Interaction and the Start of the Investigation

After regrouping with Moc-san and the others, we returned once more to Sail Village while escorting Lord Darm and his subordinates. That pathetic jealous man had apparently tried to corner me again, but the moment Cal, a Dragon, glared at him, he fled with his tail between his legs. Dragons are supposed to be objects of worship, too, so I can't blame him for being scared.

Apparently, he had picked a fight with me because I looked like a suspicious yet feeble wizard. He had never imagined that I was the master of a Dragon, and now his face had gone from blue to deathly white.

If his reason was nothing more than bullying someone weaker, perhaps I should have shown off the third and fourth arms that I had deliberately kept from emerging from my sleeves so as not to provoke him unnecessarily. That alone might have saved me the trouble of growing needlessly tired. What a blunder.

As for Cal, who had glared at him, Cal seemed to lose interest in the villager who cowered even though Cal had not used the Intimidation Skill. Cal lay down on the ground and promptly fell asleep. Is this the composure of the strong? How dignified!

"The negotiations seem to be going well."

"They probably need a lot of things because of the storm. I hear their main product is lumber."

Birdie Perch's main products are branches from mother trees, which are used for lumber, along with mother-tree leaves and bark prized as medicines. Fruit is apparently added during the harvest season. In return, the goods Lord Darm purchases from Sail Village are crops that cannot be grown in Birdie Perch, such as wheat and ordinary vegetables, as well as products gathered from the forest.

The forest is a dangerous place for the villagers, but monsters rarely appear along the outskirts, so they can apparently gather plenty of wild greens and fruit. However, making a great deal of noise while trying to fell trees can sometimes attract powerful monsters such as Cyclopes, so they purchase their lumber from Birdie Perch.

The villagers' militia can defeat weak monsters found in the grasslands around the village, but the monsters in the forest are apparently far too powerful for them to handle. How pitiful, to have resources nearby yet be unable to make use of them. Still, when human players eventually make it this far, a quest to expand the village or something similar will probably appear. I hope whoever triggers it does their very best!

"The quest is going well, but I'm curious about the monster that has the villagers so frightened."

"I wonder what it looks like."

I had already told everyone about the monster in question. Toji grimaced unhappily when she heard that it had a creepy appearance, but the two men were just as intrigued as I was.

"Its appearance is worth wondering about, but the real problem is that the villagers cannot live in peace unless that monster is defeated."

Cyclopes and Wind Wolves, the vicious monsters living in the forest, will not attack unless someone ventures deep inside. However, that monster apparently came as far as the village. There is no guarantee that this was a one-time occurrence, so it will be difficult for the villagers to sleep soundly at night.

"If it's a rare monster, should we go hunt it ourselves? We might be able to get some rare materials."

"No, Toji. We're in the middle of an escort quest right now."

"I know..."

I could understand Toji's desire to obtain rare items, but Eiji was the one making the more sensible argument. Abandoning our escort duty to pursue some mysterious monster was obviously out of the question. Besides, we knew nothing about its appearance or strength, so we might end up being defeated instead. Personally, I thought we should be cautious about fighting it at all.

"We can reconsider if we receive a request. For now, let's wait here."

"I know, leader. Even so, what rude people. They keep their distance and glare at us while trembling in fear."

To villagers already on edge because of the monster, we were nothing less than terrifying monsters ourselves. That was only natural, since we were hard-core combat Jobs rather than production Jobs like Lord Darm. Their wariness was understandable, but Toji apparently found it unpleasant to be feared so openly. The normally cool-headed woman had even furrowed her brow, an unusual sight.

"Don't get so angry, Toji. Just bear with it a little longer... Hm?"

I was trying to soothe Toji by telling her we only had to endure it until Lord Darm's negotiations ended without incident when someone came toward us. The other villagers, especially the young men, seemed to be trying to stop her, but she broke free of their attempts to restrain her and came running our way. At first glance, she was an ordinary girl, but I recognized her face.

