[Part 2/4]
If it were red, it would look more like a Piranha Plant emerging from a pipe, wouldn't it!?
"Guh, guh, guh...!!?"
Regardless, the servant's outfit I was wearing was reinforced to be more robust than usual. There were even iron plates worked into it. That outfit was now, in painful fact, being gnawed away. This... this can't be happening!?
"You, are you sure there aren't any wounds...!?"
I assessed my trapped leg, thankfully realizing that it wasn't piercing my flesh. Nevertheless, the fact that it hadn't pierced was fortunate enough; it might have left dents in my bone. I glanced around and sighed in frustration.
These were carnivorous leaves of flytrap grass, capable of swallowing a mouse at most and potentially gobbling up a bear. Or rather, should I call them flesh-eating leaves? Many of them remained silent, although some were wriggling in an attempt to escape. It was like a nightmarish scene.
"Is this a place where youkai has eaten by flytrap? Huh…!!?"
'Buooo!! Biuhoho!!?'
Suddenly, a desperate roar rang out, catching my attention.
The boar was there. The giant boar youkai that had been playing cat and mouse with us until my consciousness was severed. It was writhing around, its rear half being devoured by one of the flesh-eating leaves. As it writhed, other carnivorous leaves, responding to the vibrations, crept closer. They bit its front legs, then its head. Finally, they reached its throat and flanks.
"I see, the more it struggles, the faster it meets its end..."
I offer my condolences to the boar who warned me of the forbidden move here with his own body. It was just a formality. Now then, with that settled...
"Trying to force it might lead to more problems, huh? But..."
I grimaced as my throbbing leg continued to ache incessantly. During this time, my stamina was depleted. Moreover, if this was based on flytrap grass, there would probably be dissolving liquid oozing from the closed jaws. Indeed, I could feel a strange dampness on my leg. If I stayed like this, my leg would slowly dissolve... I couldn't afford to waste any more time.
"Servant..."
"Be cautious; I'll release you. Please keep an eye on the surroundings."
I pulled a dagger (tantō) from my waist and followed Loli Gorilla's voice. I focused on the task at hand.
It seemed that the fangs were piercing my leg, wedging themselves between my knee and calf. The knee side was fine, thanks to the iron plates. The problem was on the calf side.
"The calf is elastic. It should give a bit under pressure, right?"
First, I cut the fabric of my outfit from the area around my heel. My knee was now exposed. Next, I prepared a water bottle and poured water onto my leg to reduce friction even a little bit. I prepared chopsticks, inserted them into the gaps as temporary splints within the jaws, and placed bandages around the target area to prevent the flytrap grass from getting excited by blood. And then...
"Insert it into the gap... gently!"
With the determination to scrape the skin of my calf, I inserted the dagger. Slowly but forcefully, I pushed it in. The blade cut into my calf, and I managed the slight bleeding with a bandage. I felt a slight tremor in the jaws, but it seemed to be holding. It appeared that I was still fooling it.
The hint was from how to escape when stepping on a landmine. I remembered seeing it in a movie, albeit not as skillful. As far as I could recall, they placed a blade between their shoe and the ground to prevent the mine from reacting to weight changes. Slowly, they moved their foot away, and finally, someone added weight to help the person escape. What I was attempting was a variation of that.
"Oil is more slippery than water...!!"
Slowly, cautiously, with great care, I used the dagger and chopsticks to pry the carnivorous leaves open and remove my leg.
"Something's coming!"
"Huh!?"
A hushed warning in my ear. I shifted my gaze and immediately understood its meaning. I pretended to fall, hiding Loli Gorilla-sama. I played dead.
After a while, a seismic tremor resounded in the vicinity. Something massive was passing by. Faintly, very faintly, I opened my eyes and burned its image into my mind.
If there were normal flowers, it meant there was a boss. It was as tall as the monstrous deer I had faced before. An abnormally huge carnivorous leaf compared to its body. A bipedal flytrap grass... probably a great youkai. Most likely the boss of these flytrap grasses in the area.
(If there's a strangely wide path, it must be its route...)
