The Spearmaster and the Black Cat

Chapter 34

Thirty-Fourth Episode〜 I Want to Use the Lantern

There are very few adventurers acting solo and it seems normal here to hunt in groups .

Solo adventurers like me seem rare .

Well, I am not actually solo, my partner is Rollo .

Such a Rollo is walking slowly with her feelers extended cautiously in the air .

Rollodinu is in her black panther form . (TL: Fun fact, panthers are actually black leopards, so calling them black panthers is redundant . )

Rays of light are shining beautifully off her black fur .

As I walk through the passage surrounded by black thorns while watching Rollo… The sudden sound of fighting- jumps to my ears .

I do not forget to search for magic essence using presence detection .

I detect an awful lot of magic essence .

I am curious so I quickly head in the direction of where I hear the sounds of fighting coming from .

When I pass through the thorny cave, there is an unnatural hole in the ground . Uhyo, ants are vigorously appearing from the unnatural hole .

The swarm of ants surrounds the adventurers one after another .

The adventurers number five people, I wonder if they will be all right .

This is a lot of ants, it looks dangerous .

There is an adventurer whose movement's stand out .

Defending their companions, they are killing one ant after another .

However, they seem to be hopelessly out numbered, injured adventurers are appearing one after another .

-I should help .

"Rollo, don't interfere, just clear away the ants in the surrounding area . "

"Nya!"

I raise my voice and shout, intentionally attracting attention .

I release a battle cry towards the ants .

Rollo also attacks an ant .

The length of the ants' antenna is around one meter .

Their heads have two thin antennae and their mouths have sharp looking mandibles .

Six legs move bustling from the body tormenting the adventurers .

The "yellow claws" that are "proof of subjugation" are evident on their forelegs .

"Helping may be bad, I apologize-"

While stabbing, and killing the ants with my black spear I talk to the knight-ish adventurer who seems to be a shield wielder .

"No way, thank you-"

The knight speaks grateful words to me .

Their visor is lowered so I cannot see their face .

They are wearing half plate armor, and have a shield and long sword in their hands .

I can see the magic essence because they are focusing mana in their arms and their feet .

They seem to be able to use fighting moji .

The knight throws another ant to the ground with precise movements .

They quickly bring up their sword to defend against an ant, and then swing their long sword down, splitting the ant in half .

To protect the injured adventurers .

Impressive movements .

"Is that so, then, I will slaughter the ants without reserve . "

The knight silently nods to my words .

I continue attacking the ants while nodding slightly .

After confirming, I immediately plunge into the swarm of ants .

The black spear easily goes through the head of a nearby ant, killing it .

While pulling out the black spear I deliver a spinning kick to the abdomen of the ant from the side, sending it flying .

Then I turn my body on the tips of my toes .

Using the momentum of pulling out the black spear I move into a spinning kick, and bring the spear crashing down in the ant's head .

Furthermore, I continue moving the black spear horizontally . I move the butt end to an ant approaching from the right, pulverizing it .

At that time, Rollo enters my view who jumps down with the appearance of fighting .

She removes the leg of an ant with her sharp claws and fangs .

The movement serves as a restraint .

After removing several legs and immobilizing it, she strikes the ant's head with her feeler bone sword and slaughters them quickly .

She is fighting efficiently . As one would expect of a divine beast .

How about I entrust the small fry to Rollo?

Even though I think it is lazy, I begin using the black spear simply . The blade of the black spear is thrust into the head of an ant .

In no time, almost twenty of them are defeated .

Before long, there no more ants nearby . They must have been exterminated .

Rollo returns to my shoulder and scratches the back of her neck with a hind leg .

She scratches with the feeling of 『This fur is scratchy, Nya』

The adventurer I helped also seems to have defeated the ants .

Corpses are laying all over the ground .

The knight who was fighting hard before talks to me .

"Thank you . My name is Quiche Bakunda . Call me Quiche . "

I identify them as a woman from their voice .

Since their visor is down I cannot make out her face, but I can see her eyes .

Fair light green .

"No, no, this much is expected . I am Shuya Kagari . You may call me either Shuya or Kagari . "

"Thank you . "

"Thank you for earlier . "

The adventurers who were bitten and injured by the ants speak energetically .

