[Hoo, haaa… tooh!]
I kicked a crocodile-like monster in what appeared to be its neck, crushing it into mush. Then I continued running through the forest as I destroyed everything that came in my way with my bare hands.
I did teleport back to my mansion from the beastkin village, but soon afterward I teleported back to the forest ruins east of Crossroad. From there, I made my way toward Miscronia Kingdom by running through the forest.
Marl and Fram actually wanted to tag along, but they certainly couldn't keep up with my speed just yet, so I ended up leaving them back at the mansion.
In exchange, I asked them to prepare the supplies and other necessities that might be needed by the Miscronia Kingdom. That way I won't need to be bothered by other things.
Apparently this morning Marl had already gone to the palace and convinced King Karendil to approve my sovereignty over the forest east of Crossroad. As we've discussed yesterday, everything would be fine, as long as I managed to get an approval from Miscronia Kingdom.
It couldn't be helped. Since the forest itself also functions as the border between the two countries, Karendil Kingdom couldn't one-sidedly make the decision.
With Miscronia being the sole supplier of salt for Karendil, Karendil Kingdom's position was actually pretty weak in this regard.
That said, the current problem is,
[UOooo!?]
The sight of a platoon of crocodile-like monsters was spreading in front of me as I reached a clearing. The fangs and sharp teeth lining up on their mouth glistened. Some sort of white light emerged from the darkness that was their throat.
[Oi, stupid, stop.]
Hail of white light bullets was fired at me all at once from their mouths.
Instead of running away, I raised my hands forward.
Concentrated, and activated my magic.
Thin looking barrier of light appeared in front of me. The light bullets exploded upon colliding with the barrier.
Those light bullets seemed to have equivalent power to the magic bullet that can be learned once pure magic reaches level 2.
Not to mention that their POW stats were significantly inferior than mine, I think it would be difficult for average adventurers or even knights to break through my barrier.
But first thing first, their number is a problem.
There were too many of them, and they had somehow surrounded me from all sides.
They kept coming aggressively no matter how many I had killed. Not only were they smart enough to attack in groups, there's also their light bullet breath attack.
Of course, all that was still not enough to break my barrier. Granted, I think their light bullet is powerful enough to penetrate one layer of armor and still has enough power to smash the human body inside.
They're even smart enough to set up a kill zone to deal with their enemy. I felt like they're smarter than a squad of goblins.
[Fuhahahahah! Useless useless!] (TL: mudamudamuda)
I chose to jump into the middle of the platoon before they could launch another hail of light bullets, opting to use the mithril blade as well as my bare hands and legs to wreak havoc upon them.
Oh, I leveled up.
=====
Ten or more minutes later, realizing that they're in an unfavorable condition, the monsters withdrew. I had killed more than a hundred of them easily after all.
Before they reacted this way, I'm pretty sure that I had dispatched about 90% of the platoon. To only retreat after having 90% of their group decimated, they're actually stupid, aren't they?
I collected as many of their corpses as possible.
I was quite curious about their anatomy, so I dissected one of them. More than half of the body was its maw after all. I'm no expert in this of course, but how can something like this actually live?
Was there enough organs in its smaller body? Their limbs didn't seem to be developing all too well, but they could run fast and even jump a great height. So weird.
Maybe I should catch one alive next time.
[Nnー, well, next?]
I hadn't been going in a straight line, instead almost like I was zigzagging my way to the east.
Why did I do that you ask? Let's just say that I'm doing a preliminary survey on the forest.
I wished to get in touch with the local people, if any, so I've been marching toward any sign of life I sensed along the way.
So far I've found three goblins settlements and two troll's nests.
Communicating with them was impossible, so when they attacked me I had no choice but to annihilate them all.
It may seem unreasonable on my part, but it'll be troublesome if they attacked my territory in the future. If communication was possible, I'd rather convince hostile locals to leave instead.
My detection radar was currently deployed at its full range.
It should cover a radius of one kilometer now… Nn? I thought I sensed a reaction just now. But it immediately disappeared?
