Chapter 41: Hassan — The Swamp Local (8)

༺ Hassan — The Swamp Local (5) ༻

"Aaargh!"

I could hear the sounds of water and mud splashing around, along with the clamor of the adventurers and their terrified shrieks from all around me...it was the scene of nightmares.

"S-Save me!"

Grrrrr!

A crocodile with its mouth stretched wide-open just gulped half of the body of a bronze-tier adventurer down and tore him apart, with its razor-sharp teeth and inhumanely strong jaws, spewing blood everywhere in the surroundings.

The other crocodiles approached the torn body parts of the unfortunate adventurer at the sudden smell of blood. The violent beasts, as if losing all sense of reason, swallowed and tore every bit of flesh and debris remaining of the poor adventurer apart, relishing in the taste of the torn parts.

Fucking crocodiles! Shiiiit!

I felt a shiver run down my back at this terrifying scene. Damn, did people die so easily?

It's been a long time since I saw a person die in front of me, my heart was beating fiercely from anxiety, fright, shock, and myriad more emotions that my brain was too jumbled up to even make sense of..

"Damn, r-run away! Everyone, run the fuck away!!!"

"Don't run away, cowards! Fight proudly if you're a warrior of Lord Mars!"

Hippolyte and the Sword Maidens drew their swords out with utmost swiftness. Not wasting a single moment of time, they then began slashing at the crocodiles, that were half-submerged in the muddy waters, with all their might.

"Their eyes and neck! Those are their weak spots. Everyone, aim at their eyes and neck!"

Schwing— Whoosh—

Hippolyte ripped one of the thick-skinned swamp crocodiles apart in a single slash. She showed no signs of yesterday's weakness. The feeble form that had struggled in vain in my arms was nowhere to be seen. Her show of absolute domination over the dastardly monsters looked extremely reliable, as expected of the silver-tier warrioress.

The other Sword Maidens followed Hippolyte's example and were also working hard at desecrating the crocodiles around them.

"Hi-Hiik!"

Grrrrrrrr!

These crocodiles' skin was unusually tough, adding loads of confusion to the already difficult fight for the struggling adventurers. The toughness of their skins resulted in some adventurers not even being able to pull their knives out or falling down trying to do so and getting themselves injured by the counterattacks of the swamp monsters.

Not like there was any shame in this troublesome happenstance. It was very hard to move around in a swamp, any movement would be naturally slow and heavy, the fact that this was the home ground of the crocodiles was also a notable reminder. They were fighting at the monsters' habitat, their home turf, of course, they would be at a significant disadvantage.

These crocodiles were truly great predators. They had a ruthless nature— true killing machines that couldn't be compared in any way to the measly goblins that they confronted yesterday.

Slither— Leap—

A huge crocodile soon lunged at me too with the rapid slithering of its body in the viscous water, and my mind completely blanked at that scene. I hastily walked backward and fell down on my butt, fear and terror coloring my eyes and face. The crocodile didn't let go of that opportunity and quickly jumped on me with its fangs bared.

Screech—

Thanks to me flailing my arms around at the very last moment, the crocodile ended up only biting my wrist protectors. Holy fuck! If it wasn't for this expensive piece of equipment, my arm would have probably become the contents of its stomach by now.

"Let go of me you fucking reptilian piece of shitty bitch!!!"

Thanks to the dumabss me, falling and losing my long sword, I had no choice but to take out the dagger from my waist and directly swing it at this damned crocodile's face as fast as I possibly could.

Kaching—

The crocodile's body dropped down with the sound of my dagger ripping through its skin. It seems I was, fortunately, able to cut through its skull and part of its brain.

Damn?! Did I just kill such a cruel and ferocious reptilian monster all by myself? I'm Dragon Slayer, Hassan from now on, god-damn it. Woohoo!

I was thrilled and my heart was overflowing with shock and excitement, but the sheer amount of crocodiles around me didn't give me much time to revel in the joy of my first big hunt.

I'm already struggling so much, I wonder how the other guys, especially Luna were doing right now. I hurriedly turned my head at that troublesome thought, searching for the sight of the pink twin tails with an anxious gaze.

