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Chapter 13: The Strongest Onmyoji Accomplishes a quest (Part two)

Having delivered the huge boar fangs and received the achievement reward, we decided to accept the next request immediately.

And so we came to this forest near a large plantation.

“Huh, what’s that ……!?”

Ifa shouted in a creepy voice.

The thing standing in front of us was a trent, a typical type of plant-based monster.

However, it was no ordinary trent.

The tree is still moving its roots and walking around, but it has a much more eerie …… appearance. The trunk is slightly purplish black. The tree has many twisting branches that look like vines, and they are dripping a sludge-like liquid that looks like slime in places. Its sinus-like mouth and eyes also look much more sinister than those of ordinary torrents.

It was a monster called trent — evil trent, which is a higher species and even uses dark magic.

“Booooo ……!”

The cave’s mouth uttered a menacing cry.

Or maybe it was a cry of delight at having stumbled upon its first prey in a long time.

Either way, it didn’t matter. This monster was the target of this round.

The client was the owner of a large plantation nearby.

He had learned of the existence of this monster through a report from a forest guard he happened to run into.

Although there has been no damage so far, he must be worried about the presence of this terrible monster in the neighborhood. He immediately sent a request to the guild for help in defeating the monster.

Perhaps because the plantation was profitable, the reward was quite high. I was grateful for that.

Evil Trents are, of course, high-ranking monsters. The requirement for receiving an order was to be at the fourth level or higher.

These requests, even if the rewards are high, are not always accomplished immediately. So far, several parties had failed and did not come back.

But I’m not so worried about that this time either.

Boom!

The evil Trent extends a branch like a tentacle.

For a tree, it was surprisingly agile.

And!

Amiyu lightly avoided it and cut off the branch with a fluid motion.

An ice spear pierces the branch that bypasses overhead and extends toward the rear guard from below. A blade of wind cuts off a branch that pinches from both sides, and a rock cannonball crushes a branch in pursuit.

Both sword and magic are flawless.

Amiyu was able to do the work of the vanguard, which normally would have taken several people, all by herself.

The attacks of the top monsters, which would surpass all beasts, were all blocked by a single girl swordsman.

“Hahaha, it’s tough indeed!”

But she didn’t seem to ask for help from Mabel or Nozuro, who were also in the vanguard of the group. She still seems to have plenty of leeway.

This shows how much talent this girl has.

“Booo……!”

The evil Trent thrashes the surroundings with branches as if irritated.

At that moment――――The mouth of the dark trent opened wide.

“Boooooooo!.”

“Huh!.”

Amiyu was startled and shivered.

She hurriedly cuts off the thin branches, but… it doesn’t have the same vividness as before. Pushed back, she gradually retreats.

It was Evil Trent’s Howl.

I’ve never heard of Trent-type monsters using it, but this effect is just that. Even Ifa and Mabel, who were standing next to her, seemed to be paralyzed.

Evil Trent seemed to be feeling better. Root-like legs writhe, and the black tree body approaches us.

The big mouth opens again.

“Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!”

“Amiyu and the others retreat.”

In the midst of this――――Rurumu said annoyedly while loading an arrow into her short bow.

“It’s a very noisy tree.”

A small arrow was shot with a pleasant sound.

It flew straight into the open mouth of the trent――――immediately after, a scarlet flame exploded from within.

“Boooooooo!?”

Evil Trent let out a scream.

He swings his branches wildly and rampages around, but he doesn’t seem to have any means to extinguish the flames that burn from within.

The ugly tree monster eventually stopped moving, and with a crackling sound, it slowly collapsed onto the soil of the forest.

The flames that were blazing from the monster’s corpse gradually weakened.

It’s clearly not a natural phenomenon. It seems that such an effect was originally given to the arrow head, probably for fire ignition.

Magic tools can have quite complex effects depending on the skills of the magician.

As you can see from the fact that she killed the Evil Trent, a high-ranking monster, with a single shot, it seems that she used a fairly high-quality arrowhead.

As an enchantment magician enchanter, Rurumu must have that much power.

