Chapter 83 - Chapter 82: C-Rank Quest
The second month of Water, the first week, Saturday.
Mika had accompanied Rimliche in her training until near evening, and was now running toward the Adventurer's Guild.
He was continuing the training with Rimliche out of inertia for now, but there really was nothing else to do.
He thought he should say something like, "Is this enough already?" but as soon as Mika tried to bring it up, Cecilia glared at him.
Does she have that [Skill: Detect Presence]?
Mika wanted that [Skill] too, but unfortunately, he didn't know how to acquire it.
When they arrived at the Guild, the floor was somewhat crowded, but not as congested as before.
With this level of crowding, even in Sarbengeal, it happened occasionally, and the adventurers' irritation wouldn't reach its limit, would it?
Mika wished for a bit more calm, but it hadn't even been a month since efficiency measures began.
Since several more measures were to be taken in the future, he wanted to look forward to Chirensta's abilities.
"Well, I hope something good is left."
Mika looked up at the bulletin board.
He had come to the Guild to check the request forms for tomorrow's Sun day and accept one if possible.
He had previously tried the flat-rate quests and given up on them, so he intended to focus on request forms from now on.
However, the requests Mika could accept were few, and many of the rewards were unsatisfactory.
As an E-Rank adventurer, Mika could only accept requests up to D-Rank, and even then, the highest reward was just one gold coin, or at most one hundred thousand Rats.
If he could accept one every week without fail, that would be sufficient, but if no requests appeared, he couldn't accept them even if he wanted to.
Mika glanced at the C-Rank request forms just in case.
With Mika's current status, he couldn't accept a C-Rank request even if he reported it to the counter.
But to say he absolutely couldn't do that quest was not true.
If he happened to encounter a monster while hunting and it turned out to be the monster listed on the request, it would be recognized as a quest completion even without prior acceptance.
It was the same method as when he defeated an En Batamos before.
In short, once the objective was achieved, the act of accepting the request itself was not absolute.
It was a bit of a breach of etiquette, and if he did it too blatantly, the Guild would warn him, but he was no longer in a situation where he could choose his methods.
"C-Rank, Scissor Mole extermination. Five or more bodies, twenty thousand Rats per body. A bonus of two thousand Rats per body starting from the sixth body. ...What the heck is a Scissor Mole?"
There was an extermination request remaining for a village about half a day from the capital, but he had no idea what kind of creature a "monster" or "beast" was.
The distance was not a problem, and the reward was not bad.
The requirement of five bodies meant that upon completion, one hundred thousand Rats were guaranteed.
Moreover, if he hunted more, it would be twenty-two thousand Rats per body.
This was a very delicious request for Mika right now.
But...
I don't know the target monster. If it's a Mole, does that mean a mole...? If an En Batamos was worth fifty thousand Rats per body, does that mean this isn't a beast that requires much trouble to defeat?
However, if there were quite a few of them, it might become troublesome.
Also, considering that this request remained this long, there must be a reason other adventurers were avoiding it.
"A Scissor Mole is a beast like a large mole. It moves underground and suddenly attacks from your feet, so it is a very troublesome opponent."
As Mika was thinking about the Scissor Mole, a voice came down from above his head.
Looking up, a female knight with a long blue hair and a dignified aura was standing right behind Mika.
She looked to be in her early twenties. She looked a bit strict, but had a well-proportioned face.
She seemed to be looking at the board seriously, searching for a request.
"Oh, thank you very much."
"Yeah."
Mika offered his thanks, but the female knight did not take her eyes off the board, earnestly searching for a request.
She wore a whitish, beautifully decorated armor and a slender long sword.
That armor... it's whitish but has a blue luster... Could it be made of "Mithril," a rare silver-type metal?
He was extremely curious, but the atmosphere was not one where he could easily speak to her.
Not wanting to interfere with her search for a request, Mika quietly left the spot.
Stepping outside the Guild, he considered the information he had just been told.
"...Moving underground and attacking from below, huh..."
There were several movies he had seen in the past featuring such monsters.
While the ways to avoid and defeat them varied, if it was a mole, he could imagine its appearance.
"...I'll do it."
He muttered with determination and glared into the void.
