Chapter 48. Predicament and reversal
"What are these vegetables? They're strong!"
They are engaging with the vegetable demons that suddenly spread in the fields. She is probably [The Dark Knight Nightmare] because she's wrapped in full-body armor... her name was Calcia.
"It's just a vegetable... Ouch! Hey, don't kick my shins! Knock it off!"
"Wow, my axe spear won't hit them!? What a quick bunch of them!"
"Calm down, guys, you have to catch the enemy with your mind's eye at times like this... Whew! No, if you close your eyes, you won't understand anything!"
Merise from [Enchanted Butterfly, Ruan from [Black Steel Axe Spear], and Asily from [Mighty Sword]... Even the A-rank adventurers that I just learned about them. They are beaten up by vegetable monsters with no way to do anything.
Valentia's creation magic was activated, and the square was a whirlpool of screams.
Vegetable monsters are generated from the field, and adventurers from the guild jump out one after another to join them, but the screams only get louder.
"Wow! Carrots are strong! Be careful!"
"Onions are bad, too... Onion in my eyes!"
If the vegetable monsters continue to be born at this rate, the whole town may be full of vegetables if we let them be. It's not a joke that a city is dominated by vegetables.
"Lucia, Noel! Sakuya! Can you do anything about it!? You guys defeated the vegetable demon once, didn't you?!"
"These guys are much stronger than the vegetables I met in those ruins! I can't believe that a mere vegetable... I'm going to eat them!"
Right now, Lucia was beaten by vegetables in front of me.
...
While Noel was on the defensive, Sakuya managed to fight back. She was surrounded by small, fast, and outnumbered vegetable monsters,
In the midst of all this, only Valentia's laughter echoes loudly.
"Haha, The vegetable demons in the ruins are born from the remnants of magical power emitted by the Valentia. The fresh vegetables created have a strength and taste that far surpasses them! Let's take a look! Those strong-looking adventurers are also beaten up! This is because vegetable monsters have a habit of trying to get into their mouths. Come on, eat a lot of straw vegetables and be healthy!"
What a chaotic situation.
A fierce battle with vegetable monsters unfolds in the field. One after another, adventurers are defeated by vegetable monsters.
Then, the vegetables forcibly enter the mouth of the immobilized adventurer and are eaten without permission.
"By the way, all the vegetable demons are not ladies, and they will never touch a man. Akira can rest assured."
Indeed, I'm not being attacked by vegetable monsters at all. Rather, the vegetable demons surrounding me began to worship for some reason.
Why?
I mean, are all these vegetables male? Do vegetables have a gender in the first place?
Amid this chaotic situation, Valentia is the only one standing gracefully.
It is truly a noble wild rose blooming in a vegetable garden. There was a jewel-like brilliance that had nothing to do with muddiness.
On the other hand, we... Especially when it comes to Lucia.
"Eggplant is strong...!"
She was covered in dirt and wrestling with the eggplant vegetable monster.
"As expected, eggplant is one of the most beautiful vegetables in color! It's good to fry! It's good to insert it! A versatile vegetable! This guy is probably the strongest of all the vegetable monsters!"
"I don't know if it's the strongest, but I'm more... What? What does it mean to insert? Where?"
Then Lucia stared at me, a blank stare, and gave me a thumbs up, even as the eggplant vegetable monster thumbs up.
"I've heard that eggplant is popular for that kind of use as well! However, I'm a person who plays with my fingers, so I've never inserted anything other than Akira's! "
Don't ask.
Lucia broke her thumb standing upright and then raised her index finger, making a smug face.
"What? What if you always play with your index finger? I don't need any information!"
What stupid thing are you doing in this situation? Before I could get angry, Valentia was yelling.
"Vegetables should be eaten with the upper mouth, not the lower one! Besides, if you put such a big thing in it, it will be a mess! I mean, don't get in... What? I'm a virgin, so I don't know!"
"Akira's... When you put it in, you can feel it!"
Noel was fighting to the death, suddenly interrupted for some reason. Well, there's nothing like eggplant. No, but it's just Noel's experience...
"I think it's good to play where eggplant is thrown in...!"
And Sakuya, a masochist and idiot, was saying strange things again. Even though you're fighting surrounded by powerful vegetable monsters, you can afford it.
Even in such a situation, I feel a little relieved by the three stupid people, but when I look around, I only break out in a cold sweat.
Vegetable monsters continue to be born one after another, but the adventurers are on the defensive.
Lucia and the others also seem unable to eat against the vegetable monster, which has become stronger and is fighting desperately.
The A-rank adventurers are also outnumbered. They were fighting well, perhaps because they had finally gotten used to the movements of the vegetable monsters. But they faced the seemingly infinite number of vegetable monsters, they would eventually run out of energy.
This is... Clogged up. If this continues, all adventurers will be wiped out. The town of Carmelo will become a haven for vegetable monsters and will be ruled by Valentia.
Naturally, then, I would be kidnapped by her to the place where the Lily Sisters gathered.
What if that's the worst case... I have no choice but to settle this situation.
I made up my mind and took the first step.
" Akira?"
From the way she looked, Lucia seemed to sense something out of the ordinary. She looked at me anxiously.
"Somehow, I think I'm finally going to be able to help you."
"What are you thinking?"
I'm faintly guessing that Noel is trying to stop me, trying to run up to me with a vegetable monster out of her mouth... Soon, she is attacked by another vegetable demon and is stranded.
"No way, Akira..."
Sakuya also seemed to understand what I was trying to do. She tries to cut through the bunch of vegetable demons.
Right... To get away from this situation to go to Valentia myself. Because her target is me, Lucia and the other adventurers are putting their bodies on the line to protect me.
But at this rate, defeat is in sight. That's why I can't just be protected.
Occasionally, I must put my body on the line and protect Lucia.
While being worshipped by the vegetable demons, I finally came to the front of Valentia.
"What's the matter, my bridegroom?" Valentia asks with a serious face.
'You know what I'm up to'
"I'll go with you, stop the vegetable demons."
"Akira!"
I ignored Lucia's screaming.
"I'm what you're after, right? Stop hurting them!"
Valentia stared back at me intently and nodded.
"You are the man who should be the bridegroom of our Lily Sisters and a lovely man, I have no end of respect for a person with a strong determination like you. Okay. If you come with me, I'll release this creation spell."
When I heard that, I breathed a sigh of relief.
I turn around and look at Noelle, Sakuya, and then Lucia.
"I'm sorry I did this without permission, I've enjoyed my adventurer life with you."
I decided not to look back anymore and took another step closer to Valentia.
"Hehe... your melancholy face is also adorable. I will give you a chew on the cheek that I couldn't do it before."
Valentia brings her lips to my cheek as if to show off.
As soon as she touched my cheek.
"Huh? What's?"
Valentia had collapsed helplessly as if she had suddenly lost her hips.
What? What..?
"Is the power being sucked out?"
Valentia looks up at me with a startled expression.
I don't know what's going on, but I've seen this happen before. It was Reema and the first time I met Valentia.
But at that time, it must have been clear that Lucia's mystical technique had drained their power rapidly.
I looked at Valentia's feet in a daze, but there was no light pattern from the mystical technique that Lucia had used so many times.
It's Lucia's power... Missing!?
Hurriedly turning to Lucia, she...
"Ku... Kukukuku! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
She bit into the eggplant vegetable monster and stabbed it in the face, laughing out loud as she stood up.