Ganersam Volume 1

After that, we went back to the guild. The inn had a one-week limit on free lodging, so we needed to find a way to make money. Initially, I asked Nia to rest, but she insisted on going with us. Since I’m also curious about how strong she is, I decided to let her join. It’s not like we’re picking up any hard quests anyway.

We were standing in front of the board when Lisya approached us.

“I heard about your identity. The guild would do its best to keep it a secret, but please be careful.”

She whispered that to Nia’s ear, before smiling at us and leaving us.

Hearing that, I looked at Nia. To my surprise, she seemed calm in this situation and put no attention to the adventurers looking at her from a distance. Now that I think about it, so far she doesn’t seem worried about anything at all. Maybe she’s used to dealing with threats like this?

Well to be fair, acting calm is the best thing to do in this situation. She’s using her hood to cover her ears, so it’s not like people would realize anyway.

“This one looks good.”

Emma said as she grabbed a quest.

“Defeat the king salamander near the lake.”

“What is this king salamander anyway?”

I assumed it would be related to a salamander... but I shouldn’t be assuming things.

I mean, ‘bouncing’ watermelons.

“It’s a large salamander that is known to eat animals like cows and sheep. They’re normally not an issue since they eat wild ones, but it seems they’ve been hanging around the lake the past few days, eating the farmers’ animals. That’s why there’s a subjugation quest for it.”

Emma explained. I looked at her.

“How did you even know these things?”

“I read it in a newspaper back at the library.”

Just how much did she read? Well, that itself isn’t the issue. The issue is the salamander itself. A salamander that eats literal livestock. Isn’t that dangerous? But before I could stop her, Emma brought the paper to the receptionist.

“We’ll accept this.”

Fuck.

We arrived at the lake. Located eastward not far from the city, the lake is surrounded by a small group of trees, not enough to be called a forest, though. In the distance, you could see the eastern mountain range span throughout the horizon.

“Are we on the right lake? Shouldn’t the salamander be visible now?”

We were told that the salamander is a very large salamander. Based on its dimensions, It’s roughly two times the length of a school bus. Something like that should be easy to spot, yet no matter where we look we can’t find it anywhere.

“You think it’s underwater?”

I asked as I kneeled, lowering my face close to the water. The water is clear, and no salamander is visible from here.

“You think it’s behind us?”

Emma said as she looked behind. It’s common in stories for random enemies to suddenly sneak up on you from behind, regardless of the type. Emma’s probably checking for that possibility, but this time nothing is behind us. I rechecked the quest. We were supposed to be on the correct lake.

“Let’s just wait. It will appear eventually.”

I said as I sat on the ground. Nia pulled out her tarp and started putting lunch on it. The menu is simple, some cheese sandwiches with orange juice. We enjoyed the refreshing atmosphere as we waited for the salamander to appear.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just relax like this every day?”

I said as I lay down on the tarp. The refreshing breeze of wind hits my face.

“Won’t it be boring if every single day is like this?”

Emma said as she munched on her sandwich.

“Probably not.”

I looked at Nia, who was eating beside her.

“Say... what’s the demon’s army like?”

“... What do you mean?”

Nia tilted her head in confusion.

“Maybe you should’ve played more dating sims, Willy.”

“Wait, no... I mean like how’s the training, they’re goals, basic stuff like that.”

“Ah... they’re training is harsh. You’ll get thrown away if you fail. I don’t have a clear idea of their goals, it feels like we’re doing evil stuff for the sake of doing evil stuff.”

So your average villain, huh? The simplest way to describe their goals is probably world domination. They are demons, after all. They do evil just because they want to.

“Is that it?”

“Huh?”

Nia suddenly stood up and pointed toward the lake. From a distance, a group of bubbles could be seen. I followed her up.

“Alright.”

Nia picked up her polearm, ready to face the enemy. Both me and Emma still didn’t have weapons, but it’s not that much of an issue since we could fight bare handed.

The salamander slowly approached us. It swam across the lake, slowly appearing like a submarine. Seemingly recognizing us as a threat, it jumped toward us. Its pink body flew in the air like a kite, before slamming down like a rock. We jumped back, dodging its large body. We could feel the blow as air was pushed from below the salamander.

“Lightning Cut!”

“Lightning Strike!”

I and Nia let out our spells. The salamander flinched after getting hit, although it doesn’t look like it received much damage.

“Does magic not work?”

I mumbled. Nia pointed her polearm towards the salamander. Its sharp edge probably serves as a physical damage source, allowing it to be used as both a polearm and a staff. Ignoring the doctor’s suggestion to rest, she charged straight at the salamander.

She pushed her staff into the salamander. Her staff bounces off the salamander’s pink smooth skin.

“Eh?”

The salamander swings its head. Nia jumped back, dodging its hits.

Are salamanders more dangerous than wyverns in this world?

“Just what is going on here?”

