In the deepest part, there was the skeleton of an adventurer, and on his finger, a ring as blue as the sea caught my eye.
I pulled the ring off the skeleton and checked it with.[Appraisal]
[(A) Ring of Salvation]
Blocks one fatal attack. (Cooldown: 30 days)
I got lucky!
It was almost on the level of a Divine Item, but the 30-day cooldown was a little disappointing.
*I'll use it for now, but if I ever get or or something like that, I should give it to Yunyun.*[Regeneration][Indomitable]
There weren't any other special items. It didn't look like anything else worthwhile would turn up, so I stopped searching and went outside.
When I got out, I saw Yunyun collecting the Manticore's tail.
"Huh? Why are you packing that?"
"I learned at school that Manticore venom is an expensive alchemy ingredient."
"Oh! Really? We made some extra income, then?"
We stored the Manticore's scorpion tail in my inventory and moved away from the foul-smelling den to eat lunch.
The menu was cheeseburgers.
This might actually be a jackpot...
Yunyun always said burgers were delicious, and when she was hungry she'd scarf down two at a time. She even said she looked forward to burger days.
I still hadn't tried pepperoni pizza yet, but if cheeseburgers were this good, pizza had to be amazing too. I figured I should pick a day and throw a pizza party with everyone I knew.
Do they not have cola?
We finished eating and rested a bit before moving to the Griffon's territory.
"Yunyun, you can use advanced magic now, right?"
"Yes! I leveled up, so I can use advanced magic now. I've seen a lot of advanced magic in the Crimson Demon Village, so I can use it in real combat right away."
"Good!"
When we arrived at the Griffon's territory and looked up, we could see a Griffon flying around. Unlike the Manticore, it was an incredibly majestic monster.
If the Manticore was a true beast, the Griffon was a noble, regal creature with large, beautiful wings and a sharp, elegant beakālike the king of the sky, proud and dignified.
"Wow~! It's amazing. I almost feel bad taking it down."
"It really is. This is my first time seeing a Griffon too."
"Wait, it looks like it's flying toward us!?"
While Yunyun and I were admiring the Griffon, it spotted us from quite a distance away. It locked eyes with us and started flying over at high speed.
"Yunyun! It's dangerous!"
Swoosh~!!
I quickly pulled Yunyun into my arms and rolled to the side.
The ground where we'd been standing was gouged out where the Griffon had raked it with its talons, and the Griffon was already flying far off into the sky.
"I take back what I said about it being amazing!"
"Um..."
"Yeah?"
"Your... hand..."
I looked down at Yunyun in my arms, and in my rush, my hand had ended up grabbing her chest. Yunyun was blushing as she looked at me, and I panicked and pulled my hand away.
"Ahem... Sorry, I didn't mean to!"
"It's okay..."
I felt bad for Yunyun, but given the situation, I looked back up at the sky. The Griffon was circling above, probably timing its next attack.
"I don't think this is over. When it attacks again, let's time it and counter together."
"Got it!"
I took a stance and gathered mana, and Yunyun also raised her staff, ready to use advanced magic.[Battou]
The Griffon circled in the sky, then revealed its sharp talons and began diving fast.
"It's coming!"
"Yes!"
The Griffon dove down close to us, but sensing something off, it suddenly banked hard to the side.
"Damn it! Yunyun!"
"Light of Saber!"
Yunyun hurriedly fired her magic, but she couldn't hit it. The Griffon climbed back into the sky and started circling warily again.
We stayed in a standoff like that for 30 minutes. The Griffon seemed to realize we were dangerousāit wouldn't come down anymore and just kept watch from the sky.
"Wow~ If this keeps up, there's nothing we can do."
"What do we do now?"
"Let's hide for now! Excuse me for a second."
I picked Yunyun up again and ran into a nearby dense forest. This time I was careful not to grab the wrong spot, but Yunyun's face still turned red.
"Stealth!"
As soon as we entered the forest, I used and erased both our presences. The Griffon, seeing us enter the woods, started flying over the forest, looking for us.[Stealth]
We went deeper into the forest, hid under a large boulder, caught our breath, and discussed our plan.
"Now that I think about it, it had 30 minutes to go somewhere else, but the Griffon didn't leave and just kept watch from the sky. I think there might be something in its nest it needs to protect."
"Then!?"
"I'm guessing there are eggs or chicks. I'll go check, and if there's something there, I'll grab it and run back here. Yunyun, wait in this forest, and when I give the signal, ambush it."
Yunyun looked worried.
"The Griffon was really fast. Won't it be dangerous?"
"Don't worry! I'm fast too."
I reassured Yunyun and got ready to move.
"Yunyun, the Griffon's flying above this forest right now, so I'll move out, and once the Griffon follows me, that's when you move."
"Understood. Be careful."
I reduced my weight, used, and quietly moved toward the steep cliff mountain where the Griffon had first been flying. The Griffon hadn't noticed me yet and was still searching for us above Yunyun's forest.[Stealth]
I used that opening to go around the back of the mountain and started climbing the cliff to the summit. With the Kilo-Kilo Fruit reducing my weight, it wasn't that hard.
I'm climbing a lot of mountains today...
When I reached the top, I saw an enormous nest made of crudely woven branches.
I heard sounds from the nest, so I approached carefully and peeked inside. An adult Griffon was lying collapsed inside.
Its condition was terrible. One wing was patchy with feathers missing, one leg was so badly wounded it was barely hanging on, and it was drooling black, wet saliva from its beakāprobably poisoned. It didn't look like it would live much longer.
