Giant Subjugation Quest #5
Giant Subjugation Quest #5
"Its shell just burst!"
"Now that's what I call a savage axe throw!"
The hermit crab whose shell had shattered died instantly on the spot. The axe had sunk deep into its soft innards. The old barbarian who had stepped out from the wagon yanked his axe free and loosed a resounding war cry at the remaining crabs.
"Come on————!!!!!!!!!!!"
A full-throated roar that could've come from a rock star.
The hermit crabs hesitated, then shifted their attention to the old barbarian all at once. With aggro locked on him, the crabs surged toward the barbarian. But the barbarian only let out a mad laugh.
"Gahahahahahahaha!!"
A double axe in each hand, the barbarian struck like a man possessed!
The hermit crabs burst apart in an instant under his axe swings. Whether they tried to block with their shells or not, he smashed them without mercy.
As the sound of KWAANG-KWAANG-KWAANG-KWAANG reverberated through the air, I stood there stunned.
"Nanta...! That old man knows Nanta?"
Nanta!
A traditional Korean percussion performance!
Ddang ddang ddang ddoong ddang ddang ddang ddang!
Just like Nanta performers beating props, the old barbarian was hammering their shells with his axes, carving out a rhythm.
Listening to it made me want to get up and dance.
Encountering Korean performance art in this other world genuinely brought tears to my eyes.
"Luke, you idiot—! What the hell are you doing in the middle of a fight!"
"Sorry. Reminded me of home."
At the sound of Rebecca's shout, I snapped back to the battle.
Even though the old barbarian was drawing aggro, the rest of us adventurers still had work to do. Some hermit crabs hadn't been provoked by the barbarian's taunt.
"Hraaah—!"
Rebecca shouted a battle cry as she shoved a hermit crab back with her shield. The crab staggered backward, raising its claws.
I wasn't about to miss a monster's exposed weak spot.
"Water—."
With Rebecca planted in front of me, I manipulated the liquid. I transformed the water I'd already drawn into a whip and lashed the hermit crab. In close combat, a Water Whip packed more punch than a mana sphere.
Krrrrrrrk...!!
The hermit crab let out a vile screech of agony.
I seized the opening and whipped its body like crazy. Its shell cracked open, and body fluids oozed out. The whip cracked with sharp slap-slap-slap-slap sounds. Even if it couldn't match the percussive impact of the barbarian's strikes, I poured my soul into whipping that hermit crab.
A Nanta performance using a Water Whip.
I wanted to show that old barbarian the fighting spirit of a Korean.
'Not yet? He's still not looking?'
The old barbarian didn't seem to glance this way at all.
With Rebecca still shielding me, I targeted the next one.
It was a hermit crab that had grabbed hold of an adventurer and was beating the hell out of them with its claws.
"That's as far as you go, you crustacean piece of shit!"
I snapped my whip forward and bound the crab's claws together. Then, planting every ounce of strength into my lower body, I swung the whip upward with everything I had. The hermit crab, lifted clean off the ground, flailed wildly before slamming hard onto the earth.
"Nice strength. That monster looked seriously heavy."
"Very possible for me."
It was possible for me. Geum Tae-yang's body was packed with solid muscle. Though I have to admit, my wrist was pretty damn sore from withstanding the crab's weight.
"Is that the last of them?"
"Looks like every hermit crab is accounted for."
The moment Rebecca and I finished off the second one, the battle was over. The other adventurers around us hadn't been standing idle either, so they'd managed to take down the crabs one by one.
Of course, the old barbarian's strength was outstanding even among them—he'd single-handedly demolished a whopping eight hermit crabs. He was an old man who embodied true hack-and-slash in this other world.
I gazed at the old barbarian with a sense of awe before turning my head toward Rebecca. Now that the fight was over, she was poking at the dead hermit crab's corpse.
It was obvious what she was trying to do. She was probably checking which parts might fetch some coin.
"Don't bother with the claws. They're too heavy for how cheap they sell."
"Ah, really?"
Rebecca stopped sawing at the claw.
