Volume 3, Chapter 28 – Crossing the Poison Swamp (1)

After fighting off monsters that attacked us one after another for about two days as we pushed through the forest, we entered the Poison Swamp Area.

This swamp was a toxic-looking purple, not only screaming “I am poison!” with its appearance, but possessing a truly vicious effect that caused skin to blister the moment it was touched.

Naturally, the plants surrounding the swamp had withered, and every animal or living creature had died out.

The only things remaining were packs of Giant Poison Toads, poison-bearing frog monsters that seemed to be the source of the poison.

They were massive toads, roughly my own height, with reddish-brown backs, dull cream-colored bellies, and tongues of a vivid, toxic purple.

“Ugh, they look pretty gross, don’t they?”

“Onee-sama, unfortunately, unlike the Big Boars, you can’t eat these,” Lu-chan informed me with a disappointed look on her face.

But please, rest assured. I had no intention of eating them from the start.

“Fiene-sama, these things spit poison. Please be careful.”

“Right.”

While poison doesn’t actually affect me, that doesn’t mean I want to be drenched in toxic fluid, so I obediently cast a Barrier to protect myself.

“I’ll take them out!”

Lu-chan began firing arrows one after another at the frogs.

Oh, good. This time, they didn’t come flying toward us, and they actually hit the frogs.

However, there were still swarms of them.

The pack of giant frogs pushed through the mud toward us.

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Bshaaaaaa!

The frogs all spat poison simultaneously.

“Defense Wa—no, Barrier!”

I recast the Barrier to envelop everyone.

A massive amount of poison rained down on us, as if someone were spraying us with a high-pressure hose.

“Lu-chan, please. Defense Wall.”

I created a Defense Wall between Lu-chan and the three of us to prepare for any friendly fire.

“Geez, Onee-sama, it’s fine! I’m in the zone today!”

As she said this, she fired an arrow that flew straight toward us and was blocked by the Defense Wall.

“Huh? That’s weird~”

“Lumia, just keep shooting. Fiene-sama’s Defense Wall is here, so don’t worry about it!”

“Okaaaay!”

Lu-chan continued to rain down arrows. As usual, about one out of every three or four shots flew toward us—or rather, toward me.

Well, as long as the Defense Wall was there, it wasn’t a problem, but it certainly wasn’t great for my heart.

With only three frogs left, Lu-chan turned toward me with a somewhat troubled smile.

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“What is it?”

“Ahaha, I ran out of arrows.”

“What? Even after restocking so many?”

“Fiene-sama, we were attacked by quite a few monsters on the way here, so it couldn’t be helped.”

“The rest of us shall finish them off in close combat,” Shizuku-san said.

“The footing is bad, so please be careful,” I warned.

“Leave it to me.”

Shizuku-san and Chris-san used the corpses of the frogs rolling around in the foreground as stepping stones to launch a high-speed assault on the remaining frogs in the back.

First, Shizuku-san closed in on a frog and cut it down. She then kicked off the corpse to leap back. Chris-san swapped in and cut down another.

However, because the footing was so poor, Chris-san seemed to get bogged down in the swamp, and she was too slow to leap back.

In that moment, a frog’s tongue lashed out. It snatched Chris-san and pulled her straight toward the frog, and Chris-san’s upper body vanished into its mouth.

My mind went completely blank.

“C-Chris-san!? You brat! Let go of Chris-san!!”

Screaming instinctively, I charged straight at the frog.

“O-Onee-sama!”

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“Fiene-dono, that’s dangerous… wait, she’s surprisingly fast!?”

I closed the distance to the frog in an instant and plunged my knife deep into its plump, drum-like belly.

Along with a disgusting, squelching sensation, an unidentifiable, gross liquid—likely frog bodily fluids—sprayed all over me.

“You brat! Purification!”

I unleashed Purification Magic with all my might from my hand, which was still thrust inside the frog.

Once I had completely purified the miasma within its body, the frog collapsed lifelessly.

“Haa… haa… haa… Chris-san! Chris-san!”

I frantically tried to pry open the frog’s mouth with my knife, but the tightly closed jaws wouldn’t budge.

“It is fine. Chris-dono will not be defeated by something like that.”

“Eh?”

Shizuku-san, who had come closer, spoke up to stop me.

Then…

“Hmph!”

With a spirited shout from Chris-san, she forced the frog’s mouth open from the inside and climbed out.

“You wretched frog! How dare you! Now, prepare yourself—huh?”

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“Chris-san…”

What was that? I was so worried!

Ah, my vision is starting to blur.

“Chris-dono, Fiene-dono was so worried about you that she slew this monster herself. You must not make your lord worry so much?”

“Eh? Fiene-sama. T-That! You didn’t have to put yourself in such danger!”

I could tell Chris-san was worrying about me as usual. I get it, but that’s not the point!

“Chris-san, you just don’t get it!”

I accidentally raised my voice.

“W-What? I told you, I’m fine with something like that—”

“That’s not the issue! You’ve been hit by poison! Look at how your face is blistering! Wash! Detoxify! Healing!”

“Ah. Fiene-sama, my apologies.”

“No. I won’t forgive you until you’ve properly reflected on this.”

This Muscle-Brained Kukkoro onee-san absolutely does not understand.

I performed a sharp about-face, turned my back to Chris-san, and looked up.

Through the gaps in the withered trees, the sky was blue, and white clouds were drifting slowly by.