Chapter 21
That human called Luan— is he like someone important to you, like Lady Quintilla to Joe?
“Yeah… that’s right… sniff, he’s so precious. To me, Luan is my whole world, like Lady Lutila… I mean, Lady Quintilla…”
I blinked my watery eyes and pleaded. Reluctantly, No. 3 answered.Hm… then… Arachnesia eats a lot, and it doesn’t eat prey stuck in its web right away — it stores them up and consumes them all at once. So, that… person called Luan is probably still alive?
“What? Really?”
Luan—thank goodness…Yeah, for now!
It wasn’t yoga!
Haaah… If I’d known, I wouldn’t have run off alone…
A late swell of worry and guilt made me bow my head.Don’t worry too much, Joe! Arachnesia will be busy watching Lady Quintilla right now. It won’t even have time to eat, I bet.
No. 3 spoke in a comforting tone, maybe feeling sorry for my pale face.
“…Thanks.”
Now what I had to do was clear. Catch that damned spider that’s threatening this ecosystem and beat it to death. Then the quest will succeed, and I’ll save Luan! I shouted to the Antragons with renewed determination.
“Let’s start wiping out the spiders, everyone.”
“So this is… the habitat where Arachnesia lives?”
I looked at the cave entrance, plastered in webbing so thick it looked like a massive ball of yarn, and asked.
Yep! Lady Quintilla should be somewhere in here… There’ve been loud noises repeatedly.
Sob, my poor queen… I’m so worried.
Damn it, I should’ve followed her even if she told me not to.
The Antragons spoke in turn. Luan aside, I worried just as much for their queen, Quintilla.
“…Alright, let’s go.”
I summoned Attica and impatiently dug at the web blocking the cave entrance.
“Ugh, spit! Ugh… this damn web.”
Maybe because these weren’t normal spiders but monsters, the web was so tough it wouldn’t come off by hand. My mouth, hands — my whole body got caked in web. I’m going to become a human spool at this rate… Still, at least Attica was fine. As a legendary weapon, any web that touched Attica vanished instantly. I looked at Attica, quietly glowing, and silently thanked Panda-sama again.
‘Our Attica is not an ordinary watering can. Seriously, Luan doesn’t even know that.’
Luan used to scold me whenever I said the word “ordinary,” but his look was still distrustful.
Joe, be careful! They’re Arachnids! Looks like they just hatched from eggs!
Along with the Antragon’s words, relatively small spider monsters began to appear one after another.
Kiiiiing—
“Intruder detected. Protect the mother.”
“Protect the mother. Protect. Protect.”
The Arachnids surrounded us and continuously spat invisible webbing. I used Attica to flick the webs away, but maybe because of their numbers, the Antragons got entangled and began to fall one by one.
“Damned spiders! Everyone, fall behind me!”
The fallen Antragons writhed as if suffocating, looking like silkworm cocoons. Seeing that, rage rose in me to the point my teeth ground together. The Antragon clan welcomed Arachnesia into their territory when it had nowhere else to go. And now, instead of repaying that kindness, it’s attacking the good Antragons who took it in? Even for a world that runs on survival of the fittest, this is too much!Joe, we’ll handle this side.
Just then, holding Attica aloft, Antragon No.1 blocked my path and said,Captain, I’ll follow you.
Heh! Don’t be all flashy by yourself!
No.2 and No.3 lined up behind No.1. With solemn faces they began to bite at the Arachnids one by one.Joe, leave the rear to us. You go save the queen, please!
I looked at Nos.1–3 and nodded. Then I burned the webs around the fallen Antragon with Ruby’s flames and created a defensive slime barrier from the Great Slime.
“If you stay inside this, you’ll be safe! This is acidic slime that can even dissolve spiderwebs!”Thanks, Joe!
Joe, you saved us!
Joe! Please rescue Lady Quintilla!
After confirming the Antrags’ safety, I hurried deeper into the cave. I needed to find Arachnesia fast and finish it. Soon I reached a wide chamber with a fork. Left or right — where would Arachnesia be?
Gururur—
Another tremor shook the ground. I steadied myself and walked left. Then a massive silkworm-like cocoon came into view.
“…Luan?”
Inside that translucent cocoon, Luan was asleep.
“Lu—Luan. Wake up!”
I knocked on the gigantic cocoon with a clenched fist, but Luan didn’t react. Could it already be too late? Luan had been slashed by that mad sword because of me… He’d warned me not to go in alone because it might be dangerous, but I left him and ran. Fear swept over me and I gasped.
“Hah…”
No. Pull yourself together. Don’t panic. Luan will be okay. I forced down my rapid breathing and checked Luan again. Then I saw the tip of his finger move slightly. Relief flooded me and I reached out to touch the cocoon holding him.
“Luan… I’m sorry I’m late. I’ll definitely save you, so just hang on a little longer.”
Calmly scanning the surroundings, I noticed many more cocoons of various sizes besides Luan’s. This must be the place where Arachnesia stores the prey it captures. …First, take Luan out of the cocoon. Just as I prepared to cast a skill, a soft, delicate voice came from behind.
“Don’t take them out of the cocoons!”
Startled, I turned around. Standing there was a woman shaped like the giant statue I’d seen in the Antragon’s lair.
“…Are you Lady Quintilla?”
“Oh? You know me?”
Is that… Quintilla?
Quintilla had hair as translucent and white as an ice flower, and pitch-black irises with no sclera showing. Two antennae like an ant sprouted from her head, and on her smooth forehead was the rune pattern I’d seen on the Antragon bodies. The overall impression was—
“A beautiful girl…?”
“Oh? Is that what you said? Hehe, thank you for the compliment. You’re very beautiful too.”
Quintilla covered her mouth with a shy laugh and her cheeks blushed rose. I’d assumed she’d appear as a larger, more insect-like Antragon. Was that statue just an idealized, sacredized depiction?
“…It’s nice to meet you. I’m Joe Blanche. More importantly, the Antragons are fighting to protect you right now.”
After a brief admiration, I quickly regained my composure and explained the situation to Quintilla.
“I see. My good children… to think they would ultimately… It’s my fault…”
Hearing my explanation, Quintilla bowed her head in a pitiable expression.
“Don’t worry, I’ll help the Antragon clan. That’s why I’m here.”
“Joe, you’re so kind. By the way, that human over there — is he yours?”
“Huh? No… he’s not mine. He’s— he’s my dear friend.”
I stammered at Quintilla’s bold question.
“I see. Then if you want to save your precious friend, you must not take him out of the cocoon. If the prey undergoes ‘feeding transformation’ by Arachnesia, it will lose vitality — life force — until death.”
“T-Then shouldn’t we get him out even more?”
I stared at Quintilla with a worried face.
“No. If the prey is fully enclosed in the cocoon and the feeding transformation begins, trying to pull them out will actually accelerate the absorption. What would normally take several days could finish in just a few minutes.”
“Then what should I do? Damn it, I have to save Luan. And the Antragons too!”
