Monster Incense
I just wanted to get outta the sticks, where working from morning till night is barely enough to get by. So I ran away from my village and did everything in my power to become an explorer. But all I learned was that only a certain handful of people get to be heroes…
“What are we gonna do, Besso?”
“Shut up, Tahere. I’m trying to think.”
I shoved the idiot’s face away.
While we were hunting maze cockroaches, I risked life and limb to acquire some bewitching slime: an ingredient for making Monster Incense. But the new boss of the black market, Skopi of the Mud Scorpions, said they wouldn’t buy bewitching slime.
He told me the plunderers who used to buy it at high prices were all gone, but I didn’t believe that crap. His only goal was to give us a hard time.
All the old black-market guys got dragged away by the guards, and demonic potions were crazy expensive now. This whole world’s a load of garbage.
“Mr. Koshin hates us by this point, and Troy and the other new guys are dead for sure. We managed to pay off this month’s interest on the loan we owe Koshin, but next month we’re gonna be screwed…”
“You think I don’t know that?”
Our bad luck started when we picked up that noble’s ant-nectar request.
Thanks to those cowardly beastfolk and useless women who couldn’t even serve as bait, we almost got killed in the process, too.
Plus we got hit with a crazy fine for bringing a monster chain rampage to the labyrinth army’s barracks.
At least the beastfolk and wenches got stuck with part of the fine, too, so we had to pay less than half, but there’s still no good way for us to pay off that much money.
Should we refuse to pay it?
The idea crossed my mind, but I quickly shook my head to shoo the stupid thought away.
If we defaulted on that payment, we’d be wanted as robbers, and no town would have us anymore.
From what I’ve heard from explorers who were former robbers, that’s no way to live.
“Hey, Besso.”
I glared at Tahere, but he wasn’t looking at me.
“Isn’t that Zarigon?”
“They’re lookin’ pretty beat-up for a bunch of garnet-badge explorers. Maybe they tried to fight an areamaster to compete with Red Dragon’s Roar?”
“So even beasts like those guys can’t beat one, huh?”
I snorted at Tahere.
This idiot didn’t understand a thing.
“If they were that easy to beat, other explorers would all fight areamasters for their treasure chest instead of going after mantises and frogs.”
…Treasure chest, eh?
Hunkering down my shoulders, I furrowed my brow and started to form a plan.
Tahere was saying something, but I ignored him and kept plotting.
“Hey, Tahere. You didn’t throw that thing away yet, did you?”
“No, of course not. It’d be suicide to take it out in the labyrinth, yeah?”
“Come with me.”
“H-hey, Besso! At least tell me where we’re going!”
Instead of wasting my breath trying to explain my plan to Tahere, I headed toward a rundown shack in a back alley where an unlicensed old alchemist lived.
I was going to have him make Monster Incense from the bewitching slime.
As payment, I offered the demonic potion I’d been saving as a last resort.
But because I couldn’t have him running off with it, I stayed in the smelly old shack for the three days it took to complete.
“…So that’s Monster Incense, huh?”
“Heh-heh, that’s right. As long as it’s in this tube, it’s harmless. But once you pull this string, the smoke will come out. Make sure you throw away the string, though, ’cause monsters will be attracted to the incense that’s soaked into it.”
I took the tubes from the man: two small ones and three regular size in all.
“What are these small ones?”
“There was a little bit left over, so I put it in those. I’m sure you wanna test out the effect somewhere, right?”
“Yeah, I sure do.”
Putting the small tubes in my pocket, I kicked Tahere, who was snoring away on the floor.
“Get up, Tahere. The stuff’s ready. Put it in that warehouse of yours.”
“Oh, it’s done? ‘Item Box,’ open.”
Tahere opened his warehouse and put the three tubes inside.
Usually it contained only food and water, but it was big enough to hold about four casks of water.
This skill was the whole reason I’d stuck with this idiot Tahere for so long.
“I’m gonna negotiate with Zarigon. You go recruit five or six speedy explorers.”
“Gotcha. I’ll check with the Runaway Arrow and Rabbitfoot parties.”
Leaving the dirty work to Tahere, I did some all-important negotiating to get us into Zarigon’s areamaster-fighting party.
