Episode 71: Unexpected Intruders
It was a few days after Mona returned from her reconnaissance of Admos.
“Hmm?”
There were numerous presences detected within the forest.
“What’s this? So many people. Is another country attacking again?”
If so, then the Weimar guards must have been sacrificed again.
What a pity.
Thinking so, I expanded the range of my Detection Magic to the forest entrance…
“Hmm?”
“What’s wrong?”
Ivern, who was in the hidden village today, saw me tilting my head and called out to me.
“Well, I detected multiple presences in the forest again, so I thought the guards protecting the forest entrance must have been sacrificed, so I used Detection Magic.”
“Seriously? Did those guys get taken out?”
Come to think of it, Ivern had said he often talked to the guards at the entrance.
He even gets information from them sometimes.
Ivern looked a little sad at the possibility that the guards he had become acquainted with might have been taken out.
But.
“No, the guards are still there.”
“Huh? Then, did they let those guys through the entrance with a free pass?”
Well, I guess that’s what you’d think.
“Wait a minute…”
That’s what I thought too, but just to be sure, I decided to check the intruders in detail, and something became clear.
“…These guys are from the Demon Tribe.”
“Then, there’s no way the Human Tribe guards would let them through freely.”
The Demon Tribe and the Human Tribe are now mortal enemies.
There’s no way they could meet face-to-face and have things end peacefully.
And yet, if the guards at the entrance are safe and the Demon Tribe has managed to enter the forest…
“These guys are the Demon Tribe’s Intelligence Unit.”
When I said that, Mona reacted with a twitch and began using Detection Magic herself.
And then, she immediately frowned.
“What’s wrong? Did you know someone?”
When I asked that, Mona nodded with a grim face.
“There are some magic powers I recognize. They’re former colleagues.”
“So, it’s definitely an Intelligence Unit.”
With that, the identity of the Demon Tribe members who had entered the forest was confirmed.
Intelligence Units are good at infiltration and investigation, so it must have been easy for them to slip into the forest past the guards’ watchful eyes.
In fact, Mona had also infiltrated this forest in the same way.
More importantly, the question is what to do about these intruders.
“Well, for now, they’re being blocked by the forest’s Barrier, but what should we do?”
There are multiple members of the Demon Tribe who have entered the forest.
This isn’t an intrusion for personal reasons like Mona’s, but a clear intrusion ordered by their country.
What is it? Did they come for revenge now?
No, their magic power doesn’t feel like they’re here for combat.
Then, what on earth are they here for?
“For now, let’s go take a look.”
When I said that, Mona stepped forward.
“Shall I go?”
“No. If they find out you’re here, it’ll be troublesome later. If you’re here, it’ll be assumed that Meileen is here too.”
“Understood. Then, I’ll wait here.”
Mona stepped back, so I checked my appearance before heading into the forest.
I checked my appearance because last time, Mona had found out about Meileen’s presence because I was carrying a handkerchief embroidered by Meileen.
This time, I made sure not to make such a blunder.
Then, I suppressed my magic power as much as possible and headed towards the intruders, who were analyzing my Barrier.
“How’s it going? Can you break it?”
“…If you give me time.”
“How much time?”
One of the Demon Tribe members asked, and the one analyzing the magic was silent for a moment before answering.
“…Two to three days.”
“Can we wait that long! Besides, this Barrier is supposed to send a notification when it’s activated, right? The notification must have already reached him. If we don’t hurry…”
“That would be me coming, right?”
When I took over the Demon Tribe member’s words and spoke, all the Demon Tribe members flinched, took distance from me at once, and braced themselves.
“Hey, hey, what’s wrong? Since a notification came, I’d come to check things out, right? You were just saying that. Why are you so surprised?”
Even though I did what they expected, the Demon Tribe’s reaction was excessive.
So, when I pointed that out, the Demon Tribe members muttered with frustrated faces.
“…You’re too fast. And we didn’t notice your approach at all… What the hell did you do?”
What did I do, you ask?
“There’s no way I’d tell you, right? Are you stupid?”
When I said that, the Demon Tribe members’ faces changed from confusion to anger.
Ah, I messed up.
It seems I’ve developed a habit of provoking people.
While I was reflecting on that, one of the Demon Tribe members stepped forward.
