late, it’s too late.
Just like Luna said, I also had a lot of qualms about that woman named Nemea.
However, I was a little surprised that she would apologize like this. But I don’t think that will improve my relationship with Nemea.
“So what do we do now?”
It was great to have a job, but I was also a bit taken aback because it was something I had never expected.
“I was planning on going home and resting, but I ended up getting a request. Luna, what do you think?”
So when I asked Luna, she looked at the black pebbles inside the small package and smiled broadly.
“Wow, wow! It’s real onyx! This is pretty hard to get!”
“What is that? Is it a jewel?”
“Yeah, yeah, the jewel of the underworld! Also known as the Tears of Nox.”
“Tears of Knox?”
I thought of Luna’s mother, Knox, crying. What kind of tears do you have to shed to make these black pebbles? Are your eyes not healthy?
“Is it precious?”
“It’s also called rat gem because it’s usually found in rat nests. It’s also a gem used to make talismans and warding off evil spirits! It’s expensive!”
There was nothing that really struck me as a talisman or a curse. So I just responded indifferently, saying, “Oh, I see.” But Luna raised her voice as if she was really excited.
“Anyway, it’s hard to get. To be willing to give all this as a down payment, you must trust Hassan quite a bit!”
“okay?”
Luna’s words made my shoulders, which had been indifferent, shrug for a moment. However, my calm reasoning soon calmed down my excitement.
If you gave something precious and expensive as a deposit, there was a high probability that the request itself was very difficult.
Luna spoke to the rat that was standing on her shoulder.
“So, are you going to guide me?”
Click.
The rat that had fallen down from Luna’s shoulder began to run away somewhere. Luna’s body shook violently at the sight.
“Hassan, let’s go quickly!”
“Oh, uh.”
Luna already seems to be in a good mood to handle the request.
Although I was flustered and bewildered by the unexpected encounter, I decided to follow the rat with Luna.
If you complete the quest and build up Luna’s karma or something, you can make a Moai Totem, and with that, you can raise your abilities.
My body was itching to use the accumulated task figures.
* * *
“Ah, those are the guests from back then.”
Ruth’s General Store, a store located near the entrance to the underground sewer. The owner, Bronze Tier adventurer Ruth, pretended to know me and Luna.
We’ve only been to this store once.
I wonder if it’s his memory as a seasoned shopkeeper that recognizes us, or if it’s because Luna and I look so unique.
“You’ve gotten a lot better since I last saw you. I guess adventurers make a lot of money, huh?”
“It’s okay. Well.”
“I know because I also played in the military. I opened this store with the money I worked hard to save. But is that rumor true?”
“What are those rumors?”
“They say there’s a Samaritan who defeated the cultists who invaded Sodomora. I was wondering if that Samaritan was you.”
“Hassan is right!”
Luna shouted brightly in my stead.
“Hassan knocked him down and threw him in jail!”
It’s kind of funny how he talks proudly about it as if it were something he did himself.
When I felt a little embarrassed, as if I was showing off somewhere, the general store owner Ruth stroked his rough beard and nodded, “Indeed-.”
“Indeed, that’s true. When I first saw you, you seemed awkward and crude. But after a few days, you’ve started to give off quite the warrior vibe.”
“Is that so?”
“Anyway, the story has become long. If you came to our store, you must be trying to go underground again. Should I just take care of you with the same thing I did last time?”
So Luna and I bought a package that contained a brown cloak that could be used as a raincoat, food, firewood for a torch, and grass to repel pests for 4 silver.
It was quite heartbreaking to lose money before even starting the commission, but I could bear it if I thought of it as a preemptive investment.
“Anyway, I know you guys are pretty good at it, but you should be careful. Groundwater these days is a bit different than it used to be.”
“What does that mean?”
At Luna’s words, the shop owner Ruth blinked her eyes into space as if lost in thought.
Ruth, who was silent for a while, opened her mouth again.
“I don’t know for sure because I haven’t been there myself. I heard that some kind of grass grew there. They said that it’s best not to light a torch if possible.”
“grass?”
“Hassan, what is this grass?”
At the word grass, Luna and I just looked at each other with an unexpected feeling. What kind of grass grows in an underground waterway?
“Anyway, I heard that because of those weeds, even the homeless are escaping from the sewers these days. Be careful. I don’t want to lose a famous customer.”
Just-.
After exchanging some pleasantries, we headed out of the store.
Tick tick.
So we followed the rat with the ribbon on its tail into the well, and only then did we understand why the shopkeeper Ruth had said that the grass had grown.
“Shippal, what is all this?”
I originally knew that Sodomora’s underground waterways were dirty and filthy.
The sight of all kinds of green growth growing in clusters was enough to make even a country with a fairly high tolerance for strong things frown.
It looked more like some kind of ancient, horrifying jungle than an underground waterway. The situation was even more horrifying because there was no light to illuminate it, making visibility difficult.
Luna knelt down on the floor and stroked the plants with her hands. Then she explained the situation in a rather serious voice.
“They’re all plants that burn easily. There’s a reason they told us not to use torches.”
“I see.”
If plants this large were to burn, it would certainly cause a terrible fire.
Even the underground water is full of all kinds of gases. If we’re not careful, a huge explosion could occur and blow everything away.
“Sval, I can’t help it.”
I gave up on lighting the torch and just clenched my fists hard to activate the grace.
Then, a light source appears that briefly reveals my surroundings.
“Hassan, you’ve really been given a convenient favor! Then I should take them out too.”
Luna, who was admiring my shining palm, took out a small glass bottle from something like a money bag she was carrying on her waist.
Woohoo.
I thought I could hear the sound of wings flapping inside.
Thump thump.
Soon, as he shook the glass bottle back and forth like a bartender, the tiny light sources began to emit light. Did Luna say those fireflies that she used to light up the inside of the tent?
“Do you usually carry something like that around?”
“You never know what might happen.”
Indeed, Luna usually carries around various things, starting with oil. Surprisingly, she is very well-prepared, which helps.
Anyway, now that I have the light source, I was about to start walking, thinking that I should follow the Ribbon Mouse again.
Gyarrrrr… .
I saw red eyes starting to flash around us. I wondered if it was rat pups flocking to the light.
I couldn’t help but be surprised at the sight that was revealed when I shined the light on my palm.
As I expected, the guy was a rat.
“Hatsan! The rat is huge!”
But the size of the sub was so big that it was about half that of Luna, and it looked more like a Pokemon than a rat. Could it be like a nutria that grew large due to radiation?
What the hell did that rat eat to make it so swollen? Even worse, that horrible face has strange plants hanging from it that I can’t tell are grass or flowers.
Kiaaaaak!
Anyway, that kid lunged at me.
Knock, knock, knock, knock.
That’s a speed like that of a wild beast. It can’t be anything other than a merciless surprise attack. Are you aiming for my neck?
However, compared to Hippolyta, whom I had previously faced, or Schizo, the greatsword warrior of the cult, his movements were somewhat easy to follow.
“Well, it’s time for you to come out.”
Swish.
I took out my newly acquired 50cm fear crusher from my waistband and slammed it straight into the giant rat’s head.
Phew.
A rod of moderate weight cuts through the wind at the same time.
Bam!
Sizzle!
The rat’s head is flattened.
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