Chapter 18

Not just a happening place it seemed. The JSDF were appreciated here. As soon as we started to drive down what looked to be a main street, people would stop and wave cheerfully. It might seem like a little thing, considering the wonders the JSDF brought with them, but it told me that 'the people' didn't resent their presence. At least not here.

"Surprised?" Rory asked.

"Pleased to know the people I'm working for have a good reputation." I replied, sticking with the 'mercenary' party line.

Another couple of minutes later, we'd apparently reached the first location on our list. And from the rhythmic clank of hammer and steel, I knew it was the smithy. "Here we are. Suppose you'll need a translator too." Itami said, opening his door and stepping out.

"Oh, Lelei said you'd want this?" Tuka offered me a brush. It actually surprised me that it was a '100 yen doggo brush'. I'd bought one of these from Saji's store after I'd arrived in Kuoh! "I know it's for pets, but it's popular among the beast races."

I was about to accept the brush, but one of my tails swished out and took it first. But, because it was a tail, and not a hand, the brush was lost someplace in the floof until I fished it out. "Impatient..." I sighed, "Thank you. Now... aha." I found and used the handle on the back hatch, "Anyone else want to watch me smash some metal?"

My party just shrugged, while Itami (who almost got beaned by the door I'd just opened) said, "Actually, Lelei? You want to guide her to the forward base?" He looked to me, "They know how to get started on the problem?"

I again looked to my team, then back to Itami, "Yeah, they'll have some ideas at least. Might be about a half hour here, depending on how stubborn the smith is."

"I'll stay here." Hagane rumbled, then in Kione, Orario's native language, he said, "Never alone, Fox."

I nodded to him, stepped out, and gave him a headpat while Itami got in the driver's side and rumbled off. "Ah, I have a little money as well, just in case you need it." Lelei said, joining in on Hagane pats, "You are metal, yet I want to pat you."

"Cats are the less dangerous, more personable version of dragons. And that is what I am."

"A cat?"

"A dragon."

Eager to get to work, I swished my tails at them to move towards the smithy.

The smithy, like most 'olde schoole' buildings that dealt with fire, was mostly open. One of the two solid walls actually faced the main street (to reduce noise I'd bet). So, we walked around to the 'front' of the shop, and yes, it was much how I'd imagined a low tech smithy to be. At least... at first glance.

There was a central chimney and furnace. This allowed you to have all your work in the middle of the shop, with lots of open space around you for things like the anvil, tools, benches and all that. It also let you keep the place warm in the winter, since the place was open on two sides. The chimney also went up through to the second floor, (where I assumed the smith lived) and let you heat the room above.

The smith... wow. He (I assumed, since I saw no 'female' features) was what most would call 'a beast man'. A full on wolf headed thick furred beast man, he reminded me of Jon Talbain, the werewolf from Dark Stalkers. No fool him, he was wearing all the protective gear. Thick leather apron and sleeves, leather face mask (that went over his muzzle like some weird executioner's hood)... But, he also had a little modern equipment.

For example, the chimney and furnace, was made of neatly cut brick. Sure, clay bricks are one of the most basic 'processed' building materials, but these were uniform in colour and had perfect shape. They even had a nice mortar spacing them all out. The other thing he had (that really stuck out) was half of a welder's mask (you know, with that single rectangle bit of glass) over his eyes. His muzzle stopped him from wearing the standard mask, but still. Obviously modern, if adapted.

Along the walls were bits of his work. This was common in any shop, and at first glance, he was pretty good at his craft. Blades (all sensible size/shape) were sharp and simple. There was a breastplate with nice looking 'hammered abs' embossed on it. The leather work was clean and sturdy looking. He was a professional for sure, and took a little pride in making his work look nice without getting needlessly fancy.

While I examined the walls, he finished hammering (looked like a knife), and spoke a couple of words. Like his body (big and fuzzy) his voice had a growly edge to it, but it wasn't unfriendly.