There were six reactions, but they disappeared almost immediately. Yosh, let's investigate it. I promptly rushed toward the direction of those reactions.
I said rush, but I didn't necessarily run on the ground though. More like jumping and weaving my way from one tree to another.
Since unexpectedly there are differences in height, sometimes I ended up using rock as my springboard instead of tree. I could just fly with wind magic, but doing so might cause me to miss out the ruins hidden under the canopy of the trees.
I already found some ruins, what seemed like a relic of the past along the road by travelling this way. Although I refrained from exploring them right now.
Suddenly, while I was rushing through the wood, I sensed a little sign of danger.
It's coming from the front, so I prepared to brace against it by crossing my arms forward. Of course I didn't even bother to slow down.
[UWOAAaaaaa!? What the hell is thiiiis!?]
I unintentionally screamed as my body was being held suspended in the air by something invisible.
Something was fired at me from somewhere, then I was caught in it in a blink of an eye. What is this? Spider thread? It looked like a giant cobweb.
Gasari.
I heard a rustling noise, so I forced my ensnared body to turn to the source of the sound.
A woman's torso emerged upside down from the trees. Since I lurched forward and got stuck on the cobweb upside down as well, it's like we're facing each other normally.
The only telling that we were upside down was her beautiful, seemingly shoulder length silver hair, which from my perspective was rising up, when it was actually dangling down due to gravity. She had a fair feature, with ruby red eyes.
The thing is, she had three pairs of similarly ruby red colored jewels lining up from the top of her eyebrow on her forehead. So it's like I was being stared at by four pairs of eyes at the same time.
Following the gravity, the woman descended from the tree.
She landed on the ground with a fairly loud thud.
[Monster girl… So there is actually such a thing!]
The woman's lower body was that of a spider itself.
No, perhaps it's more exact to say that it's as if the woman's pelvis was connected to where the spider's head should be.
She slowly walked towards me, moving with her seemingly sturdy red shelled spider body. She made a loud noise when she jumped down earlier, but her movement was quick and barely had any sound.
Now that I could look a bit closer, I realized that the woman's torso actually truly seemed like it was connected to a spider's body, as the spider itself still retained its head. As if the woman's body grew right behind its head.
The skin color of her human body looked similar if not the same as a regular human. And she had a rather huge pair of breasts, although unfortunately they were hidden under a beautiful blue kimono. Hers are probably of similar size to that of Princess Calinella's.
Now that I think about it, she's wearing a kimono! The design seemed to be close to that of a yukata.
[You don't seem to be scared.]
She tilted her head slightly, as if finding the entire fiasco to be strange. Umu, she looks both beautiful and cute at the same time.
[I was kinda surprised when this cobweb caught me though.]
[Right. Humans are usually afraid when they see my kind.]
That said, she approached and stroked my cheek, before suddenly kissing me on the lips. And it was a rather deep kiss too.
I didn't know what she's intending to do, but I let her do her thing. Sweet tasting liquid which couldn't possibly be normal saliva entered my mouth. Is this what she wanted to do?
I didn't relent not because she's a beautiful looking woman or something along that line, okay? Look, I'm bound on the cobweb and all.
Ah, but this might end up turning into something deeper and troublesome. No, no, I mustn't.
But you see, Marl said that she would forgive me for playing around a bit as long as she remained number one in my heart. See, I'm forgiven!
Sorry. I couldn't help it. I'm just a man after all.
[First of all, I have a woman who I have pledged myself to marry some time soon.]
[It's no big deal, right?]
[You're right. But there's still my conscience to deal with.]
[Just shoo the buzzing flies away… however, can you really handle it?]
I could actually break through my restraints as long as I put in some effort. And I'm immune to poisons. So yes, I definitely can handle it.
[No way, it's just one kiss but my heart is beating fast now. There's no way it's love, right?]
[That should be the effect of my venom. It causes intense palpitation and shortness of breath, also some amount of excitement.]
There was another shocking revelation.
