182-Chapter 12-1 Lord of the Swamp

Hey, Leon. How long do you think it'll take us to get to Kukri Village?

'Well if you're here according to the map, I'd say it's been two to three days.　Even if I say it's our territory, I don't know exactly every inch of it. Besides, I've never been to Kukri Village.

Rion says that where we are now is about halfway from Shellhide to Kukri village, where there are no towns or villages around.

'Then again, there's no one in the area as far as the eye can see.

Right now, they were in the middle of passing through a grassy field, so they could see a few kilometers in the radius of the carriage, but they couldn't see a shadow or shape of a person.

''Well, there's nothing much to see around here. If it was spring or summer, I'd probably see a few people come here and there to mow the growing grass.

The cut grass would be used to feed horses, cattle and other livestock, and would be a valuable source of income for inexperienced new adventurers who didn't earn much money. It is said that 10kg of grass costs a little over 100g, and even if they sold it, the cost of lodging and food for the day would almost certainly be enough to cover the cost of selling it.

Even so, as long as you use cheap lodgings and do it efficiently, it seems to be safe and you can make a decent profit. The basic idea for any new adventurer in this area is to buy higher-ranked weapons and armor with the money they've saved, and then gain experience by accepting requests to take on combat jobs. Also, while mowing the grass, sometimes there are weak demons like horned rabbits that can make a decent income. And also, adventurers who are asked to cut the grass a certain number of times are given a certain amount of preferential treatment in the frontier county.

The profit is at least a request for extra income and experience, and it's an indispensable request for both Shellhide and adventurers, where horses are a specialty. Incidentally, the preferential treatment that can be received is a slight increase in the reward for the next request to cut the grass and a slight reduction in the price of the guild and the inn and dining room run by the frontier county family.

''For a rookie with a low income, that's quite nice to hear.

That's how much of a boon it would be, which is why this request is the basis for a new adventurer. Otherwise, they would use places like the royal capital or dungeon cities, where jobs abound, as their base of operations.

''Most of all, though, the discounts for the inn and dining hall were added after the incident in Kukri Village.

There was also the purpose of preventing the outflow of adventurers and bringing back adventurers who had left, but even so, the adventurers who could become an immediate asset did not return. Well, those adventurers who could be an immediate asset would not be asked to cut the grass, and with that much preferential treatment, it would be more profitable for them to work in their current location instead of moving to the frontier county territory.

''Well, I think it's a policy that makes sense in terms of securing our strength for the future.

Yeah, as long as they don't miss out on the strength they've developed.

That's a problem that every fiefdom has, so it's probably how much they'll love it by the time they grow up. Or, I think we'll have to make it attractive enough for them to come back when they leave.

That's where the future frontier counters are going to be.

Yeah, I'll do my best.

Temma, this is my turn.

As I was talking to Leon, Cain offered to take over and I graciously accepted.

'Okay then, Albert. I'll take my turn too.

Leon called out to Albert to switch places with me, too, but

No Leon. You'd be lost without a guide!

It was blocked by Cain. Then he said, "I'm just going to plow straight through and there's no way I'm going to give you directions! I heard Rion's voice say, "I'm sorry," but I didn't hear him call out to Albert again, so I think it was Cain's way of saying it.

'Hey Temma, Master Merlin,'

We had been going on for a while with nothing going on, when suddenly Cain opened the window and called out to me.

'There's some kind of swamp up ahead that Rion has never heard of.

Cain told me that there was a muddy water pool like a swamp in a depression about fifty meters from where we were now.

I got out of the carriage with my grandfather to check it out, and although I could indeed see what looked like a swamp filled with muddy water, it was clearly suspicious.

'Grandpa, no matter how you look at it, that swamp was made, wasn't it?'

Yes. As you can see, there's a frog lurking around.

Grandpa seems to have an idea of the Lord who created the swamp. In the meantime, I took a look at the swamp in 'Appraisal' and found a few demons called 'Mad Poison Frog' lurking in the swamp. I don't know if the lack of clarity in numbers is due to the slight distance or the fact that the frogs have 'concealment', but either way there doesn't seem to be that many of them.

Everyone in the carriage also heard that there was a frog demon in the carriage and came out with interest.