"The only part of a hermit crab worth money is its eyes. General stores pay ten copper per eye."
"Those tiny little things are worth ten copper each? That's huge."
Rebecca plucked out the crab's eyes with a delighted expression. She wiped the oozing fluids off and passed them to me. With a total of four eyes, we'd probably get forty copper. We could split the money with Rebecca once the subjugation quest was over.
"Good work, dealers."
Kate appeared on the road where the battle had ended. She was moving briskly among the wounded adventurers.
"Is anyone injured?"
"S-Sister! I've got a bruise on my leg!"
"My arm's bleeding from a claw graze!"
In an instant, the injured swarmed toward Kate like zombies. Kate treated them one by one with her holy power. Bright light flowing from her palms healed the adventurers.
"What, she actually knows how to heal?"
I stared at Kate in surprise. I never expected that useless nun to have genuinely learned healing. I'd figured she'd just slap a bandage on and call it a day. But Kate could use proper healing spells.
"Guess she wasn't just a freeloading bitch after all."
"Yeah. At least she didn't just go for a stroll today."
Rebecca and I enjoyed watching Kate cast heals. Neither of us had any serious injuries, so we had no reason to get healed by her. A bit of a shame. I did want to receive healing from a nun just once in my life. When the hell was an incubus like me ever going to get healed by a pretty nun?
Did she pick up on my inner thoughts? Having finished her treatments, Kate walked over to me. Even though I hadn't asked for any healing, she stopped in front of me, wearing her characteristic warm smile.
"Mongma-nim—. Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No, I'm not."
"Aw, don't be like that~. Can you hold out your arm?"
I held out my arm toward Kate. As it happened, there was a small scratch on my forearm. A wound I'd gotten while swinging the whip around too enthusiastically earlier.
"You don't actually need to heal it..."
"Yap."
But just as I was about to say I didn't need healing, bright light spilled from Kate's hand. The scratch, enveloped in light, healed in an instant. Perfectly clean.
"All better? The pain's completely gone, right?"
Kate grinned at me as she spoke. She was looking at me with eyes that clearly expected something in return. Don't tell me she wanted me to give her water for Holy Water?
"I healed your wound like this, so how much harm could a single thank-you possibly do you?"
Ah, so she wanted me to say thanks? I hesitated for a moment before opening my mouth. Well, Kate had more than earned a compliment. Having received healing for the first time in twenty years of life, I was actually a little moved.
"Thanks... you tool bitch."
"Wha... what did you just say? Tool bitch?"
"You performed your role as a tool admirably."
"Wow. Unbelievable."
Kate pressed a hand to her forehead in disbelief.
"You're the first dealer who's ever insulted me like that!"
"What, you want me to grovel? I'm not going to do favorability work like other adventurers, waving gifts and dancing around you."
"Fine. But the way you keep pushing me away just makes me want to take up the challenge. It feels so novel it drives me crazy."
Kate shook her head and returned to her spot. Rebecca, standing right beside me, was asking, "Um, aren't you going to heal me?" but Kate didn't seem to hear her at all.
"Break time is over. Let's get moving—!"
The subjugation squad leader's voice rang out from up ahead. I gathered up my things and climbed back into the wagon. Inside, Kate was glaring at me for some reason.
"Hmph."
Feeling it would be a little too petty to just ignore her, I sent Kate a hand signal representing a mountain and said—
"Eat a fuck you."
"...Ha."
Kate's appalled expression the moment she saw the gesture was absolutely priceless.
*
Late night fell, and before we knew it, it was time to make camp. The subjugation squad decided to settle by a lakeside near the road, where the water was quite clear and perfect for washing up. But just as we were preparing, the squad hit an unexpected snag.
Tak! Tak!
"The fire won't light."
"The flint's gotten damp."
The adventurers gathered around the pile of firewood were flicking their flints. They were diligently striking the steel plate laid on the ground, but no matter how much time passed, there wasn't a single spark. Which made sense. The roads near the sea were stiflingly humid—hardly an environment where fire caught easily. After watching the adventurers struggle for a while, I decided to offer a hand. After all, I'd learned a spell precisely for moments like this.
