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nWhen the party was in full swing, a concerning topic came out.

n“There’s a monster on the highway?” Ryouma

n“Yes. We came here through the southern plains, but before leaving Kereban, we heard sightings of an ‘ant’ in the plains. Because of that we were on alert the entire trip. It was really exhausting.” Prenence

nAnt is the universal term for all ant-type monsters. There are all sorts, but in general, they all possess a hard carapace that protects their whole body, as well as an inclination to swarm their enemies. How dangerous an ant actually is. however, depends on the variant.

n“Could it be a murder ant?” Ryouma

nMurder Ants possess a hard carapace and a sturdy pair of jaws. They are carnivorous and they love to fight other living creatures. A swarm of such ants is undoubtedly a threat. Depending on the size of the nest, the Adventurers Guild would rank an extermination job for them as Rank C or above.

n“Oh, no. If that were the case, we would’ve surely chosen a different route. It should be a tunnel ant.” Prenence

n“Hmm… Sorry. Can you tell me more about that variant?” Ryouma

n“Let’s see… First of all it has the same hard carapace that ants are known for, but their jaws, claws, and overall strength is weaker compared to the other ants variants. They also don’t have any venom. Overall, their attacking power is low, but they’re also more gentle compared to the other ants and won’t attack other monsters or people.

nThey specialize in digging soft ground and are known to expand their nest proactively. The problem is that if you accidentally pass over one of their nests without knowing, their nests will cave and your carriage will fall with it.” Prenence

nThe tunnel ant nests are reinforced by their bodily liquids, so it won’t cave in if it’s just a Peron walking over it, but a carriage filled with luggage plus passengers is simply too heavy.

nTunnel ants aren’t very dangerous, but they’re considered to be annoying pests for people traveling on carriages.

n“They must be a headache to the transportation industry.” Ryouma

n“Hopefully it doesn’t affect the number of customers and the preparations for the festival…” Serge

nSerge-san, who was quietly listening beside us, seemed to be concerned as well.

n…In that case, why don’t I pay them a visit tomorrow?

n“You, Ryouma-dono?” Prenence

nPrenence-san made an odd face when I said that, so I explained to him that I was an adventurer. I also told him that I was planning to go to the Great Forest of Shurus.

n“I see. So, that’s why you asked if it was a murder ant.” Prenence

nIn the great forest, other than the murder ants, there are also other ant-type monsters, so seeing those tunnel ants should prove to be good reference.

n“They might affect the flow of goods too, so I’m thinking of checking them out just in case.” Ryouma

n“That would put me at ease.” Serge

n“It would be a great help to us too.” Prenence

nNot just Serge-san but Prenence-san too?

n“We can’t afford to show a poorly practiced show to the audience, so I was thinking of using the plains near Gimuru as a practice area.” Prenence

nItinerant entertainers like themselves have to travel from one town to another, so oftentimes they do not have a designated practice area. Moreover, their performances are the products that they sell. They cannot afford to show them when still unrehearsed, so they can’t practice in a place where other people can see them.

nUnfortunately, tunnel ants have recently been sighted in the plains. Although there’s only a chance that they might happen into one, that’s still enough to make them want to avoid it. That’s probably why it would be a great help to them if I could do something about the tunnel ants.

n“…In that case, why don’t you use my place for your practice?” Ryouma

nIf they just need a place away from the public, then the Abandoned Mine should be good enough. The duke’s family did tell me to use the place as I saw fit, so I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if I lent it to some people to use for their rehearsal. There also won’t be any dangerous monsters there. And in the rare case that a monster does appear, it will be weak enough that Soldio-san can deal with it himself. He looks strong, after all.

n“Are you sure? The rumors about itinerant entertainers like ourselves aren’t exactly flattering. Many of them say that we steal from other people and kidnap children. Of course, we don’t do such thing nor plan to, but…” Prenence

n“Ah, don’t worry about it. It’s not like I have anything worthwhile in my house.” Ryouma

nMost of my stuff are inside my Item Box, so it really doesn’t matter if I lend the place. Besides, it’s actually more dangerous for them if they try to enter my house. There are plenty of stuff there that could cause a person a world of pain if handled poorly. All the more so if there are still some uncured soap or caustic soda left.

n“It’s fine. Really.” Ryouma

n“In that case, thank you.” Prenence

n“When will you be starting?” Ryouma

n“If you’re alright with it, we’d like to start as soon as tomorrow morning.” Prenence

nI’m pretty sure they just arrived. Are they really alright with that?

n“Alright. I’ll be waiting for you tomorrow morning then. The place is straight from the northern exit of Gimuru. I don’t think you’ll miss it.” Ryouma

nLike this we made plans for tomorrow and concluded the social gathering.

nThe next day.

nThe Semroid Troupe visited my house, and I provided them a place to practice. I didn’t really do anything special, though. I just told them not to go inside because it’s dangerous, and prepared some water for them. The rest I left to Prenence-san. When I got to the adventurers guild just before noon, there were fewer people than usual.

nIt’s nice not having to wait, but…

n“Oh, Ryouma-kun.” Maelyn-san

n“Good day. I hear that Tunnel Ants have recently been sighted in the southern plains.” Ryouma

n“I see word got to you quickly. If you’re looking for work relating to that, I’ve got some here.” Maelyn

nI just thought I’d mention it, but before I knew it, several job requests have already been piled up on the desk.

n“…Destroy the tunnel ants, look for nests… And dig? The first two I get, but what am I supposed to dig?” Ryouma

n“That mission is to dig out the nests. Just destroying the eggs isn’t thorough enough, as there’s a chance they might still come back later.” Maelyn

n“I see… Is this why there are so few guild members here today?” Ryouma

n“Correct. We’ve already found several nests. There’s a people out there hunting right now.” Maelyn

n“…How much damage have the tunnel ants caused so far?” Ryouma

n“Not much right now. But…” Maelyn

nMaelyn-san’s expression turned dark. I wonder if something happened.

