The Spearmaster and the Black Cat

Chapter 73 part2

Giant Magic Steel Dragonfly Part 2

In the morning, Rollo and I are woken by the sound and fresh wind blowing over the Haym river .

It's still dusky .

When the morning sun rises, everyone starts to get up and prepare breakfast .

"It's simple soup . "

"Roger . "

I eat breakfast and make small talk with Gomez .

Once breakfast is finished, everyone gets their things together and prepares to depart .

Again, we are advancing west .

We are heading down from the kill we camped on last night .

The scenery changes .

Until now the stone statues have been to our right, but now it ultimately becomes a swamp .

The earth is wet like the bank of a salt lake .

As we continue through the marshland, big mushrooms begin appearing .

The giant mushrooms grow in patches .

They seem to be an endemic species that inhabits the part of the swamp .

Large pink and purples mushrooms are mixed in with the rest .

The mushroom umbrellas have purples spots .

…I wonder if they're okay to eat . (TL: Ah, Shuya . I love this simple side of you . )

Then, the fog clears and sunlight covers the area .

Just as I look at the bright sky, In front of me, a flock an enormous jellyfish is swimming through the air .

The big jellyfish have tiny ones following them like parent and child . (TL: I've been playing Skyrim, and this reminds me of the netches from the Dragonborn DLC . )

They gather together and move in a spiral .

There are also giant dragonflies in the sky, some having stopped on top of the large mushrooms .

"That's a giant dragonfly . "

Foggy marsh, giant mushrooms, jellyfish and dragonflies in the sky .

The whimsical scene is happening in front of me .

I wish I had a portable camera to record this .

A pleasant smell is coming from the mushrooms .

After entering the boggy marsh, the speed of the caravan has decreased, but I prefer it this way .

I move popobumu to the side of the road, closer to the mushrooms, and enjoy myself .

I also reach out to touch the mushroom .

It feels interesting .

A bit similar to a shiitake? Its tenderness is right, and it smells like a shiitake as well .

Then,

"This smell is so goood . "

"Ooh . "

"It really is . "

"Oooh!"

Many shouts are raised-

At that moment, I hear it from a new person riding on a white robot…

With a shout, several dozen people have started running at a giant dragonfly .

The ground is muddy, but they move fast .

Several people fires arrows at the giant dragonfly . There seem to be magic users at the back too .

The magic user starts chanting and aria .

A chain is visible on the back of the arrows . It appears to be a mechanism .

The group of adventurers cooperates smoothly .

"Oh, they've started . Those giant dragonflies are the specialty of this area . "

Gomez says .

Of the arrows loosed by the adventurers at the dragonfly, only some have stuck . The giant alloy dragonfly flies away and appears the counter-attack .

It uses its giant flapping wing to hover in the air and fires small thorns at the adventurers from its mouth and tail .

However, they're experienced, so warriors with large shield stand side-by-side and deflect the needle attack .

"Now, spread out!"

The leader shouts a command from behind the line of shields and several arrows are released dragging a considerable iron net behind it .

The giant dragonfly's body and wing are entangled in the net sending it crashing into the marsh, but even though it is caught in the net is continue to struggle and shoot needles out of its mouth . It will probably break the net .

-The magic chant now ends, and an icicle missile strikes the entangled giant dragonfly .

"It's not over yet!! Force, Riot! Vanguard attack! Aim for the head!"

The leader issues instructions .

Two massive warriors with a longsword and an ax step forward and run at the immobilized giant dragonfly and land a single blow at the base of the head .

The giant dragonfly tries to struggle, but the warrior's skill with the sword and ax is fast .

The giant dragonfly is decapitated by the combined attack of the ax and sword .

The headless body convulses at first but gradually stops twitching .

"Yahoo, we killed it! This is our second successful subjugation today! Collect it quickly!"

The giant dragonfly corpse is dismantled by several people .

A big pipe comes from the alloy dragonfly's torso? Things like that are removed .

The head, wings, and everything is collected . A significant amount of materials are removed from a single one, and it fills a whole cart .

"Collection is almost finished . "

An elf woman who appears to be the leader of the collection party shouts .

"Fuhaha, haha, is that so! Aside from the collection party, shall we move on to the next?"

"Got it . "

"You guys, get more excited! At the end of today, we'll bag five of them! -Move out . "

The warrior leader is short .

People who appear to be from the same clan are chatting, they get on small non-thoroughbred horses and walk off while laughing .

"Follow leader . "

"We're making money!"

The group is excited .

It all happened in a moment…

That was the giant dragonfly Gomez said is hunted .

A little shocked by the hunt, the caravan continues west at a comfortable pace .

I was enjoying touching the mushroom along the way, so I wasn't bothered, but it seems everyone is upset by this mud .

The muddy road follows the Haym river through a marsh, but the caravan patiently endures .

Popobumu splashes mud as he walks, but his steps feel somehow heavy .

Do you also have the mud? I pat his neck reassuringly .

The mud eventually decreases, and we enter a grassy plain .

The road becomes solid earth, and we advance easily .

-Oh? I see something .

The city walls of Holkerbam are coming into view .

The walls are low . When I see the city walls in the distance, Fran speaks from the back of her magic beast .

"Is this Shuya's first time seeing the 【Magic Steel City Holkerbam】?"

"Yeah . "

"In that case, would you like me to give a brief introduction?"

