LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 83
Karem found the words ‘mushroom monster’ to be nostalgic, stirring memories from his childhood.
After returning from elementary school, he got his parents’ permission to go to the PC room, where he was first introduced to online games.
Before the game underwent a drastic patch that changed its core mechanics, the storyline of the infamous MEX was woven with various touching, ridiculous, and interesting quests as he explored the world, defeating countless monsters and transforming into an increasingly powerful digital avatar made of 0s and 1s.
Of course, he thought passionately raising a character was somewhat frustrating.
“Damn it, it took a week to reach the second job class!”
Anyway, for Karem, mushroom monsters were a material that evoked memories clouded by the mist of time.
Even as he got older and encountered various mushroom monsters in different games, including the original Myconid, that didn’t change.
However, Karem felt that his cherished childhood belief was about to shatter.
Creeeak—
A cute little white fist wielded by the enormous walnut-shaped mushroom golem was easily blocked by the great shield of an adventurer at the front.
Boom!
As the adventurer staggered back a few steps, absorbing the shock, a visible shockwave rippled through the humid air.
When Karem turned his gaze, he saw the mushroom golem, resembling a giant walnut with smaller and larger nuts growing on it, swiftly approaching, its thick tentacles swinging wildly with mushroom-like tips.
An elf adventurer evaded the heavy and sharp blow with an acrobatic motion and launched a series of fire arrows at the golem’s torso.
As the arrows embedded in the mushroom golem, they smoldered brown and black, creating plumes of smoke and flames at the impact points.
Amidst the sizzling sounds, the savory scent of mushrooms, along with an oddly familiar aroma of well-cooked beef, piqued Karem’s interest.
“Wow, that smell is incredible.”
“Even so, you can’t just eat it! It looks like a giant—ani—little one, you might not care.”
“Am I crazy to even think about eating that? Who knows what kind of mushroom it is.”
“Yeah?”
“Hmm?”
The flow of the conversation was off.
Karem took note as he watched an adventurer fend off an egg-shaped mushroom thrown by the golem, then turned his eyes toward Catherine.
“Well, I’ve survived eating all sorts of things in Mosstone, but I really didn’t look at mushrooms unless I was absolutely certain they were edible.”
“Who would know what makes a mushroom edible… ah.”
“How would I know what I’m eating when there’s no one to tell me?”
Even experts couldn’t guarantee 100% accuracy when it came to mushrooms. That remained unchanged from his past life to this one.
Karem could confidently assert that having witnessed the village’s top mushroom expert, a forest keeper, die after confidently eating what he claimed were edible mushrooms, gave him that certainty.
The mushrooms Karem had encountered in his past life were merely a tiny fraction of the edible mushrooms sold in supermarkets and markets.
In the forest stood mushrooms he had never seen before.
With such a plethora of mushrooms around, opting to identify the edible ones felt less practical than catching the rodents and insects he’d eat the next day.
Narque, who stood next to Karem, absentmindedly fiddled with his droopy ears while watching the adventurers’ battle against the mushroom golem.
“Um, but Sir Atanitas, are we really just going to watch like this?”
“Huh? What’s the problem?”
“Well, how can I put this… it feels a bit morally wrong to just sit here peacefully while we’re under attack.”
“What’s wrong with that? It doesn’t matter.”
Catherine, tapping her staff on the ground, leaned against the wagon.
“We spent a fortune hiring adventurers, so they should earn their keep.”
“It seems like it’s coming to an end.”
Karem thought that the adventurers hired by Catherine were undoubtedly skilled fighters.
The enormous walnut-shaped golems, which were more than twice the size of the adventurers guarding the wagon, soon dropped to the ground, releasing an appetizing aroma while oozing slick slime.
“Wow, look at that visual! Seriously…”
If it had been a walnut small enough to fit in his fist, it might have been different. But now that the size had ballooned, it looked like a colossal brain swinging tentacles.
