Chapter 284
"You're the last one!"
"...That helped. Thank you, Monster."
Sei slammed his staff into the head of the monster that had stubbornly survived, dealing the final blow. There had been a great many monsters, but Sei's group, who could move freely in every direction, coordinated effectively with the well-organized Dark Elves, allowing them to exterminate the monsters much faster than expected.
However, the monsters' corpses had vanished without a trace. Since they disappeared the moment they were defeated, not a single material had been recovered. Because they had never seen these monsters before, Sei and the others had been looking forward to harvesting materials from them, so they were disappointed.
Once the forest had escaped danger, Sei and the others breathed a sigh of relief, and the female Dark Elf honestly thanked them. The women probably could have made it through on their own, but that did not mean they were so ungrateful as to mistreat those who had come to their aid.
"Glad we could help."
"It'd be more than sad if we'd come all this way to meet you and found no one here. Sei-chan, show them that thing."
"I know."
At Nanako's urging, Sei took out the token Izam had entrusted to him and showed it to the Dark Elf leader. When she saw it, her eyes widened in surprise, then she nodded repeatedly in understanding.
"I had a feeling that was the case, simply because you were monsters willing to aid us, but you really are companions of that guest of ours."
"That's right! We're companions of Izam and Jigoro!"
There were very few monsters who would deliberately take the Dark Elves' side. That was why the Dark Elf leader had apparently suspected they might be connected, but seeing the token Sei produced had turned her suspicion into certainty. Moreover, Shifune had mentioned the names Izam and Jigoro, which they had not yet brought up, making that certainty even stronger.
Once the other Dark Elves learned that they were companions of the guest, they relaxed their guard and began observing Sei and the others with undisguised curiosity. Though they were stared at without restraint, the group had grown accustomed to that during the recent event, so no one minded.
"I see. Since you came to this forest, was our hidden village your destination?"
"But Sei-chan's the only one with a serious reason. I want to gain experience fighting all sorts of enemies, and see that beautiful pond Izam-san mentioned... To be honest, I'm just here sightseeing!"
As Nanako said, Sei was the only one with a clear reason for coming. As Nanako herself had said, she merely wanted to gain experience while sightseeing at the village of a friendly group located near their base. Shifune and Wool had come this far out of pure curiosity.
"Hee hee, the outsiders really are interesting. Or is it only wanderers who are interesting? In any case, standing around talking must be uncomfortable. Let us guide you to our village."
Sei and the others walked through the forest toward the Dark Elves' village alongside the Dark Elves. Like Kal, Sei's familiars were drawn to the scent of the dangerous fruit, but whenever he told them no, they obediently gave up.
When Izam, Jigoro, and Kal had come here, they had taken a route through the treetops. This time, however, there were more people, including some who were poor at moving through the trees, so they simply walked along the ground. Naturally, they encountered plant-type monsters along the way, but the Dark Elves dealt with them in an instant.
They also came across plant-type monsters fighting monsters from outside the forest. In such cases, they eliminated every monster involved, and they encountered similar battles more than ten times.
"There's fighting going on all over the place. Is it always like this?"
"No, it is not. Over the past few days, more creatures have been entering from outside the forest."
"What are those things?"
"We do not know. But they are ferocious. To avoid provoking the forest god, we have no choice but to fight them, even though there is not the slightest benefit in doing so."
After hearing the Dark Elves' account, the four of them figured out the identity of the enemy. It had to be those things that were becoming a problem across the continent.
"I'm pretty sure those are Hellbeasts. They've been coming up to the surface through some vertical shaft somewhere, and the Centaurs have been left with nowhere to go and are in trouble. I didn't think they'd made it this far, though."
"Is that so? I had no idea things outside the forest had become so serious... This concerns us as well. I must consult the elder's judgment."
Once it became clear that the enemy was Hellbeasts, the Dark Elf leader also learned that they threatened not only her people but the entire continent, and she nodded gravely. Upon returning to the village, she would presumably report it to Radem Mas Farran, the elder who had also spoken with Izam.
While Nanako and the others discussed the serious matter, the Dark Elves other than their leader displayed their natural curiosity without hesitation, chatting and cuddling with Sei, his familiars, Wool, and Shifune. Since all the Dark Elves present were women, conversation flowed most freely with Shifune.
"Wool-kun's fur is so soft... And warm, too. I'm getting sleepy..."
"I know how you feel! When I was much smaller, I used to fall asleep on his back."
"Don't use me as a bed."