Sway—

Luna was raising her arms high in the sky, like a scarecrow, and oriented them towards the alligators surrounding her. Soon after, she began running in a zigzag motion with a weird posture.

"Kiooooooh, Haiyaaaa!"

Luna then opened her mouth and started producing weird incoherent screams, directing them towards the crocodile. Did she lose her mind because of her fear of death?

Not that I felt I could blame her for that, I felt I was going to go crazy too.

Shit, it seems that Luna's mind had broken beyond repair. Could a massage fix this mental breakdown state of hers? Would I have to press the acupoints on her brain or something? Fuck, what should I do?

But something ludicrous unexpectedly happened at that time.

G-Grrrr!

Barrrrr!

The crocodiles that had been surrounding her with vicious gazes hurriedly turned around and promptly disappeared to god knows where like lizards walking on water.

"Fucking sh-hit, what in the fuck is this?"

My mind just bluescreened from reality at this incomprehensible scene.

"What are you doing, Hassan? Follow along! Swamp crocodiles are afraid of creatures who run in zig-zag motion while making loud noises!"

"They're afraid of what? Damn!"

"Hurry up!"

My brain wasn't processing anything Luna was saying as it was getting blocked by my rationality filter. What she was doing and what was happening didn't make the least bit of sense to me. However, the truth of the matter was that...it was somehow effective. Her movements, that resembled a drug addict bereft of its favorite drugs, were indeed making the crocodiles afraid.

"Hurry up, Hassan! It will be even more effective with someone your size! Come on, follow along, already! Damn it!"

"Oh, fuck it all!"

Grrrrrr—

Slither—

The crocodiles were quickly approaching and I had no time to spare anymore for any form of thoughts. So, I did the best possible action in that situation. Taking a deep breath, I raised my arms high in the sky. I decided to follow Luna along in her lunacy.

Clap— Clap—

I ran in a zigzag motion! My zigzag evasion movements were pretty good; years of FPS games and training to avoid Elfriede's whip attacks made my movements much sharper and dazzling than anyone around me, I was damn sure about that.

In addition to avoiding them in my zigzag gait, I also swayed my body and twisted around like a rubber balloon.

"Hwaaaaaaaaaah-!!!!!!!"

G-Gaerrr!

Damngrrrrrryouu!

The crocodiles — who were, at the end of the day, merely puny beasts at best — were awed by my majesty and fled in fear while showing their tails and long serrated backs to us.

Damn, these crocodiles were actually scared of me. Woohoo!

"Hehe, you can't go! I won't let you g-go... Ahgghghghgh!"

Gaek!

I swung my long sword at the back of their heads, it easily penetrated their skin and took their lives in a flash. Damn, I can't believe it would be so easy to hunt these bastards down!

"What the hell is this? The bastard crocodiles are running away? Is that a secret Samaritan hunting technique from the wildlands?"

"Yeah. I heard that's how locals of the swamps deal with these freaks."

"What are you all doing? Hurry up and imitate him, damn it!"

The misty swamp was now flooded with mad lunatics moving like fiddlesticks and producing weird god-forsaken sounds.

Ga-Garrrr!

It became a place where a weak crocodile, this mere beast, couldn't survive anymore.

**********

"Hey, check out this leather, it's so fucking good! To think catching crocodiles was this easy."

"I can't help but feel sorry for these dead bastards though."

After some time, the frantic jungle party finally ceased and it was time to get our loot from the scattered and mutilated bodies of the dead crocodiles.

I skillfully collected the skin of the two crocodiles I had slain, other adventurers around me couldn't help but exclaim in awe at the sight of my masterful flaying.

"To think such a thick leather could be cut so easily by such a short knife."

"Even as a person who lives in the wild, his dexterity is nothing to scoff at."

Well, skinning and dismantling the bodies of dead monsters was one of my specialties, after all.

Because of my father who ran a health center and used to make his own medicine from weird ingredients, I had been forced to learn how to take care of these kinds of barbaric things.

And I eventually got used to it after being slaved by Elfriede for over two years.

Now, I could get an idea of how to do such things just by looking at it and feeling a little with my hands. Even if I were to do the same kind of things on new materials, I would be able to do it efficiently.

