Chapter. 12. Lettuce to Wind Mage (13)
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“Please go slowly! We have strong people like you and Borka…”
“Let’s at least use magic to hold on! “We have to get there before the wizards come!”
“The direction the moon rises. “Five returning wizards.”
Sigh!
The professor, who was crossing the valley in half-monster form, quickly hid behind a rock at Idrasil’s words.
There was nothing good about being caught in the eyes of wizards returning from a search. From now on, they were going to perform various tricks on the nest, which was on alert, and of course there was a high possibility that it would take on a monster form while moving and engaging in combat, and the magicians noticed that the ‘Red Mute’ who had done that damn thing was moving along well with the guests. At that moment, it was obvious that the magic barbarians’ goal would turn towards us.
“…The frequency of return is decreasing.”
“I vaguely saw a few letters flying around. Perhaps the wizards who remained at home are calling in wizards who have gone far to search.”
“I don’t have much free time… I guess. “Is there still a lot of Borka left?”
“We’re almost there. “It’s the valley below the rock beyond that rock.”
“About 5km? Let’s hurry. “Because the 6th rank old man’s patience didn’t seem that deep.”
Wind wizards fly without being affected by the terrain, so they will be able to move much faster than the group.
The professor moved his feet with urgency, calculating the amount of free time he would gain while moving and the time needed to carry out the operation.
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“We’re all here. “It’s down here.”
“I understand without you having to say it. “It smells like mute.”
The narrow valley, dimly illuminated by the moonlight, looked as if a major battle had taken place.
A valley filled with cuts here and there, as if it had been cut by thousands of giant blades, and a mixture of scorched marks and melted rocks.
When I first heard the explanation, I thought they were ambushed and ran away while firing delay magic, but looking at the size of the traces, it seems like there was quite a fierce battle.
The werewolf’s yellow eyes sparkled through the moonlight, and Borka silently approached me and whispered in my ear.
“The smell of mute is definitely there, but contrary to the captain’s expectations, it doesn’t seem like they have produced any more defensive troops. “There isn’t a single movement.”
“well. “My thoughts are a little different.”
The valley vaguely visible in the moonlight was quiet, but his throbbing body and sense of smell, urging him to give Mut’s blood immediately, were telling him otherwise.
‘I am confident in my eyesight, but it is not comparable to a werewolf’s unrivaled night vision. If I couldn’t see that werewolf, I wouldn’t be able to find it with my own eyes.’
Instead of looking at the valley, the professor closed his eyes.
A rocky valley in the middle of the night where only the sound of the shallow wind and the low breathing of the group can be heard.
In the silence, the professor focused more on Ye’s throbbing sensation. A feeling that whispers to me to immediately enlarge and run wild, as if pushing my body out from within.
As the professor had no intention of moving despite that angry impulse, his senses became even more violent and stretched out towards the prey right in front of him.
….Tuk. …. Tuk. …. Tuk.
A strange, inexplicable sensation was guiding the professor. An inexplicable sensation that feels like seeing with your ears and hearing with your eyes. The heartbeat can be clearly felt through the breath you inhale or the air that touches the tip of your tongue.
The professor had to unconsciously wipe away the drool as the bright red lumps appeared as if drawn over his closed eyes.
“Tsu-eup. Wow, there are so many. “It was a good thing I didn’t get any closer.”
“Did you find it?”
“huh. “He hid well.”
“…No matter how much I look, I can’t see it. “Where are you?”
“There’s a lot of it there you see. wait. I’ll show you soon. Are you ready for the oatman?”
“Give me 30 seconds, no, 20 more seconds. There’s enough groundwater because of the rain that was sprinkled in advance, but the water I was drawing couldn’t keep up with your speed, so I only have about half of the groundwater I’ve collected…” “
That’s enough. “Can I borrow just 2 liters?”
“You collect it and spend it, you bastard!”
“Hehehe. You know that if there is a trace left behind in that monster form, there will be an uproar. This time, I have to work only as a wizard. “I need a lot of mana, so please understand.”
Slosh!
When I placed my palm on the floor, I felt water containing Otman’s familiar mana from below. The professor gently pulled it out and then carefully let it flow onto the surface of the valley. The water soaked the dry valley and a few rock fragments and quickly seeped into the ground.
For a moment, the group watched as the professor silently pointed his finger at the wet rock.
Scream!
At that time, what I thought was a rock began to shake, and eight thin legs emerged from underneath it and began to hurriedly escape the wet ground.
“What is that?”
