Pioneering the Apocalyptic World - Chapter 89

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Chapter 24: To the dragon’s nest

As planned, we head to the direction where a large number of monsters appear??To the miasma contaminated land where we think there is a dragon.
We also borrowed horses, so we all rode on horseback. Uru still frightened the horses, so she’s with me.

“Well then, please guide us.”

“Yes! Leave it to me!”

As a guide, I had a single resident young man accompany me. It seems that he is called Dozle-san a dog beastman.
Dozle-san will not participate in the dragon battle, so he’s a guide to only just before the miasma land. After that, he will have to take the horses and go home alone, so it seems that he was selected because he is good at running fast.
With my items anyone would be able to move in the miasma, but I refrained from recruiting personnel in terms of fighting strength. I don’t have the confidence to suddenly cooperate with them.…… It would be a big deal if we get separated.
It should be noted that Dozle-san seems to have became friends with Regulus during the training the other day, so the two of them stands side by side in front on the lead while conversing. Uru and I leisurely follow behind.

Was it about two days away by horse to the miasma contaminated land?…… If monsters were born there and came to the village, then surely they had survived the time of the Creator God…….
But come to think of it, the monsters survived several days across the river in Grosso Village’s case. The monsters must have been strengthened after all.… Even so, they were annihilated by easily Uru.

We were wary of monsters attacking us while we were moving, but according to Dozle-san, they never attacked every day, and on that day, there were no particular troubles and we traveled until before the evening.
Starting preparing for camping a little early. Dozle-san was surprised that I dug a hole and we hid in the ground (that sound’s right), he praised me for the delicious food, and became surprised again that we didn’t need a lookout at night.

And before noon the next day.
In front of us, we could see a land covered with a thin layer of miasma.

“Ugh…”

Although I was informed in advance, I was disappointed when I actually saw it. Even though there are items, I feel heavy when I think that I have to enter that.
The hardships of the abandoned continent during my game days are revived in my mind. Even if you take countermeasures, your LP will gradually decrease, your SP will gradually decrease, your cooking items will lose durability(rot) even if they are enchanted with preservation, it’s easy to be attacked by monsters because of its poor visibility, but there’s only monsters that can survive in the miasma, so they are strong in general… Ugh, just remembering it makes my head hurts.
The concentration of miasma is completely different here, so I don’t think it’s that much… But I can’t let my guard down at all.

“That’s all for my guidance.”

“Thank you very much.”

“No no. I wish you good luck!”

I leave the horses that we came riding to Dozle-san, gave him a little extra food, and have him return.
After seeing him off until he was a point in the distance, I said, “Well then.” and we faced each other.

“It’s noon now, so it will be sure that we have to go outside before evening when the monsters get stronger… I think the longest possible time to explore is four hours.”

Uru and Regulus nodded at my confirmation.
Even if they didn’t enter, they could see a dragon-like shadow, so the location of the abandoned village should be close, but that’s not necessarily the source of the miasma. At worst case, we have to search all over the place without any clues…

“Since I have already strengthened the Holy Mist, it last 20 minutes for each one. So we’ll turn back after using six. We can’t use return stones in the miasma.”

I want to strengthen the return stone, but it’s not easy. I might be able to do some field research now, but… For the time being, I have to find the cause of the monster outbreak, and if it’s resolved in the first place, the miasma may disappear, so it’s could be meaningless. No, this is the territory of the wind god, so I’d be troubled if it didn’t disappear.
We will need 12 pieces in total, but just in case, I give them more than enough. Of course, other items that seem to be necessary are also given.
If the field of miasma is too wide to explore with this, we will start exploring from tomorrow morning. If it’s still seems to be impossible, it is impossible to conquer it at this point. I don’t have the courage to spend the night in the miasma without solid countermeasures, and now that I’m in a real world, I can’t do that kind of recklessness.

“Fortunately, you can see the sky faintly, so if you get separated, rely on the sun and run with all your might toward the south. Wait for a while after exiting the miasma, and if it looks like we can’t reunite, or it becomes too dangerous, Regulus will have to return using a return stone.”

“Oh!”

“For Uru it probably won’t become dangerous, but I guess you have no choice but to return to Bartle Village on foot.”

“… Mu, I will pay close attention to not get separated.”

Well that’s the best.
After the simple meeting, we used the first Holy Mist and set foot in the miasma.

“… It feels slightly chilly, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought.”

“It’s because of the Holy Mist, isn’t it?”

While running his eyes around, while occasionally defeating monsters(mostly Uru) that attacked us, after walking for a while, Regulus murmured, but his perception was wrong.
Without miasma countermeasures, your LP will be reduced in no time, and depending on the situation, other status ailments will occur, and you won’t even be able to walk.
And the ground itself was polluted. If you fall, you will take damage.

“No, how can I say it, I was imagining something more scary…”

Well, definitely not visually.
The lake didn’t turn into a poisonous swamp and was spitting out toxic fumes, the monsters didn’t turn into zombies and attacked us with rotting meat dripping down, and the plants didn’t rot and polluted leaves fell from overhead.

“Ugh, is that possible…”

While Regulus grimaced at my experience (in the game era), I was taken aback by Uru’s casual remarks.

“Umu, Rion had quite a lot of experiences. But how did you deal with it then at that time? You had an abundance of items compared to now?”

“Uh…”

O-Oops. How should I explain it?
I only explained to Uru that ‘I was called by the creator god from a distant country’.

…… It is too ridiculous to say that it was originally a game, and that I came from another world.

But… Will there ever come a day when I have to tell Uru the truth?

But that is not now. I’m not mentally prepared for that kind of thing. …… It can also be called just being a chicken. Ohohoho….
Thinking about an excuse while sweating inside, I remembered that the creator god said something like this and decided to ride it.

“Ah… The Creator God said that I’m a God-created doll, right?”

“Eh, what is that?”

Since Regulus wasn’t there, he called out saying it’s the first time he’s heard of it, but that’s for later.

“According to the God of Creation, the abilities resides in the body, and it seems that it was reset when I transferred my contents here. Of course, there are also differences in items that I possess.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

I’m not lying, I’m not lying…!

…… Hmm?
I feel like something caught in my mind when I explained it.
It felt like something very important, but…

??Gurururururururu

A growl reached my ears, and that question disappeared from my head like a bubble.