[I want to taste itー, just a little bit pleaseー]
The forest that separates Miscronia and Karendil turned out to be much larger than I thought.
The ruins where we fought off the assassins squad from Karendil Kingdom was actually situated by the entrance of the forest. The Arachneans' village was also closer to Karendil Kingdom.
Traversing through the forest would probably take 10 or more days on foot, provided one traveled on a well maintained road. All the stories I heard in Crossroad and the information I read from the materials deposited in Karendil capital's Magic Academy gave me the impression that the forest was a small one…I suppose they found no need to have an accurate information considering that no human was known to live inside the forest both at present and the past.
If one wanted to make a trade route, they'll have to make a road wide enough for two carriages to pass through side by side. It's also important to maintain the road, establish security posts, and build safety fences or walls.
I've been running through the forest for a while since I departed from the Arachnean village.
But so far I hadn't seen the end of the forest yet. I jumped up past the green canopy of the trees to look around, but I still couldn't see the end of it either. I'm pretty sure that I'm heading to the right direction since I've been consulting with the direction display set on the menu regularly.
To that end, I felt that it'll be near impossible to develop the entire forest. It's just way too large of a forest.
[This place is like a labyrinth…]
In front of me stood a huge wavy shadow.
No, was it really just one?
『Shhaaaaaaaa!』
A peculiar but intimidating voice came out from the shadow as several mouths became wide open. There were eight of them.
Some kind of gas leaked out from their open mouths, and apparently the gas caused the surrounding trees to decay. I'm not really worried since I'm immune to poison, but I don't like how their power destroyed nature like that.
Nah, I didn't have the right to say all that. I intended to use a maximum explosion to create an instant vacant lot myself.
Now that I think about it, if only the assassination squad back then was not ordered to capture me, the situation would've been much more dangerous. With my equipment and abilities of those days, defeating the assassins that intended to kill me would be a lot harder, and I might've ended up dead.
[Their hides seem like they can be good mats for armor.]
Perhaps seeing that their poison breath didn't work on me, they stretched out their snake-like head upon me.
Eight heads in total.
[Well, let's see here. Hydra is a type of dragon, its scales and leather seem to be slightly stronger.]
Eh, hold your horses there. Shouldn't a Hydra initially have nine heads? Don't tell me that this one here is an actual Yamata no Orochi? Would a legendary sword appear if I cut its tail?
[Yoーsh, give your tail to papaー!]
I closed the gap, avoiding the rushing heads and simply used my fist laced in magic power to repel those that I couldn't evade.
Extreme close quarter combat is always effective against very large opponents, as they have bigger blindspots to match their size.
Ah, I accidently hit one head way too hard, causing it to evaporate.
TheYamata no Orochi wannabe hydra let out a pained hiss.
I promptly took that opening to sneak along its body, towards its tail.
Brandishing the mithril sword I hadn't really had any chance to use up until now, I swung at its tail. The blade cut the tail down with barely any resistance. Let's dismantle it later and see――oh, it's trying to escape.
Hahaha, where are you trying to go?
[I'll grill you goodー!]
I happened to feel hungry since it's almost lunchtime. I guess the menu today is grilled orochi meat.
It was only grilled with some salt applied, but the meat was unusually delicious. The fat, as well as the meat were much softer than I expected. This might be good for soup.
When I examined the meat, only the parts around the poison glands were poisonous.
I think I'll take this back home so that Marl can enjoy it as well. Jack-san certainly could cook this better than me.
Eh, what happened to the Yamata no Orochi you ask? Well, it tried to escape, so I simply chased and tore it apart.
By the way, there really was a sword inside its tail. Well, sword-shaped bone to be exact.
Its shape was that of a symmetrical straight sword. The blade length was less than 1 meter long. It has this glossy white color. Its edge has probably similar sharpness to the ceramic knife of my original world. The tip was also sharp, I bet it could easily pierce a human's body.
When I appraised it, it was listed as『Great Serpent Orochi Bone Sword』. It's displayed as a『Special Item』and could also be used as a weapon. So fitting for a fantasy setting.
However, my blacksmithing skill considered this as an unprocessed item. Perhaps I can sharpen or strengthen it to improve its quality.
By the way, the time was… Just past 2 PM. Let's push it a bit further.
After finishing my lunch, I continued travelling eastward.
[I'm homeー]
When the sky was getting darker I decided to pause my journey and teleported back to my mansion in Alfen. It doesn't make any sense to try to camp in the middle of a forest where monsters are roaming around.
[Ah, welcome back.]
