Chapter 102
When I had more or less finished organizing my thoughts, an announcement suddenly rang out.
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Your Race level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
Your Job level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
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"...Huh? A level-up?"
We hadn't been fighting until now, so why had my level gone up? The only recent battle I could think of was when we'd fled from the Harpy flock...
"A level-up? Why...?"
"Hey, brother. Come to think of it, we can't hear those obnoxiously loud bird cries anymore, can we?"
"Indeed, that is strange. With that many of them, I would expect them to be noisy even if they had returned to their nest."
We silently stared at No. 18. We wanted to ask what things were normally like.
"...Indeed, it is peculiar. I hear that Harpies are more intelligent monsters than ordinary birds and converse with their flockmates using their own language. So even when nothing in particular is wrong, one can always hear them calling. This may be the first time it has been this quiet since they claimed this area as their territory."
Sensing our intentions, No. 18 replied with clear confusion. As expected, the Harpies not making a racket was a very strange situation.
"We should go take a look... shouldn't we?"
"Then I'll go check!"
Ruby said that and quickly headed outside without making a sound. Seeing her move like that reminded me once again that she really was an assassin-type.
She returned in about a minute. Her round body warped and twisted as she ran. Was she... panicking?
"What happened? Is something wrong?"
"Um... well... it's kind of impossible to put into words... I-I'll send you a screenshot for now..."
Ruby, who was normally lively and spoke clearly, was unusually mumbling. She said she'd seen something utterly indescribable. She seemed to have taken a screenshot, and they say seeing is believing, so I might as well take a look.
"W-what is this...?"
"What the hell is that?"
We opened the screenshot Ruby had sent us and couldn't help being bewildered. It showed several black, tree-like things growing out of the ground, with their tips wrapped around a Harpy Leader.
"Is that a tree?"
"No, no, no! Trees don't have eyeballs!"
The black tree-like things had several peculiar features. They had no leaves at all, and their texture was strangely smooth, among other things. Still, a dead tree would naturally have no leaves, and there are trees with smooth surfaces, such as crape myrtles, so I couldn't call those features unequivocally strange.
But there was no doubt that the many eyes peeking out from the trees' surfaces were abnormal. Some eyeballs looked human, while others had catlike vertical slits or frog-like horizontal pupils. Some even had insect-like compound eyes. They were extremely creepy. Was it really all right for a tree like this to exist?
"Could these be coming out of the hole Izam opened with Hellbeast Summoning?"
"When I saw it, the Harpy Leader had just been caught, and the thing dragged the leader straight inside."
Ah... true. The base of the tree was exactly where the hole I had opened with Hellbeast Summoning had been. In that case, that tree had to be one of the monsters I had summoned. I sure had summoned a creepy monster.
And the place the Harpy Leader had been dragged into had to be hell. I didn't even want to imagine what fate had befallen the leader.
"So that means it's a tree from hell?"
"A tree...? It was wriggling around, but I guess that isn't strange if it's a hell tree...?"
"There are moving plant monsters like Evil Trees and Ropers, so it wouldn't be strange for one to exist... right?"
"Hell... I wonder what kind of monster-infested wasteland it is."
It must be a wasteland where all kinds of bizarre monsters ran rampant. I would like to visit someday.
"May I say something?"
As I was lost in thoughts of the hell I had yet to see, No. 18 addressed me hesitantly. Oh, right! The screenshot had been so shocking that I had nearly forgotten she was there!
"Ah, sorry for leaving you out."
"No, it is all right. I cannot really follow your exchange, but may I interpret this as meaning that the number of Harpies outside has decreased?"
"Hmm... What do you think, Ruby?"
"Well, the only Harpy I saw at the time was that one caught by the tip, you know?"
Only one? In that case, it was probably safe to assume that most of the Harpies had been eliminated. Perhaps we could even hunt down the remaining ones ourselves.
"Then shall we go on an extermination run as practice for fighting alongside me? The Harpies are gathering all kinds of materials from across the city to build their nest. We may find weapons that will be useful in future battles."
"Weapons... You mean something like the machine gun you were using?"
No. 18 nodded firmly. Hmm... If the Harpies were gathering items from all over the city to build their nest, there was a good chance we could find not only weapons, but interesting magical tools as well.
Besides, if No. 18 was going to challenge the boss, we needed to know how she fought and how strong she was. With the mysterious Hellbeast having reduced their forces, this was the perfect opportunity. But... hmm, whatever.
"Hmm... I see. Well, they say to strike while the iron is hot, so let's head over at once."
"How should we split up the party? Adding No. 18-san would make seven people, wouldn't it?"
"No, that is all right. I am an android, after all."
According to No. 18, golems and androids counted as items, so they did not take up party slots. She looked completely human, but the system treated her as an object. Huh.
