Chapter 98: 98

“Run, run, run!”

Gasaraio screamed loudly from the back.

We pushed our way through the thin branches blocking the way and kept running.

I had scratches across my face because of the branches, but I couldn’t afford to worry about it.

“Kusaka! Hurry up!”

“Hiii!”

I pulled Kusaka’s hands, who had his legs entangled, and did my best to not lose sight of Officer Doggy, who was leading the way.

“Quickly! Over here!”

Officer Doggy stopped in the middle of the crossroads, pointing her finger to urge us forward.

We turned right at the intersection as instructed and took refuge under the eaves of a small pharmacy-like building.

“That big thing, it lost us for now! Policewoman Nee-chan, is there a place where we can hide nearby?”

“One second! Umm, this is Suzuki-san’s store, there’s a park over there! There’s dome-shaped playground equipment!”

Gasaraio caught up and re-positioned the magic bazooka to check behind him.

After that, when the bird Ruten flew over us, it cried out with delight and then plunged down towards us.

We barely escaped from the approaching Ruten that was moving down the trees and we continued running as fast as we could.

Ruten easily lost sight of us thanks to the bad visibility because of the sea of trees, but after that, it continued to persistently chase after us.

It was also lucky that the trees grew in an intricate manner and got in the way.

That huge Ruten, plunged forward with all its might, but as expected, most of its momentum was stopped.

It’s quite ironic that this sea of trees, which was the origin of the incident, helped us.

“Why is that Griffon chasing us!?”

“I don’t know, ask him!”

Kusaka, asked me with teary eyes.

I don’t know what a bird monster thinks.

“Calm down. We have to preserve our physical strength for now. We don’t know when that bird will come again.”

We were calmed down by Officer Doggy, and took some deep breath for the time being.

Kusaka sat down along the wall. His knees were trembling due to fatigue, fear, or both.

I adjusted my rough breathing and took out the smartphone from my chest pocket.

It was still connected to Mikuma.

“Mikuma! What should we do? That guy’s aiming for us!”

“Wait a minute! I just arrived home! From now on, I’ll try to find out as much as I can about Ruten, the monster bird! Does the hunter there know anything!?”

“Furball! Do you know anything about that guy?!”

“… It’s not like I don’t have any idea. I’m sorry.”

Gasaraio removed his left hand from the magic bazooka and began to ruffle his mane.

“Maybe, the last thing Ruten saw in Tusk Crag was us, the Paradise Siblings. Basically, he is a base defense type boss monster, but it has the disposition of eliminating intruders first.”

He sighed and apologetically looked at Kusaka and Officer Doggy.

“…I don’t know why Ruten left the magic stone room. But it was probably looking for us since its first principle of action is to eliminate intruders on the top floor of Tusk Crag.”

… Huh?

It can’t be, right?

Looking at it in chronological order, the intruder on the top floor that Ruten saw last.

“Ah, me.”

It was me, wasn’t it?

“Hah?”

“Eh?”

Gasaraio and Kusaka looked at me.

Officer Doggy hurriedly put her finger on her mouth without saying anything.

“No never mind!”

I hurriedly smoothed it over.

That’s right.

My father and I went to Tusk Crag after Gasaraio.

We even made eye contact with it on the top floor.

Father was even laughing unintentionally at the monster bird Ruten who was stuck in the passageway.

This is bad. This is my fault.

It’s aiming for me.

I slowly return the smartphone to my ear and took a deep breath.

“Mikuma”

At the same time as I was taking a breath, she spoke quietly.

“… listen. I think Ruten is probably looking for Kunpei-kun.”

It was confirmed.

“What should I do? What should I do?”

I asked Mikuma for help.

It probably holds a grudge against me.

It was because I ignored that pitiful cry as its body was stuck.

“Calm down Kunpei-kun. In the first place, Ruten has no emotions. It’s a dungeon monster.”

Mikuma answered with a calm voice, and my head also cooled a little.

“For the time being, I’ll do exhaustive research on Ruten. Leave the phone as it is, do you have enough charge?”

“Ah, yeah. I rarely use it, so it’s still pretty much full. If I know his weaknesses, it may help us to escape.”

“Un. Try to avoid it as much as possible so that it doesn’t spot you, okay?”

“I got it.”