[Doesn't sound all that dangerous.]
[Sometimes it can cause the heart to explode.]
[Uwooo!? Now that sounded dangerous! There is no way I'm gonna ingest something like that willingly! Wait, what do you want to do with me that you resorted into force feeding that venom to me?!]
[ isn't it already obvious?]
The female spider person let out a bewitching smile as she licked my cheek.
[Please stop! Are you going to be violent on me!? Like those ero doujins! Must be like those ero doujins!]
[I don't know what this ero doujins you mentioned all about, but yes, I'm going to be violent. In a predatory way.]
Uwaa, it's really here! The perfect situation for me. I have lots of excuses to defend myself now.
This must be that, right? The local ero folks. I want to ask more things to make sure! Heck, let's just ask away!
[Sexually?]
[Physically.]
Nn?
[….not in a sexual way?]
[Physically.]
Un, I thought so. There's no way such a convenient development could exist.
Sorry, Marl. I was too feisty. Now I got scammed. You are truly the best girl after all.
[Let's just stop here. Since we can talk, there's no need for us to fight. Anyway, do you really seriously want to eat human meat that much?]
[Ah? Really now? Why should I lie to you, you silly.]
[Dammit! I've been had!]
In the midst of my playing around, I could sense several presence similar to the female spider person coming from some distance away.
They're pretty fast. Probably because they adapted to move freely in a forest.
[Good catch. A human? That's rare.]
A male spider person came out from the bushes with a rustle. Like the female spider person in front of me, the male human body seemed to grow around the base of the spider's neck. He also wore a kimono, this one was leaf green colored. Something like a hook hung on his waist.
His face was the typical good looking type, although with compound eyes. He brought his face closer to me and eyed me intently.
Would you stop that? I don't like it when a man is looking at me that closely.
[Take him home for the time being. The poison?]
[He ingested it, but it didn't seem to affect him much. Maybe he's resistant.]
[Then how about giving him more?]
[Alright I'll do it.] (TL: this is the male spider speaking.)
[NostupidsorrypleasestopSTOOoooooooop!]
I twisted my body and resisted desperately. There's no way I'll let the man deep kiss me in the same way the female spider person did, absolutely no way.
The cobweb was dangerously close from tearing due to my violent twisting.
Meanwhile the other spider persons emerged. Making a total of five.
[Shall we go?]
My body was removed from the cobweb, then placed on the back of the female spider person who first caught me. Due to the positioning, I was presented with her shapely butt right in front of my face. What a good fortune. Namu amitabha namu amitabha
Perhaps they would transport me to the village, or nest, or something similar.
Oh, we're moving. It's a fairly shaky ride, but fast. And the swaying butt in front of me, nice, nice, the shaking isn't as uncomfortable now.
After about 10 minutes of shaky ride on the back of the female spider person, suddenly the forest opened up and we arrived in a wide clearing. And on this clearing stood several large buildings.
There were also many doors on the ground. Kinda like hurricane shelter. But these doors were bigger than the one I remember.
The spider person group was heading to one of the larger buildings.
[So, what about me?]
[I'm sorry but you're going to die.]
The female spider person replied to me as she walked toward the building in haste.
There were quite a few other spider people we passed by. All of them were wearing yukata or the more casual old japanese style clothes.
Observing these clothes with my appraisal eyes, all of them were displayed as clothing made from high quality 『Arachnean Silk』. So they weaved their clothes from their own threads?
Looks pretty comfortable. Can I have one?
[We've arrived.]
[Oh… hoooh?]
The big building seemed to be a warehouse.
Dried meats of various animals and fishes were hanging from the ceiling. Barrels full with contents were lined up neatly. Colorful vegetables and fruits were stashed in baskets made of woven plants.
Oohh, this is the first time I feel this kind of atmosphere in this world.
[Hey, onee-san.]
[What is it?]
[I guess this is the so-called grocery store, am I correct?]
[Oh, you actually got it. That's praiseworthy.]
[You're not going to literally eat me, right?]
