Chapter 66 – Vampires (2)
The swarm of mosquitoes that began to spread slowly near the Barmela estate a while ago gradually grew without answering not only in numbers but also in size.
Originally, it was a normal size mosquito that could only be captured by focusing one’s eyes, but as time passed gradually, gnat-sized ones appeared among the mosquitoes, and a small part of them were monstrous in size, equivalent to the size of an adult man’s fist. Mutated to
And now, on the adventurer’s guild’s bulletin board, a request to clean the sewer, a request to subdue a group of goblins nestled in nearby forests or caves, and a request to wipe out a group of bandits… Etc., As well as a request that is always possible, as well as an unprecedented request that puts a bounty on the large mosquitoes that have recently been infested.
In the end, large mosquitoes were treated as new monsters.
As soon as they woke up, Roden and Roxia, who heard about the situation that a large number of mosquitoes were wanted through the story told by the twin sisters who had been to the guild, recently went outside and imagined the mosquitoes infested everywhere, they somehow understood it, but it was absurd. I couldn’t hide my feelings.
“Huh, I’ve never heard or seen the story that a bounty was put on a mosquito in my life.”
“Recently, it is said that if you lose your eye even for a moment, the damage caused by mosquitoes attacking domestic animals and dogs is serious. Sometimes, the blood is sucked out and they die…”
Moon, moon…
From the point of view of Roden and Roxia, who were quietly active only in the city center and let them go if they had nothing else to do, they had no idea that the aftermath of mosquitoes would spread to this extent in the past few days.
Every visitor who came and went only heard that the mosquitoes were extreme, but I hadn’t heard of the situation in such detail.
“…How are the bounties set?”
“Each request is slightly different, but if you look at the request we received… It says that you will receive two fairy tales for the head of a mosquito the size of a gnat, and one fairy tale for the head of a mosquito the size of a fist.”
“The last time I went out, it was five fairy tales for each game I caught, but there are twice as many mosquitoes.”
“It’s because the big ones are acting as commanders of the mosquitoes. They say it’s much more annoying because they have to deal with all the small ones.”
“Hmm… Let’s eat breakfast first and move on. I prepared a special meal for you today.”
Roden and Roxia finished cooking while listening to the stories related to mosquitoes with interest, and placed bowls of food that looked appetizing on the table.
It is a cold slime dish made by mixing slime that has been dried and aged for over a month, thinly sliced cucumber and carrot, and cabbage with a tangy seasoning.
Originally, food was eaten with chopsticks, but due to cultural differences, the twin sisters picked up a fork, and Loxia and Roden, who learned how to use chopsticks from their master, picked up chopsticks.
“Ohhh, like pasta?”
“The surface is transparent.”
The twin sisters who saw the unfamiliar food began to taste the cold vegetables with the words that they would eat well while wondering what it was.
Slurulululuk, whooo-look!
The slime cold chae, which has an exquisite balance of crunchy yet tangy texture and sour taste, seemed to suit the taste of all four people, and all emptied the bowl cleanly with a bright expression.
While they were finishing their meal and getting ready to go out, the twins and Loxia asked each other what kind of food this was made of, but Roden didn’t answer and evaded it appropriately.
Since the raw material is a slime with a monstrous appetite that eats any living thing at random, not knowing the truth for now is medicine for them.
Anyway, after getting ready to go out, the four of them started moving slowly toward the farmhouse within walking distance, where they had requested a swarm of mosquitoes.
Weiying…
Aaaaaeng… Aaeng…
Even as we headed towards our destination, the sound of the sharp wings of mosquitoes flying from all directions endlessly tickled the ears of the party.
* * *
While plotting how to deal with the mosquitoes, Roden’s group arrived at a farm near the city and went straight to the hall.
Inside the hall, specimens stuffed with the bodies of mosquitoes and the heads of giant mosquitoes are splendidly decorating one wall to express their endless hatred towards mosquitoes. It is a harrowing landscape that makes even Roden, who has gone through all the pre-natal battles, feel cold.
As I was curiously looking at the specimens of mosquitoes, an old man with a stoop came up to me with a blunt cane and pretended to know her twin sister.
“Hmm? Miss Merim and Miss Marill.”
“Hello! Old man.”
“Hello, Chairman.”
“Hmmmm, if it’s just the two of us, we can definitely trust them. Thank you for accepting our request. … Are the tall swordsman and the pretty lady in the back your allies?”
The old man, presumed to be the governor of this area, seems to have been dating a twin sister. Roden and Roxia nodded and briefly greeted each other, then listened to the chairman briefly explain.
“As you may have seen on the way, all the people in the farmhouse are worried because of the monster mosquitoes that are flying like crazy in all directions these days.”
Taking a moment to catch his breath, the chairman sat down in a chair and pointed at the mountain with the tip of his cane.
“In the case of the guys who often raid here, they seem to have settled in the mountains beyond the fields. Kill as many of them as possible and bring them the Daegaltong. Then I’ll pay you as much as the small amount of the request.”
“Just leave it to me!”