Mikuma diasappeared from the other end of the smartphone. The phone was still connected, so she was probably getting ready to do some research.

“Did you say she was your girlfriend?”

“She’s not. She’ll help us investigate Ruten.”

Gasaraio asked without looking at me while opening the cover-like parts, on the bottom of the magic bazooka.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m checking the magic cartridges. I didn’t think there would be a battle, so I didn’t prepare a lot. It’s a magic tool with poor fuel economy. I can only shoot two shots with one cartridge.”

That’s so less!

“Two shots, aren’t magic cartridges also damn expensive?”

Even if it was sold for home use, one costed about 100,000 yen.

“It’s expensive. This type is extraordinarily expensive because it’s a specialized cartridge rather than an ordinary one. Maybe the manufacturer is trying to earn through the cartridge fee, they only adopt incompatible types.”

What dreadful business spirit.

What a real problem even though you are dealing with this fantasy-like magic. How disappointing.

“This compression magic cannon is still on the cheap side. I think you saw it before, but the latest model gravity magic gun cannot use other magic cannonballs, and you can only shoot one shot with the dedicated cartridge. Although this one is a slightly older model released three years ago, it has a wide variety of magic cannonballs available and a short cooldown time. In addition, since recycled cartridges can be used, and there’s a lot of recovered items, so it is relatively cheaper. There is no after-effects on the gunner side thanks to the cooling from the cold titanium furnace, and it is rarely distorted due to the calculated barrel design. It’s a smash hit work that is said to be the best masterpiece among magic cannons that are hard to hit. It’s a reliable work from Ante workshop, headed by Anten-san, the winged demon who got the title of Magic Metal Master. That workshop was famous for producing niche works, but their performance and design has always been recognized since the beginning among hunters and craftsmen. Average magic tool enthusiasts know, but its usability and reliability are surprisingly high. I’ve never heard of any products from Ante workshop malfunction or stop working in a dungeon. That workshop announced three years ago without any notice of this elegantly designed compact compression gun, “Gandil 2 cannon type magic cannon Black Croco”. It’s not unusual to continue to be on top of the magic cannon category for three years even though magic tools keep improving every day. Which means it’s a product with such a high degree of perfection. Do you understand that part? Is there magic to suppress recoil built into the unit? When you pull the trigger…”

“Stop, stop, stooop. Oi furball, calm down.”

What happened.

What a sudden surprise.

I think it was a little interesting and got lost in it.

“… Ah? … In short, I have to change the cartridge so there’s never a time I can’t shoot it.”

A surprisingly short explanation.

What was that earlier?

“Yeah, I don’t see the Ruten nearby. Shall we head towards the park I mentioned earlier?”

Officer Doggy, who was wary of the surroundings, stroked her chest in relief and returned the pistol to her holster.

“Kusaka, let’s go.”

“Eh, yes.”

I shook the absentminded Kusaka and pulled his right arm to stand him up.

He couldn’t put strength into his body.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m okay. This time it’s okay…”

This guy is worrying too much.

“… Don’t worry. To tell you the truth, that furball should have beaten him once before. So he can do it again, right?”

That’s right.

Gasaraio and them passed through Tusk Crag Dungeon once.

The road leading to the summit was in a place where it would normally be difficult to find.

So they should have searched the top floor very carefully.

At that time, they should’ve faced that rock Griffon.

“We didn’t defeat it.”

“Hah?”

“We didn’t fight that guy.”

Gasaraio said that bluntly started walking.

“Hey, wait.”

“Tusk Crag Dungeon’s boss is famous for being able to pass by. It’s quite troublesome because it has a huge body and it can fly, but there is a simple let down of a strategy that can be used to beat it.”

I pulled Kusaka’s arm while following.

Officer Doggy followed behind us.

“A strategy?”

If you have one, then you don’t have to panic like this.

“Just put one person at the entrance of the room where Ruten is, and wait for that guy to charge over. When it targets that one person, the other hunters just have to watch.”

Ah, I can already see the result of this strategy.

“If you dodge it to the side, it will be stuck in the entrance and won’t be able to move. The success rate is 80% if it charges with enough momentum. That’s why there’s a strategy without fighting Tusk Crag’s boss.”

… Indeed, Ruten, who my father and I saw, was stuck at the entrance in front of the boss room.

I wonder if that bird was repeating the same thing over and over. As expected of a bird brain.

