BXBX NOVEL Chapter 37: Countermeasures
Chapter?37: Countermeasures
Chapter 37
There were large horses protected by metal armour, trained by treasure hunters not to be disturbed by the atmosphere peculiar to shrines.
The ones disembarking were the hunters of Footprints. Their weapons and outfits were all different, and if you removed the small tag they all wore with the symbol of Footprints they would seem to have nothing in common.
However they didn’t look like a group of wandering hunters. Their expressions were as if they were headed into certain death, and the way they moved without wasted actions gave them a somewhat disciplined military air.
With the exception of Iron, the hunters that had arrived earlier showed dumbfounded looks towards the reinforcements.
Although their moods were different, the sheer number was the most unexpected thing.
“Oi oi... the reinforcements, just how many did you call...?”
The brown haired hunter that had been questioning Sven’s judgement a short while ago, spoke with a voice filled with shock and awe.
It was an unprecedented number of hunters to be mobilised for a shrine on the scale of the White Wolves Den.
“....Are you planning on wiping out the shrine?”
Shrines were a 『place』. Even if you destroyed the structure it wouldn’t go away. To destroy it would require relaying with the Earth Veins that transmitted Mana Material underground, but it wasn’t a realistic idea.
However from witnessing the vigour, clear intention could be felt behind those ridiculous words.
A young man descending from the lead carriage spotted Sven, and rushed over.
A young man with chiseled good looks – Lyle. His age was one year less than Sven. His level was also below Sven’s, but as both were part of parties belonging to Footprints their status was equal.
The hunters descending one by one did not sit down, and immediately started being vigilant of the surroundings.
Lyle briefly spoke with Sven to confirm things. “Good to see you, Sven, what’s the situation?”
“Right, at the moment nothings happened. Is there anyone that’s come to take command? If it’s free I don’t mind doing it, it is how it is.”
Sven quickly checked over the increased personnel.
A party was originally made to be complete within itself.
Each had their own tactics they were good at, and they had their own hidden aces they didn’t wish to reveal.
Even though it was a clan, it would be impossible to unify them under one command, but the story was different again when dealing with these amounts of numbers.
If they didn’t determine a course of action, it could increase the amount of meaningless actions.
To Sven who was checking over the members vigilantly, Lyle made a slight smile. “Iron has seniority. Since the other high level guys are absent.”
“Assuming Cry isn’t coming as usual, what about Liz? She’ll definitely want to come.”
The name of the thief that sought out battlefields to plunge towards certain death came out.
Their power was certain, but they were an absurdly selfish hunter that didn’t want to take command, but also wouldn’t follow orders.
A hopeless existence that was trouble for the enemy but also trouble to their own allies.
She only listened to the advice of each member of Strange Grief.
“Cry took custody of her. He also took Tino, he seems to have an additional request. But the main thing is, that one wouldn’t ride something like a carriage.”
Lyle spoke with a bitter expression, something must have happened but he didn’t speak about it.
He was worried about the request, but for now he placed it out of his mind. Thinking about the actions of Infinite Variety was a waste of time.
Sven gave a nod, then spoke in a voice so all could hear him. “Alright, gather round. Lets have a strategy meeting.”
§
The slime is referred to as a monster.
It had a sticky body, and often inhabited marshlands.
It looked just like an ordinary puddle. It had no muscles, no bones, and no blood. Although it didn’t appear to be a living thing, it seemed to have it’s own will. It moved slowly bringing insects and bugs and the like into it’s body to be digested. It was a type of magical organism, and aside from it’s natural occurrences, alchemists also knew how to create them. From Sven’s knowledge there was no
need to be cautious, even to call it a monster was presumptuous. It was that kind of existence.
Slimes were weak. To both physical and magical attacks, they were weak.
What was called the core was a tiny fragile heart inside it’s liquid body. Just a barehanded scratch would be enough to split the body.
The orders of the core did not arrive when the body was separated, the existence called the slime became reduced to something small.
The acidity worked on tiny insects, but for a large creature like a human it had no effect. Even if it was swallowed, it couldn’t devour the inside of your body.