It resembled some kind of alien creature from a B-grade Hollywood movie from the ’80s and ’90s.
As the adventurers looted the spoils, a lithe, sharp-featured adventurer with a buzz cut approached Catherine, having just felled the last mushroom golem with a reverse grip on his longsword.
“Sir Atanitas, we’ve eliminated all the attacking golems and are currently clearing the scene.”
“Ah, thank you for your hard work.”
“Considering the state of the village at our destination, what will you do?”
It was a reasonable question from the adventurer.
While the mushroom golems that ambushed the wagon had been defeated, the village they were headed to was still under siege from various sizes of golems that easily exceeded a hundred.
Karem, just to check, asked the adventurer, “Will the mushroom golems in that village be dealt with too?”
“Hmm, if we receive an offer we can’t refuse, everyone will surely give it a shot.”
The buzz-cut adventurer sheathed his sword and surveyed the massive golems encircling the village.
“I could manage double the number, but with them being at least three times as many, I can’t see a way through.”
“Well, I wasn’t expecting much, so you can focus on collecting your loot. By the way, did the Akusare mushrooms turn into golems? I need to figure that out.”
Catherine adjusted her grip on her staff and stepped forward, the pumpkin at the staff’s tip, a symbol of the Third Conquest of the Ancient Empire, starting to emit a pale light.
As the blue magic rapidly spread from Catherine’s hands through the adamantium circuits of her staff, the humidity suspended in the air quickly condensed and fell to the ground.
“Ha! This is why I love the cold northern countries.”
Catherine swung her staff lightly, emanating a bright blue glow.
And so, the village under siege by the mushroom golems.
A sudden blizzard struck Fungusbee.
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Fungusbee.
This village, now under the domain of the Wizard’s Tower, was a peaceful place where monsters and feral beasts were rare in Iceland, and the forest’s growth wasn’t particularly rapid.
The village’s specialty was the Akusare mushroom.
This walnut-shaped mushroom, the size of a fist, was a coveted product throughout the continent beyond the Kingdom of Seophone, also ensuring the lord bought all the surplus after taxes, so the village was always prosperous.
Daily life in Fungusbee wasn’t particularly complex.
As spring arrived, the village would typically hire adventurers to subjugate the undead and prepare to harvest mushrooms, but then the incident occurred.
A massive horde of undead poured out of the forest.
Fortunately, despite the village’s prosperity, there were no intermediate-level undead that could pose a threat.
All were low-level monsters the village residents could handle, so it was no surprise that they were halted by the fortified palisade, bolstered by the funds from Akusare mushroom sales. The undead that appeared were swiftly dealt with by the adventurers in Fungusbee.
But that was not where it ended.
From the forest emerged huge mushroom golems that outnumbered the previous undead horde, rendering the earlier foes a mere joke.
Fortunately, Fungusbee was always stocked beyond capacity, and with sturdy defenses and the presence of adventurers, defending the village was not a challenge.
“However, while maybe once or twice is okay, what about three or four times? They’re coming in waves!”
The onslaught of mushroom golems continued for days—four days, ten days, and counting.
Even if the fortifications were damaged, they could dismantle buildings to reinforce them, but the problem remained—food.
Wood and weapons were ample, but food supplies dwindled, and after rationing what little they had left over several days of defense, it was then that Catherine’s magic erupted.
Karem, who had been listening quietly to the report from the chief of Fungusbee along with Catherine, asked, “Sir Atanitas, what will you do?”
“Well, first we’ll contact Coldon. Placing a request for subjugation is our priority.”
“Oh, I thought you would personally take on the subjugation.”
Catherine pointed her staff toward the thick forest beyond the palisade as she replied to Karem’s comment.
“How would I even explore that vast forest alone? Even if I gathered every adventurer I hired now, it would still be too much. My time isn’t that cheap. In situations like this, it’s much more efficient to make use of adventurers who’ll be broke after winter ends. Chief!”
