145-Episode 145: Very Poisonous Demon

Well, I think we've got enough material to go home with, don't you?

I call out to everyone now that I'm done gathering materials.

'Duh! I'm starving already!

''We've gathered a lot of materials, and it looks like the Adventurer's Guild is going to say we don't need the Demonic Materials of the Corrosive Land for a while.

Yeah, that's possible.

As we all jumped up into the sky, chatting and laughing, we could see the corroded earth shaded by the setting sun.

'It's so big, though. I wonder how far it stretches?'

I'm pretty sure this thing is spreading to the neighboring countries.

A country right next door.... That's a big problem for them, too.

Huh?　Huh?

And then Gyro-kun looks at the ground and nods his head.

'What is it, Gyro-kun?'

I mean, that swamp, it's not back to normal, is it? You know, that big, fat centipede monster.

What?

Saying that, Jairo-kun pointed to the border between the earth of corrosion and the normal ground.

On the corroded earth side of it, there was a giant poison centipede that grew out of the ground like a tree, wriggling and jittering.

''That's the monster that was hardened to the ground by my brother's magic just now, right?　That area was supposed to be cleansed by my brother's magic and returned to normal ground, but it's a swamp again, you know?

Oh, it's true.

If you ask me, that's true.

If I've used my magic to fix him to the ground, then the area where Giant Poison Sentiped is located should be a normal ground.

Giant Poison Sentipede wriggled and struggled with his body over and over again.

Then the ground comes loose, or maybe the body comes out of the ground little by little.

And as he continued to unravel the ground, swinging his body around again and again, Giant Poison Sentiped finally succeeded in exposing his entire body.

Then he let his body sink into the swamp, and then he fled towards the back of the swamp.

''Come to think of it, the Corrosive Earth is the same type of dangerous area that erodes into its surroundings just like the Forest of Demonic Beasts...''

'I don't know,' muttered Liliella, as if remembering.

'But if that's the case, isn't this too soon?　They'll be encroaching on King's Landing in a few years at this speed, won't they?

Just as Mina feared, this is indeed a fast one. I wonder if the erosion rate is faster than the Forest of Demonic Beasts?

'As I recall, the church periodically performs a ritual to reduce the rate of corrosion. They're not telling us what they're doing.

Right, and that's why the country doesn't seem to be upset by this rate of erosion.

But if my brother went around to purify everything at random, it would just be a normal solution, wouldn't it?　I was able to purify it normally earlier.

".........

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, there's no way.

I don't understand what you want to say, but it's too broad. That's a bit too broad, even for Lex-san.

And Liliella and the others glanced at me.

''That's right. The High Area Purification made for city cleaning is limited to a radius of a few tens of meters, so I think it's realistic to purify the entire land of corrosion with this magic. We don't know exactly how large the Corrosive Land is, but if it's so large that it's encroaching on the neighboring countries, it would be contaminated again by the poison from the swamp that flowed in from other places while we were cleansing one area.''

I see, and I thought my brother would be able to solve this in a flash.

Well, well, there are some things even the quintessential Lex can do and some things he can't.

Yeah, of course.

Now, let's find a place to stay in the nearest town before it gets dark.

""Yes."

We finish our story and head back the way we came.

'I think there was a village a little further on, right?

Let's go to the city over there. There's better accommodations over there, you know?

Well, in a village, there's no chance of getting a place to stay.

''Yeah, I think that's a good idea too. And I'll have to buy the demon materials that we don't use for golem materials from the Adventurer's Guild.

Oh, I see. But, can't you make new equipment out of these demon materials?

He asked me if I could make something out of the materials from the demons that Jairo-kun hunted in the Corrosive Land.

You know, you just had the materials from the dragons to equip them for me the other day.

But hey, you might be able to make something great.

'I know how you feel, but I'm sure there aren't many better materials than dragon materials.

'Oh, I see. You're right. We have the equipment of a dragon.

When I think about it, it feels like I suddenly have the legendary equipment that the brave man gets at the end of a fairy tale.

After all, they're made out of dragons.

No, not really.

""What?"

Everyone looks back at my words.

''Dragon material is certainly a good thing, but it has a rank among dragons, and some of the other S-rank equivalent demons are comparable to dragons, and some things are stronger than dragons.

"'A demon more powerful than a dragon?

"What kind of demon is stronger than a dragon?

Yeah, the Volcanic Liger, King of Lava and Beast, Tidal Fishoo, Lord of Ice, Snow and Water, Bang Wing, Emperor of Wind and Lightning, Venom Beat, the Transcendent of Poison and Miasma, to name a few.

Isn't that a myth?　Are you kidding me?

No, I'm not kidding. I don't think they're real.

Yes, they are real, real demons.

Well, they basically never appear in human settlements..............................I mean, normal humans can't live in their habitat.

''Ma, seriously........there are seriously mythical demons in existence.......''

No, they're certainly rare, but they're not so much a myth as a... oh yeah.

Maybe they don't appear in front of humans very often in this day and age.

