Chapter 68

"Hey, don't glare at me like that! It's just a greeting, right?"

"Greeting? The last punch, if your body strengthening hadn't caught up, it would have been more than just a broken bone, brat."

"Hahaha! It looked like you had it under control, so I put a little more force into it! Well, it worked out, didn't it?"

"Hmm... Fine, but please don't do this again, okay!"

*Crack!*

I landed a surprise punch to his stomach, but his abs were as hard as steel.

As I pressed my fist, tears welling up in my eyes, Shiro's brat smirked.

"Hehe. You're a cheeky one. But even if you're a kid, if you're going to be an explorer, you need to be tough like that. Lind, how could you not report such an interesting guy to me? Alright, Ren. We're heading to the forest north of the capital. It seems there are Honey Ants building a nest there."

"No, I'm busy right now—"

"You were just sitting around doing nothing a moment ago. Stop complaining and come with me. Would you rather be thrown and wake up in the middle of the forest, or run there yourself?"

"That's ridiculous! The Honey Ant nest extermination is a B-rank request, right?! I'm still E-rank. Even if I join Oji-san's temporary party, I don't have the qualifications to accept it!"

"Hmm, you know a lot for a case that rarely happens near the capital. You must be quite studious. Since you know, it's perfect! Don't worry, this isn't a request. If we leave it, the ecosystem of the magic herbs around here will go crazy, so we're going to take care of it as volunteers. We're short on plant materials right now."

"What's perfect about that? I'm not going!"

"It's about 60km one way, so we're running there! If you can't keep up, I'll carry you after knocking you out."

This guy doesn't listen at all...

"It's getting dark, and how are we preparing? I'm not going."

"There's no need for preparation for exploring around here. It's like a walk in the garden. Let's finish this quickly and go for a drink! You're lucky, Ren. You'll get to see a live hunt of a Shellbur Monster."

Oji-san said that and snapped his fingers.

A Shellbur Monster?!

"Who are you?!"

◆

We rode a magic car to the intersection of 3rd and Kujou, then ran out of the capital.

It was already getting dark.

"Are you new to the capital, kid? If you don't know my name, you must be from the countryside."

On the way, I was asked by Shiro's Oji-san and explained that I had just come to the capital from the Dragoon region this spring.

I'm interested in monsters, but not in important people. However, Oji-san turned out to be one of the few S-rank explorers in the country, countable on one hand.

No wonder he looked at me with a puzzled face.

The 60km distance wasn't much, but Oji-san's pace was fast. Even with enhanced vision, it was difficult to run on a poorly maintained road without streetlights. Oji-san ran without a break at a pace I could barely keep up with.

By the time we arrived, I was exhausted.

"Oji-san, that was too fast. I need a break, or I won't be able to hunt."

"Hahaha! I was planning to carry you after you collapsed, but I didn't expect you to keep up... You've got some stamina!"

Oji-san was in a great mood, as if he found something amusing.

He ignored my request for a break and headed straight into the forest.

"Alright, I'm thirsty, so let's finish this quickly! Do you know how to exterminate a Honey Ant nest?"

"...You block all but two of the exits and drive them in from one side. If you don't leave an escape route, they'll dig side tunnels and escape."

"Hmm, you're well-informed. You must be from the prestigious Royal Academy's A-class."

Oji-san smirked.

"...Did you notice?"

"Of course. There aren't many 12-year-old E-rank explorers who can keep up with this pace and still look calm, even in the capital."

"No, I'm not calm at all... Can we take a break—"

"Details later! Let's finish this quickly and have some ant honey and beer!"

Listen to me, you bald guy!

But... he doesn't seem to treat me specially.

I actually quite like this bold and adventurous Oji-san, who looks like a true explorer.

After all, an explorer should be free.

◆

"This is the mound. It's about 30 meters high and 150 meters in diameter. It's still under construction."

