Chapter 375 - Treasure Hunter (3)

King Slime, the Guardian of Green Mine.

Its Essence was useful enough to carry you through the midgame. Well, none of us would have absorbed it even if it had dropped...

Not that it had dropped in the first place.

「You have defeated King Slime. EXP +4」

「Guardian defeat bonus. EXP +3」

Watching King Slime dissolve into motes of light, I smacked my lips bitterly.

"Wow, seriously? Nothing?"

Forget the Essence. I'd at least hoped for a Numbered item.

How had it not even dropped a Rupture Stone? Each one should have had a 33.3% drop rate...

'... Come to think of it, we didn't get a single Essence on the way here, either.'

That was actually why I'd gotten my hopes up a little. Maybe the Guardian would cough up a decent Numbered item at the end.

"We did get one Essence, though."

Amelia's attempt to console me drew a dry chuckle.

That counted as an Essence? It was just trash.

The rank-nine monster, Slime.

Absorbing its Essence lowered Physical stats such as Bone Hardness, Physical Resistance, Strength, and Agility, while piling on stats of little combat value, like Poison Tolerance, Intuition, and Digestion.

Its skill wasn't much to write home about, either. It could be useful in certain situations... but generally wasn't worth those penalties, making it one of the worst Essences even among rank nines.

Oh, for the record, that Essence had dropped from one of the lesser monsters we'd killed during the King Slime fight.

'Tch. Better to get nothing than this crap.'

At least then I could still hope we might hit the jackpot next time.

"Mister, a portal opened over there! Are we leaving right away?"

"Of course."

I led my companions toward the portal without the slightest hesitation in my step.

This was supposed to be a rupture, and all we'd gotten was one Slime Essence.

What the hell was this broke-ass dungeon?

「You have entered the first floor, Crystal Cave.」

Let's get out of here before any more of its bad luck rubs off on us.

* * *

Once we'd cleared the rupture, nothing held us back. With no further business on the lower floors, we headed up, reaching our destination on day twenty-six.

「You have entered the sixth floor, Great Ocean.」

Raimia, the Island of Beginnings.

Unlike our last visit, it wasn't teeming with explorers and soldiers. The warships that had packed the coastline were gone, too.

That was only natural, since the expeditionary force bound for the Dark Continent set out on day twenty-five. In fact, that was precisely why we'd deliberately arrived a day late.

"All right, let's head to the shore."

There was no reason to waste time on an island with nothing on it, so we went straight to the coast. Then I took our ship out of subspace.

Even its appearance set it apart from our previous boat, which had no sail and had to be rowed.

'Oh, yeah. Now this is what I call a boat.'

It was similar in size and shape to the fishing boats I'd often seen in Korea. A large square sail stood at its center, and a mana propulsion device was mounted low on the stern. Feed it magic crystals, and we could get a sudden burst of speed in an emergency.

In short, with enough magic crystals, this ship could even cross windless zones.

'Though I doubt we'll be heading into a windless zone without a navigator...'

Once all three of us were aboard, Amelia swallowed hard and took her place at the helm.

Perhaps she didn't look particularly reassuring, because Erwin cautiously voiced her concern.

"But she's not a navigator. Can that woman really handle this ship properly...?"

"She says she's handled a small boat before, so she'll be much better than me. All I've done is row. She also said she learned the basic controls when we bought it."

"Hmm..."

"Right, Amelia?"

"... Don't talk to me. I'm thinking."

"..."

Oof. Now I was starting to worry.

Gripping the helm with a grave expression, as though mentally running through a simulation, Amelia finally began issuing orders.

"First... we need to row away from the island. That was how we caught the wind."

"Was...?"

"If you have a problem, you can do it your—"

"No, no problem. I'll do as you say."

"..."

Instead of backseat sailing when Amelia was so obviously a beginner, I faithfully followed her instructions.

Of course, I had no intention of wearing myself out rowing. Why else had we spent all that money on this ship?

The ship glided forward as soon as I fed a magic crystal into the tube connected to the mana propulsion device.

"... Ah!"

Amelia seemed startled by the unexpected speed, but quickly regained her composure and turned the helm to change course.

Then...

"N-now! The sail! Unfurl the sail!"

Once we unfurled the sail, the ship caught the wind and began sailing in earnest.

Whew. So we could make it work if we tried.

"Our heading?"

"We're heading east just fine. Don't worry."

"Are we...?"

At my reply, Amelia let out a seemingly relieved breath, though both hands remained tightly clamped on the helm.

It was a refreshing sight. Someone who could kill without batting an eye was this nervous about something like this.

"I can see it now."

After about fifteen minutes sailing east, an island appeared on the horizon.

After Parune Island to the west, where we'd fought that bloody battle against Stormgush, this was the closest island to the starting point.

Gurka Island.

We didn't actually have any particular reason to stop here. Its monsters were low-ranked, and every species also appeared on the middle floors. I'd long since collected all their EXP.

But...

'We don't have a navigator, so there's no helping it.'