After all, Ancient Plant and Bahamut are treated as legendary demons.

There are many people who would go to the secret world in search of their materials in their previous lives, so the wise demons may have gotten tired of associating with the humans and changed the location of their lair.

''I'm more interested in how Lex-san knows about the existence of such demons...''

And while I'm doing so, I can see my destination town.

'The town is in sight, isn't it?'

Finally!　Let's get ready to eat!

But you're buying materials.

'Shouldn't we get an accommodation in time?　The purchase can be made in the morning.

Maybe it's because we've been hunting all day, but everyone immediately disagrees.

Hmm, then we should split up. The group that gets the lodging and the group that gets the materials will be divided into two groups.

'Yes. I think that would be a good idea.

'Whoa!　I'm a material salesman!

So I'm on the boarding party.

My magic bag is for me only, so I guess I'm a material buyer.

Then Mina and I will get a place to stay.

Please, Miss Liliella.

'Whoa! Well then, let's go ask them to buy it right away, brother!

Once everyone's role was decided, we went down to the street in front of the city.

◆

''What is this massive amount of demon materials?

We found the adventurer's guild in this town and immediately asked them to buy the materials, but the receptionist was surprised to see that we had too many of them.

''Sorry, we hunted a bit too much,''

''What do you mean by hunting too much? These are the materials for the demons that inhabit the Corrosive Land, right?　Aren't they all extremely poisonous and dangerous demons?　How can you get rid of this many of them?

No, Giant Poison Centipede doesn't have much of a poison.

"This is an inferno spider?　And this is the Pain Needle?　Ah!　And Murderspike?

Did you hear that?　Inferno spiders?　You hunted that fiery, poisonous creature from back in the day?

Pain Needle is a thing, isn't it?　It's a badass demon that hides at the bottom of the swamp and sticks a poisonous needle strong enough to pierce a steel plate if a person gets close enough, right?　And if you get stabbed, you'll be thrashing around in too much pain...

''I've never seen a Murderspike or anything like that before. How did you take down a poisonous turtle covered in a tough, poisonous shell with poison needles all over its body?

And in that big a pile?

Huh?　It's funny the receptionist and the adventurers are strangely surprised...

Yeah, I know, right?

For some reason, Jairo-kun was the only one who seemed proud of himself in that situation.

''Ha!　Come to think of it, I've heard of it!　I heard that the adventurer's guild in King's Landing has started to sell a ridiculous poisonous eraser or something like that!

Hmm?　The Adventurers' Guild of King's Landing?　There's something deja vu about the story...

What?

This poisonous eraser is an amazing antidote to the poison that's coming from the inferno spider.

No, isn't that the antidote to a regular inferno spider?

For some reason, they say that the poisoner is an all-purpose poison remover that works against all poisons.

The cure-all!

Um, is this different from the lower-level universal poisonous eraser I taught you?

Oh, come on. Seriously? If we had that kind of poisonous eraser, we wouldn't need another one.

Relax, if they had such a thing, I wouldn't be able to afford it.

Yeah, that's right.

No, they say it's apparently quite cheap and not nearly as wildly expensive as a regular poisoner.

"Seriously?　I'd buy that kind of poisonous eradicator myself!

An all-purpose poisonous eradicator to counteract the poisonous effects of the inferno spider... or at least that's what I'd want to have. In this close proximity to the land of corruption, it's one thing to have on hand, just in case...

""Yeah."

Hmmm, why are those people so scared of a poison the size of an inferno spider?

That demon's scorching poison is indeed said to be painful, but it's just enough poison that can be treated with a low-grade universal poison eraser. Even ordinary antidote magic can treat it, or if you want, it's just a poison that can be treated by taking immunity pills for demon poison beforehand....

'Oh, right!　So that's it!

Then I realized something very important.

"Well, it's a mutation.

Regardless of demons, creatures of the natural world can mutate to produce creatures with characteristics that are completely different from those of their original species.

At the same time, a mutation can also produce something more powerful than its original characteristics.

In other words, I think the inferno spiders that the adventurers are talking about are mutations that have become more toxic.

In fact, it looks like it's been a long time since I died in my previous life, and it's not surprising that the inferno spiders that happen to inhabit this area have become far more poisonous than the inferno spiders of the era I know.

''I see, that was a blind spot.

Then the universal poison eraser that the adventurers are talking about must be different from the recipe for the lower level universal poison eraser that I provided.

''Even so, there are demons with mutated and enhanced characteristics? I'll have to be careful.''

Perhaps, but maybe it's also due to the influence of the Corrosive Earth.

Hmm, considering the way the receptionist was surprised, the other demons might have been affected by the Corrosive Earth and their toxicity was enhanced.

This is something we need to pay more attention to in the future to prevent poisoning.

''........''

And as I was bracing myself, for some reason Gyro-kun was staring at me in silence.

'Huh?　What's up, Mr. Gyro?

No, I just have a feeling that my brother is strangely mistaken.

Hmm?　You say some pretty crazy things, don't you, Gyro?