Chapter 422 Billowing Smoke
Gumihou: Some action related language is needed, Gumi provide as usual~ Also, the dialogue, and some other details. Like, the logistics of stepping over sharp things in the dark.
I took five items out of the cardboard box.
[8] I have no idea how deep the nest goes, but considering the effectiveness of Other World insecticides on the local insect population thus far and the fact that these insects are all underground… this many should do.
“What are these?
“Fufufu, they are Other World insecticides. If you put water here, smoke will come out and the insects inside the nest will be exterminated in a few hours!”
I bought 5 smoke-type insecticides.
“Hoh… you have such things from your previous world?”
“So far, all the insecticide I’d used in this world proved quite effective. I expect these to work well too. Right, I’m going to set them up now.”
First, I removed the packaging from the insecticides and added water as per the instructions. Then, I placed them just inside the hole.
“Fer, could you set up a barrier here so that the smoke doesn’t go out?”
“Umu,”
[8] Smoke began to billow up and gathered just under the barrier. Huh, I haven’t thought this through properly.
“Hey, Fer. Could you send a breeze through and blow the smoke in?”
“Mu, [5a] fine.”
Soon, a breeze flowed through the barrier and into the hole. As the one who sets up the barrier, Fer could freely decide what to let through the barrier and in which direction. Something I am forever grateful for since I can still attack monsters even as their attacks bounced off the barrier.
[5a]
“Right, now all we have to do is wait.”
“Hm, how long will this take?”
“About two to three hours?”
“”Boring, shall we eat while we wait?””
“No, it’s too early for lunch.”
“Gununu!”
“Fer, there’s no need to be like that. We can have some snacks while we wait.”
“Mu? What’s a snack?”
“It’s food eaten between the set time for normal meals. Usually some kind of dessert.”
“”Dessert~? Sui wants cake~~””
“Good idea, let’s all have a bit of cake.”
“Mu, I want three cakes. The one with the white cream and red fruit.””
““I’d rather have pudding,”” Dora-chan said.
“That’s fine too. So, pudding for Dora-chan and cakes for everyone else, alright?”
Amidst cheers, I called up [Net Super].
[4] “Oh, looks like there’s a Limited Edition Pumpkin Pudding, do you want that Dora-chan?”
“”Ooh, yes. This one too, and one of my favourites.””
‘This one’ was a white Milk Pudding, I also picked out Dora-chan’s favourite standard egg pudding. I totally understand Dora-chan’s choice though, having different things might be fun now and then, but it’s nice to eat one’s favourite.
“What about you, Sui?”
“”Mmmm….””
In the end, Sui chose her favourite Chocolate Cake, a White Chocolate Cake and a Strawberry Millefeuille. As for Fer, it was all Strawberry Shortcakes for him.
I bought a Limited Edition Premium Mont Blanc for myself and some coffee to go with it. The bitterness of the fragrant Kilimanjaro beans balances really well with the rich chestnut cream of the Mont Blanc.
Our time passed pleasantly with our sweet snacks.
“Right, any time now,” said Fer as he licked his lips with satisfaction.
“What is?”
After our snack, we all took a nap. Yes, even paranoid me, because Fer’s barrier had proven itself time and again to be super impervious against all attacks.
I blinked bleary eyes at him, “Time for what?”
“Time for lunch, of course,” said Fer. [10]
Of course. [10]
[10] Anyway, we had lunch, Orc Meat Cutlet Sandwiches which I had prepared in advance. That took up a little bit of time.
“Shall we check on the nest?” I said.
There was still a bit of smoke left, but things had been very quiet.
““Let’s go~~!!”” Sui bounced forward into the hole. [5a]
“Hey, Sui! Be careful, ah, I guess we might as well enter too,” I muttered, studying the pitched black hole.
When faced with such darkness, I took out my trusty lantern-style LED flashlight and followed after my familiars who had already marched ahead.
Ooops… rather than fearing being eaten by giant ants, falling and breaking my neck in a stupid way will probably be how I die in this place…
I made my way carefully after my familiars. The tunnel continued downward until it suddenly opened up into a chamber.