"Ah, Kodori?" Lelei got my attention and I turned around to face the wolfman, "Hello. My name is Kodori, and I need to melt a bit of metal." I made sure to talk to him, since Lelei was only translating.

He kept eye contact with me, telling me I'd made the right choice in etiquette, and after a few words, Lelei answered with, "I smelt metals ever seven days. Come back in three days."

"Can you make an exception? I'm working with the JSDF."

"It's not about exception. I don't have a pot to melt it in."

Aha, he needed a crucible pot, and that was probably made weekly for him by the local potter or some such, and it was too 'low tech' to keep the pot whole after he'd melted the metals in it... "Do you have any iron pipe?"

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow (and he had some very expressive eyebrows), "I have some old pipe, yes."

"I need about this long." I made a 30cm wide motion with my hands, "And about this wide?" About 10cm.

"I can cut that I guess... Will take a moment."

"Let me."

The smith looked at Hagane, who had stayed just outside the shop, and then back to me, "What... Who built that?"

"I did." I smiled, "Pipe?"

The process was pretty simple. He found a somewhat rusty pipe that was close to what I needed, and Hagane used his hydraulic jaw to snap off a segment for me. While it was heating up in the furnace, I had Lelei hold my tails while I brushed the black fur from them. After that, we put the fur into the white hot hoop of metal, and hammered it flat. Heat, fold, add more fur a few more times, and that was basically it. I didn't show off my 'other' abilities, like immunity to heat and fire. But stuck within the bounds of 'normal' skill. I wanted to show that I knew what I was doing, but not show off something 'impossible'. I could be a cheatyface at home. I could tell the smith was paying attention to how I did things, and I didn't want to show him something he had no hope of doing himself.

He was even nice enough to let me do the work myself, though when ever the metal was heating up again he was pacing around Hagane, giving him headpats, and examining all the complex jointing I'd done on his body. It took a little longer than I'd hoped, but by the end of it, I had a Ko-steel plate, and the metal bit of a chisel. I'd need them both to make the Occulus amplifier.

After that though, Lelei gave him a couple of coins, and I said I'd try and come by again to give him a real lesson.

"You're in high spirits." Lelei said, sitting side-saddle on Hagane.

"She enjoys teaching." Hagane rumbled, "Which way?"

With my plate of metal under one arm, I was indeed feeling pretty good about the world. "It was nice to meet an old hand who wanted to learn new things. Generally, you end up with people who think they know it all, or don't believe me when I say I know what I'm doing."

"Much to their detriment." Hagane added, following Lelei's pointed finger, "Many strange similarities here. Like her."

He made a head motion towards a cat folk, who was just a little more cat than the usual from Orario. She had slightly more feral features, and her hands were 'hand shaped paws' not 'human hands'. Another one was the 'full beast' people, like the wolfman I'd just worked with. There were others too, like a pair of harpy girls, who looked a lot like the Xenos, but there was no fear in the people who were talking to them.

"I like it." I said, noticing that our little trio was getting a lot of looks, but no stares. We were just 'new people' not 'strange people'. Even Hagane, though, that might be because Lelei was a harmless looking ornament. (Though, I was sure by now, everyone knew she was not harmless AT ALL).

"Your fur. It's very strange." Lelei said, twirling a bit of my shed fur between her fingers, "Very magical."

"I am very magical." I smiled, "And it's helped a lot."

"I hear... revelry. Is that it?" Hagane asked, looking up a little towards a hanging sign. Like any world, the bar/tavern had a big wooden mug of beer for a sign.

"Ah, no, we want that one." Lelei pointed to a boring looking brick and mortar building across the street from it, "That's the forward base."

No markings, no signs, windows that were shuttered and dark, it was the most basic level of camouflage. Lelei however, got of Hagane's back with a little 'hup' and walked over to the door. She then opened it up with a simple, "Lelei coming in."