Maybell, carrying a heavy hemp bag from the basement, welcomed me. I took over the hemp bag away from her. There were potatoes inside?
Despite the fantasy setting, vegetables in this world were surprisingly normal. A potato is a potato, tomatoes are tomatoes, the cucumber is cucumber. I guess the only exception was just a vegetable which had a color and shape like pepper but tasted sweet instead.
I guess it's a good thing that many plants in this world were the same as my original world. The rice for instance.
It's a world with magic, causing its history and ecosystem to differ quite a lot from my previous world. But who would've expected that plants weren't affected as much by this difference? Although there are indeed plants with magical property.
Whatever. We'll figure out this mystery little by little.
[Is it for dinner? Let me carry it for you.]
[Thank you very much.]
Jack-san was in the middle of preparing dinner when I and Maybell arrived in the kitchen.
By the way, Jack-san wore a white apron and a chef hat in addition to his regular butler attire.
[Welcome back, Master.]
[Yeah, I brought back a souvenir.]
Saying so, I took out the orochi's meat cutlets. The skin had been peeled and the blood drained off properly. Long live the inventory dismantle function.
Aside from the meat, Yamata no Orochi-san really gave out a diverse amount of mats. For instance, the poison glands, blood, leather, and fangs. The highlight was the Serpent Dragon Eye, from its eyeballs.
When I appraised it, apparently it's a special material that could automatically collect and store magic power. If I craft it into accessories, it seems that the accessory can function as a semi permanent magic power generator or something like that.
[Taichi-san, welcome back!]
While I was still deep in thought, Marl suddenly appeared after forcefully opening the kitchen door. Oi oi, someone is cooking food here.
Was Marl staying in the mansion all day? I rarely seen her wearing the alchemist attire like right now, especially not that dirty. It's a pity though, since her alchemist attire offers very little exposure due to the danger in handling chemicals.
[Ohh, there there.]
I hugged Marl and stroked her head. Hers wasn't as fluffy as the beastkin furs, but her maroon hair really felt nice to touch.
For some reason Marl nuzzled to my chest, listening to my heart beat. What was she up to now?
[…..I don't think there's anything in particular.]
[What is it?]
[No no, I'm just muttering to myself.]
Marl smiled at me. Ooh, I knew this face, I saw this same face yesterday. I'll tell her later since I don't think there's nothing wrong about it. Regarding the Arachneans I mean.
Finally noticing the souvenir I brought back, Marl turned her attention away.
[?? Those are some delicious looking meat. What meat is this?]
[The meat of a large eight headed serpent I encountered in the depth of the forest. I tried grilling it and applied some salt to it for lunch. It's quite delicious.]
[Will it be alright to eat it?]
[It should be alright. Maybe.]
Both the poison glands and blood had been properly removed, so yeah?
The dinner menu consisted of orochi-ryu steak, mashed potato, potato potage, and hot vegetable salad.
The surface of the meat was wafting with the fragrance of fat and the inside was juicy. When I chewed, juicy and delicious broth filled my mouth. Added with Jack-san's specially made onion sauce, only one portion would not be enough.
Oh, the potato dishes were also delicious.
[What did we eat just now again?]
After having dinner and taking a bath, Marl was outraged when hearing about the yamata no orochi and its potent poison. Fufufu, understandable.
[But it's delicious, so it's fine!]
Her anger was lighter than expected. Preparing to call it a day, Marl jumped and buried herself into my embrace as I already lied on the bed.
[Oof, I can still feel it if you jump at me like that.]
[Nfufu, but it feels good, does it not? Taichi-san also does not mind, am I right?]
Marl who was on top of me stuck her body closely to mine, nuzzling her face around my chest, then took a deep breath.
[Ahー, now I feel calm. Taichi-san, can you hug me tight?]
[Alright.]
As per her request, I hugged Marl's body tightly.
Marl's body heat and her weight on top of me, as well as the scent of soap mixing together with Marl's own scent felt so calming. I felt like I wanted to just abandon everything and flirt like this for as long as possible.
[Ahー, I shouldn't, I really shouldn't]
[Fufu, what if I say you canー?]
Marl's soft hair tickled my nose.
Ah, not yet, not yet. I can't give in to my lust just yet. There's still something I wanted to discuss.
Still hugging Marl, I rolled my body sideway so our gazes could meet. Ah, nn, wait, Marl stop! Stop licking! Stay! Marl, stay!
[Mumu, what is it?]
[I need to consult you about what I found in the forest earlier today.]
[I was left alone all day and I need to replenish my Taichi-san energy right now, or else my mood will go real bad. That can wait until after!]
