The Adventures Of The Black Cat Nyango – I’ve Received A Rare Attribute, So I Aim To Be A Carefree Adventurer - CH 9

About four months have passed since the “Nest Leaving Ceremony”, and summer is in full swing.

Needless to say, summer is the worst season for fluffy catkins.

The roads are dusty dirt roads, the houses are surrounded by fields, and the village is surrounded by forests, so it should be cooler than Tokyo, which is hardened by asphalt, but… I resent my own thick fur at times.

The Forest Mouse is caught exclusively in the morning, and during the hot noon hours, I spend my time in the cool woods along the stream.

I enjoy napping in a hammock suspended from a tree that grows on a slope in the shadow of the mountain.

There is no fear of being attacked by monsters here, and above all, it is extremely cool, like a natural air conditioner.

When I get hungry, I go down to the stream and spear the fish that are lurking in the pool to get some food.

If I try to spear them with an ordinary spear, they will be wary of me and run away, but with a spear made with void magic, they can hardly see it.

The material of the spear is not just solidified air, as I have been training and developing every day.

The tip of the spear is sharp and hard, but this is only on the surface; the core is flexible.

The handle of the spear is flat so that even I, who am not very strong, can handle it easily.

I crawl on my belly on a rock that I use as a hunting ground, ready the spear, and wait for the fish to come to me.

It was a great way to practice magic, secure food, and train for future combat.

The refraction of the spear makes the fish faintly visible, but I manage to get behind the gills of a fish that has approached with a single thrust, never noticing me.

The response to the fish’s thrashing told me that I had succeeded in my hunt.

The fish I caught was about 20 centimeters long, similar to a freshwater salmon.

The fish is gutted, skewered, and sprinkled with salt.

Using the void magic, I created a round-bottomed container, filled it with water, turned it into a lens, use sunlight to start a fire, and cooked it with salt.

“Yum-meow, Yum-meow, freshly caught Yum-meow, salt-grilled Yum-meow!” (Nyango)

The freshness of the fish is outstanding because it is freshly caught, and there is no fishy smell at all. The harmony of the crispy skin and the tender meat is exquisite.

Once my belly is full, I return to the hammock and resume my nap.

Yeah, summer’s not so bad, is it?

After waking up from my nap, I go to pick medicinal herbs.

These days, I exclusively use [Step] to move around, so I don’t have to worry about being attacked by monsters in the mountains.

Since I’m moving about five meters off the ground, I have a clear view and don’t leave any scent on the ground.

Goblins can’t reach me, and even if I am noticed, I can just run away.

If I find medicinal herbs, I can go down to the ground to collect them, and then use [Step] to move again.

I think I have reached a sufficient level of escape capability, so I decided to move on to the next step.

After the escape, the next thing to learn is defense.

I want to eat the heart of a monster to improve my magical power, but to do so, I need to defeat one first.

Void magic doesn’t have the same obvious offensive power as fire or lightning magic.

It is possible to attack from a distance by moving solidified air, and it is not powerful enough due to its lightness.

Currently, the only way to attack a monster is to use a spear made with void magic and engage in melee combat.

In that case, the distance my attack can reach them is the distance their attack can also reach me.

If I were of a physically fit race, such as the oxkin or bearkin, I might be able to train my body to be able to withstand a beating, but this would be impossible for catkins.

Probably, even a single blow from a goblin would cut more than half of my HP.

What is needed there is a means of defending.

Specifically, armor and shields.

The first thing I made was body armor.

I made [Armor] so that it could protect the lower neck and lower abdomen so that it would not collide with the arms and legs, and finally, I made the [Armor] about a centimeter away from my body so that it would not impede movement.

The reason for keeping it slightly away from the body, besides not impeding movement, was to improve ventilation and to prevent any impact from being transmitted.

As a test, I threw a pebble and caught it with [Armor], but the impact was not felt at all because it was away from my body.

Incidentally, when I lie down with [Armor] on, I feel like I am floating in the air.

It would be pleasant if I could sleep like this, but when my consciousness was interrupted, [Armor] was deactivated.

Since [Armor] was made to float, not adhere to the body, naturally [Shield] was also made to float.

The [Wall] that I had made when Miguel attacked me with fire magic before was downsized and made into a sturdier [Shield].

It is one meter long, about fifty centimeters wide, and lightly curved.

It is like the transparent polycarbonate riot shields used by police.

This size can protect my whole body, and because it is transparent, it does not hinder my vision.

With [Armor] and [Shield] as the basic form, I intend to devise new materials and shapes, but currently, only one of them can be used in combination with [Step].

Moreover, since I am using magic power for [Step], it is only in the form [Armor] or [Shield], but they are not strong enough.

I can’t wait to try fighting monsters, but unlike in a game, if I die, it’s over and I can’t start over.

With the current strength of my magic, it would be crushed by a single blow and the damage would pass through.

I put on [Armor] and use [Step] to move.

From the side, it may look like I am just hopping along in the air, but I am using more magic power and it is draining me.

I was exhausted after walking around picking medicinal herbs from late afternoon to early evening, but I was probably getting a good workout from all the energy I was expending.

I returned to the stream, caught some fish, and headed home.

“Grandma Carisa, please buy medicinal herbs. The fish is a gift.” (Nyango)

“Sorry for always counting on you. Oh, isn’t it a Three-lip fish? It seems like you went really deep into the mountains, are you being safe?” (Carisa)

“It’s okay because I’m taking good care of myself. The other day, Zeol and his men went hunting monsters, and I haven’t seen a single goblin today.” (Nyango)

The tigerkin, Zeol, is an adventurer employed by the village chief and is said to be over fifty years old.

He was active around the Royal Capital when he was young, and he was a very good adventurer, even reaching A-rank, but he had trouble dealing with the nobility, and when he retired from the scene, he came to Atsuka village.

“I see but be careful. If you are not safe, I’ll be in trouble too.” (Carisa)

While offering the money to buy the herbs, Grandma Carisa looked worried.

There are people who bring in medicinal herbs besides me, “But no one else is willing to share their Forest Mouse and fish with me,” she said.

“Of course. Oh, it’s raining, so I’m going home.” (Nyango)

“Yes, have a safe trip back home.” (Carisa)

I heard distant thunder as I came down from the mountain, but it seemed that the clouds had drifted faster.

Raindrops stained the dry road and soon turned into a deluge of buckets tipped over.

“[Umbrella], [Step].” (Nyango)

I made a dome big enough to reach over my head and down to my feet and walked about fifty centimeters above the ground with [Step].

I could see villagers who were working on the farm, running with their heads covered.

Lightning ran like a dragon through the pitch-black sky, and a gut-wrenching thunder roared.

Water flowed like a river on the parched road, washing away even the heat of the day.

“Oh, it’s cooler… But I hope it rains in moderation.” (Nyango)

I welcome the cooler weather, but I don’t want the river to overflow or the road leading into the town to collapse.

If the potatoes rot before they are harvested, it will be difficult to make it through the winter.

Before I was born, there was a year when the summer rains were so long that the potatoes were completely wiped out and some people starved to death during the winter.

“I think I’ll make some dried fish in the fall?” (Nyango)

If I want to be efficient, it would be better to hunt wild boars and make dried meat, but even if I could kill them successfully, I would not be able to bring one back to the village.

“Is it better to be able to live as a capable person first rather than working as an adventurer…” (Nyango)

The rain, which had made it impossible to see what was ahead, had eased off, and there was even a glimmer of pale red in the western sky.

The river that runs through the village does not seem to be going over the bank.

With fish for my family in hand, I headed home along the road at dusk.