When winter approaches, several individuals cuddle up to make a hibernation bed for the frogs. Usually they make their beds in woods or forests, but sometimes they make their beds in the open, such as grasslands. If you make a bed on the grassland, most of the time you will freeze to death because there is no protection from the wind," he said.

Adventurers who have heard of frogs are often beaten back by the adventurers who have tried to challenge them, and the frogs are used as nourishment for hibernation.

The frogs, though, can be several meters long. The one I saw once was nearly five meters tall. The name "poisonous frog" may put off some people, but its meat is quite tasty. The meat is very tasty, and it's also very useful as an ingredient.

The meat tastes similar to chicken, the skin is elastic, and the stripes are used as a bowstring. However, while it is a tasty prey as both a material and a food, it can be tricky to catch.

'First of all, blows are hard to effect. The frog's skin and flesh absorbs the impact, so striking weapons like hammers are less effective. Blades can be used normally, but because the surface of the frog's skin is poisonous, it can be used as a weapon if the flesh is discarded. However, I wouldn't recommend it for close combat.

When I think of frogs, I think of 'changing their color to match their surroundings,' 'extending their tongues to catch their prey,' and 'high leaping power,' but I'm told that this is also true of the Mad Poison Frog.

In other words, the frog's tongue strikes before it gets close, and when it does, its vaunted leaping ability keeps it away. Strikes are less effective and slashes can ruin materials. In other words, if you want to defeat it efficiently, magic is the way to go. Moreover, freezing or numbing them is the best way to do it. Because of this, the monsters themselves are only C or B in strength, but if you're looking for materials, it's an A-ranked difficulty level.

By the way, when Grandpa defeated it, he wasn't looking for the material, so he used wind magic to cut off its head, and before the poison turned to meat, he crawled on the skin and ate only the hind legs. Because of that, he had to dispose of much of the meat, but the skin was clean, so the wholesale guild was pleased with it.

''Well then, should I go alone?''

Yes. I'd rather be prepared to escape Temma's spell and come to the carriage than go with you.

The vanguard group of Rion and Amur looked a little disappointed because of the difficulty of striking and slashing, but more importantly, they looked at me expectantly because of the delicious meat they could get. Behind them, Shiroumaru and Solomon's devouring group were also looking at me with the same eyes, so with a total of four pairs of eyes staring at me, I was fired up and determined that I could not fail.

'First, let's get the golem out..............and move on!

On my grandfather's advice that I should lure the frogs out with the golem before approaching the swamp, I took out about five golems as big as a man. Since the material is dirt underfoot, they would be easily destroyed by a single frog strike, but as long as they don't destroy the golem's core, and most importantly, since they're decoys, it's not a problem for them to be destroyed.

With their orders, the golems approached the swamp, side by side. And

I got it!　........Oh, that's dangerous!

Four of the golems that approached the swamp were attacked by the frogs, and the frog attacks were even greater than I imagined. What I mean by more than I imagined is the speed and power of the frogs' attacks.

It's a good idea to be able to have a good time with your friends and family. And four of them at the same time. The pieces of those golems flew away at great speed, and I jumped back in a hurry.

I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this. Well, it seems to be out of range here, but..................

The position I jumped away from seemed to be out of the reach of the frog's tongue, and it was slowly trying to approach towards me. However, if you're not careful, it might jump at you, so I used the lightning magic 'stun' to finish it off before that.

Even though he had a tongue that could produce a speed as fast as a bullet, even if he had a tongue that could produce a speed as fast as a quicksilver, he couldn't seem to do anything about it out of range, and the 'Mad Poison Frog' turned over on the spot together.

'Looks like they're gone in the swamp. Let's just bury them for now.

I ordered the only surviving golem to retrieve the destroyed golem's core and reclaim the swamp, and I decided to clean the surface of the defeated frog with water magic.

I was in a hurry when the golem was destroyed, but it looks like it ended up in one piece.

After confirming that the defeat of the frogs was over, the grandfathers came up to me all together.

''Wow the little guy is cute, but it's weird when he's this big.''

I guess I'm more scared than creepy.

'Either way, I don't really want to deal with a frog that's more than twice my size. Especially after seeing the way that golem got beaten up.

