Volume 2 - CH 134

I swam for a while, but there were no signs of fish.

Remembering that this was the first time I had felt this way since I was a fish, I continued up the deserted river.

The scent of the Bedlock seems to be powerful, and it seems to snatch up all the fish, from the smallest to the largest.

No wonder they are classified as high-priority fish to kill.

By the way, I also tried to see if I could activate my haze in the water.

If it could, it would make the search much easier, but it seems that it cannot be used while in the water.

Regrettably, it seems that once we find a fish pool, we have no choice but to search for the Bedlock on our own.

I hope to find and take them down before the end of the day, but the Bedlocks are very good at hiding.

The river is gradually getting narrower as it heads upstream, however, it will be quite difficult to find them if they hide in a slightly open area.

This time, I really wanted to end the battle quickly, as I had no intention of engaging in a prolonged battle, but since my opponent also doesn’t want to be killed, this was going to be a battle of endurance.

“……hmm”

Apparently it was time to catch my breath.

My chest feels a little painful.

I took a break to look at the surface of the water and check my surroundings.

The river was still wide, but it was about half as wide as where the Oni were fishing.

It was almost impossible to tell how far the river went when it was this wide.

I don’t really have a clear picture of the river, so it is not something I have to think about.

I decided to deploy my haze to check the details of the surroundings.

There were no monsters in sight.

I thought that if there were any, I could get some experience out of them, but it seems that I was not so lucky.

However, I was able to confirm one figure.

It was a silhouette that I had seen somewhere before.

The characteristic feature is the long, thin tail hair extending from the head.

I could tell that the figure was wearing some kind of armor, but the silhouette made it difficult to make out what it was wearing.

The figure seemed to be heading this way.

He emerged from the forest, and I could see him with my own eyes.

Flaming red hair, long tail hair, white armor like a holy knight. There was no doubt.

That was none other than ……, the first person we had locked in Reizen’s open-air interrogation room, …….

It was Houen.

“Hm! Secure a place for water! Let’s just fill my canteen with water for now.””

As Houen said this, he took out a water canteen hanging from his waist and drew some water.

Well, well, well, ladies and gentlemen.

Because of this guy, I was made to drink that mana potion, that damn disgusting liquid, wasn’t I?

I remember that. Yep, I remember. I remember.

There’s nobody here, and he doesn’t even know I’m here yet.

And somehow there are two mana potions that can be taken out in this situation.

As for why I can take them out, you don’t need to know, so don’t worry about it.

I have prepared to this point.

There is no reason not to give it to him.

However, how should I make him drink it?

I could transform myself into human form, but that would consume MP unnecessarily.

That is not very desirable.

Then what should I do?

I have my favorite skill …… “Infinite Water Manipulation”.

Irza said that skill and magic are different.

If that is the case, then I should be able to create my own original technique.

Although I’m almost entirely dependent on Infinite Water Manipulation, it should not be a problem.

Fortunately, that guy is near a waterside.

That’ s my turf!

“Nuuah !?”

I quickly manipulated the water and caught Houen with my water hand.

Houen has no idea what is going on because of the sudden situation.

He struggled to get out of the water, but it seemed that he was not very strong.

Just in case, I put MP into compressing the water.

With this, he should not be able to move.

“What, what is it !? Is it a monster !? And of all things, with water!　Nggghhhhhhhhhh ……!　I can’t move!”

It seems that I was able to completely block his movement.

But that is not the end of the matter.

The real challenge was yet to come.

With another hand created from the water that bound Houen, I grabbed Houen’s cheeks and forced him to open his mouth.

Then, two mana potions, entangled in the water, floated and approached Houen.

He seemed to realize what it was as it approached him, and he resisted with all his might, his face visibly agitated.

But it was futile.

His body is already fixed in place, and the only thing he can move is his neck.

Since his cheeks were firmly gripped, he could not move properly.

I opened the lid of the mana potion.

The cap rolled down to the ground with a beautiful sound.

