Of the two A-rank missions Minami Yojuro accepted, one was the subjugation of a poisonous-type magical beast, and the other was the exploration of a newly discovered underground dungeon.
The poisonous beast was said to be a massive lizard. Because of the toxic gas it exhaled from the venom sacs in its body, the nearby villages had been severely affected, with many people poisoned as a result.
As for the underground dungeon, it had only been discovered recently. Judging by the monsters that appeared within it, the dungeon's overall level wasn't considered too high, but the boss guarding the final floor was a particularly troublesome creature.
Because that monster was only weak against fire-element magic, the guild master, upon witnessing Yojuro's Shakkaho, assumed that he was proficient in fire magic, and so assigned that mission to him as well.
Neither task—slaying the poisonous beast nor clearing the dungeon—was something that could be accomplished in a single day. Just from travel distance alone, it would be impossible to go there and back on the same day.
Yojuro, having no intention of eating bland roasted monster meat again, knew he needed proper supplies of food and fresh water. As for equipment, while he didn't require armor, a decent sword was absolutely essential.
The crude bone blade he had been using earlier—crafted from the ribs of a beast he had slain—had already shattered into powder when he unleashed his "Divine Rend" slash to split the Shakkaho. The blade simply couldn't withstand the amount of magical energy channeled into it.
Flat broke, Yojuro couldn't even afford food and water, let alone a proper weapon. In the end, he had no choice but to shamelessly borrow money from Soya again.
Well, since he'd already mooched off her once, what difference did it make if he went back for seconds?
The longsword he picked up from the weapon shop naturally couldn't compare to his zanpakutō, but it was still leagues better than the bone knife he'd been stuck with before.
After purchasing the sword and a large stockpile of food, Yojuro didn't immediately depart. Instead, he returned to the house Soya had temporarily lent him.
He tidied up his room, closed the door, and finally set out fully prepared.
Unfortunately, he didn't get to meet the other supposedly strong female lodger Soya had mentioned. If he had, Yojuro certainly wouldn't have minded getting to know her.
After all, since they were living under the same roof, if the girl ever needed help changing a lamp or unclogging a drain, Yojuro would have been more than happy to lend a hand.
Five days later, on a vast grassland several hundred kilometers south of town, Yojuro stood with a map in hand, finally arriving at the designated habitat of the poisonous beast.
During those five days, he had first gone to the so-called underground dungeon. And in less than half a day, he effortlessly cleared the dungeon that was said to require A-rank adventurers to conquer.
The dungeon's final boss was a massive ice python capable of unleashing breath attacks of extremely low temperature.
When Yojuro reached the bottom floor, he even saw the frozen remains of numerous adventurers—turned into ice sculptures, their lives long gone. Clearly, these were the unlucky ones who had failed in their attempt to clear the dungeon before him.
Adventuring was indeed lucrative; with good fortune, a single trip could yield enormous rewards. But it was also a profession where your head was always hanging by a thread. A single mistake could mean death. Those adventurers frozen into statues of ice were the best possible example.
Sensing the intruder, the ice python hissed at Yojuro in a menacing warning.
The instincts of magical beasts far surpass those of humans. The moment the Ice Python, serving as the dungeon's gatekeeper, laid eyes on Minami Yojuro, it immediately sensed that this human before it was no pushover. He was nothing like the small fry that had come before. That was why it tried to scare him off with its intimidating display.
Unfortunately for the python, its attempt at intimidation left Yojuro completely unmoved. He slowly drew the longsword from his waist.
The brutal battle one might have imagined never happened, because in Yojuro's eyes, the Ice Python's strength was at best comparable to a Gillian from the Soul Society.
Its freezing breath had some flair, but not enough. Under the bombardment of Yojuro's Kido spells—Shakkahō and Sōkatsui —the massive Ice Python held out for less than a minute before perishing with bitter regret.
After collecting some rare materials from the python's body and securing proof of having cleared the dungeon, Yojuro hurried on toward his next destination.
Days of travel later, when Yojuro finally reached the vast plains hundreds of kilometers south of town and located the so-called poison-type magical beast, he was utterly dumbfounded.
There, snoring at the mouth of a cave, lay a massive creature. Yojuro stared at it in speechless disbelief. He hadn't been in this other world for long, but even he could tell this was definitely not the "giant lizard" described in the intel.
"This… this is a dragon from another world, right? In what way does this thing resemble a lizard?!
No—fine, I'll admit dragons kind of look like oversized lizards, but what damn lizard has horns and wings?!"
According to the information he had received from the Adventurers' Guild, the target was supposed to be a poison-type beast, a large lizard about three meters long.
Its ability was the emission of various poisonous mists, and its strength was estimated at the level of something an A-rank adventurer could take down.
But now, standing here with the actual creature before his eyes, then glancing back at the crudely drawn sketch on the commission form, Yojuro finally understood the meaning of the fine print: "Illustrations are for reference only. The real thing may differ."
The report said a body length of five meters at most. Yet the creature in front of him was clearly over fifteen meters long!
And as for "lizard-type beast," well, that description was laughably off. Even if it wasn't a true dragon, at the very least it was a subspecies of one.
In any world, dragons stood at the pinnacle of the food chain. The massive dragon-like monster before him, its entire body glowing with a deep purple hue, was absolutely not the kind of existence you'd classify as A-rank prey!
"Damn it—either the intel was wrong, or I've been played!
A five-meter lizard beast doesn't just bulk up into a fifteen-meter poison dragon subspecies in the span of a few days!"
By "played," Yojuro didn't mean tricked by the Adventurers' Guild, but by the villagers or local lord who had issued the commission.
It wasn't unheard of. After all, the bounty for slaying a five-meter, A-rank lizard beast was worlds apart from the price of hunting down a fifteen-meter dragon subspecies. Misreporting the difficulty meant they could cut costs. If the adventurer succeeded in the kill, the client profited greatly.
If the adventurer failed, well, they could always claim their initial judgment was mistaken, admit the beast was far stronger than expected, and then offer higher pay to entice new challengers.
And as for the adventurers who died in the process? Who cared? That was simply the nature of their profession.
Realizing the situation was nothing like the intel suggested, Yojuro—who wasn't the type to play the fool for others—turned to leave immediately.
But just as he was about to go, he noticed a striking elf girl with long orange hair and breathtaking beauty slowly approaching the Poison Dragon, sword in hand…
°°°
A/N: Stoneeees, my discipleees