Chapter 55: LukiaDesert

「So, in the end you lost against her enthusiasm and signed a contract. Then you told her how to make them.」 (Riizu)

「Something like that...she seemed confident that they would sell, the contract was made so that it would definitely not turn unprofitable for me.

「She rushed over to that wealthy merchant Amin with the mirror.」 (Hind)

The number of mirrors I had at hand right now were exactly five.

The rest I handed over to Claris-san in exchange for the contract money as samples.

Right now, I"m waiting inside the inn for everyone to gather.

Since Selene-san was the only one left, we were currently waiting in the girl's room.

「Ah, I'll hand the mirrors over. When the Basilisk uses its petrifying attack, try to test it.

「Even if it fails, I can use recover on you, so it's fine to be proactive.」 (Hind)

「Fumu, to give a girl a mirror...」 (Yumir)

「So you are saying that I should polish myself more for Hind-san's sake right? I understand.」 (Riizu)

「Hind-dono, you sure are cruel...」 (Tobi)

「Hey, you are saying all this even though you know what they are for, right?

「Just so you know, it doesn't have any deeper meaning ok? To begin with, there wouldn't be any issues even if you didn't polish your appearance more. You group of beauties.」 (Hind)

In the past, the times where giving someone a mirror wasn't a good thing were often.

As these guys have said, there were cases where it had the insulting meaning of 「look at yourself in the mirror more」 and since they broke easily too, they were also a sign of bad omen.

However, since I wasn't giving them the mirrors as a gift right now, it has no relation to that kind of thing.

「If you tell me I'm beautiful straightly like that, I'll get embarrassed.」 (Tobi)

「Why are you the one getting embarrassed first? I'll bury you up to the head in the desert.」 (Yumir)

「That's mean!」 (Tobi)

In contrast, apart from Tobi, the other two's faces were slowly turning red.

Even though they should be used to receiving compliments, why do they overreact like this?

At that time, a light was born inside the room and from within, Selene-san appeared.

「I'm sorry, did I make you wait?」 (Selene)

「O-Oh, Secchan! There are no problems!」 (Yumir)

「Y-Yes, it's only been about five minutes since everyone gathered! There's no issues! None!」 (Riizu)

「?? Is...that so?」 (Selene)

I handed a mirror to Selene-san, who just logged in.

When I gave it to her, she made a saddened face for some reason...

「...As expected, would it better if I was a bit more feminine...?」 (Selene)

「No, that's not what that mirror is for...」 (Hind)

Once I explained that it was a countermeasure against the Basilisk, Selene-san hung her head down and covered her face in an act of embarrassment.

Riizu then started to lightly hit her back without changing her expression.

I feel bad for her, but I would rather not repeat the gag.

With 『Oasis town, Maija』 at the center, there were two huge deserts in the vicinity.

One of them was the one we passed through in the east side 『Yabilga desert』.

The other one is on the west side of Maija, this one continues until the 『Royal capital Waaha』 and is called 『Lukia desert』.

Having finished our preparations, we set foot in Lukia desert.

Claris-san said that the ecosystem was strange but it was beyond our expectations, if we let our guard down and the camels slide, snakes would twine around them.

They were called 『Horn vipers』 and if I had to describe them in a few words, I'd say they are small basilisks.

Seems like these will mutate and become basilisks, so I guess it goes without saying that they are like this.

They can't petrify, but they have strong poison, just now including the camels, someone got poisoned, so I rotated 『Recover』 between them.

However, we were fighting while travelling, so I couldn't stand still to charge my MP and was in this awkward position where I had to use a large amount of 『MP potions』.

Since we were fighting while riding on the camels, it was also painful how useless our two vanguards were because they lacked ranged attacks.

Given the fact that Yumir's sword wasn't a longsword, her attacks sometimes hit and other times missed.

Since Tobi used two tantous, his reach was hopeless from the start.

「The sword won't hiiiiiiiiit!! I'm getting stressed ouuuuuut!!」 (Yumir)

「I can't do anything! Gah!」 (Tobi)

That being said, in order to stop this swarm of snakes, we have no other choice but to defeat the 『Basilisk』.

Originally, 『Horn vipers』 don't act as a group, so if there's not a Basilisk leading them, they don't pose that much of a threat.

That's why, we have no choice but to not stop right now.

From what they said, the army fought the basilisk in the vicinity of a rocky area but...

「Hind-kun, I saw it! The rocky area!」 (Selene)

「Lead the way please!」 (Hind)

Since I can't see anything with my eyes, I'll have Selene-san take the lead.

After proceeding for a while, we started seeing a ragged rocky terrain but something was odd.

The surface was twisting and wriggling...whoa.