“I don’t know, other than it’s mute. But I guessed something like that would exist.”
The professor grinned as he felt the heartbeats of the mutes scattered throughout.
“Magic was poured to the point where the valley turned upside down, but the fact that the nest was still intact means that it was dug so deep into the rocky valley that the magic’s influence did not reach it. “I thought there must be a mute with the ability to dig, since it is unlikely that a chamber maid with only the ability to adapt to the environment other than mute production would have that level of digging ability.”
No matter how hard Mute, who was carrying the rock, tried to escape, the magically controlled water continued to follow the rock and wet it, and when it finally gave up, the eight legs shrunk inward and the rock with legs began to lift up.
thud.
The hollow rock rolled down and what appeared was a crab-like creature.
‘It looks like a hermit crab.’
It threw off the rock that served as its shell and ran away in a hurry, squeezed itself between the rocks cut by the wind cutter, and began covering it with sand.
“They hid it that way… to the point where it doesn’t even affect the senses of our species.”
“When it’s not moving, it feels almost like it’s inanimate. Such behavior may not be due to their dislike of water, but rather their natural instinct to blend in with the surrounding water. “A single wet rock in a dry valley looks unnatural to anyone.”
The number of objects that the professor could feel was in the hundreds. It’s probably safe to say that all the rocks rolling around in this valley are of that type.
Looking at the end of the hermit crab-like Mute’s legs, I thought that the Mute that shot the wizard was probably one of them.
‘This probably means that we have evolved to produce a mute that is adaptive to the environment rather than simply focusing on individual abilities. In addition to the ability best suited to rocky valleys, using an entire rock as cover is also good against Wind Valley wizards who use wind blades or lightning.’
The wizards said that the reason they couldn’t launch the hot air balloon was because of the flight type mute. But all I can detect around here are those hermit crab-type mutes.
‘…It’s a small nest. It’s a bit disappointing.’
Chamber Maids can produce different types of mutes depending on the size of their nest. Usually, small nests produce only one type of mute, while medium-sized nests contain 2 to 3 types of mutes. Large nests, rooted at the size of a village, can produce 6 to 7 types of mutes.
Chamber maids do not have the ability to produce different individuals depending on the situation like the queen, so the nest in front of us now is a nest that specializes in producing only this hermit crab mute.
In other words, there was another nest hiding somewhere in this rocky valley that produces bird-like mutes that interfere with hot air balloons.
‘If possible, I want to catch them all at once… If I create a sense of crisis here, won’t the avian mute send reinforcements? If you follow it, you can find other nests….’
Snap!
[This is Hydrasil. The departing wizards have just passed the Three Peaks Rock.]
“Tsk. “It won’t work.”
The professor thought about being greedy for a moment, but gave up his mind after hearing Idrasil’s message. It seemed like something I could do, but the wizards were so fast that they were already past the halfway point.
“There are three minutes and three minutes left until the rendezvous with the Jajabaram train. “Please start with your own tasks~”
“Umm. “It’s an enemy that has defeated wizards in its own way, so I wonder if we can help just this much…”
Otman expressed doubt as if he could just do this much and asked if he should prepare large-scale spells like Backwater Waterfall or a handful of rivers right now. I asked, but the professor flatly refused.
“Uh-huh! Although the work of the Corps of Engineers may seem trivial, it is a decisive task that determines the success or failure of an operation. Combat isn’t just about cutting, exploding, and smashing things. As I said on the way here, Otman and the rest of the Notum nest raid team just need to prepare to retreat.”
Strictly speaking, it is a bit different from the work of the Corps of Engineers. Anyway, the job is to increase the efficiency of friendly fire fighters through work, so it’s roughly similar.
“Hmm. Hey Professor, I have a similar opinion to Otman… Do I really have nothing to do?”
“Yes? Mr. Aldrich… are you bored?”
“No, that’s not it. Lately, whenever an incident occurred, it was unfortunate because it was during the day, but working at night like this and not doing anything is a bit…” I
said something, and he said that Kang-kae’s pride was a little hurt due to the limited time at night. In fact, everyone was moving hard, but he said, ‘I’m sorry, the sun is still out.’ ‘There’s…’ must have stayed in my mind.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Aldrich doesn’t have work to do. Aldrich’s soul art would be enough to deal a huge blow to the mutes swarming over there. But he shouldn’t have wasted his strength on something like this. . Anyway, even the runaway locomotive friends over there have more than enough firepower.
“Aldrich was left behind because he had something else to do. Should I say it’s a kind of reserve group?
“Preparation group? “For what?”