"—Mind if I lend you some fire?"
"Th-the incubus!"
"Holy shit, you scared me!"
The adventurers startled when I suddenly appeared behind them. A pair who looked like lovers clung to each other with frightened expressions. They'd probably been spooked by the horns on my head. But I raised my palms to reassure them.
"Calm down. I'm a harmless incubus. A pure young incubus who's never even dated a girl in twenty-one years."
A month ago, those words would have gotten me nowhere. I'd have been run off by female adventurers shrieking like pterodactyls. But things were different now. Because the adventurers knew I was a mage.
"...Ah, you're the mage, right? I saw you swinging water like a whip earlier. It was amazing."
"An incubus who's never dated a girl? No matter how I think about it, that sounds like bullshit, but your magic skills seem real enough. So you're saying you'll light the fire for us?"
"That's right."
I nodded and formed a hand seal. After a dazzling dance of my fingers, a small flame was flickering on the tip of my index finger. Even in the oppressive humidity, the magical flame burned vividly. The adventurers stared at me in astonishment.
"H-his finger's on fire!"
"Crazy! Doesn't that hurt? You're not getting burned?"
"Doesn't feel hot at all."
"Wow..."
Amid their exclamations, I rubbed my finger over the firewood. The fire caught instantly, and the pile began to blaze. In a heartbeat, a warm campfire was born.
"Hey, horned mage over there! Give us a light too!"
"Incubus oppa—! Could you do ours first? My wrist's about to give out from banging this flint!"
With a subjugation squad of forty people, several more campfires needed lighting. I toured the campsite, lighting firewood pile after firewood pile. I figured this was exactly why I'd been brought onto the subjugation squad. Without the slightest reluctance, I repeated the hand seals and lit the fires. But the way the adventurers looked at me seemed a little different now.
"Thank you. I'd like to repay you for your kindness."
Maybe it was because I'd saved them the trouble of striking flints. A few adventurers thanked me and offered me dried rations for dinner. No way was I refusing free food. I gathered up every ration they held out.
After finishing the camp preparations, I sat in front of the campfire and ate. Thanks to the rations the adventurers had given me, I was able to eat more than usual. Granted, it was all tasteless dried rations. But being able to fill my stomach counted for something. You have to eat well to have strength. A full belly put me in a good enough mood that I just wanted to sprawl out and sleep.
"Luke. Did you hear the night watch list the squad leader called out earlier?"
"Huh? I didn't catch it. I was focused on lighting the campfires..."
"You're on night watch tonight!"
"Shit...! Why tonight!"
My soaring mood crash-landed straight into the dirt. Assigned to night watch on the very first day of the subjugation. My luck was truly abysmal. Rebecca looked at me, laughing as I wallowed in despair.
"Hey, so where are we sleeping—?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"About the tent. It's a two-person tent we can share, so we should pick out a good spot."
At Rebecca's words, I looked around. She was talking about the tents set up all over the campsite. The tents were perfectly sized for two people. The fabric was quite dark and thick, so you couldn't see inside from the outside. While I'd been busy lighting fires, the other adventurers had already finished setting up the tents. All I had to do was pick a suitable one and crash.
"Rebecca. You're cool with sleeping with me?"
"Huh? Of course. You're the only person in this squad I can trust."
I was asking if she was uncomfortable sleeping next to a guy, but she gave a surprisingly easygoing answer. Well, Rebecca and I had already slept in the same room together several times. It felt a little awkward to even ask at this point. The part about me being the only one she could trust tugged at my heart a bit, too.
Rebecca glanced at me cautiously before speaking.
"Besides..."
"Besides?"
"W-well, we have to do that too, right."
Rebecca parted her lips just a little and shaped the word—kiss. Even without sound, I could tell exactly what she meant just by the shape. Shyly rising up on tiptoe, Rebecca leaned close to my ear and whispered. Her breath carried a faint warmth.
"...I'm looking forward to tonight too, Luke!"