kscans

Chapter 432 - The Battle of the Mandragora Patch

A week after planting the Mandragora seeds, a battle was raging in the Mandragora patch.

When a Mandragora is pulled from the ground, it lets out a loud scream. In the game, the sound wasn't loud enough to hurt one's ears, but it had the effect of drawing in nearby monsters.

Unaware of this fact, Parfait and her friends cursed the receptionist at the Farmer's Guild who had failed to mention it as they fought off the monsters that had gathered.

They had been told they would be attacked, but it wasn't the Mandragora themselves that attacked. Instead, they attracted monsters from the surrounding area. This was the Eastern Country, and near their base was a lake. The monsters were Kappa that had crawled out from the water.

Kappa were humanoid yokai with green skin, a turtle shell on their backs, and something resembling a dish on their heads. They were weak as monsters, but their large numbers made them a nuisance.

"Kappaaa!"

"Chris-chan, one's headed your way!"

"Understood!"

Chris, dressed in a maid outfit, unleashed a swift punch. She stopped a Kappa's charge with her left, then struck it down with her right in a one, two punch. Her STR and Hand-to-Hand Combat skill must have increased, because that one, two punch was all it took to defeat a Kappa.

"Fuhahahaha! Become experience points for my skills!"

Natsu, in her military uniform, also fought in a rather unique style, swinging her long blonde hair about as she fired her guns in close combat. With the help of the Skeletons she created with Create Undead, she was taking down Kappa at a rate that rivaled Chris's.

Then there was Parfait. She drew her sword from its scabbard in a single fluid motion. It seemed to be a one-hit kill, as any Kappa she struck immediately vanished into particles of light.

Finally, they defeated the last of the Kappa.

While they didn't get physically tired in virtual reality, they were mentally exhausted. It was no wonder they were tired, getting attacked by Kappa every time they pulled up a Mandragora.

"My friend Parfait, let us set aside interrogating the lady at the Farmer's Guild for later. There are still many Mandragora. Do you intend to get through all of this today?"

"If we don't sell the Mandragora, we won't have money for furniture..."

"Gunununu...!"

"Natsu, it cannot be helped. It's about ten Kappa per Mandragora. We have ninety nine more... which means we just have to defeat nine hundred and ninety more."

"Is that not the very definition of a pain?"

Defeating ten Kappa was no particular problem for Parfait's group at this point, but it was tedious. However, if they didn't harvest and sell the Mandragora today, they wouldn't be able to pay the land tax.

"It'd be nice if we had some magic that could take out groups, but since we all specialize in close combat, it takes a while, you know?"

At Parfait's words, Natsu tilted her head slightly.

"Weapon Skills should include some attacks that hit surrounding enemies, but can neither of you use one? My marksmanship skills and Necromancy don't have anything like that at the moment."

"Ah! Now that I think about it, I have something called Whirlwind Slash!"

"Hm. I also have something called Wind God Kick... but it's a kicking technique."

"So you do have them. Shall we try pulling up ten Mandragora next and fighting a hundred of them?"

"Yeah, let's try it!"

"Alright, then I'll start pulling."

The three of them split up and pulled ten Mandragora. At the sound of their screams, Kappa began crawling out of the lake. A quick glance confirmed there were about a hundred of them.

First, Parfait unleashed a Swift Slash. The attack's range wasn't very wide, but her usual sword draw became an attack that could strike multiple enemies, felling the targeted Kappa and about three others caught in the blast.

"Whoa, amazing. This makes things a lot easier... ah, there's a cool down time, so it looks like I can only use it about once every thirty seconds."

"So you cannot use it consecutively. Still, it seems like it will make things much easier. In that case, I shall try my Wind God Kick. I have never learned kicking techniques in martial arts, but my mother taught me how to kick gracefully."

"What's a graceful kick...?"

Ignoring Parfait's question, Chris curtsied, pinching the hem of her skirt and lifting it slightly. In the next moment, the Kappa in front of her turned into particles of light. The surrounding Kappa met the same fate.

