Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit-Chapter 170: Vermin

"I have to say, this is pretty nice. I didn’t really have any close friends in my old world," Grinned Akila.

"Well, in that case, we should get to know each other better," Responded Zina with a smile.

"Yeah, there’s no need to hold back, feel free to get as close as you want," Added Laiza.

"Hmph...," Kia huffed under her breath in annoyance, as the four of them strolled through the streets.

It was the 10th of October, 1919, a couple of days since the meeting held at the Capital. After patrolling tirelessly over the last two days, Fyre decided to insist that Akila take a day off, as he was getting visibly worn out.

Kia had taken a day off as well, since she’d been paired up with him and had worked just as hard during patrols.

She mustered up the courage to suggest that they spend the day hanging out and exploring the city, but unfortunately for her, Akila failed to realize that she was effectively asking him out.

He then suggested that they invite the others they’d been teamed up with when they fought the Death Grizzlies, much to Kia’s dismay.

He contacted the others, and Zina and Laiza both agreed to join them. Ferd declined, deciding to continue with patrolling, and as for Raven, he’d figured out what was going on when Akila called him and informed him of the situation.

Not wanting to be a third wheel, Raven made up an excuse and declined as well. But it didn’t really matter, since either way, Kia wasn’t getting the alone time with Akila that she’d been after.

And to add to her disappointment, the other two girls were very clearly expressing their interest in Akila too, but he failed to notice.

It was ironic, he’d always held a deep admiration for generic protagonists, characters who inspired him to strive to be just like them...and now, here he was, displaying the same kind of dense unawareness to anything romantic.

But, to be fair to him, having lived his previous life starved of any form of affection outside of his family, be it friendship or romance, he was understandably clueless.

"So, Akila, what do you usually do in your free time?" Zina asked him.

"Hm? Well, not much...the hobbies I had in my previous life don’t exist in this world. My old world was a lot more technologically advanced, I’d say this world is about a century or so behind that world. I have been taking up reading lately though, since I don’t have a whole lot to do in my free time," Answered Akila with a smile.

"I see. In that case, the next time you’re free, you should drop by my place. I could help you pick up some new hobbies," Responded Zina suggestively.

"Wha-...?! She’s not even trying to be subtle...but based on the look on his face, it completely went over his head. How does he not get what she’s implying?!" Kia thought to herself in disbelief.

"Consider my door open to you too, come over whenever you want to," Chimed in Laiza.

"Th-They’re both so forward...just thinking about saying the same things they are makes me feel absolutely mortified, I feel like I would die of embarrassment," Sighed Kia, feeling disappointed in herself.

"Wow, thanks, I’ve never been invited over to a friend’s house before, let alone two! I really appreciate it, I’ll have to take you two up on your offer sometime," Smiled Akila cheerfully.

"U-Um, you...you can come over to my place t-too, if you want," Spoke up Kia quietly, a nervous look on her face as she felt her heart starting to pound in her chest.

"Cool, thanks, Kia! Oh, how rude of me...you guys are welcome to visit me at my place anytime too. Sorry, I’m not used to this, I should’ve said that sooner, huh?" Grinned Akila sheepishly.

"You don’t need to apologize for that," Zina shook her head with a smile.

"Yeah, don’t worry about it. I have to say, you’re really quite innocent, aren’t you? Hm, or maybe ’pure’ is the more fitting term here. Oh, I don’t mean that in a bad way at all, it’s rather endearing and cute," Remarked Laiza wryly.

"Oh, uh...thanks, that’s nice of you to say. But I don’t see it as being completely a good thing. I know I’m naive, that’s why I was manipulated so easily. If I wasn’t so naive, I might’ve realized sooner that I was being tricked," Akila sighed wistfully.

"N-No, I don’t think it’s right to blame yourself for that. You were the victim, it would be unfair to blame you, the only one at fault was Alphonse Plore," Kia assured him, before the others could respond.