Unfortunately, we were allowed in only as bag carriers and not proper fighters, but it wasn’t like I wanted to fight monsters in the vicinity of an areamaster anyway.
All we really needed to do was have Zarigon and his guys protect us until we got to the areamaster’s lair, then let them deal with it while we look for the treasure chest.
“Besso!”
Once I’d finished my work, I was gulping down some ale when Tahere came running over.
“How many’d you get?”
“None. There are some weird rumors floating around, and now neither party wants anything to do with us.”
“It’s your job to talk ’em into it anyway!”
The rumors were that exploring with me led to getting betrayed or caught up in chain rampages.
“The veterans and even the newbies all knew about it, too.” Tahere spoke like this wasn’t his problem. “What are we gonna do, Besso?”
“Can’t you use yer head once in a while?”
As Tahere cowered in fear of my rage, I noticed some kids who clearly seemed fresh from the boonies across the way.
Beastfolk kids. They looked just like the fleet-footed type we needed.
“Hey, brats! You rookie explorers or what?!”
“I’m not a brat! The name’s Usasa!”
Beastfolk were always so damn hard to understand.
“You got guts, huh? I like that. You kids bronze badges?”
But they’d be perfect to use as bait.
“N-not yet.”
“What, wood badges, then?”
“No.”
“Oh, so you’re only bag carriers?” Tahere stared at the kids, and they hung their heads.
“L-look, if we had weapons…”
“Shut up, Tahere.” At that, the brats looked up toward me. “I’ll teach ya how to earn money. I’ll hook you up with explorer equipment, too.”
“B-but why?”
“Not for free, idiot. You can pay me back once you’re a full-fledged explorer.”
The little greenhorns fell for my candy-coated lie, hook, line and sinker.
I bought them some secondhand bone armor and goblin clubs, helped them get their wooden badges, and then got them upgraded to bronze by having them fight some goblins, which I gathered by testing out a small tube of Monster Incense.
“Besso, this stuff really works.”
“Yeah, it’s better than I thought.”
The Monster Incense was good stuff.
So many goblins and maze moths—which were usually rare in these parts—had gathered around us. I actually thought we were gonna die.
We used it while that softhearted Dozon’s group happened to be nearby, so they tackled any monsters we couldn’t handle. Still, this was definitely not the kind of stuff you could use normally.
“Big Bro!”
Ever since I’d bought them some cheap bug meat to celebrate getting their bronze badges, the brats had started calling me “Big Bro.” This plan was going even better than I thought.
“Some weird guys said they have business with you, Big Bro.”
Three broke-looking men were standing behind the brats.
“Are you Mr. Besso? We heard you got into Zarigon’s group.”
“Only as bag carriers.”
I’d seen these guys around in the black market before.
They were probably out of a job now that the old boss had gotten thrown in the brig.
“Can you take us with you?”
Somehow, they already had bronze badges. Their equipment was cheap, rusted iron, but…
“It’ll be your lives on the line.”
“We know.”
“Then you’re more than welcome.”
…As bait, of course.
So with three new cronies working for us, we went into the labyrinth with Zarigon’s group.
“Big Bro, looks like some more fawns are nearby.”
“Yeah, they move in herds.”
Zarigon’s group had chosen a huge deer monster called a “lightning elder stag,” which lived in an area full of rocks and weeds.
Right now, the group was fighting monsters in a huge clearing to take on the areamaster.
The little deer who could make bolts of lightning were a huge pain.
“We want to fight deer, too.”
“Yeah, we’re sick of skinning and weeding.”
The cronies were complaining.
They could learn a thing or two from the beastfolk brats, who always quietly followed orders.
“Pipe down. You’re barely even good for weeding, let alone anything else.”
“Weeding” referred to defeating wheel-shaped monsters called “rolling weeds.”
They were no stronger than goblins, but since they were tough and moved quickly, fighting them was exhausting.
There were palm-size insect monsters, too, but these were small fries that dropped only core dust.
Hearing a thunk, I turned around to see an angry-looking Zarigon kicking a barrel open.
“Damn it, what idiot told us that deer were easy to beat?”
He was starting to take out his anger on others more often, probably because progress was so slow.
