◇ ◇ ◇
Febral was the one to answer. "I've heard that, in underground spaces like this,
creatures can grow to sizes that would be unthinkable under normal circumstances.
Once they reach a certain size, they have no natural predators and, because
temperatures stay about the same here year-round, rather than die, they just keep
growing bigger."
"So, you're saying there's one up ahead that got big like that?" Dece asked.
The moment those words left Dece's mouth, the air shook. It didn't take a thief's
skills to know that the massive whatever-it-was was almost upon them.
"It's coming!" Iuno shouted.
The creature appeared. Its massive body nearly reached the ceiling, which was
already high for an underground tunnel. It had slimy skin, and, unlike its mouth
which looked like it could open big and wide, its eyes were so small they didn't
realize they were eyes at first.
""""A salamander!"""" the four shouted in unison.
Only one person (?), Little Musashibo, said, "..." ("A ridiculously huge
salamander?!"), having a different reaction from the rest.
Dece couldn't believe his eyes. "Oh, come on... Normally salamanders are maybe
two meters long, at most, you know?"
"..." ("This world's salamanders are usually the size of Komodo dragons?!") Little
Musashibo was surprised, but nobody was able to notice.
"This one looks like it's clearly more than ten meters long," Dece said.
"So they can grow to become this large..." Febral sounded impressed. "However,
it is an issue that it's a salamander. Their mucus is highly acidic. It would be
dangerous to attack with melee weapons, and it's resistant to heat. On the other
hand, if we can freeze it, this could be an easy fight..."
"We don't have anyone who can use ice magic," Dece said. "If flames worked, Julia
could've handled it with her magic, but... How about you, Mr. Kigurumi?"
"..." ("Nuh uh." He shook his head.)
"Well, there's nothing else for it, then. ...Let's run," said Dece, the party leader,
calling for a retreat. "Our quest was to explore and investigate. There's no need to
overextend ourselves. If we just report that we found that thing, the castle ought to
be able to send out a subjugation team later."
"...I get what you're saying, but can we get away so easily?" Febral asked.
As Febral pointed out, the salamander had the adventurers firmly in its sights.
Dece ground his back teeth, bringing up his shield and moving forward. "We'll
have to get away. Febral and Julia are fastest, so they go first. Iuno doesn't have a lot
of gear, so she can go next. Mr. Kigurumi, can I count on you to bring up the rear
with me?"
"..." ("Okie-dokie!" He gave a thumbs-up.)
"Okay... Split!"
They all moved when Dece gave the order.
Febral and Julia ran back along the path they had come from, while Dece and
Little Musashibo stayed behind, keeping the salamander in check. Iuno put her legs
to good use, running around nimbly and confusing the salamander. The salamander
tried to go after the two that fled but, with Dece and Little Musashibo blocking it and
Iuno's movements leaving it bewildered, it couldn't make much progress forward.
Eventually, it must have gotten impatient, because the salamander let out a cry
and swung its long tail. When it did, the mucus that had been attached to its tail flew
everywhere.
"Oh, shoot! Everyone, look out!" Dece shouted.
"Eek!" Julia screamed.
The highly acidic mucus rained down and struck the adventurers. It stuck to
Dece's shield, Iuno's breastplate, the back of Febral's vestments, and Julia's long
skirt, hissing and releasing an unpleasant smell as it dissolved the cloth and metal.
"Salamander mucus will melt flesh, too! Strip off any equipment it got on!" Febral
shouted as he pulled off his top.
When they heard that, Dece dropped his shield and Julia stripped off her skirt,
continuing to run with her underwear showing.
"Hold on, it got my breastplate!" Iuno shouted.
"Well, hurry up and take it off!(1) If you don't, forget your breasts, you'll be showing
your bare ribs instead!" Dece shouted.
"Urgh..."
(1)[MISTERLP]: he he he, okay i'll be quiet now.
With Dece shouting at her, Iuno stripped off her breastplate and shirt, going
topless. She did her best to cover herself with her right arm while holding her short
sword ready in her left, but she was turning bright red from embarrassment.
"Iuno, just go already! Mr. Kigurumi, are you all right?"
Once Dece confirmed that Iuno had started running, he looked over to Little
Musashibo to find its face was covered in mucus.
"H-Hey! What're you doing?! Take off that kigurumi already!"
"..."
Despite Dece's worries, Little Musashibo shook his head back and forth. On a
closer look, while he did have mucus on him, there was no sign of any melting.
"...Hold on, is your kigurumi acid resistant?" Dece asked.
"..." (Little Musashibo gave him a thumbs-up.)
