SBTYD 11

Chapter 11

 Day 364 — Beware of Magical Beasts

[You have entered the 6th floor.]

[Warning: Magical beasts begin appearing from the 6th floor.]

[Magical beasts are creatures that evolved after wild animals gained mana. They are hostile toward humans, so please be careful.]

“A magical beast? Those things are going to appear?”

I was a little startled after seeing the warning sign.

Of course, I had encountered a roe deer on the 4th floor, but I never thought I would actually come across the word “magical beast.”

🙂

“Are you making fun of me because I’m scared right now? Wilson, you’ve never met a beast before, have you?”

🙂

I swallowed hard without realizing it. Bad memories came back to me like a flashback.

─Neigh!

“Wilson, you’ll run away with your tail between your legs when you meet a Bicorn too. It’s not an ordinary horse. It’s huge and muscular, and its horns are enormous. Flames come from its hooves, and when it shakes its head, lightning strikes.”

😮

After I scared him, Wilson seemed to finally realize that magical beasts were not ordinary animals either.

“No one knows what causes magical beasts to appear. It is believed that wild animals sometimes evolve by chance.”

Countless magical beasts appeared every day, and there were even dangerous regions where untamed magical beasts gathered together.

“But when I think about that time.”

Hermes had clearly released a Bicorn into our territory on purpose.

He even said that he had borrowed it from Zeus.

That meant magical beasts did not only appear naturally. There must also be quite a lot of magical beasts raised by the gods.

Bicorns were especially famous for hunting virgins.

That suited Zeus perfectly, considering how many women he had pursued and how many children he had.

“Most people don’t know this. Instead, they think the gods get rid of magical beasts for them.”

Magical beasts were classified according to their danger level, such as low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade. Lower-mid-grade magical beasts, such as earth fairies, were also called monsters. They were dangerous, but they were still at a level that the residents of a polis could handle themselves.

“High-grade and above require the help of heroes. Wilson, I told you about Pente before, right?”

There was a guild association on the continents of Greece and Troy. Its name was Eranoi.

They had branches in various places and immediately identified areas where magical beasts appeared, then delivered the information to heroes.

Heroes who accepted the requests would independently go out to subjugate them.

If a polis was unlucky and could not get a hero dispatched to it, they had to pray for the magical beasts to leave on their own, or offer sacrifices to a god and pray for help.

That was why every polis had so many altars and temples.

“The gods sometimes punished people if they didn’t offer sacrifices regularly.”

It was a kind of tax. The logic was that, after all, the reason your city prospered was because we were the ones managing the sky, sea, and land.

If you considered Greece here as a huge empire with Olympus as its capital, it was not entirely unreasonable. But taxes only had justification when the central government provided infrastructure such as national defense and roads.

Honestly, I did not know whether natural things like the sky and sea could be considered infrastructure.

There were even twelve Olympian gods. Apparently, there had been a polis that accidentally forgot to honor one of them, angered that god, suffered a magical beast attack, and was destroyed.

Now I was willing to believe that it was not just a rumor.

“Anyway, they say those magical beasts can appear here. Be careful, Wilson.”

Whether he knew what I was thinking or not.

Wilson was always positive.

I, on the other hand, was quite nervous. Even if only a low-grade magical beast appeared, I would have to fight for my life. If a mid-grade or high-grade magical beast appeared, I was not confident I could just calmly keep rolling Wilson.

‘The Bicorn was… a disaster-class, wasn’t it?’

It was a terrifying creature far above even the high-grade level.

A disaster-class creature was dangerous enough for a single one to destroy an entire city.

No matter how much of an S-rank hero Pente was, there was a reason it had taken her such a long time to subjugate it.

‘What if, by some chance, something like that appeared?’

The veins on my arm, which was supporting Wilson, stood out.

I felt like I was sweating even more for no reason.

Wait, even if wounds naturally healed here…

“What happens if I get hurt badly enough to die…?”

For example, if a real Bicorn appeared and charged into me, I would have to be prepared for my upper and lower body to be separated.

