Disturbance in the City, Disturbance in the Village

Jigorou and the others had gathered in the assembly hall with the Great Tengu. They were sitting around the irori in the center. Using the tea kettle hanging over it, the Great Tengu personally served everyone tea. The tea had a robust flavor, and even came with a buff that temporarily increased their Intelligence and Dexterity stats. Apparently, he was using some very fine tea leaves.

Jigorou gulped the tea down without bothering to savor it. It had only just been brewed and was piping hot, but that was no problem at all for someone with 【Fire Resistance】. After downing his tea and settling down, Jigorou crossed his arms, narrowed his eyes, and asked the Great Tengu,

"So, what the hell d'you want us to do? It's bound to be some lousy job anyway."

"Hoho, you're as impatient as ever, young man. And it isn't anything lousy, either. It's important to us. ...Explain."

"Yes, sir. First, please look at this."

The bespectacled Tengu aide sitting beside the Great Tengu took something resembling a crystal ball from inside his robes. When he poured magic power into it, a 3D image of farmland appeared in midair.

Tengu and Oni were busily plowing the fields and tending to livestock. Jigorou and the others understood that it was probably farmland in 'Heavenly Spirit City.'

Just as they were wondering what the point of showing them such a peaceful rural scene was, something strange happened in the image. Countless monkeys emerged from the forest near the fields.

The monkeys were astonishingly well organized. While most of them attacked the farmers, the smaller ones deftly stole the crops. By the time the wave of monkeys had passed, every bit of produce in the fields had been taken.

"This footage is from about a week ago. It has been nearly a month since we first began suffering attacks from the hihi yokai."

"I see. So this is why we occasionally sense hostility in the way people look at Sei?"

In fact, ever since they had arrived in 'Heavenly Spirit City,' the looks directed at Sei alone had never been particularly friendly. It seemed that the reason was the damage caused by the hihi yokai.

It was completely unreasonable toward Sei, but it was not difficult to understand. As the saying goes, 'If you hate the monk, you hate his robes, too.' To the residents suffering from the hihi yokai's attacks, Sei's similar appearance had made him a target of their hatred as well.

"This is completely unfair!"

"Indeed. For you, it is. But it is also a fact that the people are suffering because of those monkeys. Will you lend us your strength?"

The moment the Great Tengu asked, an electronic notification sounded in everyone's ears, and a window asking whether they wished to accept the quest appeared in their fields of vision. The quest was called 'The Hihi Disturbance.' In short, they were being asked to prevent the hihi from causing any further damage. The four exchanged glances, and Genjuro, the party leader, decided to accept it.

"Sure, old man. Once we've slaughtered the monkeys, I'll punch you in the face for real this time."

"Hohoho! I look forward to it!"

"Punch you...? I don't mind that, but do you know what kind of yokai those monkeys are?"

Ignoring Jigorou, who was picking a fight right away, Shichikou asked about the enemy. They needed to gather information in order to complete the quest. The creatures were obviously monkeys, but that was all Shichikou and the others knew. They wanted to know exactly what kind of yokai they were.

"Those are hihi yokai. They possess sharp claws and fangs, tough bristles, and immense strength for their small frames. They are also nimble. Other than acting in groups, however, there is nothing particularly noteworthy about them."

"Huh? If you know that much, couldn't you handle it without us? They don't sound all that strong, either."

Shichikou was bewildered to learn that they already knew far more about the enemy than he had expected. They had sufficient information, and judging from the aide Tengu's explanation, the hihi did not even possess any special Skills. It was impossible to consider them formidable opponents. It sounded as though the Tengu and Oni could exterminate them with ease.

"Under normal circumstances, perhaps. However, matters are not so simple."

"What do you mean?"

"For starters, hihi are timid, and they would never attack during the day."

The hihi were extremely timid and basically nocturnal yokai. They lived in groups within the forest and had a habit of beating anyone who entered their territory senseless as a group. They occasionally ventured outside their territory in search of food, but that was always at night. Thus, actively attacking and raiding enemies outside their territory during the day was clearly abnormal.

"Furthermore, there is another strange point."

"There's more...?"

"Jigorou, have you told them a little about that female fox?"

"Ah, the one down below I heard about before?"

The Great Tengu was the de facto leader of 'Heavenly Spirit City,' and that was how he was regarded even in Huaguo, which was also located in the Aquaria Archipelago. However, there was a yokai on Heavenly Spirit Island who arrogantly claimed to be the master of the island. Jigorou and the others had not been told the Name or Race of the yokai whom the Great Tengu called the 'female fox.' Apparently, though, there was no doubt that she was as strong as the Great Tengu.

That yokai had brought everything below the eighth station of Heavenly Spirit Mountain, as well as the island's lowlands, under her control. Her territory was therefore extensive, but her yokai were vastly inferior in both quality and discipline. That was because her attitude was, 'As long as you pay tribute to me, you can expand your territory however you like.'

Thus, she did not mediate even when subordinate yokai whose territories bordered one another quarreled. In fact, if someone lost a territorial dispute and consequently paid less tribute, she might even purge those who failed to pay when she was in a bad mood. To make matters worse, her strength was such that they could never defeat her, even if all her subordinates joined forces. They had no way to rebel.

She was unfit to rule, yet possessed overwhelming power. She was the very definition of a terrible tyrant.

"Yes, that's correct. The hihi were timid and obedient to the female fox. But apparently they are now actively ravaging other territories. That has never happened before, though."

"Infighting? That's completely nuts, hey."

Every one of their actions was beyond anything that had previously been considered normal. This quest would not end with simply exterminating the hihi. Unless they uncovered the cause, the situation would not be resolved. Shichikou felt that the quest was going to be more complicated than expected.

