Chapter 3 - The Underground Sewers
"Wait a second! Something got in my hair!"
"Beatrix, don't raise your voice. The rats will notice us."
"Hey, Beowulf. Don't stop suddenly. I almost ran into you."
"Sorry, sorry. I'll be careful."
The three of us walk through a brick-built passage with clammy, damp walls and puddles here and there.
The right side is a waterway. That flowing water has a somewhat unpleasant smell.
The first condition the Mayor set was to only do monster extermination in the underground sewers for two weeks.
Nakanohara has water and sewage systems in place.
The water supply brings water to the town from a source in the forest north of town through many connected pipes carved out of stone.
The sewage system works by taking in water from the Nakanohara River, which flows along the plateau where the town is located, from the upstream side to the west, passing it through waterways constructed under the town, and then returning it to the downstream side from the drainage outlet on the east side.
There are various creatures in the sewers.
I have heard that in places like underground, caves, and deep dark forests, something called dark magical power drifts about. It is said that creatures living in such places become monsters as a result of continuous exposure to that dark magical power.
Perhaps they have territories; strangely, the monsters within a certain range seem to be of one type.
The monsters in the sewers are rats.
They'll eat anything, whether leftovers or insects, and they multiply quickly.
Our memorable first job is to exterminate rats that have grown to the size of medium-sized dogs.
According to Beowulf, it's the most unpopular among the guard's daily duties.
Well, of course it would be. It's dirty, smelly, and dangerous.
If you were to slip and fall into the waterway, your clothes would be in a terrible state.
"We should just scatter poisoned bait and be done with it!"
The short-tempered Beatrix is already snapping.
"Poison is bad. If it flows into the river, the fish will die."
"Then why not just release a few cats?"
"Ordinary cats would just get eaten by the rats. Even if they survived, if they became monsters, they'd be tougher than the rats."
Beowulf, who was soothing her with a 'good grief' attitude, said something scary.
Doesn't that mean there might be things stronger than rats?
Beatrix, having been admonished that raising her voice was not a good strategy, finally fell silent while glaring at the flame flickering before her eyes.
Beowulf and I each hold a torch made by wrapping many layers of oil-soaked rags around the end of a wooden pole about as tall as a person.
Yes, for rats, it's fire.
Shaggy beasts won't approach flames.
Even if there's a cat that's become a monster, as long as there's fire, it'll be okay... I want to believe.
While holding the rats at bay with the torches, Beatrix will defeat them with fire magic. As a precaution, Beowulf holds a shield in her left hand to prevent the rats from lunging. In the unlikely event of an injury, I will use recovery magic.
It's perfect... I think.
Though it looks terrible.
Beatrix and I are wearing oversized burlap sacks with three holes cut out so we can stick our faces and hands through, tied at the waist with the sack's string for ease of movement.
It's a device we thought of ourselves so our clothes wouldn't get dirty.
However, how should I put it, it's more wretched than a beggar.
Hans-san, the Acting Captain, was roaring with laughter.
Before entering the sewers, we had thrown chicken carcasses into the vertical shafts open in several places in town to lure out the rats, and we walked through town holding buckets containing the chicken carcasses in this outfit.
Thinking back, I'm surprised children didn't throw stones at us.
Of course, the guard doesn't dress like that. So, Beowulf is wearing leather armor.
The vertical shafts are originally holes for people to enter the sewers, not for throwing in chicken carcasses.
When the guard does rat extermination, they enter through those holes. Then, they patrol by walking along the footpaths built along the sewers, and exterminate monsters as soon as they find them.
Including the breaks taken by going up to the surface, it seems they can do a full circuit in about three hours.
But we thought that was inefficient. If we scatter bait to lure them and walk from the riverbank where the sewer drainage outlet is, we should encounter rats even if we leave them alone.
I have my doubts about feeding rats, but if we wipe out the ones that gather, it'll be an effective use of chicken carcasses after making soup stock. The guard manages the key to the drainage outlet, so we can just borrow it.
When we proposed it to Hans-san, he said it sounded interesting if we could provide the bait ourselves and told us to give it a try, and he even lent us the key.
However, he told us to stick to just one location at first. He said if we scattered bait all over, they'd just eat and run before we could reach them.
So, we chose the hole closest to the drainage outlet.
"We're almost at the place where we scattered the bait."
Beowulf, who whispered this, took a step forward.
I followed diagonally behind to her right, on the side closer to the waterway.
Beatrix is behind us. Her firepower will decide the match.
I swallow hard without realizing it.
This is it. Beowulf thrust her torch forward.
There they were!
Four rats are facing this way as if waiting. For the usual guard, it would be five sturdy men. We are three, including two who look weak. Did they see us as easy prey?
Glared at by eight eyes, my legs went weak, and I froze.
"Ready!"
Beowulf shouts the command.
She quickly took a step forward, put her left leg out, lowered her body, and braced her round steel shield. She held her torch like a spear tucked under her right arm, thrusting it forward.
They might all lunge at once. It's dangerous if I trip.
Beatrix thrusts out her right hand and begins the incantation for magic.
When I heard Beowulf's command, before I knew it, I had crouched down and thrust out the torch I held with both hands in front of my body.
We practiced this over and over, the three of us, for this very moment.
The footpath along the sewer, installed against the wall, is only wide enough for two adults to walk comfortably side-by-side. Beowulf blocks the wall side with her shield, and on the waterway side, two torches keep the rats' movements in check.
My body remembered.
