Volume 3 - CH 12.2

Chapter 3-12 : Hunting For A Bit (part 2)

Seeing the lizard run away, Iris-san immediately tried to chase after it.

「Iris-san, waitー!」(Sarasa)

I hurriedly grabbed Iris-san’s collar when she was about to dash.

「Gugghh! ー*cough cough* …S-Store Owner-dono, you almost killed me!」(Iris)

「Woops, I’m sorry, but do you remember what I told you about chasing down Lava Lizards?」(Sarasa)

「Aa…」(Iris)

It seemed like she just remembered when I asked her that. She replied to me while looking away.

「Umm… You shouldn’t carelessly chase after them because they may lure you to a muddy place to slow you down and attack you…?」(Iris)

「It’s good that you remember. Basically, the places where Lava Lizards lure their enemies are places that are dangerous for humans, so it’s strictly forbidden to chase after them.」(Sarasa)

「I, I see… I’m sorry…」(Iris)

They usually lure their enemies to a place where the ground looks flat at first glance but it is actually a deep quicksand, moreover, it’s very hot, it can even melt human skin.

Lava Lizards can move swiftly on that kind of soil, but humans and Hellfire Grizzlies can’t obviously.

「Well, we can’t let that lizard escape anyway, so let’s track it down. Please be really careful and keep paying attention to your surroundings, especially your footing. That lizard is quite weakened, though, so I believe it can’t go too far.」(Sarasa)

We started walking carefully, following the trail that the lizard left behind, and after walking for a while, we found the lizard in the mud about ten meters away. It wasn’t moving. Its torso was immersed in the mud, so we could only see its head and tail.

「I think that lizard is not moving not because it’s relieved that it successfully moved to a safe place, but because it’s weakened and no longer able to move.」(Sarasa)

After all, more than half of Kate-san’s arrow was stuck deeply in that lizard’s head. It’s very painful for sure.

「Is that so? I think it’s already dead… I will shoot another arrow to make sure.」(Kate)

「Alright, I’m counting on you.」(Sarasa)

「Leave it to me.」(Kate)

Kate-san pulled another arrow and shot it at the other eye of the Lava Lizard precisely.

The body of the lizard shook slightly due to the impact, but it didn’t seem to start rampaging again.

「Oh, you’re right. it’s already dead. I guess it’s not as tough as I thought.」(Sarasa)

「Kate-san, nice shot as always! Alright, I will go collect the body!」(Gil)

Gil-san raised a thumbs up at Kate-san and walked slowly toward the dead Lava Lizard while paying attention to his footing.

The ground where boiling water is flowing is quite hot, but Gil-san is wearing thick boots, so I think he will be fine as long as he doesn’t stick his feet into the mud.

As expected from a veteran Collector. Gil-san was moving nimbly while avoiding the places that seemed dangerous.

However, no matter how good he is as a veteran Collector, Gil-san is still Gil-san.

「Aa, Gil-san, hold on! Don’t grab it like thaーー」(Sarasa)

「ーーZwachhaaaaaー!!!!」(Gil)

I saw this coming, but I was too late to warn him.

The moment he grabbed the tail of the Lava Lizard, Gil-san screamed with a weird voice and quickly let go of the tail.

He then turned around and ran back with tremendous speed.

「Sarasa-chaaan! My hands! My hands are burning!」(Gil)

「Alright, alright. Please calm down and show me your hands.」(Sarasa)

Gil-san took off his gloves and showed me his bright red hands. Looks like he just got light burns on his hands. I don’t think I have to use a potion to heal it.

I put my hands on Gil-san’s hands and produced cold water with magic to cool them while applying healing magic.

After a few seconds, the reddish burned skin on his hands started to heal.

Now that his hands had been healed, Gil-san took a breath of relief, but then Andre-san hit his head.

「Ouch!」(Gil)

「You idiot! Why do you always act so carelessly!? …I’m sorry, Sarasa-chan. Can I pay for his treatment later?」(Andre)

「No, no. I didn’t use a potion so you don’t need to pay.」(Sarasa)

「Are you sure? Well, thank you then.」(Andre)

「Thank you, Sarasa-chan. I’m sorry for always acting carelessly, but… Damn! That was painfully hot!」(Gil)

「Of course it is. It’s almost as if that lizard is being simmered in a hot pot.」(Sarasa)

The muddy ground was as hot as boiling water, and that lizard was immersed in such a place, so it’s obviously pretty hot.

「I thought I’d be fine as long as I wore Flexible Gloves…」(Gil)

「Those gloves are indeed durable and can protect you from sharp and pointy objects but they cannot protect you from heat, you know?」(Sarasa)

「I see…」(Gil)

Of course, there are artifacts that can protect your hands from extreme heat, but unless you want to move your fingers freely, you can just use thick leather gloves that are usually used by blacksmiths.

「Alright, I will go this time.」(Gray)

Gray-san suddenly volunteered himself to collect the lizard.

In terms of experience as a Collector, I think he is on the same level as Gil-san, but unlike Gil-san, he is quite reliable and trustworthy although he rarely speaks.

In their team, Andre-san is the leader, Gil-san is the mood maker, and Gray-san is the man who supports them both.

Now that Gray-san has learned from Gil-san’s mistake, besides his Flexible Gloves, he also put on two pairs of leather gloves as extra layers, so he is now wearing three pairs of gloves.

After that, he carefully approached the dead lizard, grabbed its tail, and dragged it toward us.

「Gray, are you okay?」(Andre)

「My palms feel a little hot, but it’s not a problem. Sarasa-chan, this lizard will cool down if we leave it for a while, right?」(Gray)

「Yes, I think it will cool down soon. The heat can’t pass through its skin, so the inside of its body is not that hot.」(Sarasa)

「I see. Let’s wait then.」(Gray)

We waited for a while for the corpse to cool down, after that, we dismantled it and collected the necessary materials.

「They’re not easy to kill but as long as we have Kate, we can hunt them easily!」(Iris)

「Hey, are you planning to keep relying on me? Well, I don’t mind though.」(Kate)

「Shooting an arrow at them from a distance is a good strategy but only when they’re alone. It will be a bad idea if they are in a group because if you shoot one of them, the rest will come after you. You don’t wanna be roasted by them, do you?」(Sarasa)

It is quite dangerous to hunt them when they are in a group. They can surround you and release fire breath at you simultaneously, turning you into a delicious roasted human for them to eat.

After I warned them, Iris-san and Kate-san’s faces turned pale. Perhaps they were imagining themselves being roasted by the lizards.

「I, I see…」(Iris)

「I’ll carefully watch the surroundings before shooting then…」(Kate)

「Well, we can just hunt Lava Lizards who are alone, right? I think we should try on our own without Sarasa-chan next time. For now, we should go back before it gets too dark.」(Andre)

After Andre-san said that, everyone nodded to him.

Because the Lava Lizard are quite big, our bags are almost packed with only materials from two Lava Lizards we killed so far.

We decided to end the hunt and go down the volcano after we hunted two more Lava Lizards.