“Uh… a preliminary warning about uninvited guests. “Do you remember the first time you caught a chamber maid?”
“I remember. When the guards crawl out like they did….”
“Not like that job mute. If you disturb the nest, there is one that will definitely come looking for you. “We are just waiting to catch him if we can.”
Knock knock.
“Notum. I found all the grass. If you don’t start with Water Mage, you won’t be able to do it. “It’s not good to get in trouble.”
“Okay, okay. “It’s not that difficult, so let’s get started right away.”
While the professor was explaining the ‘preliminary’ mission to Aldrich, Ottman was the first to move his hand to Notum’s scaffolding.
Snap – tap! Tap!
“It is a river flowing in the sky. [steam].”
A first-tier water magic steam that can be activated with just a simple spell and a rough seal.
Push-Ik-
Chi-
Ik- Following Otman’s guidance, the water that stayed under the surface turned into steam and began to fill the valley.
“!!!!”
“Kak-kak-kak-kak!”
“What? “Tap-tap-tap-tap!”
“Let’s go!” “Tta-tak-kak!”
The steam quickly filled the small valley, moistening everything, including the valley and the rocks. The rock hermit crabs, startled by the sudden change in environment, began to raise their bodies one by one, making nervous friction noises. Unlike before, it doesn’t seem to throw off its rock shell even when it gets wet. Maybe it’s because the entire valley is wet and it doesn’t look unnatural even if you’re carrying wet rocks.
‘It would have been best if I had taken off the rock I was carrying on my back, but I was already wet enough so it wouldn’t have mattered.’
The mutes saw that a lot of water droplets had gathered in the valley and started to flow through the valley, so they began to run somewhere in a hurry.
Rocks of various colors crawled along the walls of the valley and gathered in one place. At first glance, there is a narrow gap in the bottom of the valley that looks like it was created naturally, and hermit crabs lie flat on top of it to block out the water.
Even a fool could tell there was something important there.
“I guess that ‘maid’ is over there?”
“yes. Since they dug into the ground and hid in the rocky terrain, water will accumulate when it rains. If you even think about drainage ditches while digging, isn’t that just named, not just muted? I don’t know if the chamber maid is the type of creature that can drown, but since unintelligent mutes are designed to defend the queen and chamber maid first. “I thought that if something went wrong, they would naturally flock to the escort target.”
“It’s a bit creepy to see hundreds of rocks, big and small, moving in such a chaotic manner.”
“If you think Mute is cute, you should first get it verified. The time has come. Where have the wizards come from?…”
“There they are.”
“hmm? Can you see it already?”
“Even a blind person can see.”
The professor who was calculating the observation time and distance movement speed of Idrasil turned his head with a puzzled expression, but was immediately convinced.
Grumble. Rumbling.
The Wind World Wizards gathered all the people who had gone out to search in anger and set off again.
Although they could not be seen in the dark night sky, the thunderclouds they had dragged were clearly visible.
‘I’m sure it will work this time.’
Originally, wind-type magic was lacking in physical power. The video quality is not good compared to the mutes here, which are half-burrowed into the ground, holding rock shells and shooting out thorns, just like a nest dug into the ground.
But this time is different. The entire valley was drenched in electricity so that it could pass through very well, and they were crowded together tightly in the nest area to avoid missing even a single one.
Pajik. Fazizik.
The wizards stopped far away from the valley. The strategy is to unilaterally defeat them at an altitude that is beyond the range of the mute projectile. Good idea.
Mana, enough to make the fur stand on end, began to gather in a distant thundercloud, and Mute must have sensed it as well, and he began to become even busier, and his toes, which were their means of attack, began to point towards the floor instead of towards the wizards. The mutes dig into the ground so fast that dust is raised even in the thick steam as wet rocks are dug up.
Kwakagagak! Kwagak!
Seeing it sink into the ground in an instant, it looked like they were trying to cut up the entire ground where the nest was rooted and move it to a deeper, safer place.
The professor was still relaxed.
‘These days, everyone has shown moves that deviate from the play I know, but at least this one moves more like I know.’
As of now, we are still in the middle of World March, but suddenly, due to the extremely intelligent Mute, measuring time has become meaningless.
Near the end of the main scenario, there was a very large tunnel beetle with a nest in its stomach and moving around from time to time. Looking at the speed at which Mute is currently evolving, it is safe to say that it has sufficient application skills, let alone combat power, so such an escape pattern was predictable to some extent.
That’s why I had prepared for Notum a long time ago.