"I, for one, am ashamed to admit I did not see the kick."

"I saw it, sort of, but it was fast. It was like an iai kick. And how does your upper body not move at all? That's an assassination kick, no doubt about it...!"

The kick, delivered from a neutral stance, had a speed and range that would be useful even in player versus player combat. A normal person probably wouldn't even know what hit them. Despite the power of the attack, Chris looked somewhat dissatisfied.

"Kicks are rather awkward to use. And they leave too many openings. Well, I suppose my attire is to blame. As for area of effect punches... no, with my current skills, I cannot use any."

"Ah, um, then I'll do my best, so you two just fight like you normally do."

And so, Parfait and her friends spent their time battling Kappa.

They pulled Mandragora in batches of ten and defeated a hundred Kappa.

They repeated this process several times, and after about an hour, only nine remained.

In that time, both Natsu and Chris had earned the title "Yokai Killer." In addition, all three of them acquired the title "Hated by Kappa."

"This is the last nine. Finally..."

"Indeed. After this, I do not wish to see a Kappa or their drop item, the cucumber, for some time. To instill such trauma in me, the Kappa are not to be underestimated."

"Ninety more to go. After this, let us eat some sweets at the Maid Guild. The menu had protein on it, so I am looking forward to it."

A reward would give them the strength to push on. With just a little more to go, the three mustered their energy and pulled the Mandragora.

But Natsu, who pulled the hundredth and final one, tilted her head.

"Unless my eyes deceive me, is this Mandragora not golden?"

"It looks that way to my eyes, too."

"Mine as well."

"The item name is 'Golden Mandragora.' The item description says it attracts a troublesome enemy."

"A troublesome enemy?"

Just as Parfait said that, the lake became agitated. Thinking it was more Kappa emerging, she looked over, but what she saw was a giant Kappa.

It was about two meters tall, a good two sizes larger than a normal Kappa. It was powerfully built and clearly a boss-like Kappa.

"What magnificent muscles!"

"Chris-chan, what are you saying? That's a monster."

"There is no nobility or baseness in muscles. A beautiful thing is beautiful, even if it is a monster."

"Ah, okay."

While they were having this conversation, Natsu shouted, "Akashic Record, Connect!" a phrase that had no particular meaning in the game.

"It appears to be a monster called the 'Kappa Emperor.' It is likely a rare Kappa monster. I do not know its strength, but considering the strength of a normal Kappa, it should not be that powerful."

"In that case, should we defeat the normal Kappa first and then fight the Kappa Emperor?"

"I have no objections."

"Mm. I was getting a little bored. A formidable foe, and one with such muscles. A worthy opponent indeed."

It wasn't much of a strategy, but just as Parfait said, they started by defeating the normal Kappa. There were about ninety of them, but they hadn't lost in any of their previous battles, so they took them down one after another.

However, the Kappa Emperor was not one to stand by and watch. It charged towards Natsu. Then, the Kappa Emperor swung both its arms high.

"Gappaa!"

"Fuhahahaha, it seems to know who is the most dangerous among us!"

Natsu said as she leaped backwards.

The Kappa Emperor slammed both its arms into the ground. From that spot, something like a spear of water shot upwards. It didn't end there. Several more water spears erupted from the ground, heading towards Natsu.

"Mumu!?"

Sensing danger, Natsu immediately leaped sideways to dodge the water spears. But no sooner had she dodged than the Kappa Emperor was charging at her again.

"Kukuku! Leave this one to me! However, you may certainly hurry up and defeat the Kappa to come to my aid!"

Since Natsu had declared herself the decoy, Parfait and Chris immediately focused on defeating the Kappa.

Chris decided to prioritize annihilation, using her Wind God Kick, while Parfait unleashed her Whirlwind Slash for area attacks.

Five minutes later, the Kappa were defeated, leaving only the Kappa Emperor.

Natsu had been using her Skeletons from Create Undead as shields while attacking with her dual pistols, but her HP had dropped below a quarter, suggesting she had taken some damage.

