Chapter 441 – The Holy Sword and the Arena (13)

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“Right. For some reason, I have a feeling that there is something out there…”

“Somehow it smells like something sweet… “

“I have a feeling that there will be an interesting subject…”

“…Guys?”

My kids suddenly stepped forward. A jerky, somewhat sluggish movement. It walks helplessly forward as if possessed by something.

The second grader and I blankly looked at the back.

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t know what you mean. Why are you doing that?”

I agree. Why are the kids doing this all of a sudden?

“…”

Suddenly, I felt a sense of deja vu. I can’t pinpoint exactly, but I have a sense of déjà vu as if I had a similar experience. For some reason, I felt like I had a very terrible experience, but I can’t remember exactly.

It’s not a recent experience. Before coming here…

I shook my head. Because now was not the time to indulge in thoughts.

“Guys, wake up!”

“Hick?!”

I grabbed the children’s bodies and shook them wildly.

“Huh?! Yu, Yujin?”

“What, what, why all of a sudden?”

Fortunately, the kids came to their senses before they had even gone a few steps.

“Why are you shaking people like that?”

“Is something going on?”

“No, you guys… Don’t you remember? “

I explained to them what had just happened.

Everyone was taken aback when I told them that they acted as if they were sleepwalking. It seemed that he was completely unaware.

“Is it? I have nothing…”

“I don’t even know… “

“It was like I was hypnotized.”

“Ugh.”

Yuri flinched at the word hypnosis.

This guy still remembers feeding him the hypnotic wine. But even now, I don’t know how I thought of using it when it’s a subject that’s so intimidating that I’m noticing it.

Ariel, who tilted her head, asked with a serious face.

“Did we really do that?”

“Okay. What are you doing if I lie?”

“…Then it seems there are other people besides us around.”

“What?”

“Wait a minute.”

Ariel didn’t explain further and just closed her eyes. Judging from the fact that even the ice floating around them was removed, it seems that he is quite focused.

“Can there be people? What do you mean?”

Murmur of glass. I agree too.

“…”

I suddenly got chills, and while watching the minimap, I carefully observed my surroundings once again.

A guy who bet something like that on this side would never be a guy with good intentions.

The minimap shows only as much as I can perceive. It is said that it is not omnipotent like map hack.

But that doesn’t mean it’s useless except for finding the way.

Everything within perceptible range appears on the minimap. That means that even if I miss what I actually see, I don’t miss the minimap.

“…”

Still nothing was visible.

Ariel, who opened her eyes a moment later, said something similar.

“Strange. I can’t feel anything.”

“Yes?”

“That means I don’t feel any trace of magic around me.”

“Magic? Why magic all of a sudden?”

Yuri, who was listening by the side, asked. I was just curious about that too.

Ariel said while stroking his chin.

“What other way than magic can temporarily interfere with the mind? If it is enough to interfere with not one person, but three people at the same time, there must be considerable traces. But nothing like that. There was no trace of mana artificially scattered around here.”

“If it’s not a human… Isn’t it a monster or something?”

Ariel answered my question.

“Monsters do not have the intelligence to use magic. Although I’ve heard that higher entities that inhabit deeper places use mana.”

“For a moment.”

Yuri asked, scratching his head.

“Monsters use mana but can’t use magic?”

“Okay.”

Ariel said calmly, as if she were saying the obvious.

“It’s not that even monsters can’t use mana, but it’s only at the instinctive level. It’s a level that strengthens the body or makes it sharper. However, a monster that uses advanced magic that interferes with the human mind. I have never heard of a monster with that level of intelligence.”

Ariel, who spoke at length, looked at me incredulously and said.

“Did we really do that?”

“…”

When she said that, she all looked at me as if she were wondering.

Since everyone says no, it makes me wonder if I’ve gone crazy. There is a proverb that says, “Three-person holy tiger,” That when three people come together, a tiger that doesn’t exist is made, and I feel like that right now.

The kids acted like they were hypnotized earlier, was that really my mistake?

“…”

Right. Come to think of it, I didn’t have to worry about it alone. Because there was a second bottle next to me.

When I asked how it was, the second grader nodded and said,

“Ugh. It was momentary, but it seemed like something strange. Of course, I don’t know much about you guys, so that kind of behavior could be normal.”

…Is the last word a diss?

Anyway, the second grader confirmed it, and the story went back to square one.

Yuri, who was thinking hard, tilted his head and said.

“Come to think of it, I think I smelled something. Somehow, I think it smelled sweet.”

“Now is?”

“I do not know…”

I looked back at the second bottle.

“Can’t you feel something? Like a sweet smell?”

This guy is a dog as usual. Could he have taken on something?

At my words, the second grader snorted as if he had heard an absurd sound.

“I don’t know. Because the helmet purifies the air.”

“…What?”

I was dumbfounded.

“No, then what do you mean when I say that I’m usually rotten?”

The middle two cocked his head and looked at me. A pose as if I were saying something pathetic.