Fran says with a radiant smile .

Her transparent hawk is flying low near her .

"Ah, please do . "

"Understood . Holkerbam is situated south of the Haym river, the marsh and forests we passed through are the east-north-east of the city . There is an enormous quarry to the north and to the town of Pernette is to the west, there are farms and graveyards on the road to Rad Pass .

"Quarry?"

I remember Marquess Chardonnay saying something along those lines .

"That's right . There are requests for adventurers at the quarry and where trees are harvested . Harpies come out of the quarry, goblins in the forests, orcs, Nogu, and other monsters like the Shapushi . "

"Heh, it must be hard to not find a job . "

"Haha, that's true . "

On the Haym river to my left, I can see a boat advancing .

Groups of armed adventurers and other caravan pass on the other side of the road .

Magic beasts pull wagons filled with farm products .

Flies and insects are swarming around the horses and magic beasts pulling cargo to the point that I feel sorry for them .

Various people are using the road .

There are snails with large gray shells loitering around in the plains and marsh on the right side of the road . There are also adventurers fighting those enormous snails .

Battle cries are audible .

Rollo is also looking at the giant snails, her crimson eyes are dilated, and she is crouching, preparing the go hunting .

It looks like Rollo wants to play .

However, we're still on guard duty .

"Rollo, hunting selfishly isn't good? The people fighting aren't having a hard time . "

"Nya~ . "

Rollo responds with her ears folded back .

Those ammonite or snail type monsters .

Still, the nearby people transporting goods don't seem concerned .

With that many adventurers participating, still…

I can see Holkerbam's eastern gate .

As we approach the east gate the number of peculiar building increases .

They're tent-like building .

They resemble Mongolian Yurts .

Domesticated animals are visible as well . It's a cow . Lungas . Two heads .

It has a lot of breasts .

It seems to be a favorite domestic animal .

In the tents with domestic animals on the grass plains east of Holkerbam, there are also tiger-faced beastkin . (TL: I'm changing beastman to beastkin)

There are merchants wearing fur mantles set up in front of the tents and announcing their wares .

All over, there are tiger beastkin trying to sell their wares to the caravans and travelers entering the city .

Amongst them, I pass in front of a tiger beastman vendor speaking energetically .

"Come! Gaumok Store's goods, good from far past Hector and 【Fornium Volcano】, from the far eastern country 【Fujiku Commonwealth】and 【Lerwick】 . Come and look at Gaumok Store's goods!"

The Yurt behind this tiger beastkin is noticeably bigger than the others .

It seems like a gathering of merchants and traders .

Instead of entering the city, business can be done here?

We ignore the merchant and continue toward the city gates .

There are blue flags on either side of the gate flapping in the wind .

The flags have a horse, eagle, and dragon drawn on a shield, each one wearing a crown .

There are two guards in blue armor below .

Passing through . The guard sees us, but we don't make eye contact .

We pass through with the other travelers .

At last, we arrive in Holkerbam .

"We're here . "

"Everyone, it was a difficult request . "

The merchant Taijiki apologizes .

"Oh, wait for a little while we remove the baggage . "

Gomez's clan members remove their luggage from Taijiki's wagon .

"Thank you . Now, someone from my trading firm is coming . "

"Understood . Still, we can just take it down . "

As Gomez works, those from Taijiki's trading firm gather .

She is wearing a turban around her head .

There are plenty of people, so the cart a quickly unloaded .

Taijiki hands the wooden request board to the person from the trading company who came to assist .

The lady who came to help receive it and lower her head before disappearing into the city .

"Everyone, I am having someone from the firm submit the completion tally to the guild when you return to the guild you can receive your payment . In that case, I am going to deliver the good to the trading firm . Everyone, thank you for your work . Another chance . And then, Shuya-sama, I'll wait for you to visit Luxor . Then . "

Taijiki connects the covered wagon and cart and leaves .

"That merchant really likes Shuya?"

"Seems like it . "

I don't intend to go, but I nod .

Then, a member of 【Fist of the War God】 behind Gomez opens his mouth .

"Captain Gomez . It's only natural . Even we are grateful to Shuya-san, I was waiting at night…"

I splendidly ignore that .

I don't make eye contact…they didn't approach, only looking at my crotch making me feel a little scared .

His name is Gio… an existence scarier than any of the monster that has appeared .

"Isn't Gio passionate? However, Shuya-san wasn't there…shuddering . "

"Ah, don't you think? And if a thief is caught at the same time, you'll probably be killed- Shuya, thank you . "

Gomez and his clan members thank me .

His rough fatherly character comes out, and I can see he is an excellent clan Leader .

Them looking at me is embarrassing .

"Iya, that was just luck . "

Embarrassed, I try to brush it off .

"Hahaha, you're being modest about that spear handling? You're a truly a strong person, a man among men…then, we'll all receive our reward from the guild, everyone okay with that?"

Gomez laughs heartily and looks at his member with a heroic character .

"Agreed . "

"I'll come . "

"Captain Gomez, I'll look for an inn . "

"Oh, let's rendezvous . -Fran and Shuya . We're going to the guild, let's meet again . "

"Understood . "

"Alright . "

Gomez and the members of 【Fist of the War God】 leave .

"Is Shuya going to the guild too?"

Fran asks .

"Ah, I want to look around to city a little, so I'll go later . "

"Is that so…I can show you around?"