It was considered almost harmless to the ordinary person.
It was even more difficult to consider as an enemy for the treasure hunters that had gone beyond human limits. Mostly it wasn’t recognised as a a monster at all.
The group sat in a circle. From a higher positioned Sven checked over his companions that were sitting down while still armed.
“Is there any one here, someone who has had a direct battle with a slime before?” “Not me”
“Neither.” “Nope.”
“To begin with it’s, not really an opponent you battle...”
“If you’re talking about accidentally stepping on one then...” At the bewildered hunters that talked freely, Sven frowned.
Up until now, Sven and the other members of Iron Cross had captured a great variety of shrines. They were probably the highest ranked among the gathered hunters.
However, their experience in fighting slimes was pretty much the same as those that just answered.
There were many different types of slime. In a far east territory there was even a strange shrine where nothing but slimes appeared.
He had heard rumours that there were some slimes that held the power to kill hunters, but he thought it was dubious information. It was natural to have no fighting experience against them.
Sven sighed while scratching his head.
“Couldn’t it be something other than a slime... a dragon would still be better.” “Oi oi, you’re going too far.”
One of the hunters poked fun at his words, but it wasn’t really a laughing matter.
If it was a species of dragon, he at least had experience fighting them. After long preparation and resolutely preparing for death, they had struggled for their lives and achieved victory.
But he had nothing to do with slimes. He didn’t have the slightest idea what would come out.
He didn’t know what nature the slime would hold, what kind of attacks it would have, what weaknesses it might have, and how they could arrange things so they could fight with an advantage.
It it was a dragon, he knew. You had to pay attention to everything. Strikes from the claws, and strikes with the tail. It’s breath as well, and if it was a superior dragon then it would be able to use ancient magic. A troublesome opponent.
But to some extent the opponent this time was even more troublesome. “Did anyone take any countermeasures along with them?”
After closing his eyes and waiting a few seconds, the members in the circle started to answer Sven.
“They’re vulnerable to slashing so as always I brought my sword.”
“I brought a hammer. Slimes are weak to being crushed. It’s good to smash the core.”
“Our party has a Magi so we can hit it with flame magic.” “I can use wind magic.”
“I brought some slime repellent spray. I’m not sure whether an over the counter 700 gil product will be any good though...”
“I’ll flatten it with my shield.” Will this be ok?
Each person had a serious expression. Excluding the spray, a slimes weak point was ‘anything and everything’.
Sven’s arrow was a targeted strike so it might not be very effective. But he could defeat them by shooting out the core.
And with Sven’s skill, it didn’t matter how small the core was.
There were no problems. There shouldn’t be any problems. Even if it appeared right in front of them it should be easy to defeat.
However, his uneasiness didn’t end. There was too little data. He wanted to at least know it’s appearance.
“Did Cry say anything else?”
At Sven’s question, the three people sitting next to Lyle made miserable expressions.
“It’s not an ordinary slime, he said...”
“Damn it, I know that already! Why can’t he stop that habit of being so stingy with information! Over and over again!”
“I tried to check with him but he didn’t say anything...”
His character looked bad because it seemed like he truly didn’t know anything. Infinite Variety was famous in the clan for having depths that were unable to be discerned.
It was silent.
The brown haired hunter who had taken a step back from the circle while listening to the conversation, and interjected again.
Maybe he couldn’t handle the lack of nerve even with the increased amount of personnel. His voice that made light of them echoed out.
“Tch. Worthless. It’s useless to think about. There are more people, and no one knows how the future will turn out, so shouldn’t we immediately resume the investigation? If you’re that scared, we’ll take care of the slime for you. If it even appears.”
The hunters of Footprints said nothing. They just shifted their attention over as if they were looking at something pitiful.
If you had pride in your own skills, there shouldn’t be a problem with responding with an objection.
To the reaction that was different from the hunters he had met up until now, the brown haired mans cheek twitched.
“W-What is it, with those eyes!?”
