Ch.365The Country of My In-Laws (5)

“Crackle!!”

As the ground shook violently, strange creatures covered with long plant stems charged toward the soldiers one after another.

Whoosh-!!

The soldiers fired their flamethrowers as if they had been waiting for this moment. The flames thoroughly incinerated the approaching plants.

“Hero, as you can see, with the sheer number of enemies, defending this position is all we can manage.”

The officer spoke with resignation. I see, so my title here is fixed as ‘Hero.’

“We attempted a suppression operation with our troops before, but… they’re all in critical condition. Because they were fed bell peppers. There were no casualties… but they’ve all become incapable of combat.”

The officer explained.

“Wait… they got like that just from eating bell peppers?”

Tina immediately objected.

“Wow… Tina raising a logical objection, that’s refreshing.”

I said without thinking.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Tina immediately tried to stretch my cheeks.

“Tina… you’re more the clingy type. You’re not usually the one to raise logical objections.”

I said. Character consistency is important.

“Well… our already bizarre country is experiencing even stranger things now. I’m just trying to keep my wits about me.”

Tina replied.

“Sob… Princess…”

“To care so deeply about our country…”

Suddenly, the surrounding soldiers began to shed tears. What? That’s what moves them? I couldn’t understand the sensibilities of the people here.

“Those weren’t ordinary bell peppers. Our kingdom’s scholars searched through ancient texts and discovered that those peppers are extremely toxic.”

The officer explained as he led us to a field hospital.

Inside what was more of a tent-like structure than a hospital, soldiers were moaning in terror.

“Greenphobia. It’s a disease caused by those peppers. It triggers extreme fear and panic when facing objects or living things that are green.”

The officer said.

What the hell. I’ve never heard of such a disease. Just slap ‘phobia’ onto anything and it sounds plausible… what shallow thinking!

“Naturally, the operation to reclaim Humbalt Village has been postponed. The area is surrounded by forests, all green. Our soldiers panic whenever they approach the village.”

The officer continued.

It’s fortunate the monsters didn’t take any lives… but it felt like we had already lost without even fighting.

“Can they recover from this?”

Tina asked.

“Ah, yes. According to our scholars, they’ll heal naturally with rest. However, we can’t use them as fighting force while they’re like this.”

The officer replied with a complicated expression.

“Hmm… let me try something.”

I experimentally opened my phone and displayed a forest photo.

“Eeeeeek!!”

One of the soldiers immediately had a seizure. It seemed genuine.

“Then…”

I quickly pulled up an image of the famous Japanese pro wrestler Tajiri Satoshi, known for his green mist technique.

“Aaaagh?!! Oh, the pain!!!”

“Kyaaaah!!”

The soldiers immediately convulsed. Indeed… it seemed anything that evoked the color green triggered seizures.

“Shota! Stop tormenting the patients!!”

Tina scolded me sharply.

“Ah… sorry.”

I scratched my head.

“We’ll handle this somehow. My husband and I will recapture Humbalt Village. We were planning to tour it tomorrow anyway.”

Tina said, linking her arm with mine.

“As much as I’d like to dissuade you… knowing you’re the hero who pulled the legendary sword makes me want to believe in you.”

The officer said with a grave expression before saluting us.

“Please be careful.”

The officer said in a serious tone.

“Of course, I’ll protect my woman.”

I embraced Tina.

And so, we decided to head to Humbalt Village.

——-

As we approached the border of Humbalt Village, my status window vibrated.

Ding-!

‘Side Quest: Liberate Humbalt Village’

A quest appeared in my status window. A sub-quest. Like the planet liberation before, it would give additional experience points upon completion.

Rumble-!! Rumble-!!

As soon as we reached the village border, humanoid plants sprang from the ground. There were countless numbers of them. With such a harvest, farmers would be moved to tears.

“Tina. Let’s break through first.”

I immediately drew my sword.

“Okay!! I’ve got your back!!”

Tina said as she rushed toward the front line. Tina quite enjoys fighting. She was excited for the chance to shine.

“Hyaaaah!!!”

Tina swung her leg like a windmill.

Crash!!!

The plants scattered like salad under Tina’s kick. The plants’ average level was in the 50s. Considering we were in the late game, it wasn’t particularly high. Honestly, defeating them probably wouldn’t increase our levels.

“Grrrr!!”

Other plants from the ground rushed to attack Tina from behind.

Swish-!!

The plants extended their vines to restrain Tina. I could immediately tell they planned to immobilize her and then feed her bell peppers.

