Using lightning magic against a swarm of eels is extremely dangerous. Such a warning would likely soon be added to the Adventurer’s Guild’s monster encyclopedia.

Whether Zurah’s lightning magic pushed the eels’ own electricity to its limit, or the electrically charged mana saturating the area overreacted to the same type of spell—no one could say.

But the result was undeniable: an enormous amount of energy was unleashed in an instant, blasting away both the water and the eels until the riverbed was visible.

Even the eels, resistant as they were, couldn’t withstand such an excessive current. Since they were submerged, every last one suffered fatal injuries. After the explosion, what remained in the river was swept away by the flowing water, vanishing into the sea. The surface returned to normal, but in exchange, both riverbanks were now littered with eels blown ashore by the blast.

“Is everyone okay? Flower, are you alright?”

Mika peered into Flower’s face, still cradled in her arms. The girl seemed startled but unharmed, not even crying.

Dada had been sent flying by the blast, landing beyond the embankment. Fortunately, he hadn’t hit anything and was unharmed.

Gatt was only a little dirty, with no major injuries. But Zurah, who had been closest to the river, was groaning while clutching her arm.

“Zurah!”

Still holding Flower, Mika rushed over to find Zurah bleeding from her arm. A stone flung by the explosion had cut her skin.

“Water! We have to wash the wound!”

Panicking, Mika hurried to her backpack and rummaged through it. Zurah grimaced in pain but managed a smile.

“There’s a magic tool for that.”

Come to think of it, Gatt’s belongings included a magic cup that produced water.

After Gatt washed the wound, Zurah cast healing magic on herself. Healing magic didn’t instantly close wounds, but it disinfected, stopped bleeding, and accelerated recovery. With this treatment and some rest, she’d recover quickly.

Given the devastation around them, the fact that Zurah’s arm was the only serious injury might have been sheer luck.

Gazing at the riverbank, Mika let out a sigh.

“…What a waste of good grilled eel…”

The eels, half-charred by the lightning, weren’t shredded to pieces, but the damage meant they wouldn’t last long as ingredients. And now, cleaning up the eels scattered across such a wide area had become their job.

As Mika and the others stared in dismay—

“Hey! You alright over there?!”

Turning toward the voice, they spotted several figures atop the embankment—townsfolk, perhaps. Their mission today was known to the Guild, so these might be Guild personnel. Or maybe nearby residents had come to check after hearing the explosion.

“We’re fine, thank you! Oh—”

Mika’s eyes lit up as she saw more townspeople gathering. She flashed them a bright smile.

“Everyone, we’ve defeated the eels, but we can’t carry them all back. Why don’t you all help gather what’s here and take some home?”

The townspeople exchanged glances and began discussing.

“It’s fine! They should still be edible. Fresh, too! Look, we’re gathering some to take back ourselves!”

Mika picked up a supermarket basket that had been blown away and started filling it with intact eels from the ground. Seeing this, the townsfolk hurriedly began collecting eel remnants for their dinners.

Mika then delegated the task to a Guild staff member who had approached, entrusting the cleanup to the townspeople.

“Well then, we’ll leave the rest to you!”

“No, thank you for sharing the spoils of your hunt!”

Word spread from the Guild, and soon, even more residents arrived to gather eels.

And just like that, they successfully foisted the cleanup onto the seaside town’s inhabitants. Not only that, Mika had shrewdly secured an absurdly large amount of eels for themselves—far more than they could eat—filling the supermarket basket to the brim.

With plenty of souvenirs in tow, they returned to Acid by noon.