CH 158

Chapter 158 : Nicola’s Gift

After walking through the magic stone mine for about five minutes, Nicola, who was walking beside me, suddenly stopped.

『Onii-chan.』(Nicola)

『What’s wrong? Is there a Stone Lizard up ahead?』(Mark)

『Yeah, be careful.』(Nicola)

After Nicola warned me, Celine also stopped walking.

「Oh? Looks like we have a guest.」(Celine)

I don’t know if Celine can notice it because of her intuition as an adventurer or her sensing magic, but right after she said that, a Stone Lizard appeared from the darkness in the tunnel ahead.

It inflated its neck to threaten us and quickly ran over here.

SHAAAAー!

「Mark, I can’t use Fire Arrow here, so this is your time to shine!」(Celine)

Certainly, as long as there’s no natural or artificial vent somewhere around here, using Fire Arrow is not a good idea. Besides this tunnel is quite narrow, so if Celine’s Fire Arrow burned that big lizard, the smoke would suffocate us.

There’s no reason to say no, so I nodded at her.

I stretched my hand and prepared to shoot a Stone Bullet. At the same time, Weikel pulled out his sword and took a stance, ready to fight.

However, I managed to shoot a Stone Bullet before the lizard could get any closer.

BANG!

My Stone Bullet flew straight to the lizard’s neck and penetrated its upper body. The body of the lizard then flipped over vertically by the impact and laid on the ground lifelessly, showing its white stone-like stomach.

Seeing the Stone Lizard that was no longer moving, Weikel put back his sword and looked at me.

「Phew… Good job, Boy! You’re amazing as always!」(Weikel)

「Thanks.」(Mark)

「Celine, this boy is incredible but is that girl as incredible as him? You let her come along for a reason, right?」(Weikel)

「Fufu. Of course. Not only is Nicola-chan cute but she also has an amazing Gift. She can sense nearby enemies. It’s basically the same as sensing magic but it’s much stronger. She even noticed that Stone Lizard several seconds before me. That’s why she stopped walking earlier. Right, Nicola-chan?」(Celine)

「Un!」(Nicola)

Nicola replied and hugged Celine’s waist.

She really won’t miss the chance to openly sexually harass Celine…

「This is the second time I’ve witnessed your power but you really impressed me.」(Celine)

Saying that, Celine stroked Nicola’s head.

Unlike my Gift, which is an Item Box, Nicola’s Gift is the sensing type power.

Well, sometimes her power is not necessary as long as Celine and I are using sensing magic but as Celine said, her Gift is stronger, so Celine let her come along just in case.

While Nicola was enjoying Celine’s waist, Weikel crouched in front of her and looked at her with interest.

「Whoa… That’s a wonderful talent you have. Say, ojou-chan, I’m sure you will become a beautiful woman in the future. Do you want to join my party? You can call me Weeii!」(Weikel)

Saying that, Weikel winked at Nicola, but then Nicola made a disgusted face and turned him down firmly.

「NO WAY.」(Nicola)

「Ugh… I knew you would say that…」(Weikel)

Being rejected twice in a row, Weikel dropped his shoulder, looking even more depressed than before.

Well, he’s not a bad guy but there’s no way we will join his party…

――――――

After walking for a while, we found another branch.

「The Stone Lizard’s nest is on the left, but I don’t know if Luck and his brother are still there or have gone to the right. Hmm…」(Weikel)

When Weikel was thinking, Nicola approached him and pointed to the path on the left.

「This way.」(Nicola)

「Ara, Nicola-chan, do you know where they are?」(Celine)

「Un!」(Nicola)

「Heeー So you can also find out the location of allies? That’s really impressive! Good girl, good girl~」(Celine)

Celine stroked Nicola’s head and turned her gaze to Weikel.

「You heard her. Let’s go to the left.」(Celine)

「Roger.」(Weikel)

Weikel seemed to trust Nicola. He turned left and continued leading the way without questioning.

This tunnel was quite different from before because the walls and the ground were very rough and looked as if they had been scooped with a shovel or something.

「Be careful. This area is the Stone Lizards’ feeding ground. They ate rocks here and there, so that’s why this tunnel is full of holes.」(Weikel)

Now that he mentioned it, I just remembered that Stone Lizards’ staple food is rock.

While paying attention to the surroundings, I kept following Weikel and put the corpse of Stone Lizards in my Item Box whenever I found one.

…Hm?

[Stone Lizard Corpse With Magic Stone] …?

I just realized that my Item Box labeled most of the Stone Lizard corpses that I had put in with that name.

What does it mean…?

Only strong monsters have magic stones in their bodies, for example, the Lord of the Lake in the Lake Secard. Normal monsters rarely have them.

…Ah, is it because these Stone Lizards ate magic stones by accident…? I think that’s possible.

I can make money from selling magic stones that are accidentally eaten by these lizards, but removing them from the corpses is kinda troublesome.

I wonder if I can do it without taking the corpses out of my Item Box…

Alright, let’s try it…

I imagined a magic stone transferred from a Stone Lizard’s corpse to my palm, and thenー

It works…

Now I have a magic stone in my hand.

When I checked the item list, the name of that Stone Lizard’s corpse has changed from [Stone Lizard Corpse With Magic Stone] to [Stone Lizard Corpse].

Whoa… I never knew my Item Box had this kind of function. This is very convenient…!

I’m very happy with the new discovery. I wanted to tell Celine about this but this is not the right time.

Finding Luck and Jack is more important right now.

I returned the magic stone to my Item Box again and continued walking.