CH 54.1

A deep tunnel in Hallmenta.

A monster stretched out its long, huge mouth like a cylinder to the ground. Hundreds of eyes lodged in its body fluttered and looked around.

Birds flying around it chirped loudly, as if speaking a word.

The monster, which evolved rapidly over several decades and became intelligent, noticed the presence of intruders killing its subordinates.

Four very tiny little bugs.

The monster knew what they were. Unpredictable creatures that occasionally entered this place from the outside.

Some were too weak for their size, while others had an enormous power that could not be ignored.

In particular, the red bug that swept this land recently was a disaster.

The only thing the monster could do against the red bug was to hide and hold its breath in this haven. Waiting for the bug to slaughter its subordinates to their heart’s content and then leave.

Oh oh.

They were just the right prey for it to vent its anger.

A giant figure raised from the ground. It emitted a low and heavy roar, calling out all the subordinates in the area.

Before long, black and huge waves rushed from the horizon on all sides.

***

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Even after waking up, Asher was stunned for a while, as if her sense of reality had not returned.

But after a few minutes, she was completely back to normal, as if nothing had happened.

“I’m sorry. It’s really embarrassing.”

“It’s fine. Just be careful in the future.”

I glanced at the dead horses entangled on one side of the plant stem.

The monster took them away together with Asher and died.

I was glad she’s alive, but the horses had been together with us for quite some time. So, I briefly prayed for their repose.

The two, who had lost consciousness and fell to the ground, also came to their senses.

The woman stood up with a blank face, looked around and found us.

“···What happened? When did we faint?”

I pointed to the droopy plant stem.

She sighed as if she understood the situation. Then, when she found Asher standing next to me, she smiled brightly and said,

“Did you save your colleague safely? I’m glad.”

The man looked at himself as if to check the condition of his body with a not very good expression on his face, then he got up.

If I fainted without realizing why, that would also be my reaction. The woman was a bit weird in that regard.

Asher looked at the two with puzzled eyes.

“I met them by chance. They said they were adventurers.”

“Ah···”

I told them.

“Thanks for your help. Tell me about the monster you’re looking for. If I know anything, I’ll let you know.”

They must have been chasing me so they could ask for help.

Anyway, thanks to the two of them, I got information about the monster that took Asher and their help also significantly shortened the time to pursue it. So, I was willing to help them.

Of course, I didn’t know if I would be helpful at all, but if I knew of the monster they’re looking for, I would tell them its hunting area if I remembered it.

Kiiik!

At that time, the birds flying in the sky spun around and roared loudly.

I glanced up at the sky.

Come to think of it, it seemed like those birds had been wandering around since a while ago. I wondered why.

“Yeah, what we’re looking for is a monster that looks like a toad…”

She explained about the monster they were looking for.

As soon as I heard the word toad, something immediately came to my mind.

Devil Toad?

A gigantic poisonous toad with a black body and a three-pronged tongue. The level was probably close to 70?

Speaking of toad-type monsters in Hallmenta, the only thing that came to mind was that monster.

“···The whole body was black, and the tongue was forked. Uh, and also poisonous…”

“I think you know what kind of monster it is.”

The man reacted more violently to my words than the woman did.

He opened his eyes wide and asked with a look of urgency.

“Am I right?”

I looked at the two of them and asked.

“Before I answer that, can I ask why you’re looking for that monster?”

There were two reasons for asking why.

One was just curiosity, the other was concern for them.

Devil Toad was one of the weakest monsters among the named bosses in Hallmenta, but it was still a boss.

Even in the game, most of the users’ poison resistance was negligible against it.

No matter how high the level of the two were, they would die quickly if they were careless while dealing with it.

The man stared at me and then spoke calmly.

“There’s no particular reason. We just want to kill it.”

“Why?”

“Because it killed my brother.”

Ah… was it for revenge?

It was a very simple and clear reason.

But what was the younger brother doing here in the demonic land, dying like that?

The woman’s words that followed solved the question.

“He was my colleague.”

“Colleague?”

“Yes. Him, three more others, and I explored every corner of the continent, which included this demonic land. After he died, we separated and disbanded our group.”

Come to think of it, it was weird to find them wandering around the demonic land like this.

The woman’s level was lower than that of the man, but her level was not low at all if compared to other mages.

At level 59, she had skills that even a large aristocratic family would want to employ. Not to mention, it was more than enough to be an adventurer.

But it’s not like she wandering around the demonic land recklessly again.

The woman smiled shyly as she read the puzzled look in my eyes.

“We all got along so well, so even if we encountered a strong monster, we could defeat it somehow if we worked together…”

I could tell the story behind it without even having her say it.

After encountering the Devil Toad, he died and only the rest survived.

She took a deep breath and looked at the man.

“It’s been half a year, and suddenly this person came to me, claiming to be his older brother. He was trying to get revenge for his younger brother, so he asked for information about Hallmenta. And somehow, we ended up coming here together.”

I turned my gaze to the man.

To be honest, I was more curious about his identity.

He didn’t seem like an adventurer like the woman, and he probably wasn’t an ordinary person either.

“Oh, and this guy was a ranger from Barcato.”

The woman revealed the man’s identity instead. I was a little surprised inside.

If it’s Barcato, wasn’t it the most elite force of the ranger group that protected the southern border of Santea? No wonder he had a high level.

As if the woman’s arbitrariness dissatisfied him, he glanced at the woman once, and said as if urging me.

“Now, tell me what information you know about that monster.”

Well, it’s revenge. There’s nothing I could do about it.

It’s not my place to persuade them not to do it.

“I know the terrain or environment it would most likely to appear.”

“···!”