121-Egg Acquisition Quest Part 1






 While eating lunch, I observed the kappa and found out a few things.

 First of all, they seem to be honest and friendly, despite their timidity.
 The kappa that I handed out dried meat to seemed to have taken a liking to him, and he climbed on his shoulders and took turns sitting on his lap.
 He also seems to be very curious, and is busy poking at the basket on his back and peeking inside.

"Kupapa.
"Kupapa.
"Ghee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee ......

 This is exactly the state of an old man who has been taken in by the children of his relatives.

 Yeoh, the fairy, was the same way, but she was a big sister, and she was able to tame the small kappa.
 They are now playing the game of spinning around in their shells, and seem to be competing with each other.
 Yoru and Kuu were also playing with them, and I could hear their cheerful voices.

"K-papa!
"Kupapa!
"I got it!
Koo!
"Kushish! 

 Occasionally, she would get carried away and fall into the river, but when that happened, she would sprinkle wing dust on the defeated child to cheer him up.

 Despite their differences in personality, the fairies seem to have something in common.
 The only difference is that the goblins have built large settlements, but there is no place around this river that looks like it.

 They may have a home in the water, but they don't seem to have such advanced technology.
 Their hands are not very good for detailed work.

 However, there is another point that cannot be so easily stated.  
 In fact, the shell on the back of the kappa was thought to be derived from a turtle or some other creature, but it turned out to be something else.
 When I touched Kappa's shell yesterday, I noticed that it felt similar to wood.
 So it seems a bit premature to assume that processing itself is impossible.

 Secondly, his level is high, 24-25, but his physical ability is not so high.
 He is as fast as a stone-faced frog, and I could beat him at arm-wrestling.

 However, it should be noted that this is not the case in water.
 As far as swimming is concerned, it is unquestionably excellent.
 Also, when her body is wet, it seems that her physical attack power and speed are corrected.

 Also, Kacchan's magic power and magic attack power are so high that some of them surpass those of Paula.
 On the other hand, her physical strength is low and her physical defense is not very good, so it will be difficult for her to play an active role in exploration.

 Lastly, the food situation of the kappa seems to be not so good.
 In the first place, the demons spawned by the underground labyrinth do not need to eat.

 However, the supply of magical elements itself is not plentiful, and it seems to be adjusted to the extent that there is a constant shortage.
 In order to make up for this shortage, they prey on other creatures to take in magical elements.
 This is why goblins go hunting for horned rabbits and are attacked by flocks of raiding birds.
 On the other hand, once they are full of magical elements, they will not care about intruders.

 As for the slow-tempered kappa, at first I thought that they were satisfied with river fish.
 However, their appetite for dried meat and the fact that they went out of their way to steal fire-breathing bird eggs in the forest suggests otherwise.
 Also, I don't see any fish in this river.



 I don't know why I'm living in such an inconvenient place, but if I could, I'd like to make my life a little more comfortable.
 If possible, I'd like him to live a little more comfortably.

"Hey, why don't you come with me? There's a big pond on the fifth floor, and a big lake on the sixth floor.

 At my sudden invitation, my brother kappa showed some thought.
 His sister, Kacchan, was standing next to him, eagerly trying to persuade him.

 The big kappa glanced downstream for a moment, then stood up straight and turned around to point at the forest behind him.

"Kuppa!
"Hmm? Is there something in there?
"Nya, he wants you to follow him.

 Tinya seemed to know why.
 She turned to Paula, who smiled and nodded.
 Apparently she was right.  

Hmm, that sounds like a situation. Okay, let's go.
"Here we go!
Koo!

 The beasts responded cheerfully as they spun around and around.
 Apparently, this one likes playing with a spinning top very much.

 As we waded through the thigh-high grass, we headed for a group of black trees.
 My brother and Kakchan were the only companions, and the rest of the kappa waved us off.

 It took about fifteen minutes to reach the forest, which was dimly lit and looked as if something was about to appear.
 I gave the little ones some medicine for the first time in a while, since there must be higher level demons.
 Yoru and Kuu are given an attack enhancer.
 I'll give Yoh to Gobu, and defense enhancers to the slimes, Tinya, and Paula.
 We handed them to the two kappa and they looked at us strangely, then imitated us and drank it down in one gulp.

 When I was ready, I looked at my brother kappa and he nodded to me, then looked up at the sky and called out a small cloud.
 The figures of the kappa, bathed in a light rain, quickly disappeared from sight.

"Yah, they're out of sight!
"So this is 'rain cover'. That's convenient.

 The brother kappa lets out a small cry and moves slowly into the forest.
 Of course, I couldn't see him, and I didn't hear his footsteps, but I guess that's right.

 The forest was somewhat damp, probably because of the heavy rain.
 There was a lot of moss and most of the branches of the trees were covered with light green.
 The ground was covered with undergrowth and wet fallen leaves, and it looked quite difficult to walk on.
 Well, in this environment, it's hard to start a fire even if you blow some fire.

 Tinya was in the lead, assisted by the fairy Yeoh.
 I, Paula, and Gobbi are in the back, with four slimes guarding the perimeter.
 Yoru and Ku are spinning around on the wet leaves.



 The brother kappa, who had been hiding in plain sight, made a small sound to indicate where he was going, and we followed it to the back.
 Our destination was less than five minutes away.

 The base of a tree was heaped high, and if you looked closely, you could see several eggs covered with fallen leaves and grass.
 Three firebirds were walking around it.

There's so many of them!
"They lay their eggs in one place, don't they? Is that what you're after?

 I couldn't see him, but my brother kappa affirmed me with a small cry.
 However, it seems that the reason he brought us here is not to help the egg thief or to be a bouncer.

 If they were just going to steal eggs, the success rate would be higher with only a few kappa who can use , and if they were guards, there was no need for them to come this close.
 If that's the case, we should assume that they are testing other methods.

I'm not sure if I can trust myself to them if I don't know what they're capable of.
"You're thinking surprisingly well. I'm impressed, Kappa.
Yes, don't underestimate them. A demon is a very clever and loving thing.
Kyousetsu!
Koo!

 Leaving the two spinning around on the ground again, I thought of a plan to defeat the fire-breathing birds.
 A poke with its beak is a little dangerous to slimes because it literally stings them.
 On the other hand, the red slime is the only one among them that does not seem to be affected by the "breath of fire.

"Then leave one of them to me.
I'll leave the other one to Yoru and Kuu.

 The two of them are fast and sturdy enough to evade to some extent.
 Besides, they've been rolling around on the wet leaves for a while now, so they're getting nice and wet.

Let's see if the fairies and the slimes can get the last one.
"Xixi!
Goooooooood!
"Nah, I'll do my best!

 And so, deep in the forest, the battle for the eggs began.