stonecrandall Chapter 174 Laya was arrested
Chapter 174 Laya was arrested
The moment I heard the voice behind me, I immediately realized something was wrong.
——It’s over, the debt collector is here.
And, to make matters worse, I was broke again!
- In order to be able to use the prayer "Healing of Flame", last night, I asked Melina to upgrade her wisdom by two levels, and the number of runes available for trading was only in the double digits.
...When entering the Crystal Cave, I lamented the inconvenience of not having a portable lantern, but that night I forgot to leave money for selling the lantern.
The honest wandering merchant said with a hint of joy: "It is you, my dear. I was worried that something might have happened to you after not coming for so long."
"Forehead······"
"You remember that last time you told me you needed a portable lantern. I have one ready. Would you like to see it now?"
"You...you, you got the wrong person." I made up an excuse stiffly.
But the wandering merchant refused to give in: "Huh? But this horse..."
"The horse belongs to my brother. Anyway, you must have recognized the wrong person. I will help you find him now. Goodbye!" After saying that, I quickly grabbed Torret and took Laya with me and ran along the southern lakeside of Lienia.
The businessman was left staring at our backs with a confused look on his face.
"Zero, do you have any brothers?" Laya behind me curiously stabbed me again.
I also made up a story: "Uh... that person looks similar to me, and he uses my appearance to deceive people everywhere. So, Laya, you must be careful when you see him next time."
Keep running along the cliff on the south side and you will come across two floating ghost jellyfish. That means you have almost reached your destination for today.
Continuing to walk further inside, we found a cave - the Liushui Cave, which contained crystals of cave moss, one of the raw materials for making putrefactive moss medicine.
After all, the final boss is a corrupt knight who is closely related to the goddess of corruption, so I should be correct here.
But this cave is full of poisonous flowers, poisonous pools and poisonous mushroom men. If you don't have a countermeasure in the early stage, it is easy to fail in it.
Fortunately, I have received the "Healing of Flame" prayer, and today is a good opportunity to try out its power.
I entered the cave, lit up the blessing, and looked deeper into the cave.
Although it was noon, it was still pitch black inside. I once again realized how important lighting is in this world.
Originally, I didn't plan to bring Laya in with me, but considering that the monsters inside were not very strong, I finally decided to let Laya help hold the torch so that I could fight alone.
I entered the cave carefully. It was so quiet inside that I could hear the sound of dripping water.
In the light of the fire, there was a river pool at the bottom of the cave, dark green and viscous, with almost no trace of flowing waves.
Several poisonous flowers grew in the riverbed, including a giant flower monster that emitted green poisonous mist like a chimney, so the air was filled with a floral fragrance so strong that it made people dizzy.
——Sure enough, this place should be like the poisonous swamp under Platinum Village. As long as you step in, toxins will continue to accumulate.
I turned around and reminded her quietly: "Laya, if you feel dizzy or uncomfortable, you must tell me immediately."
Laya nodded and suddenly looked behind me: "Zero, be careful!"
"Squeak——"
When I turned around, I saw a huge black shadow coming towards me with its face hugged.
Fortunately, I reacted quickly enough and held the long fang across my chest, blocking the opponent's sharp teeth that were about to reach my neck, and then pushed it away.
While I had pushed it into a groove in the cave where it couldn't fly, I rushed forward and chopped it in half with one sword, and it stopped making any sound.
——It was a close call. I almost got hit by this bastard bat’s throwing technique.
However, beside the bat where it lay, there seemed to be a hint of bright green light.
I walked over curiously, and oh, I finally found it, the crystals of cave moss! And, there were all of them in this corner!
——By the way, should we collect moss or crystals?
——······Never mind, I just want them all.
"Laya, wait for me a moment." As I said that, I took out a small knife. If I didn't have a bag, I would just find a large piece of cloth, spread it on the ground, and then scrape off a whole piece of moss, including the roots.
"Ah, ah... Sure enough, someone is coming!" At this moment, the voice of an old man was heard in the cave again.
Turning around, I saw a strange man with a big mushroom on his head. His whole body looked like a savage, covered with hair and even some small mushrooms.
After shouting a few times, he did not take the initiative to attack. Instead, he leaned on the crutch that was taller than him and ran to the depths of the cave at an unimaginable speed: "Someone is coming! Finally, someone is coming!"
