Chapter 10: Unexpected Loot
“Don’t be a backseat princess, Kyouka!” Nith looked over his shoulder, reprimanding his partner, who stood still.
She poked out her tongue and threw another small potion that fell on the crocodile’s side profile. The liquid streaked toward Nith’s poison, then joined forces to dissolve the crocodile’s snout muscles. A lot of blood oozed out as well.
“Your poison isn’t canceling out my potion’s corrosion! It even seems to work together!” Kyouka shouted, yearning for an answer.
Nith harrumphed, “You thought I’d waste my toxins? And I’ve worked with others enough to know how to be a valuable teammate. I ain’t wasting your hard work.”
‘This hunched bastard is too cool!’ Kyouka inwardly exclaimed.
Meanwhile, the crocodile rolled back onto its fours. Its vision blurred due to the poison, potion, and bleeding mix on its snout. Nonetheless, it sensed Nith’s presence, scampering toward him in a frenzied rush.
Though its snout had been mauled, the crocodile still opened its jaw to reveal its black teeth, which had torn open countless adventurers before. It’d take a single attack to defeat Nith and devour him alive.
Just a single attack.
Yet, he seemed so far ahead.
No matter how many times the crocodile closed the distance, Nith found a gap in its approach, eluding the monster’s advances. He answered every attempt with a kick, sneering at the mini-boss.
The monster’s low intelligence didn’t help much. When its snout suddenly froze, and it was unable to close its parted jaw, the monster’s heart signaled the impending demise.
Nith stood still, hands in his pockets. “Finally. It still took some time despite the venom sneaking into its muscles through the punctured flesh.”
Kyouka approached him, warily staring at the crocodile. “What did you do?”
“The second poison I chugged down is in the form of a gas. I evaporated my sweat around my legs into an invisible gas that the monster inhaled. I also shoved it into the monster’s mauled flesh, targeting its snout. It can’t close its jaw now. I used one of the toxins required for the petrification venom that Medusa could naturally produce within her eyes. It was looked down upon by many before I revealed that it’s one of the requirements for Medusa’s famous trait,” Nith casually said, not minding sharing his past with Kyouka.
He had grown closer to her during their stay here, fighting shoulder to shoulder against monsters.
He finally felt like he could be on par with her, and his creation working with hers solidified this belief, making him feel differently toward her.
“It’s named like one of those real tongue-twister toxins from Earth, so let’s call it Muscle Asphyxiation Toxin,” Nith added.
“Asphyxiation does sound a little tongue-twisting,” Kyouka said. “I think it doesn’t make much sense, but you do you.”
While the two bantered, the crocodile’s life force was seeping away. It tried to bump into Nith, but its parted jaw weakened it so much that the monster lost all hope. Its snout hurt so much, it wished it would just die already.
A minute later, its wish was fulfilled, and the monster turned into particles.
Other than the items one would expect from a mini-boss, such as flesh, bones, and eyes, Nith and Kyouka received an unknown scroll each. Neither expected to receive unique loot, so it came as a big but pleasant surprise.
It’d fetch them a lot if they wanted to sell it.
Nith and Kyouka first needed to see what they had actually obtained, though. That said, pitching a tent came first. From leaving the capital to killing the mini-boss, at least six hours had passed, so both were spent.
So exhausted, in fact, that Kyouka used her womanly privilege, forcing Nith to set up the tent alone.
He scowled at her. “I won’t pitch up yours.”
A bulb shone over Kyouka’s head. “I’ll sneak into yours, then.”
“…at least fetch some water,” Nith replied, much to Kyouka’s contentment.
Upon returning with glasses of clear water from the small water bank naturally located on the island, Kyouka’s face fell.
Nith’s tent was small. So small that she couldn’t imagine them operating inside it.
“What do you mean operating?” Nith asked, grabbing Kyouka’s head.
She turned redder. “Don’t get weird ideas! I meant concocting potions inside! I spent a lot of them, so I need to concoct more!”
Nith spat, “So I wasted all this time?! Where is your tent?! I bet it’s an overpriced magical thing you bought despite your debt!”
“You bet it is! I bought it for a moment like this!” Kyouka retorted.
From outside, it looked like a couple’s argument, to which a few male-only adventurers jealously shook their heads. Others went to their tents to spare themselves from the female shrieks, which Kyouka could produce quite well.
“You aren’t cut out to be an adventurer, I swear! Idiot!” Kyouka rummaged through her backpack as she searched for the tent stored in an enchanted jewelry-like box.
Upon opening it, parts of the tent started appearing one at a time beside it.
With her arms on her waist, Kyouka said, “It takes a lot to have an alchemist on your team! Remember that!”
“Silly bitch,” Nith murmured to himself before picking up the first pole, “You’d better help me, or I will snatch all your pillows.”
“I will sleep on your chest, then,” Kyouka harrumphed, grabbing the second pole.
Because these two had never ventured together into danger zones and instead had gone from one village to another, their first trip here turned out to be quite a peculiar experience. Once everything was done, Nith and Kyouka walked into the king-sized tent.
“It’s sound-proof,” Kyouka said.
“Amazing,” Nith sarcastically replied.
“What’s first? I’m interested in the scrolls,” Kyouka asked.
To her shock, Nith unrolled his sleeping bag. He took off his wet clothes, and wearing nothing but his briefs, stuffed himself into the warm nest.
He moaned before turning around and closing his eyes.
“You can’t be serious?!” Kyouka screamed in utter shock.