Sigh—

Of course, I couldn't deny the impact of <Imperfect Dexterity> along with my increase in strength in making the crocodile's skin come off so easily.

As I had suspected before, my newly acquired blessing seemed to correct or enhance any kind of action that required my hands and my efficiency in general.

Although it was a more useful blessing than I thought, I still don't think it's worth going bald for.

"Wow, you were done with this one in under two minutes. Amazing. Can you skin the crocodile I caught too, Samaritan? I'll give you 10 percent of the estimated sale price of the leather."

"Please, take care of mine too. If someone skins it without damaging them they should be able to get 5 silvers per skin at least. Crocodile skins in a good state sell very well..."

"Holy Shit!"

"W-Why? You can't?"

"Just form a line and wait."

Adding these four crocodile skins would make a profit of two silvers, at least.

Gains summary!

My two crocodile skins will sell for around 10 silvers.

Then I'll get an additional 10 silver after completing the quest.

44 coppers after selling the goblin fangs and two silvers for skinning 4 crocodiles.

I currently have 5 silvers and 40 coppers.

After all of this is over, I'll nearly have 30 silvers. The same amount I painstakingly collected after two years of slavery.

Fucking heeell, how could I earn so much money in such a short amount of time?

I finally understood how Elfriede and the others could spend so much money on their equipment.

Thanks to all the new weight, my backpack had become a lot heavier, but I was feeling so elated and light that I felt I was on the verge of soaring in the clear skies above.

"Where on earth did you learn this? That's quite a neat and clean work."

The middle-aged bronze rank adventurer was affirmatively nodding at the end result. Just when I was about to answer him.

"Don't Samaritans take off the skin of the opponents after killing them? This brother of mine probably has been making clothes out of the skins of his opponents before he even learned how to speak properly."

"I didn't expect it would be like this, damn, that's scary."

Marco answered before I could even open my mouth.

How is this little bastard still alive? Tough motherfucker. Is his nose tougher than this rigid crocodile skin? How incompetent must the guys who died be since even this living burden called Marco survived?

"Hey, brother. I enjoyed your performance today. Hassan — The Swamp Local. That seems like an avid title. I'll make a good tune out of this."

"Motherfucking bastard, I'll beat you up if you exaggerate the story again."

"When did I ever exaggerate? It's just my artistic talents taking over, that's all."

"Marco-Kun!!! Where did you go? Come here and pick up the skin of the crocodiles we caught!"

"Sigh... I've been doubting my path as an artist these days. Should I go back to my hometown, in the end?"

Marco returned to Lord Destroyer's side with drooping shoulders. The luggage he was carrying on his back was full of crocodile skins. Still, nothing he was carrying on his back could be heavier than the affection Lord Destroyer was constantly showering him with.

Well, that's how things concluded.

I lifted my bag and then looked around for Luna. My mind almost went blank when I saw her sprinkling coins on the ground.

Ho...ly... No matter how rich you are, throwing coins on the ground was still a little excessive, wasn't it? I don't even know what to say anymore.

"You just saved my life, Luna. How did you know how to deal with the crocodiles like that?"

"Ah... Ideope has a lot of swamps. We get attacked by crocodiles whenever they're bored, so it's quite often in frequency. Since their eyes are on the floor level they tend to misjudge heights, so the bigger you are, the better the effects of this technique."

This sounded like the ramblings of someone who was out to sell something shady. However, I had no choice but to believe it since it actually worked. Anyways, that's not what I really wanted to ask currently.

"Why are you tossing coins on the ground? Just give it to me if you don't want it."

"Ah, I'm not throwing them away, it's not even my money, to begin with. This money is for Charon, it's their travel expenses, I got it from their pockets, 1 copper each."1Greek tradition, they say the dead need money to pay the fair to Charon, the ferryman who leads the dead on the Styx.

Luna then began putting coins into the mouths of the corpses with terrifying upturned eyes. Is this some kind of funeral rite in this world?

Come to think of it, I was often asked to leave money in the bodies of fallen adventurers back when I was with Elfriede and her party.

