Legend

Chapter 450

「Phew, we’ve finally managed to get out of……that.」

Rei looked behind him as he gave a sigh of relief.

As if to match, Elena and Set also looked behind themselves.

At their back was a large patch of green.

It was a forest of cacti, a plant that could be used to rehydrate and, in some cases, as food.

And within the forest, Cactus Mimics were mixed in.

In that green patch, there was a scar where all the cacti had been destroyed, leaving the sandy ground bare.

The cacti and Cactus Mimics that had been growing there had all been cut down or burned, leaving their remains behind.

「Maybe it’s because we were taking it one step at a time, but it took longer than expected.」

「Gururu~」

Set gave a cry of agreement at Elena’s words.

That wasn’t unreasonable. After all, Rei had been continuously attacking the Cactus Mimics with flying slashes, Elena with her sword whip, and Set with fire breath.

In other words, Set had been continuously spitting out flames. Furthermore, if he used fire breath at its full power, the Cactus Mimic magic stones would be turned to ash, so he had to carefully adjust his power. Naturally, Set’s physical exhaustion was much more intense than the other two. No, if it were purely physical exhaustion, Set wouldn’t have had that much of an issue as he had abundant stamina as a Griffon. However, his mental fatigue was concerning.

「Any how, we managed to collect a lot of magic stones. This should solve Exil’s magic stone shortage for a bit.」

「That’s right. ……But Schaffner, the cause of this magic stone shortage, has already fled. I don’t think there will be a serious shortage of magic stones in Exil like before.」

Rei nodded at Elena’s words.

As long as one of the two parties who had been buying up magic stones stopped doing so, there was no doubt that the amount of magic stones flowing into the market would increase.

「That said, it doesn’t mean that the supply will reach everywhere right away. Considering that, this wasn’t a waste. ……What about absorbing the magic stones? Because of the Cactus Mimics……no, rather, should I say thanks to them? Any how, I don’t see any other adventurers around here.」

When Rei had got to the 13th floor, he had said that it would be hard to find a place hidden from the surroundings. Because of that, Elena asked him, but after thinking about it for a few seconds, Rei shook his head.

「Let’s not do it here. It’s true that adventurers won’t come here, but there are still the Cactus Mimics that will react to magic power. If we try to absorb the magic stones here and something goes wrong, there’s a chance the Cactus Mimics will over react. Since we got this far without suffering any injuries, I don’t want to do anything that might cause that to happen now.」

「In that case, what is your plan? This is probably the most hidden place on the entire floor.」

「Yeah. Regardless, how about we move a little further away from here.」

「……I see. That would certainly be better. Besides this place isn’t great for a variety of reasons.」

Frowning slightly, Elena turned her gaze to the area where the cacti and Cactus Mimics grew.

The fire breath released by Set had filled the area with a burnt smell.

Although it was starting to fade due to the desert wind, there was still a strong burning odour around. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, but Elena didn’t like staying in this environment for much longer.

「Then, let’s get moving. ……I’d be happy if another Skyfang or Rock Spider showed up, but I guess that would be asking for a bit too much.」

「Maybe. Generally speaking, as an ordinary adventurer, you wouldn’t want to run into monsters like that. ……No, I guess monsters are still needed if adventurers want to make money from their materials, proofs of subjugation, and magic stones.」

「Gururu~?」

As the two of them walked along, Set, who had gone ahead, gave a cry to ask if they were going to catch up as he turned his head back to look at them.

Smiling at the sight, Rei and Elena followed Set out into the desert.

「Gurururu~!」

Set gave a happy cry when he saw them following him.

Although using fire breath continuously had been tiring, it seemed like it had been an effective way of relieving his stress.

(Although, I’m not sure if Set had any stress to begin with.)

Rei gave a wry smiles as he watched Set wag his tail like a dog in a good mood, despite the fact that he was a Griffon, which had the lower body of a lion.

Set was friendly and happy to be taken care of by the residents of Exil. Moreover, recently, some of them had started to feed Set with dried meat and sandwiches, making him somewhat of a mascot character similar to in Gilm.

While thinking about that, it didn’t seem like Set had any stress at all.

Rather than stress, Set was probably just happy to be able to run amok with Rei. Set was it a good mood, so he could tell that much.

Unbothered by the direct sunlight, the three of them made their way through the desert.

The smell of burning cacti and Cactus Mimics had already faded to the point that it was no longer bothersome to them at this distance.

Or maybe that was the reason. There was a rumbling sound that seemed to echo from the depths of the ground.

「-!?」

Expecting a monster attack, Elena pulled out her sword whip on reflex as she prepared to intercept.

However, even after waiting several seconds, there was no sign of any enemy attack and time just kept on goin.

In that situation……

「I’m sorry. That wasn’t an enemy. It was just my stomach.」

「……That was the sound of your stomach?」

Awkwardly looking aside, Rei nodded at Elena, who seemed like she hadn’t expected that.

The smell of burnt cactus hadn’t been an appetising smell. But, for some reason, Rei’s stomach still insisted of asserting itself.

