A Scene During Travel ②
– A Bit of Trouble
“I don’t intend to preach about personal lifestyles, but I think it’s common sense that men and women who aren’t even dating, let alone married, shouldn’t bathe or change clothes together… What were you thinking?”
“Uh, well, I’m sorry.”
“Hm, it seems like it was a harsh sight for a virgin.”
“Lady!?”
“What? Did you just see her in her underwear and start gushing blood like a typical virgin?”
It was the morning after a long night. After finishing the breakfast that Ruru had prepared, we started packing up and getting ready to depart. At that moment, Fana, without a hint of embarrassment and in the same carefree manner as during our two-person journey, began to change clothes and wash off her sweat. Fon, who caught sight of her in her underwear, screamed and collapsed. Startled, Stella, Rio, and Ruru quickly threw towels to cover Fana’s body, while Fon was rolled away from her to put some distance between them. By the way, Fon’s nosebleed had stopped, or rather, he had bled it all out and forced it to stop.
Consequently, Stella was now lecturing Fana, who had finally put her clothes back on, about how inappropriate it was for a woman on the verge of marriage to show her underwear to a man. Ruru stood beside her, maintaining her usual smile, which only added to the unsettling atmosphere.
“By the way, was this how it was from the start?”
“Yeah, it was. Well, we didn’t have the time to separate and change or bathe during camping. I concluded that it was better to do it simultaneously and finish quickly.”
“Hm, that’s harsh. Don’t you feel anything?”
“If I were to be flustered by a woman’s underwear, I wouldn’t be able to handle a succubus.”
“Oh, impressive. So, you’re not a virgin?”
“No, I am a virgin. I was too busy fighting to even think about such things.”
“Hm, you’re different from our virgin. Instead of holding onto it for dear life, you should just let it go and build some tolerance to women’s bodies.”
“Lady!?”
“Hm, just keep cleaning up.”
“…Poor thing, it’s that idiot’s fault.”
“But isn’t Ferno also guilty for tossing the water bottle without a moment’s pause?”
“Is that so? Isn’t it just the responsibility of the one who didn’t make it to the river?”
“…Are you trying to shift the blame?”
“Yes, I am.”
As I watched this scene unfold, I was nibbling on some jerky that I had forgotten about, stored in the Magic Bag, alongside Rio. We were cleaning up the campsite with Fon, who had recovered from his nosebleed. We had already packed up the simple tent and extinguished the campfire, so we were just checking for any leftover debris or lost items. By the way, Fon had dropped his hidden weapons when he collapsed from his nosebleed, so he was currently gathering them one by one and checking them as he equipped them.
“Ferno-sama~?”
“Hm? What is it? You’re too close.”
“Please go over there~.”
“…Why?”
“I heard everything~.”
“…I’m not her guardian, you know?”
“We’re all in this together~.”
“…Sigh, fine.”
“Hm, you couldn’t escape, could you?”
“You too, Lady~?”
“…Why?”
“You were laughing~.”
“…Hmph.”
- Casual Conversation During Travel, Part One
“Hm, by the way, do you have any equipment prepared for dealing with the Undead?”
“Equipment for the Undead? What’s that?”
After the cleanup and lecture concluded, we began our journey for the day. The order was different from yesterday; Fon was at the front, followed by me and Rio, with Fana sandwiched between Stella and Ruru at the rear. I thought it would be better to split into pairs, so I intended to take the lead, but Fon said that if he didn’t keep his mind active, he would remember and start gushing blood again. So, I sent him off and walked alongside Rio, just like yesterday.
As for the three at the back, they were continuing their lecture, discussing things like not acting foolishly since this wasn’t a life-or-death situation like our two-person journey, and that they should at least wear minimal undergarments while bathing. I felt it wasn’t a conversation I should listen to, so I tried to tune it out and didn’t catch any details.
“Silver weapons, Holy Water, and blessed crosses. I heard those are necessary for dealing with the Undead?”
“…Ah, I think I’ve heard of that. I don’t have any prepared, but is it really necessary?”
“If you don’t have them, you can’t kill them, right? That’s what I heard.”
“It’s a strange notion to kill something that’s already dead… But it does take a considerable amount of time to stop an Undead before it starts moving again. This applies to Liches and Necromancers as well; their control techniques don’t change that.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, I’ve confirmed this firsthand. If you burn the corpses of the Undead you take down before they can move again, they will turn to ash and won’t rise again.”
“So, in other words?”
“Crush and burn them. Or beat them with a torch.”
“Hm, that’s straightforward.”
Well, I suppose that discussion is meant to honor the dead. Even if they’re called Undead, they’re essentially the remains of humans or animals who died with regrets. It’s likely that the intention behind using those items is to ensure they can rest peacefully. Over time, this understanding has morphed into the notion that these are the necessary tools for killing Undead.
But ultimately, burning them solves everything. Though, if a large group of Undead gathers in a confined space, they can sometimes explode, making it not so simple as just burning them and avoiding joining their ranks.
“…What if the target is controlling Undead?”
“It doesn’t change anything; just crush them.”
“Can you finish them off before they start moving again?”
“If I don’t, I’ll die. If the battle drags on for too long, we’ll be the ones to run out of stamina… In other words, we need to kill them quickly.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because there’s a chance they could escape. I don’t know about the target, but Dead Eaters are creatures that are fundamentally greedy for survival. If they sense they’re about to die, they’ll flee immediately.”
“…I see, that’s troublesome.”
“Yeah, extremely troublesome.”
- Casual Conversation During Travel, Part Two
“…How can I become stronger?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m weaker compared to Ferno. What kind of training and fighting style should I adopt to become as strong as him?”
