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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
Editor: Shio
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“Are you okay?!”
“I’m fine.”
My body felt light. The saint-grade healing magic was indeed effective, befitting its title. It seemed like I had been knocked out for roughly an hour or two, but my body felt refreshed. To be honest, I wanted to receive healing magic every day before going to bed. Of course, there was no way I could indulge in such luxury.
Karina’s mana was finite, so it had to be used appropriately.
In order to give that hydra bastard a holy magic baptism right away, her mana had to be preserved as much as possible.
“What kind of creature takes independent action when its head is cut off…”
Renny’s dumbfounded voice irritated my ears. Although my eardrums had regenerated, were they not completely healed, or was it due to the aftereffects of being torn and restored? I didn’t know which one it was, but should I ask for a bit more healing?
…No. It should return to normal soon at this rate.
I sat up. The damp leather clung tightly to my upper body. Because I had engaged in a fierce battle with that mini-hydra, my entire body had become drenched with sweat, soaking the leather. I unhesitatingly took off the damp and unpleasant armor and threw it away.
Phew, now I feel like I can live.
I brushed back the hair that clung to my forehead, soaked with sweat. My hair, which I hadn’t cut for quite a long time, had grown long enough to reach my shoulder blades, defying any attempts to tame and return it to how it had been.
Maybe I should cut it soon. Shaving it all off might not be a bad idea either. Hair didn’t have much meaning in the wild anyway. It was also troublesome to manage individually.
“Karina, how much mana do you have left?”
“Huh? About two-thirds left…”
Is that enough…? Although it’s best to be fully prepared since reality and the game are different, how much time do we have left? We need to quickly reorganize ourselves to deal with the hydra, which now has eight heads, as soon as possible. I dusted myself off and stood up.
“You should rest a bit more…”
“I’ll rest when we return home.”
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a successful scouting mission, but we had obtained important information anyway, so now it was time to prepare for the war in earnest. Therefore, we needed to return home quickly.
…Of course, after dissecting that snake bastard.
Renny, who had been poking the mini-hydra, stepped back as I approached the snake with a shovel in hand. She seemed to have roughly guessed what I was trying to do. I was about to dissect the snake’s head right away, but I turned around and looked at Karina, who was behind me.
“It might be unpleasant to watch, so turn around. Or you can go back home with Renny first.”
“…I’ll turn around.”
As soon as I heard Karina’s answer, I turned my head and looked at Renny. Renny scratched her cheek and shrugged her shoulders.
“Tell me when you’re done. I can carry the load.”
“Got it.”
I stuck my hand into the mini-hydra’s mouth, which I had thoroughly desecrated.
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The next day, I woke up after sleeping like a log and dragged my still-tired body to the workshop I had set up in advance. Although it was a temporary workshop I had built with skills overnight, I had put quite a bit of effort into making it, so it was convenient for working. I used to work casually inside the house, but now that there were more people, it would be distracting…
I looked at the snakeskin laid out on the workbench that occupied one side of the workshop wall.
It was yesterday’s harvest.
The poison extracted from the body was sealed and stored separately, and I planned to make suitable work knives from the fangs. And the skin had to be used to make armor that protected against acidic poison.
I wasn’t too thrilled about the idea of wearing the skin of that hydra bastard, but sometimes in a harsh world, you had to accept things you disliked with an open mind. I caressed the hydra’s skin with a delicate touch. Now wasn’t the time to be picky, so I had to make good use of the skin that could comfortably cover two people.
Since I had to make enough for three people, I also planned to actively utilize the bear leader’s skin, bones, and tree bark I had brought from home.
For parts that absolutely couldn’t melt, I would use snake skin, and for the rest, I would use the existing materials.
As for the design… let’s change it a bit.
Even I thought it was a bit off.
I started drawing the blueprint on a wooden board I had prepared. Although it might look like primitive cave paintings with my skill level, as long as I could understand it, it was fine. I casually set aside the blueprint I had scribbled with charcoal and reached for the leather.
I should make the most important boots and gloves first.
…Before that, I need to measure the sizes of hands and feet.
I left the workshop and entered the house. Renny, who was wiping a sword with a cloth next to the hearth, and Karina, who was preparing a meal, looked at me as they heard the hinge scraping.
