Gather Divine Coins and Gacha! - Chapter 202

 The cold wind howled on a winter's day in March.

Outfitted with only a "Floating Ball" and "Fairy Eyes," and fully bundled up with gloves, tights, and socks for maximum warmth, I was outside inspecting the frozen waterway.

“Oh, it’s frozen…!”

The freezing of the waterway… Right now, the flow of water is slightly obstructed, but if left unchecked, it could clog or back up, so it's best to address it early for efficiency. That’s where I come in, monitoring from above by scaling the wall.

If it's early freezing, this can solve it.

“Ha!”

I pulled out an alchemical item from my pouch called "Combustion Fluid," which generates high heat when mixed with a large amount of water, and sprinkled it on the frozen part.

“Whoa?!”

As soon as it touched the ice, it made a sizzling sound, and steam filled the air. The ice melted away quickly, as if being eaten away, and disappeared in no time.

…Apparently, this thing is made from monster bones or bile. How does something so dangerous get made in the first place? I’ve been warned to handle it carefully, but it won’t generate heat if it just touches the skin, and it’s supposedly a safe item as long as you overlook the cost issue.

“Now then… Is everything clear? Nope, there’s more.”

After confirming the ice had melted, I followed the waterway to the river, only to find two goblins on the other side.

It seems that monsters have started to return to the shallows of the forest, but their numbers are still not large. Because of this, there are occasionally monsters that come out of the forest for no reason. These guys are exactly that.

“…Can I take them?”

They’re not strong and they’re unarmed. There’s nothing around to grab and throw.

As I approached carefully while maintaining altitude, the goblins noticed me and started jumping and screeching. The fact that they didn’t choose to retreat to the forest shows they’re not very smart.

This is a win... Floating in the air, I was confident of my victory.

“Alright, let’s go!”

I dove down rapidly, closing the distance in an instant. The goblins were so surprised they couldn’t react, and I slipped between the two standing still. At that moment, the snakes from my coat’s hem launched an attack.

“…Oh?”

Not only were the goblins unprepared, but our new snake also seemed inexperienced, missing one of them. However, it seemed to have taken some damage as it was crouching.

“One more time!”

This time it didn’t miss, piercing the goblin’s head and finishing it off.

“Well done. Now… what to do…”

Two goblin corpses. It’s probably better to carry them back to town, but… I’ve been told it’s okay to leave them if there are only a few. It’s not worth calling someone from town for just two. I’ll just report it and let the patrols handle it.

◇

“Sneak Snake”

A monster I happened to tame in a building used for illegal monster trading in the royal capital. I named it Akame, but it’s unusual and usually stays outside.

Its combat ability is said to be low, but it’s known for having a symbiotic relationship with demon lords or powerful monsters.

About two months ago, I defeated such a powerful monster. One was attached to it, and during the dismantling process, Akame noticed it and brought it into my shadow.

I didn’t notice it, but when we returned to the mansion, Seriana noticed it. It looked almost identical, but its tongue was white, so I named it Shirojita.

However, even though it’s from the Demon Realm, it’s much weaker than Akame… Should I let it gnaw on the cores of monsters in a dungeon?

Thinking about such things, I arrived at the mansion. In summer, Seriana’s room window would already be open by this time, but it’s winter, so it’s closed.

“Open up.”

As I called out and knocked from outside, Elena, who must have been on standby, quickly opened it.

“I’m back.”

“Welcome home. It must have been cold?”

“Yeah. The waterway was frozen too. …Phew…”

I handed my coat and cape to Elena, lay down on the sofa, and covered myself with a blanket made of Heavenly Wolf fur. So warm…

As I relaxed and looked up, I met Seriana’s eyes, who was watching me, waiting for my report.

“I used a bottle of ‘Combustion Fluid’ to deal with the freezing. Also, I encountered two goblins from the forest on the other side of the river and killed them, but I left the bodies there. Will the patrol soldiers handle it?”

“That’s fine. I’ll have the ‘Combustion Fluid’ replenished later. As for the bodies, leaving them is no problem. Thank you for your hard work. The cold should ease in about 10 days to two weeks, so please hang in there until then.”

Just a little longer…

“Got it.”

I can’t wait for spring.