“You don’t get it? Everyone here, thinks you will be the first victim. I’ll say it once. I’m stopping. I’m stopping right? You’ll become a ghost you know?
Oh... don’t just die though, leave behind some information. We’ll get revenge for you.”
“Ku...you lunatics have the nerve! If you stay out here and nothing happens, what will you do huh!?”
Sven didn’t reply, but turned to face his companions.
For hunters, death was their own responsibility. No matter what an outside hunter said, with the current power relations, the superior numbers of Footprints wouldn’t make a move.
It was better to suffer as little damage as possible, but without information it couldn’t be helped that there would be a sacrifice.
“Ok, got it. There’s no valid plans. Then next... is there an alchemist that is familiar with magical creatures?”
At Sven’s words, the hunters looked at each other and fell into silence.
An alchemist fused science with magic and were prided in refining various materials.
They were not an essential existence for hunters, if anything more of them belonged to academic institutions or companies trading in medicine.
It was a job that could only subsist with vast knowledge and vast funds.
Strange Grief had an alchemist but that was a rare example. At the circumstances Sven clicked his tongue loudly.
He didn’t think there would be one here, was it hopeless after all then? Damn it, why was the one that came back Liz instead of Sytry...
In the end they had to be prepared to deal with it with a sacrifice then?
With a deep breath he looked over once more at the hunters. And there, he found a small hand raised hidden in the circle.
It was a female hunter with an expression lacking confidence somewhere.
Large round glasses with hair that hung over her eyes. A figure that seemed more natural around a library, instead of a shrine.
The sudden attention made her body wither and shrink into itself, but she spoke with a clear voice. Her eyes held a strong light contrary to her bashful appearance.
“Yes. I only just reached it, but I’m level 3... I’m Talia, an alchemist.”
A girl of the same age and party sitting next to her clapped her on the shoulder as if to give her confidence.
She didn’t seem very reliable, however at level 3 she would hold at least the minimum power necessary for a hunter.
But like Sytry, did all alchemists give off this feeling?
Such words snatched at his thoughts, but right now he was too busy to entertain them.
An alchemists knowledge was wide and deep, and peculiar. It was more than what Sven and the others had.
Sven raised a loud bright voice and welcomed her. “Oh, there really is one. Was it Cry’s suggestion?”
“No. ...But, in First Step the only alchemists seem to be just me and Sytry...” Should they say there’s only two people? Or should they say they have two people.
Before Sven’s eyes, Talia pulled out a glass tube from a pouch twice as large as a regular hunters pouch. With careful movements, she raised it up.
What was it for? Inside it a dark liquid wavered slightly.
Talia nervously took deep breaths, and spoke. A momentary flash of light showed
her black eyes glittering.
“It’s a drug that kills slimes... An agent designed exclusively for them. Although it only effects slimes, against them... it can kill 90% of them.”
At her words a small cheer rose. That was exactly what the hunters were wishing for.
Sven was also astonished for an instant, and then frowned while staring at the liquid.
“That’s......amazing...”
Was it really... going to be ok?
He had never heard of a drug that only killed slimes. Slimes were small frys to begin with.
Cry had only declared the enemy would be a slime a few hours ago. Could a new drug be produced in such a short time?
And if a drug to kill slimes already existed, this times slime wasn’t going to be an ordinary one... probably.
This was much too convenient.
Most of all, Talia was only level 3. Level 3 could be said to be mid-level within the clan, but from Sven’s perspective she still had a way to go before being equal.
If it was Sytry from Strange Grief it would be a different story. She was a perfectionist. She didn’t produce defective items
Her current level was the lowest in Strange Grief – no, it was even lower than Talia. But everyone in Footprints knew her true ability.
Nobody said the name, but everyone must have been thinking the same thing. At the questioning gazes, Talia gave a bitter smile. Then she spoke clearly.
“Please rest assured, Sven-san. The one that made this wasn’t me... it was Sytry- chan.
I only accepted it for study... I think she made it when researching slimes... she said if there was a slime this didn’t work on, if you caught it and brought it to her she would buy it for one billion gil.”