“A special variant? That crab monster armor beast?”
“Yes, I think that’s what it was.”
A few days had passed since the incident in the Yum-Yum Mountain, and Melt heard more about the crab monster armor beast from Phi, who learned about the incident right after they came back.
Phi nodded, as they walked down a hall, and continued.
“Investigations of the remains left on the scene showed abnormal growth hormones in its body. This is just a theory, but maybe it ate the poison… The mushrooms of the Toad Stinger, or something, and it ingested its spore, which intoxicated it and made it grow rapidly.”
“Are you saying one of those small crabs escaped into the Yum-Yum Mountain!? I thought those disappeared after Yuugo took care of Rush.”
“I don’t know about that either… But I doubt a monster armor beast in that condition would continue to evade people’s eyes. And considering the toughness of its shell, I doubt the Toad Stinger could sting it. Maybe it ran away while it was still a soft little crab, and that was when it became its puppet. It makes sense if that was the course of events.”
“I see… I guess even the Toad Stinger was able to attack human settlements, once it got itself a strong monster armor beast as a soldier.”
“That’s very possible. It might be our fault, not the monster armor beast’s, if you think about it from the perspective of an invasive species attacking and changing the lives of the beings that were the original inhabitants of that area.”
A new incident was started, because the vanguard spawned by Rush after he transformed into a monster armor beast was not completely eliminated.
Maybe the real culprit was not the Toad Stinger, but the ego of humans… Phi whispered about how ironic it was, that a supposedly finished case was still going around creating new incidents.
Melt seemed to agree, and spoke as she looked at the Seward Ring on her finger.
“I guess in the end, it just keeps repeating. Fights beckon new fights, and it just keeps going. It’s kind of sad to think that this incident might breed another one too.”
“But you and my brother saved a lot of people. It wasn’t for nothing.”
“Yes, I know. It’s always tougher and more important to protect, as opposed to destroying… It’s like Yuugo said.”
After putting herself at risk, Melt did succeed in protecting the old lady and the children.
She thanked Yuugo for the strength she got from the hero lessons he gave her, and a small smile formed on her face.
The battle was not over. She might be caught up in some other mess, but… If she could use that strength to help people, surely there was a meaning to her struggle.
At the very least, she felt as though she grew after this battle. Both in her techniques and her heart.
As they walked down the hall, and Yuugo’s name was brought up, she suddenly thought to ask Phi about him.
“What is Yuugo up to, by the way? He helped the people that came to their senses after the battle was over, and woke up the ones that were doing the quest with us too. Is he taking a day off?”
“No, he left early in the morning. I think he was headed to the Yum-Yum Mountain.”
“Eh? Why? Is he still curious about something?”
“…He said it was to offer a prayer to the people who weren’t saved. It’s not like there were zero casualties in this incident…”
Phi responded to Melt quietly, and with a dark expression.
Melt gulped, and faced down.
Phi was right. Sadly, there were deaths during this incident.
The cause of death was blood loss. And since they were found in the village, surely they were killed because Zenon and his buddies cut them down and left them.
Melt and Yuugo did all they could, but could still not avoid casualties.
And it was not as though Yuugo laid his hands on them, they were a result of Zenon and the others recklessly attacking.
There was no need for him to feel responsible, but he simply could not avert his eyes either.
And as Melt thought about Yuugo, who prayed for the sacrifices that they were not able to avoid, she turned to Phi again.
“He doesn’t have to carry everything on his shoulders… What an awkward guy…”
“My brother is just that nice. He said he wants to be stronger. Strong enough to protect everything he wants to protect, he said…”
“I see… I need to get stronger too…”
“…And I need to look for ways to make Blaster better. It won’t match my brother’s strength, but I need to do what I can…”
They knew not everything went as well as they wanted, but still wanted to try their best.
At the very least, if Yuugo wanted to protect everyone, they felt they wanted to do everything in their power to match those feelings. Thought Melt and Phi, as they stopped and looked at the blue sky that seemed both close and far away.
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I hope the higher official make zenon hold accountable of his action, his idea of using weapon on civilian should get his magic knight state revoked, unless the higher up try to downplay it or maybe the author didn’t bother to write it down.
I hope Melt train with Yuugo, maybe Yuugo need to make pointer like some of the precure magic.
Eventually blaster will get so strong it’d have zero resemblance to the og mass produced version