Chapter: A Scene of Movement② – A Bit of a Commotion
“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 on earth are you doing?”
“Uh, well, I’m sorry.”
“Hmm, it seems it was a harsh sight for a virgin.”
“Young lady!?”
“What? Did you just blow a nosebleed from seeing some underwear?”
It was the morning after a long night. After finishing the breakfast that Lulu had prepared, we began to tidy up and get our gear ready to set off. At that moment, Fana, in her usual carefree manner from our two-person journey, started changing clothes without a hint of modesty. Fon, who caught sight of her in her underwear while she was washing off sweat, let out a scream and collapsed. Startled, Stella, Rio, and Lulu quickly threw towels to cover Fana, while Fon was rolled away to put some distance between him and her. By the way, Fon’s nosebleed had stopped, or rather, he had forced it to stop after bleeding out completely.
As a result, Stella was currently lecturing Fana about how inappropriate it was for a woman on the verge of marriage to show her underwear to a man. Lulu stood beside her, wearing her usual smile, which only added to the eeriness of the situation.
“Hmm, by the way, was this the case from the beginning?”
“It was. Well, we couldn’t afford to separate and take turns bathing and changing during our camping, so we decided to do it simultaneously to finish quickly.”
“Hmm, that’s harsh. Don’t you feel anything about it?”
“If I were to be shaken 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. I was too busy fighting to think about such things.”
“Hmm, you’re different from our virgin. Instead of holding onto it for dear life, you should just get rid of it and build up some resistance to women’s bodies.”
“Young lady!?”
“Hmm, just clean up in silence.”
“…Poor thing, it’s that fool’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?”
“I am.”
While observing this scene, I was nibbling on some jerky that I had forgotten when I stored it in my Magic Bag, alongside Rio. We were cleaning up the campsite with Fon, who had recovered from his nosebleed. Although we had already packed up the simple tent and extinguished the campfire, we were just checking for any leftover debris or lost items. By the way, Fon had dropped his hidden weapons when he collapsed from the nosebleed, so he was currently gathering them one by one while checking their condition.
“Ferno-sama~?”
“Hmm? What is it? You’re too close.”
“Please go over there~.”
“…Why?”
“I heard you~.”
“………I’m not her guardian, you know?”
“Joint responsibility~.”
“……Fine, I understand.”
“Hmm, you couldn’t escape, could you?”
“You too, young lady~?”
“……Why?”
“You were laughing~.”
“………Hmm.”
– Casual Conversation During Travel: Part One
“Hmm, by the way, do you have equipment prepared for dealing with Undead?”
“Equipment for Undead? What’s that?”
After the cleanup and lecture concluded, we began our journey for the day. The order of our formation had changed from yesterday: Fon was at the front, followed by me and Rio, with Fana sandwiched between Stella and Lulu at the back. I had thought it would be better to split into pairs, but Fon mentioned that if he didn’t keep his mind active, he would remember and start bleeding again, so I walked alongside Rio, just like yesterday.
As for the three at the back, they were discussing things like not to act recklessly since this wasn’t a desperate situation like our two-person journey, and that they should at least wear minimal inner garments while bathing. I felt it wasn’t a conversation I should listen to, so I refrained from eavesdropping and remained oblivious to the details.
“Silver weapons, Holy Water, and blessed crosses. I heard those are necessary for dealing with Undead?”
“Ah, now that you mention it, I have heard of that. I don’t have any prepared, but is it 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 quite a bit of time to deal with Undead before they start moving again. That applies to Liches and Necromancers as well; their control techniques don’t change that fact.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, I’ve confirmed that firsthand. If you burn the corpses of the Undead you defeated before they can move again, they will turn to ash and won’t rise.”
“So, in other words?”
“Crush and burn them. Or hit them with a torch.”
“Hmm, that’s easy to understand.”
Well, I suppose that conversation is meant to honor the dead. Even if they are called Undead, they are essentially the resentful corpses of humans or animals, after all. It’s likely that the intention behind using those items is to ensure they can rest in peace. Over time, this has morphed into the perception that these items are necessary for killing Undead.
But in the end, burning them solves everything. Although, if Undead gather in a sealed space, they can occasionally explode, which complicates things. There are instances where you might end up joining them instead.
“…What if the target is controlling Undead?”
“Doesn’t change anything; just crush them.”
“Can you finish them off before they start moving again?”
“If I can’t, I’ll die. If the battle drags on for too long, it’s us who will run out of stamina first… In other words, we need to kill them quickly.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s a chance they might 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 will immediately flee.”
