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The Otherworld Conquest Method of a Reincarnated Porter Chapter 146 Part 2

I lie in wait for the adventurers coming at us from behind, and as soon as we meet, I use my intimidation skill on them.

「Hey, try to follow us any further. I’ll kill you.」

「Ah.」

「Hii.」

The three men become pale-faced. If they don’t heed my warning and continue to tail us, at that time, I will not show any mercy.

We keep walking for a while, but in the end, they never show themselves. Still, the intimidation skill sure is handy. Let’s use it from now on, too.

「Oops, looks like we’re running into them already.」

I spot two centipedes. They’re clinging to the wall. I put the map into my storage and take out my sword.

The centipedes’ ranks are 2 and 3. Let’s observe them for a bit. When they notice us, they move to the ground and charge towards us. They’re only about as fast as someone walking at a brisk pace, so you can easily run away from them. The standard strategy would be to cut off their countless legs and attack their main body at the end, but as a test, I’ll try moving quickly and cutting off their heads.

「Geh.」

As expected, they have incredible vitality. Even when I appraise them, it says they’re not dead. However, having their heads cut off, they don’t seem to be able to tell where we are, so I guess the fight is pretty much over.

「Michelle, stab the centipede with this.」

「Y, yes.」

I take Michelle’s shield and hand her an iron spear.

Michelle, who has no strength, seems to be barely capable of holding the spear. She launches a thrust at them, but has trouble hitting them.

「Huff, huff.」

「Calm down, these guys have lost their heads and are already near death. Just keep your distance and stab them once at a time.」

She somehow manages to stab them. And then I finish the centipedes off. It seems that they’re still alive even after I cut them in half. Talk about tenacious.

I see, centipedes seem to be monsters that specialize in vitality. As long as you keep your distance, you won’t get hit by their attacks, so for rookie adventurers, I think they’re very sweet opponents. Maybe this labyrinth isn’t so bad. The risk of dying is extremely low, or so I thought, but then a bee flies over with a buzzing sound.

I quickly swing my sword and cut it in half. After appraising it, I find that it’s a toothed bee.

Hmm, these guys might be surprisingly troublesome. Even though bees make a buzzing sound, they fly at you from above. The labyrinth is bright on the ground and the area around it, but it’s dim above, and bees move erratically, making it hard to hit them. Furthermore, in this labyrinth, there are red dogs that move quickly on the ground. If a bee and a red dog appear at the same time and attack from above and below, it will probably be difficult for a rookie adventurer to deal with them. And when you’re preoccupied with the bees or the dogs, you might have a centipede coming at you next. I have to protect Michelle, so I can’t let my guard down either.

「Alright, Michelle, I’ll give you a knife. Try dismantling it.」

「Yes.」

I thought she would dislike it, but Michelle does her best to follow my instructions and take out the magic stone from the monsters. Since she cooks every day, she isn’t so bad with her hands. All that’s left is to dismantle the fur and meat of the red dog, and then to see if she can take out the magic stone from the humanoid goblin. From the way she acted just now, Michelle has the drive at least, and will probably be able to handle it somehow. For the sake of Cordis, she is probably desperate, what a caring elder sister.

「Alright, let’s end it here for today.」

A few hours after going into the labyrinth. After going through many battles, Michelle’s level has gone up to 5. After lunch, it’s still past noon, but I decide to head back for today. That’s because Michelle, who is exploring the labyrinth for the first time wearing equipment she doesn’t normally wear, looks pretty tired. There’s no need to rush.

Besides, I could sense Michelle’s enthusiasm. She’s probably desperate and is doing her best to learn the trade.

We return to the above ground and sell the materials at the Adventurer’s Association. On our way home, I pull out some weeds that catch my eye by the roots. When we get home, it’s time to practice making medicine.

「Alright, Michelle. Normally you have to work under the instructions of a leech, but I’ll teach you the basics of medicine making.」

I’m not knowledgeable about the detailed medicine compounding, but you don’t need to be a leech to be able to make medicine ingredients from raw materials. You use water magic to extract the moisture and medicinal properties from the roots. Then use fire and wind magic to create warm air infused with magical energy to dry them.