“Not on my watch!!”

I decided to test the sword’s performance.

“Hnnng!!!”

After rushing forward, I delivered a mid-level slash.

Swoosh-!!!!!!

The sword cleanly tore through the plants in front of me.

The Phantasm Slayer I obtained was similar to Tomato. It had an option to deal additional damage to aberrant beings like ghosts or monsters.

But the Phantasm Slayer’s effect was stronger than Tomato’s.

Whoosh-!!

Just cutting them with the sword caused the humanoid plants’ bodies to burn at an incredible rate. Not just burn, but turn to ash with tremendous output.

This sword… was useful.

“Great!! Let’s break through everything!!”

Tina exclaimed excitedly as she leaped forward.

Since they were only level 50 mobs, dealing with them wasn’t difficult. They were one-hit kills anyway. But even so, they were troublesome opponents.

Rumble-! Rumble-!

The crazed plants kept replenishing from the ground and from the fruits of giant plants. No matter how much we rampaged, they were produced faster than we could defeat them.

“Damn!! How many hatcheries are they running?!”

I felt like I was facing an extremely skilled Zerg player. Their numbers seemed endless.

“Tina!! There’s no end to them!! This must be a gimmick where we need to kill the main body to wipe them all out!”

I shouted. I had my experience as a gamer.

“Right!! Cut down the general to win the war!!”

Tina immediately clenched her fist and took a stance.

“I’ll clear a path in one go!!”

Steam began to rise from Tina’s body. It was an application of my technique, Blazing Stance.

Everyone might have forgotten this setting, but Tina was a prodigy who could somewhat copy techniques just by glimpsing them.

“Tina… you!”

“Seeing Shota get stronger motivated me. I’ve been secretly practicing a new technique!!”

Tina shouted as she thrust forward with a straight punch.

But it wasn’t a simple punch.

Tina pushed the air with her fist, like hitting a billiard ball.

Crash!!

With Tina’s punch, the surrounding air flew like blades, shredding the enemies in front.

“Now!!”

At Tina’s shout, I snapped to attention and rushed forward.

“Uoooooh! Move!! Out of my way!!”

Cutting down the plants growing all around with my sword, I headed toward the center of Humbalt Village.

Though I didn’t know the exact geography, I knew where to go.

In the center of the village stood a giant beanstalk reaching to the sky. It was obviously the headquarters.

——–

There seemed to be some kind of barrier around the beanstalk, as monsters didn’t try to approach it.

“What’s this?”

Tina asked.

“It’s like courtesy before a boss room. The game developer’s consideration, you could say.”

I explained.

If enemies swarmed all the way to the boss room, gamers wouldn’t have a chance to catch their breath.

“Shota, you think of everything like a game…”

Tina said in an exasperated tone.

“Still… to see something from a fairy tale in real life…”

The sight of the massive plant stem piercing through the clouds in the sky was honestly awe-inspiring.

“Plant Mage Jack… the witches have revived something outrageous.”

Tina said with a serious expression.

“It’s one of the four strongest phantasms that opposed the hero of the past. Be careful, Shota.”

Tina warned.

“So it’s like the Four Heavenly Kings. Interesting.”

I smiled and headed toward the stem.

According to the fairy tale, Jack climbed the stem directly to reach the sky.

“Jack… how did he climb this?”

I couldn’t help but wonder as I looked at the stem. It boasted a smoothness and length that would challenge even rock climbing athletes. No ordinary human would even attempt to climb it.

“Now I understand why he fought the giant.”

I deeply understood the behind-the-scenes story of the fairy tale. He had the physical ability to climb this bare-handed. No wonder he wasn’t intimidated by the giant. He could probably lift the giant and power bomb him too.

“Shota. Look. There’s an elevator here.”

At that moment, Tina interrupted my thoughts. Where Tina pointed, on the inside of the stem, was an elegant elevator.

“What!! Why is there an elevator?!”

I couldn’t help but object loudly.

“It’s working too. Let’s take it to the top floor. We might meet Jack or the giant there.”

Tina boarded the elevator without a hint of doubt. She’s quite brave.

“……..”

I was honestly worried the elevator might suddenly plummet.

After that, my gaze turned to the smooth surface of the giant beanstalk. Yeah, no matter how scary traps might be, climbing that is impossible. I quickly boarded the elevator.

“Going up.”

As a mechanical voice sounded from the elevator, the car began to move.

Tina and I headed toward the unknown top floor.