Is This a Giant Lizard? Isn't This a Dragon!

The two A-rank missions Yoru Machi had accepted were one to slay a certain type of poisonous beast, and the other to conquer a recently discovered underground labyrinth.

The poisonous beast was reportedly a giant lizard, whose breath, exhaled from the venom sacs on its body, had already caused great harm to the surrounding villages, with many people poisoned as a result.

As for the underground labyrinth, it had been discovered not long ago. Based on the level of monsters appearing inside, the labyrinth's difficulty wasn't high, but the guardian boss within was an extremely troublesome beast.

Because it was only afraid of fire magic, the Guild Master, upon learning of Yoru Machi's Crimson Fire Cannon, assumed he was proficient in fire magic and thus entrusted him with both tasks.

Neither slaying the poisonous beast nor conquering the underground labyrinth were tasks that could be completed in a single day. After all, just considering the distance, it was impossible to make a round trip in one day.

Yoru Machi had no desire to eat another tasteless fire-roasted beast meat, so necessary food and fresh water supplies were essential. As for equipment, while he didn't need any armor, a decent blade was a must.

The bone knife Yoru Machi had used before was crafted from the ribs of a slain beast. When he used it to split a Crimson Fireball, it couldn't withstand his magical power and shattered into powder the moment he unleashed the slash "Divine Severance."

Penniless, Yoru Machi couldn't afford a suitable weapon, let alone food or water. Ultimately forced by circumstance, he had no choice but to shamelessly borrow money from Soya again.

After all, he'd already eaten soft rice—what did it matter if he had one bowl or two?

The longsword he bought from the weapon shop naturally couldn't compare to his own Zanpakuto, but it was still leagues better than the bone knife.

After purchasing the weapon and a large supply of food, Yoru Machi didn't rush to set out immediately. Instead, he first went to the house Soya had lent him.

After tidying up his room a bit and closing the door, Yoru Machi finally prepared to depart fully equipped.

Unfortunately, he didn't run into the other beautiful female tenant Soya had mentioned, or he wouldn't have minded getting to know her.

After all, they were living under the same roof. If the girl ever needed help changing a lampshade or unclogging a drain, Yoru Machi would be more than happy to lend a hand.

Five days later, on a grassland hundreds of kilometers south of the town, Yoru Machi held a map in hand and finally arrived at the habitat of the commissioned poisonous beast.

Over the past few days, Yoru Machi had first gone to the so-called underground labyrinth and, in just half a day, easily cleared the dungeon that was said to require only A-rank adventurers to conquer.

The beast boss guarding the labyrinth's lowest floor was a giant Ice Python, capable of releasing breath at extremely low temperatures.

When Yoru Machi arrived, he saw many adventurers frozen into ice statues, completely devoid of life—clearly those who had failed to conquer the labyrinth before.

While adventuring offered huge profits—sometimes a single trip could net a fortune if luck was on your side—it was also a job that put your life on the line. One misstep could send you straight to the afterlife. These adventurers frozen into ice statues were the perfect example.

Sensing the intruder's arrival, the Ice Python let out a threatening hiss at Yoru Machi.

A beast's instincts were far sharper than a human's. When this guardian boss Ice Python saw Yoru Machi, it realized this human wasn't easy to mess with—not on the same level as the small fry before—so it tried to scare him off this way.

Unfortunately for it, Yoru Machi was unmoved by the Ice Python's threat and slowly drew the longsword at his waist.

The fierce battle one might have imagined never happened, because in Yoru Machi's eyes, the Ice Python's strength was at most on par with a Gillian from the Soul Reaper World.

Its freezing breath technique had some merit, but not much. Under the bombardment of Yoru Machi's Kidō spells "Crimson Fire Cannon" and "Azure Flame Fall," this giant Ice Python barely lasted a minute before dying in defeat.

After collecting some rare materials from the Ice Python and finding proof of his successful labyrinth conquest, Yoru Machi packed up his spoils and hurried off to his next destination.

After several days of travel, when Yoru Machi arrived at this plain and found the so-called poisonous beast, he was completely dumbfounded.

Staring at the massive creature snoring at the entrance of a cave, Yoru Machi was speechless. He might have only been in this other world for a short time, but even he knew that this giant beast was definitely not the "giant lizard" described in the intelligence.

"Isn't this a dragon from another world?! No matter how you look at it, this thing has nothing to do with a lizard!

Well, Western dragons do look a bit like big lizards, but whose lizard has horns and freaking wings?!"

According to the information he'd gotten from the Adventurer's Guild, the poisonous beast he was supposed to slay was a large lizard-type monster about three meters in size.

Its ability was to release various poisonous mists, and its strength was roughly at the level an A-rank adventurer could handle.

But when Yoru Machi saw the real deal and compared it to the crudely drawn picture on his commission document, he truly understood the meaning of "Image for reference only; actual product may vary"!

The intelligence said it was only five meters long, but the creature before Yoru Machi's eyes was at least over fifteen meters in length!

And the so-called "lizard-type monster" was clearly off the mark too. Even if it wasn't a pure dragon-type beast, it was at least a subspecies dragon.

In any world, dragons stood at the top of the food chain, and this massive purple dragon-like creature in front of Yoru Machi—no matter how you looked at it—couldn't possibly be A-rank!

"Damn it, either the intel is wrong, or I've been played!

A five-meter lizard-type monster, even pumped full of hormones, couldn't possibly grow into this in just a few days!"

When Yoru Machi said he'd been played, he didn't mean by the Adventurer's Guild, but by the local villagers or lords who had posted the commission.

This wasn't anything new. After all, the commission fee for slaying a five-meter, A-rank lizard beast was worlds apart from taking down a fifteen-meter-plus subspecies Poisonous Demon Dragon!

Falsifying the mission difficulty could lower the cost. If the adventurer who came to slay it actually managed to kill the beast, they'd make a huge profit.

If the adventurer failed, they could just make excuses about a miscalculation, claiming the beast was far stronger than previously understood, and then cough up more money to raise the difficulty tier.

As for the dead adventurers—who cared? Adventurers were just that kind of profession, weren't they?

Seeing how far the reality deviated from the intelligence, Yoru Machi had no intention of being taken for a fool, so he turned to leave.

But just as he was about to go, he noticed an exceptionally beautiful Elf Maiden with long orange hair, slowly approaching the Poisonous Demon Dragon with a sword in hand...