Fugitive Poison User ~I Am Somehow Recovering in a World Full of Miasma~

“Urgh... that was intense...”

Celes fell unconscious from having Arleaf’s cooking in her mouth for a mere 20 seconds.

Fortunately, we were able to pull it out before she swallowed.

Thank goodness that Muu’s hands are so surprisingly stretchy.

“Muu.”

Well, after we got the food out, I crushed the remaining Hamburg steak in my hand.

Then, we got Celes to take an antidote and we also healed her, so all in all, she took practically no damage.

It might’ve been bad if we were any slower.

If not actually dying, she would’ve been laid up for at least two weeks.

“Like I told you, you’d be risking your life tasting my food...”

“I apologize... but Cohgray, how in the world do are you able to eat all of it...?”

“It’s a quirk of mine. Some people call me the Poison-Eater.”

“... I have heard of that name before, but to think that person is you, Sir Cohgray. You truly are astonishing. By the way, what exactly was that?”

“It’s my cooking. I was born with a unique skill which causes all of my cooking to become some sort of poison.”

“I—I see... so, that was why you weren’t cooking.”

“Right...”

“Forgive me for being so tactless...”

Celes apologizes before standing up.

It’s not like I eat Arleaf’s food because I like her for her cooking or anything.

I mean, she is cute, and I do like her. But there’s a whole slew of different reason why I get her to cook for me.

It’s a little embarrassing though.

‘Leave the misconception be.’

I’m super worried about that, but it’s not like I can explain the truth to her either.

“Feel free to take your time, okay?”

“No, I would like to avoid staying any longer. We mustn’t dally. Let us go.”

Celes then gallantly strides forwards and into the mineshaft.

Along the way, she equipped her gas mask.

Honestly, I’m kinda uneasy about whether she’s really fine or not, but I guess we can’t help but follow her...

With that, we headed deeper into the gallery.

I wondered if it’d be tight inside, but the tunnel stretches five meters across. There’s more than enough room to move around.

We walked in only a little bit... but it kinda feels like we’ve entered a dungeon.

“We shall be going deep inside. Brace yourselves. The shape of this dungeon shifts every so often, thus maps are not all that useful. Be careful.”

“Understood.”

It’s a space warping–type dungeon, eh?

Like the swamp dungeon, it’s rather well-lit in here, but not blindingly so.

The path ahead is long... the shaft seems to stretch on forever.

“There may be toxic gas in the air, so be aware.”

“Alright. I’ve got some Ranger-like skills, so I’ll take the lead.”

“It would be better for me to... but if you wish to, Cohgray, go ahead. Do your best to be careful.”

“Gotcha.”

I’m up front, following behind me are Celes, Muu, and Arleaf.

Veno senses the monsters for me and I point them out. Celes and Arleaf quickly attacks them with Muu and I assisting. f𝒓𝗲𝗲𝒘𝑒𝚋ｎoѵ𝒆𝗹.co𝗺

The monsters we encounter are much like the ones on the mountain, but in different colors.

We encountered all sorts of monsters; from Wistaria Rocks and Bordeaux Rock Golems to little golems like Cyclamen Pink Iron, Plum Bronze Golem, and Ash Grey Silvermen.

And since I’ve got both Celes and Arleaf killing them for me, it’s hard to get a feel for how strong these monsters are.

‘It would not be too difficult for thee. We are still at the beginning, aye?’

When there are pockets of toxic gas, Veno shows me how to detour around them or how to vent it out before advancing forward.

The gas smells rather floral, hey?

‘It is a little questionable to relate poison with flowers, but so far, things are going well. Thou seemst to have become used to this already.’

I guess so.

Not to mention, I’m getting a whole lot of experience from this. Every time a monster is defeated, I see my levels tick up.

Freakin’ sweet. Praise be to power leveling.

It’s going swimmingly, almost as if it’s easier than the swamp dungeon.

Veno’s Mapping really helps too.

The dungeon doesn’t change its shape too often, so it’s actually quite useful.

Suddenly, we encountered a bunch of rock-type monsters a lot more frequently.

We’ve got Silver White Lance Mithrilmen and Shadow Blue Hammer Magic Silvermen.

... talk about a long name.

‘Thou needn’t worry about their colors; simply regard them as Mithrilmen and Magic Silvermen.’

Oh, you’ve got a point.

Anyway, their equipment seems to be a part of their bodies.

Not only is the experience is good, but the ores in their bodies are what we’re here for.

“Hmpf! Is that all you’ve got?!”

As Celes sweeps wide with her sword, the monsters swing their weapons. The clash makes a shrill noise.

“Aqua Shot!”

Arleaf said it’s dangerous to use fire in a mineshaft, so she switched to attacking with water magic.

It’s pretty dang strong, so even if she doesn’t kill them outright, her magic still helps obstruct the enemies’ movement.

“Muuuuu!”

Muu puts up a good fight with its axe, but nowhere near the level of the two ladies.

“Swing your hip out more!” 𝘧𝚛𝗲𝘦𝚠𝙚𝙗𝙣o𝙫𝗲𝚕.𝐜o𝓂

“Muu!”

Muu’s attacks get stronger with pointers from Celes.

And me? Well, I’ve got a crossbow lent to me by Wayne and it does a good job too.

But it’s kinda plain and it doesn’t really kill.

I could let out a poisonous mist, but I’ll likely hit Celes and Arleaf with it too.

The only other poison that would be good would be my new Mollifying Poison, I guess.

They’re rocks, so they’re bound to be hard. I get the feeling that Paralysis Poison wouldn’t do a heck of a lot on them.

‘It is not the case that it is ineffective, but unfortunately, thy poison is more akin to living creatures. Thou must increase your poison vocabulary.’

Then what’s a good poison on these rock-types?

‘There are silencing-type poisons which lowers defense. Silencing refers to the obstruction of their magical abilities, reducing the amount of mana in their system. It would be fairly effective against these monsters. Of course, anything to lower their hardness would be another option. Other than that, perhaps something to induce confusion would be good. However, it would not work unless the poison gets circulated in their systems.’

That’s hard to picture in my head.

I mean, for an ex-software engineer from modern Japan like me, I’m basically told to imagine a whole new concept.

‘Nay, they are but stones and ores after all. That means they have a body. If you inject poison into their bodies, then it would circulate in their system.’

What about monsters without a physical body then? Like spirits or something?

‘Then mists would be effective against them, much like the same reason why holy water is effective.’

Hmm... there’s a myriad of different ways to use poison, huh?

“Wha—?!”

Celes squats down low in preparation of something.

What the heck is happening?

Then suddenly... the walls deep inside get wider and wider.

What? Is the shaft shapeshifting right before my eyes?

As the thought crosses my mind, something draws closer with a loud ka-thunk, ka-thunk.

They sound like the footsteps of something heavy.

“Seems like we’re lucky today.”

Celes flashes a fearless grin and readies her sword.

For some reason though, I don’t think there’s anybody that would agree with her statement...