Raising the Lowest-Ranked Adventurer, the Heroic Girl – Wasn’t I Just a Substitute Old Man?

Raising the Lowest-Ranked Adventurer, the Heroic Girl – Wasn’t I Just a Substitute Old Man?

Volume 3 Chapter 25   Solution found

In a desert region, commonly seen? Not found in Japan?

Here’s what the discovered data said:

• • • • The target monster is classified as Class 2.

• • • • Typically found in low magical energy dungeons, primarily of desert origin.

• • • • Uses thorny tentacles to stab enemies and absorb magical energy from them.

• • • • Interferes with the minds of surrounding organisms, attracting them towards itself. The effectiveness of this ability increases with the number of corresponding monsters.

• • • • Low aggression, but will attack if someone tries to move away from it.

• • • • Reproduces and regenerates by consuming magical energy as food, so as long as their energy supply is cut off, their numbers won’t increase, making them less of a threat.

• • • • In the past, a annihilation operation was carried out in a discovered dungeon to ensure safety and collect stable materials, but the operation failed. Total extermination is deemed impossible.

That’s the gist of what was necessary to know.

To be honest, I can’t help but express my frustration.

However, if I were to vent my frustration, it would only cause concern for Miyano and the others.

Therefore, I’ll make an effort to appear unaffected. Despite that, I couldn’t help but grimace a little, but I don’t think Miyano and the others, who are focused on dealing with the jellyfish, noticed it.

However, mental interference, huh?

I’ve been feeling a sense of discomfort several times leading up to this. Whether it’s really okay to proceed here or just stay as it is, that kind of feeling.

Miyano seemed to have felt the same discomfort, so perhaps it’s due to the effect of mental interference that attracts prey towards us?

It must be because the defensive equipment we have is being penetrated and rendered ineffective, probably because the effect increases with their numbers. It’s understandable if there are this many of them.

According to the information available here, it’s probably expected that there would be at most a hundred or even a thousand.

However, here, there are not just thousands but tens of thousands of jellyfish.

Originally, they were not supposed to multiply to such numbers, which is why they were classified as Class 2… Damn it, I underestimated them.

It’s a failure of such magnitude that can’t be dismissed with words like “carelessness.”

But now is not the time for regrets. I can’t afford to waste any more time. I need to come up with a solution as quickly as possible.

“Asada, did you find the boss? And what’s the situation with the enemies?”

“I haven’t found the boss. And those things, they’re splitting apart after eating candy!”

I asked Asada, who was checking the surroundings to align the gathered information with reality and think things through. This is it.

Certainly, the information is not wrong, and the monsters themselves seem weak.

Even with my somewhat restrained attacks during the test, I was able to inflict considerable damage. In normal circumstances, encountering them wouldn’t be a problem.

However, even with a small number, that’s the key.

In an environment with low magical energy, the numbers don’t increase much, and the danger is minimal.

But here, although it’s technically a dungeon that includes desert terrain, it’s a place where magical candies, full of magical energy, constantly rain down from the sky. There’s no shortage of food for those jellyfish.

It’s a perfect match for them, but a terrible match for us.

Still, I can’t help but find it strange.

Certainly, this could be considered a desert-themed dungeon.

For those creatures, there is an abundance of magical energy, which serves as their food.

But is that the only reason they exist?

Do they undergo regeneration and splitting while sustaining damage from rain candies hitting their bodies, even though there is no inherent connection between the existing monsters and the ecosystem? Wouldn’t they appear in places with more naturally abundant magical energy?

Of course, it’s possible that the combination of desert and magical energy created the conditions for their emergence… but there’s a lingering feeling that something is off, something that doesn’t quite fit.

It’s like the sensation of someone tampering with something.

It’s as if someone introduced an artificially created object, claiming it to be entirely natural. It may indeed have a natural appearance, but there’s something about it that doesn’t blend in—like a camouflage suit, perhaps?

