72. Meeting A Beautiful Girl Is Always An Interesting Story, Isn’t It?

“Hey there, big sis! Your tail is so cute!!!”

“Huh!? W-What! Talking about my tail right off the bat!? Is this person a pervert!?”

The woman who seemed to be a lizardman, rumored to be extinct, blushed at Jitaro’s tactless words and squirmed to hide her ample chest.

However, the gloomy atmosphere surrounding her dissipated, along with the tension. So I guess it’s all good.

“Ah, just ignore that idiot. He’s a pervert.”

“Craft-san!? That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it!?”

“Just shut up for a bit, will you? For like three years.”

“Three years!?”

Shooing Jitaro away, I turned back to the lizard girl.

She seemed to be around the same age as me. I think she’s around 20 in human years, but considering Leafan and the uncertainty of demi-human ages. It’s hard to tell.

Still, rather than mistakenly assuming her age to be older, I’d rather err on the younger side, so in my mind, I just refer to her as a girl.

“So, are you a lizardman? As I’ve heard among us humans, you were believed to be extinct…”

“Well, um…”

The lizard girl hesitated in her words. Maybe it’s something she can’t easily say aloud.

When I glanced at Raidoc, he silently signaled to continue.

“You seemed to be running from something.”

“They’re here!”

Jitaro and Solar simultaneously nocked their bows. Slightly delayed, Raidoc and I formed a defensive formation centered around the lizard girl.

“Moda! Leafan! Hold them off, whatever’s coming!”

“Got it, Raidoc-san!”

Immediately, the priestess Bepp showered them with all sorts of support magic. Bepp’s quick selection of high-impact spells, despite their short duration, was impressive.

Amidst the crashing of nearby trees, what appeared before us was a gigantic frog-like creature.

“What the heck is that? Never seen one before.”

“Be careful! We don’t know what it’s capable of!”

Unfortunately, Raidock’s warning fell on deaf ears.

The frog guy spat out a massive blob from its mouth.

“I’ll stop it!”

“Oof!”

“No wayyyyy!”

Leafan and Moda thrust their massive shields forward to stop the attack.

Simultaneously, the lizard girl screamed.

Splash!

The blob was liquid.

A large amount of liquid got shot out at high speed, shattered by the shields of the two, showering the entire party with its fine spray.

“Ahhhh! It’s hopeless! That’s a potent paralysis toxin! After coming this far…!”

“What!? A paralysis toxin!?”

Instinctively, I pulled a potion vial (test tube-shaped) from my belt and flicked off the lid with magic.

“Drink!”

“Huh…”

Without waiting for a response, I shoved the potion vial into the lizard girl’s mouth.

“Glug glug glug!”

“Relax, it’s a Cure Potion. Could’ve just sprinkled it on you, but they said it’s potent, so I thought you’d better drink it to be safe.”

Cough Cough “Thank you…”

“How is it?”

“…Unbelievable… I don’t feel numb at all. Even though, until now, almost no antidote has had much effect…”

“It seems to be working. I’ll take some.”

“What’s this?”

“Antidote. Unless it’s highly specialized, it works against paralysis too.”

“Ah… thank you.”

The lizard girl obediently finished the potion.

“Here comes more!”

“Huh!?”

As the girl raised her head, six gigantic paralysis frogs appeared from the forest depths.

“Craft-san!”

“What!?”

“Are these frogs delicious?”

Before I could answer, the lizard girl exclaimed, “Huh!?” with her mouth wide open.

“Well… who knows? Why don’t you try it? We have plenty of antidotes anyway.”

“Yeah!”

“No, don’t! Run away! The Paralyze Baron Frog’s physical attacks are also powerful! Its tongue. Which stretches like a whip, there are three of them…!”

The girl desperately pleaded, but it was already too late.

“Blade Dance of the Tempest!”

“Finishing Touch!”

“Take this!”

“Rockslide!”

“…Shadow Dance Twin Bursts.”

“Inferno Pillar!”

“Fireball!”

Without even using its boasted tongue attack, the frog turned into barbecue or minced meat instantly, scattered on the ground.

“…Huh?”

“Hey, isn’t this creature a monster? Not an animal?”

“Oh… um, yes, it’s a monster.”

“Yeah! Collect its magic stones for me!”

“Got it.”

Never seen a magic stone from a creature like this before. Exciting.

“…Unbelievable to instantly defeat such a formidable Baron…”

“They’re top-notch adventurers, after all. Is the frog all there was?”

“Wait! No, there’s… the village… The village is being attacked by over a hundred Barons!”

“What!?”

I threw a glance at Raidock, who just smirked in response.

“No need to answer, huh?”

Damn, he’s cool. I’m jealous.

“Lord Raidock!”

Ignoring Eva, are we?

“Alright, tell us where the village is! By the way, I’m Craft. Craft Walken. And you?”

She suddenly straightened up.

“I am Shururu, daughter of Charle, the mayor of Gourd Swamp Village. Sorry for the late introduction.”

“No worries. Alright, Shururu. Guide us to the village.”

“That’s…”

It’s evident that Shururu is conflicted.

She seems to be weighing the desire to save the village against the uncertainty of relying on unfamiliar adventurers.

“It’s okay. We’ll definitely help you. We’ll prove it by saving the village.”

“Why are you so willing to help us, strangers you’ve just met?”

“Well…”

There are two reasons.

One is that this area, though self-proclaimed, is considered part of the kingdom’s territory and is supposed to be under the jurisdiction of the border earl.

To be precise, the settlement is supposed to progress to be acknowledged by the king, but generally, this area is treated as the border earl’s territory.

And this border development is entrusted to Kyle.

So, in essence, I’m a resident of Kyle. Therefore, there’s no choice but to help.

And the other reason is…

“Isn’t it enough that I want to help?”

I want to use this power to help those in need.

At that, Shururu showed her first smile.

“Yeah. I’m grateful.”

And thus, we embarked on an emergency mission to save the supposedly extinct lizardmen.