Chapter 31: Large-Barrel Bomb

“Old Man Nomos, what is it? I’m busy.”

The speaker was a tall, unhealthy-looking man with dark circles beneath his eyes. He wore glasses, and his completely unkempt hair looked as though it had exploded. His white coat suited his sickly appearance perfectly.

“This man is my benefactor. He gave me my daughter’s keepsake. I want you to help him.”

Hearing that, Zegal frowned slightly.

“…Fine. I’ll at least hear him out.”

He invited us inside. Just as I’d imagined, rubbish was scattered everywhere as though a burglar had ransacked the place, leaving us barely any room to stand.

“Your room is as filthy as ever.”

“Leave me alone. Sit there.”

We moved the objects piled on the chairs aside and sat. The table was covered in chemicals too.

“You were shouting all sorts of things earlier, but would you explain it again?”

“Yes. We’d like you to make us a tool capable of defeating a monster called a grand crocodile…”

I explained everything to Zegal once again. I’d lost count of how many times I’d already told the story today. After listening, Zegal spoke.

“I see. I can’t find any obvious inconsistency in your story. It’s an interesting skill, and the information has considerable credibility. To give you my conclusion, it’s probably possible to make an explosive powerful enough to work against a grand crocodile.”

“Really?!” Eve shouted.

“Assuming you can get all of it properly inside the creature’s mouth. That will require a considerable quantity. You’d need to fill a barrel about this size with explosives. Throwing it cleanly into its mouth will be quite difficult.”

Zegal pointed at a large barrel nearby. It looked more than a meter tall.

“But it isn’t impossible. Can you make it by the day after tomorrow?”

“…If I include the explosives I’ve already prepared, I think I can finish in time. It’ll cost a great deal, though. I want 2,000,000 G.”

“Two million G?! Understood.”

I currently possessed almost exactly 2,000,000 G. I had given nearly everything else to Neon when she left.

“This uses a large quantity of expensive materials. That’s how much it will cost.”

“It’s fine. I have the money.”

I immediately placed twenty gold coins on the table.

“Oh. Immediate payment is wonderful. But I only have time to make one. You can’t afford to fail.”

“Understood. We’ll come up with a plan somehow.”

“I’ll have it ready by the morning after next. Come and collect it then.”

“Thank you! You’ve truly saved us!”

I bowed. You could say we’d escaped by the skin of our teeth.

I’d heard Zegal was eccentric, yet he accepted our request readily. Mr. Nomos might have been quite an extraordinary person.

After leaving the house, I thanked him.

“Thanks to you, Mr. Nomos, we were able to speak with Mr. Zegal. Thank you very much.”

“Think nothing of it. I’m glad I could be of some small help to my benefactor. Besides, Zegal was a friend of my daughter. Perhaps he wanted to do something for the man who returned her keepsake to me. He’s eccentric, but a good lad at heart.”

Mr. Nomos laughed.

“If anything happens, tell me again. I’ll do everything I can.”

With that, he left.

“At least we can see some hope now!” Eve’s voice was buoyant.

“Yeah. All that’s left is figuring out how to get that bomb into its mouth.”

“Hmm. Won’t we have to throw it in the instant the monster attacks with its mouth open?”

“We can’t afford to fail. I wonder if there’s some tool that could hold its mouth open, even for just a moment.”

Honestly, the only thing that came to mind was a prop. As we thought over the problem together, we returned to the town center.

“What if we use a gigantic rod to hold its mouth open?”

『Would it be possible to use a custom-made rod to hold its mouth open temporarily?』

『Yes.』

So the answer was technically yes. It didn’t sound easy, though.

“Is there a rod that could withstand the force of a grand crocodile’s jaws?”

“Hmm. We’d probably have to commission one. But I don’t have any money left.”

I’d already spent almost everything I had.

“I have a little money too! Let’s use it and do our best.”

“Hey, boss. That sounds like an interesting conversation. Let me in on it!”

That voice… I turned around and found the mercenary Diller standing there.