"I-...thanks, I appreciate you saying that. Sorry, I guess I kinda brought the mood down, huh? Let’s just clear our minds and have fun, we should make the most of our day off, after all!"

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the nation, a group of four Knights had come across some unusual Monster activity...

"Hey, shouldn’t we turn back? All of us are Second-Class Knights, we can’t take down a Monster Queen. And besides, our orders are to report any unusual Monster activity, not deal with it ourselves."

"Oh, you worry too much. The Monsters are Vermin, so Monster Queen or not, I highly doubt they’ll be an issue."

Vermin were large rat Monsters, several times bigger than normal rats, growing to about four feet in length. They were classified as Low Level Threats, among the weakest and least dangerous Monster species in existence.

The group of Knights had noticed an unusually large number of Vermin near a large mountain called the Flourite Mountain, and had tracked down their nest. freēwēbnovel.com

There were a handful of the Monsters standing outside a small cave entrance at the foot of the mountain, while the Knights were hiding behind a large rock formation, surveying the situation.

"Good, there are only a few of them, I could fourteen. Based on the previous reports of the Monsters Queens, the have the majority of their pack out in front, with a small number standing guard by the Queen where she’s hiding. So, let’s wipe out the Vermin out here and then head into the cave, there can’t be any more than four or five of them in there. The Queen itself will probably be about as strong as a Mid Level Monster, we can definitely handle that."

"Yeah, sounds like an easy win."

"I don’t know, I still think we should head back and report this."

"Don’t be such a coward. Against Monsters this weak, there’s no reason to be so cautious."

"Alright, on my signal, let’s launch a bunch of ranged Attack Spells at the Monsters outside, and then rush in and wipe them out. After that, we’ll target the rest in the cave and the Queen. On three. One, two...THREE!!!"

The four Knights then unleashed a barrage of Spells towards the Monsters, pained screeches ringing out before the swarm scattered in disarray, the Knights springing out from behind the rock formation and rushing forward.

As they shot towards the scattered Monsters, they suddenly froze as a loud, deafening screech rang out of the cave...right before dozens upon dozens of Vermin burst out of the ground all around the Knights, surrounding them in the blink of an eye.

"What the...?!"

"Sh-Shit, they burrowed underground to hide!"

"Stay calm! Let’s focus our attacks in one direction, create an opening and retreat, we-...!" Began one of the Knights, before trailing off as a deep, ominous growl rang out of the cave, a large figure emerging.

It was the Monster Queen, much bigger than the other Vermin, standing up on its hind legs. It had an immensely muscular body and arms, its back hunched. Its lower jaw was crooked, the tip of its tail split in two, it had three fingers on its right hand and four on its left.

As it emerged from the cave, the rest of the Vermin that had surrounded the Knights then spread out further, expanding their ring around the Knights.

"Huh? Are they not going to attack?"

"I think the Monster Queen wants to fight us herself...maybe if we kill her, the rest will scatter?"

"Hah, it may look ugly and intimidating, but it’s pretty stupid, isn’t it? Let’s-...!" Exclaimed one of the Knights, charging up a lightning bolt.

Before he could finish his sentence, the Monster Queen let out a bone-chilling bellow, before charging forward with immense speed, the Knight clumsily firing his lightning in fear.

The Monster tilted its head across to evade the attack, before leaping forward as the other Knights scattered in alarm, the one who’d fired the lightning bolt freezing in fear, before letting out a despairing yell as the Monster grabbed the top of his head and lifted him off the ground.

He began to reach for his weapon, a sword on his hip, before a sickening crunch rang out as the Monster sharply tightened its grip and crushed his skull, his arms slumping to his sides as blood gushed out, chunks of his brain and shards of his skull flying out and splattering the ground.

The Monster Queen then lifted him up and tilted his body towards her mouth, pouring his blood down her throat before tossing the corpse away.

"N-No...!" Gasped one of the other Knights in terror, as the Monster Queen turned her attention to the remaining three, narrowing her eyes at them...