81. It’s Like We’re Back In Our Adventuring Days, Isn’t It?

The cave that the Lizardman warriors had entered had turned into a dungeon.

When we went inside, we found traps along the way and worried about their safety, but, whether it was the worst case or just as expected, the Lizardmen were surrounded by a horde of monsters.

It was one of those rooms often found in such dungeons, filled with an overwhelming number of monsters, almost like a trap.

The size was comparable to Kyle’s mansion or the church grounds.

Given that it was a natural cave-type dungeon, one would be surprised by the vastness of the room upon opening the door.

Presumably, when the Lizardmen entered the room, there were only a few monsters. But when they chased them deeper into the center of the room, monsters emerged from hidden passages all around.

The Lizardmen were driven to a corner, barely defending themselves.

Raidock immediately shouted.

“Casper sisters, support them! The rest, eliminate the enemies!”

“””Roger that!!!”””

Eva took a step forward.

“I’ll clear a path! [White Hot Beam]!!”

She unleashed a magic combining light and flame, emitting a white, radiant beam.

It was a straightforward magic that minimized collateral damage but consumed a lot of mana.

The beam sliced through the horde of monsters filling the vast room like cutting through a carpet, clearing a path to the Lizardmen.

“Eva! Watch your mana recovery supplies!”

“I’m fine! I’ll hold back from now on!”

“Alright! Follow the path Eva cleared and get to the Lizardmen!”

We were out of ingredients for mana recovery potions, and unable to alchemize more. We only had what we carried, and most of it was used up in the previous frog battle, so we had to manage our mana consumption carefully.

We dashed down the scorched path created by the white-hot beam, quickly reaching the corner where the Lizardmen were trapped.

“Shururu! Explain the situation to them!”

“Got it!”

Shururu, who had been fighting beside me, ran to the Lizardmen.

Most of them were injured, and a bit later arrival would have resulted in casualties.

“Shururu! What’s with the humans!?”

“I’ll explain later! The village chief knows about this!”

“What!?”

“They’re strong, so everyone focuses on defense! Those seriously injured, use healing potions! Those lightly injured, receive healing magic from Marilyn… that busty saint!”

“Bust… does the chief really know about this?”

“I promise.”

“Got it! Everyone, do as Shururu says!”

Some warriors seemed like they wanted to complain, but they quickly followed the leader Shlurl spoke to.

Good. It would’ve been a disaster if they attacked us from behind.

Still, busty saint…

Well, it’s not wrong. Yeah.

“Alright! Moda, support the sisters! Leafan, guard the middle! Solar and Jitaro, keep shooting!!”

“Got it!”

“Jitaro! Don’t hit Raidock!”

“Leave it to me! Take that!”

The two archers punched holes in the surrounding monsters.

A Lizardman receiving treatment muttered.

“Amazing… they’re reducing the monsters with just two people!”

A blue flash then streaked.

“Now, it’s my turn to go all out.”

Of course, it was Raidock.

Every swing of his sword sliced multiple monsters into pieces.

Well, even if the monsters are orcs and giant spiders, no matter their number, they’re not our match.

I supported Raidock without overexerting my mana.

“Your back’s exposed, Raidock! [Wind Blade Thousand Cut]!!”

I swept away the group of monsters trying to flank Raidock with a wind blade.

He smirked.

“Hah! You’re not one to stay quiet! Watch my back! Just mind your mana!”

“No need to tell me!”

I patted the belt holding my potion bottles.

Yeah, let’s try using the alchemical weapon that didn’t get a chance in the frog battle. It doesn’t consume much mana.

My potion bottles were custom-made by Leafan.

They’re tougher than glass, test tube-shaped, and can be broken at will with mana. The shards safely disintegrate.

They’re quite tricky, but very handy for someone like me, who honed throwing skills during the adventuring days.

“Move, Raidoc!”

“On it!”