Requests that Mika targeted were quickly taken up.
If anything remained, it would be requests with one or two quirks, ones that other adventurers avoided.
Even for that, he should consider it lucky that anything was left.
...It's not a quest accepted officially. I'm sorry if I'm taking it away, but I will definitely go get it tomorrow.
If he could accept it, he would basically avoid colliding with other adventurers, but since he couldn't, someone might accept it from now on.
If he collided at the scene, he intended to yield, but he wanted to secure this request if possible.
With his immediate plan set, Mika said, "Alright!" and pumped himself up.
And so, he hurriedly ran toward the dormitory along the main street, which was changing from sunset to twilight.
The next morning.
Mika was running through District 3.
He was using [Physical Enhancement] and reducing his own weight slightly with "Low Gravity".
I wish there was a landing spot closer, but I can't be picky.
To avoid being seen by people while flying, Mika was heading for a forest more than three kilometers away from the Academy.
It was the forest where he had previously tried the flat-rate quests, but except for here, there was a high risk of being seen by someone.
Even if it looked like there were no people around, if he flew, he would be spotted even if he was a hundred or two hundred meters away.
Therefore, he decided to go deep into the forest and fly from there.
This forest was quite large, but actually, there weren't many beasts or monsters.
There used to be quite a few, but as adventurers from the capital increased and they were over-hunted, it became a safe forest.
Still, if he went in about one kilometer, there would be beasts and monsters, but if the only goal was not to be seen by people, he probably didn't need to go that far.
At about two hundred meters inside, he increased the output of "Low Gravity" to reduce his weight to one-tenth, and with "Blast", he shot up into the sky all at once.
As he flew, he arrived around the target village.
The flight time took less than thirty minutes.
He truly thought, "I never want to ride a shared carriage again."
It was such a waste of time...
"Well then, where can I land..."
Mika searched for a place suitable for descending from the sky.
To avoid being seen, a place moderately far from the village, surrounded by obstacles where he couldn't be seen, would be good.
He could see the forest in the distance, but it was a bit too far.
However, there was nothing else around.
"This is a bit of a problem."
The village seemed to be based on dairy farming, as something like a ranch was visible.
The area around the village seemed to be hilly, but there was almost nothing to block the view of people.
"If I'm far enough away, will they think I'm a bird or something?"
When a small dot flying in the sky landed on the ground, they wouldn't think it was a person.
As a last resort, he decided to land on the opposite side of the hill from the village.
If he was a kilometer away, people wouldn't clearly recognize that someone had landed.
Mika checked the surroundings carefully and began to land cautiously.
"There are some rocks over there, right? Hide behind them in the meadow."
The old man who guided Mika pointed to the grassy area spreading down from a small hill.
Mika had gone to the Village Head of the village where he issued the request to hear the details.
It seemed that Scissor Moles had appeared in a grassy area a little away from the village, causing damage where people and livestock were attacked.
There were grassy areas for grazing all around the village, but it seemed they had settled in one of them.
"Once every few years, one or two appear. But this year, there are way too many. We couldn't do anything about it ourselves..."
The old man who guided Mika sighed.
This old man was in charge of managing the ranch, and the client for this request was not the Village Head, but this old man.
"At first, I thought, 'Oh, it's the usual one.' We sent out the entire village vigilance committee to deal with it, but instead, we ended up with a string of injuries."
When livestock was damaged, the villagers went to deal with it, but the damage expanded.
"If we don't deal with it quickly, everyone in the village is trembling in fear, wondering when the Scissor Moles will move toward the village."
Even within the village, if they were suddenly attacked from the ground, the village would be finished.
It was far from a place where people could live.
"For now, it's safe up to those rocks. I don't know if there are rocks underground, but they won't come from there to this side... for now."
Hearing that, Mika decided to go check the area around the rocks.
"Oh, by the way. Can I cut all the grass in that area?"
Mika asked the old man if he could cut the annoying grass.
If he was thinking of it as feed for livestock, he might want to leave it.
But if the Scissor Moles were underground, honestly, the grass was in the way.
"All of it? Ah... well, it's useless as it is anyway... I'll leave it to you."