“Y-Yes!”
Catherine quickly pulled out a parchment and quill from her robes, writing rapidly before sealing it with magic and handing it to the chief.
“Get this document delivered quickly to the Wizard’s Tower in Coldon. They should provide backup along with a request to the Adventurer Guild. How many adventurers do we need?”
“N-No, that’s not necessary. We have enough with the adventurers hired from the village!”
The chief bowed repeatedly, praising his benevolent ruler before retreating.
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*
Catherine informed them that aid from the Wizard’s Tower in Fungusbee wouldn’t take long to arrive.
In the first place, the distance from Fungusbee to Coldon was roughly half a day’s walk.
The command she gave masked as a request was delivered to Olivier, who prepared supplies, while the Adventurer Guild placed a subjugation order, and the first ones to accept would arrive in Fungusbee within two days with the supplies for the subjugation team.
Of course, that wasn’t too far, but that would be a matter for later.
Karem followed Catherine and Narque up to the palisade, observing the adventurers and villagers working diligently.
Clang! Clang! Thud! Clang!
With some adventurers and armed villagers keeping watch, under the chief of Fungusbee’s command, they swung their tools vigorously, shattering the frozen mushroom golems like rock.
“Didn’t those already look dead? Are we just cleaning up the scene?”
Karem tilted his head and asked.
“Uh, technically speaking, the mushroom golems… aren’t quite dead yet.”
“Not dead? Even in that state?”
Narque answered in place of Catherine, who was lost in thought.
“M-Monsters aren’t considered dead until their core, located somewhere in their body, is destroyed.”
“That sounds pretty troublesome.”
“R-Right? Oh, look over there.”
Karem turned his head, following Narque’s pointing finger.
A group of adventurers was extracting a grotesque mass that appeared formed of crystals fused with flesh, from a gigantic mushroom golem, sprouting mushrooms and mold upon it.
“The core of the golem takes on diverse forms based on the surroundings. What they are extracting now is the core of the mushroom golem.”
“So it won’t die until it’s separated from the body?”
“Or you need to destroy it outright.”
“But why are they extracting the core like that?”
“If it remains intact with no damage, it’s considered quite valuable. To silence the golem, you need to destroy the core.”
“That’s hard to imagine.”
There was no denying that.
Where would the core inside the golem’s body be that someone could just sit there and hit it?
Karem’s thoughts must have shown on his face, for Narque shook his head.
“Well, at least it’s a mushroom. If it were made of rock or metal, this place would have been long gone.”
“…Metal?”
“Exactly. There are also lava golems made of molten rock or water golems. Ice golems exist too.”
“Thank goodness it’s just mushrooms.”
Karem thought it was terrifying just to imagine.
The mushroom golem before him already produced visible shockwaves with its mere strikes, but what about the lava golem made of magma or the water golem made of liquid?
Regardless, though it was said that destroying the core would be the answer, he did not want to imagine facing them.
Of course, as a cook, Karem wasn’t likely to have to confront them directly, but he did not even want to see them.
“Alright, I’ve made my decision.”
Catherine, who had her eyes closed, unfolded her arms and opened her eyes.
“Kid, for dinner tonight, I want some mushroom dishes.”
“…I thought you were seriously contemplating something, and that’s what you were thinking about?”
“Isn’t that as serious as it gets?”
Catherine gestured toward the areas outside the palisade.
“With food in the village running low and a situation like this, can you expect a grand banquet? I’d rather just eat whatever you cook. And Narque.”
“Y-Yes!”
“You follow me until dinner. We have things to do.”
Narque nodded with Catherine’s signal and followed her. Karem saw no reason to remain on the palisade, so he descended as well.
“Oh, by the way. Here, take this.”
Catherine paused midway down and dropped a purse of silver coins into Karem’s hands.
“Buy whatever ingredients you may lack, and since you haven’t had any snacks, be quick about preparing it.”