"The group you encountered was a patrol. In light of the current situation, we had expanded the patrol area."

"Hmm... For now, perhaps we should join the patrols."

"Yeah. Since we're outsiders, we might notice things you don't."

"Then let's get going!"

Thus, the party that had come to Heavenly Spirit Island for training began the quest, swept along by the Great Tengu.

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"Grr... Another dead end?"

"It's thoroughly blocked..."

"We have no choice but to turn back."

Unaware that Jigorou and the others had accepted a quest, I was exploring the underground of the 'Ancient Ruined City' with Eiji and the others in search of junk parts. However, our results had not been very good. The reason was that there were simply too many cave-ins.

Unlike the 'Dragon's Sacred Land,' the 'Ancient Ruined City' had never been maintained by human hands. It was in terrible condition, with cave-ins occurring here and there both inside its buildings and throughout its underground passages. On top of that, a storm had come yesterday in-game, leaving the underground passages flooded and making things incredibly troublesome.

Clearing away the rubble might open a path, but being buried alive because we meddled recklessly was the last thing we wanted. Besides, moving rain-soaked rubble was extremely dangerous, as it made accidents much more likely. Thus, all we could do was pick up iron scraps that happened to be lying around.

"If my body had still been small, I could have entered the hollows beyond the rubble..."

Mott-san could use 【Ultrasonic Waves】 to investigate what lay beyond the rubble. Apparently, the details were beyond him, but simply being able to determine whether there was a hollow space was a great help. The only thing left would be to squeeze through the gaps, but Mott-san was currently a massive bat called a Four-Wing Blood Fighter Bat. If he forced his way in, he would probably get stuck.

"Ruby might have managed it, but Ruby isn't here."

"There's no point saying that. We've looked around enough; let's call it a day."

"Ah! In that case, could we stop by Birdie Perch? Our stock of rations is almost gone."

I could not eat or drink, so it did not concern me, but apparently avatars as huge as Eiji's needed a great deal of food. Eiji had been eating something every so often during our exploration, but his supplies seemed to be running low. When I considered how expensive food was, I had to admit that being a musclebound giant was tough.

"I don't mind. What about you two?"

"I don't mind. I want to do some shopping while we're at it."

"I have no objections either."

All right, if everyone was fine with it, we would leave immediately and fly straight to Birdie Perch. Just as when we came here, Karu could carry Eiji.

Besides, Karu had wanted to carry heavy things ever since evolving, so this was just right. Karu must have been pleased to have grown stronger and was eager to show it off. Honestly, what a cute guy!

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After leaving the 'Ancient Ruined City' without encountering any battles, we headed toward Birdie Perch. As we drew closer, the city's bustle grew louder. Having just left a ruined city, the noise was strangely reassuring.

"Oh my, isn't that Izamu-sama? Long time no see."

"You're Dahl-dono, Haze-dono's associate, aren't you? It is good to see you as well. Thank you for all your help."

When we landed at the base of Birdie Perch's Mother Tree, a familiar Birdian merchant had come outside with his companions. He was a subordinate of Haze-dono, that intellectual, yakuza-like Birdian who had helped us in the past.

Haze-dono had helped us by introducing the property we used as our base and arranging a supply of paper. In return, we provided him with rare items and metals at low prices, so ours was a win-win relationship. Still, avoiding his attempts to make us feel indebted to him at every opportunity had been something of a chore.

"I'm honored that you remembered my name."

"There's no need to be so humble. By the way, are you heading somewhere?"

"Yes. We're heading to Sile Village on a trading run."

Apparently, they were heading out on a trading run with the bird monsters their caravan kept as familiars. Sile Village was where we had delivered Miss Margaret, the first islander we met when we came to the Vetus Floating Island.

Our appearances, strength, and even numbers were all different from back then. I wondered whether the girl who had entered the forest to find medicine for her sick mother was doing well.

"By the way, Izamu-sama, could you escort us? Dangerous monsters do not appear very often, but the day after a storm, many monsters become hungry and ferocious, so we cannot let our guard down. Meeting here must be fate. We will pay you a fair market rate for your services."

"An escort...? What do you think?"

A virtual window asking whether I wanted to accept the quest 'Birdian Caravan Escort' appeared before me. Considering the distance to the village, I thought we would have enough time to remain logged in until the quest was complete. What did the other three think?

"Let's take it! I'd like to see a Human village!"

"It could make some pocket money."

"Then it's settled?"

"Then it's settled. Let's accept it."

"Oh, thank you very much."

I pressed YES on the window to accept the quest. Dahl smiled broadly and bowed. Unlike his boss, Dahl wore an open, guileless smile. I wondered how that worked out for him as a merchant.

In any case, we immediately began escorting them. Mott-san flew ahead, while I watched our surroundings from slightly above the caravan. Toji rode on the back of the bird monster carrying the cargo and kept watch below, while Karu flew at the rear as the rearguard, carrying Eiji.

It would have been best to have Shio handle my position, but Shio was not here, so I was doing it myself. I had to stay prepared to use magic at any moment.

I remained on alert, but we drew near Sile Village without getting into a single battle. We had merely been flying through the sky. If we could get paid for work this easy, there could be no better job.

"Everyone! It's noisy in the direction of the village! Be careful!"

But apparently things would not be that easy. Something seemed to be happening in Sile Village. Our quest was to provide an escort, and our job would not be over until their trade was completed and we returned with them. With all this commotion, they would not be able to do business in the village.

I hoped we could resolve it successfully. Thinking that, we hurried toward Sile Village while keeping our guard up.