Looks like it was injured by the Manticore. So it wasn't just a territory disputeāit was revenge for its mate?
Seeing the nest, I understood why the Manticore and Griffon had been fighting so fiercely.
I climbed into the nest, cleanly beheaded the injured Griffon to end its suffering, and set the nest on fire. This should make the other Griffon focus its aggro on me even more.
I do feel a bit sorry...
The nest was all dry wood, so once the fire caught, it spread across the entire structure in no time. The Griffon that had been circling above Yunyun's forest noticed something was wrong with the nest and flew toward it in a panic.
I climbed down the cliff and prepared to run to the forest where Yunyun was hiding.
Kieeeek~~!
As expected, the Griffon circled around the nest, letting out a furious cry.
"Hey~! Over here~~!!"
When I shouted at the Griffon, it spotted me and flew toward me at full speed. I reduced my weight as much as possible with the Kilo-Kilo Fruit and ran at my top speed toward Yunyun's forest. The Griffon chased me like mad, closing in fast.
I glanced back while running. The Griffon was catching up even faster, but both of us were so fast that I reached the forest where Yunyun was hiding in no time.
"Yunyun~! Now!!"
Yunyun had been hiding in the forest, and at my signal, she unleashed advanced magic at the Griffon.
"Light of Saber!!"
Blinded by rage, the Griffon's field of vision narrowed. It couldn't dodge Yunyun's magic and took a direct hit.
Kieeeek~~!!!
Hit by Yunyun's Light of Saber, the Griffon crashed to the ground. Unable to kill its momentum, it tumbled several times and only stopped after slamming into a tree with a loud crash.
I approached the Griffon slowly and checked its condition. It wasn't movingāit must have died on impact.
"May you be reborn in a better place in your next life."
I said a short prayer. Yunyun heard me and asked curiously.
"You're praying for the Griffon?"
"They're both monsters, but the Griffon feels more like a wild animal living in nature, so I feel a bit sorry."
"I don't really understand."
Yunyun tilted her head, not getting it.
This was where I felt the difference between Earth and the world of KonoSuba. On Earth, many animals are going extinct due to environmental destruction, so even dangerous animals are considered precious.
But in KonoSuba, there are still tons of wildlife, so anything that threatens humans is just classified as a monster and eliminated.
It was a bit complicated to explain to Yunyun, and she didn't really need to know about life in the KonoSuba world, so I decided to drop it.
"Anyway, let's head back."
"Yes."
We returned to the Adventurer's Guild in Axel.
When we walked in, Kazuma, Aqua, and Megumin were eating dinner.
"Hey~ Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin."
"Oh, Taejin, Yunyun! Just getting back from your quest?"
"Yeah, we need to eat too, so we'll join you."
That's when Aqua sighed and said,
"I want to take quests like you and Yunyun. Part-time jobs are so hard!"
"We don't have a choice! I heard some Demon King executive or something showed up, so there aren't any easy quests. Unless you want to go catch Giant Toads together."
"Let's not do frogs!"
"Let's not do frogs!"
Aqua and Megumin both went pale and grabbed their heads, looking traumatized.
"What's with them?"
"Ah, they've got frog trauma. They got eaten headfirst and covered in slime."
"Ahem..."
Then I noticed Darkness wasn't there, so I asked Kazuma.
"Where's Darkness?"
"Darkness said there were no quests, so she went home for a while to do muscle training."
"I see."
It seemed like there were only a few days left until Kazuma and Megumin started firing Explosion magic at the castle where Verdia was staying once a day, which would piss off Verdia and make him come to Axel.
"Yunyun, let's eat first. Order some food. I'll go report the quest completion."
"Yes! Got it."
I got up and went to the guild reception desk. Luna greeted me warmly.
"Welcome, Taejin."
"Hello, Luna. I'd like to report completion of the Manticore and Griffon subjugation quest, and I'd also like to sell the Manticore tail I cut off."
I handed my adventurer card to Luna and set the Manticore tail down next to the reception desk since it was large.
"As expected of you, Taejin! That was a difficult quest, and you handled it so quickly."
"Not at all."
"The reward for completing the Manticore and Griffon subjugation quest is 4 million Eris. And as for the Manticore tail, we need to check the venom amount, so that'll take some time."
"Ah, I see. Then please let me know once it's confirmed. And these are adventurer cards I recovered from bodies I found in the Manticore's den."
I gave Luna the adventurer cards I'd collected from the Manticore's nest.
Luna took the cards and checked them with a dark expression.
"Thank you for recovering the cards. I've confirmed them."
"Did you know anyone?"
"No, they seem to be adventurers from another town. Our town is mostly rookie adventurers, so we rarely have people who take high-difficulty quests like Manticore subjugation."
"I see."
Luna hesitated for a moment, then blushed and said,
"Um, and... are you free tomorrow? Because of the Demon King executive situation, quests have decreased, so I finally have some time. If it's okay with you, I'd like to buy you dinner tomorrow evening..."
"Of course! I'm free tomorrow evening."
When I accepted, Luna smiled brightly. My heart fluttered at that smile.
"I'm glad. You seemed so busy lately, I was really worried you'd turn me down."
"I was actually thinking of taking a day off anyway, since I've been doing nothing but quests."
"Then let's meet at the guild tomorrow evening. I'll treat you to something delicious."
"Got it. I'll see you at the guild tomorrow evening, then."
After setting the date with Luna, I went back to Kazuma's table.