"Natsu-chan, thanks for waiting!"

"Leave it to us from here!"

"I shall not refuse you the best part!"

Natsu said, putting distance between herself and the Kappa Emperor.

As the Kappa Emperor pursued her, Chris stood in its way. She landed a blow to its body with her right fist, then followed up with an uppercut to its chin with her left.

The impact sent the Kappa Emperor stumbling back. At that moment, Parfait approached from behind.

"Hyaa!"

Parfait performed a sword draw enhanced with the single-target sword Weapon Skill "High Slash" on the Kappa Emperor. Furthermore, since the attack was from behind, the damage was amplified, dealing a significant amount.

Thanks to that, she generated enough hate value to take the target from the Kappa Emperor, successfully drawing its aggro.

The Kappa Emperor turned and swung its arms wide, but Parfait wouldn't miss such a wide-open attack.

Leaning forward significantly, Parfait began to circle the Kappa Emperor, attacking with her sword draw as she moved.

The Kappa Emperor couldn't pinpoint its target, and its attacks missed completely. She was moving so fast that even Natsu and Chris couldn't get close.

The Kappa Emperor's HP dropped rapidly. When it was nearly gone, Parfait stopped in front of it.

Immediately after, she struck the Kappa Emperor's chin upwards with her scabbard. It was the Azuma-ryu sword draw technique, "Azure Dragon."

It didn't end there. Parfait bent her knees and performed a high-speed horizontal rotation while drawing her sword. With that momentum, she took the sword and scabbard in each hand and leaped into the air, spinning.

The move, reminiscent of a tornado, was the Azuma-ryu sword draw technique "Vermilion Bird." It was a technique Benitsuru had told her not to perform in the real world, but Parfait thought she couldn't jump that high in reality anyway.

However, Benitsuru did it casually in the real world.

Since this was a virtual reality, Parfait leaped quite high. As she spun like a top delivering a flurry of attacks, the Kappa Emperor's HP ran out the moment she reached her highest point.

Having jumped nearly two meters, Parfait landed with bent knees and sheathed her sword. At the same time, the Kappa Emperor vanished into particles of light.

"A truly dark side technique!"

"As expected of an heir to the Azuma-ryu sword style. To think someone other than Benny-san could do that."

"It's not a dark side thing, and I'm not an heir. Besides, I can't do this in real life, you know?"

"Nay, I do not think it can be done even in virtual reality."

"I agree with Natsu. Thinking about it, what does that make Benny-san, who can do it in reality...?"

Parfait thought to herself that Simon-sensei could do it too, but for now, she let out a long breath, relieved that the battle was over.

"Alright, we've gathered all the Mandragora now. Let's head to the Apothecary's Guild right away and sell them!"

"The Golden Mandragora should sell for quite a high price, so we should have plenty of money to spare, should we not?"

"That might be true. Then today, it's all you can eat sweets at the Maid Guild!"

"By the way, what about the drop item from the Kappa Emperor? If it's a rare monster, shouldn't a rare item drop? Nothing dropped into my item bag."

At Chris's words, Parfait checked her own item bag.

"...It was a cucumber."

As she looked disappointed, Natsu raised her voice.

"An item called 'Kappa Emperor's Plate' dropped. It seems like a rare item."

"Eh? Really? What's the effect?"

"Well, wait a moment... it says it produces ten cucumbers every day..."

All three of them had conflicted expressions. They had more than enough cucumbers to sell from the recent battle. And in the game, there wasn't enough demand to even sell them to other players.

"W, well, perhaps it would be best to keep it for now, just in case. Besides, creating something from nothing makes my dark side stir a little! Though I do not wish to see a cucumber for a while."

"You're right. We can just think of some cucumber recipes."

"I like them pickled in miso."

"Chris-chan, you have mature tastes. But I wonder if there's a recipe like that in this game...? Oh well, first, let's go to Azuma to turn these Mandragora into money! We have to pay the tax and then live it up with what's left!"

When Parfait said that, Natsu and Chris agreed, and they immediately set off for Azuma.