The dungeon has been parasitized

Chapter 43 Dire straits

It was only then that Clay realized it was a dragon lying on the bottom of the water...

Its surface is covered with blue scales, it has strong limbs, a long tail, and glowing golden vertical pupils...

However, unlike the earth dragon that was easily hunted by the slime killer, it has an extra pair of wings, even though it is quadrupedal.

Its wings appeared to be damaged; one was reduced to bone, and the other seemed to have been ripped off its back.

Another striking feature is the gruesome wound on its chest.

Splash...

Its chest rose and fell, and the water flowed along its nostrils, creating a powerful suction.

So that's why the suction was intermittent, it was actually breathing.

Staring at the offerings thrown into the lake, Klein suddenly realized that this dragon might be the object of the fish-men's sacrifice.

The bright, vertical pupils blinked. Clay, already on edge, quietly spat out a few seeds from the fish's mouth, but the seeds descended very slowly...

If it attacks now, Klein will be doomed along with the seed.

The dragon raised its head to look at the sinking sacrificial sheep, its eyes narrowing slightly. Then, it raised its head, opened its mouth, and took a bite of the sheep's leg.

Then, he vomited it up again.

It seems, uh, a little disgusted?

Then, it raised its tail and curled it towards the water plants at the bottom of the lake...

Are they going to attack? Or are they going to be eaten?

Klein channeled his magic, ready to defend himself at any moment.

But the dragon merely flicked its tail, and a massive torrent of water rolled in, carrying with it water plants.

boom!

There's no way to avoid it! The current is too strong!

Although Klein tried to dodge, he was still entangled in the water plants along with the other offerings and rushed toward the edge of the lake.

But as they approached the edge, another suction force emerged from the bottom of the lake, drawing all the offerings towards it.

Wait... there's the entrance! We've found the passage!

Klein and a pile of offerings were carried by the current into the passage, which felt very similar to the one in the plantation.

Offerings, aquatic plants, underwater passages... everything was connected.

The merfolk offered sacrifices to the dragon, but the injured dragon seemed to dislike these things and didn't want to pollute its territory... I guess so?

That's why it used the passage to clear away these offerings; the water plants that stunned Klein might have also come from here.

After all that, I never expected that all my questions would be answered.

After being carried by the current for a while, Klein activated his skill to grow vines and untangle himself from the tangled seaweed.

I don't know if it has magical perception, so I can only use skills from a distance.

Klein eagerly wiggled his tail and moved forward along the passage. After a few minutes, he arrived at the familiar fork in the road.

It was right here... that I was knocked unconscious by a rock hidden among the seaweed.

I... I'm finally back. I almost died in the swamp. It's only been a day, but it feels like a long time.

The weaker currents led to the plantations, while the stronger currents led to the swamps; Klein now understood this.

Using the saplings at the fork in the road, Klein's soul quickly transferred back to the safe house.

Huh? What's Yanami doing here?

Inside the safe house is a vine bed that Klein made for Yanami, and Yanami is sleeping on it.

Klein manipulated his vines and poked the sleeping Yanami.

"Hmm... what's wrong?"

Yanami struggled to open her eyes, rubbed them, and then stared blankly at the vines in front of her, her sleepiness melting away in her wide eyes.

Why is her face so pale...?

"Klein! You're back?!"

"Yes, there was a slight accident, but I still made it back."

"Oh...that's great, Klein, you're finally back..."

Yanami got out of bed, reached out and hugged the vines where Klein was, and a strong sense of security emanated from her.

"Huh? Huh? What happened? What's going on?"

"Klein has been gone for so long, I thought he would never come back."

Klein was a little taken aback, but he still patted her back with the vine.

"It's okay, I'm back now."

Although he almost didn't make it back.

"besides……"

Yanami loosened her arms, knelt on the ground, and rubbed her hands restlessly on her knees.

"that……"

"What's wrong?"

Yanami swallowed hard, her eyes filled with trepidation.

"Klein, what will happen if I make a mistake?"

"Made a mistake? What mistake?"

Will they kick me out?

"No way, what happened?"

Yanami took a breath before continuing.

"Wild Dog Forest was burned down."

It was burned?!

"Huh? Are you alright?!"

"Huh? Is that what Klein is concerned about?!"

Yanami was a little confused and blinked blankly.

"What else can we do? We can always rebuild the plantation, so are you alright?"

"what……"

She opened her mouth, then pursed it slightly, giving a cryptic smile.

"It's nothing... just a hand injury."

It was only then that Clay noticed that her right arm was wrapped in cloth.

"Then open it and let me see, I'll treat you."

"……good."

Yanami hesitated for a moment, but still opened it obediently, which made Klein's heart tremble.

It was a claw mark that tore through the skin, a wound that went deep into the flesh; any deeper and it would have reached the bone.

It's heartbreaking to see her face so pale...

"Just bear with it, it might hurt."

Activate skill: Accelerate growth

"Ugh!"

The skill was used on Yanami's arm, and the newly grown flesh pushed aside the scabs and wriggled to fill the wound.

Yanami clenched her teeth, her whole body trembling from the intense pain, and sweat poured down her face as the treatment continued.

"alright."

"Haa...haa, thank you, Klein."

Yanami, panting, forced a smile onto her sweat-drenched face, but it only made Klein feel guilty.

"I'm sorry... I was gone for too long, and you were in danger."

"No, no! It's my own problem, it has nothing to do with Klein!"

Hearing Klein's remorseful apology, Yanami waved her hands frantically.

"So, what exactly happened?"

"Well... I wanted Klein to capture an extremely powerful magical beast, but I accidentally set the forest on fire."

what?

………………

Let's go back to one day ago.

"Yanami, I'm going to explore the underwater passage. Be careful in the plantation."

Yanami is trying to ride the Thunderhorn Deer that Klein gave her.

"Okay~ I plan to practice magic on my own."

"Then I'm leaving."

A while after Klein finished speaking, Yanami's telepathic address disappeared, meaning he had already left.

"Stretch forward, roll up, swing backward."

Yanami used telepathy to communicate with Klein's vines, and the vines obediently carried out the command.

He reached forward into a basket, rolled up a piece of dried meat, and then placed it behind him, handing it to Yanami, who was riding on the deer.

Since vines don't have vision, you can't use commands like "get me some jerky," so it's quite troublesome.

After taking a bite of the jerky, Yanami manipulated the vines to retrieve her wand.

I feel like having Klein's convenient vines will make me lazier and lazier~

But Klein might be angry if he sees this; he told me to train more...

"Hey."

After dismounting from the Thunderhorn Deer, Yanami picked up her wand, intending to practice some magic first.

Yanami has already learned the magic [Agility], and she's almost mastered [Flame Shield]. With a little more practice, she'll learn [Rocket Rain].

We must improve our strength quickly to relieve the pressure on Klein!