Shiro's Oji-san said this while blocking the irregular holes on the outside and crushing the 50cm-long Honey Ant soldier ants with his bare hands as they flew out of the nest.

Insect-type monsters are hard.

To crush them so casually... in terms of power, he might be even stronger than the knight squadron leader, Dante...

This guy is a monster too...

"Alright, I'm ready. I'll clean up the monsters from the opposite side and drive them in. Ren, keep watch outside this entrance. The one with wings is the queen. Don't worry about the others, just don't let the queen escape. She'll probably come out first."

"Understood."

About two minutes later, the sound of Oji-san's battle could be heard from the opposite side of the mound.

I activated a detection magic to focus my hearing.

In such a cave, sound and magic tend to echo, making it easier to hear from a distance, but it's harder to accurately pinpoint the location and movement.

The soldier ants swarming and being crushed by Oji-san. The sound of the ground burning, probably from formic acid attacks.

As the soldier ants bought time, a group was heading straight for me.

This must be the queen.

As the group of queen ants turned the last corner of the nest, I fired an iron arrow.

The arrow pierced the eye of the leading soldier ant, which let out a "Gee" and stopped moving.

Three soldier ants immediately rushed towards me.

The queen ant fled back into the nest.

I fired an iron arrow at the ants' eyes, but one was deflected by the hard carapace.

The ants sprayed formic acid.

I dodged the acid, closed the distance, and kicked the ant, then stabbed it with a Banrye Corporation knife when its belly was exposed.

I took a step back, observed the ant, and used the detection magic to check the inside of the nest.

...This is bad.

Oji-san must have started kicking the soldier ants. There were new holes in the nest that weren't there before.

The group of queen ants was heading straight for the new hole.

Oji-san didn't seem to notice and was heading straight for me. If this continues, he'll miss the queen and reach me.

I activated full body strengthening and jumped out of the nest, running around the outside to the new hole.

It's a close call.

I hesitated for a moment but grabbed an arrow with a mackagate fletching.

The queen ants were already flying out of the hole. In the dark, my vision was useless, but I aimed the arrow at the sound of their wings and fired. The arrow easily pierced the queen ant and knocked it to the ground.

As expected, a 2,000 real arrow is worth it.

When I checked the spot, the queen ant was already dead on the ground.

"It seems I had to cover for your mistake... By the way, how wide is your detection range at your age? I heard you're connected to the 3rd Army Corps through Godolfen's old man, but are you being trained by Dew's kid?"

Oji-san approached from behind.

"Yes. Dew-san is my master and has been teaching me a lot."

"Ah! I heard you were giving Dew a hard time, but he's still a tough old man... How far are you in his plans?"

I shrugged.

"I'm being manipulated, and I have no idea what his goal is. That guy is impossible to figure out."

"Hahaha! That's true. Well, the material collection will be done by someone else tomorrow. Let's quickly collect the ant honey from the queen's abdomen and go for a drink!"

Alcohol...

In this world, alcohol is broken down by magic, so you can drink from around 12 years old when your magic organs are fully developed.

But drinking at this age is a bit of a stretch.

As someone who aims to be an outlaw, I don't intend to stubbornly refuse...

"What's that face for? If you're going to be an explorer, you can't avoid alcohol. It's important for socializing and building resistance to toxins."

"Huh? Does drinking build resistance to toxins?"

"Don't you know that? You're a bit unbalanced... The ability to expel foreign substances with magic depends on how much you've practiced. That's why important nobles and top explorers train by drinking. Drinking too much is toxic, but put your preferences aside and drink occasionally as part of your training. Let's go back."

I didn't know that, but if that's the case, I need to drink occasionally! Yeah, if it's part of my training, I can't avoid it.

"Ah, before that, can I retrieve my knife? I left it in a soldier ant near the back exit."

When I returned to where the soldier ant was, the ant with the knife was gone.

I had just gotten used to it after taking care of it every day...

◆

Every day, I take care of it, and it's finally getting used to my hand...