It was while I was asking for an assessment of the Kraken I had defeated.

''Excuse me, Mr. Lex. I need to talk to you for a moment about the assessment, so could you please come to the private room over there?

　Since it was all about the assessment, we went straight to the private room.

"Oh, we're waiting for you,

　There are already several people in the private room, calling out to us to come inside.
　But I was mildly surprised to see one of them.

"You're Mr. Ronzen, I believe?

　Yes, there was Mr. Ronzen, the fisherman I met the other day.

Oh, that's right, Ronzen-san. And he's also the head of the guild that unites the adventurer's guild here in the town of Physio.

　Mr. Ronzen grins and laughs.

'So you lied to me about being a fisherman?

　Why did you have to do that?

No, no, no. Fishermen are not false. This town is a port town, so the head of the organization must be familiar with the sea business, such as fishing and boating. Well, due to collusion and corruption, there is a rule that the head of the organization must be a retired person who has retired from active duty.

　So you're saying that Mr. Ronzen was a fisherman?

So, what the hell does the Guild Master want?　I thought I asked you to assess the Kraken we took down.

　Then I asked Ronzen-san why he had called me out.
　I'm sure I had some idea of what they were talking about.

Do you want to talk about the other Kraken, by any chance?

''You knew?!''

　Not only Ronsen-san, but the others who were with him also had a surprised look on their faces.

''Yes. Because the Kraken we defeated this time was a child Kraken that hadn't yet become an adult.

""Kids?

　Huh?　You didn't realize that.

'Essentially, the Kraken crushes the ship they catch and then eats the people and food inside. I guess they're in the groove of cracking open a shell and then eating its contents. But the other day the Kraken didn't eat the ship, but swung it around and threw it into the harbor. That's a common practice for Kraken children who don't have a strong enough chokehold to destroy a ship on their own.

　In fact, the small boat I made for fishing decoys had been destroyed in batches.
　The reason they couldn't destroy the battleship this time was probably due to the fact that it was a large ship built by the military with a lot of prestige and the fact that it was made of Ancient Plant material, which is harder than steel.
Well, an adult Kraken would still crush it.

'I didn't know the Kraken had such properties...'

　Mr. Ronzen looks at me with a surprised look on his face.

'I'm wondering where in the world you got that kind of knowledge, but well, let's leave it at that.

　Mr. Ronzen changed his mind and turned to us.

The fact that the Kraken isn't supposed to be a single entity is classified. If the outside world finds out that there is more than one of them, there is a risk that there will be no ships coming from the outer cities to trade with the Inner Ocean. If that happens, the seaway of the Inner Ocean will be completely paralyzed.

　Certainly, that's something you don't want to do in a shipping town.

''Well, the informed merchants seem to have figured it out, though they dare to change to an overland route from the town on the way to bring in the goods.

'However, we don't know when they will find out that there is more than one Kraken. We had to solve this problem as soon as possible, and we all had our heads in the sand.

But then you came to this town. You're the one who can beat the Kraken.

　Following Ronsen-san's words, the people who had been silent until now begin to join the conversation.

''I mean, who exactly are you all?　Are these some of the town's finest men?

It's not a mistake to call me a great guy, but I'm not a local guy.

　Everyone nodded at Ronzen's words.

''We are the heads of the adventurer's guilds in the towns adjacent to the inner oceans of each nation.

　What a surprise, you all were the guild leaders of the Adventurer's Guild.

What are the bigwigs of the Adventurers' Guild doing again?

　And all of them are guild leaders from different countries.

''We were originally invited to the launch of the newest warship built by this country's military. The extermination of the Kraken is a problem we all share.

"And if it had been possible, I would have wanted them to see me take out the Kraken, but the result is what it looks like.

Oh, you were easily a toy for the Kraken.

I have to admit, I was disappointed, but it's fortunate that I met you guys, so life has a strange connection with you.

Now, back to my point. We want you to take out the Kraken in the Inner Sea. The reward is the full amount of the Kraken's killing fee offered by each town's guild.

　Hmmm, the reward for defeating the Kraken in this town is 1500 pieces, and the number of people here now is 5, including Ronzen.
　In other words, the total of this reward that we haven't received yet is 7,500 gold coins.

''I'd like to check.

''What?''

The guild's asking for rewards for killing Kraken is a per unit amount, right? Considering that the fact that there is more than one Kraken is top secret, we can assume that, right?

'Oh, yeah...'

　I shrug my shoulders that Ronzen-san has been asked something he doesn't want to be asked.

''If the number of Kraken you have defeated exceeds the number of towns in all of them, do you get a reward for defeating the excess Kraken?''

　This is where I was concerned.
　It's good to be offered a job, but I don't want to be taken advantage of unfairly by misrepresenting the contract.
　Then it's just like in my previous life.

''I don't want to think you're there, but in that case, I'll pay you extra.

　Hmmm, I don't have a problem accepting it if you're paying me properly.

I understand. I'll take that offer.

""Oh!"

Thank you for accepting it.

　Mr. Ronzen holds out his hand to me.

'You'll have to wait until you've fulfilled your request before you can thank me.

　I hold out my hand again and we shake each other's hand tightly.
　Now, let's do what I asked.

　Let's do it.

So, what are we doing now?

　When I come to the harbor, Liliera asks me a question.

'First, we'll find out how many Kraken there are between the Inner Sea and the mouth of the river.

　If we don't know the total number of enemies, we won't know if we've really destroyed them.

How do we know that much area?　

''It's easy. We just need to fly over the Inner Sea with our flying magic and use our exploration magic to check the Kraken's response as we make our way to the mouth of the river.