「Michelle, you can use fire and water magic, right? Can you use earth and wind magic?」

「Um, I don’t think I can. Since I’ve never used it before.」

「I see.」

Michelle uses magic for daily stuff, such as to make fire and do the dishes, so she probably hasn’t used earth or wind magic, which are not necessary for daily life. She’s a magician, so she’ll probably be able to use it soon, I think.

「You can just learn it little by little. First of all, extraction using water magic. Watch closely.」

I channel my magical energy into the roots of the weed and extract the water inside. It’s pretty hard. I don’t think you’ll be able to do it with ordinary methods. As expected, Michelle seems to be struggling.

「I think the first step is to channel your magical energy into the root and feel the water in the weed. Practice for a while. Alright, Cody, let’s train.」

「Yay.」

Michelle is practicing making medicine inside the house, so Cody and I have a sword fight a little distance away from the house. As usual, his sword strikes are good, but his movements aren’t very good.

「What’s wrong, Cody?」

「Umm, my muscles are a little sore.」

「Ah, you were making movements you were not accustomed to, so it made your muscles sore. At a time like this, it’s better to rest. That’s right, let’s practice stepping in.」

I have Cody, who is having sore muscles, practice stepping in. Even in boxing, what’s important is the movement of your lower body, so it should be good for his future.

After working up a sweat for a while, we return to the house. Michelle seems to be struggling with a weed in her hands. Well, I doubt she will come to be able to do it right away.

「Michelle, you can continue after dinner. I’ll leave dinner to you.」

「Huh, ah, yes. I totally forgot about it. I’ll get it ready right away.」

She must have been very focused. It seems that she has been so focused in her practice that she lost track of time. Skills partly depend on the person’s aptitude, but I get the feeling that a large part of it is also influenced by motivation. At this rate, I think it won’t take too long for her to be able to do it.

After finishing our dinner, we put Cody to bed, and then start treating Michelle’s peach poison again today. I didn’t know that treating illnesses was this difficult. I’m a porter, so I don’t have much magical energy to begin with, but not only do I have high proficiency levels in magical energy manipulation and healing magic, I have a high level, so I believe I’m pretty good at healing magic. And yet, today, too, I failed to complete the treatment. The pink bruise is gone, but when I appraise her, I find that she’s still contracting the disease.

「Amazing, it’s cured.」

「Nah, even though it looks cured on the surface, it’s not completely cured yet. Let’s see, if all goes well, maybe it will be cured by tomorrow.」

「Sei-san, truly, I don’t know how to thank you…」

Michelle becomes teary-eyed and looks at me with her cheeks blushing a little. Well, you could say that I’m her savior, after all.

「Michelle, as I said yesterday, I’m doing this because it’s beneficial for me too. My experience in treating illnesses will surely be very useful to me, after all. You can just thank me when you’re cured. Then we won’t owe each other anything.」

「Sei-san…」

Hmm, these are the eyes of a maiden in love. Michelle is cute and has a good personality. However, she has a little brother she has to look after, and above all else, she is totally unfit for combat, so I just can’t take her on my journey. If I were to judge that Niinya is not suited to be an adventurer, I wouldn’t be able to go on a journey with her either. Well, Niinya is tough enough to go into the labyrinth without a job, so there’s no need to worry about that, though.

「Don’t fall for me, Michelle. I’ll go on a journey sooner or later. And that’ll be the end of it.」

「No way, Sei-san, together…」

「No can do. After diving into the labyrinth today, you get it, don’t you? To put it bluntly, you’re a burden.」

「… Yes.」

「I’m going to sleep now. Good night, Michelle.」

「Good night, Sei-san.」

I cancel my light magic, lie down, and close my eyes, but I can feel Michelle’s gaze. She’s probably worried about me, but I have no intention of reciprocating her feelings.

After a while, Michelle begins to breathe peacefully in her sleep. Having gone into the labyrinth for the first time, she must be pretty exhausted, both mentally and physically. Alright, I guess I should go to sleep too.

In preparation for tomorrow, I fall into a deep sleep.