Even though my hands are shaking and the torch is wavering.
Even though my eyes are wide open, as I can tell myself.
The rats seem to be hesitating whether to flee or attack upon seeing the fire. They are facing us, lowering their bodies.
After a moment's standoff, Beatrix's magic was completed.
"Fire Ball!"
A ball of fire about the size of a human head flies from her outstretched right hand toward the rats.
A direct hit on one!
The rat is engulfed in flames along with its death throes.
And then, the remaining three lunged all at once.
I desperately endure the feeling of almost falling over backward.
"Uoooh!"
Beowulf leaped with a roar and went for a body slam, pulling her shield close to her body.
Though Beowulf is a woman, her physique is comparable to an average male soldier. No, it exceeds it. If they collide head-on, the heavier one should win.
A dull sound echoed, and the rats, blown back by the shield, tumbled away.
Among the three that lunged, one didn't get back up, perhaps having hit something badly.
The other two got up, but the distance between us had opened up because they were blown back.
"Now!"
Beowulf returns to her original position and calls out to Beatrix.
"Fi-Fire Ball! Fire Ball!"
With Beatrix's rapid-fire shots in a strained voice, one more rat is engulfed in flames.
The last one fled somewhere, leaving behind the one that was still overturned.
"Three, huh? It's a shame one got away, but this is an excellent start."
Beowulf, who was stepping on the overturned rat with her foot, drew the sword she had at her waist.
She thrust the sword into the twitching rat's throat and gave the blade a twist to deliver the finishing blow.
Seeing that, I collapsed weakly on the spot. My first battle ever had ended.
"Beatrix. It's already over."
Looking over, Beatrix was still thrusting her right hand forward, her eyes wide and her body trembling.
Having been told "Well done" and patted on the shoulder by Beowulf, she finally lowered her hand.
After drinking some water and catching our breath, Beatrix and I were finally able to talk.
"How were you able to calmly chant your magic?"
"I had decided from the start that I'd start chanting as soon as Beowulf gave the command."
Both of them are excited.
"It was worth practicing. You'll get used to it after doing it a few times."
It's reassuring that Beowulf of the guard is so calm.
"Beatrix, you used magic three times. How many more?"
Magic has a limit on the number of uses. One's mental strength runs out. If used beyond the limit, one might faint or, at worst, lose one's mind.
"About three more times. Sorry, I missed once."
Apparently, she got startled because three lunged at once.
"That's how it goes. Don't worry about it. We just need to defeat them one by one, for sure."
Beatrix can use four types of magic. Beginner-level elemental attack magic of fire, ice, lightning, and earth.
They are completely different attributes, so it seems difficult to use them properly, but according to Beatrix, the principle is the same.
By the way, I can use beginner-level recovery magic and beginner-level holy attack magic.
These are also opposites in a sense, but the principle is the same.
"Are you okay, Beowulf? You were taking the rats on your shield. Any injuries? Should I cast recovery magic?"
She had leaped and blown back the lunging rats with the shield in her left hand. It had made quite a loud sound. I don't think she has any broken bones, but I'm worried.
"I'm fine. In regular training, middle-aged men lunge at me."
That's scary. I feel like I'd have compound fractures all over my body.
A doubt suddenly occurs to me.
"By the way, are those men larger than you, Beowulf?"
"Sometimes I might be larger."
I see. Those men have it tough too, then.
"Then, I'll dispose of them."
She cuts off about half the tail as proof of extermination.
We gathered the rat corpses in one place, sprinkled oil on them, and set them on fire with a torch.
After finishing the funeral prayer, we started walking through the dark waterway without even a moment to soak in the lingering afterglow of our first victory.
"So, seven in total, huh?"
We reported today's results to Hans-san at the guard station. Our burlap sacks were dirty and our faces looked sooty, perhaps from the Fire Balls or the aftermath of disposing of the rats, but we wanted to report our results first. So, we came to the station in those outfits.
It's not like we wanted to be praised or anything.
After that, we encountered nine rats in four separate instances, and five of them escaped. Two were taken down by Beatrix's Fire Ball. The other two were damaged and immobilized by my holy attack magic, Holy, which I used as a trial after we swapped roles. Beowulf delivered the finishing blows.
From now on, we'll need to figure out how not to let the rats we've finally found escape.
"I believe the method of scattering bait is effective. I think we can rack up more numbers if we use multiple vertical shafts and scatter bait at intervals, defeating the rats in order as they gather," Beowulf reported.
While Beowulf was reporting, Hans-san had his brow furrowed the whole time.
I wonder if we did something to make him angry.
"After clearing one spot, go up to the surface and scatter bait in a different hole. If you go back down the original hole and reach the newly baited hole from underground, it's good because they won't notice you."
This is a new method we thought of based on this experience. We decided to secretly name it 'Operation Chicken Carcass.'
Since the two of us can use magic more than ten times combined, we might be able to defeat about ten if we work hard.
"I'm not against the method, but coming up to the surface so many times..."
"Is there some problem?"
"Do something about those outfits. Complaints are coming in to arrest the 'strange things' wandering the town."
He finally couldn't hold it back and burst out laughing.
For convenience, I have made up my own rules.
Creatures that have become monsters are written in katakana. Ordinary creatures are written in kanji.
'Nezumi' (rat/mouse) in katakana vs. kanji, so to speak.
Well, both 'Dragon' and 'Ryu' are monsters, but this is a rule applied within the realistic range.
Please understand.
If I have used them incorrectly, please point it out. Thank you.