How can you pinpoint a Kraken with scouting magic?

Yes, because all we have to do is search the creatures in the Inner Sea for signs of strength.

　If you want to investigate the details, there's a special magic, but this time it's just a defeat, so there's no need to investigate that closely.

''Since that's the case, I'll investigate from the air, but what about Liliella-san and the others?''

　I'll see how Liliera and the others work.

'I don't want to be in the sky, so I'll find a job I can take in the city.

Coo!

　Apparently Mr. Liliella and Fluffy don't like to fly.

''I understand. I'll be off then.

Yeah, have a good day.

　You're not going to be able to do that.

　I used my flight magic to reach the farthest point of the inner ocean and immediately ran my exploration magic.

..........and there are two of them nearby?

　I see two Kraken at the far end.
And I feel one near each of the towns in the inner ocean, except for the town of Physio, and one in the center.
Maybe, though, they're using the places where there's a lot of food as their own territory.
That's usually where there's a lot of fish, and also where they can eat the shelled food that humans put out.

Then we move along the inner ocean to the mouth of the river.

Hmm, it looks like there are no kraken on the way to the mouth of the river.

It seems that the Kraken doesn't recognize this part of the narrow river as its territory because the water depth is shallower than the main body of the Inner Ocean.
Well, it still seems to be more than ten meters deep.

I think I know how many Kraken there are. But still, they can go out to sea without making it their territory, right?

Then it seems like it would be a good idea to go out into the open sea, where there's more room and plenty of food.
　Or is there a reason why you don't want to go out?

Well, it doesn't matter now, does it?

　
　In order to prepare the tools necessary for the extermination of the Kraken, I returned to the royal capital at the gate once.

　◆

Then we will begin the Kraken slaying.

　We came to the harbor again to kill the Kraken.

" " " " " " " " "

　The fishermen and sailors who were around cheered as this was their second strike.

'Good luck!'

　Moreover, this time Ronzen-san and the guild leaders of each town were also there.

Yes, leave it to me. ...By the way...

　I look around at the fishermen around me.

'I thought it was top secret that the Kraken was there?'

　Everyone is kind of accepting the Kraken extermination as normal.

Yeah, I know most of the guys who work on the water around here. We don't tell the outsiders and the people who work on land.

　Okay, so it's not really a secret, is it?

So, how do we get it down?

First, the Kraken. I've identified seven in all.

Seven?　That's a lot of them?

　Everyone in the harbor was surprised to learn that there were more Krakens than expected.

''Fortunately, we didn't see any Kraken before we got to the mouth of the river, so I think that if we can defeat the Kraken in this inner ocean, the problem will be solved.''

　Well, it's not like there aren't more Kraken kids coming from the open sea again.

You think you can kill that many Krakens?

Yeah, they'll be fine. Don't worry about it.

　He replies with a smile to the guild leader who asks with concern.

''How exactly are we going to defeat them?''

　Yes, explanations are important.
　I'll give the guild leaders an overview of the Kraken's extermination.

"To begin with. To begin with, the reason why fighting an underwater demon is so difficult is because the injured party escapes into the water.

　Well, then you can use magic or magic items to attack underwater enemies, but it's still going to be troublesome to fight an opponent who can move freely underwater.

Therefore, I'm going to lose water first and drag my opponent to the ground.

" " " " " " "

Well, the proof is in the pudding.

　I used my flight magic to float up into the sky and come to the center of the inner ocean.
　I then used my exploration magic to locate the Kraken in the center and fired my magic at it.

''High microburst!''

　The magic of creating a polar and fast downward flow of air towards the sea surface explodes.
　Even if it's localized, the wind is slammed at high speed over an area of nearly 3km, and all the seawater in the inner ocean is blown away to the surrounding area and blown up into the air.
　Looking at the surface of the sea below, the sea has temporarily dried up due to the loss of seawater.
　And on the seabed was the figure of a Kraken blown to the surface of the sea by a high microburst.

'Okay, next!'

　I took out a huge stake from my magic bag and buzzed it at the Kraken.

'Ick!　Elder Plant Stake!

　As the name implies, a huge stake made of Elder Plant flies towards the Kraken.
　That's right, the reason I went back to the capital city was to go further into the forest of monsters to cut down the Elder Plant for the material.

　The Kraken struggled to escape, but the huge body that was lifted up onto the pseudo-created land was unable to move properly due to its own weight.
　And then a stake that flew at high speed pierced the Kraken's body.
　A little while later, the surrounding seawater flowed into the blank area, and more scattered seawater turned into rain and returned to the inner ocean.

　I pull the rope that connects the stake I made from the Elder Plant and retrieve the Kraken.

Let's get the rest of the Kraken back, shall we?

　I use this method to defeat the Kraken one after another.
　And then I defeat all the Krakens.
　If there's no water, it's nothing to fear, even if it's a Kraken.

OK, that's it, I've killed the Kraken.

　When I come back to the harbor, I line up the Kraken in the open space.

　Yes, this Kraken is smaller than the Kraken I know.

Well, that's about it.

　I turned around and reported to the guild leaders who were waiting in place.

''........''

　But the guild leaders only pulled and shivered and said nothing.
　Huh?　What's wrong with you?　Maybe I didn't explain it well enough?

The only thing you need to do to get rid of the vermin is to use search magic to find their exact location and number, then all you have to do is hit them. Once you get the knack of getting rid of the escape route, exterminating them isn't so difficult.

"'No, that's not a normal trick!'

Huh?　That's weird. I just had to show you how it's done.
A little bit of seawater to drain the seawater, and that's all it takes.