Chapter 344: Sometimes Goals Change
“What will you do if you meet the King of Pill Bugs?”
“I’ll crush it.”
Haulon answered without hesitation to Dinoss’s words.
“Do you have some personal grudge against the Pill Bugs?”
I asked while peeking at Retze’s back.
“Without anyone noticing, how many remote villages have been crushed? In the past, they even parasitized humans and ruled a nation. No matter how many you crush, they just keep multiplying. If we take down the king, it might make a difference, but…”
Haulon clenched his fist, looking like he was about to grind his teeth.
“What are you looking at?”
“Just realizing you have some strong feelings about the Pill Bugs.”
There was an unusual flame of hatred for the Pill Bugs in his eyes.
“What should we do?”
“It seems like extermination is the only option before any discussion.”
“Living long makes your thoughts rigid.”
Dinoss and the Butler responded to my consultation.
“What do you mean, ‘what to do’? We just need to explain the situation normally. Haulon knows it’s difficult to eradicate them. Plus, I’m not much help as a physical shield, you know?”
Retze sounded exasperated.
“This is a safe zone.”
“What do you mean?”
“Right now, the Demon Beasts known as Pill Bugs don’t actively attack humans. They only retaliate if provoked or attacked. The main purpose of this is to identify them so we don’t get ambushed if we accidentally turn over a rock.”
Retze explained.
“Huh?”
“Don’t worry, once you get used to them, they can be quite cute! The trick is not to focus on the details!”
Chris smiled brightly at Haulon, who was still gaping.
—Everyone except Retze was made to sit properly. The Butler said he would search for the Pill Bugs and then vanished. He ran away!!!!!!
“Why didn’t you explain that sooner?!”
I was scolded, wondering if I was being manipulated by the Pill Bugs. Now that I think about it, I could use an ear cleaner.
“It would definitely be more… well, the explanation would take longer.”
Dinoss said.
“A hundred hears are worth one sight!”
“I want to search before the Butler finds them.”
Haulon glared at us.
“Is Gene always like this?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
Haulon held his forehead at Retze’s answer.
“While he does consider his companions, his focus is misaligned, which leads to strange situations. The reason we get tossed around is that we fixate on things as if they should be that way.”
Retze shrugged.
“Ugh. Gene and Chris, you go ahead. I get anxious when you fidget, and I’m not good with Pill Bugs, but I’ll do my best. I understand it’s for my sake, so I’m sorry.”
Haulon sighed heavily.
“Alright! Let’s hurry and search!”
“Balmoa, you wait! You definitely knew how I would react and kept quiet on purpose, didn’t you?!”
Dinoss was caught by Haulon just as he was about to stand up.
Dinoss, I won’t forget your sacrifice!
With a loud scream echoing behind us, we plunged into the trees. It was a place with little rain, but once we ventured a bit deeper into the forest, the humidity was just right.
Unlike the bright impression of the usual bear-hunting grounds, twisted roots of trees peeked out from the ground, and dark green leaves nearly blocked out the sky, making it dark even during the day. Moss hung from the branches like the long beard of an old man.
“Receiving a lecture from the Great Sage was a rare experience! How about this stone?”
“Let’s check that later after Note has searched. There are signs of something being moved. Let’s deviate from this direction.”
Retze said as he watched Chris flip over a stone with the tip of his sword.
Since everyone except Haulon already knew, it was fine to flip it over and surprise them.
“Wahaha! Time for action!!”
I flipped over the stone with my Ex-Staff.
“Oh, a Red Lizard.”
I quickly pressed it down with the tip of the Ex-Staff and tossed it into my bag.
“Strange to find one here without any grass burning. Are they breeding and multiplying around here?”
“Is it the Red Poison Hiding Lizard? I had a hard time catching one when I was just starting out. They’re so slippery and hard to grab. Didn’t a request come out at the Guild?”
The latter half was directed at Retze.
“Speaking of which, I saw this morning that the reward for capturing them has gone up. There’s a rumor that a heat rash is spreading in Elichika.”
Retze replied to Chris.
“Heat rash?”
I recalled that Elichika was a country with rock salt mines, located near the war-torn region of Nakahara.
“It’s a disease where red rashes appear, and after a while, it becomes oozing and inflamed even without scratching. It’s also called red rash or red heat rash. It’s contagious and troublesome, but it can be cured quickly with a potion made from the slime of the Red Lizard.”
“The problem is that the Red Lizard is hard to catch, and the reward is low for the effort.”
“Then let’s leave the Pill Bugs to Note and catch some.”
“Well, it looks like there’s some grass around too.”
Retze said as he looked around.
Following Retze’s gaze, I noticed grass that could attract the Red Lizards. I had thought of it as just weeds, but I should have been observing and identifying what kind of grass it was while walking through the forest. I had only been looking for edible plants!
To gather a lot this time, I decided to cheat a bit and use Exploration; the Ex-Staff was a great help. I didn’t want to deal with itching, and I heard that little ones are more susceptible to infections.
After a while of flipping stones, I returned when I could no longer attract any more with the grass. It would take some time for Exploration, but extermination wasn’t good.
“Kyaaaaaaaah! What kind of quantity are you bringing back?! Is it really necessary to have that many?! I’m seriously going to cry!!!!”
When I returned, Haulon let out a huge scream, mistaking the contents of my bag for Pill Bugs.