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 30   Kana: Boss found!

-Asada Kana –

“But seriously, where is the boss? I can’t use magic to clear a path, so I’m stuck here…”

After parting ways with Mizuki, Kana was simply running around.

There was a strategy in place.

However, implementing it would significantly slow her down, and she disliked that, so she kept running instead.

“Ugh, seriously! I told you to get out of my way!”

However, the attacks from the jellyfish were only enough to damage her clothes or perhaps create some holes. They wouldn’t pierce her body, and even if they did, it would only result in minor scrapes.

So, she ignored anything except for her face and neck, pushing forward. But it was becoming increasingly annoying, and in frustration, she slammed her fist forcefully into the ground to initiate the initial plan.

The ground she struck with all her strength shattered, causing bedrock to roll up.

Kana grabbed the rolled-up ground and swung it like a giant swing, hurling it in the direction where Mizuki was not present.

However, she made sure not to hit the boss, so she didn’t throw it too far.

Even so, the enemies around her disappeared, and a “path” was created just like before.

“Alright!”

This was Kana’s strategy.

By swinging something large, she could crush the jellyfish.

Based on that idea, she decided to use the shattered ground as the “large object.”

As Kana advanced along the path created by her own throw, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of frustration deep within.

(To find where the enemies are spawning. In this situation, it’s impossible to know.)

Koosuke had mentioned to Mizuki and Kana that the boss was most likely continuously spawning the enemies.

It was a conjecture based on the enhanced regeneration and splitting abilities of the jellyfish monsters, although they didn’t know the exact intention of their opponent.

So both Mizuki and Kana were searching for enemies that fit the conditions stated by Koosuke. However, even with poor visibility due to the rain and the jellyfish covering the sky, making it difficult to spot anything amidst the restricted field of vision as they converged towards her, it was challenging to find them.

Still, there was no way around it, and it was her own decision to carry on.

That’s why Kana didn’t stop her running feet, but it was inevitable that frustration built up from not finding what she was looking for.

Kana struck the ground again with a sense of annoyance at not finding what she was searching for, shattering and flinging the fragmented ground.

“Geez, why don’t they all come at once!”

Even if she swept away the enemies simultaneously, they didn’t arrive in the cleared area all at once. It was truly irritating. If they all came at the same time, she could simply clear them all at once. However, with variations in the time it took for them to approach, she had to consider the timing of her attacks.

“But seriously, why are the enemies from that direction the only ones arriving early?”

(Huh? Wait a minute…)

In that moment, Kana suddenly realized.

(Isn’t this method working?)

The variations in the number and speed of enemies entering were due to the differences in the remaining enemies in that direction. The direction from which enemies approached quickly and in large numbers had more remaining enemies, while the slower and fewer approaching enemies indicated fewer remaining enemies.

Considering the nature of her attack, which cleared the enemies around her, it would result in a circular area centered around herself where enemies were defeated.

So, the differences in the number of enemies were likely due to new ones appearing even after being defeated.

Thinking that if more enemies flowed into the cleared area, it meant there were more enemies in the direction where they were coming from—the direction where enemies were born—Kana moved to another spot and proceeded to eliminate the surrounding enemies in the same way.

And there, she observed variations in the speed at which enemies entered the cleared area once again.

“Alright! This is it! This method will work! Let’s finish this quickly!”

Kana may take simple and thoughtless actions at times, but her mind is not lacking.

After realizing the method and trying it out, she was able to estimate the approximate positions of the enemies based on the results.

“There it is! That’s the main one—the boss, right? It’s huge!”

As Kana ran towards the direction where the boss was presumed to be, she encountered a different entity from the other jellyfish, as expected.

While regular jellyfish had a width of around fifty centimeters, the jellyfish that appeared to be the boss was ten times that size, measuring about five meters in diameter.

However, five meters only referred to its width. It was unclear how long the wriggling tentacles extended, so the total length of the boss was unknown.

“Uuugh…”

As Kana watched more and more small jellyfish being spawned by the boss, she felt the urgency to do something about it. She was about to launch an attack, fully immersing herself—

“Wait, no, I shouldn’t defeat it!”

—But then she remembered that she mustn’t defeat it and immediately stopped her movement.

“For now, should I call Mizuki?”

While dealing with the attacks from the jellyfish, Kana placed her hand on her ear with the communication device and activated it, reaching out to Mizuki.

“Mizuki—Can you hear me? I found it, but are you okay?”

“Yes, please give me the signal for the location.”

Although she didn’t think it was limited to Mizuki, Kana felt it would be troublesome if she was struggling or unable to spare any attention. She made the contact while being considerate of the situation.

After finishing the communication with Mizuki, Kana threw a magical device designed for explosions into the sky as the predetermined signal of discovery.

“Oh, I should also contact him.”

Having witnessed the signal, Kana continued swinging debris while connecting with Igami to report the discovery of the enemy boss.

“Um, hey. Are you listening?”

Without much delay, a response came through the communication device.

“It’s me. I’m listening. Did you find it?”

“Yes. New ones are popping up here and there.”

“Well, that’s to be expected. It’s fine. Now, stab the knife I gave you and activate it. We’ll take it from there.”

“Hmm… Understood.”

“…What’s wrong? You seem somewhat demotivated.”

“Well, it’s not that I lack motivation… But if I defeat it, won’t you collapse too?”

“That can’t be helped. There’s no other way.”

“I know, but…”

Kana’s words trailed off, and their conversation came to a halt.

“I know you have something to say, but we’ll talk about it later. Right now, focus on the task at hand.”

Instead of waiting for Kana’s response, Igami sighed and abruptly ended the communication, leaving no room for Kana to reply.

“…Idiot.”

Kana muttered softly, venting her frustration at Igami’s response by fiercely hurling the debris she had in her hand towards the jellyfish.