Chapter 19: Gunpowder Flower

Original: Chapter 19: Gunpowder Flower

I walk along Passage 4.

According to the information Miss Rilril gave me, the Gunpowder Flowers I’m looking for bloom in several locations. I think I’ll go to the closest one.

If I go straight along Passage 4 and find a small Spring, I turn left. And when I see a yellow Flower Field, I cut straight through the middle of it. If I walk along the narrow Passage beyond that, there’s a Gunpowder Flower Colony.

“There’s no reason to go all the way to a distant place, so the closest one is fine, right?”

Strong Monsters appear if I go far away. If that happens, it’ll be life-threatening again.

“I’m not good at fighting, so I’ll prioritize safety.”

For now, I’ve arrived at the yellow Flower Field.

I feel a little bad as I cut through the middle of it. I think I stepped on some flowers. Small flowers were blooming densely, and I couldn’t avoid them very skillfully.

Next is the narrow Passage.

“Wow, I didn’t think I’d be entering a place like this overgrown path.”

I come to this Dungeon every day, but this is definitely the narrowest Passage I’ve ever walked through. The walls are close, and the feeling of pressure is intense. I thought a large man probably couldn’t pass through this Passage.

When I pass through that narrow Passage, I come out into a wide area.

“This is quite a large place.”

I was in a narrow Passage until just now, so there’s a sense of openness. It’s wider than my high school gymnasium, I guess.

In the back right of that wide area, there was a place where many red flowers were blooming. That’s the Gunpowder Flower Colony.

There are some Monsters, but they’re weak, so I don’t mind them.

I walked towards the Gunpowder Flower Colony.

“It smells like gunpowder. Like after fireworks.”

I’m sure there were Gunpowder Flowers that used gunpowder to explode and bloom, opening their buds to bloom.

“When I think about it again, it’s still a strange plant.”

I’m sure there’s no such flower on Earth.

I arrived at the Colony. The Gunpowder Flowers were red and beautiful flowers. However, the petals were much thicker than ordinary flowers. When I touched them a little, they were quite heavy petals. They were squishy and seemed to absorb a lot of impact.

During the bud stage, they protect themselves from enemies with this weight and squishiness. However, I think that because they guarded the buds too tightly, they needed power to open the petals. That’s why they had to generate gunpowder inside the buds and explode them.

“And this is the bud.”

In the bud state, it’s quite tall. It’s about chest height.

When I poked the bud with my finger, it had considerable weight. I’m sure it’s filled with gunpowder inside.

“Sorry.”

While saying that, I mercilessly pulled it out by the stem.

“Heavy! It takes a lot of power. This is hard work.”

One, two, three… I keep pulling them out and storing them in my Item Space.

“Phew, I’m glad I raised my Level.”

I might not have been able to pull them out if my power hadn’t increased.

Six, seven, eight… It’s going well. However…

Boggon!

A dull explosion echoed. Surprised, I turned around. There, there was something about the height of my chin.

“Keeeeee, kikikkikikkikeeeeeeeee!”

It’s a Monster. It’s laughing in a high-pitched voice. Black smoke was leaking from the corners of its mouth. It had a Gunpowder Flower stem in its hand.

It didn’t need the stem, so it threw it away.

“Did it eat the bud?”

Moreover, it ate it with the gunpowder contained in the bud. That’s why it caused an explosion in its mouth, I think.

I’m sure Gunpowder Flowers are delicious in the bud state. Otherwise, it wouldn’t forcibly eat them with the gunpowder.

“What should I do? It’s a Monster I don’t know.”

Moreover, it’s quite large. I’m sure it’s strong.

It looks like a bipedal Red Lizard.

Its eyes are bulging, like a reptile. I personally don’t like its appearance, but I felt that some reptile enthusiasts might say it’s cute.

“I should run away, right?”

I don’t even know the Recommended Conquest Level of the opponent.

But… The Red Lizard walked towards the next bud.

I can easily escape now. That Lizard doesn’t seem interested in me. But if I run away here, I feel like the Gunpowder Flower Buds will be eaten up.

“What should I do? What should I do?”

I still need more than 10 Gunpowder Flowers to complete the Quest. It’s too many to get without getting close to the Red Lizard.

I should go to another Colony, but it’s far away.

Besides, there are definitely stronger Monsters there than that Red Lizard. Powerful Monsters that I probably can’t even scratch…

“Then I should do something about that Red Lizard, right?”

I made up my mind. And I took the Hammer out of my backpack.

That Lizard has its back to me. I can catch it off guard now.

I silenced my footsteps and approached the Red Lizard.