A person wearing a good camouflage suit can blend in with the surrounding scenery if you don’t look closely. However, there’s an indescribable sense of unease—a feeling that something is off. It’s like something abnormal, something not quite ordinary, has slipped in, creating that sense of discord.

I sense that from these jellyfish.

One reason for this is the existence of a boss.

The information I just researched doesn’t mention anything about a boss. However, it’s my hypothesis that there is one.

Is this discrepancy simply a misunderstanding on my part? Or could it be something different… like an irregularity within an irregularity—a mutation that has occurred?

If we assume that this hypothesis is correct, it could potentially explain other anomalies as well.

For instance, let’s consider the conditions for their attacks that I pondered earlier.

We left the jellyfish monsters behind and continued forward. Overall, it may seem like we’re moving closer to danger, but from the perspective of these individual jellyfish “entities,” we’re actually moving away from them.

Despite that, the jellyfish, contrary to their typical behavior, didn’t attack us as we distanced ourselves. Instead, they attacked when we tried to move away from their concentration—presumably from the boss.

This suggests that the condition triggering their attacks is not “moving away from an individual” but rather “moving away from the boss.”

In that case, it’s likely that the jellyfish have some means of monitoring us. Perhaps the jellyfish and the boss are connected in some way, sharing a sensory perception of what they see or feel.

Moreover, even within the already questioned reasons for their occurrence, it’s clear that there wouldn’t be randomly abnormal jellyfish appearing without any cause. That’s simply inconceivable.

There’s almost no doubt that someone did something.

However, if there is indeed a culprit who created this situation, it’s a despicable act, but at the same time, it gives us hope.

If there is a boss and an unusual connection between it and the other jellyfish, then perhaps resolving the issue is possible by dealing with the boss.

The problem lies in figuring out how to “deal with” the boss, but at the very least, there is hope rather than simply crushing each individual jellyfish.

Moreover, I think that if we can somehow manage to do this…

If these jellyfish are truly the work of human intervention, it means that someone wanted to use them for something. In that case, there’s a possibility that they’re connected to someone who tampered with them. After all, they would need to confirm whether their objective has been achieved.

So, if we can trace that connection and launch an attack, perhaps we can find a way to resolve the situation. It’s like a magical version of hacking. Well, it would be great if that works out as well, but let’s just hope for the best.

“…Can we do it?”

There’s uncertainty.

Am I really on the right track? Can we truly defeat them with this approach?

Nevertheless, there’s no choice but to give it a try. The current situation dictates that we won’t be able to escape if we don’t take action.

…Let’s investigate.

With that thought in mind, I moved to the edge of the barrier and extended my hand forward.

“Igami-san! Did you find something?”

It was Miyano who keenly reacted to my actions. While attacking the gathering jellyfish that seemed to be attempting to break the barrier we were in, Miyano turned her gaze briefly towards me and asked the question.

For a moment, my hand hesitated upon hearing those words, but I continued to extend it outside the barrier.

“Guuh!”

In that instant, the jellyfish’s stingers pierced my hand, and I could feel my mana being drained from it. I had enough confidence in controlling mana to prevent myself from being completely drained as long as I didn’t relinquish control, but still, a certain amount was being absorbed.

But that was fine.

Because… Ah, just as I suspected.

I found it.

“Hey! What are you doing?!”

Responding to my peculiar behavior, Asada quickly grabbed her own hand as it extended outside the barrier and forcefully pulled my hand back inside, tearing off the tentacle of the jellyfish that was stuck to it.

The tentacle of the jellyfish was still lodged in my hand, but I was too filled with joy to be bothered by it.

It seems my thoughts were indeed correct. There was something at the other end of the absorption.

The mana taken from me was being sent to that “something.”

Whether it was the mastermind behind this incident or the boss-like figure controlling these creatures, I couldn’t say for certain.

However, there was undoubtedly something at the center of it all.

It’s unlikely that only this jellyfish was connected; I should consider that everything is interconnected.

In that case… I can do it.