"I said 'all' too strongly. But if so, I'll cut the places I think are in the way."
After confirming that, Mika ran to the rocks and jumped up.
He jumped from rock to rock, taking position on the largest rock with the best view.
"Good. Just a grassy area."
Spring had arrived, and countless grasses were growing thickly, but he couldn't see the figure of the Scissor Mole.
"I guess I really have to cut some of it."
Mika pointed his left hand at the ground and manifested countless "Air Cutters".
Then, using those "Air Cutters", he cut the grass close to the ground.
For now, he cut about twenty meters centered on Mika.
"Well, what should I do?"
The standard setting for monsters moving on the ground is that they are "sensitive to vibrations".
It felt like many of them approached and attacked relying on the vibrations of people walking.
"First, let me see your form."
Mika created thirty "Stone Bullets" shaped like rifle bullets and dropped them one by one onto the ground as if a person were walking from the rock where he stood.
He dropped them straight ahead at intervals of about one meter, plop, plop.
After using about half of the "Stone Bullets", suddenly something jumped out from the ground.
Doshaaaaaa!
It scattered soil and cut grass, jumping up nearly two meters.
A black, potato-worm-like "something" about one meter in size.
"..."
He was stunned.
While Mika stood there with his eyes wide open, the black something fell back to the ground and immediately burrowed underground.
Zuzazaza!
It was a momentary event.
In the blink of an eye, the black something jumped out from the ground and disappeared into the earth.
"Um..."
Something is different from the moles I know...
They said it was big, but doesn't that mean it's big for a mole?
Also, I never knew moles had such jumping power, did moles jump that much?
And, what is that thing?
Wait.
Mika thought he saw the black "something" holding something like scissors.
Like huge scissors, like a crab or a crayfish.
When it burrowed underground, it felt like it was rotating like a drill.
"...Bring whoever named this a Mole. Let them explain where the mole part is."
He couldn't help but mutter it.
The image he had imagined was too far removed from reality.
However, the vigilance committee of this world is amazing. They take on even this.
Just like the Rish Village vigilance committee that faced the Agu Bear, they were too brave.
He couldn't help but show respect.
"...Well, I know what it looks like now. Now, can I handle it with my own hands?"
For now, he knew how to lure it.
Now, how to defeat it.
Mika replenished his "Stone Bullets" and lured them using the same method.
This time, a Scissor Mole jumped out with about ten bullets.
Mika fired three "Stone Bullets" he had been waiting with at high speed.
Bashushushun! Zhashasha! Dosadasa!
A hole opened in the Scissor Mole that took three "Stone Bullets", it tore apart, and fell to the ground.
He managed to defeat it easily.
"It's surprisingly soft. Low Defense? Even with such reckless movement."
It was drilling and rotating at high speed underground.
Wouldn't it be torn to shreds by rubbing stones if it didn't have a certain level of hardness?
"Hm?"
The Scissor Mole he had just defeated was lying on the ground.
And another Scissor Mole came there and showed its face.
"...Is it eating it?"
Cannibalism among monsters was normal.
Mika, leisurely watching the Scissor Mole eating, gave it a "Stone Bullet".
If it's Low Defense, one shot is enough.
He easily aimed and fired the "Stone Bullet".
The "Stone Bullet" hit the Scissor Mole as intended.
However, the trajectory of the "Stone Bullet" that should have hit deviated slightly, and it landed behind the targeted Scissor Mole.
"Eh?"
The Scissor Mole targeted by Mika hurriedly retreated into the hole.
What? It hit, right?
The trajectory of the "Stone Bullet" that should have hit had changed.
What was going on?
"Covered in a slippery mucous membrane...? Or is it too soft that the force doesn't transfer unless hit properly?"
Either way, the first one was defeated.
It wasn't completely ineffective, was it?
"Ah, I got careless and one escaped. Just like that."
Mika's habit of being careless was hard to cure.
Well, this could also be called experience.
"Attack in sets of three. I know the method, let's definitely take them down."
Thus, using a large amount of "Stone Bullets", he took them down one by one reliably.
In less than an hour, he dealt with about eight of them.
"My, that's amazing. You defeated so many Scissor Moles so effortlessly. The old men here risked their lives just to take down one."
