I rushed out and jumped inside Matango’s nest. I cut off the one that caught my eye earlier and immediately activated the Lightning Magic Jewel, and with a buzz, the Matango’s corpse was instantly reduced to ashes. It seems that mushroom-based magical beasts continue to produce spores even after death. Therefore, it seems that the corpse must be burned to ashes or buried in the ground.
“Shiniji! I’ll fiytoo!”
“You guys need to evacuate. Apparently, with my constitution, the spores don’t work on me.”
I purposely declined Erna’s offer to help. I mean, she can’t fight in that state. It now got worse as her face is covered in tears and runny nose.
“Thismuchis nothingto—”
“Enough. Go back to the village. It’s painful for me to watch!”
I pushed Erna to go back to the village. Although she regretted that she could not help, she eventually decided to flee to the village. These things should be done by someone who can. She doesn’t have to overdo it.
“Now then, let’s continue the clean-up.”
I clenched my sword and run again. Matango’s nest is a vast area that stretches to one square kilometer. There are not only colorful molds, but poisonous mushrooms and insects can also be seen everywhere. When I checked it with my skill, each of them was something very poisonous.
“Fu! Tei!”
The Matangos I passed were cut into two one after another and with a lightning strike as the finishing blow, they were all burned to death. The deeper I went, the more their number grew. And before I knew it, I had killed over 50 of them.
But it’s not over yet.
Sensing the invasion of an enemy, the mushrooms continue to gather at a tremendous pace. There are about a hundreds of them now. No, it’s a horde that could reach a thousand. The mushrooms surrounded me and they all shook their umbrellas in unison, sending their spores flying.
“It doesn’t work on me.”
I activated the power of the Magic jewel and releases a lightning. The powerful lightning strike burned the mushrooms and spores, creating a dazzling pillar of light. All that was left was ashes. Once again, I think that the power of the magic jewel is in an order of magnitude than before. Moreover, it is terrifying because it has not even produced half its performance.
“Hmmm, now that I’ve cleaned up the nest, what should I do with it—huh?”
Something approaches, trampling through the decaying trees. It was coming towards me from the center of the nest. Apparently, there was a boss of Matango. When it finally appeared in sight, it immediately showed its anger by waving a huge purple fluorescent umbrella.
| 【Analysis Result: Deadly Matango: The evolved form of Matango. The spores are so virulent that it can human after just a few breaths. However, its effective range is not very wide. Not edible. Rarity: C, Overall Ability: D】 |
| 【Status】 Name: Deadly Matango Race: Deadly Matango Magic Attribute: Earth Magic: Rock Bullet Skills: Search (Intermediate), Leg Strength Enhancement(Intermediate), Leadership (Intermediate), Growth Promotion Evolution: Conditions are not met < Evolution Condition: Search (Special Grade), Leg Strength Enhancement(Special Level), Dictatorship (Beginner Level) > |
It is about six meters tall. Like Matango, there are no hands, only feet. Contrary to the peculiar footsteps that are cute and unique footsteps, there is a white skull pattern on the surface of the umbrella. As expected, it is the parent of the killer mushrooms.
“I can’t wait to see what it tastes like.”
The Deadly Matango stepped back. It seems to have enough wisdom to understand people’s words. Interesting.
I’m a little curious, so I sheath my sword for the time being and try to have a conversation with it. In a way, talking to a mushroom is a valuable experience.
“Why do you attack people? You don’t live on human nutrition alone, do you?”
“…………”
The Deadly Matango thinks for a moment before shaking its umbrella.
I see.
“Stay away from human habitation. If you do, I’ll let you go. From now on, you just need to live your life quietly as a poisonous mushroom.”
“…………”
The Deadly Matango shakes its head and even its body shook sideways. In other words, it’s a refusal.
……Probably.
To be honest, I don’t understand what it is trying to convey. In this case, it’s time to resume the battle.