Lelei entered first, taking a good two steps into the room before holding the door open for us. I suppose since we weren't 'military personnel' we'd need someone to show us in. You know, to avoid getting shot or something.

Inside, the front room was quite spacious. With several doors leading deeper inside, and a nice sensible front desk like you'd see in a doctor's office or something. "Ah Lelei, and our other two guests. Been waiting."

Behind the desk, looking like a grandfather I'd like to know, was an older gentleman who surprisingly still had all his hair. He wore his uniform like a comfortable shirt, and had his (assuming it was his) helmet within arms reach on the desk. "This is Sargent Major Kuwahara Soichiro." Lelei introduced, "He is the Third Recon's commander when Itami isn't here."

"Kodori. Pleased to meet you." I bowed my head.

"We're the bunch he dragged around with him during the initial contact phase of all this." He made an 'all this' motion with his hands, "They stuck me with him just to make sure nothing burned down when he opened his mouth."

"Did he actually listen to your consul?"

"Ah, the talking..." He paused, "Cat? Hagane was it?" Hagane sat like a good catto and nodded, "Yes, surprisingly he did, more surprising, is I hardly had to step in at all."

"Huh." I hmm'ed, rubbing my chin with my free hand, "Say, is there a place I can put this without it wandering away or getting lost?" I asked, motioning to my shiny metal plate.

"Huh? Sure. Just lean it up out of the way there." He motioned with a hand, "They're expecting you, second floor." He administered one grandfatherly headpat on Lelei' then motioned with a hand, "Ah... Not sure you'll make the stairs." He said to Hagane.

"Such is my fate." Hagane shrugged, "I will assure your new toy doesn't grow legs."

"Thank you." I started to follow Lelei, "Practise your story telling or something." I didn't see the harm of having two old men in the same room telling stories. Might even help Hagane the next time he was on story duty at the Manor.

The stairs were indeed made of wood, not concrete or the like, so they might not have held up Hagane's small car worth of weight. One thing I did notice though, were the modern doors and those little hydraulic lever things on top to make sure they closed. Must have got them wholesale or something when they started building the place.

Opening the door to the second floor, I could hear the voices of my party and a few new ones as well. It sounded like they were just chatting, which was good. I didn't want to hear any discord between our two groups, since it might slow things down later.

"-holding this gigantic snake's mouth open, before Ryuu could-" Maki paused, "Ah, you're here!"

It was probably the largest room in the building, with a big table in the middle and lots of chairs going around it. Our party was seated along one edge of the table, with Maki still in a 'holding a snake's mouth open' pose with her hands. Itami's girls were on the far edge across from the door, and the 'new faces' were on the third side to my right. Laid out on the table looked to be a local map, with Alnus hill in the middle. Seeing it like this, it looked like a fortified 'star' shape, very fancy, with all kinds of long walls to create kill zones and difficult approaches.

To one side, where the 'point' of the base was the shortest, was a mountain, while opposite that looked to be the town we were in now. All around that however was mostly farm and open field, with various roads and rivers running through it.

To my right, most of the soldiers stood up and started introductions.

First was someone we knew already, Mari. She didn't stand but nodded to me. In full uniform minus helmet, she looked perfectly comfortable in it. Being a field medic did not make you soft.

Next to her was another woman, short, and wearing not just the full uniform, but all of the 'extra bits'. She had a knife strapped to both biceps, another one over her left breast, and what looked like a locally made short sword on her left hip. I also noted, she had weighted gloves. She snapped a salute, which made her 'off centre' light brown pony tail bob amusingly, "Sergeant First Class, Kuribayashi Shino." Something about her face though struck me as familiar for some reason.

Next was a massive bear of a man. With the usual dark hair and eyes of the Japanese, he was uncommonly tall, close to 190cm. He saluted right after Shino (who looked like a very vicious toy next to him), "Leading Private, Katsumoto Wataru." And sat back down.

