Volume 3, Chapter 12 – The Threat of Deadly Scorpi (1)

“Ah, this is pretty obvious.”

I approached the water’s edge.

The water wasn’t cloudy, and aside from the smell of dead fish, everything seemed normal.

At a glance, it looked like a normal, beautiful oasis.

Since desert oases like this are all fed by groundwater, it should be either a case of the underground water source being contaminated or poison being introduced directly into the spring…

“No, this is a tough one. If we don’t find the cause of the contamination, the same thing is likely to happen again. Does anyone have any ideas?”

However, one of the villagers who had followed us—a man named Rashid-san—only tilted his head. It seemed no one had any clues.

It was then. Hearing the splashing of water, I turned around just in time to see a fish floating belly-up being snatched by something large and dragged toward the opposite bank.

“What is that?”

“No way! A Deadly Scorpi!?”

Marco-san began to tremble violently.

“What is that, exactly?”

“A Deadly Scorpi is an extremely dangerous scorpion monster that lives in desert regions. Its body is covered in a hard carapace, and it’s a terrifying creature with powerful toxins not just in its tail, but in its saliva and excrement as well.”

“Why is a scorpion in the water?”

“They can swim. And they do exactly that—contaminate a watering hole with their own poison to monopolize the spot.”

What an annoying monster.

As we spoke, a giant scorpion climbed onto the opposite bank of the spring. After eating the fish held in its pincers, it slid back into the water.

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“As you can see, this oasis is finished. Once it finishes eating the fish, it’ll start viewing humans as food. Even if we request a hunter, few will take the job because of the Deadly Scorpi’s danger. Especially in a place like this. The village would be wiped out before a hunter even arrived. It’s unfortunate, but we’ll have to find a new route across the desert.”

It seemed to be a far more dangerous monster than I had imagined.

“Let’s go report this to Hardy and the others first.”

“Right.”

We ended our investigation and headed back into the village.

◇ ◇ ◇

“A Deadly Scorpi? Ah, we’re finished.”

Upon hearing our report, Hardy-san looked up at the sky in despair.

“Hardy, if we pack our things and flee now, we might still make it,” Marco-san tried to persuade him.

“But Marco, we can only survive here at the Crescent Moon Spring. How on earth are we supposed to move and live elsewhere?”

“But! If you stay here, you’re just going to die!”

“…”

Everyone wore a grim expression.

“Hey, big sisters, you’re strong, right? Please beat the bad monster!”

A small boy gripped Chris-san’s hand, pleading with teary eyes.

“Now, Dargil. Don’t bother the travelers.”

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Having been relied upon by the little boy, Chris-san looked at me with an expectant gaze.

Ah, she thinks I’m going to save them. I see. Of course she does.

“Chris-san, you can definitely cut through a Deadly Scorpi’s shell, right? I don’t want to rely on brute force like we did with the Dark Dragon King.”

Chris-san’s face instantly brightened.

“Leave it to me!”

“Shizuku-san, Lu-chan, are you okay with this?”

“Of course!”

I leave it to you!”

Good. Both of them agreed without hesitation.

“Therefore, we’ve decided to try and subjugate it ourselves.”

“Are you serious!?”

Marco-san cried out in surprise.

“It’ll be fine. Despite how we look, we’re strong enough to purify a town ruled by Vampires.”

“Thank you, big sister!”

Dargil-kun gave me a sparkling smile. His older sister—Ulfa-chan, was it?—watched us with worried eyes.

“It’ll be alright. Please don’t worry.”

I gave her a beaming smile, and she returned a stiff, slightly relieved smile of her own.

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◇ ◇ ◇

We returned to the edge of the spring.

This time, we were on the side opposite the village.

The Deadly Scorpi was still eating dead fish.

“Alright, I’ll explain the plan. Fiene-sama, please stay in the rear and prepare Detoxify and Healing. Lumia will draw its attention with arrows. Then, Shizuku-dono and I will cut off the tail and pincers.”

“””Understood.”””

The plan was pretty rough.

However, since I still don’t fully understand combat in this world, I decided to leave it to them.

If this were a game, the usual move would be for me—with my Barrier and poison immunity—to act as the tank.

But in reality, I honestly didn’t want to stand in front of a giant scorpion the size of a human.

A scorpion that big is scary, and more importantly, it’s gross, so I have zero desire to see one up close.

Besides, even if I suggested stepping forward, Chris-san would never agree to it.

As we observed the situation, the Deadly Scorpi climbed out of the spring once more.

It had a fish clamped in its pincers and was just about to eat it.

At that moment, Lu-chan let fly an arrow.

Smack!

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The arrow hit the fish perfectly, knocking it right out of the Deadly Scorpi’s grip.

Gichi-gichi-gichi!

Making a strange clicking sound, it turned toward Lu-chan. Ah, it’s clearly angry.

In the next instant, it closed a distance of nearly fifty meters with terrifying speed, slamming its venomous stinger down toward Lu-chan with all its might.

“Eh?” “Barrier!”

I threw up a Barrier just in time, protecting Lu-chan from the stinger.

What speed! Is this scorpion way too fast?

Gichi-gichi-gichi!

Aaaah, it’s getting even angrier.

The Deadly Scorpi unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks on Lu-chan, using both its stinger and its pincers.

“Hieeeeee!”

While Lu-chan let out a pathetic shriek, Chris-san and Shizuku-san charged in. Shizuku-san was the first to strike.

CLANG!

The Deadly Scorpi caught Shizuku-san’s blade with its hard pincer and sent her flying.

Shizuku-san, having been knocked back, performed a graceful mid-air flip and landed elegantly.

Taking advantage of that opening, Chris-san delivered a clean, powerful strike to the tail!