We walked through the forest, the crunching of leaves beneath our feet, familiar with the rhythm of the woods. Carrying a bag filled with camping gear, thanks to Fabbro’s flexibility, we continued walking.
“It seems like we’re returning to the forest after leaving it. Seems like the forest has a special connection with us.”
After that, the favor Fabbro asked for was to subdue a magical beast that appeared near the human settlement.
According to Fabbro, there had been an increase in magical beasts not seen around Oro Village lately. However, those creatures didn’t actively attack people.
But that changed now.
There were finally victims, attacked by an unusually large magical beast. And I was chosen to subdue it.
“Indeed, it makes no sense to come to the village just for this. Couldn’t you have refused if you didn’t like it?”
“No, I couldn’t. The people in the village are suffering because of this magical beast, making it difficult to get supplies from outside. This is also to save people.”
“Is it to repay your debt?”
“Don’t say that…”
Iris-chan, straightforward as always, hit a sore spot. She’s surprisingly merciless.
“Get serious. It’s not a field trip.”
A voice criticizing the commotion came from behind.
Whoever it was, it was Ratio-kun, the one who interrogated me at the cell.
“Why did you come along? You’ve been assigned to watch me, right?”
“It’s obvious. I’m here to watch you. To see if you pose any threat to the village.”
“You saw that Fabbro-san asked for my help, right?”
“Even so! You’re still suspicious! So, I’ll keep an eye on you. That’s it.”
Shrugging, he maintained his vigilance.
While closed communities are generally tough on outsiders, in his case, the strong desire to protect the village might be overpowering.
That’s admirable, but being watched constantly is quite unsettling.
“If you’re so concerned, why don’t you go? After all, it’s your village’s problem. As a soldier, shouldn’t you be able to handle this?”
“Originally, when the magical beasts increased, I wanted to explore the forest, but other soldiers stopped me. They said it was impossible for you.”
“I see.”
“I see, what does that mean!”
“Well, well, calm down. Making too much noise might attract other magical beasts.”
Iris-chan pacified Ratio-kun, who was upset. His face tensed at the mention of magical beasts.
Despite everything, it seems that magical beasts are still frightening to him. According to the information I learned, he recently became a [Soldier].
(Even so, why did he choose to accompany me? Maybe he wants to protect the village on his own under the guise of surveillance.)
Thinking like that, I suddenly had a realization.
“However, magical beasts…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Well, I have a small question. Both magical beasts and monsters attack humans, but unlike when it’s a monster, the country doesn’t dispatch people immediately when it’s a magical beast. I wondered why the response is different.”
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Magical beasts and monsters both attack humans.
However, from their origins, they are different kinds.
But while monsters are immediately addressed by the country, magical beasts are not. It is true that the country will move when there is a powerful magical beast or an invasion of magical beasts that can destroy a village or a town, but that’s about it.
No, I think there is an organization that can kill magical beasts for a fee, Certainly, I remember learning about that. What was it called again…
“Indeed, that’s true. But there’s a reason for that. In the first place, some people say that some magical beasts are minions of the Demon King’s army, but that’s completely untrue.”
“Is that so? Ah, but I learned about that. They differ in their physical structures.”
“Yes, that’s correct. Magical beasts are originally living creatures transformed by magical power. That’s why, unlike monsters, they don’t have a clear intention to attack humans. They attack to survive, just like any other living creature. From their perspective, it’s not an attack out of malice. That’s what makes them different from monsters. Of course, if there are direct victims, it’s a different story.”
“Huh… Hearing that makes me feel guilty about defeating magical beasts to stop them from harming human lives.”
“Elves live long lives, so we know about things from before demons were born. Furthermore, I’m very knowledgeable. I was often praised by the young men in my village for knowing such things! “
“Come to think of it, even the Demon Lord’s army tries to avoid areas with elves as much as possible. So the other side also knows the strength of elves firsthand, I see.”
“Fufufu, with me around any Demon Lord’s army general is like child’s play. But for some reason, I don’t really know much about the Demon Lord’s army leaders.”
“I wonder about that.”
Elves are certainly talented. That’s the impression I get from watching Iris-chan.
There are various legends about elves. Like how they can turn a city into a lifeless desert overnight, or conversely, turn barren wastelands into lush green lands. The stories are completely opposite, but it demonstrates the capabilities of elves. They are unmatched against both the material and immaterial.
However, the Demon Lord’s army of demons and monsters have abilities surpassing even that.
Among the Demon Lord’s army, the especially dangerous one is that Beshtor Leven. He had power to erase mountains with a single fist. I can’t even imagine how much damage would be caused if he used that in a densely populated area.
The other Eight Generals have also brought harm to humanity as far as I know.
In the end, I could only defeat [Gale], and don’t know much about the other Eight Generals. There was Beshtor Leven, [Mist Veil], and [Lightning] that I met at the time. The only other one I know is [Fortress]. So about half the Eight Generals are still unknown to me.
If I had more power back then, could I have taken down one of those three?
(No…)
Let’s stop. Thinking only about fighting the Demon Lord’s army is a bad habit from when I was the [False Hero]. I’m no longer a hero now. I’ll leave the future to Yuu and Mei-chan. I’ll save people by walking a different path than those two.
“You’ve just been chatting away, do you even seriously intend to search around here?”
“I do, extremely seriously. Well, there’s no need to be so high-strung, I’ll properly do it.”
“I wonder about that… The stuff about defeating a magical beast earlier was a lie, right?”
“What do you mean a lie!? Ayame-san really is so gallan-“
“Yes, Iris-chan. I’m happy you’re getting angry for my sake, but shall we keep it down a bit? We can’t get the conversation moving forward like this, right?”
Seeing that this would just lead to another quarrel, I cover Iris-chan’s mouth.
Phew, now we should be able to move forward.
“Hey, that girl looks happy for some reason.”
“Huh?”
“Mmmphmm~”
With her mouth covered by me, Iris-chan was somehow in high spirits, twitching her ears.
After that, we arrived at the designated location and searched the surroundings,
but as expected, traces of our target were there.
“There are some here too, Ayame-san.”
“You’re right. It’s the same footprints as before.”
“From the dryness, it seems this area was passed through recently. And the large number of footprints means it frequently comes here, no doubt about it.”
“I see…”
After hearing Iris-chan’s report, I decided.
“Okay, let’s camp out here.”
“Huh? Are you finally going to search for the magical beast?”
“No, that’s not it. We’re camping here today.”
“….Haah?”
For the first time, Ratio-kun made an innocent, dumbfounded expression.
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