Houen’s face became even more agitated, as if there was a strong smell coming from the bottle containing the mana potion.

Houen continued to resist, but I’m not that naive.

The other party knows how bad the mana potion is.

On the contrary, I was so thankful that I only let him drink it.

At last, the two bottles of mana potion tipped over.

An audible scream echoed through the forest.

◆

I was up the river in a very good mood.

It was very satisfying to get the revenge I hadn’t been able to get some time ago.

I wondered if I could call it revenge, but it had been a long time since I had heard an anguished voice.

I was relieved that the man knew the horror of the mana potion.

It would have been interesting even if he didn’t know, but it would have been different if he doesn’t understand the terror of mana potion.

He would make a good comedian.

With this thought in mind, I swam at a breakneck speed.

I still couldn’t spot any fish, but I had a feeling that their presence was becoming thicker and thicker.

I could not sense the presence of the fish in the human form, but in the snake form, I could sense the presence of the fish intuitively.

It was a new discovery.

Probably the Bedlock are just up ahead.

If they took all the fish in this river, there must be a considerable amount of fish clumped together in one place.

Worst case scenario, the place could be a huge wall of fish. …… that might make someone flinch a little when they see such a huge amount of fish.

That is not the situation that I would have said so, but …….

Finally, I found a few fish.

They were swimming as if they were asleep, just like the fish being controlled.

“As expected, it’s Bedlock.”

When I heard the story, I was only guessing, but now that I’m here, I’m sure of it.

Once I was sure that Bedlock was there, I started to increase the speed of my swim again.

I spent a little too much time getting to this point.

I found a few fish, so the bedrock was probably nearby.

After swimming for a while again, I saw a wall.

I wondered why there was a wall there, but as I got closer, I realized that it was not a wall at all.

No, it was a wall of fish.

Fish were swimming in the same direction.

The number of fish was frightening, and even though they were spread out over the entire width of the river, the density of the fish was incredible.

There was no gap between them.

So much so that the best way to describe it is to say that it was a wall.

“Holy carp. Come on, ……. You want me to go in there and look for Bedlock? Give me a break. ……”

While complaining, I went inside the wall of fish.

From this point on, it’s just a matter of exploration.

If possible, I’d like to get home before nightfall……

This will take some time.

Since I’m in the water, I can’t use the haze.

I checked to see if there were any other useful scouting skills, but I couldn’t find any ……

It seems that I have to search for it manually.

“……Hmm? Come to think of it, Bedlock only lure fish to themselves when they are eating.”

Let me recall the time when I discovered a Bedlock a long time ago.

The Bedock I found was clinging to the bottom of the river.

But I remember that there was not a single fish around it.

If I hadn’t found the fish that had wandered off at that moment, I would never have found it either.

Thinking about it, , it was a strange thing about the fish.

I would have been able to eat as much as I wanted if I had just kept the fish near me, but it didn’t dare to do so.

There is no need to go to the trouble of luring fish to eat them one by one.

That means …… maybe there are no fish around the bedrock.

They are probably just in the way except when they want to eat.

Or maybe they only have a clear view of their surroundings to keep themselves safe. ……

Whatever the case, if this hypothesis is correct, it may be easy to find the Bedlock.

I quickly manipulated the water to lift myself into the air.

Looking at the river from above, I can clearly see a wall of fish.

It’s pitch black.

Now, if my prediction is correct, there is a possibility that there is a Bedlock where there is no wall of fish.

I maneuver the water and head toward the upstream end of the river.

The wall of fish was longer than I expected, and even though I had been floating for several minutes, there still seemed to be a crowd of fish in a row.

I tried to find a place where the fish were not gathering, wondering if the fish would not be able to breathe if they were gathered like this.

After a while, I finally saw the end of the wall of fish.

Then, after a short interval, there was another wall of fish.

I found a place where the wall had been breached. In the middle of it, a shadow like a big black bun could be seen.

“Over there huh ……?”

To see what it was, I released the water and jumped into the rive