“Hm… I suppose you could say it requires a lot of near-death experiences over three years while relying solely on Potions for healing.”
Ugh… This is a difficult explanation. If I were to put it bluntly, that’s how you become strong, but… I doubt Rio would survive that long.
So, it comes down to steady training… But that’s something we’ve been doing regularly, so saying it now seems pointless. In that case… experience?
“You just have to gain experience.”
“Experience? I already have a lot of combat experience.”
“Normal experience, right? What you need is experience from abnormal battles—those that feel like you’re dancing between life and death, intense, painful fights with slim chances of victory.”
“…I see.”
“Well, from now on, I plan to increase those kinds of experiences. I have friends who are stronger than you and will fight with genuine intent.”
“…Surprising.”
“Surprising that I have friends? Or that I can ask them for help?”
“Both?”
“…Believe it or not, I’m actually quite social.”
It’s true that I only have ordinary friends back in my hometown, but I have plenty of people I can call friends. I can’t just summon them on a whim since they’re wandering, guarding towns, or working as mercenaries.
“By the way, what kind of friends do you have?”
“Various types, but if you want to fulfill your desire to become stronger… there are fanatics who swing maces while continuously writing their scriptures, bandits who generate infinite axes with magic and throw them, and a noble lady who blends into the air and silently assassinates.”
“…That’s intense.”
“I thought the same when I recalled them, but their skills are undeniable.”
At the very least, they can easily kill high-ranking Demons and, depending on the situation, can even handle top-tier Demons with ease. Not every single one of them can do that, and it’s not guaranteed in every situation, but they have the capability.
“…I’ll look forward to it.”
“That’s a good mindset. If it comes to fighting, I’ll be nearby to ensure you don’t actually die.”
“Hm.”
More importantly, the only ones who seem likely to train with me are the bandits and those fools who are pirates at sea. When considering combat abilities that could match Rio, that’s about it. Once she becomes a bit stronger, I might be able to ask the Knight Commander to train with her, but for now, the gap in our abilities is too vast to draw out his full strength.
- Encounter Part Three
“Ferno-sama~?”
“Ruru? Is something wrong?”
“Yes~. We’ve found a higher-level Treant, and Stella-sama and Fana-sama have separated from the group~.”
“I see. Then we should stop, right?”
“Yes~.”
“Understood. Fon! Stop!!”
“Got it… I spotted a Wasp nest ahead, so I’ll take care of that first.”
“Understood. If it seems impossible, shout.”
“Roger.”
Receiving Ruru’s report, we decided it would be too risky to regroup in the forest, so we halted our movement. I communicated this to Fon, who was leading, just before he stopped. He mentioned he would take care of the monster’s nest first.
The Treant they found is not a monster that camouflages as a tree, but rather one that parasitizes and transforms from a tree. It might be similar to a winter worm summer grass, as it grows and expands by parasitizing the tree and absorbing nutrients while incorporating its host. It’s a monster that can be easily dealt with if you have fire on hand, so research on it has progressed significantly.
The Wasp is a bee-like monster, but its unique trait is that until its nest is completed, it only has one female individual known as the queen. After the nest is completed, that individual will produce a male known as the king, and from there, it will generate an army. It’s strong, but since the army is the source of its strength, if you keep adjusting it, you can treat it almost like livestock, so research on it has also progressed. Plus, they’re quite tasty.
That is, of course, assuming they don’t grow. If they do grow, it becomes extremely troublesome. For Treants, it takes time to crush or burn the core, and for Wasps, you need to eliminate tens of thousands of them before you can kill the queen and king. If they’re not being managed, it’s recommended to kill them as soon as you find them.
“I’ve finished. There was only one queen, but was it necessary?”
“Not really, but what did you do with the corpse?”
“I crushed it, scattered it, and buried it in the ground.”
“That’s fine; if you leave it in a usable state, it could become a parasitic host.”
“I’ve seen that happen before. In the end, we had to burn down an entire mountain.”
“I’ve finished here too. Stella is cleaning up, so it will take a bit longer before we can depart, but the subjugation itself was successful.”
“Huuh.”
“I see, well done. Rio, please carry Fon to a safe distance.”
“Hm, let’s go, virgin.”
“??”
“Don’t mind it. More importantly, how was the scale?”
“It was decent. If I hadn’t been picky, it could have been larger, but the core itself wasn’t that big. So, even if we had discovered it later, it likely wouldn’t have caused significant damage.”
“You’re lucky. How many were there?”
“Two.”
As I carried Fon, who had been reminded of memories he was trying to forget upon seeing Fana, I waited for Stella to return while asking about the scale of the Treant we had subjugated. The size of the core refers to the nucleus that is parasitizing the tree, and the size determines the growth rate and the range of absorption. The number refers to how many separate entities the core has consumed, essentially how many creatures it has devoured. If this number exceeds ten, it becomes quite significant, and if it surpasses fifty, it is classified as a Disaster Designation due to its threat level.
By the way, the cleanup involves crushing the core. If a new Treant is born and finds a clean core to absorb, its scale can rapidly expand, so we ensure to crush and dispose of any unused cores. Conversely, leaving the parasitized wood alone allows for the forest to regenerate, so it’s better to leave it be.
It’s good wood, being hard and easy to process.
“I’m back, sorry for the delay.”
“That’s fine, no problem. We need to ensure we don’t forget any processing steps.”
With that, Stella returned, and after praising her, we resumed our journey in the same order as before. I patted Fon’s back, who was calming himself with his hand on a tree, and we set off again. I wanted to reach a point where we could see our destination beyond the horizon by the end of the day.