Is this the leader, indicating that he wants to talk?
“…Let me ask you one thing. Are you hiding a Demon Tribe woman here?”
“No? I’m not doing anything like that.”
I’m not hiding her.
She lives here, though.
“…Tch. Then, a Human Tribe man is coming and going here. Who is that?”
“So, why do I have to tell you? Are you really stupid?”
Ah, I did it again.
The leader’s face is gradually turning red.
“You… You’ve gone far enough with looking down on us…”
“I’m not looking down on you. I even feel sorry for you Demon Tribe. You were tricked by a Human Tribe and I ended up defeating your king.”
That’s why I’ve been trying to avoid getting involved with the Demon Tribe.
But…
“Ha. So what? If we tell you to let us take revenge, are you going to let us kill you?”
“There’s no way I’d do that. I’ll kill all of you with everything I’ve got.”
“!”
If they’re going to pick a fight with me, then that’s a different story.
If the Demon Tribe attacks me as an enemy, I’ll retaliate with everything I’ve got.
I won’t leave a single bone.
When I put a bit of killing intent into my magic power and intimidated them, the faces of the Demon Tribe members, who had been angry just a moment ago, turned pale.
“What, did you come here with that kind of resolve?”
In reality, I think they’re here for investigation, not revenge, but I deliberately approached them as if I recognized them as people who came for revenge.
In other words, I approached them with the intention of killing them.
Then, the leader hurriedly raised both hands towards me.
“W-wait, wait! We have no such intention! There’s no way we could defeat someone who defeated the former king!?”
“Then, what did you come here for? You’ve been ignoring this place for years, right? Don’t tell me you didn’t know about this place until now?”
Even Bounty Hunters know about this place now.
There’s no way that the members of the Intelligence Unit, the country’s intelligence agency, wouldn’t know the whereabouts of their enemy, me.
In response to my question, the leader thought for a while, made eye contact with his comrades behind him, nodded, and then began to speak.
“Recently, we witnessed our former colleague entering this forest.”
“Oh?”
“We want to know the reason why she entered here.”
Hmm.
So that’s what it is.
“Unfortunately, no one like that has come here.”
When I casually told a lie, the leader frowned again in anger.
“…Are you going to keep pretending you don’t know?”
“I’m not pretending. There’s no such fact.”
It’s a lie, though.
“…I see, then fine. We’ve disturbed you.”
The Demon Tribe members were about to leave.
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Huh?”
“You guys are Demon Tribe members who are hostile to me. Those Demon Tribe members came to investigate my residence. It’s normal to think something’s up, right?”
“B-but, we were just trying to find out the whereabouts of our former colleague…”
“And so you investigated my residence? Didn’t you think about what that means?”
“…”
“What if I was really hiding that Demon Tribe woman? Would you demand her handover?”
“T-that’s…”
At that point, the leader hesitated for some reason.
…This is, there’s some other intention here.
“There’s no such fact, but even if you made such a demand, I would never accept it.”
“W-why…”
“Why? If I were hiding that Demon Tribe woman, it would be because I judged that I had a reason to do so. In the first place, I have no obligation to listen to your demands.”
“W-what did you say!?”
“I’ll say this because you seem to be mistaken, don’t think you can order me around? Don’t think you can negotiate with me either. I only act on my own will.”
“…Understood. We won’t investigate anymore.”
“Hey, hey, so it’s not about whether you investigate or not.”
As I said that, I began to gather my magic power.
“Do you really think you can go back alive after taking actions that could be seen as hostile to me?”
The moment I said that.
“!?!”
The Demon Tribe members ran away from me with all their might.
Well, if it came to a fight, there’s no way they could win, so it’s normal to run away, but they were fast.
I didn’t intend to kill them from the beginning.
Unlike Meileen, I don’t hold a grudge against the Demon Tribe, even if they hate me.
I was just planning to threaten them a little.
“I guess this is what they mean by ‘fleeing like a rabbit’.”
My Detection Magic is still detecting the Demon Tribe members running away at full speed.
I’m not chasing them at all, but they don’t seem to have noticed that.
Well, that should keep those guys from coming here anymore…
Might as well stay on guard a bit longer.
So, just to be safe, I decided to strengthen the barrier, tweaked it a bit right there, and then went home.