With our sailing skills, heading straight to our intended destination was next to impossible. We had no choice but to make our way from one island to the next.

Well, there was another reason, too.

"... Mister, are you okay?"

"..."

Ugh, this goddamn seasickness.

It certainly seemed a little better than before, but the nausea was still hard to bear.

"Schuitz, if you're struggling, we can rest a while before moving on."

"Please."

We soon moored along the shore and took a short break. This was one good thing about a barbarian's body: however bad the seasickness got, ten minutes was enough to recover.

"All right, let's set sail again."

Once I'd recovered, we went through the same sequence and resumed sailing. Our next destination was Anos, the second island on the eastern route.

"It's about three hours away by boat. Can you get us there properly?"

"... Don't worry. It said we just need to keep heading east-northeast."

"Who said?"

"... The book."

Erwin, who had probably never taken part in such slapdash sailing before, looked doubtful once again.

But Amelia seemed to have a fair aptitude for it. About three hours later, an island appeared in the distance, and she clenched her fist.

"Found it."

"Then why is it to the east instead of straight ahead?"

"... That's within the margin of error."

Of course. Definitely within the margin of error.

Amelia turned the ship, and before long we reached Anos Island.

Unlike Gurka Island, which we'd passed through, we had business here. There were no hidden pieces or hidden treasures, but there was still EXP I hadn't collected. It was also getting late, so we planned to spend the night.

But before that...

"Bleeergh!"

First, let me empty my stomach.

* * *

「You have defeated a Raffle Monkey. EXP +3」

「You have defeated a War Snake. EXP +4」

「You have defeated a Nigel Panther. EXP +4」

「You have defeated a Belgaro. EXP +5」

「You have defeated a Black Tree...」

「...」

* * *

Anos Island was 99 percent jungle, apart from its shoreline.

After camping on the coast for a night, we began exploring in earnest the next day. By the time we'd made our way around the entire island and collected all the EXP, the sun was setting again, forcing us to camp for another night.

'Tch. I thought we'd finish hunting in half a day and make it to the next island.'

The last monster we'd hunted was largely to blame for throwing off our schedule. We hadn't spotted it even after circling the whole island, so we'd had to search until nightfall.

"Mister, aren't the stars beauti—"

SNORRRRE!

"You're asleep..."

After another night's rest, we set sail early the following morning for the next island. Thankfully, we reached the right one again.

And so the process continued...

"The seventh island already."

"It was called Pione Island, right?"

Over the course of ten days, we'd reached the seventh island on the eastern route.

Honestly, it was quite remarkable. We'd made it this far without incident with a navigator who knew little more than how to go forward, stop, and park.

'I'd thought we might overshoot an island at least once.'

Was sailing easier than I'd thought?

With that in mind, lately I'd been watching Amelia handle the ship and learning things one at a time. I was gradually getting used to the seasickness, too.

"Wow, the island really is as beautiful as they say."

"Is this your first time here too, Erwin?"

"Yes. We usually sailed past it."

"Makes sense. If you're unlucky, it's just a waste of time."

Pione, the seventh island on the eastern route, was commonly called Treasure Island among explorers.

Compared to islands with a mountain looming in the middle, its terrain was fairly flat. It was also relatively small, taking only about three hours to walk around.

For the record, only one type of rank-four monster appeared here...

"Are we passing this one by, too?"

"We'll spend the night first, since it's getting late."

Erwin looked rather pleased by my answer.

Well, the island was practically monster-free. Encountering one here would be like winning the lottery.

"Mister! There's still plenty of time before nightfall. Let's look around the island together! Please?"

"... Sure, I can do that."

"It could be dangerous. I'll come along as well."

After disembarking, we put the ship into subspace and wandered around to familiarize ourselves with the terrain.

WHOOOOSH.

A cool sea breeze caressed us. Vast fields stretched out before us, filled with flowers of every color.

"Not bad."

When I voiced my impression without thinking, Erwin smiled softly in agreement.

"Hehe, isn't it?"

"Yes. It's open in every direction, so we should easily spot any plunderers approaching while we're asleep."

"... What?"

Erwin tilted her head, apparently not understanding for a moment, but this was important. The island wasn't called Treasure Island for nothing.

Even if most high-level explorers had gone to the seventh floor to join the war, the chances of there being no other explorers here were close to zero.

After all, aside from ruptures, this island was the only place to obtain Numbered items.

"That's enough scouting. Let's make camp over there. I spotted a good place earlier."

"Oh, okay..."

We were all seasoned explorers worth a hundred fighters each, so setting up camp took no time at all. We went to sleep with Amelia's double standing watch.

How much time had passed?

"Schuitz, wake up."

Amelia shook me awake. Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I checked my surroundings. Erwin was already up, bow in hand.

Only one possibility came to mind. It made far more sense than encountering a monster on this island.

"How many?"

Skipping the unnecessary conversation, I asked only what I needed to know. Amelia's answer was just as brief.

"Fifteen."

"A clan, then."

We had unwelcome visitors in the dead of night.