"N, Nyaon . "

Rollo cries from my shoulder as if to say 『It's only nyatural』 and turns a proud face to the adventurers . [ED:" nyatural"<- Really?? Haha]

"Waa, cute . "

"This black cat-chan . "

"I saw it earlier! This cat is strong, ne~ It got bigger . "

Rollo jumps to the ground to meet the expectations of such a child .

She brings her head near the child's small feet . The child goes *kya-kya* getting caught up playing with Rollo .

Judging from the voice of the injured adventurer, the child's appearance still has a way to go before they are an adult .

The child is of a race with scaled skin .

Why are there such young children here…

Such a question floats on my face-

The female knight raises her visor and removes her helmet .

There is no wind blowing, but beautiful long light green hair flutters as her face is exposed .

Green eyes, a tattoo of a bee is visible on her cheek .

A green jade-like jewel is in an earring on her long ears .

Elf . She is a beautiful woman . [ED: Stay calm . (Talking to you Purple!)]

I must have a slightly surprised expression because the Elf woman named Quiche smiles and begins to talk .

"Were you surprised? Anyways . I brought these ones from 【Hino Village】 . They're still newbies…"

"Hino Village?"

"Aah, near this insect mound there is a village in the forest . It may be easier to understand if I say it is near Mt . Burdock . "

"I see . "I came directly from 【Hector】"

"Is that so, well, from that fort city…With such skill I suppose you must be a famous adventurer . "

"No, no, not at all . Apart from that, are you going to harvest 'this'?"

I raise a hand and lightly point a finger at the remains of the ants .

"A, aah . That's right . "

Without waiting for an answer, I silently collect the yellow claws .

Using the Kukri sword, I cut through the shell of the ant's abdomen .

The carapace seems bulky so I only collect the small claws and the antenna .

After I finish collecting most of it I talk to Quiche .

"So, why are such children here?"

"These aren't children . "

"Really, we're D ranked adventurers!"

Hearing what I say the lizard faced child playing with Rollo answers in a rough voice through her helmet .

Quiche smiles at such a childish reaction .

"Arri, Taku . Be quiet . But, it is like that . These children are full-fledged adventurers in the village . They want to defeat the queen of this insect shrine that always harms the village…if I am with them they can manage the upper levels, so I came along . "

"Adventurers? Sorry for earlier . "

I look at the short newbies and apologize .

"Uun . It's fine as long as you understand . "

The girl says in a tender tone .

I talk to Quiche while cracking a smile .

"However, won't it still be dangerous? Even this was dangerous . "

"That's right . My thinking was optimistic . I have no idea what would have happened if Shuya didn't show up…"

She seems to be reflecting .

But, it should be rare that ants appear in such large numbers…

Hmm, I already finished one request quickly .

"But it was good to be saved . In which case, with this I-"

"Wait . We cannot part without returning the favor . "

"N〜, I took a request, so I intend to go to the middle level now…"

Seeming surprised by my words, Quiche's eyes widen and she blinks her eyes .

"W-what, you're going to hunting on the middle level solo?"

Rollo is there too…

Rollo seems uninterested in the conversation and is scratching her head with a hind leg .

Ma, I guess it is called solo .

"Aah . "

"It's too dangerous . You saw the group from before, do you expect them to only appear one at a time?"

"Well . But, everything is experience . Didn't you see my movements earlier? I won't easily 'die . '"

I am a Rusivault . A new race of vampire origin .

I won't die even if I want to .

Quiche nodded as if understanding .

"That's true, however . I want to return the favor…"

Among other things, this Quiche woman is very loyal .

"N~, your thanks is enough . Ah, if that's the case, then properly, return those young girl-…no, those adventurers to their village . "

Intentionally speaking lazily, I walk further in with the black spear against my right shoulder .

Rollo follows my back trudging .

"Ah, wait . "

"N?"

Hearing her behind me I stop without turning around .

"I understand . We haven't reached an agreement, but I will return the favor sometime soon . Now, thank you . That's all I have to say . "

I raise a hand without looking back and respond, "Ou," as I walk forward .

"Quiche . You face is red〜"

"Ah, it is . Perhaps, the cool onii-san, she's the 'L' word〜〜"

"Don't you think Quiche has such a face…"

"It's really red〜"

"Quiche…"

"W-w-what are you saying! Please don't say stupid things, let's quickly return to the village . "

After parting from the field trip party, I continue through the upper area while defeating ants .

