Reborn as a Reluctant Demon Lord

Chapter 20 - Swamped

The thing that makes Jake's "rescue" extra ironic is that with his [Enhanced Party], and my lack of [Status Display], he could've had a better idea of my HP at a glance than I could.

I'm also sure that he mostly brushed the incident off as "Titus causing problems again," but if you think about it, what would have happened if another party member had been grabbed? What if Andrew was the one sucked under, and he had to try to get free with his mace? Or if Sam was captured and she had to try to cast spells at the vines wrapped around her own body?

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but a party member probably would've been lost to the swamp.

What? You're wondering if there would've been as many vines if I wasn't there? Of course there... Hey look over there! The chapter's starting!

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After Jake's close brush with death, we swam back to shore, or I guess shallower swamp, and met up with the rest of the party. I trailed behind Garrett and Jake, just in case more vines tried to get grabby.

"Don't do anything stupid like that again!" Emilia chastised Jake as soon as we got closer.

He gave a weak grin. "Sorry, but I thought Titus was in danger."

Emilia hmphed and refused to look at him. Until she sniffed and almost gagged. "Jake, is that you? What is that smell?"

Jake took a sniff of his clothes and recoiled. Garrett and I soon followed suit (with our own clothes. We didn't both sniff Jake. That would be weird).

It turns out swamp water doesn't make good cologne.

I belatedly remembered that [Rangers] got the perk [Enhanced Senses], so Emilia was getting an extra dose of the nastiness. She better hope that we find the dungeon quick. The swamp isn't going to stop smelling just because a princess decided to visit it.

I must have been more irritated than I thought because Jake immediately called out, "Aura."

I pulled the aura back in, and we made it back to camp without any issue. Jake and Garrett decided to switch back to their adventuring clothes even though they would be a bit cold that night. Meanwhile, I didn't have another pair of clothes to change into.

I asked to see if Jake or Garrett had another set of clothes I could borrow, but it turned out they didn't. That's when I found out the rest of the party didn't have much in the way of spare clothing. It made me curious for a bit, but I could see the logic behind it. I plucked at my shirt sleeve. You know, I never thought about it, but clothes don't really get dirty here, do they? I mean, we've been traveling for a week, and we didn't have an issue until the swamp. I thought back to the tutorial cave. And they don't get damaged either, or I would have lost my shirt to 10,000 ant bites. I chuckled. Or instantly the first time I jumped in lava. I'm glad my immunity carries over to my clothes, or that would've been awkward.

It was getting dark, so I gave the party a sloppy salute. "I'm off for the night then, see you tomorrow."

"Wait one second!" Tim interjected. "We are near the swamp, which houses our objective. We need to keep one of us around Titus at all times!"

Drat, I forgot about that.

Jake sighed. "Look, I know we agreed to that back before we left, but is that really necessary?"

Tim nodded emphatically. "Yes! It is vital now more than ever!"

"Jake, maybe we should have someone keep an eye on him," Garrett said.

"What? Not you too!" Jake replied.

"No, I mean, if we keep someone around him, we'll always be able to locate him in a pinch. And given the fact that he's a magnet for trouble-"