Chapter 71 – A Tribute to Matilda-san (2): This is that, right?

At the Adventurers’ Guild where I came to look for a request, I hand Matilda-san a container of crackers.

Just something for her to snack on when she’s a bit hungry.

Matilda-san’s eyes widened slightly when she saw the container of crackers. Then she looked back at me.

Um… are they too cute? No, wait—I didn’t say I was the one who made them, so it’s fine. Totally fine!

Just something I bought around town. Oh, I got it at a bakery.

That’s technically not a lie. Yeah.

“Ah, thank you very much.”

Matilda accepts it with a gentle smile and says thank you.

It was the same lovely smile as always, but for some reason, it didn’t seem as lively today.

Actually, her complexion looked a bit off—kind of pale.

She’s always fair-skinned, but now she looked almost waxy, like she had no blood in her face.

Now that I look more closely, even her lips, which are probably tinted with lipstick, seemed a bit pale.

“Are you feeling okay?”

When I asked, she gently lowered her gaze.

“I still have a long way to go, it seems…”

“No, not at all.”

People who can completely hide how unwell they are—that’s even more worrying.

” 

“I’ve just been a bit sleep-deprived. I’ve been drinking this nutritional supplement that’s apparently popular in the capital, but…”

Eh, that sounds like those caffeine-loaded energy drinks we have in Japan. Like… borrowing life from your future kind of thing?

Yeah, sugar and caffeine can give you that jolt, but the crash afterward hits hard.

I’d rather she not overuse them if possible.

“Don’t push yourself too hard…”

I want to say that, but people don’t overdo things because they want to.

“So, how about this request?”

Matilda brightened up her voice as if to forcefully change the subject and presented a request to defeat a certain insect-type monster.

Apparently, this is the main reason she’s so worn out.

It’s a weak monster, but for some reason, it’s been appearing in huge numbers, and they’ve been busy dealing with it.

She knows I don’t usually take on subjugation requests, so I doubt she seriously expected me to take it.

But…

“I’ll take it.”

“Huh!?”

Well, I mean, if this is what’s causing Matilda-san to be so exhausted, then I want to help reduce that, even a little.

“No, not really…” Matilda-san frowned, she looked flustered and hesitant, but I nudged her to go ahead and process the request.

Well, not that there’s much processing to do—it’s an emergency ongoing request, so as long as I bring back the designated parts later, it’s fine. But taking the request beforehand gives you a little extra credit. So it’s better to accept it now before going out.

(Very meta note: I’m about to head into the forest and, well… it’s going to involve a lot of bugs. If you don’t like bugs, this is your warning—maybe stop reading here. I’m really sorry, but this is going to be a whole bug episode for a while…)

So anyway, into the forest we go.

Since I’m heading into the forest, I’ve brought Kirara along with me.

Mimi is staying home this time.

According to Matilda-san, the mass outbreak is happening just a bit further in from the beginner’s area near the forest entrance.

There might even be some kind of nest forming.

Now, the reason why this is a problem is that this insect-like monster called Amame looks, it just… looks gross.

I mean, its color is black or brown, and it’s shiny like it’s been soaked in oil. Some are matte and not shiny. They scurry around and fly.

They’re not poisonous, and you can kill them pretty easily with a good whack.

It’s just—they move fast and are just unpleasant. And the real issue is that there isn’t much point in defeating them.

You don’t get meat or usable hide from them. The drop rate for magic stones is really low, and even when they do drop, they’re tiny and not very useful.

With other insect monsters, their shiny wings can be used as armor material, stingers, poison sacs, silk, or even threads can be extracted, and they can also be used as a source of protein, but with this one there is almost nothing of value.

Well, I guess that’s not entirely true.

Apparently, there was once a very respectable person who tried eating them, and when he did, he found that although it had a slightly bitter and unpleasant smell, he said the taste and texture was kind of like shrimp.

Also, they supposedly have some medicinal properties and can be used in alchemy, albeit they rarely are.

But still— it just looks, well, it’s kind of gross, so it’s not very popular.

Eating them? Yeah, no. People instinctively reject them.

Even as medicine…

“This ointment works wonders for chilblains!”

Even if you say that, it seems like people will avoid it by saying, “But it’s made from those bugs, right?”

So yeah, there’s basically no upside to subjugating them.

Originally, they serve a scavenger-type role, so having a few around isn’t a problem. In fact, it might be an issue if there were none around at all.

When you encounter one, it may fly towards you for some reason, but it has no intention of attacking you, and you will generally just run away. It is an easy monster to avoid.

However, if they spread in large numbers, it can be a problem. Apparently, there have been cases where leaving them unchecked has led to epidemics breaking out. Also, there are old tales that says you shouldn’t leave them unattended because it will cause some kind of disaster.

So they need to be culled somewhat regularly. That’s why the adventurer’s guild receives commissions from the feudal lord and issues requests, but, well, how should I put it, it’s basically like a request from a government office, so, you know, the budget’s tight and the rewards for the requests are low, so they’re really not popular…

Honestly, I get it.

I know she didn’t say it outright, but this is that thing, right?

Yep. It’s a giant G…

But, well, if it’s a G, then there are ways to deal with it.

Just spray some bug spray, — pshhht— and even I should be able to get rid of it.

I’d really like to avoid having to squash it physically, though.

I have major respect for people who go at those things with a magazine or newspaper!

And just so we’re clear—

There are ways to deal with them that don’t involve bug spray, and although they are cheap, they can be a bit dangerous or highly toxic, and in fact these methods are actually scarier than the bugs themselves.

I’m sure there’s a lot to say on the topic, but please be mindful when posting in the comments section.

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