Maybe our chance was on the horizon?
“Mr. Zarigon, please calm down,” I said, handing him a bottle of grape wine that I’d snuck into the labyrinth.
He took it without a word, drank it down, and muttered “cheap stuff” as he tossed the bottle aside.
What a bastard.
“I have a proposal. Hear me out.”
I suggested to Zarigon that we use Monster Incense to gather all the monsters on one side of the room and have some scouts draw out the areamaster and get it alone.
“You’re gonna use Monster Incense to attract all the monsters…? Are you serious?”
“Very. In exchange, just share some of the spoils with us.”
Zarigon looked suspicious, but he gave permission to use my strategy. “Fine. But know this…” Still, he pulled out his sword and put the blade to my throat. “…If you try to lead the monsters in a chain rampage back toward us or anything like that, I’ll cut you down before the monsters can reach you. So don’t get any funny ideas.”
“Of course not, sir.”
Cold sweat ran down my back.
I managed to pull my neck away and escape unscathed.
“Now, that’s a lot of monsters…”
One of the cronies looked down over the cliff and shuddered.
We were on a precipice overlooking the large cavern where the areamaster lived, on the opposite side of the room from Zarigon and his troops.
“You scared?”
“Am not!”
“Shut up! You wanna get eaten by monsters?”
I silenced the cronies and brats with a hiss.
After we got permission from Zarigon, we put on cloaks infused with monster repellent and used a map from one of Zarigon’s scouts to make our way along a thin path across the wall.
The only ones here were Tahere, the beastfolk brats, the three cronies, and me.
Zarigon had sent a scout with us as a precaution, but he’d headed back once we crossed the halfway point of the room.
I had Tahere open his warehouse and take out the four tubes. Then I glanced at the strings, took the specially made dud, and had the beastfolk brats take the tubes with the Monster Incense.
“Listen. On my signal, pull the purple string on the tube and throw it down below. Make sure you don’t touch the string until I give the signal. Got it?”
I explained how to use the tubes.
We’d be parting ways from here, so I made sure the three who were carrying the tubes understood how to use them.
“Once you’ve thrown the tube, start running. Don’t throw away the string. If you bring it back to me, I’ll give you a gold coin in exchange.”
“G-gold?!”
“Damn!”
Of course, I had no intention of paying a gold coin to any of these idiots.
They were just bait to pull the strings and throw the tubes.
“Why the string, though?”
“To prove that you used the tubes properly. I’m not generous enough to give a gold coin to some idiot who threw the tube without pulling the string first.”
One of the cronies asked a suspicious question, but he seemed satisfied by my explanation.
We split up in four directions and started moving.
Aside from Tahere and me, they were all in groups of three.
“Besso, looks like the farthest guys have gotten to their spot.”
The monster repellent cloaks Zarigon lent us seemed to work quite nicely.
I’d be using mine a lot from now on.
“Tahere, give the signal.”
“R-right.”
On Tahere’s indication, I pulled the string and kicked the tube off the cliff.
The four tubes belched white smoke as they fell.
“Besso! They’re coming!”
Of course they were.
That was the whole point of the plan.
Drawn by the incense, the monsters gathered around the tubes and smoke.
The flying monsters rose up along with the smoke, swarming around the cronies and brats.
I saw the greed-driven cronies trying to steal the brats’ purple strings and run away.
“Yikes. That bastard kicked the beastfolk kid down and ran.”
The brat who’d been kicked disappeared under a swarm of insect monsters in seconds.
Survival of the fittest. That’s what it means to be an explorer.
“Let ’em try and get away.”
As long as they were carrying the Monster Incense–infused strings, monsters would chase them no matter how far they ran.
They wouldn’t be making it back to Zarigon.
“Stay still.”
Tahere looked restless, so I warned him in a low voice.
If he moved too soon, we’d just draw the attention of the monsters.
We held our breath and waited for the monsters to clear out from below us.
It shouldn’t take long, since the tube I’d kicked contained not Monster Incense but monster repellent powder mixed in with a simple smoke screen.
“Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“To find the treasure, obviously.”
I threw the purple string off the cliff, then pointed at the rocky hill in the center of the room so even the idiot Tahere would understand.