I asked Emma. Emma looked confusedly at the salamander.

“King salamanders have high physical resistance. Their wet bouncy skin helps them neutralize physical attacks. But they are supposed to have low resistance against magic, especially lightning and fire attacks. There’s something wrong with this one.”

As Emma thought about it, I looked back towards the salamander. The pace of battle has changed, and Nia is the one being chased. She fired her magic at the salamander, dealing little damage. She continued jumping back, dodging the salamander’s large swinging head.

“Lightning Cut!”

I once again directed my spell toward the salamander. Like before, it flinched for a slight moment, before going back to chasing Nia. It doesn’t look like it’s willing to give us any attention.

“Does the demon’s army have something to do with this?”

I asked Emma. That would be the simplest explanation.

“Maybe.”

“Fireball!”

Nia shouted as she shot her magic. The salamander seemed unfazed.

“Eeek!”

Nia screamed as the salamander bit her hood, pulling her up.

“Oh, dear...”

Nia is now tangling from the edge of the salamander’s mouth. As we were thinking about getting her down, an arrow sliced through her hood, severing it from her clothes. Nia fell down to the ground, followed by a loudbump. I looked towards the side, there were a lot of adventurers running toward us.

“We heard the chaos and ran over. What’s going on?”

One of them pulled up to my side and asked.

“That salamander, it’s resistance to both physical and magic attacks.”

I pointed to the salamander and Nia who fell face-first onto the ground.

“Huh, that’s weird. Do you need help?”

“Yes, please.”

“Is that cademon yours?”

One of the other adventurers pointed towards Nia. With her hood severed, her cute cat ears were now exposed.

“Yes, she’s ours.”

“Alright.”

Hearing that, some of the adventurers grabbed Nia, pulling her away from the salamander, while others assisted us in creating a distraction. The salamander looked at the adventurers around it and completely ignored them. It looked toward Nia who was being dragged away and chased after her.

Seeing that, Emma jumped in front of the salamander.

“Holy Shield!”

Emma’s shield stopped the salamander in its tracks.

“Lighting Cut!”

“Fire Splash!”

“Wind Strike!”

“My wife’s cooking!”

The adventurers started throwing spells against the salamander. The fact that the random pie is the thing that caused the salamander to actually look away from Nia is really saying something.

“It won’t work!? What’s with this salamander? It shouldn’t have defenses this high!”

An adventurer voiced my worries. So it really is the demon’s army. Just as I was thinking about how valuable Nia actually is, an adventurer approached me.

“Say, new kid, you knew about spell upgrading... right?”

Hearing that, I took a look at my card.

“Ah, you’re right. I completely forgot about it.”

Ignoring the shouting around me, I selected Lightning Cut, and I pressed the upgrade button. I feel a rush of energy going through my body. Picking up Nia’s staff which was dropped on the ground. I pointed it at the salamander.

“Lightning Cut!”

A burst of lightning came from the staff, destroying it completely. The burst continued, heading straight towards the salamander. It pierced right through the salamander, cutting to the other side. A large explosion appeared, absolutely destroying the salamander. The aftermath of said explosion was so strong that it threw all of us away.

So this is the power of magic, huh?

We made our way back to the guild. The adventurers decided to call off the search. We are now drinking together at the guild. They are surprisingly friendly towards Nia.

The reward for the salamander isn’t notably big, since it’s not how normal king salamanders were like. Using the leftover rewards from the wyverns, we gave extra money to the adventurers who helped us, as a show of gratitude.

I gained the title of ‘salamander slayer’ for my ‘exceptional’ performances regarding the salamander, although it came with an expense.

“I’m sorry, I promise I’ll buy you a new staff, eventually...”

Nia’s staff is no normal staff. It’s a staff with very powerful magic buffs. It won’t be cheap, and I don’t have much money left from the wyvern quest. To be fair, that money isn’t ours in the first place. We haven’t even done anything and we already owe Nia a fair sum of money.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s a staff from the demon’s army anyway. By destroying it, you sever my connection with them.”

She said while enjoying her drink. Emma, who was previously looking at her, diverted her gaze toward me.

“But still, to think you’re that powerful.”

“You’re envious?”

“Maybe?”

“Honestly though, my power isn’t that big. Most of it came from the staff. I could feel the overflowing energy passing through it.”

While my upgraded magic definitely played a role, I could guarantee most of it came from the staff. The feeling of power that came from it is simply unreal.

It’s a bit worrying to know the demon’s army possesses such powerful weapons. You could give that staff to a random goblin and it’ll be able to kill some things.

“Anyway, will you still be leaving now that you’re accepted?”

Nia shook her head.

“I won’t be able to survive alone without that staff. You yourself know what I’m like fighting those wolves, right? Besides, being in the city is much safer.”

“You’ll be joining us then?”

“Yes.”

“Welcome to the team, Nia.”

With that, Nia became a permanent member of our party.