I had never been injured that badly before. What if I ended up unable to move forever in horrible pain without even being able to die?

“No. Let’s not think about strange things.”

For now, I decided to focus on Wilson right in front of me.

If something truly terrifying appeared, I could just run away then.

The terrain of the 6th floor was mostly grassland.

Step, step.

I pushed Wilson upward while stepping through the grass and avoiding the wooden obstacles.

“Be careful, Wilson. The slope has changed.”

There were sections where the slope suddenly turned, and overall, the incline had become steeper.

It took much more strength than before.

This was actually perfect. The angle was just right. Recently, pushing Wilson upward had become easier than before, so my muscles had not been working as hard.

It felt like proper exercise now that an appropriate amount of resistance was being applied.

“Hngh.”

Several hours passed like that, and just when I had forgotten about the magical beasts and was completely focused on Wilson—

─Ssss!

An ominous sound made the hairs on my body stand on end.

I lowered my head and saw something pure white wriggling as it quickly approached me.

‘A snake!’

I recognized that movement.

It was not an ordinary snake. Judging by the traces of mana leaking from where it had moved, it was definitely a low-grade magical beast, a monster.

‘If it bites me, I’m in trouble. It has paralyzing venom!’

Memories flashed through my mind like a slideshow.

“You shouldn’t pile fallen leaves up like this. It’s the perfect place for monster snakes to make their nests. You should warn the people of the territory.”

Pente swung an axe as large as her own body and scattered the piles of leaves she had worked hard to clear away.

Ever since she had settled down in the territory, she often taught me little bits of practical knowledge that I had never known.

She was a hero who traveled around the outside world, going on adventures. It was also an opportunity for me to realize that, having been born and raised in only one neighborhood, there were limits to what I knew.

─Hiss!

“See? One came out.”

“Whoa! You scared me.”

Without changing her expression at all, Pente subdued the horrifying white monster snake, which opened its mouth wide, with one hand.

There was no way to beat someone with that much experience.

“It’s called a Cocadrille. It’s a low-grade monster, so you can subjugate it by hitting it a few times. If you bring the heads to the guild, they’ll give you one silver coin for every ten.”

“What happens if you get bitten?”

“If you remove the venom right away, you won’t die. You’ll just feel a little numb.”

“That means you can die.”

Maybe all Amazons were like that, or maybe it was just Pente. She tended to think about everything according to her own standards.

“That’s why, when you catch one, you have to grab both sides of its head like this. Then it can’t move. Funny that its most dangerous part is also its weakness.”

As Pente spoke, her long ears twitched.

“I’ll tell the residents of the territory. Thank you for the useful advice.”

“Yeah. Be especially careful around this time of year. They become more active.”

I continued clearing away the piles of fallen leaves with Pente.

It was when we were almost finished.

─Hiss!

A snake suddenly sprang out from beneath the last pile and lunged at me.

“Whoa!”

My mind went completely blank, and I could not even react. I tried to grab its head like Pente had done, but with my pathetic physical abilities, I naturally missed.

“Sisyphus!”

By the time I came to my senses, I was sprawled embarrassingly on the ground, and Pente had already cut the snake in half.

“I’m sorry. I tried to catch it…”

“I taught you wrong. Take your clothes off first.”

“Why my clothes?”

“Hurry.”

I looked down and saw two tiny holes in my shirt.

Only then did a sharp pain begin spreading through my chest.

“This is bad. I’ll take it off right aw—mmb…”

“The paralysis is already spreading. I’ll just tear it.”

Riiip.

Without hesitation, Pente climbed on top of me and examined the wound.

Even though my fingertips were becoming numb, for some reason I could clearly feel the softness of her touch through my chest.

“If your chest had been harder, its fangs wouldn’t have gone in.”

“…Does that even make sense?”

“It’s true. My chest is hard too, so ordinary arrows can’t pierce it. If you think I’m lying, want to touch it?”

“…No.”