Merim, the head of the party, corrected her cone-shaped hat that she was wearing crookedly, and she replied confidently, then led the way toward the mountain beyond the field that the chairman pointed out.
After a while, the party began climbing the mountain in formation, with Roden at the forefront as usual, Merim and Roxia as mages in the middle, and Marill following in preparation for an attack.
As we went deeper into the deserted mountain, the hum of mosquitoes’ wings gradually spread louder.
Roden, who was moving forward with great strides, soon found a scene with unusual corpses scattered around.
When he looked down at the corpses of wild animals, scrawny like branches with not a single drop of blood left, the word that immediately came to Roden’s mind was ‘mummy’. There is no proper word to describe these corpses other than mummies.
“…This is the first time I’ve ever seen a corpse like this.”
“It’s a much more serious situation than my uncle and I imagined. When we talked about mosquitoes a few days ago, it was just that there were more mosquitoes.”
The group, who climbed the mountain a little further, came across the mummified corpses of goblins and gnolls. It seems that the mosquitoes have completely taken over the mountain.
Weiying… !
Aaaaaeng!!
The moment I was about to examine the corpse of the monster, the black dots surrounding Roden and the others appeared with a sound that scratched my nerves. It is a swarm of mosquitoes so huge that counting them is meaningless.
It was unmistakably true that giant mosquitoes were emerging. Between them, a gnat-sized captain mosquito and a fist-sized captain mosquito were flying splendidly as if commanding.
“Ugh.”
In reality, it’s a lot creepier than I thought.
The giant mosquitoes were so repulsive that the ‘Tinker Bells’ Roden often saw in her country house as a child looked cute.
When the captain and lieutenant commanders commanded them to send a signal to attack Roden’s party, mosquitoes with sharp beaks began to fly in from all directions.
Woo woo woo woo… !
However, the snouts of the mosquitoes, which were blocked by the strong wind wall created by Loxia holding the wand, did not reach the humans in front of her eyes.
“It’s fortunate that the prediction was correct. Loxia, you did a good job. Just focus on maintaining the barrier as it is.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
Tapping Roxia on the shoulder and drawing her weapon, Roden rushed at the Captain and Vice-Captain Mosquitoes, including a tiny swarm of mosquitoes that had squeezed through the wind barrier.
He had to be very careful to leave the shape of the giant mosquitoes’ heads, but this penalty was nothing to him.
Cheer up!
The sword wielded by Roden, like flowing water, continued to link incessantly, completely dominating the space around him. There was no mercy to the blade that gradually accelerated.
Meanwhile, Marill, who was in charge of defense, calmly and surely cut down the giant mosquitoes that were trying to bypass Roden and attack the wizards one by one.
Aaeng… ! Wheein!
… It wasn’t long before the swarms of mosquitoes, having lost all their leaders, showed signs of fleeing.
“You damned mosquitoes… I’ll have to pay the price for my blood!”
Merim, who did not miss it, instructed Roxia to disarm the wind barrier, then raised her staff high and fired the lightning orbs she had gathered so far at the swarm of mosquitoes.
The sphere, which emitted blue at first, gradually enlarged and changed to a bright yellow color. Then, as if it had a will of its own, it gave a small thunderbolt to the mosquitoes around it.
Jigsaw Jigsaw! Pazu-z!
The lightning sphere created by Merim completely disappeared after roasting and frying about half of the swarm of mosquitoes that had clumped together like black mist. The rest of them ran away into the mountains, but all of Roden’s party, who watched the scene where the mosquitoes were destroyed by lightning, had a hollow look on their faces.
“Ah–I feel like the grudge I’ve been sucking blood from mosquitoes has been resolved all at once.”
To put it bluntly, I didn’t get paid more for dealing with the swarms of runaway midgets and mosquitoes, but I was able to relieve the stress I received from them at once, so the small efficiency was fine.
“Is everyone still worth doing? Let’s just retrieve our heads, take a little rest here, and go around again.”
Roden, along with his twin sisters and Loxia, nodded, began putting the heads of the captain and vice-captain Mogi scattered around in a leather sack.
* * *
“Wonsu! Wonsu! Wonsu!”
Meanwhile, deep underground.
A bizarre-looking creature with a long pinocchio-like nose, like a mix of half and half bugs and half people, was trembling all over.
“Oooh, ohh, ohhh, today too the hateful foes slaughtered my children!”
Weeeee… !
The monster, who was muttering to himself and having a mad seizure, stretched out his arms toward the swarm of mosquitoes that had brought food. Then the swarms of mosquitoes that clung to my arms generously offered their blood to their queen.
While the queen drenched in the taste of her blood, she calmly judged that it was still time for her to gather her strength.
“Blood is sorely lacking! My master! In order to please the demon king who finally came to visit me, I must collect more blood! As a bonus, if I gather enough strength, I will dig out the hearts of the enemies who are slaughtering my children from all directions. I will eat!”
After donating all the blood, the swarm of mosquitoes went back to the ground to collect fresh blood to offer to the queen.