The enemy swings its leg up and mercilessly lowers it. I took the weight that was weighed on me with one hand. Even though it has evolved, it is still a mushroom after all.
“Teryaaa!”
I grabbed the leg and hold its giant body. Then just like that, I made a giant swing. I tossed it, and it bounced a few times and crashed into a pile of decaying trees. But as if nothing had happened, it sat up and shook its umbrella. Maybe there is something like a brain, but there is no sense of pain.
Suddenly, the Deadly Matango began to act strangely. It pressed its feet on the ground and dances. Then, a number of mushrooms began to grow from the surrounding ground, and in no time at all, they grew into dozens of matangos. Perhaps it’s the growth promotion skill. It must have modified the spores and forced them to become fully grown.
“No matter how much miscellaneous fry you make, the situation will not change!”
I cut down the oncoming Matangos and burned them with lightning strikes. The fact that its subordinate disappeared in a matter of seconds seemed to make the Deadly Matango agitated. What more, it even showed its back(?) now and runs away. But in a blink of an eye, I overtook it and cut it in two with my sword. The mushroom, which was cut in half, fell to the ground and stopped moving.
“It’s the end of it huh. Now then, I have to figure out what to do with the nest.”
It cannot be left as it is. However, I was ordered not to burn it.
Hmm, what should I do…..
Suddenly, while thinking, I felt hungry. It’s been a few hours since we ate lunch. It’s time to fill my stomach. I decided to take a part of the Deadly Matango’s corpse, cut it into moderately sized pieces and roast it on the fire. It was analyzed as a highly poisonous mushroom, but with my constitution, I will not die. Or rather, it is time to clarify whether poison does not really work on me. I bit into the flesh of the mushroom magical beast.
“This is …… It has a texture similar to eryngii. Not bad.”
The grilled Deadly Matango is chewy and delicious. I seasoned it only with salt and pepper, but it surprisingly also has a spicy wasabi-like pungency in it. As I dip it in soy sauce and eat it, I enjoy it even more with a different taste.
By the way, I have already acquired the growth promotion skill. It’s a skill I can’t afford to miss.
Satisfied with the mushroom, I jumps up to the sky and then I activated the Isolation Space skill. The target is the nest below. When I thought about it, it’s just a matter of not burning the forest. With this skill, it was possible for me to burn down the nest.
I designated a square space and magically isolate the nest inside. Then I activated the lightning magic jewel. The rain of lightning burns away the mold and mushrooms, even the poisonous insects were burned away along with the decaying trees.
A large amount of white smoke and heat drifted in search of a place to escape, but I did not allow it to do so, I simply waited for it to turn into a scorched earth. I then broke the spell after confirming that the fire has been extinguished because of the lack of oxygen in the space. Then, the air that had been expanding was released at once, and a strong wind blew through the surrounding forest.
The wind reaches the village, and the Matango spores that have been floating in the air are blown away at once. At this point, the source has been cleared up. All that’s left to do is find the remaining matango and dispose of it.
“For the time being, I’ll head back to the village first.”
I decided to fly back to the village.
◇◇◇
When I returned to the old man’s house, my companions were having a conversation with a serious face. The old man is not there, but his wife, the old woman, is crying with her hands on her face.
“I just cleaned up the nest. What’s going on?”
“You came back at the right time. Actually, that old man is in a very bad condition.”
Freya took me upstairs and there, I saw the old man coughing on his bed. The Matango’s spores got him. It may be because we got too close to the nest.
“It seems like he only has three days to live. I feel bad that I can’t do anything.”
She clenches her fists and bites her lip. I felt something like dizziness so I sat down on a nearby chair. Even though the source was gone, the poison continues to erode the villagers. It was here that I finally realized the horror of Matango.
“Please kill me. I don’t want the mushrooms to kill me like this.”
“Don’t give up. We still have three days. I’m going to figure something about it.”
“It’s useless. Cough. Cough. Cough. By the way, what happened to the nest?”
“I’ve erased it without a trace. So worry about yourself instead.”
