Chapter 190: Mud Salamander Hunt (2/3)

“I think it will be faster if you see them for yourself, but the mud salamanders are big and black and they come in swarms.” [Kai]

The one who said that was Kai-san.

Uh-oh, when he puts it that way, the only thing that comes to mind is the Big G. (Big G = Gokiburi or cockroach)

“The people here are in the middle of fishing and the fishes will be gathered here, so protecting the fishes will take priority over hunting the mud salamanders. Just as my older brother says, there’s a lot of mud salamanders here at our village, so we’ll have to take care of them in turns.

There are veteran adventurers who take on this job yearly, so I think you’ll be fine if you just watch how they do things and copy how we villagers do things. Just know that even with the shift system, you will still be fighting against monsters until afternoon, so you better pace yourself or you’ll tire yourself out quickly.” [Kei]

Kei-san added.

I see, so stamina and pacing are important.

“On top of that… A monster called ‘Pocket Eagle’ will also be attacking from the sky from time to time, so you better keep an eye out for that too.” [Shin]

“Ah, those guys will try to steal the fishes when the adventurers and the mud salamanders are fighting, so in a sense, they’re more annoying than the mud salamanders.” [Sein]

This is new information.

According to Shin-san and Sein-san, the pocket eagles are the kind of monsters that profit while others fight.

They’ll attack while we’re fighting and from a high altitude where they can’t be seen too, so it’ll be hard to deal with them.

…They’ll be attacking from the air, so it might be a good idea to get the rimel birds to keep watch.

From the sound of things, it sounds like they’re the sort to attack alone and it seems like they’re more cunning than strong, so having one take on many is probably a safe bet.　For the meantime, I’ll see how things go and then try suggesting something.

While I was thinking that to myself, someone clapped me on the shoulders.

“Peiron-san?” [Ryouma]

“Look at that.” [Peiron]

As he said that, I turned toward the direction he pointed. There I saw several men stark naked despite the cold weather.

The order of the hunting teams started from the ones standing closest to the fire baskets, so they’re probably the first team. When I looked at the lake, a number of fishing boats had come back in a half-circle formation. Looks like the hunt is about to begin.

But is it really a good idea to hunt monsters in your birthday suit?

“The mud salamanders attack either by ramming their body or by biting… Depending on your physique, at most you’ll just end up with a couple of broken bones. The real problem is being dragged into the water. In other words, the bigger issue is being drowned.

That’s why there are people who would rather fight naked to make it easier to fight in water rather than wear armor to try and minimize damage.” [Peiron]

“There was no need to go out of their way and be naked, though. That’s pretty stupid even for some fishermen youth.” [Kai]

“If they wanted to take off their clothes, then just the lower part would have been fine. The water will only reach up to the knees since we won’t go deep enough for the water to reach the waste.” [Kei]

In that case, I should probably put on my cleaning uniform, the boiler suit and the waterproof boots.

“Make sure to remember to warm yourself up too. Otherwise, you won’t be able to maintain your strength.” [Sein]

I prepared myself and gathered information like this, and then five minutes later, several boats made it to the beach.

The fishermen quickly bustled about and started pulling on the two ropes that extended into the water.

“Yo!　Hey!　Yo!　Hey!”

Is that a beach seine?

As the men called out in a peculiar way, they pulled on the ropes and steadily stepped back.

Violent irregular waves started rippling over the surface of the water, and before long the end of the net appeared. It was at that moment that one of the boats floating over the lake raised up its light and started swaying it in a circle.

“They’re here!!　The fish grubbers are here!!!” [Older Man]

“Ohhh!!!!”

An older man, who appeared to be a veteran, cried out followed by the fishermen on the beach.

Several shadows approached the boat waving the light.

Thanks to the light coming from the boat, the ripples rippling over the surface of the water could easily be seen.

“Go!!” [Fisherman 1]

“Don’t let them through!!” [Fisherman 2]

The fishermen atop the boats took their staffs and harpoons and started attacking where the waters were rippling.

At first it was just the boat waving its light, but it soon spread to the rest of the boats floating in that half-moon formation.

A number of mud salamanders quickly made their way up the boats, while the others were killed off.

Meanwhile, the fishermen by the beach pulled on the ropes even harder, hoping to get the net and the fishes even a moment sooner.

And then the fisherman atop the boats that weren’t pulling on the ropes took their harpoons and assumed a charging formation…

“Huh. Doesn’t seem like there’s actually much room for the adventurers to help out. It’s not just because the fishermen are fighting first. Those fishermen atop those boats are really strong.” [Ryouma]

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