Last was a man who instantly made me think 'book keeper'. Tall and thin with rectangle framed glasses, he didn't really look like a soldier. But he wore the uniform and had the same professional 'air' about him. "Leading Private, Daisuke Tozu."

"Kodori, Captain of my group." I bowed, looking to Itami who had been standing in the corner between my group and 'his' girls, with a pointer in his hand, "What I miss?"

"As soon as we got started, we had the others get into a pair of Humvee and double check all the potential hot spots your team said to look out for."

"Any pool of stagnant water really, or nearly stagnant." Aisha said, repeating what I already knew, but there was no harm in making sure.

"We've already confirmed a few places, like here, here and here." Itami poked the map, "Getting closer than fifty metres seems to upset them, so we've already set up cordons and small patrols of locals and JDSF."

Shino spoke up, "They're easy enough to deal with if you're alert, but getting bitten by one is all kinds of bad news." She shook her head, "Don't even need bullets for them, just have good aim with a sword knife or club."

"Fire was suggested," The bookish looking Tozu started, "But since they are like the smaller versions of the ones we are already familiar with, that won't stop them from coming back."

"Their life cycle is incredibly fast." Mari said, "Depopulating an area only stops them for a week at most."

"What sort of measures are we allowed to use?" I asked.

"Not poison." Itami said, "The fields," point point point, "are owned by the local farmers, and down stream," point point, "Are other places we want to keep good relations with."

"Fire isn't off the table then?" Aisha asked, getting a head shake from Itami, "Okay. Seems pretty simple to me."

"Clear to, clear out." Maki said, naming off one of our 'dungeon formations', "Though, it's more open than I'm used to."

The Dungeon team nodded to one another, "I suggest you set up fire breaks around the effected areas, and keep going down river until you stop seeing nest sites. In the few weeks they've been here, they may have gone a long way." Ryuu said, "Have there been any other monster sightings?"

"A few. But even if they're more ferocious, they're much simpler to deal with." Wataru rumbled, "Big gator things mostly. But anything that bothers the farm animals is kill on sight, so that's not too bad."

We all nodded, fairly sure this would be a reasonable way to deal with things, but then Tozu asked a question, "Out of curiousity, how will you clear out the ponds once you burn your way to them?"

"Magic." The Dungeon team said at the same time.

Itami's girls nodded, while the more 'normal' soldiers shrugged. "Okay, let's get into the Humvee and get started. Say, where is Hagane?" Itami asked.

"Keeping your second in command entertained I'm guessing." I said.

After filing back out, we did indeed find Hagane and Soichiro chuckling about something or other when we got into the main office. Itami's squad went into the various side rooms and came back out with an armful of 'stuff'. This was promptly carried towards the rear of the building, where I assumed the Humvee were parked.

"All set then?" Soichiro asked, "Need a map?"

"A couple copies of the local river routes." Itami said.

"Sure." He then sat down and rolled his chair over to a cabinet. After a moment of fishing through it, he pulled up a bit of paper, then rolled over to a simple photocopier.

"That's something I'll bet you don't have." Tuka said, leaning a little closer to me, "It's a machine that takes a painting of something, and copies it."

I looked at it, making sure to follow the various lights and sounds with my eyes as it buzzed and whirred a couple of copies out, "Okay, that would be really handy to have. Hmm... Maybe if I used a bit of glass... wait no... hmm."

Maki was closest, so she got to hold the first thinking tail that perched on her, "Now she's going to think of a way to make it. You're already giving Odds too much work."

"One thing at a time Fox." Aisha took hold of another tail and gave it exactly the kind of attention it wanted.

"Fine fine..." I sighed, "Back in the noisy box on wheels?"

Itami nodded, "We've got a radio, and the other two teams are already scouting ahead. Do you all need to be together? Or..."

I looked to the Dungeon team, "Actually no. Maki, think you can handle the magic needs?"

"Eh... maybe? I have the tools, not sure about the power."