There is an opening in the thorn with a descending stair case, below seems to be the larger middle level . There are a lot of small rooms other than the open space .

I remember the short explanation written on the wooden tag .

The small black rooms spread out from the center of the labyrinth in passaged like the mesh of a net .

A lot of ant inhabit the complex grid, wandering around .

It's an image, but it feels like an enlarged honeycomb structure .

At least, it does not seem the nest of ordinary ants .

As I descend the stairs it become dim .

I have <Night Vision> but I light the lantern for the time being .

I brought it with much effort, so I must use it .

Oh, I found an ant . A group of adventurers is fighting against an ant .

It looks like the long armed ant .

It is moving its long white legs to the left and right to hold them back .

There is a long sharp-looking hooked claw on the end of its forelegs .

It looks like it would be painful if it hits . Its body seems to be two or three meters long .

A shield carrying warrior attracts the long-armed ant from the front and a magic user behind him throws a fireball . Then a warrior carrying a weapon with both hands brings down a hard attack from the other side of the ant .

The cooperating adventurers finish defeating the long-armed ant .

They remove the white claw, antenna, and carapace of fallen ant .

While looking at the various adventurers, I search for enemies using pheromone touch and presence detection, carefully advancing through the middle level .

As I advance through a passage of twisted black thorns, again I find a magic essence reaction .

This is from around the corner .

Do these "ants" intend to raid me?

It looks like an ambush .

The moment I turn the corner-after all, I am attacked by long-armed ants on each side from around the corner .

I act without a hitch .

I collect mana in my feet and advance .

A long-armed ant steps up with a bent forward posture and its long sharp white forefeet extending to the sides, so I thrust out the black spear powerfully penetrating its abdomen .

Repeatedly, I drive in the blade of the black spear to gouge out the stomach of the long white limbs .

White entrails hang out from the gouged abdomen and the white long legged ant falls to the ground .

I deliver a final blow with <Thrust> .

I kick the ground so hard with <Fighting magic legs> that smoke is created, then from right above I launch the spear at the long armed ant's head .

The black spear drills through the sky like a rising dragon .

The metal blade drills through the jaw of the ant like a spiral drill, penetrating its Clypeus . [ED: Palate changed to Clypeus for anatomy reasons]

The black spear reaches the brain, completely destroying the head of the ant .

The destroyed head is torn off and flies through the sky like a firework .

The body of the long armed ant has its head torn off by the hand of a giant .

For a moment, I consider the extent of such a spectacle…

The long armed ant that lost its head is standing still like a daruma .

White viscous liquid begins to overflow from the severed neck, and possibly from the inertia, is collapses to the side .

"Nya, nya~"

N? I turn when I hear something like 『No, Nya』

The way Rollo is walking seems dissatisfied .

She swipes at the fallen corpse and begins the play like this by knocking around a white leg .

Playing around, it kind of looks like this one is playing ice hockey?

"Rollo, this isn't a playground?"

"Nyao . "

"I understand . Make sure Rollodinu works hard next time . "

With brightened eyes, Rollo responds lively with a "Nya!"

Smiling at such a cute Rollo I remove the claw of the white leg .

Since the carapace is too wide to fit into the bag I do not take it .

Finished collecting, I advance through the dim middle layer .

Rollo looks excited and has begun to search for prey with her feelers extended .

Ou, there is a presence detection response .

-Magic essence .

Once again, a long-armed ant in discovered .

I visual confirm its long white legs .

I also look over at Rollo, she has adopted the low prowling posture of hunting .

Seeing Rollo's stance to the side I can understand that she is excited .

Slowing extending a foreleg, she is advancing slowly .

Despite appearances, she seems to be advancing without realizing it .

The ant does not notice it is being stalked with its back is turned to us .

Once Rollo comes close enough to the ant to attack she begins to arch her back, collecting power in her limbs, shaking her body a little . These are the movements of a carnivore stalking its prey .

With her lower body seeming to swell with energy, she suddenly takes off running .

She charges forward powerfully, changing to her panther form, and repeatedly stabs the ant's abdomen from behind .

When the bone sword strikes deeply into the back of the ant, Rollo lets her feelers contract and jumps onto the back of the ant, despite being scratched by a claw .

