Yeah, Yeah, Another World, Another World
As we advanced while mowing down the endless waves of crabs, the underground lake that was our destination finally came into view.
“Wow, this is quite a mystical place.”
The glowing walls of the cave reflected off the surface of the underground lake, creating a fantastical scene.
“Where could the giant snake we’re looking for be?”
“Word is it lives in that pond over there?”
“A snake, living underwater?”
“Well, that’s what the map says. Its name appears to be ‘Great Water Snake’.”
Could it be a snake that operates underwater like a sea snake?
Even if so, the temperature of the underground lake is fairly low, perhaps not ideal for reptiles to be active.
Though maybe it manages somehow with the trusty “magical essence.”
First, I decided to have Rocco and the others, who had checked the monster compendium back at the guild’s archives, explain the characteristics of the Great Water Snake.
“Um, I’ll explain.”
Aoi-chan started explaining.
The Great Water Snake has a black body color and its distinctive feature is shooting sharp water blasts from its mouth. While the water blasts aren’t powerful enough to pierce holes through the body, getting hit by them and knocked to the ground can still result in serious injuries.
Additionally, its body has a unique sliminess, making it resistant to slashing and blunt attacks, with only piercing attacks being effective against it.
“Hmm, I see. I’ve got something I’d like to try out, could you all help me?”
After saying that to everyone, we began preparing for the battle with the Great Water Snake.
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“So I just need to throw this into the water over there?”
Luciti confirmed.
“Yes, please. It gets deeper towards the back, so try to drop it in the shallower area upfront.”
“Understood.”
With that, Luciti grabbed a giant crab that had one of its legs cut off and was writhing around, and threw it into the water.
The crab, thrown into the water, splashed about wildly.
“Will the great snake come because of that?”
Okuda asked while watching the crab.
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen it before.”
At that moment, the water near where the crab was thrashing rose significantly, and a black shadow leapt out from the water.
“Wow, it’s here!”
A large black shadow, about a meter long, opened its mouth and spewed forth a powerful stream of water aimed at the crab.
“Wow! That’s the Great Water Snake… wait, is that really a snake?”
Okuda’s question was valid.
“Isn’t that an eel?”
With its receding lower jaw, slimy body, and a pair of pectoral fins on both sides, it looked unmistakably like an eel.
“What’s an eel?”
Rocco asked.
“Is it uncommon to see them in this world? The black fish over there is an eel.”
“It wiggles like that and it’s not a snake?”
The giant eel, having judged that the crab was sufficiently weakened by the water blast, attempted to drag it into the water with its mouth.
“Let’s attack with fire magic! Try to avoid hitting the mouth!”
Upon my shout, multiple fireballs shot out from everyone’s staffs.
The fireballs converged on the eel, causing small explosions repeatedly around its throat, eyes, and fins.
The eel fell sideways onto the water surface with a splash, and after waiting for a while, it didn’t move.
The eel’s tail fin, previously unseen, also floated up to the surface.
“We definitely took it down this time, right? Let’s pull it up.”
I borrowed Grav from Matsushita-san and waded waist-deep in the water towards the eel.
The smell of grilled fish wafted around.
“It smells amazing!”
I hooked the blade of the Grav into the eel and carried it to land. Despite having just eaten crab, I was starting to feel increasingly hungry.
“Yeah, it really does smell good.”
“Can we eat this?”
Hayato-kun asked.
“The blood of an eel is poisonous, so unless it’s properly prepared, it could be dangerous.”
Upon hearing this, Hayato-kun and Luciti looked disappointed.
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“Ah, is this it?”
Rocco, who had been dissecting the creature, showed me a tubular part he held in his hand.
“That was deep in its throat, right? It’s clearly not fangs.”
Although the quest mentioned “the great snake’s fangs,” these clearly weren’t fangs.
“If we pour water through one end, we should be able to tell.”
Upon hearing that, Rocco poured a handful of water into the tube.
“Gya!!”
With Rocco’s scream, water blasted out forcefully from the tube, which flew out of his hand and shot up near the ceiling.
“Oh, bingo! So how many of these tubes do we need?”
Aoi-chan answered for Rocco, who went to retrieve the flying tube.
“Three…”
“Ugh, this is quite troublesome…”
There was no use in feeling down, so I continued fishing for eels while changing spots to quickly obtain the remaining tubes.
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We already obtained another tube, totaling two.
Just one more left. Hoping the eel would appear soon, I stared at the crab dropped in the water when it appeared.
“Some weird eel is here!!!”
Okuda shouted.
The black shadow that surfaced had a receding jaw and a pair of pectoral fins visible, resembling an eel.
However, the two white whiskers extending from its face negated it being an eel.
“It’s a catfish!!!”
An unexpected catch. I hadn’t anticipated catching anything other than the target fish.
But since it’d be irritating to let it just take the bait, I dealt with the catfish using the same method as the eel and carried its corpse to land.
“This smells good too.”
Hayato-kun was in his growth phase.
“Indeed, catfish should be edible, but I’ve never eaten it before. As much as it’s a shame, let’s pass on this one too.”
Once again, Luciti and Hayato-kun looked sad.
“Senpai, isn’t this the same magic activation body as the Pink Trout?”
What Okuda held in his hand were the pure white whiskers from the catfish.
Certainly, they were unnaturally white growing out of the catfish, which was a dark brown.
“What system of magic is it related to?”
“Since it’s white, it must be white magic!”
“Is such a rough categorization okay!?”
Since we couldn’t test the magic here, we decided to bring the white whiskers back in a plastic bag.
“Senpai, you carry it. It stinks too much…”
“Sure, sure.”
My backpack was already stuffed full, so I ended up carrying the plastic bag in my hand as we moved.
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Having finally obtained three of the Great Snake’s fangs (eel tubes), our group set off on the return journey to town.
“What will Luciti do next?”
“Hmm, I could go back to my room, but I’d prefer trying more food like the crab.”
“Then let’s head to town together.”
“Won’t you get sunburned and die?”
Okuda raised a concern.
“If that happens, I believe I’ll revive again in the underground room. If that happens, come pick me up again.”
“If you’re going to revive anyway, it’s fine but…”
Despite everything, I felt a certain bond with Luciti, with whom we fought the eel together.
I may not understand the feelings of these monsters who stayed locked in the same room for so long, but the smiles on their faces when we ate crab together were genuine.
If possible, I want them to experience various things above ground too. But is thinking this way something that goes against the logic of this world, this labyrinth?
“Don’t worry, we’ll make it work! If the sun ends up being fatal, we’ll bring ‘Magic Sunscreen Cream’ down to the 9th basement floor!”
As expected of Sensei, developing incredible things.
While having such conversations, we made our way towards the surface, nearly losing our footing at the sight of giant moths and having our consciousness reaped by centipede swarms, but we managed to return to a spot where the entrance to the town was visible.
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