"Okay, Maki and I will stick together, Hagane? Go with Ryuu and Aisha." I said after a moment, "You'll be needed to clear a couple ponds of bugs."

"Urg... I better get a good scrub when we're done."

I made sure to give him a headpat, but also feed power into him. Without Shinkage nearby, he was running off of batteries and the 'local mana'. There were a few clicks as his capacitors filled up again, and he moved his head away when it stopped. "Ryuu can top you up if need be, so you won't get stuck in the mud."

Ryuu nodded, and we all started to file towards the back of the building. To my surprise, Itami's girls split up as well, with Lelei and Tuka going with Hagane, Ryuu, Aisha, and it looked like Wataru, Kozu and Shino. Mari didn't look like she was boarding though.

"Kodori? If you could try and think up a way to help us with the poison these mosquitoes use?" She asked as I followed Itami.

"Sure. Um... Do you have something to store liquid in? Like these?" I took out one of my potion vials, "A half dozen or so will do."

"Ah, yes, hold on." She raised her voice a little, "Itami! Hold on." And she quick marched back into the building.

Itami and I waited by the Humvee while the other revved up and drove off. A moment later, Mari came out with a little metal box with a big red cross on it. She turned it towards me, worked the latch and showed me the contents, "These are the test tubes we use..."

"Ah, good glass, tight fitting cork, gauze, swabs, needle, thread ..." I carefully closed and latched the case, "To be an adventurer, is to know your first aid. I'm more used to dealing with pulling teeth out of people, but none of us are strangers to a good surgeon's kit."

She looked surprised, but then nodded, "I had to take out the splints to make room for the glass. So don't break anything."

"Good to know." I nodded, "Aha." I then found the latch of the back passenger cabin of the Humvee and climbed inside, "And..." hugged all my tails to my front and let Mari close to door for me. "All set!"

"Right-o!" Itami got into the driver's seat. He then plied the radio, "We'll head to the first site on the South east route. You guys take the northwest."

There was hardly and static with the reply of, "Copy that Itami." Then a less serious different voice that had a bit more static behind it, "Itami! Do you have any of the guests with you?"

Itami sighed, resting his forehead on the wheel for a half second, "Yes Takeo, I do." He spoke over the resultant 'woo hoo!' and glanced back to Maki and I, "He's a nut, but harmless." Then back to the radio, "Don't get bitten. We'll catch up as soon as we can."

"You better!"

The grandfatherly voice of Sochiro came over the radio then, "Cut the chatter. We're supposed to be professionals!"

Yao, who had come along with us, spoke up, "They say they are professional, but they act like a family." She smiled slightly, "You'll go mad, or get used to it."

"Sounds like a fun place to be, when you aren't dealing with head sized bugs." Maki laughed, "To be fair, bugs will ruin almost everything."

To pass the time as Itami drove over roads and through fields, I brushed my tails and watched the countryside flow past. My poor tails always needed grooming, but as much as I (and others) loved them, I found the work kind of boring at times. Don't tell my tails that though, they might strangle me while I sleep or something.

"Hold on, making a little detour." Was all the warning I got before I had to brace myself. Itami made a sharp right turn, a short left, then a sharp left. The sudden turns nearly flung me around, but I had my tails make a kind of crash cushion for me. "Sorry about that."

"Ah, look, road work." Maki looked past me through the back window, "Oh, looks like Rakia roads."

"Yeah, new building project to keep the people busy and trade flowing." Itami said, "Rakia roads?"

"A kingdom where we're from. They dig a trench, then layer stone, sand, gravel, then soil. Top it with cobblestone and you have a road that will last basically forever." I said, "Unless something like a dragon goes through." I shrugged.

"Oh? Dealt with dragons before?" Rory asked, quirking an eyebrow at me, "Little ones like the wyverns?"

"Those too." I smiled back, "My first great kill was a land dragon about... twice the length of this, before its neck and tail."