“TrEna do MuuiKta. wUtra viNe! Entangle!”
Sooooooo!
With Notum’s spell, plump plant stems stuck out from between cracks in the rocks.
Among the things I had for lunch today was something called ‘drowned body glue.’ A strange aquatic plant that lives deep in the ground, and when it rains, it spreads out its stems to collect water.
‘The disciple said that it grows so abundantly that whenever it rains in this area, you get kicked by your feet, right?’
Local plants are excellent catalysts for druid magic and sorcery. If you have it, of course you should use it.
Because Otman had drawn so much groundwater, all the drowned grasses in this area were sticking out their ends toward Ottman’s chunk of groundwater, as if stretching out their arms with all their might.
He asked Notum to gather these aquatic plants and prepare a restraint spell in case they run away.
There was no need to force it. Slippery, wet water plants tangled around Mute’s toes as he dug into the rock, significantly slowing down his digging speed, and the thunderclouds brought in by the wizards created enough spherical lightning to brighten the night sky like daylight.
Gurgling!!!
“Gagagagagak! Knock! Kak!”
“Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkakkak! “Knock!”
puck! Puff! puck!
Finally, the lightning bolt escaped from the wizard’s hand and cut through the valley, hitting the mutes soaked in water. A sound like a fuse exploding and a cracking sound, like a fuse exploding, was heard one after another, along with a sound that I couldn’t tell if it was a scream or a friction sound.
A lightning strike so powerful that the entire valley was completely charred. And as if that wasn’t enough, a thundercloud filled with spherical lightning seems to be already preparing for the second strike.
“It’s over. “It’s a success.”
“….yes. It’s a success. “The maid strategy.”
Ugh.
“What is the strategy?” “So was there anything else?”
Ottoman asked, seeing the professor’s visibly droopy appearance.
“Yes. A goal much more valuable than a single nest. Because of that, I moved separately from the wizards and was waiting with a lot of blood and mana. Oh, Aldrich, you can also lift the spell. “I guess he didn’t come.”
“I bet Nell feels sorry for this. “I was really looking forward to it because I missed it last time.”
Oh, what a shame. The nest was removed, but the one I was really targeting wasn’t even visible.
‘Falcatus you idiot.’
Part of it was because I didn’t want to go around with those variables, but if that were all I could have just followed suit and sprayed rain.
Last time I raided the Chamber Maid’s nest. Before I could hit a few of the guard mutes, most of the mutes around me came rushing in on tunnel worms, making the battle much more difficult than I expected.
The named Mute I met at that time was Falcatus. I don’t know what number the Queen’s child is, but this is a scheme-type name created from the characteristics obtained through my blood.
Already, when I saw Rodrick suddenly reduce his offensive and extend his tentacles towards the Empire, I thought, ‘What kind of trick is this again?’, but I thought I would use this opportunity to mess with his nest and catch him.
The reason I prepared to hunt the nest by moving without the wizards’ knowledge, arriving first and using only the minimum amount of mana and combat power, was for the sake of the one that might jump out if I touched the nest. There may be one among the wind wizards who has been parasitized by Mute, and if so, all of us who move together will be in its field of vision.
Falcatus, who was almost finished once by that unknown spirit named ‘Nell’ under Aldrich’s control, would never show up without a bunch of named or level 23 mutes, so he came all the way here without anyone knowing, but he prepared a lot and wasted it.
‘I didn’t know anything else, but I thought I would personally manage the nest, which has a limited production speed. Was I wrong? Or is there something too important to pay attention to here? ‘Is it more important than a magic tower wizard’s decision to go hunting for maids?’
Even when things were going well, every time I thought about him, I felt a tightness in my stomach, so I wanted to get rid of him as quickly as possible.
Perhaps it was luck or skill, but he didn’t appear until the nest was reduced to ashes.
At least, that was the opinion of Aldrich, who was spreading spiritual power as much as possible and watching to see if any new souls were coming in.
“Let’s withdraw. Anyway, the nest was robbed. If wizards discover a nest in the future, they can come and work on it first and then get out of there.”
Gurgling!
The professor moved without making a sound out of fear of being caught by the wizards, but the wind wizards seemed to only be thinking about pouring out magic and did not notice the professor and his group disappearing beyond the rocks.
The professor clicked his tongue as he looked at wizards whose multitasking ability was close to zero, meaning they couldn’t pay attention to anything else if they focused on one thing.
Seeing that he didn’t even think about being alert to his surroundings during the battle, I felt like I would have to continue to follow him and assist him in the future.
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