"Ah, um! It's been a while!"

"Yes. It has been a while, Miss Margaret."

Miss Margaret was the only female villager whose face I recognized. We had spent only a short time together, and not much time had passed since we parted. Even so, I felt just a little nostalgic.

"How is your mother's health?"

"Yes! She's completely recovered now!"

"That's good to hear. Also, the people behind me are my companions."

"Nice to meet you! My name is Margaret!"

Margaret bowed her head, and Eiji and the others greeted her in turn. Perhaps because we had made a good first impression, she alone did not seem afraid of us. Is this how monster players who want to get along with humanity raise their affinity?

After exchanging greetings with everyone, Miss Margaret cautiously approached Cal, who was lying on the ground. Cal's eyes opened, and Cal stared intently at her. Miss Margaret's body jerked slightly, but she steeled herself, knelt before Cal's face, and met Cal's gaze.

"You're Cal-chan, right? Do you remember me...?"

"Grrrrrr... whine."

Cal brought the snout close to Miss Margaret and sniffed her. Perhaps recognizing her as the girl who had played with Cal when Cal was little, Cal let out an affectionate whine.

Miss Margaret looked up at me and silently appealed to me for something. She probably wanted to ask if she could touch Cal. When I nodded to show that I did not mind, she gently stroked Cal's head. Cal narrowed the eyes in apparent pleasure. It was an incredibly heartwarming scene.

"Hey, you idiot!"

"Don't go, you brats!"

"Mister! Can we pet Cal too!?"

The adult villagers had been watching Miss Margaret pet Cal with bated breath, but the children could no longer contain themselves and came running over.

The boys among the children had eyes shining with anticipation. Just like Miss Margaret, they wanted to touch Cal, who was a Dragon. With those pure eyes fixed on me, there was no way I could refuse them.

"Cal, is it all right?"

"Grru."

"Cal says it's okay. But! You mustn't hit Cal or pull on Cal with all your strength, or do anything to Cal that you yourselves would hate done to you! Can you promise me that?"

"Yes!"

"Good, good. You're all good children. Go play with Cal to your hearts' content."

"Yay!"

As soon as I gave permission, the children all rushed toward Cal. I was worried they might not have listened to the warnings, but they seemed to be following them properly and were not touching Cal roughly. They played around Cal while saying things like, 'His scales are so hard!' and 'He has four wings!'

Cal, for its part, seemed to be benefiting from the recent experience of playing with the Dragon Puppies in 'Dragon's Clearing,' and played with the children without hurting them. Cal gently swayed the tail and used the wings to create soft breezes, as if accustomed to it.

Cal usually seeks affection from us, but right now Cal looked like an older brother caring for younger children. Cal has grown so much...!

"Izaam-sama, may I have a moment of your time?"

"I have time, but... Lord Darm, who is the elderly gentleman with you?"

I had been gazing pensively at Cal and the children when I heard Lord Darm call out from the direction of the village, so I turned that way. An old man was standing beside Lord Darm. It was not certain yet, but judging from the villagers' behavior, I assumed he was the village chief. At the very least, he was probably a prominent figure in the village.

"Allow me to introduce him. This is the village chief of Sail Village."

"A pleasure to meet you. My name is Izaam, Chief."

"Y-yes..."

Just as I expected, the old man was the village chief. However, he was stiff with tension in front of me. Perhaps this was his first time facing a monster other than a Birdian. My companions and Cal standing behind me might have been intimidating him as well.

"Izaam-sama. You know about the problem Sail Village is facing, don't you? The village chief wishes to have the threat removed from the village. I feel the same way. May I submit a request jointly with the chief?"

"You mean the matter concerning that monster? If we accept this request, what will happen to the escort quest I'm currently undertaking for you, Lord Darm?"

"No one in this village would attack us. If you absolutely must, everything should be fine as long as Karnagtool-sama is here."

"Hmm..."

