Chapter 67: Will You Eat Your Own Jungle Monsters?
Chapter 67: Will You Eat Your Own Jungle Monsters?
The sun slowly descended, growing larger and shifting to a warm, orange hue, its light becoming softer.
On a flat road that appeared straight up close but twisted from a distance, a two-horse carriage moved at a leisurely pace. A massive crab wandered around the carriage, sometimes moving quickly and other times lagging behind.
On either side of the road, golden wheat fields stretched out. The air was still today, so there were no waves of wheat to be seen.
A man and a cat poked their heads out of the carriage window, quietly enjoying the rural scenery.
"Hey~ I see a mountain! We’re almost there!"
The silence was broken by a pink-haired teenager on the crab’s back. "Hey, driver, can you go faster?"
Happy grumbled, "Natsu is so noisy."
Rod nodded, "Yeah, he has no sense of ambiance."
Natsu was immediately irritated by their synchronized complaint, baring his teeth and waving his arms wildly from the crab’s back. "You two, when did you become such good friends!"
Rod replied, "When you were carsick."
"Ha~" Happy stifled a laugh, "And when you faceplanted like a dog."
"Damn it, stop the carriage! I’ll show you both!" Natsu fumed, his voice rising.
After a bit of commotion, Rod suddenly grew serious.
"Natsu, there are boars about 800 to 900 meters ahead, five, no, six of them!"
"Ooh~~~ Can you really see that far?"
Natsu stood up on the crab’s back, straining to see, but the road’s twists and the terrain, along with the wheat fields, blocked his view.
"Maybe you can try to smell the boars’ stench?"
Rod suggested almost casually, and Natsu immediately tried.
He tilted his head back slightly and flared his nostrils. "I smell it! Leave it to me!"
Natsu tugged on the crab’s antenna. "Charge!"
"Natsu!" Rod wanted to tell him about his plan to deal with the boars, but Natsu was already racing ahead too fast. He couldn’t afford to let him fall again.
Happy said, "Don’t worry, Natsu can handle the boars."
Rod responded, "I’m more worried he’ll burn down the fields."
"Yeah, that sounds like something Natsu would do."
"Answer my call, Ancient Stone Beetles!"
Rod summoned two groups of Stone Beetles, instructing them to follow Natsu and dig firebreaks to minimize the damage to the fields.
"Neigh~"
The driver pulled the reins, stopping the carriage. "I’m sorry, but there are dangerous beasts ahead. The horses are too scared to go on."
Rod got out and looked around. The wheat fields showed clear signs of wild animal activity, and the lingering scent was likely what made the horses hesitant to continue.
"Let’s stop here. The village isn’t far." Rod said, "Happy, let’s get out!"
"Okay!" Happy flew out, carrying Natsu’s backpack and Rod’s travel bag.
Considering the presence of wild beasts nearby, Rod summoned a group of Beak Birds to escort the carriage for a short distance.
Noticing a plume of smoke not far ahead, Rod and Happy quickly headed in Natsu’s direction.
The distance was less than a kilometer, and running took only a few minutes, slowed only by the luggage.
In those few minutes, Natsu had already finished the fight.
Six boars of varying sizes lay motionless on the ground, and the flames in the wheat fields were still smoldering. Thankfully, the Stone Beetles had dug a firebreak, preventing the fire from spreading further.
"Aha-ha-ha..." Natsu, the culprit, stood with his hands on his hips, laughing carelessly. "You see how strong I am, stupid boars!"
Happy flew over with Natsu’s luggage. "Natsu~"
"Natsu, Happy, you’re late! I took care of everything! Aha-ha-ha..."
He was proud, as if he had won a three-person hunting competition.
Happy said, "Natsu is strong, but you almost burned down the entire wheat field."
“Didn’t it not burn?”
“It’s because of Rod’s mining worm.”
“It’s called a Stone Carapace Beetle,” Rod corrected, then turned to Natsu. “Could you please think things through before using your flames in places like farmland, forests, or villages?”
“I did think it through,” Natsu waved his fist, a small flame trailing behind it. “Just enough fire to take care of the wild boars.”
Rod exploded, “I mean think about the consequences and don’t burn the farmland!”
“Isn’t that what you’re here for?” Natsu grinned. “Mira was right to invite you to our team!”
Even if you trust me so much, even if you mention Mira, I still...
“Wait a minute.” Rod realized he was almost tricked by Natsu. “Don’t give me this strange sense of trust! I’m not here to clean up your messes!”
Happy, looking at the burning straw, asked, “What do we do now?”
“Let’s run before anyone notices.”
“Get Natsu to eat the fire.”
Natsu and Rod spoke at the same time, then looked at each other in shock and spoke again in unison:
“Would you eat your own monsters?”
“You’re thinking of running?”
They were even more shocked:
“Of course you run when you cause trouble!”
“Maybe we should try it.”
Hearing each other’s responses, they spoke in unison again:
“To actually say that so confidently!”
Happy, seeing them go from speaking in unison to speaking in dissonance, wanted to say, “You two are really something.”
...
After a bit of explanation:
“Oh, I see.” Rod realized, “So Natsu can’t eat the fire he produces or ignites; he can only eat fire from others.”
Natsu asked, “So, can your monsters really eat?”
Rod said, “I don’t know. I was just thinking that if I’m really hungry, maybe I could borrow a claw from a Swift Crab and nibble on it. The claws can regrow, after all.”
Natsu and Happy swallowed, “That’s cruel.”
The Swift Crab returned to the Summoner’s Rift.
“I was just joking.”
As he spoke, the fire in the small area within the firebreak began to diminish.
Straw is hollow and doesn’t burn well, producing little heat. The six wild boars lying on the ground were just charred black.
Rod called the Ancient Stone Carapace Beetle to split, then dragged the six wild boars away.
He then had the monsters dig up the soil to bury the flames and ashes.
“Solid Script: WATER.”
Rod waved his hand, and a basin of clear water splashed out, dampening the still warm ground.
He repeated this a few times to ensure the temperature was fully lowered, preventing any new fires from starting.
After finishing everything, Rod slapped his right hand a few times. He had just said he wasn’t here to clean up, yet he had taken care of all the hazards Natsu left behind.
He sighed, “Let’s go. Drag the wild boars to the village.”
“Huh? Why?”
“We need to give an explanation for burning their fields. We haven’t officially completed the mission with the client yet,” Rod was concerned about potential trouble.
“What a hassle.” Natsu grumbled. In his situation, he would just go to the client and explain everything.
As long as the mission was completed, most people wouldn’t care about the formalities.
“Who caused the trouble!”
If he hadn’t sent the Stone Carapace Beetle over, Rod didn’t even want to think about what would have happened to the vast fields of wheat.
Not angry, not angry, Rod wasn’t angry at all. It was all for the rent.
But thinking about the many more battles needed to solve the beast problem...
Rod felt a bit of a toothache.
Maybe he should team up with Gray and Natsu more often?
(End of Chapter)
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