Without questioning, Raidoc swiftly moved aside. We’d become so in sync that I almost laughed.

“Take this!”

I threw a potion bottle like a knife.

It burst on impact with a monster, its contents expanding in contact with air, enveloping the monsters.

“What’s this!?”

“Don’t touch it, Raidoc! It’s adhesive!”

“Wow… oh! Even those who collided with it are stuck! Haha! This is great!”

“Too much use might trap allies too.”

“Alright, Craft! Throw it deeper! Away from me!”

“Roger!”

The secretly made adhesive seemed to be a success.

Of course, I also made a dissolving agent, useful for temporarily trapping enemies.

It could cause suffocation if it hits faces, so using it on humans is a bit risky.

But no need to hold back against monsters!

“Craft! Can’t you use it on a wider area?”

Bardok, a magic user without a magician’s crest, approached from behind, pointing at a clustered enemy spot.

He avoids wasting magic. If he’s asking, there’s a reason.

“I can, but it’ll weaken the adhesion, making it easier to escape.”

“A moment’s enough.”

“Give me a second.”

I placed the adhesive potion bottle on my palm and added alchemical magic.

“[Alchemy: Effect Dilution and Capacity Increase]”

This alchemy diluted and bulked up the potion.

With an alchemy pot, I could make a lot, but now, I was using only magic, so it’s one bottle at a time.

It’s during combat, after all.

In the early days, with limited materials and whispers of the crest, I used to do alchemy like this.

Normally, the potion quantity would increase, but I adjusted it to expand the volume upon air contact.

The adhesive spread wider with weaker effects.

“Alright! Here it goes, Bardok!”

“Do it!”

I threw the modified adhesive behind the front line where Raidoc and others were reducing numbers. It burst above the monsters, spreading and trapping nearly ten of them.

“Like a casting net.”

“Well done, Craft! Take this! [Hellfire Shot]!!”

Bardock’s likely top-tier explosion magic detonated among the immobilized monsters.

“So that’s it! The trapped ones are easy targets! Smart thinking, Bardock!”

“Heh. It’s just thanks to your creation. Let’s go again!”

“Yeah!”

After another enemy group was wiped out, Leafan, a bit relaxed, stood beside us.

“Craft-kun, you might not realize it, but this is quite an invention.”

“Really?”

Weapons that risk hitting allies seem tricky to use.

“Exactly. But if used thoughtfully, like now, they’re extremely effective.”

I see. Makes sense.

So, in this room often filled with hordes of monsters, we completed our conquest without much time.

◆

“Whoa… what are these humans?”

“There were over a hundred of them, right? Unbelievable.”

“Weren’t there about three hundred?”

“No way, not that many.”

“Either way, to take down this many monsters without a scratch in such a short time… humans are terrifying.”

No, no, it’s a problem if you lump us together with the average adventurers in the kingdom.

Ah, I guess they don’t know what the average is.

“Uh, everyone, not to brag, but we, centered around that blue-haired swordsman, are quite capable even among humans… in the kingdom.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. Otherwise, it would be difficult to come this far into the forest, far from human settlements.”

“That’s true.”

“Humans, thank you.”

“Yeah. We owe the village, too. By the way, did you hear what happened at the swamp?”

“Shururu told us. There was an army of Paralyze Baron Frogs and a Titan Duke Frog, right?”

“Yeah. We all joined forces to repel them.”

“I see… you protected the village while we were away. Thanks again.”

I shook hands firmly with the Lizardman who seemed to be the leader.

“You were amazing, Craft-sama!”

Thud! Shururu jumped at me.

From the chest.

“Whoa!? Shururu!?”

“As expected, Craft-sama is the best! A warrior among warriors!”

“Even in magic, do you call them warriors?”

“We call those with courage warriors. Craft, you undoubtedly are one.”

“Th-thanks.”

I felt embarrassed being praised by the warrior leader, but the soft sensation made it hard to fully appreciate!