At Rion's words, they all looked at the golems that had been hit at once. The bodies of the destroyed and scattered golems were being thrown into the swamp one by one after the surviving golems had collected their nukes and were about to be thrown into the swamp and become part of the material for the landfill.

'So that's what might have happened if the young lady had been dealing with the frogs?

It's not just Amur, it's Rion, too.

Amur's face turned blue at Leni's words, and Rion's face was drawn up at Cain's words. Well, these two would have been the first to go towards it if it wasn't for Grandpa's explanation, so there was a good chance of that happening. Incidentally, Albert, who would have gone to support Rion if he had gone there, and Chris, who might have approached the swamp to stop Rion, also looked slightly pale.

'Jeanne. When we go out from now on, let's be careful to take out the golem that Tenma-sama gave us at any time....

Well....

The two men who had been kidnapped in the past and were in danger were also confirming the golem after all this time.

'The best thing is that everyone has a renewed sense of danger. That's true, Temma. Do you know how to judge a frog?

To my grandfather's question, I replied that I've dealt with normal sized frogs before, but not this size, and he said he'd tell me when we took a break.

'Leon. Is there a watering hole near here?

The closest place from here would have been a river running about ten kilometers away. It's not that big of a river, but I think that's a good place to take a break around here. Also, there's a small village up that river, but it's another 20 to 30 kilometers away from our destination.

It's a ten-kilometer distance that can be reached in thirty minutes in Leiden. We can reach the village further on in two hours.

Then let's take a rest by the river. Then let's stop by the river and rent a place to stay for the night at a nearby village.

It wouldn't be a problem if we headed directly to the village up the river, but considering the fact that we'd be handling frogs and such, it might be a nuisance near the village.

That's why we decided to head for the banks of the river that Rion mentioned at the beginning. Just by the time we decided on where to go, the golem had almost finished reclaiming the swamp, so we collected the golem's nucleus as well and got into the carriage.

'We're here!'

We got to the river a little earlier than planned, and we split up to prepare for a break. Well, as usual, it didn't take much time as we just set up the chairs near the carriage and did a quick look around. And the most important part of the break, the preparation of the meal, was Leni's responsibility this time. Normally, Jeanne and Aura help around me, so I have a little bit of free time.

'Grandpa. Can you teach me how to judge a frog while I'm waiting?

That's good. Well, I'm sure Temma will learn quickly. And if you're free and interested, you should come along. I think it's a good experience, and a little different.

Grandpa told me that Chris and Albert and three others were going to join us. Amur tried to join us, but Leni-san caught him and took him to the cooks, so there were five students including me.

''Well then, I'm going to go off for a bit, so Slarin and the rest of you, please be vigilant about your surroundings.

There didn't seem to be any creatures in the vicinity that might be a threat, but I asked Slarin and his friends to be on the lookout, just in case, and we headed down to the river.

The first one is to cut the frog in three ways. The first is to cut it into pieces by picking the skin as you normally would. The second is to hang it from a tree. And the third one is to freeze it a little and then cut it. The first method cannot be dismantled cleanly without someone to hold the frog's skin in place, but it is the most basic way to cut it. In the second method, you need something big enough to hang the frog from and also strong enough to hang it, but if you get used to it, you will be able to separate the flesh more neatly than if you lay it on the ground. And the last method requires more magic and skill to keep the fish completely unfrozen, but it is a way to keep the meat fresh and the skin easy to peel off.

So Chris and the others used the first and second methods, and I used the third method to catch frogs. Personally, I was interested in the second method because it was like hanging an anglerfish, but I wouldn't try it until I had successfully done the third method first.

The second method is interesting to me, but I will try it first with the third one. The surfaces of frogs are often poisonous, and most of all they are dirty. Also, this frog has a poisonous pouch near its shoulder blades, so remove it first.

They say it's a poison, but it's not strong enough to kill people, it's just enough to numb them and slow them down in most cases. Even so, it is dangerous for children, the elderly and those with weak immune systems, and even adults can die of shock or go blind if a large amount is accidentally ingested, so it is important to be careful.

There used to be places where they fished with this kind of poison, but nowadays it's banned in many places because sometimes the fish you catch can't get rid of it, and in a small area like a small river, it can uproot and wipe out the entire population.