[No, wait, what kind of reasoning was that――Aaa―!?]
She didn't even listen to me and proceeded to begin the ancient magic ritual with haste. Be a bit gentle will you?
Fine, it's war then.
[Shit. Did I overdo it!?]
I got too absorbed in doing it, that when I finally snapped out of it, I found Marl had ascended to the heavenly sky with a face that should never be seen by anyone else.
Nonono, I've really overdone it. Teehee.
Can't be helped. I'll just clean us up and wait until tomorrow to report my findings.
[Arachnean, is it?]
The next day, Marl's face looked troubled after she heard about the Arachneans that I encountered inside the forest yesterday.
[They are well known monsters often mentioned in legends. Horrible spider monster with the upper body of a human. It is said that they used their spider thread to capture humans and devour them alive.]
Seriously? Were they that scary? I was able to talk with them normally yesterday.
Perhaps they're more known for their deeds before regaining their reasonings.
[They were mostly rational and even humorous when I met them though.]
It's almost like a black joke.
[Is that really so? Also, it is believed that they've gone extinct. There was no sighting at all for at least the past 100 years. In a way, it is a huge discovery!]
[I don't particularly care about it being a big discovery or whatnot. The clothes woven by the Arachneans are more important to me. It's beautiful and feels good to the touch. I want to make it our special product by any means possible.]
[I see. Fabric with superb quality… Certainly, it is probably one of the best choices to be made as a specialty product. The question is whether the people can accept the Arachneans' existence. But I think that as long as Taichi-san vouches for them, everything should be just fine.]
Hearing her opinion on this matter, I nodded back to Marl. At least within my own territory I can resort to physical solutions, but there's no way I could do the same to both Miscronia kingdom and Karendil Kingdom.
[Please be careful, will you, Taichi-san? Taichi-san himself may not be troubled by it, but I AM worried about you travelling through dangerous places on your own.]
Marl hugged my arm and pleaded to me with her gaze. I nodded once more and returned her hug with a gentle embrace.
[Alright. I'll try to return home everyday before it gets dark.]
[Yes, please do.]
Marl smiled and pecked a kiss on me.
[Okay then, what do we do today?]
After getting dressed and having breakfast, I started planning for today while doing a stretching exercise in the courtyard.
I needed to check on the beastkin village to see whether the barrier was effective or not. Visiting the Arachnean village sounded good too.
But most importantly, I need to reach Miscronia kingdom as soon as possible. According to Marl, the country wasn't endangered by the Flood since it's guarded by several heroes. Therefore, if I want to help, it's best to arrive as early as possible.
I had no urgent need to visit the Arachnean village at the moment. So I guess today will be visiting the beastkin village then heading straight to Miscronia kingdom.
There were actually many other things I'd want to do, such as developing new weapons and learning how to forge magic weapons. But I guess that should wait.
[Time is money, let's go fast.]
Focusing my magic, I casted a long range transfer to the beastkin village.
My vision was distorted for a moment before the scenery around me changed almost instantly.
[Kyaah!? You, how did you get here!?]
I saw a delicate looking elf falling on her butt nearby. Melchina, was it?
I only remember her as a tsundere elf that can cause a troll's head to explode with a single arrow.
[Sorry for barging in. I just did a long range transfer from the royal capital Alfen.]
[Ahh? The distance from here to Alfen should take days if travelling on foot. That's a spell that is difficult even for a high level sorcerer, isn't it?]
[Nn, I'm a hero after all.]
Hearing my reply, Melchina gave the kind of face as if she's looking at something disgusting. Oh please, don't look at me so much.
[By the way, I came here today to check if the barrier is working fine. Was there any changes, or probable inconvenience?]
[I don't have any idea what you are talking about. I've been staying at home.]
Hearing Melchina's answer, I unconsciously tilted my head.
Now that I think about it, how come an elf like her stays in a beastkin village?
[I helped a beastkin that was being captured by humans sometime ago. I don't have the heart to leave them as it was, so I decided to escort them to this village. I've been staying here as a guard since then.]
Melchina lightly replied when I asked why.
[Fuhn, how long have you been staying in this village?]
[I didn't really count, but I guess around ten years already.]
[Oya? I thought the event you mentioned only happened recently.]
[Ha? No, it happened about a decade ago.]
I felt like there's a huge gap in our sense of time passage.
At the very least, I think the beastkin fellows are safe. And considering that she's still here doing nothing, she didn't seem to be lying.
But in any case, she's of no help here. I needed to find someone else.
[I feel like I've been treated improperly.]
[Just shut up if you can't help. Just lick your candy somewhere else.]