In her panther form Rollo growls as she bites into the protruding back, while tearing the ant's back the shreds she turns to its head

The ant tries to resist by shaking its body and mandibles, but the Rollodinu that has become the divine beast does not leave . The ant does not seem able to shake Rollodinu off due to her extended feeler bone swords, claws and teeth embedded in its back .

In the end, Rollodinu continues to shatter the ants head and it falls still .

Unintentionally, I begin clapping my hands .

"Iya~, Rollo was able to reach the ant's back . "

"Nyaa . "

Rollo cries joyfully and puts on a self-satisfied look .

"Haha, I understand, so I'll collect it . "

I remove the proof of subjugation from the corpse of the defeated ant .

I can afford the baggage since the claw is remarkably small in comparison to the size of the body .

After I quickly finish the harvesting I advance through the black thorn passage .

Unlike the upper level, the middle level is increasingly dim, it becomes darker whenever I advance .

The light of the lantern I placed on my waist is becoming conspicuous .

Then, I hear a scream .

"Run away, Soldier Ant!"

"Uaaa, a commander ant appeared, run away!"

"Hiiiiii . "

I can see adventurers running away to the left .

I purposely go there .

-N? In the darkness, there is one light acting like a stage light .

Is it the light of the lantern that the escaping adventurer dropped?

Is it a magical light?

There…the figure of ants barely surfaces in the darkness .

Is only one bigger than a long-armed ant?

I become cautious and advance . The darkness is strong, but should I turn off the lantern and activate <Night Vision>? Iya, after all, I want to use the lantern first .

…There is a presence detection reaction .

I see it with <Pheromone Touch>

As I advance further, the light of the fallen lantern reflects clearly on the place-

Three ants are clustered around a dead adventurer, consuming their flesh .

This, were they defeated by the ants…

Two of the ants stands out from the two long-armed ants with a feeling of rusted black plate .

This will be the soldier ant .

Aside from that, what is this guy?

It is bigger than the soldier ant .

It is a tough "big" ant . Is armor ant not good?

The adventurer from before called it a commander ant, it has such a feeling .

Besides, that armored ant commander's face is not armored, but it looks like a helmet .

Its forehead shines asymmetrically, but its mandibles seem to be sharp .

The pair of red compound eyes are pointed like an amphibian's .

As for its jaw, it has a slender and sharp unpleasant feeling .

The abdomen and its back are covered with a tortoise-like shell and its body seems hard all over .

Six carapace legs support such a body .

Tufts of hair like red fur grow on the upper part of the leg, I can tell that the knee joins is packed full of muscles .

I can also see the sharp looking hooked claw on its leg .

It seems to have a lot of muscle fibers .

I understand they are needed to support the visibly heavy carapace .

From its size, I imagine a bulldozer .

The figure of the sharp mandibles chews on dead flesh .

Furthermore, I feel a sense of disgust when I hear the sound of bones being ground up .

Then I turn my eyes to Rollo and nod .

I turn off the lantern and fall into <Hidden Body> .

I finally use <Night Vision> .

Rollo separates from me and shifts into a hunting posture .

Three ants .

Two soldier ants .

And then, the other is the "armored commander ant . "

I decide to take down the soldier ant first .

Looking at the ring ahead-

The dark ring of the Dark Hellbone Knights .

"Should I use this?"

But I stop there .

I want to attack now…

The boiling knights are strong and useful, but they make loud sounds .

While thinking such a thing, I take a knife out of the back of my jacket .

First is the soldier ant .

Aiming- I <Throw> the knife .

The thrown knife pierces into the head of the ant I aimed at .

It simply falls to the ground and stops moving .

I use <Throw> consecutively .

However, the knife is later than the first attack and misses, instead sticking into its leg .

Once the soldier ant notice me, it turns its head this way and approach with a *kasa-kasa*

However, the soldier ant sinks to the ground because of Rollo's feeler sword without drawing close to me .

Perhaps cautious of how easily the soldier ants were defeated, the armored commander ant looks at me with its red compound eyes and withdraws from the adventurer corpse it was eating then disappears into the darkness .

However, there is a magic essence reaction-

There, the armored commander ant is moving with its six leg *kasa-kasa* up the dim wide wall like a spider .