"Oh! Is that the one your old coat was made from?" Maki asked.

"Well, no, that was made from the second one of those I killed. The first one though..." I clenched my fist, feeling the knuckles click and pop under the gauntlet, "Broke my hand and arm. But I shattered it's skull."

"If that's your greatest kill, why aren't you wearing that coat now?" Rory asked.

Maki and I both chuckled, "Great kill. Not greatest." I corrected, "My greatest kill would have to be the Great Wolf. Fenrir." I brushed a bit of lint from my coat, then just used the fur brush on it, "I jumped into its mouth and ripped its head off from the inside." I closed one eye, and looked at Rory with the other, "It was large enough to swallow this Humvee whole without needing to chew."

There was another sharp lurch as Itami corrected course, "Fenrir? Isn't that some legendary monster you'd find in video games or something?"

I said nothing, but Rory 'humphed' and looked away moodily. Maki on the other hand replied with, "I dunno about games, but back home we fight all kinds of weird stuff. That's no game."

"And what about you then, Maki, was it? Have you accomplished great feats?" Rory asked.

"Depends on who you compare me to." She said, "I'm still pretty new to the adventurer thing, but my usual party did kill one of those land dragons she did. None of us are really as direct as she is though."

I met my still open eye with one of Maki's, "The blessing of our Goddess, or God, works differently in all of us."

"Oh? Is that why you're cursed?" Rory smiled.

I opened my other eye, surprised she could feel that, "A leftover from my early life. But it's benefit far outweighs the problems it causes."

She hmm'ed at me, "What of that metal thing you brought with you?"

I wasn't sure if I kept a flash of anger off my face, but replied with, "Hagane was broken out of his curse after the Gods banished his soul from the natural cycle. I just gave him a body so he could live again."

"Necromancy is forbidden here." She replied, a hint of danger in her voice.

"Good thing we aren't from here." I replied, feeling little warning lights going off in my head.

Itami made a sudden left/right that had the wheels skidding over dirt, that nearly threw Rory, Yao and Maki across the cabin. "Sorry sorry!" He said, "Focus on holding on to stuff, we have a little more rough road to go before we get there."

I gave Itami the same one eyed look through the rear view mirror, but didn't say any thing as we continued driving.

"Okay." Itami said as the Humvee rolled to a halt. He then picked up the radio mic and said, "This is cleanup team one, we're in sight of the first location."

"This is cleanup team two, we're about two minutes out from our first location."

"This is scout one, mark these co-ordinates down." Followed by a quick set of numbers, "As well as," Another set. "We're about five clicks away from the end of the Roma river before the border of the Elbe Fiefdom, but none of our agents have reported activity that way."

"This is scout two. Mark the following down." Three more sets of co-ordinates were rattled off, "Much further and we'll be within sight of Italica. The Rose Brigade haven't reported anything from there though."

Itami thought for a moment, "Ask the Elbe Lord to let us keep searching a little ways into his land. That's my route, so I'll be sure to say hello if there is any trouble. Scout two, drive right to the walls of Italica. They're our biggest trade hub, and we want to be sure."

"This is cleanup two, hey!"

Aisha chimed in, "-ow's this work... aha! They hate cold water, and salt water. So if where ever you're going is by the ocean, you'll be safe to stop looking. Rapid waters won't have them either, unless there is a tide pool or something near by."

"Give that back you!"

Maki and I were chuckling, but Itami just said, "Noted. We're about to deal with the first site. Scout one, we'll meet with you soon."

"Roger!"

Itami clicked the radio off, "Alright... lets get it done." He sighed, opening his door and stepping out.

We all got out, and I instantly caught the little subsonic hum of large insect wings in the air. Yup, we were near a pool for sure. "Thankfully, these are just little ones." Maki said, doing a quick stretch of her back, then drawing her sword, "Boss?"