Several Dark Elves were enjoying Wool's back, while Shifune nodded as though to say that was only natural. Wool's voice was as toneless as usual, but Sei sensed that he sounded somewhat fed up.
"So you came here to look for a new companion, Sei?"
"Yeah. Do you know of anything suitable?"
"Then you've come to the right place. There are plenty of monsters with high defense in this forest."
In the 'Dark Forest of Temptation,' plant-type monsters stood at the top of the ecosystem. Some plant-type monsters, like Nenashi, had poor defense, but others had extremely high defense, just like Iris. They would be perfect candidates for the defensive companion Sei was seeking.
Other monsters that had evolved to protect themselves from those predators were also possibilities. Some escaped their predators' clutches with incredible speed, while others developed defenses strong enough to keep their predators' fangs from piercing them. There were also many creatures hiding in the forest that had learned a wide variety of other ways to protect themselves.
"Then I may stay here for a while. I'll help deal with the Hellbeasts while I'm here."
"I'll post this in the clan chat. Maybe some of the bored ones will come over."
Sei was delighted to learn that this was an ideal place to search for a companion, while Nanako posted the information she had heard from the Dark Elves in the clan chat. Someone might come if they felt like it, and even if nobody did, sharing information was important.
Thus, as they chatted to get acquainted and occasionally stopped to fight, they made their way to the Dark Elves' village.
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The production of Undead Puppets was progressing smoothly. This was probably because repeatedly performing the simple task had eliminated wasted movements and improved efficiency. More than twice the number entrusted to Jigoro had already been completed, and at this rate, the army would be ready in less than a week.
In preparation for battle, Iris was making weapons and armor, while Shiitake was producing attack items and various medicines. Jigoro and the others had gone to gather materials for equipment, using the trip as training. Preparations were steadily moving forward.
"Hmm, a post from Nanako. 'Hellbeast attack confirmed in the Dark Forest of Temptation.' They've reached even there... The situation may be more urgent than I expected."
The vertical shaft said to be in the southern part of the continent was quite far from the Dark Forest of Temptation. If the Hellbeasts had reached that far, there was a good chance they had spread throughout the Ashfall Hills.
The reason they had not yet swarmed our base, the 'Secret City of the Mist-Crying Princess,' was that the Centaurs who went hunting every day were killing as many as they could. We had also recently learned that the Hellbeasts apparently disliked the ash that accumulated around the secret city. They supposedly never approached closer than a certain distance.
Were they avoiding the Deathmiasma Ash, or was there some other reason? We had no time to investigate, but simply learning that this was a safe zone was already an excellent outcome. Still, there was no guarantee that none of them would charge in. We needed to finish our preparations before one of those reckless individuals appeared.
"Do you have a moment?"
"Ragaa? Today really is bringing one rare visitor after another."
Just as I was about to switch to making talismans for a change of pace, Ragaa pushed open the door with his horn and came to see me. It was unusual for him to visit the place where I worked, so, as with Sei, he probably either had something to discuss or was responding to an emergency.
"Is that so? Well, more importantly, something serious has happened."
"Something serious?"
"Yes. A group of Scars was attacked by a horde of Hellbeasts. The four of us, including Mikero and Nenashi, went to help them."
"What!?"
Ragaa spoke calmly, but what he was telling me was extremely serious. If they were Scars, did that mean the Nadeus Clan had been attacked? I only hoped Muno-dono and the others were safe...
"Ah, don't worry. Apparently, the people who were attacked belonged to a different clan from the ones we met before."
"...I see. I suppose I shouldn't say it's good news, but I feel relieved. However, that creates a problem of its own. It means the Scars' concealment techniques were ineffective."
I had heard that the Nadeus Clan used their excellent concealment techniques to evade threats while traveling between the Scar settlements scattered across the land. I had also heard that the people in the permanent settlements used those techniques to protect themselves from outside enemies. If the techniques no longer worked, they would be in more than just danger.
Depending on the circumstances, we might have to hurry over and tell them as soon as possible that the situation was worsening, then shelter them here, where it was relatively safe. The problem was that we had no way of finding them ourselves...
"I've brought the people who were attacked here. I didn't have time to post anything in chat, so I had to get your approval after the fact."
"I think that was a wise decision. It would be good if we could inform the other settlements that danger was approaching, but is there any way to do that...?"
"That's why the leader of the Scars wants to speak with you. You're the leader on this side, right? I wanted you to be there."
"So that's why you came to get me. All right, I'll go immediately."
I understood why Ragaa had come to call me. With people I knew and their fellow clansmen in danger, this was no time to continue working. I headed outside with Ragaa, where the refugees were waiting.