55 Fear of bugs 2

It seems that ants' eyesight isn't as good as we thought, and they have a habit of following a definite scent rather than something they can see, so a few of them reacted to us, but the ants headed towards where we were.

As we ran through a place about 150 meters away from the line of ants, we saw a group of ants attacking us, and it turned into a little pile of ants.

What was that?

"From the little I could see, it's probably a bunch of Kobolds... that's terrible... they usually feed alive like that when there's that many of them. I don't know.

"That's how it is with wild creatures... if anything, our way of life has strayed a bit from nature. If you are weak, you die to feed the strong. Man is part of nature.

We can say that we are part of nature, but considering our knowledge and experience on earth, I can't help but think that we are getting a little out of touch with nature.

Hurry up! If there are too many ants, it will be troublesome... let's take care of the nest as soon as possible. Hurry up!

When I returned to the place where I had first encountered the ants, I found that most of the force had left the nest, the line was sparse, and there were hardly any ants in the nest.

"d*mn it! The remaining ant material is no good... something is wreaking havoc: .... It's not material!

"It's not the material! You have to deal with the nest first!

"Okay, well let's just be careful and move on in case there's something that's been eating away at these dead ants. Okay.

"Alright. Masaru be careful too because I can't handle it if I'm alone. "Okay.

I took Adelina off my back and followed the footprints of the ants as I searched for a burrow... I came to one closer than I thought... In a crevice in the rocky ground there was a deep hole about eighty centimeters deep, and the footprints led there.

I'll build a fire at the entrance of this hole and burn it to death with heat and smoke. "Are you sure about that?

"Are you sure that's a good idea? A little fire can't kill ants that big?

You'd think insects would be strong, but they're delicate creatures. They're susceptible to poisons... and in this case, poisons are the noxious stuff in the smoke. And bugs breathe, they can't survive without oxygen. Oxygen?

"Oxygen? I don't know, but it's a good bet. Oxygen?

I took out the damaged ant carcasses, logs and pieces of logs destroyed by the goblin riders, dirty crates, and branches that were too filthy to be used for firewood, and stuffed them into the entrance, leaving just enough space for air to enter.

Adelina, spread this sap for the torch and then light it. I'm going to take a look around. I'll look around a bit.

I'll get right on it... the thought of something coming out of there is terrifying. ....

You got 40 seconds to get ready!

".........? It won't take that long.

I just wanted to say... it's not like I'm going to become an air pirate, you know? I'm not going to be an air pirate. I don't know what you're talking about.

I've got the fire going... but that's a lot of smoke... it's bad for you. .... What the hell?

"I'm sure the poison will work wonders on the insect type.

I don't know if that's true in that game. I could care less.

What do we do now? The ants don't seem to be coming out from inside, and if we stay here forever, they'll come back.

"Well... the ants in the burrow are probably dead or stuck in the smoke if there's no other way out. It's only a matter of time before they're alive. It's only a matter of time before they're alive.

It's only a matter of time before they're alive." "It'll be troublesome if the ants disperse, so let's do one more hit to reduce their numbers... it's too dangerous to leave them alone. First, let's go back to where we were and see if there's any mace left. I know.

That's right! If you can pick up mace, you should!

And when we get back, we'll see an amazing sight: ....

What the...?

"Wow... that's terrible... that's just not right. .... What is that?

There were dozens of giant worms called worms that attacked the ants that had returned. Their bodies were 30 to 40 centimeters thick, and at the tip of their bodies was a wide open mouth with jagged teeth that bit into the ants and crushed them.

It's a worm it's a safe monster that doesn't attack people, but it eats ants and stuff. ...It's really creepy .... I see.

I'm sure you've heard of it, but I've never heard of it. .

"Worms grow the earth?

Yeah, maybe... worms are supposed to do that... but how do they get in and out of their holes? I mean, it's in and out, but it's not making holes in the ground.

"Oh, worms are good at earth magic, you know. Worms are good at earth magic. They move through the ground, interfering with where they go and where they've gone, moving where they go. There it is.

There it is, magic! The first magic I've ever seen other than my own healing magic is worm travel, how dreamy is that?

The first magic I've ever seen other than my own healing magic was worm travel. Use this mace.

From the item box, I pulled out a mass-produced mace of the same type as the one Adelina had just used and gave it to her. Of course, I took it from Portalyme.

If you're in danger, shout loudly!

"What's Masaru going to do... .... What is Masaru doing?

I'll probably just feed the worms, but I'll get some of the ants back too. I'm going to go get some mace if I can find it. I'll get the mace if I can find it.

I'll get the mace if I can find it. Have a safe trip. Have a safe trip.

"I'm off...

With the Morning Star in his hand, he dives triumphantly into the writhing vortex of ants and worms.

"Aaaaaaahhh!

He swept away several ants at once and began to join the worms. Halfway through, I felt like I was playing whack-a-mole, and I forgot all about collecting the dead ants, and became absorbed in destroying them.

Before I knew it, the worms had disappeared, as if they were full, and the only ones moving were a few ants with their legs twitching, except for Masaru.

The only ones moving were a few ants twitching their legs. I'm not sure what to make of that. .... "Looks like...

It looks like... some of them are moving, but it looks like their legs are just moving. I'm sure you'll be able to figure out how to get the best out of it. Help me collect the carcasses.

"Geez... collecting all this .... It's pretty disjointed and there's not much we can use.

"Just collect the clean ones. Dismantle only the parts you want and dump the excess at the bottom of the cliff where the slime is. The remaining ants will be eaten by worms and other demons, right? ...Oh, there's the mace... I got a mace.

"There's some worm carcasses here that were killed by ants. There's also a worm carcass that was killed by ants.

When we finished collecting the carcasses as materials, the sun was setting, and even though we had been fighting without eating since morning, we had no appetite, and even though we had finally rested, we were still collecting ant carcasses until our dreams.