“I see. The adventurer Ryan sent me is indeed o-, cough-cough. You are the savior of the village.”
Unable to stand to see the old man coughing, I decided to leave the room with Freya. We decided to borrow a separate room and have a discussion.
“What are we going to do? If it keep going like this, he’s going to die.”
“But we don’t have the means to help……”
“It’s too early to give up. We have a lot of magic and skills, I’m sure something will work.”
“However, if you ask me, it’s probably parasitic. Is there anything that can be done about something that can’t be seen with the naked eye?”
“Divine Power”
““““Eh?””””
The four of us turned our attention to Liz. I also thought for a moment after hearing the words.
“It’s possible. You should use your divine powers to gather up the spores in the old man’s body and scrape them out.”
“But I don’t know where the spores are. How do I scrape up something I can’t see?”
“I’ve identified the location, it’s in the lungs. Matango spores enter through the trachea and take root in the lungs to absorb human nutrients. In other words, if we can get the foreign body out of his lungs, he will be saved.”
We won’t know until we try everything. I immediately took Freya with me and rushes to the old man’s room.
“You’re here again…… Cough-. Enough is enough, leave me alone. I’ll feel bad if I transfer this to you.”
“Don’t talk. We are going to try something now.”
I signaled with my eyes, and Freya nodded slightly. She puts her hands on the old man’s chest and squeezes it. Then, after about five minutes, she walked away from the old man.
“It did not work. It’s too small to catch.”
“Damn! It couldn’t be done with your divine powers then. Then, what else? How do I save him?”
“How about feeding him rainbow mushroom. I heard that it heals all wounds and diseases.”
“That’s it! Let’s give it a try!”
I immediately take out a rainbow mushroom from the bangle and shows it to the old man.
“This is a miracle mushroom that cures all kinds of diseases. Maybe it will work.”
“Give me a break. Cough. I’m done with mushrooms.”
“Don’t complain! Eat it!”
I pushed the mushroom into the old man’s mouth. Swallowing, he sat up with his eyes wide open.
“This is amazing. My body is full of strength. This may really—cough-cough-cough!”
His coughing did not stop. It seems that the spores still need to be removed.
“Father……”
Pero came inside the room. For some reason, there is a hesitation on his face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Uhm, actually, there’s something in my magic skill that I don’t know how to use. I thought maybe it would work.”
“Is it purify?”
Pero nods gently. I don’t know anything about it except that it’s a holy magic. Still, I thought it was worth a try.
“It’s okay. You give it a try.”
Pero puts his hand over the old man’s chest and closes his eyes. Magical power drained from his body, and a fresh breeze blew. The next moment, a small green lump was coughed out of the old man’s mouth.
“The coughing…… stopped. It’s not painful anymore.”
The old man got up from the bed and stroked his chest, looking incredulous.
I got it. I remembered. Purify means to purify or remove impurities. As it turned out, Pero’s judgement was the right one.
“Well done, Pero. You made me proud son.”
“I’m relieved that I was able to help. I feel like I can help other people with this, too.”
When I hugged him, he hugged me back shyly. I’m so happy to have an excellent son.
For the time being, I left the seriously ill people in the village to Pero and Freya. Me, Erna, and Liz decide to separate and get rid of Matango spores lurking in the neighborhood.
◇◇◇
“Are you guys leaving already? I can’t thank you enough.”
“We just did what we were asked to do. If you really want to thank someone, please go to the Lord of Mana.”
The next morning, we said goodbye to the elderly couple who let us stay with them. We have already exterminated the Matango in the neighborhood, and those who were suffering from the poison have recovered.
This village was saved.
I was inwardly relieved that I was able to accomplish the request. I don’t have a face to show up in front of Kanzaki if his relatives in this world died.
“Now then, let’s go. Our goal is Dartan.”
When we fly out of the village, we were greeted by a cloudless blue sky. The breeze was refreshing and pleasant.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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