The Goddess Granted Me the [Hatching] Skill and Somehow I Became the Strongest Tamer, Commanding Mythical and Divine Beasts - 84

Chapter 84: The Target for the Hunt is the Cockatrice

“Well then, Celia, please take care of the house.”

“Please be careful, brother.”

A few days had passed since I had volunteered to participate in the hunt, and today was finally the day of departure.

Perhaps because our target was the Cockatrice, Celia looked worried.

“Fenni and Purple, you two listen to what Celia says, okay?”

Peen!

#…

While patting Celia’s head, I called out to the two creatures.

The two of them responded and snuggled up to me.

“Rock, I’ll be relying on you.”

…(Leave it to me)

The familiar I was bringing along this time was Rock. Since it was made of stone, it was immune to the Cockatrice’s petrification attack, so I was expecting it to play an important role at key moments.

After patting Celia and the two creatures for a while, it was time to leave, and as I passed through the gate, I saw Lorraine standing there.

“Lord Klaus.”

“Lorraine, what are you doing here?”

“I heard that you’re going to hunt the Cockatrices…”

Lorraine handed me a bottle with gray liquid inside.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a petrification cure potion.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. I don’t think Lord Klaus would fall behind the Cockatrices, but it’s better to have it just in case.”

The National Adventurer’s Guild should have prepared some for the mission, but those would be managed collectively, so it was a big deal that I could carry this one.

“Even so, this is a rare item, right?”

Even with all of Margrit’s efforts, they managed to collect only about ten of them. That shows how scarce they were.

“This is a secret treasure of our house.”

Lorraine then gave a mischievous smile.

“You can use it in case of emergency, but I would appreciate it if you return it once you come back safely. If not, I’ll have to reprimand you.”

I answered with a smile.

“Alright, I’ll return it along with a Cockatrice claw when I get back.”

Honestly, I was grateful. If I were attacked and turned into a statue, I’d die, but if it could be healed, my chances of survival would go up significantly.

“When you return, we’ll have a party again.”

Lorraine reluctantly let go of my hand and said with a smile.

“I wish you good luck.”

We were traveling by carriage on a deserted road, with no one in sight.

Currently, we were heading to a location where problems had occurred, about two weeks’ travel from the capital.

The plan was to hunt the Cockatrices and gather materials to make more petrification cure potions. To do this, we needed to bring back as many materials as possible to the capital.

Everyone with me was a veteran who had passed the toughest trials to become an adventurer, but thinking about the Cockatrice’s petrification attack, everyone wore tense expressions.

After all, even experienced National Adventurers couldn’t defend against petrification.

“…So boring.”

Carol, walking next to me, squinted her eyes and yawned, looking tired.

True to her words, she seemed bored, her tail swaying lazily.

“Isn’t it good that no monsters are showing up?”

It was nice to have peace. On main roads like this, monster sightings were rare, so we could proceed smoothly.

“We just want to move around.”

Carol couldn’t stand just walking along, looking unhappy.

“At least if Fenni or Purple were here…”

Carol really liked the two creatures. If they were here, she would have been holding them.

“It can’t be helped. Those two don’t match well with this mission.”

The Cockatrice’s petrification attack was dangerous, and more importantly, if they ran away and the hunt failed, it would be troublesome.

“Well, well, don’t make such a gloomy face.”

As we were talking, Ritz spoke up cheerfully. Unlike the others, he didn’t seem that tense.

“Ritz, have you been to this area before?”

Since we were heading to a new place, I figured I should learn more about the area.

“Yeah, before I became a National Adventurer, I traveled all over the country. I’ve been to most places in the kingdom.”

“What’s it like?”

I asked because I wanted to get a feel for the place and prepare myself.

“It’s a nice place with lots of nature, and the food is delicious.”

But, being the airhead he was, Ritz gave a completely unrelated answer.

“It’s useless asking Ritz. He only remembers the food,” Hanna said, looking exasperated.

“Ritz, tell us more about the food.”

Carol, now wide awake, turned her red eyes on Ritz.

“Is our leader okay?”

The four of us—Ritz, Hanna, Carol, and I—were forming a team to work together from now on, and it seemed Ritz was concerned about Carol’s attitude towards food.

“It’s fine!”

“Mm?”

Carol continued.

“I’ll definitely be the one to defeat the Cockatrices.”

It seemed like she wasn’t joking, and everyone fell silent.

“By the way…”

“What’s the matter?”

Ritz scratched his chin, now wearing a serious expression.

“I find it strange that we haven’t seen a single monster on this road at this time of year.”

Ritz continued.

“There’s a forest nearby, and there’s a stream. There should be plenty of creatures around. Goblins or Kobolds would normally live in such places.”

“We’re getting paid well for this hunt, but it would’ve been nice to earn a little extra for a warm-up,” Ritz and Hanna talked amongst themselves.

“Is something going on?”

I started to feel a bad premonition.