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Kujonin
Author: Hanabokuro
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The dark green insecticide creates a haze in the desert.
The locust hoppers trying to avoid the haze cluster together more densely as they approach us.
Even though the foremost locust hoppers that were forced into the red smoke disappear completely, like a black wave surging forward, they rush forward one after another, coming this way.
I spray the mandrain pesticide while being aware of the locust hoppers that are leaping into the sky.
All I can see is red in front of me.
Thanks to the mask, my breathing sounds loud and unpleasant.
Ayl and I are working alone, so there's no one in my surroundings.
There's a spot with a creepy color where the dark green insecticide and red mandrain pesticide blend together.
The gaps where the locust hoppers could escape the encirclement are filled in, and several locust hoppers leap towards the sky.
It's within the range where I can reach if I jump, so I also spray towards the sky.
It seems that the extermination operation is pretty much a success.
Swarms of desert salamanders and poison scorpions chasing after the locust hoppers also appeared, but the elite adventurers leapt out and put an end to them.
I was able to use the item bag to replenish the mandrain pesticide with no problems, since the haze hid it.
Gradually, the swarm of locust hoppers that covered the sky at the beginning, to the extent where I thought they'd never end, began to thin, and I began to be able to see blue skies in the gaps in the swarm.
About 2 hours have passed.
The locust hopper swarm also seems to have become a small group, sparse in appearance.
The adventurer parties in the front, having gotten used to handling the pumps, are driving the locust hopper swarms into the smoke mandrain pesticide traps.
The other parties also began to imitate them, so I ended up with nothing to do.
I was the one who set up the traps, so I wonder if all of that will end up as my experience points.
Than-ks!
I'll have to treat them to a meal.
When I had just thought that the operation was about over, I heard a voice from the communication bag.
["This is Seth! Coming from east of the desert, there's a duststorm … no, it's a tornado! And it's like, there's a giant monster inside the tornado!"]
"Roger! Retreat immediately! Ayl!"
["I'm heading over now!"]
My vice-president moves fast!
When I notified the surrounding parties, they gave me a fist bump.
They probably mean, "Go ahead."
Being seen off by boy B, when I ran towards the east, I saw a plume of sand in front of me.
Ayl, I guess.
And in front of her, I can see the tornado blowing.
The red smoke, the dark green smoke, and the locust hoppers were all rolled up into it.
"Ayl!"
"Naoki! You caught up already!? That tornado, it's weird. I can smell magic power!"
"Magic?"
I can see the forms of adventurers running from the tornado.
Drawing a defensive magic circle on my own coverall, I run out in front of the adventurers.
"You've saved us!"
"It's fine, hurry and run!"
The adventurers gave their thanks as they ran away.
I forcefully stop the tornado with my body and change its course.
All of a sudden the tornado vanished. I guess the magic effect was broken.
When I look at a faraway mountain, there's a slightly large desert salamander coming from the mountain.
"Is that the giant monster?"
Ayl asked, as if disgusted.
"No, above!"
The giant monster slowly stands above the ground.
Its body is a lion with two heads, a lion and a goat, and its tail is a snake.
"Oh my, a stereotypical guy's appeared."
"Chimera!"
Its size is probably about the haze turtle's, that I saw on the previous dungeon's island.
It's a size we've gotten used to, so neither Ayl nor I are particularly cowed by it.
"Ayl, take care of the tail!"
"Roger!"
Running towards the chimera, I draw defense magic circles in the air parallel to the ground, making a magic circle staircase, and race up it.
Ayl races through the air with taijutsu, heading towards the chimera in a straight line.
When the chimera roared in order to intimidate me, I leapt far above the chimera.
After that, I only had to draw a gravitational magic circle on my body.
I fell faster than the goat head could spit out a fireball and crushed the lion head.
At the same time, Ayl clashed with the tail-snake.
Ayl's sword crashed against the snake's fangs, scattering sparks.
What the heck kind of fangs are those?
"Just how I like it!!"
Like her true form was appearing, Ayl sneered as she severed the snake at its root.
The goat head aimed at me, like it was going to fire off a second fireball.
I thrust a spear hand into the scruff of the lion's neck, put some force into it, and when I tore off the head from the body, I seized the lion's mane and beat the goat head with it.
It seemed to be dazed, and when I hit it again and again, just like that, the chimera stopped moving.
Standing on top of a crushed mound of meat with a blood-stained appearance; this isn't a good appearance if someone saw me, huh?
Unfastening my mask, I cast Cleanup on myself.
Ayl cut up the desert salamander that was coming towards us.
"Ayl, do you want me to cast Cleanup on you, too?"
"Hm? Yeah, please. … Something's coming."
Ayl said as she stared in the direction of the mountain.
I looked at towards the mountain as I cast Cleanup on Ayl, and saw an ossan running towards us.
Relatively speaking, his running speed is fast.
"Sorry-!!"
The ossan, with a friendly looking face, clasped the straw hat on his head down as he ran up with a smile.
The ossan is wearing a farmer-type outfit that looks like overalls over a white T-shirt.
Ayl grasped the grip of her sword, on alert.
I don't feel anything, but is that ossan strong?
"We~ll, I was subjugating some monsters I'd found while taking the mountain pass, when one of them got away, naa. Hahaha, we~ll, you alright?"
The ossan talked with a strange, countryside intonation.
"Ah, we're fine, we're fine. Ah! Did you want to dismantle it for the meat, maybe? If so … sorry! My people diced it up, so…"
While appealing that it wasn't my fault, I pointed at the chimera's corpse with my finger.
"Diced up…!!?"
The ossan's eyes went round, and he approached the chimera.
"Oh man~~ this is, this is smashed to pieces!"
"Did you need the magic stone?"
"No no, that belongs to the people who defeated it, right? We~ll, the desert countries also have strong folks, naa, hahaha."
It feels like he's a good ossan who laughs a lot.
"Ah, You're wearing some nice clothing."
"Oh no, you're also wearing something nice, so we look similar."
The ossan praised my coverall, and so I also praised the ossan's overalls.
"This is, I had my wife make it, see. We're alchemists, but we can also do sewing, see, hahaha. Ah, is the one there your lady?"
"Ah, oh, no, this is my employee. Ah, forgive my late introduction, but I manage an extermination company. I'm Naoki Komuro."
"An extermination company? What an unusual thing, naa."
"Yes, we exterminate pests and clean."
"I see, please come to our plantation in the future. The bugs are terrible, hahaha."
"Oh, definitely! We'll make it cheap."
The ossan started to laugh, so I also ended up laughing.
"Ossan, who are you?"
Ayl asked, still on guard against the ossan even now.
"Aa, my bad. Sorry for the late introduction! I'm a hero of the earth, Garcia Gnome, hahaha. You wouldn't think a hero would be an ossan like me, right? Hahaha…"
I froze with the laugh still on my face.
A/n:
And so, the [Earth's Hero Arc] begins.
Sorry that the preface was so long.
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