Chapter 31

"Hmm, Frogman, huh."

"Is something wrong, sir?"

We set off from Shuting and are heading for the swamp where the Frogmen live. The place seems to be quite a distance away, so we are moving on a magic carpet along the road that extends from Shuting. I managed to get a handwritten guide from Wij, which is simple, just directions like right, left, and straight. That girl has a good memory.

"Ah, a bit. Just the name gives me a bad feeling."

"Is Frogman a bad name?"

Frogman... If I imagine it, it's a humanoid frog walking on two legs. If this wasn't in this world, I'd be sure to faint and run away the moment I encountered one. It looks like something from a B-grade horror movie.

"Because it's a frog? Could it be that you... think even frogs are cute!?"

"What!? ...No way. That's not true at all."

"Are you sure?"

I can still understand if it's a normal-sized frog. But in this world, it's probably over a meter tall. Thinking about it, it's hard to imagine it as cute. Noll's voice turned upside down, as if she hit a nerve. She says it's not true, but Estelle is looking at her with a suspicious eye. She must be a fan of creepy-cute things. It's too cruel to tease her further, so I'll leave her alone.

●

"Is this the Frogman's habitat?"

"Ugh, it looks dirty and unpleasant."

"Is it a pond?"

We arrived after a few hours on the carpet. If we had walked, it would have been quite a distance. The place we arrived at had fallen logs and a murky pond. It smells like a sewer. There is some land with tall grass, but it's muddy and you'd get dirty if you ran on it. I don't want mud on my new holy shroud.

"Hau~ So it is~"

"What are you sighing about..."

"Huh!? No, I'm not sighing at all!"

Looking at the pond, I can see countless tadpoles swimming, each over a meter long. Wow... they are indeed huge. It's a relief they're not frogs, but they're still a bit creepy. When the tadpoles surface, Noll lets out a sigh.

"Oh, unexpectedly cute monsters."

"Isn't that right? Right?"

"Um, really?"

Estelle even started saying they might be cute. Is that so... round black bodies with tails and big eyes. They do look kind of cute. But let's check their stats first.

―――――

● Species: Tadpole

Level: 1

HP: 200

MP: 0

Attack: 50

Defense: 50

Agility: 20

Magic Resistance: 0

Special Ability: None

Skills: None

―――――

Wow? This is a pretty weak monster. Defeating it won't give much experience.

"Well, that's fine. What should we do? I don't really want to go into the pond. It's dangerous."

"Yeah... freeze it?"

"No, if we do that, the monsters won't come out. What should we do..."

If we go in, it will be hard to move, and the bottom might be deep. If possible, I want to defeat the Frogman without going in... Since we don't see any, maybe Frogmen are rare.

"Alright, we'll only collect items from the Frogman. Estelle, bomb the pond."

"Hehe, got it. I feel like my arm is tingling."

I'll give up on the tadpole items and quickly eliminate them. When I ask Estelle to bomb the pond, she takes out her grimoire from her bag. ...She looks lively, but is it okay?

"Here we go. Hey, hey, hey, hey!"

She cheerfully shouts and waves her staff. With each "hey," a huge fireball appears in the sky, landing in the pond and exploding, evaporating water and mud. The tadpoles are helplessly swallowed by the explosions. The pond, hit by multiple explosions, has exposed ground and parts of it are melted like lava.

"Phew, that's refreshing. This book is amazing."

"It looks like the end of the world... "

"Will we be in trouble for this..."

The pond, which no longer resembles its original form, is almost half gone. This is way over the top...

After a while, tadpoles start to spawn in the remaining half of the pond. Among them, green, humanoid monsters also appear. They have big black eyes, slender limbs, and a creepy appearance when they open their mouths and stick out their tongues. They don't look cute at all. Let's check their stats.

―――――

● Frogman Species: Frog

Level: 25

HP: 6000

MP: 0

Attack: 350

Defense: 50

Agility: 150

Magic Resistance: 50

Special Ability: Poison Mist

Skills: Jump

―――――

They suddenly got strong. If we were caught off guard by these after dealing with the weak tadpoles, our party might struggle. They have poison, but I have the holy shroud and Noll, so we're fine.

"Ugh... as expected."

"That's a bit tough even for me."

"Should we just kill them?"

"Go easy. If we keep this up, the pond will disappear."

Their lanky, disproportionate bodies are creepy. Even Noll is taken aback. Estelle casually suggests something dangerous and starts casting spells. She's in top form today. Is it because of the new equipment?

For a while, she keeps casting various spells at the Frogman, but it easily dodges by diving into the pond or jumping. It's a shame the tadpoles keep getting blown away. Still, that's impressive... even as a monster.

"Ugh, it keeps dodging."

"Well, it's dodging."

"It's kind of pitiful... "

Estelle is getting frustrated that she can't hit them. It's like they're being taught the terror of being attacked. I'm starting to feel sympathy, just like Noll.

"Alright, Estelle. When it jumps next, freeze the pond. Noll and I will take care of it."

"Ugh, got it."

If we keep this up, the remaining half of the pond will disappear, so we'll take them down in close combat.

"Noll, let's go!"

"Got it!"

The moment the Frogman jumps, Estelle freezes the pond, and we start running. The Frogman lands on the frozen pond, surprised, but quickly notices us and looks our way.

Noll, enhanced by her equipment, is even faster and approaches the Frogman first, swinging her sword. But it misses as the Frogman jumps. I catch up and attack, but it keeps jumping, and none of my attacks hit. When an attack is about to hit, it spits out a purple poison mist, disappears from sight, and reappears far away, jumping. And it stinks.

"Damn, this is annoying!"

"It jumps really well..."

This isn't going anywhere. Should I just have Estelle blow everything up? It's already half gone, so it won't make much difference... No, that's too risky.

I got so frustrated by the constant dodging that I threw my bar at the jumping frog. The bar pierced the frog's rear, and it fell, convulsing without landing.

"Alright! Noll, finish it!"

"Got it!"

Noll stabs the fallen frog several times with her sword, and it turns into particles of light, dropping an item. It's a slightly longer tongue... I don't want to touch that.

"Phew, we finally took it down. For a D-rank monster, it was quite a struggle."

"How do normal adventurers defeat them?"

"Maybe they enter the pond or lure them out?"

Hmm, this might be a test of how to defeat a monster in a difficult environment. We just brute-forced it.

●

We returned to the adventurer's guild to submit the proof of our mission. The return trip was instant thanks to the beacon. Beacons are the best items.

The pond is back to normal, as Estelle melted the ice. We probably won't get in trouble... probably.

"Hey, Ohtsuka-san? What's going on?"

"Well, we finished the Frogman mission and brought the proof."

"What... did you really defeat it?"

"Yes, we defeated it."

Wij, at the reception, looked at us in surprise when we said we had completed the mission. Why is she surprised?

"It should take about two days to get there and back..."

"Oh, we just made a quick trip."

Uh-oh... That's right. It's strange to complete a mission in such a remote place so quickly. I'm too used to the scorpion hunts and didn't think about it. My excuse is weak, and she won't buy it. This is bad.

"Ah, well, it's you guys, Ohtsuka-san. Please give me the proof and your plates."

"Huh... Oh, right."

Huh? She bought it... I was brushed off. I'm relieved, but it's not satisfying. What does she think of us?

"Here, with this, you are now D-rank. Congratulations on your promotion."

I received the red plate from Wij, which used to be blue. Now we are D-rank adventurers.