Chapter 94: Sewer Zone
I, along with the newly reborn Rem, worked up a little bit of courage again and went up to Tendo-kun who, as usual, had the Glamourettes stuck to him, and gave them the basic rundown on my powers. I explained that Rem is my familiar and not a monster, even though she looks a lot like one, and I also let them know about Pain Return which may hurt them if I happen to get hit by friendly fire.
The three of them didn’t really give a damn. In fact, I could say they were hardly even listening to me, but as long as they keep the gist of it in mind, I should be fine. I don’t think I can or need to arrange it so that I fight alongside them as a team.
With that awkward monologue over with, I passed the rest of the time chatting about random things with Rando-san and getting a nap. And now, it’s time to head out of the square.
“Hey uh, is it just me, or does this place smell nasty?”
“It really does. I mean, the whole place reminds me of underground sewer tunnels.”
Bleh, spat Rando-san, not at all fond of the scenery, which was an opinion I can only agree with. This zone has this constant stink of stagnating wastewater. It’s not so bad that we can’t breathe, so we’ve been making progress at least.
Like I said to Rando-san, this place really is like a network of sewer tunnels. The passages are all stone, as usual, but the floor has channel occupied by smelly sewage water with narrow walkways on both sides. I did not want to risk slipping into that gunk so I stuck of the wall as much as possible.
We’re all walking in a line, by the way. Going from the front, we have Tendo-kun, then Julie and Marie, followed by Rando-san, then me, and finally, Rem.
Other than the occasional, “Bleh∼” from Rando-san, all of us were marching quietly, the only sound to enter our ears being that of our many footfalls on the stone floor. It was a peaceful trek across the――
“G y o a a a!” The black sewage undulated, followed by a shrieking something leaping out of it.
“Piss off.” That was Tendo-kun. Before I could even see what that sewage monster even looked like, he had chopped it in half, returning it to the water from whence it came. The dark sewage was slowly dyed maroon at one spot.
And as if nothing major had happened, we resumed our march.
I’d normally make a fuss about it, but this same series of events had repeated many times since we headed out of the fairy square, and I frankly couldn’t care anymore.
The identity of these suddenly attacking somethings are a sort of fish-human creature, a sahuagin, if you will. They have a face like a fish and a frog had a baby, blue scales all over their bodies that change color to white at their chest. These humanoid monsters have 5 digit hands and feet that are joined by a membrane to aid in swimming. They also have a small fin on their back and no tail. I guess they’re like gomas: fish edition.
Their real name, according to the notebook mail, seems to be Jira Goma, so they are technically classified as a subspecies of goma.
Anyway, these jiras apparently occupy this sewer zone and have been sneaking up on us along the sewage channel for a while now. And by us, I really mean Tendo-kun, who’s had no problem with them at all.
“G y o a a a a a!”
“Tsk.” Tendo-kun clicked in annoyance, as he delivered a powerful kick to the fish-faced attacker’s white stomach. He probably found it a pain to pull out his sword so many times, but sent the jira crashing back into the water regardless. The splash of sewage subsided, revealing the dead creature bent into and L shape, slowly flowing away downstream.
Tendo-kun is so OP, I bet he could easily handle an army of these jiras no problem. If I was that strong, I might’ve taken this dungeon survival as a fun, extended field trip. What I’m trying to say is that I’m mad jelly.
For him, these fish-faces aren’t even worth drawing his sword, while I’d have to be on full guard just facing one of them.
“G y o a!”
“G y g y o o o o!”
We’d come out into a slightly wide part of the tunnels, and there, we encountered multiple jiras. Up until now, we only had single attackers and Tendo-kun finished them off instantly so we hadn’t been held up anywhere. However, now, they had, I guess gotten smart enough for basic strategy, as they came in a group, and from both directions.
“Fufun, how about you let two of us handle these?”
“Sounds good to me∼”
The jiras in front of us number 5, which the Glamourettes opted to take on.
“Do what you want.” Said Tendo-kun, moving aside with his arms crossed. Guess he decided to let them handle it. Umm, there are still some jiras behind me, by the way. Will you be ignoring them? Okay, nevermind.
“Woah, ew ew! Those faces, they’re seriously giving me the creeps!?” Nope nope nope, Rando-san was panicking, but let’s ignore that. I’ll try my hand at these jiras too.
I’ve been wanting to test out the new and improved Rem’s strength and this is as good an opportunity as any. It also helps that we only have two of them to deal with, and while I am taking this seriously, I’d say our chances of winning are guaranteed.
“Don’t you have any weapons?”
“Eh? No no, weapons are dangerous.”
“Isn’t is more dangerous not having one?” Seriously, we’re in a dungeon for crying out loud. Plus, I’m pretty sure she isn’t an expert in hand-to-hand combat either.
“I mean like, I couldn’t even swing around a sword even if I had one.”
“I get what you mean, but look, I at least have this spear on me. It’s better to carry at least a knife even if you have a mage class. Just think of it as a good luck charm.”
If I were to fight a single goma barehanded and without using mana, I’d definitely get fucked. But if I at least had a knife, I might just pull off a win. Admittedly, us magic types, who pale in comparison to fighter callings in terms of raw strength, can’t actually win in a physical fight with most monsters even with weapons allowed, but having one is still better than not. Case in point, I’ve had to use my spear quite a few times in order to get out of a hairy situation. I definitely didn’t regret having it in that zombie rush.
Oh right, here’s a list of things Rem and I have equipped:
Iron Spear
I didn’t get to use this at all versus Higuchi, but it’s a spear dropped from a skeleton trooper unit. I have it equipped.
Masaru’s Longsword
A sword originally belonging to Masaru. It’s somewhat better than an average iron sword and I have Rem using it.
Red Knife
Magic weapon. Very important. I can still picture the feeling of finishing off Higuchi with this thing.
Higuchi’s Butterfly Knife
A mechanical knife that Higuchi wanted me to pass on to Nagae-san. It looks cheap, but it’s surprisingly useful. A lot sharper than your average knife. I suspect it might have some kind of enchantment, or perhaps, it could be possessed by Higuchi’s dying grudges.
Quality over quantity. I’ve kept only these as they were the best we had. In other words, we shouldn’t have to collect any weapon drops for a while. Though if I had the chance, I’d want Rem to also have a spear. Oh wait, one of those jira had one. Damn I lost my chance to collect it with Tendo-kun being in so much of a hurry.
“Gugaga.” called Rem, as if to answer my prayer, for in her hands was... that very same spear.
“Oh, you picked this up?”
“Ga.”
“Good girl.”
Wait, does this mean Rem’s intelligence has leveled up too? This sort of thing happened in the basilisk fight too, Rem started making decisions on her own without any input from me. So her thinking a weapon might be useful and picking it up, is a good sign.
“Really, I’m always proud to see you grow.”
“Gagago.” Rem clacked her jaw bones in a show of happiness from being praised. My little Rem’s grown up so much, it’s touching.
“Uh, Momokawa,” Rando-san asked doubtfully, “do you like, understand what those gah gahs mean?”
“Nah, I’m just playing along.”
“Gotcha∼”
It’s the feeling that matters, Rando-san. Think of it like talking to your pet dog.
Still, with her rate of growth, there just might come a day when Rem actually starts talking. I’m kind of worried she’ll start complaining that I’m working her too hard...
Having a few not so positive premonitions, I marched along the dark sewage walkway.
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