It seems like it intends to go around behind me and attack .

Even though its body is short and stout, it is strangely quick .

It should be easy to hang from that thorn wall with its ant legs .

Maa, that it more or less going around in my head .

For all that, it is useless . I extend my left hand to the armored commander ant and fire <Chain> .

Drawing an arc through the air the chain pierces through the armor-like carapace of the ant .

Pulling on the chain, the armored commander ant climbing the wall is instantly knocked to the ground .

At this point Rollo also stabs out with her feeler swords .

However, there is a metallic *kiin* sound and the feeler swords are repelled .

The skin on the upper part of the commander ant is hard like metal .

On the other hand, my hand can pierce it .

Is the end of the <chain> considerably sharp? With such a thought, I dismiss the lodged chain, and thrust the black spear into the armor commander ant that is overturned like a turtle .

*Kiin*- A hard sound is made .

I have been repelled in the same way as Rollo .

Meanwhile, the armored commander ant forcefully stands up .

The armored commander ant stares at me with its red eyes as if to say "Good attack," then quickly rotates to the side with its red legs .

Turning to the front to make use of its mandibles, it attacks like a bull charging a matador's red flag .

-It approaches fast .

As I watch Rollo roll to the side to avoid the armored commander ant, once again I confirm that the muscle fibers appear and disappear in the joint gaps .

-I need to aim there .

The armored commander ant seems to be focusing on me who knocked it down and again thrusts to gouge me .

I keep the blade of the black spear level and activate <Cerebral Demon Speed> .

With my increased physical speed, I move to the side of the armored commander ant with a speed that penetrates the wind .

Aiming at the join of the ant, I cut down with the black spear from the side .

Per the aim of the black spear, it collides with the fibrous part of the join and tears it off .

I sever several of the armored commander ant's legs .

Having lost several legs, the armored commander ant loses its balance and collides with black fibrous wall .

Bouncing off powerfully it turns onto its back .

It struggles with its back on against the ground .

It is impossible to stand up even if it struggles this time .

Rollo also stabs with her feeler bone swords .

Oh? The trajectory of the feelers changed .

Somehow or other, it seems Rollo consider the attack I just did into account .

Seems to have directed her attacks at the "soft" places .

She concentrates the attacks of her feeler swords and they slide into the soft parts, severing another leg .

The armored commander ant emits a painful growl and violently crosses- its remaining carapace legs .

Should I try a little? I run towards such an armored commander ant .

Using the momentum of my run, I deal out a kick with fighting moji powered legs .

A sidepiece of the carapace is dented a little .

It was dented . Oi, this is really strong .

I keep kicking it until <Cerebral Demon Speed> runs out, but because I am getting nowhere I pull back from the armored commander ant with the black spear .

The target is the little joint between the head and body .

I can see the fibers in its neck . Aiming at that point with <Thrust>-I unleash it .

When thrust pierces through the back of the neck there is an abnormal sound like air suddenly being let out of a bag .

The head of the ant flies forward with an earsplitting powerful *bon . *

The head of the ant that jumped like a ping pong ball comes to a stop when it is buried in the thorny wall .

Decapitated, the red legs on the body of the armored commander ant shake little by little, and a dark red liquid wells out of the severed neck .

Even though the black spear is not sharp at all, using my physical strength and the <Thrust> skill I seem to have exceeded the defense of the armored commander ant .

Ma, this much is natural since I aimed at the soft part .

This carapace seems to be a good material . Shall I return with it and take it to a blacksmith?

The soft point at the join is cut .

However, it really is too big and will not go in the bag .

It cannot be helped; I will carry it by hand .

I collect the head buried in the wall too .

It will become the evidence that I defeated it .

Since the head is big too it completely fills on magic bag .

While dragging the heavy carapace, I defeat soldier ants and long-armed ants that show up in the area and collect the claws for proof of subjugation .

On the way, I use the carapace like a shield and use it as an obstacle for handling ant extermination .

I exterminate the remaining ants this way .

I collect all the subjugation evidence .

Since I exceeded the evidence for the long-armed ant request, does that mean I completed it again?

I finish over and over . Should we return home?

"Let's turn back . "

"Nn . "

Rollo's only answer is a throaty voice . She seems to be sleeping in my hood . (TL: Roll kawaii . )

You are sleeping now?

