Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 198: Determining the Cause
The three members of Black-Gold Wings reached the requesting village in the early afternoon.
The village chief hurried to greet them at the entrance, but worry appeared on his face when he saw two children accompanied by a young horned woman whom he took for beastfolk. Ragune was the only one who looked like an adult, so his concern was understandable.
“We’re Black-Gold Wings, and we came in response to your request,” Tauro said. “I’m Tauro, the team leader. These are Aeris and Ragune. Could you show us the swamp?”
“Of course. This way.”
Hearing that the boy was the leader only deepened the chief’s doubts. Still, the request was officially an investigation. He decided that the three adventurers could examine the problem and report their findings to the guild, which could then arrange whatever larger response was necessary.
After passing through the village, they followed a path into the forest. From its entrance, Tauro could already see a poisonous haze rising above the trees.
“The swamp is just ahead, correct? Thank you. We can continue from here.”
Tauro gave Aeris and Ragune poison-resistance potions. As an additional precaution, he had Aeris cover her mouth and nose with a mask before the three entered the forest.
The trees ahead were so badly withered that the area could barely be called a forest. A short walk brought them to the swamp, where poisonous miasma seeped from the water and spread through the surrounding woodland.
“Aeris, please place a barrier around the swamp and keep the miasma from escaping.”
“Understood.”
Aeris immediately erected a barrier around the contaminated area.
“Ragune, circle the swamp and tell me if you find anything unusual.”
“Leave it to me!”
Ragune moved off without hesitation. The natural resistance to abnormal conditions possessed by dragonfolk allowed her to endure the miasma far better than an ordinary person.
“I’ll examine the center.”
Before Aeris could object, Tauro stepped onto the swamp – and remained on its surface.
Ragune stopped in the middle of her inspection and stared. Aeris was surprised as well, though she quickly guessed what he was doing.
Ragune hurried back to her.
“Tauro is walking into the swamp! No, he’s not walking in it. He’s walking on top of it!”
“He’s probably using [Levitation],” Aeris explained. “That’s why it looks as though he’s standing on the water.”
“He can use [Levitation] too? He surprises me every time. Who exactly is he?”
Ragune was remarkable even by dragonfolk standards, yet Tauro repeatedly managed to astonish her.
“Tauro was born with only one garbled skill,” Aeris said. “Everything else came from experience, ingenuity, and an extraordinary amount of effort.”
“A garbled skill? Dragonfolk consider those useless as well.”
“People here usually think the same thing. Tauro has simply continued producing results that should have been impossible.”
“Then I still have a great deal to learn.”
Ragune returned to examining the shore.
By the time Tauro reached the center of the swamp, he had identified part of the problem.
Giant poisonous frogs were hiding throughout the muddy water.
Each measured roughly fifty to eighty centimeters in length. Their heads protruded above the surface while poisonous haze seeped from their backs and contaminated the swamp.
Unlike the frogs Tauro remembered from his previous life, these monsters rarely croaked and didn’t normally produce large numbers of offspring. An outbreak on this scale was highly unusual.
A new subspecies might be responsible.
Tauro decided that their first task was to locate the source of the outbreak and exterminate the frogs.