The boss stood there, swaying and looking around with a head that didn't seem to have eyes. I played dead, doing my best to appear lifeless. Loli gorilla-sama on my back trembled slightly, but there was nothing I could do. At least, there was no risk of incontinence since I was already empty inside.
'...'
After a while, the boss, who had been standing nearby, seemed to change its mood. It rumbled away with thudding footsteps.
"...It's gone."
As I got up, I took a deep breath. It felt like an eternity had passed. My heart was pounding violently. I thought I was going to die.
"Are we okay now?"
"There's a possibility it might come back. It's better to escape quickly. Thank you for the warning. Please continue to keep an eye on our surroundings."
Then, I resumed removing the flytrap rather than a landmine.
"Come on..."
To dilute the dissolving liquid on my dry leg, I poured water from the bamboo water bottle. It tingled slightly. Had the epidermis softened a bit? Damn, I wasted time because of that boss...!!
...And then, how much more time did it take? Taking what felt like a soul-crushing amount of time, I managed to pull my leg out. As I did so, I pushed the bamboo water bottle inside to distract it. There was a sound like "snap!" as the bottle was crushed by the fangs. The chopsticks broke as well, but there was no helping it at this point.
"Ugh...!!?"
I somehow managed to stand up. The bitten leg hurt. Even though it hadn't pierced deeply, it had caused congestion due to the pressure, and the blood, which had stopped flowing, now rushed back in, causing spasms.
"Are you really okay?"
"If only I had a spear..."
My main weapon had disappeared when I woke up. I must have let go of it when I was dragged away. And I had no idea where it was anymore...
"...Let's go. We don't have time."
I looked up at the sky. The sun was setting, and I wanted to reach our destination before it got dark.
(I hope Hisame has arrived ahead of us...)
We had a prior agreement. If we got separated, we would each head to the destination independently. Once we arrived, we would stay there for two days. After that... I wondered if she was safe.
"...Who are you thinking about? Your companion?"
As I passed through the flytrap grass paradise, I heard a discontented mutter from behind. This companion of mine had quite a foul mouth. Were you in charge of restroom duties or something? Ouch! Did you just headbutt me!?
"...Ouch... Please stop. I'm injured too, you know?"
"Weren't you thinking something rude?"
"Come on..."
This was a terrible misunderstanding... right?
"...Let's stop with the jokes here. Let's proceed slowly, cautiously, but quickly."
I didn't want to be chewed again. So, I continued forward, being mindful not of landmines but of the flytrap grass. Fortunately, I didn't encounter the boss again after that.
"Do you hear that... the sound of flowing water?"
I faintly heard the sound of water along the way. We followed it, and it turned out to be the right choice.
We turned on a path that seemed to cut through the carnivorous leaves' forest like a tunnel. Ahead, we could see the exit of this maze...
"Here it is..."
In the distance, I saw the end of the flytrap grass forest. Beyond that was a dense forest of regular trees. The sight seemed a bit too obvious, making me wonder if it was a trap...
"There's no other destination anyway..."
Turning back now would only increase the chances of running into the boss again, so there was no choice but to move forward. I quickened my pace, remained vigilant of my surroundings, and proceeded cautiously. And then... I stopped.
"Huh!? What's wrong!?"
"Seriously..."
To the confusion of Loli Gorilla-sama on my back, I could only click my tongue. In my line of sight was a flytrap leaf, large enough to swallow a person whole.
A human arm extended from its tightly closed gap.
A human arm. It was wearing Hidden Group clothes...
"...Dammit."
I clicked my tongue and walked away from the spot. It was clearly too late.
"Hey, isn't that..."
"...If you've worked in this industry long enough, stories like this become plausible, don't they?"
I didn't need to say anything more about what lay ahead. There was no need. She would understand to some extent what was going through my mind...
"..."
"..."
We finally emerged from the carnivorous forest of flesh. We were both silent. There was no joy. There was no sense of accomplishment. We had merely fulfilled our duty.
"Let's go. We need to hurry before it gets dark..."
I started to say that, but then I froze. I looked back one last time and was shocked by what I saw.
The arm of the Hidden Group emerging from the flytrap leaves was definitely moving.
...As if reaching out to seek help.
"Huh!? Princess, stay right there!! I'll be right back!!"
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