I nodded, doing my own little stretch and taking in the surroundings. Typical flatland field. Wild grasses and flowers all over the place, a few tumbled bits of rock, and...

"Itami..." I pointed to a large mud filled crater just a little ways away, "Why is this entire area covered in craters?"

He looked at where I was pointing, then took out the map again. "Ah damn..." He was then on the radio, "Roost? Do you have any maps for our mortar tests?"

A pause, "Yes..." Seemed like old man Soichiro had the same thought I did. "Yes, you're standing near one."

Itami sighed, facepalming for a moment before replying, "Send those to the other teams." He clicked the radio off then looked at Maki and I, "We might have a little more work than we thought."

"I was just thinking that." I nodded, "Ah well. One good smack will kill them, work in pairs, wear gloves, and when we get to a pool of water, we'll freeze it."

Yes, it WAS a lot more work than it needed to be. Thanks to what was probably a 'my short range mortar is bigger than your sword' demonstration to the locals, we had dozens of variously sized craters to visit. Maki, poor girl, got bitten again, but aside from that, all it really took was time. Yao, and even Rory, helped clear out the muddy craters and the river by using ice magic or that silly plank axe thing dropping a lightning bolt into the water. I was rather surprised Rory could use magic, but it seemed to be more of an effect of her weapon than a spell.

Me? I was really just a magic battery for Maki. Her spell sword had fire, ice, lightning and a variable power flashlight etched into it for spells, and I was helping her 'push' while she used them.

It was -almost- fun, swatting head sized mosquitoes out of the air, but after a dozen or so, the novelty wore off, especially when you swatted one that had just eaten. The 'evidence' of their meals usually appeared as desiccated rodents or small predators attracted by the scent of the freshly dead.

Once we were done, Maki and I swept the field itself with a fire spell, making sure that no water, or stray insects, were left behind.

"Glad we started early." Maki sighed as she plunked her rear down in the back of the Humvee, "But if we have many more places like that, this will take days." She rubbed a little at a bite on her side, "Stupid itchy..."

"No, thankfully, that's the only test field we have this way. But I'm sure they've spread the word back at base, and are going through a third route now." Itami said as he started the Humvee up and got rolling.

"I hope so." Yao said with distaste, "We don't have many spare pairs of gloves."

"If you can do that arrow magic with fire, you can stay back next time." I said, "Their wings burn up easily, so even a near miss will down them."

Yao nodded, while Rory hmm'ed, "You seem to have all the answers."

"I'm an adventurer. I kill monsters. It's what I do." I replied with a shrug, checking and packing away a couple of the stoppered test tubes I collected from some of the mosquitoes, "If you don't learn to spot a weakness, you don't live long. If you don't share that information, your friends don't live long."

"Not long until the next site." Itami said before Rory could comment, "This is just a curve in the river. Try not to kill all the fish?"

The second site took far FAR less time, since yes, it really was just a few tide pools. We still did a little sweep of the nearby forest, and while we did kill a bunch of fish, we made sure to scoop some up, make sure they weren't infested with anything, and made a late lunch of them. Not only did this fill our bellies, we made sure the mosquito larva weren't worse than we thought. You know, for science (tasty tasty science).

The other team was reporting similar success, and a third team did indeed join the hunt. Since they lacked magic though, they were simply scouting. We'd either get them on the way back, or tomorrow. But the faster we did this, the less chance there would be a resurgence of them. But at least now, if there was, they knew how to deal with them.

"Scout two, we're almost at your location. Status?" Itami called over the radio.

"Kind of bored." Came the reply, "But we've kept the bugs away with a couple of camp fires. You should be able to see them."

I looked out the windows around me, and spotted a small plume of grey smoke. Maki did too, "On the left Itami."

"I see it Takao. No injuries? We've got a little anti-toxin with us, should help with the itching."

"Yeah, we have one, but what ever Mari cooked up last time seems to be working. At least, enough so that we don't want to bite our arms off."