The areamaster wasn’t there.
It was moving toward the three Monster Incense tubes along with the rest of the monsters.
Once the monsters beneath us were gone, we carefully made our way down the cliff and ran across the plain toward the hill.
As we were climbing the hill where the giant deer had been, we saw the lightning elder stag turn to run toward Zarigon’s group, having been targeted by a scout’s “Taunt” skill.
“Heh. Beat that guy for us, fellas.”
So we can get away safely, of course.
On the other side of the hill, the route toward Zarigon’s group was in the shape of a terraced field.
Getting back should be easy enough.
“Besso! Found it!”
I heard Tahere yell from behind a rock.
There was a treasure chest in a corner of the deer’s roost—and a big one, at that.
“C-can you even open this, Besso?”
“Of course I can. Why else would I take all this risk?”
I’m good at opening locks, but this one was pretty tough.
“B-Besso, bad news!”
I glanced in the direction Tahere was pointing. The spawn of the areamaster were starting to come back this way.
“Wh-what are we gonna do, Besso? The Monster Incense must be wearing off.”
“Keep it down. The monsters’ll find us!” Snapping at Tahere, I struggled a little longer before finally managing to open the chest. “Heh-heh, looks like I win this bet.”
I pulled out the most expensive-looking sword from the jewel-packed treasure chest, and when I removed it from its sheath, it glowed dark red.
A Magic Sword. Jackpot.
“Th-there’s a short sword under the gems, too. And some potions.”
Surprisingly, the short sword was a magic weapon, too.
We got lucky. The goddess of fortune must be on our side.
“This potion has gotta be the good kind, too, right?”
“Huh? Yeah, of course. Put it in the warehouse with the short sword.”
“R-right. The potions alone can probably pay off our debt.”
“Our debt? Buddy, if we sell these two swords, we’re both gonna be set for life.”
Tahere and I smacked each other on the backs and laughed heartily.
I hadn’t laughed this hard in ages.
Maybe we should make a grave in Labyrinth City for the brats and cronies who’d died for us.
“Huh?”
Suddenly, a shadow loomed over us.
…Spawn.
“B-Besso…?”
“Don’t provoke it. You run away while I buy us some time.”
“B-but!”
“I’m not gonna get eaten by a monster here. You just run like your life depends on it; ’cause it does.”
I pulled out the Magic Sword and motioned for Tahere to run.
“Y-you’d better make it back alive!”
With a brave parting line, Tahere ran away without looking back.
The spawn that was looking down at me turned to watch Tahere leave, ignoring my Magic Sword and me.
Then, moving slowly but surely, it turned and started to run after him instead.
“Like I’m the one who’s gonna die, idiot.”
I twirled the purple string in my hand as I watched Tahere flee.
A slim trail of white smoke was coming out of the bag on his back. It was the last small tube of Monster Incense.
“Heh. See ya, sucker. If you live long enough for us to meet again, that is.”
I threw away the string in my hand, put the sword back in its sheath, and shoved it into my bag.
“Urgh!”
Just as I started to walk forward, one of my legs buckled, and I fell face-first to the ground.
“Tch. I guess even I’m a little nervous.”
I quickly tried to get to my feet.
But my legs wouldn’t move.
“Did I break a bone, or…? What the?!” My leg was starting to turn to stone. “Wh-what is this?!”
Something long and pink stirred in front of my widened eyes.
No way.
A rank wind hit my face.
Turning around, I saw the shape of an enormous gray snake.
The beast that could turn men into stone: a basilisk.
“S-stay away!”
I reached out to pull the Magic Sword from my bag, which had fallen to the floor. Something fell to the ground with a hard clunk.
My right hand.
The basilisk was devouring my right arm, which had turned to stone.
Don’t eat that. That’s my arm!
I heard the same crunching noise from below.
Smaller basilisks were eating my leg.
It didn’t hurt, even though I was getting eaten.
I have to get out of here.
Desperately, I tried to drag myself away with my left hand.
But then it started to turn gray.
Powder fell from my eyelids.
My vision turned gray and then black.
The last thing I saw was the basilisk’s drool, thick and with a rancid odor, coating my stone flesh.
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