Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 294: The Centipede’s Nest
And so, Rest ventured into the centipede-infested mineshaft accompanied by Isis Carbelt and Urla Lavender.
The mineshaft was originally dug as a well, but after the discovery of rainbow-colored crystals, it had been expanded to allow people to enter.
“Apparently, the centipedes here don’t like light. You won’t see them near the entrance where the sunlight reaches…”
“They’re there. A whole bunch of them.”
“Creepy.”
Isis spoke with caution, and Urla nodded in agreement.
All three of them possessed the magic ability of [Presence Detection].
When they searched for signs of monsters, they could immediately sense a writhing mass of them.
“They’re coming…!”
“Shalalalalalala—!”
From a tunnel off to the side, a massive centipede came crawling out.
And it wasn’t just one—two, three, four… the numbers kept growing.
The centipedes were two to three meters long, with black, armor-like exoskeletons covering their bodies.
With large fangs at their heads and countless skittering legs, their appearance was enough to trigger a visceral sense of disgust.
“Everyone, stay alert!”
“Shalalalalalala—!”
“[Wind Blade]!”
Isis was the first to cast a spell.
While Rest had a greater overall magic capacity, Isis surpassed him in casting speed.
“Sha—!”
The leading centipede had its head split open and died instantly.
But more immediately surged forward from behind.
“[Water Blade]!”
“[Wind Blade]!”
Rest and Urla each cast spells to intercept the advancing centipedes.
Yet no matter how many they defeated, more came crawling out.
“This is a pain… Each one isn’t that strong, but there’s just too many…”
They wanted to wipe them out with a large-scale spell, but that wasn’t an option.
They were in a tunnel underground—using powerful magic risked collapsing the ceiling.
“We’ll have to take them down one by one, the tedious way…”
“It’s a hassle, but you’re right.”
Isis responded with a sigh.
Together, the three of them kept fending off the centipedes. After defeating about thirty, the swarm finally stopped.
“Looks like a break… But there are still more below.”
Using magic to probe deeper, they could sense even more writhing down below.
The thought of so many monsters lurking underground was horrifying.
Rest wondered if similar dangers might be hidden beneath the town he was building.
“When I get back, I should use magic to scan the area properly… I’d hate to find some kind of monster mole under there.”
“But at this rate, aren’t we just wasting time? We’ll never finish. It’s impossible to exterminate every last one of them.”
Isis wiped the sweat from her brow as she spoke.
With possibly hundreds of them, completely wiping them out didn’t seem realistic.
But if even a few were left, they might reproduce and multiply again.
“Yeah… What should we do…?”
“Parent.”
“Hm?”
As Rest and Isis pondered, Urla muttered a single word.
“What did you say?”
“Parent.”
“Parent…?”
“Mm… Queen.”
“Queen.”
“You mean… they’re like ants or bees and have a queen?”
Rest asked, puzzled. Isis, on the other hand, snapped her fingers as if it all made sense.
“Right. Some insect-type monsters do have a queen.”
“But… how do you know that? Have you encountered this monster before?”
“Eyes.”
Urla pointed to her own eyes.
Her irises shimmered with a strange mix of colors—mystical, multicolored hues.
“Eyes, good.”
“……”
She probably meant she had keen eyesight.
Still, even with excellent vision, it shouldn’t be possible to understand an insect’s ecological structure.
“But now that you mention it… there is a larger one among the centipedes.”
Rest focused his magic senses more carefully and noticed a centipede with a distinctly larger presence.
It had blended in with the others until now, but it was likely the queen.
“I see. So if we take out the queen, they won’t be able to reproduce. That simplifies things.”
They might not be able to wipe out all the centipedes, but defeating the queen could bring it to a close.
“Alright then, let’s head toward the large magic presence. You both okay with that?”
“Yeah, no problem.”
“Mm, I’ll follow… forever.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
Urla seemed to say something else just now… but Rest didn’t think too hard about it.
Brushing aside the centipede corpses, the three of them continued deeper into the mineshaft.