So I was careful not to wash the frog's venom out of the river, but rather to use a bucket or something like that to scoop up the water and then clean it up some distance from the river.

'Let's go all at once!　Seiyuu!

I'm tied up!　How's Cain doing?

I'm okay!

The three of them are struggling to somehow hang the frog from the two clay walls that Grandpa has magically created. Maybe they will hang them and then wash the frogs.

'Ugh ... it's slimy and gnarly.

Chris was washing the smallest frog (although it was small, it was well over a meter and a half) by himself with a scrubbing brush.

'You guys must be hard at work,'

I had two golems holding the frogs and was using the water magic method like a high pressure washer to get the dirt and slippage off them.

While washing, I felt a glance from behind me, so I turned around and saw Chris-san staring at me. And a hand held out to me silently.

'Your hand, sir?　No, I'm just kidding.

I blurted it out lightly, but Chris-san silently began to scoop up the slip that had accumulated at my feet with both hands, so I hurriedly handed him two medium-sized golem nukes.

Chris-san's work speed increased significantly as he began to use the golems, and he quickly overtook me, Albert and the others. Well, it was only natural, since he was the smallest frog to begin with, but now there were three workers (and two laborers who could do the unpleasant work without complaining).

Albert and the others who were watching Chris-san wanted to use the golem as a matter of course, but since the work of hanging the frogs, which required the golem the most, had already been completed, Albert and the others, who were all present, did not need to use the golem because it would be a hindrance to them.

It looks like we've done a clean job with each of them. The only thing left to do is to take out the guts, peel off the skin, and dismantle it into a reasonable size, just like you would dismantle any other animal.

Once the slips and stains were removed, the rest was normal procedure, so it wasn't particularly difficult. If I had to say anything, it was just that Albert and the others who were hanging and dismantling it seemed to be the easiest to do.

''The flesh is a beautiful color. It looks and feels similar to chicken meat in terms of elasticity, so it could be used in similar dishes.

I cut off some of the flesh and lightly grilled it before tasting it, and as I expected it tasted more like chicken.　

It's delicious, but when you eat it while thinking of a frog, it's kind of complicated. Just thinking about it makes it taste a little less delicious.

'Is that about right?　I don't mind, though.

'You know how I feel about senior Chris. This frog is definitely missing out on some looks.

'Well, I wouldn't mind eating it without knowing it, so I don't see anything wrong with it as long as it's in its carved meat form.

They were all raving about the taste of the food. After all, food should look good too.

''We'll use the meat as food for the duration of this trip, but the ingredients are my total take, right?

'No problem. If Temma-kun hadn't done it, Rion would almost certainly have been in a lot of trouble, and the rest of us, with the exception of Lady Merlin, could have been badly injured.

In a way, that frog might have been a demon with a first-time killing nature. If you get close enough to defeat the frog, it will attack you with its tongue, and even if you try to defend against it, its power is too dangerous.

''It would be better to spread the word of this frog's existence when it stops by the village. If this area is a basic place for newcomers, these frogs are far too dangerous. I don't know where these guys came from, but since they were actually lurking in this place, we can't say they won't come again.

Rion nodded at his grandfather's advice with a serious expression. Well, if such a dangerous demon lurked in a place where newcomers could gain experience, there was a chance that there would be no more adventurers who would use this place as a base of operations. In order to prevent that from happening, it might be a good idea to send out an investigation to a veteran adventurer in the form of a request from the frontier earl family.

I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I have found some interesting materials. The meat is good, and I would like to use this material to make some tools.

So far, the only material the frog couldn't use was its internal organs. The reason for this is that the internal organs are said to be smelly and full of germs in these creatures that lurk in the mud. I heard that there was no medicine for it, but it was hard to dispose of for that purpose, and it didn't cost very much, so we dug a hole for it and burned it.

The other material I found most interesting was the tongue muscle. From a quick check, it seems to have properties similar to rubber, and if it could be used as a substitute for rubber, it could be used for a variety of things. However, I couldn't get enough tongue muscles to use for the experiment, so I'll probably try a variety of things with frog skin and muscle as a substitute for the substitute.

With a few blueprints in my head, we headed back to the carriage, where the food would be ready to go.