Itami didn't reply, but instead made a turn, drove over a few bumpy spots, and drifted to a halt near another Humvee. "And the Boss wonders why this thing breaks down?" Maki mumbled.

We all piled out without further comment and did a 'sitting to long' stretch in unison. A moment later, a few JSDF came around from the other side of a small rock shelf and marched over. "Hey Itami." The man in the lead was, aside from the uniform, a perfectly average Japanese Man. Dark hair, dark eyes, a little skinny... About the only thing that distinguished him from a downtrodden salary man, was an easy upbeat smile. One that quickly turned to a frown, "You didn't tell me they were fox girls, Kitsune!" He whispered to Itami, looking like he wanted to put him in a headlock or something. "Seriously, if you add these to your little following I'm going to arrange an accident for you."

The other soldiers sighed at the antics, while Itami looked a bit nervous at Maki and I, then this Takao fellow. Those other soldiers looked to just be Privates, professional rank and file. One of them had his sleeve rolled up, and a bandage over it though.

"Kodori, Maki? This is Kurata Takao. He's the best driver in the Third Recon." Itami introduced us.

"Takao? Pleasure." I said, "We're..." I looked to Itami, who nodded, "From the other side of the Gate, where these head sized bugs came from."

"Yeah, pro monster hunters. Or the real title, adventurers." Maki said.

Takao and the other three snapped off a quick salute, "Pleased to meet you." He said, "The local Lord assures us he's had no activity past this point, so unless he's lying, this is the last stop for today."

"Can you trust him?" I asked.

"We don't want to sound rude, but these are not something you want in your yard." Maki added.

To my surprise, Rory spoke up with, "Him? Oh, he's an honest boy. Too simple to lie, too smart to be stuck with holding land. But such is luck."

"If she says that, then it's true." Itami said, "Shall we get started? These roads suck, and my back is killing me."

"Wimp." Takao mumbled, giving Maki and I a second look, but not commenting.

With the extra hands, it was short work. Once we had everyone wearing the military standard in hand protection, and showed them how to properly slap a head sized mosquito without getting any bug guts in your eyes, we got to our target.

And while the size of the pond wasn't actually small, when you had enough power behind an ice spell...

"This is Cleanup One, we've finished our route. Report in." Itami said into the radio once we'd all gotten back to the Humvee.

"Cleanup Two is one stop away from last marked spot."

"Scout Two is waiting for Cleanup two."

"Scout three is marking some work for tomorrow." A new team called over the radio.

"Nest is writing it all down." A pause, "You kids alright?"

"A couple of bites, some wet socks, and some saddle sores. Nothing worth writing down." Someone said.

"We have a metal cat who is complaining about mud in his feet? Our specialists say that's normal though."

"We've a few reports on the local wildlife. But that's paperwork for later."

"Okay okay." Itami cut them all off, "Report to the Nest as soon as you can. Take the rest of the day off when you get there. Early start tomorrow."

"Ooo-rah!"

Itami put the radio down, "I'd say 'race you' but I don't want that kind of negativity in my life." He said to Takao.

Takao laughed, as did his three team mates, "You at least know when you're beat. See you in the movie hall."

"Yeah sure. Been a while since I watched some Anime. After dinner, if we don't get lost." Itami tapped his fingers to his forehead in a mock salute, then got into our Humvee, "Pile in."

We were mostly silent on the way back. A few times, there was a little radio chatter, but it was in that language I didn't know. I paid it no mind, since my tails still needed brushing and I might as well do it now, instead of having them rebel on me later. It would make enchanting an amplifier for the Occulus more difficult if my tails kept trying to swap the brush for my new chisel or something.

NOTES!

Well, one big cleanup for lots of big mosquitoes. See you in five days, when we find out just what is needed to fix the problem. And probably some other problems, to add to the problems we already have. But that's what adventurers do, right? Fix problems!

Daeore on Ko-fi. And Inkitt. :)