Side Story Chapter 8
Iddy (8)
"I will not."
"Croak, okay, okay. Humans also need a bed…"
I picked up a stone from the floor and threw it.
Idaltar did not avoid it, and the stone hit her snout and fell down.
"Croak, Croak, why are you doing this? Didn’t you see my performance? It was even better than yours."
"Better than what? I took care of all the mother bodies."
"Croak, I also caught one."
It’s like a slap in the face from what I’ve got.
And since I caught two mother bodies and Idaltar took one mother body, my performance was better.
Idaltar protested that she had killed more monsters, but I ignored her.
Monsters without the mother body were just scarecrows.
It does not count as performance.
[Excite. Croak. Excite.]
[Both arms. tail. Won’t you?]
[Mother body. Performance. Mother body.]
[Crazy-eyeless bastard stop.]
[Stop. Stop it… …]
Look at them.
As soon as the mother bodies died, the monsters went crazy and crawled on the floor.
I looked at the monsters and found a stone in the hand of the monsters crawling on the floor.
I cut off the head of the monster holding the stone, and took the stone from its hand.
Well.… This could be a bit of a problem.
It wasn’t just a stone rolling in a dungeon.
It was a pebble.
The surfaces were cracked and cut for use as tools and weapons.
I was told that there were a lot of stones rolling around.
I could see at a glance that their intelligence was developing.
The problem was the speed.
How long did it take for early humans to use stone tools?
In stage 7-3, you may have to face monsters with spears or swords.
[You have cleared the second gate on the 7th floor.]
Description: The Trial on the 7th floor consists of three stages.
Each level contains 2, 3 and 9 rooms.
Each room can be traversed through a magic circle engraved on the wall.
Each room contains a number of Izaaku’s Disaster Dombas and one of their mother bodies.
You have cleared stage 7-2.
Some information on the 7th floor stage will be released.
Having secured an area in the deepest part of Izaaku Dungeon, the group of Dombas succeeded in protecting their mother body from adventurers.
Dombas were blind and strong monsters, and the mysterious abilities of the mother bodies made adventurers reluctant to deal with them.
But some adventurers have said that the real strength of Dombas is their intelligence.
Dombas were rated as having a low level of intelligence that was not much different from that of monkeys, so their opinions were ignored.
After that, as adventurers completely gave up on sweeping the Dombas, interest in Dombas ceased for a long time, and people forgot about them.
During this time, Dombas began to learn and use the words spoken by other people.
They started using primitive level tools.
Their mother body can stiffen the limbs of their opponents through their eyes.
Take the third ordeal to learn more about the 7th floor gate.
Clear all rooms and defeat all enemies.
Clear stage 7-1. [Complete]
Clear stage 7-2. [Complete]
Clear stage 7-3.
Completed stage 7-2.
In addition, information about the Dombas has been slightly updated.
There was no information worthy to pay attention to.
It was information that I could find out on my own without them telling me.
It didn’t matter to me whether I knew the background settings or not.
Next is the 7-3 stage with nine rooms.
A mobile portal appeared on the floor.
There were still monsters left in the room.
The mother body was annihilated, and some monsters were thrown into the corner of the room in fear.
The rest were crawling on the floor, crying quietly, as if paralyzed by fear and unable to even feel reason.
[Excite! Won’t you….]
A monster crawling on the floor sobbing a strange combination of words put a hand on my shoe.
I shook my foot, slapped its hands, and kicked the monster’s temple.
The monster stopped sobbing and moving.
"What are you doing, let’s finish it."
"Croak."
I said let the monsters be dealt with, but Idaltar did not move.
"Croak, there, is that a portal? Do I have to go to it?"
I nodded in affirmation.
"Then we can just move on? There’s no need to kill these monsters one by one."
But there’s no reason not to kill them.
"Until now, you’ve been stabbing them with a spear."
"They were enemies back then."
"Not now?"
"No. Not even prey. Croak."
Huh…
What do you mean not enemies?
I looked at the monsters crawling on the floor again.
They are still enemies.
They are just enemies who can’t resist.
"Then I’ll take care of them myself."
It doesn’t matter if you don’t help.
[Soul Cry]
The monsters started to react when I used the soul cry skill with an aggro effect.
The monsters crawling on the floor and the monsters hiding in the corner of the room began to slowly approach me.
[Stop.]
[Won’t you stop?]
The remaining Dombas came to me one after the other as if they were receiving rations and died like that.
* * *
[Round 11, Day 29. 23:52]
I was thinking about going straight to the 7-3 stage, but I decided to go to bed after a while.
I often skip sleep when in battle or in the waiting room, but it is good to rest when I have time to rest.
Thanks to the experience of continuing battles without sleeping or resting for several days on the 6th floor, I knew how dangerous battles in a sleep-deprived situation could be.
I needed to give my body and head a little rest to stay focused.
Normally, I would have just sat down, closed my eyes
"Croak."
The bodies of the Dombas were pushed against the wall and the floor was cleared.
There was quite a bit of space.
"Croak."
"Well, do you want me to clean the floor with water?"
The bodies were moved, but the blood could not be removed.
The fishy smell and stench were the same.
But I’m not a janitor, and I couldn’t clean here in this situation.
"No, if you’re going to take a break, shouldn’t you eat something? Croak, I’m hungry."
You ate the cake before.
No, you must be hungry because you ate the cake.
