Burning amazingly

“Ou-ouch……”

　Akira sat down on the spot and stared blankly at the carcass of the Man-eating Plant.

　Its body, which had been a lush green color just a few moments ago, was shriveling up as soon as it lost its strength, withering away at a seemingly rapid rate.

　The ivy tentacles that had been extending to the walls of the building were turning brown and drying out at the same time as the main body withered away. As a test, he picked up a tentacle of withered ivy and broke it, and was able to snap it off easily with a light crackling sound.

“Fumu……”

　With a pondering voice, Akira stared thoughtfully at the withered tentacle.

(It’s completely dry. ……Could this be the monster material used in the weapon-making and armor-making skills?)

　Well, perhaps, but in this case it would seem more correct to call it a carcass rather than a material.

　Akira looked at the Man-eating Plant ivy in his hand and concluded that he was not sure, but he would keep it for the time being, and put some of the dead ivy into his backpack.

(Nevertheless…… can’t I use this carcass for something?)

　For example, the next time I am dealing with a Man-eating Plant, I could set fire to this carcass and throw it at it.

　While thinking so, Akira folded the dead ivy with his hands, snapping and shredding it into small pieces. Then he picked up another tentacle of ivy, this time snapping it off and adjusting its length to a good size. This was to do what he was thinking about.

“How is it? “

　Muttering, Akira pulled out a lighter and lit the tip of the withered ivy.

“Oh, it burns well.”

　Akira was startled by the carcass, which flared up with great vigor a few moments later.

“……Yeah. This would make a good candidate for using it against the next Man-eating Plant.)

　It was with these thoughts in mind that Akira shook the burning tentacle carcass to put out the fire at once.

“Hmm? “

　――But the fire was not extinguished.

　On the contrary, once ignited, the carcass was like a fish out of water, shaking violently with flames and transforming into ashes in the blink of an eye.

“Ou- It’s so hot! “

　Unable to hold on, Akira threw the carcass from his grasp.

　For Akira, it was just a spur-of-the-moment action, but it was the wrong place to throw it.

　The carcass, engulfed in flames, hit another dry tentacle, and the fire spread quickly.

“………………”

　It took only a few seconds for all of the Man-eating Plant carcass to be instantly engulfed in flames.

　Staring at the roaring flames and black smoke, Akira stood dumbfounded.

　And so, as he stood there, he looked at the black smoke rising into the sky,

(It’s burning amazingly. It’s a lot better at lighting a fire than a bad igniter.)

　He thought of an off-the-wall, nonchalant thought.

　And after a few seconds, Akira, suddenly startled, finally looked at the reality of the situation.

“This is not the time to be dumbfounded!!　I need to put out the fire!! “

　Fortunately, the place where Man-eating Plant was nesting was in an alley between two small apartment buildings. There was nothing in the surrounding area that could ignite. But still, the sooner the fire was extinguished, the less damage there would be.

　Akira immediately rushed out to find something that could be used to extinguish the fire.

　But he couldn’t seem to find it.

　Then, having no choice, Akira broke through a glass window of a storefront he saw, entered, and grabbed a fire extinguisher he found amidst the blaring alarm.

　By the time Akira returned to the scene with a fire extinguisher in hand, several minutes had already passed since the fire broke out.

“――Sh!! “

　Immediately, Akira sprayed the fire extinguishing agent.

　In an instant, Akira’s vision turned white in an instant, and he choked involuntarily.

　While doing so, he desperately tried to extinguish the fire for a few dozen seconds. Akira let out a deep breath as the fire was safely extinguished, probably because there was nothing to burn except the carcass of the Man-eating Plant, to begin with.

“Th-Thank god…… The fire didn’t spread.”

　The fire was burning at a speed unthinkable in the natural world.

　If this had happened indoors or in a place with many flammable materials, it could have been very serious.

(This…… On the other hand, if I’d beaten it with fire, I’d have been in trouble. After defeating it with fire, its body― now a corpse― would catch fire and the whole area would instantly become a sea of flames.)

　The fire was their weakness, but using fire would literally turn the surroundings into a sea of fire. It was like a bomb with a lit fuse.

(Fire makes it easier to defeat them. But then I’d have to deal with all the trouble after I beat them, wouldn’t I?)

　In the end, it seemed that the only way to defeat them was to attack them directly, rather than going through the trouble of using fire.

　At this, Akira let out a sigh as he stretched and slowly stood up.

“So first, I need a weapon.”

　Even a kitchen knife could be used to deal with a Man-eating Plant, but its durability remained a concern. After all, the blade could break after just a few swings.

　The reason for this was due to various factors, including the influence of Akira’s own strength status, which had increased to an incomparably higher level than before, and the monster’s Endurance status, but Akira was unaware of this at the time.

(……For now, I’ll start by getting a weapon other than a knife.)

　Something that could be used for a long time and was easy to procure.

　Considering these two things, would it still be quicker to take weapons from goblins as in my previous life?

　Akira quickly dismissed such thoughts.

“Goblins, huh……? As I recall, at this time……That’s right. They were around that area.”

　Muttering, Akira started to walk away, remembering the memories of his previous life.

　Five minutes later.

　Akira encountered a group of three goblins and, as he had intended, succeeded in procuring a weapon.

---

 ToC    

If you enjoy the translations, you can support me by donations or read “Only I know that this world will end” ahead via Patreon

Disabling your ad blocker for this site is also appreciated, worry not, there are no intrusive ads shown.

---