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The Otherworld Conquest Method of a Reincarnated Porter Chapter 108

Leopard-striped Newt

　The next morning, when I wake up, I see that the sky outside has already gotten bright, so I go out of my tent, but everyone seems to still be sleeping. Yesterday, we had been made to wander around the forest and fight against a zone lord, after all. Having no automatic recovery skill, everyone must be very exhausted. I guess it would be a good idea to take it easy today. After all, we are in a labyrinth. There is no need to rush.

I go back to sleep, and when I wake up, I put away my tent, and prepare brunch for everyone who is still sleeping. We still have plenty of vegetables, but the bread will probably end up getting moldy if we don’t eat it today or tomorrow. I prepare lots of sandwich-style food with grilled meat and vegetables. While I am grilling the meat, everyone wakes up, attracted by the smell.

Everyone helps themselves with the meals, but Juke alone doesn’t eat anything. It seems he has no appetite. I wonder if he is concerned about the fact that he had ended up causing everyone trouble yesterday. His complexion also doesn’t seem to be that good, so I’m a little worried.

When we finish our meals, Juke decides to head to the leopard-stripped newt’s zone, and since we have no particular objection to it, we follow him. That day, we managed to make it to the safe area without losing our way. It seems that the leopard-striped newt is at the river. The river is about 20 meters wide, with rocks peeking out here and there, allowing us to cross to the other side. The river is many kilometers long, and the leopard-striped newt is apparently somewhere along it. We searched for three days along the river, but could not find it. Along the way, we ran into other adventurers several times, but it seems that they couldn’t find the zone lord either. Perhaps some other party has already subjugated it. On the fourth day, when we thought about temporarily returning to the Adventurers’ Association to check on the information since it is said that zone lords respawn in about ten days after they are subjugated, we finally encounter it.

The leopard-stripped newt has aqua-colored leopard-stripped skin and a powerful poison. It has a huge body, about ten meters long, but contrary to its appearance, it comes at you and launches biting and tail attacks at you with swift movements. It does not use magic. Simply touching its skin will get you affected by its poison. If you have someone who can use long-ranged attacks, such as an archer or a magician, in your party, you can easily defeat it, apparently.

「Hey, Juke, what to do now? Juke?」

Juke looks pale and unwell. Is this guy afflicted by some sort of illness, as expected?

「Juke, for now, let’s go back….」

「Shut it, haa, haa, it seems that guy has suffered a serious injury and ran to the river. First, let’s lure it out to the forest. With its huge body hindered by the trees in the forest, it won’t be able to make use of its swift movements. That’s where we’ll hit it. Alright, follow me.」

I think that plan is not bad. That Juke, it looks like he has properly looked things up in advance.

「Luna, keep some more distance. If anyone gets poisoned, I’ll leave their treatment to you. Lavina, don’t attack this time. If you attack it with your bare hands, perhaps you’d get poisoned. Zofie and I will throw some stones to lure that guy out into the forest.」

The leopard-stripped newt runs at an alarming speed as it keeps us in check. My and Zofie’s stone throws hit their marks accurately, and perhaps irritated by it, it seems to have set me as its target. Alright, just like this, let’s lure it into the forest.

About fifty meters into the forest, we surround the leopard-striped newt everyone but Luna and Lavina. Since its hate is focused on me, who keeps throwing stones at it, I am facing it from the front. I take out a black iron spear from my storage and hold it at the leopard-stripped newt’s mouth.

「Alright, everyone, attack ───」

Following Juke’s simple and clear command, the attack begins. Juke is in the very back, attacking the tail. This guy is a newt, so is there any point in doing so?

「Hey, Juke, how about attacking the belly instead of the tail?」

「Shut it, you porter! Just shut up and do your job!」

And who the heck is it that is letting that very porter do the most dangerous job, which is acting as the tank? Without even looking back, the leopard-striped newt swishes its tail and sends Juke flying.

「Guaaaaah!」

No one pays any mind to the direction in which Juke is blown away. Well, we are in the middle of a battle against the zone lord after all, so it can’t be helped. The tail seems to have hit Juke’s armor, so I don’t think he will get poisoned.

When Rosie stabs the leopard-stripped newt’s left side with her sword, the newt turns its head toward Rosie. There it is! I thrust my black iron spear into the vulnerable right side of the newt’s face. The spear penetrates it deeply. As expected of the work of a magic blacksmith. The spear has great penetrating power. It looks like the newt’s defensive capability isn’t that great.

「I’ll hold this guy in place! Its defense is not that great, so aim at its internal organs as you attack!」

Using full-power body enhancement, I hold down the newt that tries to rampage with the spear that is sticking into it. Since black iron can’t be infused with magical energy, there is no need to use material enhancement, so I focus on full-power body enhancement as I continue to use it. My magical energy is rapidly depleting. Perhaps I should have taken a magical energy restorative medicine.

As I thought, the newt’s defense seems to be not that big of a deal. Under everyone’s thrusting attacks, its stomach has been gouged out, and they have even reached its internal organs. We are probably almost there.

「Gyaaahhhh!」

Juke’s scream echoes deep in the forest. What the heck is his deal now? When I look in the direction of the voice, I see that Juke has been caught by the roots of a demon tree and is being lifted into the air. Sigh, it can’t be helped. That one is a broad-leafed demon tree, just perfect.

「Luna, Lavina, I’ll leave the demon tree to you. It’s a broad-leafed demon tree, so your attacks should be effective against it.」

「Yes, Sei-sama.」

「Roger that-pyon.」

After a while, the sound of Luna’s powerful metal rod swings and Rabina’s continuous punches echoes through the forest. I don’t think there will be any problem on that side. The newt has also suffered fatal injuries and is lying limp on the ground. This guy is poisonous, so we can’t let our guard down until the very end. As we attack it repeatedly until I confirm its death with appraisal, it seems to be dead finally.

「This guy’s body fluids might be poisonous too, so be careful, okay? Let’s take out the magic stone only and leave the flesh and skin.」

When we take out the magic stone and head toward the magic tree, it has already collapsed. We were lucky that it was a broad-leafed demon tree. If it had been a needle-leafed demon tree, I don’t think Lunamilia and Lavina would be able to defeat it, given that their compatibility is too bad. I cut the broad-leafed demon tree with my axe and put it into my storage. Alright, it looks like this exploration will earn us a sizable amount of money, too. Juke… doesn’t seem to have suffered any serious injuries. Even so, he looks pale and unwell, so it might be a good idea to go back to the safe area and take a rest for today. We have defeated two zone lords in just six days since entering the labyrinth, after all. I don’t think there could be any better accomplishment than this. Not only do I want to report the subjugation of the zone lords, we are running out of food. I want to go back to the above ground tomorrow.