“……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?”
“Hmm… to be as strong as me…”
Hmm… This is a tough explanation. If I were to put it bluntly, I could say that if you throw yourself into battles while sustaining life-threatening injuries for over three years and only use Potions to heal, you’d realize you’ve become strong by the time you notice… But I think Rio would probably die before that happens.
So, it comes down to steady training… But that’s something we’ve been doing regularly, so saying it now wouldn’t help. In that case… it must be experience.
“You can only gain experience.”
“Experience? I have plenty of combat experience, you know?”
“Normal experience, right? I’m talking about extraordinary battles—those intense, painful fights where life and death are constantly in the balance.”
“……I see.”
“Well, I plan to increase those kinds of experiences from now on. I have friends who are stronger and will fight with real intent.”
“……Surprising.”
“Are you surprised that I have friends? Or that I can ask them for help?”
“Both.”
“……Believe it or not, I’m actually quite sociable.”
It’s true that I only have ordinary friends back in my hometown, but I have plenty of acquaintances I can call friends. I might not be able to summon them immediately since they are 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.”
“………Intense.”
“I think so too, but their skills are certainly reliable.”
At the very least, they can easily kill high-ranking demons and, depending on the situation, can even handle the highest-ranking demons with ease. Not every single one of them can do that, and it doesn’t apply to all situations, but they have that capability.
“……I’ll look forward to it.”
“That’s good to hear. If it comes to fighting, I’ll be nearby, so I won’t let you die for real.”
“Hmm.”
Rather, the only ones who seem likely to train with me are the bandits and a couple of idiots who are pirates at sea while being on land. Considering the combat abilities that could match Rio, that’s about it. Once I get a bit stronger, I might be able to ask the Knight Commander to train with me, but for now, the gap in our abilities is too great for me to draw out his full strength.
– Engagement: Part Three
“Ferno-sama~?”
“Lulu? Is something wrong?”
“Yes~! We’ve spotted a higher-tier Treant, and Stella-sama and Fana-sama have separated from the group~.”
“I see. Then we should stop, right?”
“Yes~.”
“Understood. Fon! Stop!!”
“Understood… I spotted a Wasp nest in our path, so I’ll take care of it first.”
“Got it. If it seems impossible, shout.”
“Understood.”
After receiving Lulu’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 the way, just before he stopped. He mentioned he would take care of the monster’s nest first.
The Treant that the two at the back had spotted is not a monster that camouflages itself as a tree, but rather one that parasitizes and transforms from a tree. It might be similar to a winter worm and summer grass, as it grows and expands by feeding on the nutrients of the tree while incorporating its host. It’s a monster that can be easily dealt with if you have fire, so it’s one that has been extensively researched.
The Wasp is a bee-like monster, but its unique trait is that until its nest is completed, there is only one female individual called the queen. After the nest is finished, that individual lays a male called the king, and from there, it produces an army. While they are strong, they can be treated like livestock if you continuously manage their strength, so research on them has also progressed significantly. Plus, they are quite delicious.
Both require the premise that 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 their army before killing the queen and king. If they aren’t being managed, it’s recommended to kill them as soon as they are found.
“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 into pieces and buried it in the ground.”
“That’s fine; if you leave it in a usable state, it could become a parasitic host.”
“I saw that happen once. In the end, we had to burn down an entire mountain.”
“I’ve finished here too. Stella is cleaning up, so we need a bit more time before we can set off, but the hunt itself was successful.”
“Huuh.”
“I see. Well done. Rio, please carry Fon to a safe distance.”
“Hmm, let’s go, virgin.”
“??”
“Don’t mind it. More importantly, how was the scale?”
“It was decent. If I hadn’t been picky, it might have grown larger, but the core itself wasn’t that big. 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 wanted to forget upon seeing Fana, I waited for Stella to return while asking about the scale of the Treant we had defeated. The size of the core refers to the parasitic nucleus on the tree, and the size affects the growth rate and the range it can absorb. The number refers to how many individual entities it has consumed, essentially how many creatures it has eaten. If this number exceeds ten, it becomes quite significant, and if it surpasses fifty, it becomes a threat worthy of Disaster Classification.
By the way, the post-processing refers to 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’s regeneration, so it’s better to leave it be. It’s good wood because it’s 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 I praised her while resuming our previous formation. I patted Fon’s back, who was calming himself by leaning against a tree, and we resumed our movement. I wanted to reach a point where we could see our destination on the horizon by the end of the day.