——Oh no, this guy is going to tip off!
I quickly picked up the hound's fangs and was about to rush forward, but the guy seemed to blend into the darkness and disappeared in a blink of an eye.
Moreover, unlike in the game, even after that weirdo discovered Laya and I, we were not attacked at all, not even by the people who were supposed to be stationed nearby.
Only the poisonous flowers seemed to be awakened, shaking their heads and scattering light yellow-green pollen.
"Cough cough cough." Laya couldn't help coughing.
I had no choice but to ignore the escaped mushroom monster for the time being and return to Laya. It was time to use prayer - the healing power of fire.
Recalling the flame rune he had obtained before, the hand holding the holy mark on his finger began to heat up and even hurt.
Different from the fire-throwing prayer, the healing red fire burned directly on my palms. When I gently patted Laya's back, the fire was like red ripples, flowing along Laya's skin and across her entire body.
Laya's slightly frowned brows relaxed, she opened her eyes, and asked excitedly, "Zero, what was that just now?"
"Healing of flames, a prayer that can cure the effects of poisoning and corruption." I also patted the fire on myself.
My chest, which was stuffy due to the scent of the poisonous flower, suddenly felt comfortable, and the warm feeling made my brain clearer. If I could bring this trick back to my original world, I would definitely become a miraculous doctor who can cure rhinitis!
"Fire...flame." Laya's eyes sparkled, and she looked very interested. "Can you do it again for me?"
——So, Laya is a little snake that is quite afraid of the cold.
I smiled and gave her another fire shot.
"Oh, it's so warm! Zero, can we do it again?"
"Hey, hey, hey, don't get addicted. This is used to detoxify. If it loses its magic power, we will all be in trouble." I couldn't help but remind the other party with a smile.
"Well, okay then." Laya naturally knew that my power could not be used indiscriminately, but she still agreed with some frustration.
“······Wait until we get out, and then I’ll set you on fire?”
"Ok!"
When I heard this, I seemed to imagine Laya's snake tail swinging with joy.
Okay, okay, then let’s quickly collect more cave moss crystals and leave this damn place.
I packed up what I had just collected and put it on my shoulder.
Inside the cave, apart from the sound of the poisonous flowers shaking and spraying pollen, there was no movement at all. Didn't that weirdo bring anyone back after he ran away?
——Then...it should be okay to continue exploring inside.
——And the moss medicine made from this amount of moss crystals might not even be enough for Latan to fill his teeth.
So, I made up my mind and took Laya deeper into the Liushui Cave. We jumped from the stone cliff in front to the other side of the Poison River, where there was a deeper cave.
——If I remember correctly, you can collect a set of sage costumes here, which are quite nice.
Besides, some moss crystals can also be found on this side of the cave.
I walked deeper into the cave while collecting moss crystals.
Suddenly, Laya's sharp eyes discovered something: "Zero, there is something on the top of the cave."
I also remembered that there should be three or four bat monsters here. I raised my head and vaguely found a black shadow in the firelight.
He also had several throwing knives on him.
I threw it towards the black shadow, and soon the bats were awakened and swooped down towards me with flapping wings.
But the narrow location of the cave prevented these guys from flying around. I put up my shield, and when their attacks were deflected, I easily dealt with them with a sharp strike of my sword.
"what--"
Suddenly, a sound wave that stung the eardrums came towards me with yellow-green pollen.
Are there still those human-faced bats here?
"Cough, cough, cough!" I could feel my throat choking and my chest suddenly felt stuffy as if there was a stone blocking it, unable to move up or down.
——This guy’s poisoning speed is too fast, we need to deal with him quickly.
I threw all my throwing knives out quickly, hitting the opponent's wings one after another.
The human-faced bat couldn't bear the pain and couldn't help but lower its flying altitude.
This was an opportunity, I rushed forward and slashed at its ferocious face. Then, I quickly patted myself on the fire, cleared the toxins in my body, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Turning around, I saw a guy wearing a crimson sage's robe, soaked in poisonous water... Suddenly, I didn't want to collect this set of clothes anymore.
...No, where is Laya?
I suddenly realized that the girl who was supposed to be following me was gone.
And the torch that fell to the ground gradually went out in the darkness.