kscans

Chapter 263 - How Scary

"Well, I understand that it’s a terrifying monster. The solution is to just cut it down before it can curse me, so I can manage. It’s a weakling, after all."

"That’s right. The Laughing Skull only curses you, it doesn’t attack, so if you find one, you should attack it immediately or run away."

Good, good. I can deal with that.

"So, Arc, there’s one more problem."

"What? There are a lot of problems."

You’re telling me.

"There’s a large chamber deep inside, and there were multiple Sand Dragons in there."

"Huh? Really?"

"Yes. Nanaka confirmed it with her Clairvoyance, so there’s no mistake."

"Nothing escapes my sight!"

Yes, yes. Very cool, very cool. I bet you’re just peeping on pervy things.

"Sand Dragons in a cave, huh."

"Is that unusual?"

"No, not really, but… Ah, maybe they went to a cool place because it’s hot?"

I see. They’re just lizards, after all. That makes sense.

"Anyway, that’s what makes it tricky. It’s dark inside the cave, and the footing is bad."

"That certainly sounds dangerous."

"So, can you do something about it? Specifically, can you make it brighter? If it were bright, I could just cut them down…"

"Sand Dragons are tough, you know?"

Didn’t Claire say the same thing?

"I can cut through iron, you know. Mia, bring me a Frying Pan!"

I’ll show you my Zantetsuken!

"I, I get it. Just stop."

"Anyway, as long as it’s bright, I can handle it. You’re a pure mage, right? Don’t you have anything? You were bragging about it before."

"Did I?"

"About Space Magic and Beer Cooling Magic."

When we first went to that underground mansion, he lorded his magic over me since I couldn’t use any.

"Ah… How petty."

This little brat…

"Now, now…" Kaede-chan tried to calm me down.

"Hmm, magic to make it bright. There are normal light spells, but I don’t know. It’s no different from a torch."

A torch, huh… About the same as Nanapon’s fire or my lantern.

"Master, shall I lend you my aid?" Lydia-chan offered.

"Lydia-chan? You can do something?"

"I can use a spell called Holy Light. With that, I can make even a fairly large space as bright as day."

Holy… Light… Holy? The Holy Light…

"Huh? Not Dark Light?"

"Whatever could you mean?" Lydia-chan said with a sweet smile. But her eyes had no highlights. Scary…

"Oh, it’s nothing. Well then, Lydia-chan, I’ll need you to come with me."

"Leave it to me."

"Lydia’s going? Then maybe I’ll go too."

You’re coming too?

"Are you asking me to look after three small fry? Yoshino-san isn’t here this time, and while Claire is one thing, Harry is an idiot, so he’s not suited for guard duty."

I still haven’t seen his unique skill, Steel Thread. I haven’t even seen him fight.

"Ah, that might be tough."

"I can manage if it’s just the two of them. Nanaka can at least fight."

She is level 17, after all. Hmph!

"Well then, just Lydia, I guess… Protect her."

"Who do you think you’re talking to?"

"Well, I guess the damn witch’s strength is the real deal…"

Did you all hear that? Those are the words of a Lv7 Provocation Expert.

"Nanaka-san, you should also look after Lydia-chan. She is the Queen, after all."

"Understood. I will show you the pride of the Queen’s Senior Disciple."

Do your best, shorty.

"I’ll be in your care, Nanapon-san."

Lydia-chan gave Nanapon a slight bow.

"Y, yeah… but please stop with the Nanapon-san."

No way. That girl with her dark side on full display is a complete sadist at heart.

"Alright, it’s settled. Kaede-chan, could you call Satsuki-san and tell her about the Laughing Skulls? If you tell her, I think the information will get to the government through the general manager."

"Okay. I’ll go call her."

Kaede-chan stood up and left the living room.

"Now, I’ll call Claire. Shorties, be quiet."

"Okay."

The shorties nodded, so I called Claire. The ringing stopped after just one tone.

"Hello, Claire, how are you?"

‘That was terrible. So bad I almost laughed.’

"Hold on a second."

Translation Potion, Translation Potion…

‘Just get to the point. What’s the situation?’

"My disciple No. 3 can use magic to light up the place, so we’re going with that."

‘A convenient disciple. I heard she’s from Frontier?’

Correct.

"That doesn’t matter. She’s my cute disciple."

‘Well, I guess it doesn’t. Anyway, bad news. Harry can’t make it.’

Huh?

"Did he finally collapse from eating too much ramen?"

‘No, our visit to the Ikebukuro Branch today caused a bit of a stir among the foreign agents. Harry is going to deal with the trouble.’

So it’s still like that, huh…

"So it’ll just be you?"

‘Looks like it. But do we really need him? All he did today was eat two cups of ramen and nothing else.’

Yeah. So Claire thought the same thing.

"You’re right. He’s just a big body."

‘Right? So it’s just me.’

Well, that’s fine. The number of people doesn’t change. A ramen-addicted fool has just been replaced by a cute yandere girl.

"Alright then. Is tomorrow okay?"

‘Yeah. The sooner, the better.’

That’s true. I feel sorry for my friend and the prime minister.

"Then tomorrow, same time."

‘Roger.’

"And there’s something important I need to tell you."

‘Important? Money?’

Honestly, this money-grubbing old lady.

"No. You know that giant skull from today?"

‘The floating one. It was creepy.’

"It’s apparently called a Laughing Skull."

‘Fitting. It was definitely laughing.’

I don’t understand English…

"Anyway, it seems that thing casts curses."

‘Curses? Well, it did have that kind of vibe…’

"When its blue eyes turn red, it curses you. It’s supposed to bring Misfortune."

‘That’s terrifying for me as a businessperson…’

Indeed…

"And it dropped a femur bone, right?"

‘It did… Don’t tell me it’s a cursed item?’

She seems to have guessed it.

"It is. That’s why I dropped my octopus sausage."

‘What a lame misfortune.’

"No, apparently it can be fatal."

‘That’s the worst. What kind of malicious monster is that?’

You’re telling me.

"Anyway, it’s a troublesome monster, so be careful. They say it doesn’t attack, so you just have to kill it quickly or run away."

‘Hmm… Sounds like it could be sold.’

This one has the same ideas as Black Nanapon.

"Let me tell you, if you try to give the cursed bone to someone else, you’ll just end up with the Misfortune yourself. If you curse another… a hole… um."

‘To curse another is to dig two graves.’

She knows it? I’m Japanese and she’s American, you know?

"That’s the one."

‘Are you really from Frontier?’

I want to nod so badly.

"That doesn’t matter. Anyway, it’s better not to try to bring Misfortune to others. If you have it yourself, you can just throw it away like I did, but if you give it to someone else, it’s irreversible."

‘True… This is a major point of caution.’

Curses are serious business. I just pray some dumb video streamer doesn’t make a video about experiencing Misfortune. No, the Guild would probably stop them.

"Exactly. Tell the American side about this. I’ll tell the Guild Master at the Ikebukuro Branch on our end."

‘Roger. We’ll kill it on sight tomorrow.’

"I know. For those of us who have grasped happiness, it’s the worst kind of enemy."

Kaede-chan might return to her senses.

‘You’re right. Well then, tomorrow. Same time, same place.’

"Yes. See you then."

With that, I hung up the phone.