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So, here we are at the spring where that large-sized magic beast supposedly settled down. Well, not exactly settled, but rather grew abnormally huge. Anyhow, our goal was to get rid of it, whether by exterminating it or some other way.

Speaking of this spring, I was picturing something smaller when they said ‘spring.’ But it’s actually pretty darn big. You could almost call it a little lake.

But yeah, at any rate, this waterside, or beach, whatever you wanna call it, was a pretty vast sandy beach. They’ve probably cleared it out to make it easy to use since the opposite bank is all overgrown with trees.

Anyway, looking around you could see fragments of broken trees and the wreckage of traps and nets that got trashed… Just by looking at this state, it was clear that the magic beast definitely had a wild time.

“Wow… this looks pretty dicey.”
“Yeah… So, Ren, what do we do?”

Huh? I’m the one coming up with the plan? Lily, don’t you have any ideas?

“I can’t think of anything in particular. Plus, you’re the one who suggested taking this job in the first place, Ren. I thought you would have some plan?”

Well, it’s not like that, but… yeah, I guess.

Hmm… First, I’d like to know what this big magic beast is like, but I heard it’s learned from past failed attempts and hardly ever comes out of the spring…

For now, maybe we should check out regular, I mean, regular-sized turtle monsters? Based on that, we can estimate how big the larger one might be. So, I’d like to try and catch at least one regular-sized turtle. But looking around, it seems there are none in sight. Too bad.

Hmm… They say the big one goes wild when you try to fish or use nets, but what if we tried catching one through fishing?

…Alright, let’s give it a shot.

So, a little further to the right, there was a slightly steep but not too high cliff-like spot, so I decided to try fishing from there. I dug up some earthworms from the ground for bait… Do turtles even eat earthworms? Well, it’s not your average turtle; it’s a magic beast, so let’s just hope for the best.

“Ren, are you sure about this? What if the big one shows up…?”
“If that happens, we run for it, full speed.”
“Ren, you’re way too carefree.”

Hey, wait a minute! Arisa, you’re the last person who can tell me that, okay?!

After this exchange, I cast my fishing line, and in just a few minutes, I felt a tug on the rod! Oh, it was pulling pretty strongly, or maybe not so strongly? Either way, it felt like I could reel it in without much trouble, so I went ahead and did just that. Fish!

…Actually, does ‘Fish!’ work when it’s about fishing turtles? Shouldn’t it be ‘Turtle!’? Well, whatever.

Now, let’s check the turtle I caught. It was about 30-40 cm in size. Its mouth seemed slightly pointed I guess? I heard that it was a freshwater turtle, and since they had mentioned using it for cooking, I had a suspicion… but doesn’t this thing look quite a bit like a softshell turtle? I mean, the shell felt quite hard, and its claws on the feet were pretty sharp, so in that sense, it was similar but possibly a different species. Then again, this world was different, and above all, this turtle was a magic beast.

Hmm, this is intriguing. How else was it different I wonder…?

My natural curiosity had kicked in, and I decided to observe it further. Hmm, it was like a land turtle, but not quite the same. It was really interesting.

You know, my intellectual curiosity had been a bit like that. It was fully apparent even during tasks, but once I got curious about something I couldn’t stop. If something caught my attention, I researched it thoroughly! I’m a man who has even dismantled a pasta machine once. Or rather, ‘In my past life, I was a man, and in this life, I’m a woman.’ But thanks to that I’m not troubled with money and my intellectual curiosity hasn’t been so bad!

White I was at it, I decided to try using [Appraisal] and [Analyze] on the turtle. It seemed to be ‘edible’ and ‘mild in flavor but exceptionally tasty.’ Well, well, is that so?

As I flipped the turtle around and examined it from various angles, I felt a tugging on my sleeve. Huh? Annoying! I swatted my arm away… but then, my sleeve was tugged again. I swatted it. It tugged again. I swatted it. It tugged. I swatted… Ugh, persistent!

What is it!? I’m in the middle of something, don’t bother me!

Reluctantly, I turned around, and there were Lily and Arisa, pointing towards the spring and making strange jerky movements.

“R-Ren, that… that, that’s…”
“That thing over there… poking out a bit… there…”

Huh? That? Over there? Poking out? What?

When I took a closer look in the direction they were pointing, I noticed that there was now some sort of small island-like object on the water’s surface… And also, something was growing on the water’s surface ahead of it…?

Wait, could it be…!? I activated my [Hawk Eye] to enhance my vision and looked closely at the mysterious object… A face? No, a head? Actually… wait, that’s a turtle’s head!?

It’s huge! Wait, really huge!? And it’s gradually getting closer to us!? Huh? What? What should we do? What should I do?

Aaahhhhhhh, what should I do, what should I do!? Wait, could it be that this turtle I was holding in my hand was the cause of this?! Would returning it to the spring solve this?! Okay, I’ll do it! I quickly tossed the turtle I had in my hand into the spring! Body Enhancement! Yaaah! ……Splash!

……Did it stop moving? No, it’s still looking at us, and I have no idea what will happen. I didn’t let my guard down and slowly began to step back, tugging on the edges of Lily and Arisa’s clothing to prompt them to move as well, slowly… slowly…

…Oh, it’s gone.

After taking about five minutes to carefully, cautiously, and slowly retreat, the large turtle’s head gradually sank. That was close…

“…It’s gone, right?”
“Yeah.”
“…I thought it might work since there was nothing at first, but… it didn’t, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“…Are you reflecting on it?”
“I kinda do, but if we don’t take action, we won’t learn anything, so I think it was inevitable, you know? And in terms of results, it wasn’t a failure, right?”
“Sigh… Yeah, you’re right! So, what next?!”

Why’re you upset!? Isn’t this what being an adventurer is all about!?

“Lily, it turned out alright, didn’t it?”
“I know that! Geez! So… what’s the next move?”

Next? That would be…

“…Should we try fishing it out?”
“You’re going to fish it? That thing?”
“Yes.”

Well, this seems to be the only option.

Huh? Shouldn’t we just fish for small turtles like before to lure it out, you say? No, no, that giant monster rampages to protect its companions, right? And it had such a reaction to that small turtle from earlier. No way, it’s definitely going to go berserk.

“……”

Oh, Lily is looking distant again.

“…At this point, just do as you please.”

I will.