Chapter 348: A Perfect Surveillance System
“I’m back!”
“Welcome back!”
As I returned to the area guarded by the Adventurers, I immediately headed towards Rio. I wasn’t particularly worried, but it seemed she was uninjured.
“Good work out there.”
This was the main tent of the Adventurers’ Guild, situated just before the first outer wall. A large tent had been set up, furnished with simple tables and chairs. The Guild Master, who was overseeing operations, awaited my report.
“I had the chance to witness your exploits up close for the first time, and I can only describe it as astounding.”
“Monsters will continue to appear, so we can’t afford to be too optimistic,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders as I cast my gaze towards the Forest of Enchantment beyond the tent. While I couldn’t see what lay beyond, it was easiest to sense the presence of any threats directly in front of me. The movements in the shallows of the Forest of Enchantment seemed to have slowed down. I had no intention of allowing any more monsters to join the shallows, but as long as there were no unusual movements, that was a relief.
“It should hold for a while longer, so you can stay back for now.”
“I suppose we’ll take your advice.”
“That would also reduce the share for the other adventurers…”
The Guild Master looked a bit distant, but honestly, money wasn’t a concern for me. I had collected quite a number of monster materials from the Forest of Enchantment, all stored in the Dimensional Box while conducting my investigations.
“If it’s monsters we’ve defeated, feel free to distribute them.”
“That would be a great help. If we can gather materials that won’t belong to us, it might motivate the others.”
“Just do that. Well then, we’ll head home for now.”
“Understood.”
Having successfully repelled the main assault from the Forest of Enchantment, we made our way home.
“How’s everything going?”
As soon as we got home, I casually asked El. This was El’s room, an extension of our camping house. A desk and walls were lined with a laptop and numerous tablets, displaying surveillance footage from the Bird TYPE.
“Welcome back. The surveillance system has finally been set up. There don’t seem to be any particular issues, but there is one thing. Please take a look over there.”
Without turning around, El pointed to one of the tablets mounted on the wall. For some time now, she had been in her maid mode.
The tablet displayed the usual scene from the Forest of Enchantment, and at first glance, there didn’t appear to be any abnormalities.
“Is that… monitoring the depths of the forest?”
“Yes. In the last two hours, the number of monsters captured on camera has dropped to fewer than ten, indicating a significant decrease.”
“Interesting. Perhaps the stampede is calming down.”
“That seems likely.”
“I see. If we’re going to deal with it, now might be the time… In that case, let’s prepare for a final push with the TYPE Series.”
“Understood.”
I picked up the tablet next to the laptop and began to operate it. While only the Dungeon Master—myself—could issue direct commands to the TYPE Series, I had added a menu that allowed various commands to be issued from the tablet for one million DP.
“We’re finally starting to see the end in sight.”
“Indeed. But what could be causing this stampede?”
As Rio and I settled into the living room, we began to ponder this question.
“There have been stampedes in the past, so there must be some underlying cause.”
“Common scenarios include a powerful monster like a dragon showing up and driving out the local monsters,” I suggested.
“Is that so? What about the possibility of a natural disaster?”
“A disaster, huh? If it were an earthquake, the townsfolk would likely notice and spread rumors… Perhaps a landslide due to heavy rain? Given that the Forest of Enchantment is mountainous, it could be possible.”
We tossed around various potential causes, but of course, we were merely speculating.
“It seems we really need to investigate deeper into the forest.”
“If we want to get to the bottom of it, yes.”
I crossed my arms and sighed, but to be honest, I wasn’t that interested.
“It’s a hassle, so maybe we can just leave it for now.”
“Hehe. We have plenty of other things to do, after all.”
As I nodded in agreement with Rio, my stomach began to growl.
“Alright, then let’s make some food.”
“Shall I whip something up?”
“Yeah, I haven’t had fish in a while, so let’s go with that.”
Rio and I headed to the kitchen and immediately began cooking. Until recently, El had been handling most of the household chores, but ever since the laptop arrived, she had been busy with her secretarial duties, leaving us to take care of the housework ourselves.
Now, El was more adept at using the computer than we were, so I had no complaints. In fact, I was grateful for it. El’s speed in mastering the computer was remarkable. She had shown great interest in the Japanese language, but perhaps her curiosity lay more in how electronic devices functioned.
“I’m back!”
Phonia, who had apparently been playing in the garden with Nil, returned and helped by setting the plates on the table.
Before long, the cooking was complete.
“I’m so hungry!”
Phonia, practically at her limit, sat at the dining table, fork in hand.
“By the way, where’s Ivan-nii?”
Since the Alert Level 3 was issued, I had seen less of Ivan. He was likely assigned to a team composed of members from the Adventurers’ Guild, providing support as a D-rank adventurer.
“He should be back soon, I imagine.”
“I see.”
While we had been given a lot of freedom during this stampede, Ivan didn’t have the same luxury.
Phonia looked a bit lonely, but it seemed her hunger overpowered her feelings, as she began to stuff her mouth with food as soon as we started eating, seemingly forgetting about Ivan.