Volume 1
Chapter 16
I Encountered a
Snake
Translator : PolterGlast
I had arrived at the
village that had made the request. It was quite a distance from the guild, but
it didn't take that long to run.
The houses in this
village were mostly simple structures made of wood, and they looked much worse
than the city where the guild was located. When I saw people walking around the
village, I felt that their lives were somewhat difficult and that the village
was probably not very developed.
However, even in such
a village, there were wooden logs standing as if to surround the village. And
each log had a green crystal attached to it. What was that?
"Oh... Could you
be the adventurer who took the request!?"
"Huh?"
A frail old man
suddenly spoke to me as I was observing the crystals.
There were two young
men standing around the old man. Were they his escorts?
"Uh, yes, I
am..."
Could this old man be
the client? He asked me right away if I was an adventurer.
"Oh... Oh! What
wonderful news! I was about to give up hope of finding someone to take the
request..."
The old man let out a
voice that seemed to be overwhelmed with emotion. ...Well, whatever, let's just
get on with the request.
"Um... Are you
the client, sir?"
"Oh, yes! I'm so
sorry for making such a poor impression."
"No, no. Anyway,
I'd like to get straight to the point. The request is to subjugate the
Poilsneg, right? Can you tell me where it is and what it looks like?"
When I asked that, the
old man, who had been trembling with emotion until a moment ago, widened his
eyes, and the two young men behind him also looked surprised. What? Did I say
something wrong?
However, the old man,
who must have lived a long life, came to his senses before the young men.
"Oh, yes. Well,
the Poilsneg is a green snake with purple spots."
Sneg? ...Oh, snake.
"Seriously, you
don't know about the Poilsneg...?"
"I-Is he going to
be okay? It'll just end up with more unnecessary casualties..."
The two young men were
muttering. They seemed to be worried.
"Recently, a
Poilsneg has been spotted wandering outside the barrier. Originally, the
Poilsneg is a vicious magical beast that is not found in this area. Therefore,
we decided to put out a request because the village cannot deal with it.
However, unfortunately, this village is far from the royal capital, and I hear
that the Poilsneg is a dangerous monster even for adventurers. So, I had given
up hope of finding someone to take it, but..."
A barrier? What kind
of barrier? ...Could it be these logs?
The old man approached
one of the logs and stroked the crystal.
"This magical
repellent stone was expensive, but it was very effective in preventing magical
beasts from entering the village. However, it's not perfect, and sometimes
magical beasts slip through. If it's a Poilsneg, the damage to the village
would be immeasurable. So, before that happens..."
"So I just have
to go into that forest and kill that snake?"
I pointed to the
forest near the village.
"E-Eh...
snake?"
"Oh, excuse me. I
meant Sneg."
I see, they don't say
"snake" here.
"Y-Yes. It's just
as you said, but..."
"I understand.
Well, I'm off then."
I understood the
situation, and I started walking towards the forest.
"Hey! Is he
serious!?"
"Is he going in
there with that kind of equipment!? His opponent is a Poilsneg, you know!?"
The young men were
shouting something, but whatever. More importantly...
The corners of my
mouth naturally turned up.
Now, time for the fun
to begin.
□□□
【Old man's perspective】
"Are you sure
about this, village head? Letting that adventurer go like that?"
Nobu, one of the young
men in the village and also my bodyguard, asked me.
"Well, it's
neither good nor bad. That guy left before we had a chance to tell him
everything."
Moff, my other
bodyguard, replied to Nobu's question.
"I wonder if
he'll be okay? But he walked into the forest with so much confidence, didn't
he?"
"Indeed, his
equipment was of high quality. Maybe he has poison resistance..."
"That's it! That
must be it! No one would not know about the Poilsneg, and he asked the village
head about the it just to confirm. So, once he was sure, he went!"
"But! That
equipment didn't cover his whole body! How could he possibly defend himself
against its poison..."
Nobu and Moff were
discussing about that adventurer.
Certainly, as the one
who made the request, I was concerned about the safety of the person who took
it.
However, as I listened
to their conversation, I wondered something more fundamental.
Is it even possible to
develop resistance to the poison of the Poilsneg?
□□□
I had stepped into the
forest.
This forest is pretty
deep, huh? The trees are thick, the weeds make it hard to see my feet, and my
field of vision is filled with nature.
How could I find a
snake in a place like this?...
"Shaaahhh!!"
Just as I thought so,
a green snake suddenly appeared from the grass near my feet.
It appeared... but
it's incredibly slow, this snake. What do I do?
Well, since I was
always attacked by animals in (that) forest, I naturally received a bite of
this snake...
"───!! Gah! Cough!
Cough!"
Instantly, I vomited
blood. Blood was coming out of my eyes instead of tears, and several blood
vessels had been severed.
Blood was gushing out.
It wasn't stopping at all. My vision was slightly red.
It hurts... but, well.
"Haah, haah...
I'm not so paralyzed that I can't move..."
In fact, I was able to
reach around the snake's body and pull it away from my bitten hand.
Now it's just painful.
The centipede's poison
made me completely unable to move. Maybe the poison type is different, but
honestly, I don't feel very threatened. Well, I have to commend the strength of
its jaw for being able to pierce my current body with such a small size.
Anyway, let's put that
aside, I need to finish the request. I turned my attention to the Poilsneg,
which was trying desperately to move its body, trapped in my hand.
Now, let's see how
much elasticity and defense it has.
"Ei!"
"Gisha!?"
Splat
With just a little
force from my hands, the snake couldn't even let out a dying scream properly
and split into two parts, its head and tail. A clumsy cut, as if it had ripped
open by force, and blood dripped down, forming a puddle beneath me.
"...Huh?"
I haven't even put in
much effort... This easy? I feel a little letdown.
Well, I knew from the
guild's appraisal that the previous forest's magical beasts were not normal...
but is the difference this big?
...
Oh, right. I don't
know if this is really a Poilsneg, so I need to ask the old man to confirm.
...
I started walking back
the way I came, carrying the snake's corpse.
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