“Ah, Johann. Didn’t you say you were working?”
“There’s something I need to check first.”
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
Ignoring Renny’s nonsense with a refreshing attitude, I said to the two of them,
“May I touch your hands and feet for a bit?”
“What?”
Why are they looking at me with a shocked expression? I don’t know what those two are thinking, but I’m just measuring sizes to make shoes and gloves. Even if I use skills to make them, the details are still up to me, so I have to pay attention to these little things.
“I need to measure sizes to make gloves and shoes.”
“Ah, I see…”
Karina nodded as if she finally understood. Renny also seemed to be sufficiently convinced by my words, and she took off her shoes along with Karina.
I squatted down in front of Karina and touched her hands and feet. Soft and squishy. It was a completely different feeling from my hands, which were covered in calluses and scars. Are these the same human hands? How can a person’s hands be so soft?
“Um… Johann?”
“…Why did you call me?”
“Well, it hurts, so how long are you going to…”
“Ah, sorry.”
I quickly let go of her hand. Somehow, the side of my face felt prickly. I glanced to the side and saw Renny looking at me with doubtful eyes. Was she bothered by the fact that I was touching Karina’s hand? Then, I lowered my gaze to Karina’s feet.
Small and soft-looking feet.
As expected, the soft texture tickled my palm. Hmm, this should be fine.
I took my hand off her foot and looked at Renny. Renny held out her hand to me with a subtle expression. I took Renny’s hand and checked the size. This one was a bit rough. It was only natural since she had been holding a sword for a long time. Although the back of her hand was quite soft too.
After checking her feet as well, I stood up.
I should go back to work right away. Time is not on my side. As I turned my back to leave, a siren-like sweet voice reached my ears.
“Johann. What about the meal…”
“I’ll eat after I finish working. You can eat first.”
I left the two of them behind and returned to the workshop to start working. Although I was just using skills…
“Crafting.”
After blinking a few times, snake leather shoes were neatly placed on the workbench.
As expected of my skill that puts food on the table.
The effect is definitely reliable. At first, I thought it was an incredibly bothersome skill with annoying conditions.
Now that I think about it, finding this skill was close to a miracle.
I accidentally discovered it while trying to start a fire and saying random things because of a mental breakdown. If I didn’t have this skill, I would have already been reduced to another set of bones laying somewhere in this forest, let alone surviving.
In this regard, the crafting skill was extremely useful. If you knew the manufacturing method, had the materials, and a clear image, you could create objects or buildings in just a few seconds. Although the process was quite cumbersome.
I inspected the meticulously crafted snake leather shoes and immediately made gloves as well. With this, the basic protective gear was completed. The only thing left was the protective suit to cover the body.
I immediately started working on the chest piece.
Since I had already made a chest piece once, I just needed to adjust it according to size, so it didn’t take long for a new set of armor to be placed on the workbench.
I wiped the beads of sweat that had formed on my forehead.
Using the skill seemed to have made me a bit tired. But there was no time to rest.
“Once we eat, we’ll depart right away…”
The decisive battle was near.
Now we really needed to prepare to send that hydra bastard away forever and enter the dungeon.
In the end, even a strong hydra like that was just a slight detour.
Yes, a slight detour.
Because my final goal was… the dungeon.
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“Can you move?”
“Yes, yes. I think I can move. Running might be difficult, but…”
Even though I deliberately made it lightweight, it seemed quite heavy for Karina.
“I can carry Lady Karina.”
“No. Let’s depart slowly. There’s no need to waste energy already.”
“It’s okay, Renny.”
“But Lady Karina…”
“Renny. It’s. O. Kay.”
At Karina’s firm voice, Renny nodded with a helpless expression. No matter what, when Karina put on a serious face, Renny couldn’t help but anxiously listen to her words. Was it because she was an escort, or maybe she became weak when she was at a disadvantage? Either way, it didn’t matter as long as it was resolved smoothly.
“Then let’s depart.”
With a leather pouch filled with all sorts of materials slung over my shoulder, I took the lead and entered the forest.
The destination was the area that used to be the bears’ territory. Among them, a wide open space.
I had designated that place as the hydra’s grave.
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