Ma, it is fine, I return to the surface .

I escape from the dark middle level while feeling the weight of Rollo sleeping behind me .

I can return to the bright upper level .

The middle…some adventurers turn their gazes to me and I feel a bit embarrassed .

The black carapace I am dragging stands out .

While enduring such eyes, I stand in the magic formation while holding the heavy carapace and go directly to the guild in 【Hector】 .

There was the big-breasted receptionist-san .

She still seems to be working . I immediately approach the counter .

When I place the carapace on the reception desk, because it is heavy, the reception stands makes a *mishi* sounds .

Receptionist-san seems to be surprised by the big carapace that suddenly appeared in front of her and she is staring in amazement .

Continuously, the claws and antenna are submitted for the proof of subjugation .

I take out the head of the armored commander ant and place it on the reception desk . Finally, I include my adventurer card . (TL: Shuya's a boss . )

"-This head, ah, because this amount is beyond five request completion, the request achievement becomes five . But, this head and carapace…"

"That's right . You do not need to buy the carapace . The head is outside of the request, but I brought it as subjugation evidence . Can I receive money for it?"

"Yes . That's fine . It is outside of the request . However, when one is subdued a reward is paid properly . Because you did not receive a request for this monster's head, it does not count towards your completed requests . "

"Got it . "

"Well then, please wait a moment . "

Saying so, receptionist-san takes the request items and the head with her inside .

The head is big too, but is she a strong person too?

Ano, she is still holding those breasts that act as blunt weapons .

It is a little noisy in the back .

The eyes of the nearby adventurers gather .

Ano, did that carapace stand out too much?

After a few minutes, receptionist-san returns with her swinging *pururu* breasts .

"Sorry to have kept you wait . This is the reward and your adventurer's card . You are suddenly rank D . Congratulations . "

"Ooh, thanks . "

I have finished my first job . Good . The reward is a gold coin, a few silver coins, and ten or so copper coins .

I collect the money and my adventurer's card .

"By the way, what is the name of the monster of that 'head?'"

"That armored commander ant is called an "Officer Ant," it's a strong ant that normally appears on the lower levels with soldier ants . Its strength alone is around B rank . "

"Hoa~"

B rank .

Its heavy carapace is durable, and it is considerably strong .

"As expected . It is an individual request . An adventurer of low rank would not be asked to overthrow an officer solo . One must have enormous strength to carry the carapace without a cart . Lion the lion clan, Lava Khan . "

Receptionist-san talks with an excited expression .

Extending my upper arms I show off my muscles .

At that point, because they are shaking, I stare at her big breasts .

Quickly, I talk to deceive her .

"…Aah, well . That is, this carapace . Do you know any blacksmiths that can process this?"

"If it is a black smith shop, then it must be a dwarf-san . I know a first-class blacksmith .

"Where is it?"

"E~to, if you take the main street from here, turn right at the second lane, pass through the gambling section, turn at the right lane and once you turn there you are in the blacksmithing district . The place you are looking for is the furthest inside of there . "

Hmm, it got complicated…the second lane, gambling street…

"…Understood . Well then . "

Steadily tapping a finger against my head, I somehow manage to hammer it in, then I hear a familiar voice from behind me .

"If it is okay, shall I guide you?"

I look back toward the voice of the woman . The source of the voice is the elf I helped earlier .

Her long light green hair stands out .

"…Oh, it's Quiche . Those children adventurers get to the village?"

"Aah, I sent them immediately so they're fine . Other than that, I overheard your conversation, although it was rude . I am far behind on "life debt" of the children, so may I guide you to the shop?"

Her smile has a sense of transparency .

I engrave the figure of the elf Quiche into memory once more .

Holding her helmet in one hand, half of her white armor appears dirty .

Is that a bird on the right side of her chest that swells in the peculiar way of a woman? A cool small emblem like a crane is drawn there .

Around her waist is her long sword and a protective white skirt armor hangs from her hips, she is wearing light green undershorts likes spats .

She looks fragile because her legs are long, I can see some of the white-colored skin of her thighs .

A leather belt is coiled tightly around her thighs .

From her feet to above her knees there is a light green armor protecting her .

It looks even more beautiful because of the green hue of her long straight green hair .

"…Yes, please . …As for the life debt, having you guide me is enough . "