Chapter 1185: On the Way
As we approached our destination, the frequency of monster attacks only increased. Some beasts fled upon sensing Urushi’s presence, but others charged at us in a half-crazed frenzy, seemingly in such terror that they lost their sense of judgment.
None were particularly strong, but getting attacked so often certainly got annoying.
「Phew… To think we would encounter such vicious magical beasts in this forest…」
「Is that rare?」
「We’ve only crossed this place a few times, but we always made it through without a fight.」
Perhaps the monsters scared off by Maleficent were driven north, deeper into Raydoss. The further north we went, the more we encountered.
This forest with little mana is only supposed to have weak monsters. Yet we constantly bumped into stuff like giant lizards and spiders.
It’s only been a few days since Maleficent’s rampage, so I can only imagine how far the impact will spread.
「It seems my skill isn’t being very effective.」 142.93.60.102
Come to think of it, didn’t Hoken have a skill for repelling monsters? Are you telling me we’d see even more if he wasn’t here?
Apparently, Lalar was thinking the same thing as me. Her face turned pale.
「I’m really worried about the village now! There’s way too many monsters!」
「True. Let’s pick up the pace a bit.」
「Okay!」
And thus, half a day passed.
We hurried toward the village while defeating monsters along the way. Since Hoken was slow on his feet, we had him ride Urushi for most of the march.
Despite being quite a distance from the place where Maleficent went on a rampage, we could still see the effects. Rather, it seems the fleeing monsters were crowding up in this region.
「I see some monsters right next to the village.」
「A-Are they okay!?」
Lalar looked worried, but the outer walls of the village still seemed intact. I also noticed the villagers fighting back with magic and arrows.
They haven’t fallen yet, at least.
Bondis, a man in his forties, was in charge of the village’s defense. He explained that they had been fighting off a large number of monsters since yesterday.
Despite having little time to rest, Bondis didn’t seem very exhausted, probably due to his training. He was clearly a higher level than the Kranzel’s rank-and-file soldiers.
The other soldiers who had gathered around during the conversation seemed to be similar. All twenty or so were quite strong. That must be due to them hunting monsters on their own without the help of adventurers.
Moreover, there were more soldiers than I was expecting from a village of this size. Considering how many are still out on duty, there might be twice as many in total.
I’ve heard they’re supposed to call on the Red Knights for any monsters they can’t handle, but do they even need help in the first place?
I think the village can easily hunt any monster up to Threat Level E, and might be able to handle D as well, depending on the opponent.
Come to think of it, the earth mage we captured back in Kranzel said he had been a security force member. People of his caliber might not be so rare after all.
「This girl is new, right?」
「Nn. I’m Fran, the adven――black cat.」
「She’s one of our allies.」
「I see. Then I suppose I shouldn’t inquire too much about her background.」
The other soldiers nodded at Bondis’s words, accepting us surprisingly easily. It seems the cooperative relationship we heard about was no exaggeration.
「Shall we direct her to the room at the back of the inn?」
「Yes.」
「Okay, I’ll go tell the old man.」
One of the soldiers ran off somewhere. The inn?
「Oh, by the way, “the back of the inn” is like a passphrase for our cooperators. The villagers here will understand your circumstances if you say you’re “staying at the back of the inn”.」
Even if Raydoss has no adventurers, there are still travelers. Various reasons for traveling include sightseeing, training, and trade.
It seems this village has an unspoken rule where they won’t inquire about the identities of travelers who stay in the back room, thanks to the time when Neidhart saved them.
「Glad to have you with us.」
「You’re very welcome here. We were in trouble after the sudden increase in monsters.」
It seems they truly welcomed us without any pretenses. The monsters must be that serious of a problem.
I wonder if Maleficent really anticipated all of this?
done.me
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