Rurumu spoke with a proud smile to Amiyu, who was staring blankly at the series of events.

“What do you think? Is this plain?”

“Uh huh”

Amiyu shakes her head.

“Hey, you were moving normally just now, but doesn’t the …… roar howl work on demons?”

“I’m not saying it doesn’t work, but I’m fine with that. You were pretty scared.”

“Well, it can’t be helped.”

“Humans are so delicate. You’re so good with swords and magic. If you hadn’t played with it first, you could have beaten it by yourself, couldn’t you?”

“Hmmm… ……, I suppose so. I could have. I’ve even beaten some of the top ranking monsters before.”

Rurumu listened with a wry smile , as Amiyu nodded

“It’s all over now.”

“I didn’t do anything this time either. ……”

Mabel and Ifa muttered with indescribable expressions.

“I don’t mind. The sooner the better.”

Nozuro, who had been peeling the bark off the remains of the evil Trent trees, stood up and said, 

“Next.”

*******

After delivering the bark of Evil Trent and receiving the achievement reward, we immediately accepted the next request.

That’s how we came to this steep mountain with exposed rocks.

“Oh, isn’t that it?”

A huge vertical cave near the summit of the mountain.

Amiyu, who was peering into it, pointed her finger and said.

Ahead of her gaze, a plant with bright red leaves was growing, clinging to the rock surface.

“Wow, it really is red”.

“Is that vermilion grass?”

Ifa and Mabel also looked into the pit.

It seemed that we had to pick it up.

The request we received this time was to collect a rare medicinal herb called vermilion grass.

I had never seen this plant in my previous life, and it is apparently used as an ingredient in magic potions.

When you take into your body something that is cursed, such as the flesh of a monster or the fruit of a spirit tree, usually bad things happen. That’s why in my previous life, the more knowledgeable people avoided them. …… Apparently, in this world, only some monsters and plants are edible or medicinal.

However, vermilion grass itself is not dangerous.

That’s why I thought it was a request with a high reward, even though it seemed safe, but… now I know the reason. That stuff is not easy to pick.

The only time they show up is during certain times of the year. No wonder the apothecary didn’t go out and get it himself, but instead sent a request to the Adventurers’ Guild.

“The question is, how do we get them?”

Rurumu sighed and said,

“ I should have at least brought a rope.”

“We’ll have to go down there.”

Nozuro said, as he set down his luggage.

“We don’t have time to go back. No choice then.”

“What,  you’re not going down there right……?”

Amiyu peeked down into the pit and say,

“The depths of the cave are abyssal darkness, and you don’t know how deep it is. Even if you’re a demon, you probably won’t be saved if you fall.”

However, Nozuro said while walking to the edge of the pit.

“I’m fine on my own. You guys stay here.”

“Ah, wait.”

At that time, Ifa interjected.

“I think I can handle it.”

“what……?”

Ifa passed by the doubtful Nozuro and sat down on the edge of the pit.

Then she gently pointed her right hand at the red herb growing on the rock face in the distance.

A blade of wind flies with the spirit’s magic.

It cut several vermilion grasses from the rock face all at once.

The grass scattered into the air falls into the abyss.

However, immediately after that, a whirlwind occurred around them. The medicinal herb flew high into the air, flew out of the pit, passed over our heads, and fell into the grass behind us.

“Oooh,” 

everyone roared.

“Eh, heheh…”

“It’s a handy thing.”

When Nozuro muttered to the shy Eva, Rurumu also asked in a gentle voice.

“Your magic is… strange. Could it be that it’s the same magic used by forest elves?”

“Um, yes. It seems that there was a forest elf among my distant ancestors…”

By the side, Mabel and Amiyu are talking.

“Amiyu, can’t you do that?”

“Of course I can’t do it. If you just reap it, it’s fine, but you can’t collect it. That kind of magic is probably something no one knows.”

Ifa said with a stoked spirit.

“Ehehe, then I’ll pick more!”

Then, she began to gather more and more medicinal herbs from the rock wall with wind magic.

With this amount, the amount required for delivery will be accumulated in no time.

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