"Well, it's dangerous normally. They were more ferocious than I thought, I was surprised too."
As Mika was defeating the Scissor Moles, the old man came down the hill midway.
He had watched Mika successfully defeating the Scissor Moles from the top of the hill and wanted to watch.
He was using magic freely without chanting, but it couldn't be helped.
He couldn't tell the client, "Go away."
The old man didn't seem to know much about [God's Miracle], so he said nothing special.
He might just think that's how it is.
However, for about ten minutes, no Scissor Moles were lured.
After defeating the eighth one, he had scattered about a hundred "Stone Bullets" everywhere, but they wouldn't come out.
"They aren't coming out... Is it like this?"
"Hmm. I feel like there are still some... but if they aren't coming out, maybe it is like this?"
The quota of five bodies was already cleared.
There would be no problem with accepting this as good enough, but...
"Yo!"
Mika jumped off the rock.
Toward the grassy area.
"Y-you! It's dangerous!"
"You can't say 'this is good enough' without checking for safety, right? I'll walk around a bit. Oh, old man, don't come over here."
Saying that, Mika started walking toward the middle of the grassy area.
Activate [Big Ear] and "Low Gravity", [Physical Enhancement] at four times. In this case, like this, if this happens... well, do this?
Mika walked through the grassy area while simulating in his head.
He cut the grass in the direction of travel with "Air Cutters" and searched for the sound of Scissor Moles with [Big Ear].
Since they are moving with such drills, they must be making some noise, right?
As he walked thinking such things, he soon noticed a sound coming toward him.
Then, when the sound was about ten meters away, he jumped straight up.
With "Low Gravity" reducing his weight and [Physical Enhancement] added, Mika easily jumped over ten meters high.
He aimed his left hand at the place where he had been walking until then, and a Scissor Mole jumped out.
"There it is, as I thought. I was waiting for you."
He fired three "Stone Bullets" and defeated the Scissor Mole.
After landing, he continued walking as if nothing had happened.
When walking, he had to transmit vibrations firmly, so he kept his weight close to the original state, and lightened it when jumping.
It looked like he was walking casually, but he was actually quite busy.
Using "Air Cutters", "Stone Bullets", [Big Ear], and "Low Gravity", he kept hunting the Scissor Moles that were lured out.
...But, how do they sense our walking vibrations while moving with such drill rotations? Their own vibrations should be far greater. ...Are they not coming because of vibrations?
He really wanted this to be clarified in the study of monster and beastology.
Not to the extent that he couldn't sleep at night, but...
Thus, spending over an hour walking freely through the grassy area, he hunted eleven more Scissor Moles.
A total of nineteen bodies. With the bonus, four hundred and eight thousand Rats.
C-Rank quests are amazing! More than four gold coins in one go!
Mika was simply happy, but the Scissor Mole extermination request was originally not supposed to have such a high reward.
They were wary of monsters attacking from underground, wearing down their nerves, and if attacked, they would escape underground immediately after a single strike.
Their body surface was covered in mucous membranes, dulling the sharpness of swords, making it hard to land effective hits.
Moreover, sensing the sound of fighting, other Scissor Moles would gather from the surroundings.
It was not uncommon for the ground to collapse, leaving them unable to move, only to be attacked all at once.
It was a quest with enough danger to be set at C-Rank.
For a solo adventurer, it was usually just barely possible to defeat five bodies in a day.
If they could hunt even one more, it was a great success, a quest difficult enough to say, "Today's celebration will be lavish!"... Originally.
"My, I'm surprised. Not only that there were so many, but I'm also surprised that you finished the extermination so easily. Adventurers are amazing."
The old man was impressed.
"When I first saw you, I thought, 'A child like this?' but you professionals are indeed different."
He didn't say, "I'm not a professional."
If Mika could make the client satisfied enough to think he was a professional, he would be happy.
"I didn't think you would check for safety so thoroughly. Thank you very much."
The old man thanked him with a broad smile.
Although he had participated in the request in a slightly dishonest way, he had successfully completed the request.
Is this method okay for the future?
Mika was thinking just that, feeling a bit greedy.