Chapter 23: 19.2

Chapter 4-19 : Salamander’s Cave Ⅰ (part 2)

 

It had been a while since Nord’s ruthless experiment had begun.

No matter how you look at it, it was totally animalー no, monster abuse.

The rounded eyes of the Lava Lizard that was tortured by Nord looked as if they were saying, “Please, just kill me and put me out of my misery!”

Iris and Kate who couldn’t stand seeing the poor Lava Lizard could only grit their teeth and avert their gazes.

There were four other Lava Lizards tied with the special rope next to them.

While watching their friend suffering in pain, they were wriggling on the ground, trying to break free from the rope.

Iris and Kate felt sorry for them, but remembering the hard time when they tried to catch them alive and the fact that Nord was their client, they couldn’t just let the lizards free.

「Hmm… I think I’m done with this one.」(Nord)

Hearing what Nord said, Iris and Kate sighed in relief. They thought he would release the poor Lava Lizard which was half charred by the lava.

However, while writing something in his notebook with a satisfied expression on his face, Nord kicked the poor lizard into the lava as if it no longer had any use for him.

The Lava Lizard regained its freedom after the special rope that restricted its movements burned in the lava.

However, its freedom only lasted for a short time.

The lizard swam toward the ground, trying to escape from the river of lava, but because its body was already weakened, it died before it could reach the ground and its lifeless body sank into the lava.

Meanwhile, Nord observed the poor lizard with calm eyes while continuing to write something in his notebook.

Of course, Iris and Kate understood that there was no way they would treat a monster’s injury, but still, they thought that Nord was a heartless man.

「Alright. Next one~」(Nord)

After saying that with an excited face, Nord approached the other Lava Lizards and pulled one of them closer to the river of lava.

Lava Lizards are indeed monsters, but at that moment, Iris and Kate thought that Nord was the one who deserved to be called a monster.

They turned around, trying not to watch Nord torturing his next victim.

 

◇　　　　◇　　　　◇

 

-A while later-

「Ahh~ That was a good experiment. I made some new discoveries!」(Nord)

「I, I see… That’s… great…」(Iris)

「Hahh… I’m glad it’s over…」(Kate)

Because the mouths of the Lava Lizards were also tied with the special rope, Iris and Kate didn’t have to hear their heartbreaking screams, but still, they felt awful when they saw Nord smile while torturing the poor lizards.

「I’m sorry to say this in front of a researcher but if I were to choose a job, becoming a researcher would be my last choice.」(Iris)

「I didn’t feel bad at all when I shot my arrows at those lizards, but I know your feelings. After watching that ruthless torture that he called “experimenting”, I don’t wanna be a researcher either.」(Kate)

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After defeating monsters, Iris and Kate usually would skin them and cut them into parts to separate which ones could be used as food ingredients and which one could be sold as alchemy materials. They would gouge out their eyeballs as well if necessary.

For most people it might be gruesome, but for them, what Nord did was more horrible than that because he was torturing those lizards.

「Umm… guys? It’s not that I like burning living beings alive, you know? Only psychos like doing that.」(Nord)

「Reeeally…?」(Iris)

「Then why were you smiling while doing those cruel things?」(Kate)

「I was smiling because I was excited to learn the results. I’m a researcher. I want to collect as much data as possible from my experiments and hope it will be useful for people. I also hope that my research results can prevent people from dying to monsters due to their ignorance.」(Nord)

Seeing Nord say that with a bitter smile on his face made Iris and Kate feel bad for saying those harsh words which were tinged with disgust toward him.

The two looked at each other awkwardly and bowed their heads.

「Come to think of it, I know some Collectors who managed to survive monster attacks thanks to the knowledge they got from books.」(Iris)

「Even the books that we use as reference to collect materials born from someone’s research results… Nord-san, we’re sorry if we offended you…」(Kate)

「It’s okay. Researchers like me are difficult for ordinary people to understand after all, and I realized that people thought I was a weirdo because of it.」(Nord)

Nord had done so many experiments on monsters. At first, Nord did think that he was doing cruel things to monsters, but that feeling eventually got numb. Now, all he felt when he did such experiments was the joy of learning something.

That’s why he was smiling when he did the experiment on the Lava Lizards.

However, from Iris and Kate’s point of view, Nord looked like a psychopath who enjoyed tormenting monsters.

Nord was aware of it somehow, but he had no intention of stopping doing what he should do.

「Alright, then. Now that we’ve done the side mission, it’s time to do the main mission!」(Nord)

To lighten the heavy atmosphere, Nord clapped his hands as he said that.

Iris and Kate then smiled at each other and turned their gazes to Nord.

「Well, I feel like it was a looong side mission though.」(Iris)

Iris thought that doing experiments on Lava Lizards was just wasting time, but Nord raised his index finger and waved it while making “tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk” sound with his tongue.

「Lava Lizards are monsters that live closest to Salamanders, so learning about them is necessary. You need to give it all on your research and learn everything that needs to be learned. That’s why the government approved all the results of my research so far.」(Nord)

「Hee… So that’s how it works.」(Iris)

Nord made it sound easy but in reality, it wasn’t easy to do research that the government would approve.

「Anyway, let’s start working. I’m sure I put it here… Umm… Ah, there it is.」(Nord)

Saying that, Nord rummaged his big backpack and took out a box-shaped object slightly larger than his palm.

「What is that? An artifact?」(Iris)

「Yeah. It’s for measuring the amount of magical power in an area. It can also collect other data such as the element of the magical power but… This is weird… It says that ice-attributed magical power dominates this area… I’m pretty sure that a place like this should be filled with fire-attributed magical power… Is this thing broken?」(Nord)

Nord frowned and shook the artifact in his hand, but nothing changed on the display.

「Ah, Nord-san, that’s maybe because of Store Owner-dono.」(Iris)

「Sarasa-kun? What do you mean?」(Nord)

While recalling the moment when they fought the Salamander, Iris started explaining.

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