Chapter 24 Exploring The Dungeon (Part Four)
Even within the marshy area, the pathways are relatively firm and easy to walk on. However, carrying Morimura on my back still makes it challenging to walk without stumbling. Shimura and Kondo took turns carrying him along the way, but Kiridani didn't show any intention to do so.
Not carrying Morimura means leading the way. Consequently, we have to defeat monsters. Fortunately, only creatures slightly larger than humans, such as giant leeches and dog-sized isopods, have appeared.
While opponents larger than humans are formidable, this level of challenge serves as good practice. We've been lucky not to encounter the most formidable opponent, the frog-man creature. It seems that the party of adventurers ahead of us has already dealt with them to some extent.
And finally, we arrived at a place in the marsh where a large rock rises slightly in the center. A small spring flows from the rock's base. This is the spring of antidote.
"We arrived at the spring. Let's treat the wound here."
My back has been hot since a while ago. It seems like Morimura has a fever due to the poison. I lifted Morimura off my back and checked the condition of his injured right leg. The purple wound had swollen even larger. I picked up the dagger I had and said to Morimura,
"I'm going to cut the injured part now and remove the poison and pus. It's going to hurt quite a bit, but please bear with it."
Morimura nodded strongly, his face covered in sweat. I lightly stabbed the swollen wound with the dagger.
"Ugh."
Morimura let out a small groan. Ignoring it, I cut open the wound with the dagger.
"!!!!"
Morimura let out an unbearable scream. I squeezed out the poison and pus from the wound and rinsed it with water from a bottle filled with healing spring water.
As I repeated this several times, Morimura's groans gradually became quieter.
"This should be fine."
Morimura muttered a small "thank you" as I applied the bandage to the wound.
"You can't walk right away. Should we take a rest for a while?"
Morimura shook his head from side to side.
"There are other adventurers, right? If we rest here, they might take the necessary weapons. We have to go right away."
"I think so too."
Tsubasa said, looking into the distance.
"Rather, we can't stay here. It seems like enemies are coming."
I immediately stood up and looked around. From the water puddles of the marsh, I could see only the eyes above the flat heads. Frog-like humanoids. As soon as they realized that we noticed them, they slowly emerged from the water. Each of them was holding a spear or a knife.
"Gero."
The frogs croaked in a deeper voice. There were a total of six of them. We also have six people, but Morimura can't participate in the battle right now, so it's effectively 5 against 6. The frog humanoids crouched their bodies.
"Here they come!"
Almost simultaneously with my shout, the frog-men leaped. One of them, holding a spear, came at me from directly above.
"That spear is troublesome."
While thinking that, I narrowly avoided the spear and sliced open its belly horizontally. The frog-man collapsed, its guts splattering everywhere. Just beside it, there was another frog-man with a knife, who had arrows sticking out of its head. Tsubasa had released two arrows in an instant, hitting both of them.
"That makes four opponents."
Another frog-man, wielding a spear, was engaged in a fight with Shimura. He managed to dodge the spear somehow, but it seemed difficult to finish off the opponent with a battle axe alone. As for the others, Kondo and Kiridani were each dealing with one frog-man with a knife, and it seemed like they were giving it their all.
And then, the remaining one targeted the injured Morimura. Morimura was trying to defend with a sword, but it was only a matter of time before they would be defeated.
I ran to Morimura's side and swung my sword, but the frog-man evaded it with their high jumping ability. These guys have similar movements to humans in normal circumstances, but their attacks utilizing their jumping ability are troublesome.
And as I thought, the frog-man bent down.
(Coming!)
I had a gut feeling. In the next moment, the frog-man came flying straight towards me like a bullet. But I saw that coming. Frog-mans sometimes launch a direct attack from the front instead of jumping up. I slightly dodged to the left and swung my sword from the right back to the right front, drawing an arc. The frog-man, who lost its head behind me, fell with a thud. Right after that, the decapitated head of that thing fell down.
"Morimura, are you okay?"
He nodded his head stiffly without saying a word. When I turned around, the frog-man who was fighting with Kondo Shuichi had already been shot down by Tsubasa. Almost at the same time, Shimura had defeated the last frog-man. Kiridani Jun was intercepting the frog-man's knife with his sword. I attacked the frog-man who was facing Kiridani Jun nearby. The frog-man, whose head was split vertically, also fell sideways to the ground. While looking at the fallen frog-man, I could hear Kiridani Jun muttering softly.
"I could have defeated them on my own... but you did something unnecessary."
I pretended not to hear those words, and I looked at everyone.
"With this, there shouldn't be any monsters in the vicinity for a while. Let's rest for about 15 minutes and then proceed once Morimura's injuries have settled."
"How do you know there are no monsters?"
Tsubasa asked with a curious expression.
"The frog-men are the strongest in this marshland. Plus, they have their own territory and hunt in groups. So if there were frog-men, there shouldn't be any other monsters nearby. Since we defeated those frog-men, we can consider this territory safe for a while."
Then, Kiridani Jun snorted.
"In that case, shouldn't we move forward? The other adventurers are probably ahead, right? They might even beat us to the magic weapon we're after."
"We just treated Morimura's wounds. It would be better to rest for a while until things calm down a bit."
"Didn't Akito just say, 'This place is safe for a while'? If that's the case, Morimura who can't move should just stay here."
I glared at Kiridani Jun. No matter what, that's too cold towards our comrades.
"Jun, isn't that going too far?"
Kiridani Jun looked at Shimura, who said that to mediate, with a contemptuous look.
"What's the matter, Shimura? Have you become one of Akito's underlings since coming to this world? You've become weak, haven't you?"
"It's not like that. But I think it's unreasonable to leave Morimura, who is injured, alone."
"If that's the case, Shimura, why don't you stay here too? Do we all need to waste time here? That's what I want to say."
Shimura, who is usually the bright mood maker, also has a serious expression. Surprisingly, Kondo Shuichi, the student council president, agreed with Kiridani Jun.
"I also agree with Kiridani-kun's opinion. The purpose of participating in this quest was to obtain powerful weapons. If that's the case, it's meaningless if we don't achieve that purpose. I'm sorry, Morimura-kun, but if this place is relatively safe, it would be better for you to wait here. If you're still worried, someone should stay here."
Everyone falls silent for a while.
Eventually, Morimura speaks with a lonely smile.
"I understand. I'll stay here. I have a sword as a weapon, after all. I'll take care of myself."
Tsubasa glances at him from the side.
"In that case... I'll stay here too. I'm worried about leaving Morimura-kun alone."
But I strongly oppose with a firm tone.
"No, we'll all go together. Morimura will come with us. So there's no need for Tsubasa to stay here."
Hello, we have a NEW project about mc whose heroines want to become his mother instead of his lover. You can read it on here => Link
Hello, we have other project about someone who has returned from an isekai. The main character is a hero who has defeated the Demon Lord. However, for some reason, the human-demon war has resumed and will take place in the MC's original world. The MC, unaware of this, meets a Saint from that world and asks them to join the war. But what does the MC say? They refuse. Is it because their love was rejected by the princess when they adventured together in the past or are they simply fed up? And are the MC will join later? You can find out by clicking on the following => [Link]
We have a new work with genre second life. The story is about a former s*x worker who didn't want to be a loner again, and fulfilling his second life. It has a life conflict and the protagonist will solve it one by one. You can find out in => [Link]
We also have a similar genre returned from isekai but has different MC's characteristic. The story is punishing someone who troll in SNS, someone who cheat and many more. You can find out in => [Link]
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)