I rested a hand against my chin and thought. It was true that the villagers had not attacked Lord Darm. They apparently traded with him regularly, and although disagreements occurred, they rarely escalated into bloodshed. In that case, Lord Darm's real concern was that the village would be exposed to danger and trading would become difficult. Ensuring the village's safety would benefit him as well.

However, I could not accept the request so casually. We had not been told what kind of monster our opponent was, and I did not know whether we were strong enough to defeat it. Rushing in headlong with almost no information would surely end badly.

"If the request is for investigation rather than extermination, I will accept it. If that is acceptable, I don't need much of a reward."

"An investigation... I see. If it proves too strong, you'll bring Jigorou-sama and the others to hunt it?"

I nodded to indicate that he had understood correctly. If we were somehow wiped out, the quest we had already accepted would fail as well. It would be beyond regrettable to fail a smoothly progressing escort quest because of a detour.

"Understood. We will proceed on those terms. Chief, is that acceptable to you as well?"

"I-I suppose so. I leave it to you."

What an unreliable village chief. Despite being a joint quest giver with Lord Darm, the two of them had practically made all the decisions themselves. I had not consulted my companions, but since this was a quest from the same client, it should be fine. With that thought, I accepted the quest 'Investigation of the Anomaly in Sail Village' that appeared in my virtual window.

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After accepting the quest, the four of us, excluding Cal, walked through the 'Great Forest of Winds,' fending off the monsters that approached us. The 'Great Forest of Winds' is a vast forest spreading around the 'Ancient Spring,' which was the exit of the 'Ancient Moving Tower.' It is apparently a composite of several fields, and there are as many field bosses as there are component fields.

The Tarasque we defeated before was the boss of a river field in the 'Great Forest of Winds.' Apparently, there are also bosses for forest fields, hill fields, and so on. How do I know that? Obviously, because I researched it in Birdie Perch.

Putting the villagers' stories together, that monster is apparently a 'monster that is round all over and has wings.' Does that give you any ideas?"

Not really. That's far too little to go on. Besides, I'm not very knowledgeable about mythology or anything like that..."

"Same here. And this game's world has a lot of original monsters, doesn't it?"

I had asked the question casually, but I found myself agreeing with Eiji and Toji. Despite how terrified the villagers had been, they had provided absolutely no concrete information about its appearance. We suspected that some Skill might be responsible, but the truth remained unknown.

So we had no choice but to imagine it from the fragments of information we had. However, there was no way to guess the answer from a description like 'a monster that is round all over and has wings.' I did not know enough about monsters to identify one from its silhouette alone, and if it was an original monster we had never encountered before, as Toji suggested, there was no way I could know what it was. In the end, we had practically no clues.

"...It could be a Demon. Many Demons had distinctive appearances."

Moc-san, on the other hand, seemed to suspect that it was a Demon. Demons were said to be scheming behind the scenes everywhere, so it did not seem impossible.

"Magic Sonar... Oh? Something seems to be gathered up ahead. It could be our target. What do you sense, Moc-san?"

"I detect it as well. They are probably engaged in combat. I believe the combatants are a pack of Wind Wolves, but... Sorry. I cannot make out what they are fighting."

【Void Magic】 can only detect distant magic power, and it can sometimes be concealed when 【Assassination Arts】 is at a high level. That made Moc-san's 【Ultrasound】 a more reliable source of information, since it could almost certainly detect anything with a physical body.

However, 【Ultrasound】 was not omnipotent, either. It could not make out the shape of an opponent moving at high speed during combat. In addition, creatures with a broad audible range could apparently notice that 【Ultrasound】 had been used, making it difficult to use against monsters of the same Bat type.

"If it's a Cyclops, we'd be able to tell, so this might be the one. Let's approach without making as much noise as possible."

Since an opponent engaged in combat would be focused on the enemy in front of it, this was our chance to approach without being noticed. Thus, we tried to sneak closer.