[We do eat meat, but it won't be physically violent. That's just a lie.]
Right then, the female spider person acted as if she was excited for the meal. Inwardly, I was too horrified from realizing that she was able to tell a lie on top of another lie convincingly.
By the way, even her small gestures looked beautiful. I guess being good looking is the norm for their race.
[Please don't scare me more than necessary? If it's possible, make it so that it's not scary.]
[Isn't that too selfish for you to say?]
I knew for a fact that I could easily break their restraints and that their venom didn't do anything to me, so there's really no reason for me to be scared. Their size might be huge and intimidating, but I'm already used to it even in my original world. Only in game though.
[I'm truly interested. What kind of race they are, why they live here, and what kind of culture they have. And most of all, their clothing style.]
After a little bit of more talk, another female spider person in a luxurious looking kimono appeared before us.
Mumu, she's certainly a beautiful looking one. Just like my captor, she had a pair of normal eyes along with three pairs of ruby colored compound eyes. But unlike most other female spider people I had seen up until now, her hair was silky black instead of silver.
Her shell was of darker color and looked sturdier, making her seem like the boss of the group. It also makes me wonder if she's the village head, if I can even call this place a village.
[Fumu, this man is…?]
The black haired female spider person leaned her head down to get a good look at me. I also looked back courageously. In actuality, I was just trying to use appraisal eyes on her.
=====
Name: Kusuha Tsuchimi (TL Note: クスハ＝ツチミ)
Level: 38
Skill: Polearms Mastery 3, Martial Arts 4, Danger Detection 2, Presence Detection 3, Stealth 3, Barrier Magic 3, Recover Magic 3, Earth Magic 3, Water Magic 2, Wind Magic 2, Fire Magic 1, String Instrument Mastery 3, Cooking 3, Sewing 4, Handicraft 4, Appraisal Eye, Sticky Thread, Steel Thread, Poison Thread
Title: Biological Weapon, Command Unit, Predator, One who broke the spell, Intelligent Monster, Monster Commander, Leader, Weaving Master, too late to marry, 100 years virgin, Widow (fake), 500 years virgin
Crime: none (probation)
=====
Nngeeee!? She actually also has the appraisal eye!?
I felt myself sweating buckets upon reading the result shown by the appraisal eye.
There was an odd silence.
The spider people around us tilted their heads as they looked at both of us in confusion. Why of course, our situation would not be obvious for those without the appraisal eye skill.
Anyway, let's release the restraint first.
I pulled out the threads of the cobweb forcefully, freeing myself, then I stood back up and dusted off the remnant of the threads stuck on my body. My action of course caused the surrounding spider people to gasp in surprise.
This thread, it's actually quite durable. It's at least on the same level as mithril.
[Greetings, spider-people. I am the Hero.]
『UEEEEEeeeeeeeeee!?』
I was actually expecting something like 『AIiiee!? Hero!? Why is the Hero is here!?』
What came after was a mess.
There were some who promptly escaped after but a glance, some who readied themselves to attack with whatever they had in hands, several who tried to stop the others from acting rashly, a few who remained still with a calm face, and the rest who stood there not knowing what to do…. By the way, the leader was among those who tried to stop the others from acting rashly.
[P, please stop! It's futile! Even if all of us combined were to attack him, we would still be unable to beat him! He'll kill us all! Stop! Please forgive us! We are just trying to live peacefully here! Please forgive us!]
The beautiful black haired spider-person begged me in tears. Meanwhile I was busy trying not to kill anyone who attacked me and only subduing them.
Or should I just put up a magic barrier? No, using magic in such confined space might do more harm than I want.
Moreover, fighting here might risk ruining the stored food. Let's take this outside then.
I escaped from the food store while deflecting any attacks that were aimed at me. It took a few minutes because those attacks came flying from all directions. I didn't attack back even once.
When any arrows or javelins came my way, I would grab them with my bare hand and tossed them aside. Close range attacks that used melee weapons or their spider legs were avoided with my awesome agility.