“Oi, you’re slow. Just get on my back.”
“Nope, I do not want to go rollercoaster riding in pitch darkness.”
“Mu, I’m starting to really hate it when you say something I don’t understand. Anyway, don’t make us wait.”
“I’m just cautious. Anyway, I made it all the way down, didn’t I?”
I looked around the room, it was filled with glittering black Ant Jaws, clearly the Drop items from the Forest Army Ants.
“”Hey, you want us to pick up all of this?”” Dora-chan zipped over the numerous Ant Jaws, looking a little frustrated.
“Well, they may be low-ranked Drops, but let’s pick some of them up anyway.”
“”Ugh, what a pain.””
“Look, Sui’s helping me.”
““Master~ Sui collected lots of shiny~””
“”Ugh, I guess it’s just faster if I help you…””
Even Fer helped, but it was such a lot that even though we more or less swept the items in bundles into magic bags or my [Item Box], there were still a few scattered around when we left the chamber.
My familiars led the way while I followed along slowly.
I found them gathered at another opening, they were staring into a second chamber, looking very defeated.
[11] Well, there was no sound coming from the room and it’s not like the idea of danger would make my familiars disheartened. So, I poked my head in too.
It was filled with Ant Jaws.
“… …”
[11]
“”Aruji~ Are we picking up these too~?””
Ah, even Sui-tan sounded a little bleak.
“Nah, we already have a lot so-”
““Right! Let’s go!!””
Dora-chan snatched Sui up and the two of them zoomed across the room.
“… …” the floor looked very unsafe with all those Ant Jaws littering the ground.
“Umu, just get on my back, I promise to go slowly. You going on your own will be slower than slow.”
“Right…” so I got on Fer’s back. He was still going a bit faster than I would like, but it was not too bad.
“I had my doubts about the smoke, but the effect is quite incredible,” [11] said Fer.
“It’s smoke, so it spreads to every corner,” I said a little proudly. I had nothing to do with the manufacturing of the insecticide, but it did come from my world, so I think my pride is justified.
[11] The third chamber we came to was larger than the others. Also…
“Looks like the Forest Army Ant Queen is still hanging onto life,” said Fer, jerking his nose at a huge ant that was easily four or five times larger than the regular giant ants.
It was on its back, its six legs twitching pitifully…
“”The larvae are all dead too,”” Dora-chan reported.
“Since you started it, it is only right you finish it,” said Fer.
“Oh, er, okay. I understand.”
[11] I slipped off Fer’s back and took out my Mithril Spear. I approached the twitching Queen. Well, at this point, dying would be more merciful, so…
“Hyahh!”
My spear pierced easily into the Queen’s abdomen. It twitched one more time before flopping to the side. Then, it disappeared, leaving a larger piece of jaw and a tiny magic stone.
Also, now that the Queen’s large body had disappeared…
“Hey, it’s a treasure chest!”
[Gumihou: I kind of feel sorry for the Queen]
[1] Structural Change: Combine 2 paragraphs
[2] Structural Change: Combine 3 paragraphs
[3] Structural Change: Combine paragraph & dialogue
[4] Structural Change: Change passive sentence to dialogue
[5] Delete Repetitive or Pointless Information… starting to delete pointless scenes now
[a] Deleted: Dora-chan is better at magic that requires finesse… this statement may or may not be right, but thus far, we haven’t seen Dora-chan use wind magic while Fer is an actual worshipper of Ninril-sama. So, credit the breeze to Fer.
[b] Deleted: Noo, Suiii, me worrrryyy moments
[6] Additional Information for Aesthetic Purpose
[7] Add Dialogue Tag
[8] Creative Licence Taken – Logical thought behind purchase
[9] Smoke type insecticide – probably dry ice dispersement
https://www.earth.jp/en/products/earth-red-6-8/index.html
[10] Replaced some ‘yay, me lunch too’ moments with proper transitions between ‘lunch’ and ‘let’s check the nest’
[11] Added details, and adjusted dialogues happening within the Forest Army Ant nest.
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