While watching Rei, Elena gave a sigh with a small smile.

Her smile was one of ‘it can’t be helped’.

She wondered if Rei could do anything without her and thought that she should keep her eyes on him.

Probably noticing that Elena was looking at him, Rei glanced around somewhat restlessly.

However, unlike the previous floor, this was a sandy desert. There were no rocks for shade, only cacti in the surroundings.

Rei honestly wished there was an oasis like the one on the 11th floor, but oases were probably rarer than finding rocks for shade.

「For now……do you want to set up the magic tent in the shadow of a sand dune so we can eat without being seen by others?」

「That sounds reasonable. I’m thirsty as well, so I would appreciate it if you could do that.」

「Gurururu~!」

I’m hungry too! Set seemed to say with a cry.

Or maybe he was just thirsty and not hungry. Either way, they made their way over to a large sand dune a few kilometres away from their current location.

They had been somewhat distracted from all the Cactus Mimics they had killed along the way. Because of that, it might have been inevitable for them to be a little late in noticing.

Still, they were able to discover the other party before they were noticed themselves, so it wasn’t all bad.

In short……

「Adventurers?」

There were three figures at the end of their line of sight. They were wearing cloaks similar to Elena’s, so it was hard to tell their gender. However, they were definitely humans or demihumans.

Since they were on the 13th floor, they were definitely adventurers. However, the biggest reason for Rei and Elena’s suspiciousness was the figure at their feet.

Although they didn’t know how, the figure at their feet was definitely a live Cactus Mimic, similar to the ones Rei’s group had overrun earlier.

「……」

What do you want to do? Rei thought for a few seconds as Elena asked with her eyes.

If the other party had been ordinary adventurers, they would have just approached to talk normally.

Even if they were somewhere where other adventurers would barely go, they could just say they were looking for a place to hole up for a bit.

However, the three adventurers Rei’s group could see were clearly wary of their surroundings. The fact that they had brought a Cactus Mimic, which should have been rooted in the ground, to this remote place was clearly strange.

Fortunately, it seemed that their sense weren’t sharp enough to spot Rei, who had been off guard. However, the tension radiating from them was still not ordinary.

(They’re clearly suspicious, but……what are they doing?)

Certainly, the more he looked at them, the more suspicious they seemed. Or maybe they were conducting some sort of criminal activity. It wasn’t like Rei was a hero of justice. But looking at them objectively……they definitely looked more like evil people than good people.

Elena had her own thoughts as a noble, but in this situation where she didn’t know anything, she wasn’t stupid enough to make a random move.

As for Set, he would move if Rei moved.

Any how, the three of them looked at the three adventurers surrounding the Cactus Mimic as they waited to see what would happen.

Rei’s stomach had been growling a few minutes ago, but it seemed it stopped making sounds in this tense situation.

「Hey, hurry up. You know it’s going to be a problem if this guy starts moving.」

「It’s fine, it can’t move anymore because it’s half dead.」

「Don’t let your guard down, idiot. Even if they are half dead, they’re still monsters. Have you forgotten that we’ve been in danger several times before?」

「That’s why. I have experience, so I can afford to do this.」

「……Enough, let’s make it quick. Is everything ready? We’ll escape as soon as we get confirmation, so stay on top of it, okay?」

At the last man’s words, one of the men pulled out something from his pocket.

It was something like a gem, about 5cm in diameter, with a faint but definitely black and murky light.

The moment it was taken out with a leather glove, the wariness of the men grew stronger.

「It’s still the same. I get chills no matter how many times I see it.」

「It’s no wonder considering the effort used to make one of these. ……Let’s do it. Using chaos seed 3-2-7.」

ALong with those words, the black and murky gem they called the chaos seed touched the half dead Cactus Mimic that was on the ground.

Then, the chaos seed was sucked directly into its body.

Right after……

Badump!

The Cactus Mimic convulsed so much that even Rei’s group could see it from their distance.

The convulsions continued several times before the Cactus Mimic, which usually never moved and just ambushed enemies, started flipping about on the desert sand like a fish out of water.

(It……came back to life?)

The Cactus Mimic hadn’t actually been dead, so ‘came back to life’ wasn’t an accurate description. But the changes that took place didn’t end there.

The cacti and Cactus Mimics that grew in the area they had previously been in were about 1m tall. The Cactus Mimic thrashing about in front of the men was the same. ……Or rather, it shouldn’t have changed.

However, the Cactus Mimic that absorbed the chaos seed grew in size and appearance as it flipped about on the sand.

The thorns growing from its body became sharper and longer. They became more like the metal needles Byune used in combat rather than cactus thorns.

Originally, it would ambush enemies while rooted in the ground, so it had no ability to walk. However, the lower half of its body had now developed to the point where it could be seen.

(Hey, hey, this can’t be……)

Monsters of the same type as monsters that were found on the same floors, but with distinctly different appearance and abilities. Rei’s group knew of them

No, it was more than just knowing. Those monsters had magic stones that, while not fatal for Rei’s Magic Beast Art, were still harmful to him. That is to say……

(Are those……abnormal speices?)