People in this world seemed to believe in some kind of afterlife. As for me, I just stood there. I didn't say anything or asked any more questions after that, silently observing the strange funeral rite.

**********

"Five deaths and two fugitives before even meeting the damned cultists. That's bad. We have only 13 people left now, right?"

"Yes. Should we go on Miss Hippolyte? The Sword Maidens seem to have picked up some injuries too."

"Thanks for worrying Lord Destroyer but there's no need for that. It's going to be fine as long as you and I are present."

"Is that so? Well, it doesn't matter to me. You don't look well though, Miss Hippolyte. Are you injured anywhere?"

"...No. Let's leave this place.."

The group packed up their belongings and advanced through the muddy swamp without even having time to mourn the dead.

Some people were excited by their newly found gains while others were still shaken by the previous devastating attack that resulted in the loss of one-fourth of our party members.

Hooooooo-

Maeoooow-

"D-Damn it!"

"Why are you scared, little bitch? It's just birds."

It was clear that the tiredness and tension of the group were a notch higher than earlier. People were alarmed and expected an attack at any slight unusual sound or anomaly.

"Damn, I hope the fog clears up soon."

"Was this place even supposed to be so foggy? It wasn't if I remember correctly."

"I don't know bastard, just look around you. Tell me if you can discern it or not. Stupid bitch!"

I was silently walking while listening to the chatter around me. From what the adventurers were saying, it seems this fog was unusual and was a bit uncharacteristic for this swamp.

Human perception mostly relied on sight and having it blocked like this wasn't doing any good to our already drained mental state.

Moreover, the air was getting hotter and hotter as we were advancing through the fog as if walking inside a giant steamer...as if we were about to be cooked alive.

"Hassan, you caught 2 crocodiles!"

As usual and completely contrary to everyone else, Luna was excitedly jumping around as if she was in a great mood.

Was she roaming so freely because it felt similar to her hometown? Well, seeing her this cheerful did help in alleviating my mood...even by a little.

Luna was giggling as she peeked through my backpack to check out my crocodile skins.

"You can make clothes out of these."

"Clothes?"

"Yes, weren't they ripped up when we were attacked by goblins during the temple clean-up?"

"Oh yeah. I almost forgot."

I was covering my tattered clothes with my cheap raincoat. What I am wearing right now is closer to being called rags rather than clothes.

I couldn't buy clothes after splurging so much on protective gear. I'll have to get new clothes if I make money this time.

Luna's idea wasn't half-bad either. Would the price be lowered if I supplied the crocodile skin myself? It was a possibility, and any avenue that saved up money should be treaded...

However...

Clothes made out of crocodile skin. Never thought I'd have the luxury to wear those.

Hippolyte, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped while I was indulging in my self-induced fantasies.

Shit fuck, what is it gonna be this time around? Hippolyte then spoke in a firm voice as if she had made up her mind.

"Not good. We can't continue unless we deal with this fog somehow. Cultist camps have been sighted around this position."

"What do you propose then, Miss Hippolyte?"

Some focus was shifted to Hippolyte after Lord Destroyer's inquiry. It was all because of the faint hope in their hearts that a mighty silver-ranked adventurer would be able to solve this hopeless issue somehow.

I was of the same thought. In my head, I was imagining the mighty Hippolyte conjuring a typhoon with the movement of her arms, utilizing her inhuman strength, and blowing all of the fog away...

Hippolyte then spoke in a loud tone, breaking my reverie...

"I am unable to clear out this fog, but I know someone who might be able to. Priestess from Delphi, let me borrow the blessing granted to you by the god you believe in. The luminous light of the esteemed god is perfect to get rid of the fog."

Cassandra promptly emerged from the crowd after being called. She then shook her head and silently spoke after looking around.

"My prayers cannot reach the heavens because of the cold energy around here. Rather than me, why don't you ask the guy over there for help...?"

She then pointed her finger at the group. Everyone's eyes followed her finger until they finally reached the person she was pointing at.

Damn, just as I was wondering who it was, it somehow ended up being me. This shouldn't be possible. Was she perhaps mistaken?

I need to clear things up...

"Me?"

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