「Wait, could it be that they are all snakes...!?」 (Hind)

「You are right! It looks like a bucket full of eels! So gross!」 (Yumir)

「I'm getting serious nausea...」 (Riizu)

「I-Is Selene-dono fine after being the first one to see that...?」 (Tobi)

「Ah, I'm the type of person that is fine with reptiles.」 (Selene)

「「「「Really!?」」」」

We discovered an unexpected truth here, but the current situation was highly unpredictable.

The rocky area didn't have any cracks and it was crawling with 『Horn vipers』 and we now had to plunge into there but...

I'd like to have some spare energy left and it'll be quite hard if I don't recover my MP first.

Can we do something about this...we slowed down our pace and looked at the rocky area while we drew closer.

「Bushiiiiiii!」

「!?」 (Hind)

It might have been because we were negligent in our defense now that I think about it, by the time I noticed, several snakes were clinging onto my camel.

However, suddenly my camel spit a large amount of saliva onto the ground.

When it did so...

「The snakes...are running away? ...Wait, it stinks!」 (Hind)

「It stinks! What's this!?」 (Yumir)

「It's the camel's saliva! However, this...」 (Hind)

Having gained a hint, I searched through my inventory.

If I remember correctly, there was that prototype ninja gear for Tobi...ah, here it is!

「Alright, let's proceed until the rocky area first. There, we'll prepare for the fight.」 (Hind)

「Are you insane!? So you mean that we should get there, exterminate the snakes and secure the place...」 (Tobi)

「There's no need for that! Anyway, follow me!」 (Hind)

Once I got closer to the rocky area, I took out the ball from my inventory and threw it.

Once the ball hit the rocks it broke in pieces, disappeared into the sandstorm and scattered a red dust.

「Oh!?」 (Yumir)

「What's this dust...?」 (Riizu)

「It's bright red fine powder that is floating around but...Wacchi, what did you throw!?」 (Tobi)

「It's a red pepper bomb! I made it as a bonus when making the bo-hiya!」 (Hind)

「T-That sounds quite effective...」 (Selene)

「Yeah, now that I think about it, snakes have a developed sense of smell. Which means...」 (Riizu)

As if to support Riizu's words, the 『Horn vipers』 scattered from the rocky area like baby spiders and disappeared in unison.

The truth is, I made it as an anti-personnel weapon to use against PKs...but to think it would make its first appearance here.

Once the dust settled, we advanced towards the rocky area and hurriedly prepared for the next battle.

For some time, they should be wary of the smell of red pepper and probably won't get close.

「Alright, gather up! I'm going to use area heal!」 (Hind)

I used the skill 『Area Heal』 that I got a while back on the rocky area once I made sure that everyone had gathered.

At our feet, a big magic circle appeared and it emitted a white light.

This is the type of healing magic that you have to designate an area, unless the targets are inside, there's no meaning in using it so it's a skill that's a bit hard to use.

While our party was inside, our HP gradually recovered.

However, if you were inside from beginning to end, the amount of HP recovered was extraordinary, the members of the party that were inside the formation healed multiple times and recovered up to full HP.

Incidentally, since the camels had also taken a small amount of damage and were inside the formation too, they were able to recover their HP.

「Hah, we can finally take a break.」 (Selene)

「Secchan played a very active part.」 (Riizu)

「No, it's Riizu-chan who used magic with great timing. Good job on the healing too Hind-kun. I believe it was perfect support.」 (Selene)

「Though our MP potions decreased by a big amount. Since we've come to the desert, it's been all battles of endurance.」 (Hind)

「Once we finish making the home, let's make our own potions. I'll help you, Hind-san.」 (Riizu)

「Right...」 (Hind)

Where most of our expenses go to are healing items.

If the party had two shinto priests, the expenses would definitely decrease, but since I'm the only one in this party, it won't go that way.

While the rear guards were exchanging such praises for our effort, the same couldn't be said for our vanguards...

「Where is it...come out, Basiliiiiiiiiiisk!」 (Yumir)

「My blades seek bloooooooood! Prey, where is the preeeeeey!!」 (Tobi)

They were getting irritated.

It might have been because they couldn't fight properly, both of them seemed to have quite the dissatisfaction piled up.

Since snakes don't have ears, it doesn't really matter how much noise they make though...

「Shyururururu」

「「Ah」」

...It was probably because it felt the vibrations made by the sound.

While taking in and out its bifurcated tongue 「That」 was glaring at us from a distant elevated place.

Like we were told, it had a crest-like horn, sharp pointed fangs and physique like a big tree.

As if it was responding to both of their voices, a giant snake that you would mistake for a mountain appeared.