“What a simple strategy…”

I chased after Gasaraio while being amazed.

Officer Doggy overtook us and stood beside Gasaraio.

“The park is close by. There’s a dome-shaped playground slide over there, so I think we’ll be able to rest for a while. If I remember correctly, there was a simple wooden door.”

I know that park.

It’s quite spacious, and I often see the sight of moms bringing with their children and gossiping on days off after shopping. Someday I was thinking of making Jaja and Nana debut there in the park.

Certainly there was a large round dome slide.

Because of all the trees, the scenery was different, since I still wasn’t too familiar with the local area, I only had a vague idea where I currently was.

Officer Doggy, who was born and raised in this town, knew it well, so we continued to follow along with the navigation.

Once in a while, I looked up at the sky and behind us, and when we advanced I could see a space like the park we were trying to reach.

“So it became a forest.”

“Was it recognized as a collection point by the magic stone?”

Just like they said, beyond the fence, at the entrance to the park, there was a dense forest just like our high school sports ground.

“The slide is a little inside, but this park isn’t that large so we’ll be able to reach it right away. Let’s go.”

Since there were no objections, I will silently follow along. It would be better for me to take the lead here.

Kusaka is weak and Gasaraio had a large body so it would be difficult to navigate.

I naturally took the lead.

I pushed aside the branches while making a path to make it easier for them to follow from behind.

“Is that it?”

I immediately spotted the dome slide we were looking for.

There was a thin wooden board on the side. It seems like the door to get inside.

“Uh, the branches are in the way and it doesn’t seem like you can open it.”

The tree branches were intertwined around the dome like it was vine, and blocked the door.

“Furball. I’m going to get rid of the branches, so lend me a hand.”

“Oh”

It seemed like he was getting used to being called furball, so he didn’t complain anymore.

“It seems easy to break from here.”

“Wait a minute.”

Gasaraio was messing around inside his golden down jacket.

“There it is. Here, you can use this.”

“Woah, what the hell?”

From his inner chest pocket, he took out a red knife around 50 cm long.

“There’s a pocket on the inside made of cloth that has storage magic capabilities. It’s of a low rank, so I can’t put much in. I can put up to about 40kg. If it exceeds that, it will be difficult to take out and put in.”

“Hou, it’s a jacket with bad taste, but convenient.”

“This color was chosen to make it easy to identify the unit members within the dungeon. I know the design is bad.”

It seems like you thought about it.

“To begin with, our big brother seems to have left his design sense behind somewhere. Sister basically never goes against big brother, so no one has complained. Until now, this jacket costs a reasonable price, so it’s wasteful. I have already ordered a new design from the manufacturer.”

“Really, what about this knife?”

It looks familiar.

“… It was the knife I used to threaten you at that time. Needless to say, it has no killing ability. The blade part is thick, and it’s endowed with specialized magic to cut stones, trees, and ropes. It is my handmade product that is not commercially available.”

Ah. At that time.

Just before the lariat.

Even if you can’t kill people with this, it’s idiotic to point a knife-shaped object at people.

“…. So, this is just a blunt weapon.”

Wouldn’t someone die just by being smacked with something this big.

“Thanks to the magic, most things other than flesh can be easily cut through like butter. Though it can’t cut rare metals and magical ores, it’s surprisingly convenient.”

Certainly convenient. It’s perfect for a do-it-yourselfer.

Even so, this guy can make magic tools?

Like the explanation of the magic gun earlier, it seems that he has considerable knowledge and skill regarding magical tools.

I silently cut the branches.

Thanks to the knife, it was really easy. I could easily cut through the branches even without putting any strength into it.

I looked to the side, and saw Gasaraio tearing off the branches.

What’s with that guy? His physical strength is amazing.

“Okay, you can open the door.”

“I can open it, right?”

Kusaka, who was helping, put his strength into the door.

“Heave-ho!”

He steadily opened the door with an idiotic voice.

“Ah, you guys!”

Officer Doggy, who was watching us work from behind, made a startling voice.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

I couldn’t see the inside of the dome from my position.

I bent down, lowered me head, and looked into the interior from the low entrance.

“Ah”

There’s someone here.

“Hic, Hiik”

“Fueeeeh!”

“Mama… maaama…”

“Did you save us…?”

There were about seven small children in the dome.