n“I told you we found several nests, right? There’s a high probability that the tunnel ants either came from somewhere to breed or they came here after breeding to look for a new home. Because of that the guild thinks it’s still likely to find new nests, making the odds for casualties on our side higher.

nThat’s why the guild wants to allocate more people into searching for nests. The Tamer Guild is also cooperating with us to some extent, so we’ve been making progress.” Maelyn

nThe tamer guild?

n“Can you tell me more about that?” Ryouma

n“There’s not much more to it. Guilds can work together too depending on the problem. One such example is the tunnel ant infestation, which we’d all like to be dealt with sooner rather than later. Besides, this town is close to the mines,

nso there are a lot of people on the Tamer Guild’s side to help us out.” Maelyn

n“…I don’t know if it’s okay to ask this from you, but is it also possible to get the job from the Tamer Guild?” Ryouma

n“Probably. Are you planning to take the job from there?” Maelyn

nUu, that look in her eyes…

n“Actually, I’m also a member of the Tamer Guild, and its guild master has helped me out quite a bit, but given my monsters, there’s not really a lot of jobs I could accept from the Tamer Guild. So, I was thinking of going there to accept the job.” Ryouma

n“So you want to return a favor? Alright. You don’t have to make that face. It’s up to a member whether he wants to accept a job or not.” Maelyn

nShe laughed as she said that. Looks like I didn’t offend her.

n“That’s good to hear. Still, though, I’m sorry I couldn’t accept the job here.” Ryouma

n“I hear you. Feel free to accept a job from here when you feel like it.” Maelyn

n“Thank you very much.” Ryouma

nI thanked Maelyn-san and left the Adventurers Guild.

n“Take care!” Guard

nThe guard at the southern gate saw me off as I left for the southern plains. I almost never dropped by the Tamer Guild, so when I went there, I was mistaken for a new applicant. There were no problems after clearing up that misunderstanding, however, and I was able to accept a job normally.

n“Let’s go!” Ryouma

n“KURURURU!” Rimel Birds

nAs I yelled that out loud, the rimel birds I took with me flied up in the sky and assumed a formation shaped like the letter ‘V’. I’m having them look for tunnel ant nests in places likely to have one.

nAccording to the Tamer Guild, the tunnel ants have a disposition to eject earth and sand to their surroundings when digging out their nests. In other words, while they may not make a mound when digging out a nest, any area with signs of having been recently dug could possibly be a tunnel ant nest.

n“KE!” Rimel Bird

n“Oh, found one?” Ryouma

nI used Shared Perception to see the world through Eins’ eyes, who was currently flying still in the air. When I did, I saw a patchy area of earth within the verdant plains. With just my bare eyes, the plains seemed endless, but from up above, everything was a lot clearer.

nI have no business with places that others have already started to dig or places where people have already started hunting.

nI used Dimension Magic and left the empty road.

nLet’s take a look around here then…

n“Dimension Home.” Ryouma

nI brought the iron and metal slimes with me from the abandoned mine, so I released them and had them line up. There were about 400 of them all in all.

nI fed them a lot because I wanted to make a big slime, but I fed them a bit too much and now they’re too many. Just 100 is enough to make a big slime, but now I have 200 iron slimes and 200 metal slimes. Still, with this many, there are also more things that I can do.

nI ordered the slime most skilled in transformation to turn itself into a katana, then I gave out an order to the rest of the slimes.

n“The rest of you don’t have to transform. Just proceed carefully.” Ryouma

nAt that, a line of metal and iron balls pushed their way through the grass.

nA few minutes later.

n“Found anything?” Ryouma

nAlthough the slimes were weak, they had a strong sense for danger. That sense might have weakened after evolving, but the iron slimes were still able to detect something. There seemed to be something just a little up ahead. The slimes were cautious in their own way. So even if it were just something that stopped their movements, they would still proceed carefully.

nOne step, two steps, three steps… When we reached the place the Iron Slime was pointing at, in that moment—

n“!” Ryouma

nAn antenna peeked out of the ground. After which came several eyes. A giant ant that was big enough to reach my chest had appeared.

nIts appearance resembled that of cave mantises, but before it could fully come out of the ground, I lopped off its neck with a swing from my katana.

n“PIKI…” Tunnel Ant

n“So this is a tunnel ant.” Ryouma

nTwo more came out after the first one. I hunted them in the same way.

nAfter that no more appeared.

nAccording to the information of the tamer guild, the tunnel ants move in the night in order to avoid the time period when most of their enemies are active. Hence, they rarely left their nest in the morning and just slept inside. Because of that only a few guards would be found in the entrance. Unless the guards come back, there won’t be any more.

nThe guards for this nest happens to be those three ants I just killed.

n“With this, I’ve managed to find one nest… Oops. ‘Earth Needle’.” Ryouma

nMy job today is just to look for the nest, not exterminate them, so I just need to record the location and leave a mark somewhere nearby. There’s no need to needlessly alert the nest, so I left with my slimes and went to look for another entrance. I went to the next likely location.

n“Might as well let them roll.” Ryouma

nThe iron and metal slimes usually don’t have any opportunities to roll other than in the abandoned mine, so I took this opportunity to let them roll through the plains. When I told them that, a happy atmosphere began to emanate from the two types of slimes. As soon as I gave them the signal, they all started to roll.

nWow. They’re fast. Recently, they’ve been getting faster and faster like some kind of a speed demon.

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