Just by looking at Idaltar’s size, it was predictable that she would eat much more than a normal human.
Besides, the cake is not very filling.
"That’s why I told you to eat jerky."
It is a magical jerky that will keep you from feeling hungry for two days even if you eat just a few pieces.
Even the taste isn’t bad, so it’s okay
There was no food.
I took out a jerky from my inventory.
"Croak, if possible, not jerky…"
"If you don’t like it, don’t eat it."
"Thank you for the food. Croak."
Idaltar hurriedly stretched out her hand towards the jerky.
"Thank you, husband."
I threw the jerky at her.
Idaltar skillfully caught the flying jerky and ate it.
"Don’t do it when I tell you not to. I will destroy you. Really."
From a while ago, I only talked to her in a good way, but she continues to cross the line.
"Croak, but I don’t even know your name. There is no specific title to call you."
This is how Idaltar protested.
She did.
"I thought you were a warrior, but you weren’t a warrior either. Croak, I don’t have the right words to call you."
Not a warrior
Are you saying that because I killed the monsters that didn’t resist earlier?
I didn’t even think to argue.
"Then husb…"
"Captain, call me Captain. Now you’re my subordinate."
"Croak? Weren’t we friends?"
No.
You were just summoned to share the rigidity from the Dombas mother bodies.
It’s also a lot of work.
"Croak, then call me Iddy."
"Iddy?"
"My nickname. Croak."
It was creepy.
Seriously, what about nicknames?
"Actually, it’s my nickname."
I was silent, Iddy explained.
"When a Lizardman is called by their family and close friends, they use their childhood name. It’s a familiar name, not a tribal, or social name."
It’s a familiar name.
People also call family members by their childhood names or nicknames.
"Then you were called Iddy when you were young?"
"Croak, no."
Idaltar shook her head.
What again?
"I was banished from the tribe and never called by any other name. The nickname Iddy was created by myself."
… Another dark story suddenly appeared.
She was banished from the tribe and never called by her nickname.
"How old were you when you were expelled from the tribe?"
"Croak, maybe around five years old."
It was when she was young.
But she was young enough to have a nickname.
Usually, a nickname is given by parents as soon as their child is born.
"Okay, I’ll call you Iddy."
"Croak, Croak."
Iddy liked it.
I was a little surprised by that candid expression.
I thought you weren’t that different from me.
I was certain, though.
"Croak."
Iddy, who had just chewed and swallowed all the jerky, asked.
"But are we just sleeping like this?"
"Huh."
Again, in fear of making a silly joke, I said it seriously.
She luckily didn’t say anything about coming closer.
"Croak, do you have any camping gear… or at least a blanket?"
"No."
It was strange that the Lizardman, who looked like she could fall asleep in a swamp with mud on her body, mentioned a blanket.
"Croak, that’s strange."
Iddy said so and laid down on the floor.
She curled her body and wrapped her long tail around her body.
She looked like a cat.
Although she was too large to be called a cat.
I saw Iddy lying down completely.
And after checking the distance between Iddy and I, I quietly closed my eyes.
This was enough distance for me to react when Iddy got up.
"Croak, are you just sleeping like that?"
"Huh."
Anyway, I don’t sleep deeply.
From the first floor, there were already signs of it, and on the sixth floor, it completely hardened.
I am always awake even while sleeping.
I respond immediately to even the slightest sound or presence.
After waking up like that, I wonder if I really fell asleep.
The only time I could be very sure that I slept was when I woke up from a dream.
"Isn’t it uncomfortable? It’s better to lie down."
"It’s not uncomfortable."
I cut off Iddy’s words.
She’s been talking a lot ever since.
I even felt like she was trying to somehow create a topic for conversation.
I soon found out why.
"Croak, this is the first time I’ve slept with someone else. I always had to sleep alone. Nights in the jungle are dangerous. Have to be prepared for attacks by nocturnal beasts. It’s too painful to always fall asleep ready for attacks. Croak."
Iddy was chatting alone even when I didn’t answer.
Iddy was excited about sleeping with someone.
She acts like an elementary school student on a picnic for the first time.
"Croak, Croak. Once, I caught a leopard cat and tied it to my hut. When something attacked, I thought that the leopard cat would make a noise and I would be able to wake up by hearing the sound. But when I woke up the next day, the leopard cat was dead.. With a half-eaten stomach. Croak, Croak. Maybe I would have died if it hadn’t been for the leopard cat that day."
The chatter continued.
Iddy didn’t seem to want to sleep at all.
It was hard to accept it..
No, I haven’t accepted it yet.
Still, I wish she was a little quieter.
Unconsciously, I fumbled on the floor to see if there were any stones to throw at her.
"Croak, Captain, tell me the name of Captain."
"Name?"
"Didn’t I tell you mine too? It’s right for Captain to tell me yours too."
What is this nonsense?
Iddy was looking at me with bright eyes.
It was strange.
I remembered the look in my nephew’s eyes as he looked at me with the Children’s Day gift hidden behind my back.
"Then, in return for telling my name, sleep quietly. The rest of the story will be told after I sleep."
"Okay. Croak!"
Like a nephew who promised to do his homework well in the future in hope of receiving a gift, Iddy answered with vigor.
"Lee Ho-jae."
"… Croak?"
I wondered if Iddy didn’t hear it, so I said it again.
"Lee Ho-jae. That’s my name."
"Croak croak?"
However, Iddy’s reaction was a little strange.