“Looks like your pet needs to be taught a little common sense. Karma flows from the soul. It’s just a metaphor, but did you really think I’d sniff like a dog? I don’t do anything rude like that.”

Then shouldn’t you use the expression that you are in charge in the first place? No, and I’ve seen him sniff like a dog a few times.

“It’s a really good night.”

“What, what?!”

Unknowingly, the inside of his heart that jumped out, the guy wrapped his head around him.

“No to violence!”

“No, I didn’t really hit you, so what… ”

“There are many precedents!”

Said Ariel, who had been watching her foolishly quarreling.

“Smell… I’d rather be that type.”

“It’s better, why?”

It is said that among plant-type monsters, there are types that emit scent to lure prey. It is said that if you smell the scent, the prey will not be able to think properly and will be eaten.

“Oh, I think I saw it too.”

Yuri, who was listening from the side, added.

“I heard that it blooms incredibly large flowers, and when a monster sticks its head into the flower to eat nectar, it will bite and swallow it. Laplacia? I think it might have been a name like that.”

“Woah, wow…. Then, aren’t we, Wei, dangerous now?”

Lenny groaned as if he was fed up, but Ariel had a carefree face.

“But it’s better than getting hit by an unknown magic. Because if you know how the other person works, you can respond.”

“…That’s right.”

At my words, Lenny nodded her head.

Certainly, if incense was used as a medium, prevention was possible. Purification, which Lenny often uses, is originally used for this purpose. It’s not a pathetic use as an after-sex treat.

“…”

Indeed. I felt like the puzzle fit together.

For some reason, the growth of the bush was promoted to such an extent that a forest suddenly appeared.

There must have been a variety of types of plants since there were forests that didn’t exist before, and there’s a chance that plant-type monsters will come out that use the scent Yuri mentioned as a medium.

The same goes for aphids.

The expected habitat of the aphids we received was far ahead of here.

“…It should have been, but as the bush grew, it multiplied along with it. Or maybe the dungeon has multiplied ‘like’ a bush.”

Everyone nodded at my words. So now there is only one thing left.

“Great. Then, if we catch those guys now, the reason we came here will be solved.”

At my words, Yuri raised her hand.

“But how much should I hold?”

“…Well?”

#

I caught a few aphids and put them in my pocket.

Catching an insect the size of the palm of your hand is usually a terrible thing, but in this case, the objection was not so great. First of all, the color was translucent light green, and the appearance was not too disgusting. Above all, without asking.

Still, everyone seemed to hate direct contact, and they were putting the aphid-attached branch itself into their pockets.

Of course, I’m not terrible at words, I can do it, but I was using my invisible hand.

We, who didn’t know how much to collect, decided to collect as much as we could see, by changing the size.

Of course, we don’t know if the plant-type monsters will affect us again, so we don’t forget to stand and check each other from time to time.

“…”

I’ve been suffering from a subtle sense of incongruity ever since.

Before collecting these guys, what the 2nd grader said bothered me.

The 2nd grader said:

‘That’s strange. I haven’t done many quests either, but it’s strange.’

‘What’s strange?’

The second grader tilted his head and said.

‘Isn’t the amount of material being collected from the beginning decided? I don’t understand why you don’t know how much to take.’

‘…’

Of course, we didn’t know that this was strange. This is actually the first time I’ve done a quest to gather materials like this!

Okay. After thinking about it, I can see why it is strange that the content on the quantity is omitted.

In dungeons, local supply of supplies was not easy. It’s not impossible, but you never know what will happen. I ran out of food and ate a rabbit, but there is no answer if it goes wrong because it is a poisonous variant.

So, when entering a dungeon in the first place, I thoroughly calculated the supplies before entering.

And the calculations are tailored according to the requirements of the quest.

There’s no way that the supplies you need to collect 100 rabbit skins and 200 rabbit skins are the same.

That’s why a quest without a target quantity is strange.

“…”

Okay. And the odd thing is not only that. There’s one more thing…

“Are you okay for a second?”

“Ugh!”

Ariel came to my side before I knew it and was pulling me.

“What, what is it? What’s the matter?”

Ariel was looking up at me with an indescribably subtle face.

“Hmm. Hmm hmm, hmm. Hmm…”

“What. What is it?”

“…I mentioned it before, but I said that there might be plant-type monsters that use scent as a medium in this area.”

“Okay.”

So instead of catching aphids like this, we stand and check each other.

“For a moment. Ears.”

“Yes?”

Ariel held onto the hem of her dress as if she had something to say closely. Because of the height difference, she keeps her head down. I bowed my head as I wished, and Ariel hesitantly said.

“So that’s what I mean.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you have a skill that makes your senses sensitive?”

“Right?”

I have a skill called sensitivity enhancement.

Well, I rarely use skills related to sex now. Skills such as pleasure, sensitivity enhancement, and vibrating fingers are rarely used these days. Because even if you don’t use it, it’s enough!

“But why all of a sudden?”

“Hmm, hmm. Can you use that on me? “

“…What?”