My path was rive with torn cobwebs, broken javelins and arrows. They really intended to kill me there.
[That is enough. I sincerely apologize for all this, please forgive us…]
And with that, the leader actually exhibited what appeared to be a dogeza.
Following their beautiful black haired leader, the other spider-people also fell on their knees, albeit begrudgingly. If it's like this, it's as if I was the bad guy here.
Now that I looked around, there were actually regular people around here as well. What does this mean?
[No, well… It's alright. I'm not hurt or anything. Since you all have calmed down, please raise your heads. We'll talk.]
Having heard my reply, the beautiful spider-person leaderーーKusuha sighed in relief.
[We call ourselves Arachneans now. In the past our kind were just referred to as the Type-26 special infantry.]
[….how come your kind have two names?]
I was invited to one of the underground hurricane shelter-like abodes around the back of the clearings, where I and Kusuha had a talk over a cup of what seemed to be green tea.
Something that didn't sound fitting in with the fantasy setting, such as that special infantry, suddenly came out.
[The name Arachneans were given to us naturally upon coming to this world, while Type-26 special infantry was the name assigned to us by our creators. However, since we've greatly altered ourselves to the point that we could no longer be considered Type-26 special infantry, we've opted to refer to ourselves as the Arachneans.]
Kusuha explained briefly.
In ancient times, Kusuha and the other Arachneans were formerly one of the many biological weapons created by their creators. At that time, they had no reasoning nor ability to think. They were just monsters seeking to consume any living beings that are not similarly a biological weapon.
However, as time went by, individuals who acquired reasonings and ability to think started appearing. Perhaps, a mutation?
[Maybe, after a long time, the technique used to control our mind was weakened. We were created with a human body after all, so we naturally have our own reasons and intelligence.]
But when they finally regained their intelligence, it was already too late.
Most intelligent beings in the continent, including humans, had considered them as mindless monsters. It became difficult for them to settle or blend in.
Therefore they decided to live peacefully in a place where humans rarely set foot.
[I noticed some amount of humans living in here earlier.]
[As I said already, we have a human body as part of our physiology, so naturally we can mate with one.]
[Really? That's gotta be one of the many mysteries of life.]
Do they bear eggs or an embryo? I mean, if they bear babies like mammals, won't the child hurt the mother when they give birth?
And what would the child be? Probably mostly Arachneans seeing how many of them living in here.
[To tell the truth, we don't scorn the humans. We rescue humans who were lost in the forest or injured by monsters. We only allowed those who truly willing to live among us to stay here.]
[If they refuse?]
[We would cast a magic that will erase their memory about us, and take them to the edge of the forest. Well, some of the humans were disabled from the monster attack. They won't be able to make a living even if we took them back outside. So we let them live here and even feed them. Our race might be different, but it's a moot point after they became family and even had children with us.]
Except for the spider part, all of the Arachneans, both male and female, were particularly good looking after all.
Although it makes me wonder how would it be to have sex with them. I mean, with their body being like that, normal positions wouldn't do.
[Is there something not to your liking?]
[My mind just wandered off for a bit there. Anyways, I still have other things to ask.]
I suppose it's only natural for a man to be interested, especially to a beautiful looking one like Kusuha. Eh? Aren't I right? It's outside the norm? I'm fine with it.
So I told Kusuha about my plan.
That I'm about to claim ownership of the forest with the approval of Karendil and Miscronia. Then afterward, I'm going to build a village where demi-humans like the beastkin could live in, as well as opening a new trade route between Karendil and Miscronia.
[….we have been hiding in this forest quietly for a very long time. Even if you claim ownership, there is no way we will accept it.]
[I guess you're right.]
I nodded.
I certainly don't know how long they've lived here, but the forest not only served as their home, but also the fortress that protected them from the outside world.
If someone suddenly appears and said 『This forest is mine!』, there is no way they'll reply with,『Yes, we understand』just like that.
