235. Mother's Call

While walking in the forest together, Izumi saw Kumoko's behavior which was quite cute. Walking here and there, talking to herself, talking to plants, talking to bugs, and even talking to the sun. Obviously, Kumoko was so happy after escaping the giant cage called the labyrinth.

"Well, finally, this sunlight hits my skin."

She looked around and said.

"Hello butterflies, hello flowers, I'm not a hungry spider you know, so I won't eat you."

She walked and swayed in a dance while thinking about something Izumi had previously said.

With her current body, it was clear that she was a monster and considered dangerous to humans. So she opened her evolutionary tree for her future evolution. What she didn't expect was, her current species could evolve into Arachne which is a spider monster that has a human body.

Suddenly she stopped. She had been alone for far too long, and only parallel thoughts in her mind had always accompanied Kumoko. And now, she is not alone anymore because there is someone who has a nostalgic face.

"Emmm."

Kumoko was silent for a moment while looking at Izumi, so Izumi started to speak.

"Miyamura Izumi, just call me Izumi! You're curious about who I really am, are you?"

"Emmm…" Kumoko didn't know what to say. It's been a long time since he had a conversation with other people. Although he just talked with Izumi beforehand, it was due to her surprise as she did that unconsciously. In the end, she just nodded in response to his question.

Izumi gave a smile because his guess was correct. Kumoko herself had thought since Izumi's status couldn't be seen, so she asked in a stutter.

"Are you...Guli-Guli's friend?"

"Who is that?"

"Um, he's…a dragon?"

"Why ask back? Well, I am the natural enemy of dragons. So how can I be friends with dragons?"

"Ehhh?"

Kumoko was confused by what Izumi meant by saying the natural enemies of dragons. And Izumi seemed didn't know who was that person Kumoko was referring to. Guliedistodiez was the person Kumoko was referring to. Izumi should know Guliedistodiez since he had an impression of him as a dragon god. But since Kumoko called him Guli-Guli, he had no idea.

"And one more."

"What is it?"

*growl*

Suddenly there was a rumbling sound. The noise made Izumi's face slightly redden. He scratched his head as he said.

"I'm starving."

*pop*

Kumoko fell as if she had tripped because of Izumi's words earlier.

"What the hell with "I'm starving"? Because of you, I'm starving as well."

"Ah, it seems you can talk normally, Kumoko-chan."

Kumoko was stunned. She didn't think she could speak normally, except it was due to Izumi's annoying words.

Izumi had killed the monsters that appeared from the labyrinth, but the monsters contained poison, so Izumi didn't want to consume them. In other words, he had to find some edible food.

Izumi was thrown into another world with almost exhausted strength. And he even killed the monster before he met Kumoko. He needed a refill of his energy which was nothing but food. Even if he had to, he had no choice but to consume a large volume of water to replenish his energy.

Seeing the surrounding forest that did not have an animal ecosystem, Izumi was forced to walk toward the sea.

Just when Izumi and Kumoko walked together toward the sea, Kumoko suddenly stopped. Izumi turned his head at Kumoko and asked.

"What's up, Kumo-chan?"

Kumoko seemed to ignore Izumi and started talking to herself.

"I was ordered to go back?"

When Kumoko opened her status, she saw a Species Control status.

"What's this? Controlling an entire lineage? Come to think of it, I'm getting the urge to go back… or not?"

Checking the status once again, she saw that there was a skill that could neutralize the species' control skill.

"Hehehe, that order won't work on me! I have the right to refuse unreasonable orders! I am a person who will refuse if I say no! Even though I'm not a person anymore."

"That last line is somehow similar to a skull joke from Brook." Izumi muttered.

And then…

"Oi, don't talk to yourself!"

"Uwah..."

As Kumoko kept talking to herself, Izumi knocked on Kumoko's head which made her turn to Izumi.

"Ah, I forgot you're here." And once again, her mother transmitted something through her mind. She turned to Izumi "This is bad, my mother is very angry. Well, she's underground, so she can't go to the surface. More importantly, I have to get away from here. Leggo!"

Kumoko immediately ran. Izumi followed her and maintained his speed to stay beside Kumoko. Then he said.

"Ummm, Kumo-chan! You're probably too late."

"You mean?"

It seemed that Kumoko could talk normally if she wanted to. Although, she just threw a question with short words.

"I can feel the auras of the monsters that just came out of the labyrinth's entrance. They don't prey on the humans there because I can still feel the auras of the fort soldiers. More importantly, they seem to be charging straight at us." Izumi explained.

"Seriously?"

"I'm double-rious. Well, it seems like this is your family's matter, so I don't want to get involved. I don't want to be the target of that terrible loli girl anyway."

Of course, the loli Izumi meant was the demon lord. Despite having a petite body, her strength can already be confirmed to exceed Rori's. Not only that, but she was also the first queen of Taratech, the supreme ruler of the spider species. Therefore, Izumi intended to avoid the spiders that were targeting Kumoko so that he did not get into conflict with the demon lord who was the strongest ally candidate, at least for now.

Kumoko was flustered.

"Who do you mean the terrible loli girl? Hey...!"

Kumoko asked Izumi who he was referring to earlier, but Izumi who used his Devil Fruit power immediately flew into the sky and ran away from Kumoko while shouting.

"Kumo-chan, I don't want to deal with spiders, this is your personal matter, so take care of yourself. Don't let yourself die!"

The fading sound of Izumi's voice also indicated that Izumi was no longer visible, although Kumoko's eyes were able to see the distance.

"Well, he left. But what he said is true. My brothers came to the surface just to chase after me on Mother's orders. So, this can be called a family matter and has nothing to do with him. But I'm still curious about the loli girl he mentioned earlier. Who is she? Never mind, I'll think about it later. I had a little more to gain experience for evolving, and my brothers came at just the right time. Hehehe."

After defeating the Earth Dragon, Alaba, Kumoko feels that she no longer fears her mother, the queen of Taratech. She became very confident to gain experience from her brothers. Though, that would actually lead to misfortune for her. Well, if it weren't for the plot armor of course.

— — — —

Arriving on the beach, Izumi looked back and said to himself, "You have to fight for yourself first, Kumo-chan. That's what will make you stronger. You must be able to transform into a fully human form with your own power."

Izumi saw the vast blue ocean in front of him. The beach is so clean without trash. However, even though the beach and sea are so clean and beautiful, the reality is more dangerous than the oceans of the modern world. Izumi had even felt the aura of the predators in the sea in front of him.

Izumi started to think if he dived in the water while sucking the seawater, wouldn't it be a coincidence if the predators approached him? They can be used as a menu for later.

"Well then."

Izumi dived into the seawater. And it didn't take long. Apart from filling his stomach and energy using seawater, he also got a lot of fresh fish meat.

"Hmmm, I sensed the presence of a water dragon too, but why isn't it attacking me?"

Izumi thought, perhaps the water dragon sensed Izumi's power, or maybe it was sensitive to his dragon slayer magic when he dived into the seawater. That was why no water dragon dared to approach him.

— — — —

After Izumi filled his stomach and his strength recovered, he went somewhere. He also didn't forget to wear the IS suit, which he had never had time to wear before.

As he walked, he checked the time to estimate the difference in the flow of time between this world and his original world. He was quite surprised when he saw that the time on his phone was 10 times slower than before. That means what D said was true that the time in this world was 10 times faster than his original world. He let out a sigh of relief at that.

He asked Rori and Tabane to let them send a message to his mother that he had work that needed to be done.

Then, he remembered that the Elf should have kidnapped a noble's baby girl by employing bandits.

"Well, let's find her."