Allow me to explain. For Little Musashibo's "skin," his well-paid creator had used
his wages liberally, having nothing else to spend them on, and so it was made of
special, high-quality, bladeproof, bulletproof, cold-resistant, heat-resistant, acidresistant fibers.
For a moment, Dece was struck dumb. "Ha ha ha...! Okay, in another ten seconds,
we'll run, too. Get ready... Three, two, one."
On the count of one, both of them turned on their heels and ran off. The
salamander gave chase. However, perhaps due to the size of its massive body, it
wasn't very fast.
Just as they were thinking We may be able to escape! ...the salamander swung its
tail once more. Because it did it while running this time, the mucus splattered all
over in random directions.
"Ugh!" Iuno howled.
"Iuno!" Dece shouted.
The mucus didn't hit Dece or Musashi, but unfortunately it did graze Iuno's leg.
Iuno crouched down, holding her leg tight. It looked like she couldn't move through
the extreme pain. At this rate, it was going to catch up to them. That was when...
"...!" (Little Musashibo ran forward.)
"Uwah!" Iuno yelped.
...Little Musashibo lifted her up in his arms, throwing her into the wicker basket
on his back. Then, with Iuno still in the basket, Little Musashibo ran off with slow,
easy steps. Iuno poked her head out of the basket, looking at Little Musashibo's face
in profile as he ran.
"Uh, um... Thanks."
"..." (Little Musashibo gave her a thumbs-up.)
Then, just in the nick of time, Dece and Little Musashibo ran through a narrow
hole.
Having made the difficult escape from the salamander and returned to the
surface, the adventurers made their report to the guild. While they hadn't succeeded
in slaying the salamander, their sighting report was deemed valid, and they were
paid a hefty sum for it. It sounded like a subjugation force would be dispatched to
deal with that salamander soon. Regardless, the quest was now complete.
With their reward in hand, the party set out to divide the spoils among
themselves. However, for whatever reason, Little Musashibo made no attempt to
take any for himself. Dece was at a loss for what to do.
"That's not fair, we owe you for saving Iuno! Please, take your reward," Dece
pleaded.
"..." (Little Musashibo silently shook his head.)
"Are you really, really sure you don't want any?"
"..." (Little Musashibo nodded. Then he waved, "Goodbye.")
Little Musashibo walked away from the party with slow, easy footsteps. Julia and
Iuno, who had already changed into fresh clothes, watched that man (?) go with
bewildered looks on their faces.
"I wonder, what was that person (?) really?" Julia asked.
"Don't ask me," Iuno said. "Was that thing even a person?"
"I'll bet there was a little fairy insiiiide..." Julia teased.
"I doubt it," Iuno said. "But, if there was... I'm sure..."
I'm sure it was a good fairy, thought Iuno.
Little Musashibo departed, leaving behind only a mystery. Was the mage right,
and was he a fairy?
And thus, another urban legend was born in the capital.
◇ ◇ ◇
Within the large communal bath inside Parnam Castle...
In here there was the torso of a large-sized Little Musashibo soaking in a tub,
Souma who was washing the acid and mud off of it, and Liscia who was watching
him with a cold look in her eyes.
"...Is it just my imagination, or is it even bigger than when I saw it last time?" she
demanded.
"That was a prototype," he explained. "I used it as a model when I sent out the job
request to craftsmen in the castle town."
"Ah! Don't tell me the 'Kigurumi Adventurer' they're talking about all over town
is..."
"Yeah, it's probably this guy... Wait, Liscia? Why the scary look?"
"First the mannequin, now this! Are you trying to convince people that Parnam is
the demon capital?!" she shouted.
"Ow, that hurts...! Wait, whoa!"
When Liscia threw a bucket at him, Souma ended up diving, clothes still on, into a
cold water bath. While in the water, Souma thought back on everything Little
Musashibo had experienced today.
I never would have imagined there was a giant creature like that under the capital.
I'm glad we were able to find it before damage reports started to come in, but I put
Iuno and her friends in danger...
He had optimistically assumed that even novice adventurers ought to be able to
handle the wild animals living in there, so he had messed up and set the difficulty
level too low. It had nearly meant adventurers dying needlessly on a quest that he
himself had set. The reason he hadn't taken the reward at the end was that he felt it
was the least he could do after the trouble he'd caused Iuno and the others.
...Though the biggest reason was that it would be wrong to accept the reward for
a quest he set himself.
Regardless, I really do have to reflect on what happened today. Though...
"Uh, um... Thanks," Iuno had said.
When he recalled Iuno's face when she shyly said that as Little Musashibo carried
her, the corners of Souma's mouth naturally rose a little.
...The adventure itself was fun. I hope I'll get the chance to do it again.
That was what Souma thought as he sat there soaking in the dirty water.