Pente placed one hand on my chest and the other on her own chest. Then she tilted her head and soon showed a slight blush.

“No, I didn’t mean it in any other way. Don’t misunderstand.”

“Mmb…”

“Oops, what am I doing? I need to remove the venom first.”

With that, Pente brought her lips directly to my chest without hesitation.

Suck. Suck.

For more than ten minutes, she carefully drew out the blood and venom from the place where the snake’s fangs had pierced me.

“Hoo.”

The numbness began to fade, and the dizziness disappeared. Thanks to Pente, I was able to survive.

“Sisyphus, are you okay?”

“Hoo… Yes. Thanks to you… I owe you one.”

“Hehe, your debt keeps getting bigger.”

Pente gently stroked my face before wiping the saliva from the corner of her mouth.

“You really are a hero, Lady Pente.”

“Oh my, that makes me a little sad.”

“Does it?”

“Yes. Just because someone is a hero doesn’t mean they all chase nobility and honor. In fact, people like that are rare. If the common people believe that, the guild must be very good at advertising.”

“That’s surprising.”

“Is it? Hehe. Heroes are half human too. It’s only natural for them to chase wealth, power, authority, and love.”

If it was not for honor, then why had Pente gone out of her way to help Corinth?

I was curious, but I did not ask her at the time.

“Then I’ll consider you a great person, Lady Pente.”

“I like that much better. Let’s get up now.”

Pente held out her hand to me. I grabbed it and tried to pull myself up, but I accidentally let go.

Pente quickly reacted and supported my back with her arm.

Was this what a princess being held in a prince’s arms felt like?

I was a little embarrassed.

─Rustle.

At the sound of someone approaching, Pente and I turned our heads at the same time.

Cleia was standing there with a basket. It seemed she had been picking mint.

Her expression was cold.

Almost like a grim reaper holding a ledger of the dead.

“…You seem to be having fun.”

Cleia left that one remark, whether she was talking to herself or not, and turned away.

After she disappeared, Pente asked me,

“Who was that young lady just now?”

“My fiancée.”

“Sisyphus, you had a fiancée?!”

Pente covered her mouth with both hands and opened her eyes wide.

“Yes. But we’re not going to get married.”

“You have a fiancée, but you’re not going to get married…? Trends in the human world really change quickly. It’s not like a meal that’s prepared only to be looked at.”

“There are circumstances.”

And so, that day became a lesson for me.

After that, I continued learning the basics of how to deal with magical beasts from Pente.

─Hiss!

The moment the monster snake lunged at me with its mouth wide open—

“Hup.”

Smack!

I grabbed both sides of its mouth with my hands and subdued it.

─Hiss! Hiss!

The snake panicked, unable to close its open mouth.

Venom dripped from its fangs.

I briefly supported Wilson against my back.

[Activating Endure.]

“Hup!”

I twisted the snake’s neck with a crack and snapped it cleanly.

The creature died helplessly.

[You have learned the skill ‘Crack.’]

“What?”

It was more manageable than I expected.

─Hissssss!

But one was not the end.

A swarm of snakes came rushing out of the grass like assassins.

“I was taught how to deal with this situation by Pente too.”

I pressed my back against Wilson.

[Activating Hoist.]

“Wilson!”

⁑ )

After aiming at the swarm of snakes gathering together—

─Boom!!

I slammed Wilson down with all my strength.

The grassland became silent in an instant.

I leaned against Wilson and looked down at the dent in the ground.

“Magical beasts are easy.”

[You have subjugated a magical beast.]

[The mana of the subjugated magical beast is being stored in your muscles.]

[Skill experience has increased.]

─Rustle.

I turned my head at the sound of someone nearby.

Deja vu?

Behind the dense trees.

Someone was standing there.

“…Pente?”

As if she were praising me for successfully subjugating the magical beasts, she gave me a smile, applauded with perfect form, and then quietly disappeared.

“…Haha.”

I felt energized.

I pushed Wilson upward with all my strength once again.