Still, not taking up a party slot seemed pretty dangerous. If someone wanted to, they could command a golem army large enough to cover the earth, right? And if they used the finest materials to create the strongest golem imaginable—one rivaling the individual commonly known as the 'Criminal Killer,' owned by the Twelve Great Temples and the like—and a single person could control it, game balance would collapse.
"Then let's get going already. I wanna fight the boss!"
"Hey! Wait up!"
Oops, my thoughts had flown off somewhere else again. It was a bad habit of mine.
Jigorou had no intention of restraining his impatience. He turned and headed outside without even waiting for our answer. Ruby hurried after him, tapping at his feet with tiny hands she had made by stretching her surface. I chuckled at their somehow comical exchange, then the rest of the group, myself included, followed them.
"..."
Perhaps because we had let our guard down, no one noticed the gaze fixed intently on Jigorou's back.
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Once outside, we proceeded while keeping an eye on the sky. Naturally, we were on guard against a surprise attack by the Harpies. However, despite getting quite close to their nest, there was no reaction at all, making our prediction that their numbers had drastically decreased seem increasingly likely. Had they perhaps been wiped out completely?
"Ah, wait a second. They're coming!"
Well, I suppose it was too much to hope that not a single one remained. Ruby must have detected them.
"How many?"
"One, two, three... Just eight."
That was few for a flock of Harpies. This was their home base, so it would be strange for so few to come out. The Hellbeast really must have reduced their numbers by a considerable amount.
"Gyaaah! Gyaaah!"
"Gegyaaah! Gyaaah!"
The Harpies attacked while shrieking noisily. Since they used magic instead of their claws, however, they could still attack from a distance.
"I will handle this."
"All right. I'll leave it to you."
No. 18 stepped forward. Perfect. I would get to see how she handled that machine gun.
"Taking aim... Fire."
BRRRRATATATATATAT!
After angling the muzzle upward, No. 18's machine gun belched fire. The bullets flew at high speed with yellow trails streaming behind them, accompanied by a tremendous roar.
Come to think of it, I had noticed something just now. Unlike the guard golems, No. 18's gun did not eject anything resembling shell casings. I rather liked the scenes in action movies where a muscle-bound protagonist sprayed a machine gun and the spent casings fell to the ground with sharp metallic clinks... What principle did it use, and what exactly was it firing?
It wasn't important, so I let it go. I would ask No. 18 later. Even if she didn't know, Iris seemed like the sort who could take it apart and expose the mechanism completely.
"Tch, they scattered? I'll take the right. Iris, keep the left in check. Activate Twin Magic Circle, Dark Lance."
Although No. 18's machine gun sprayed bullets everywhere, the Harpies scattered and successfully evaded them by flying along complex trajectories. I quickly told Iris what to do, then cast my spell without waiting for a reply.
"Gahk..."
"Gehhh..."
Thanks in part to 【Precise Magic Control】, the homing Dark Lance struck two Harpies. The Harpies' 【Diminutive Stature】 meant that alone was enough to kill them.
"Hah!"
As for the left side I had left to Iris, she was tossing pebbles lying on the ground one after another. With the strength and dexterity of a Big Roper Worker, along with the bonus from 【Throwing】, she did more than harass the Harpies—she landed a clean hit and brought one down. Nicely done.
"Gyaaaaaah..."
While that was going on, No. 18 had finished off all the remaining Harpies. Hmm... guns really were powerful.
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Your Race level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
Your Job level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
Your tamed monster's Race level has increased.
Your tamed monster's Job level has increased.
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Whoa! I leveled up again! Kal's level went up this time too. Keep growing stronger!
Judging from this level-up, we must have accumulated a considerable amount of experience. In other words, it was safe to assume that nearly all the Harpies pursuing us had been wiped out.
A Hellbeast capable of disposing of that many so easily... Since Hellbeasts could attack their summoner as well, perhaps I needed to be much more careful about using that spell. I absolutely did not want to die because of my own spell.
"Yay! I can evolve!"
"Me too!"
Oh, Ruby and Iris had reached level 40 just before the boss battle. After making it through those fruitless battles against golems that provided no experience, their joy must have been all the greater.
"The targets appear to have gone silent. My sensors are not functioning, so I cannot be certain."
Ruby had been celebrating, but after hearing No. 18's report, she turned her attention to the surrounding area. We couldn't rule out the possibility that a Harpy was hiding somewhere. I would use Magic Echo as well, just in case.
"...Yeah. Looks like there aren't any hiding, either!"
"Then let's loot them."
Ruby vouched for No. 18's assessment. Nothing had been picked up by my Magic Echo either, so there was no doubt about it.
After looting the eight Harpies, we proceeded even closer to their nest. What were the dropped items, you ask? ...Please don't ask. If I tell you they were the sort of things I hesitated to put in my inventory, you'll understand, right?