[Why did you choose this forest in the first place? There should be many other suitable lands out there]
[Because I'm planning to recruit the beastkin to become my people, I thought that it'll be best if the land has a lot of natural forest. Second, my soon-to-be wife is the princess of Miscronia Kingdom, so the closer to Miscronia, the better.]
[In that case, why not claim the land in Miscronia Kingdom territory?]
[Well, since it's just me, I want to create a country that is just for me. Therefore I need it to be on an undeveloped land where the laws of both countries do not reach.]
[…..what kind of country would that be?]
[A country where humans, beastkins, arachneans, and other intelligent beings could live together equally. That way, I can enjoy the fluffiness of the beastkin, and wear the comfortable arachnean clothing, without anyone raising their eyebrows at me.]
[You are going to include us?]
[And I will certainly make it worthwhile. I want you. Therefore, I will protect you.]
Kusuha stared at me with all four pairs of her eyes intently. Seemingly trying to look deep inside me.
And I looked back at her in return. There is nothing to hide. In fact, I felt no need to hide anything.
Arachnean clothing looks so similar to japanese yukata. It would not be a dream anymore to see Marl in a yukata if this cooperation goes through.
[Your eyes are brimming with desire.]
[Well, I'm doing all this for myself after all. My wife will come to explain the details sometime soon, we will negotiate for real at that time. I haven't talked to Miscronia Kingdom just yet, but I believe the result is a foregone conclusion.]
I scratched my head.
Clearly, I couldn't give anything solid at this point of time.
[I will visit again soon, is there anything you need? If there is, I'll certainly try to procure it as much as possible.]
[No no, it seems that you were in the middle of heading somewhere else, so we can't impose on you. I'll cast the memory erasing magic on you if you want to leave this place.]
[What if I refused? Will you force it? Do you think you can do that to me?]
Kusuha bit her lips after hearing my response. Since she had appraisal eyes, she should know how unreasonable it was for her to force anything on me.
It's unfair, I know, but my violent background is the strongest card I could use in times like this. I had no intention to give up, so I just have to use it to the fullest.
I'll even take it as a compliment if someone called me a dirty coward.
[…how dirty, so cowardly.]
[Hahahaha! Well, just consider yourself getting caught in a natural disaster. I won't make things worse. As long as we can communicate, there is a room for negotiation. All the better if you have something I want.]
As I laughed, I also took out some daggers and spears from my inventory, then showcased them side by side in front of Kusuha.
Kusuha raised her eyebrows, probably curious on how I pulled something out from thin air. But her expression changed as soon as she laid eyes on the dagger. She took it and started observing it.
[I've lived for a long time, but this is only the second time I've seen items like this]
She unsheathed the dagger, and examined the blade closely.
Obviously Kusuha could see the 『Transcendent』quality of the dagger with her appraisal eyes. But she had seen one with similar quality before, isn't that quite praiseworthy?
[I crafted that myself. If you are willing to cooperate with me, I can provide you with these weapons. In return, I want the kimono weaved by the arachneans. Not bad of a deal, huh?]
Because both of us had appraisal eyes, there's no way any of us could cheat.
[Anyways, I'll be on my way toward Miscronia Kingdom again. If there are other people who I can talk to, please inform me the next time I visit here. Alright then, please think about it.]
[I can't really refuse, can I?]
If you refused to follow me and threatened that you'd fight till your kind completely died out, then I'm sure I'd back down immediately. Even I wouldn't go that far.
Of course, I won't interfere in any more than that.
[Well, I guess so.]
But there's no way I let her know about my real thought, so I deliberately left it ambiguous.
Kusuha let out a deep sight. Un, that was really bad of me indeed. Though I won't apologize for it.
=====
[…Ha!?]
[What's the matter?]
[I got a feeling that Taichi has set his eyes on a new woman!]
[Is that not good? As long as it is worth the effort.]
[That's the problem, the feeling I got this time felt a bit different from last time.]
[I see… then shall we interrogate him tonight?]
[Let's do that! I'll take the first turn.]
[That's the same thing as yesterday. Today it shall be me first.]
[Gununu.]