As I said so, I took out a candy from my inventory and handed it over to her.
At first she inspected and even sniffed at the candy as if it's the first time she saw something like it. But then she tried licking it, and now seemed to be liking it.
Anyway, perhaps I should try the warehouse. There should be someone there.
[Oh, you're here.]
Torn was already waiting there near the warehouse. Sounded like he knew that I came.
[I caught your scent in the air.]
[As expected from a dog.]
[I'm a wolf!]
Ignoring Torn who bared his fangs angrily at me, I asked him about the situation.
[The situation is good in general. Almost all the injured have been healed, and we have sufficient food to last for a while. Thanks to the barrier, there hasn't been any monster attacks since yesterday.]
[One more.]
[Ho. I didn't know how effective the barrier would be, but things look good so far. I'd like to investigate the barrier a bit, so come with me.]
I began patrolling the perimeter of the village alongside Torn while regularly handing more candy to Melchina who kept sticking out her hand asking for more.
The villagers were looking at me with a more favorable gaze now. Some stopped to bow and thank me or wave their hand at me. Hahaha, it feels good alright.
If I help them a little bit more, maybe I can start asking for a little compensation. Fufufu, my plan to secure fluff is off to a good start.
[It seems that the mood in the village is improving.]
[Yeah, we've started repairing the damaged houses and fields. Those who aren't confident with their physical strength gather together to cook for everyone.]
[I see. It's good to have a lot of space to spare. How about the children?]
[One more.]
[Playing around, helping the adults, and whatnot.]
I passed another candy to Melchina while turning my head to the direction that Torn pointed to.
Kari, karikari, boriboribori (TL note:sfx)
Both beastkin and half beast children ran around playfully. Sherry and Karen could be seen among them.
It seemed that Karen and Sherry were the oldest among the children of this village. So rather than playing along with the other, they were actually watching over the younger children.
But well, kids should play around and smile like kids should be.
[One more.]
[Cut it out already, you little. This is the last one, give the rest to the kids.]
I pressed the bag of candy to Melchina's hand, then shooed her away. Really, useless elf.
Regardless of what I think about her, Melchina seemed to be well-liked by the children. She mixed in quickly and joined their little game in no time――oi oi, using magic to accelerate yourself in a game of chase is cheating! What a foxy look she had there.
Afterward, I went to check the mithril dagger I used as the core of the barrier, but as it turned out it's still working fine. As far as I could see with the appraisal eye, there's no signs of deterioration, so I could leave it as it is.
[It seems that there's no problem with the barrier for now. If there is nothing else, I'll be going now.]
[Why so rushing? Busy?]
[The forest leading to Miscronia turns out to be much wider that I thought. I need to reach Miscronia as soon as possible to aid them with the Flood.]
[I see. Take care then. If you're in such a rush, then maybe you should stop travelling on foot.]
[Aiyo, thank you for the advice.]
Having said that, I focused and cast long range transfer to where I left off.
[But it's really wide, isn't it?]
To be honest this was my miscalculation.
Originally, I chose to travel on foot to have a better grasp on the scale of the forest and to find the shortest route through it.But normally even with horse-drawn carriage, it will still take three to four days.
Ah right. I found a new function on the map menu. I could actually place a marker anywhere on the map as long as I've visited the place once. By linking the marker with the long range transfer magic, it's possible to do a pinpoint long distance teleport now.
This made using transfer much easier. I hadn't really checked the map menu often before, that's why I was late to learn about this feature. I only started consulting it more often because I remembered that there is an auto mapping function.
I continued to sprint by using the tree roots and rocks, sometimes the trunk of a large tree, as a springboard. I believe my current speed is already much faster than horse-drawn carriage.
[…..should I try flying?]
I could return to survey the forest at my own pace after I'm done dealing with the Flood on Miscronia kingdom. I was taking it easy because I thought that it'd be a piece of cake, but the forest was much wider than I anticipated.
Using the trunk of the large tree as foothold, I made a huge leap upward.
While midair, I focused my magic power and casted flight.
[Iyaaaaaahhooooooーーー!]
I accelerated while also activating Wind Shield. I don't know how fast I'm going, not that I had a speedometer handy, but I had not broken through the sound barrier yet.
The sight of the sea of trees started to flow into a blur in my eyes. Oh, there was a particularly large tree there. Let's mark it on the map.
The end of the forest became visible 30 minutes after I started flying.
The trees became sparser, replaced by grassland. In the distance, I could make out what seemed to be a river which was glitterning under the sunlight.
And also, a lot of monsters and humans clashing in deathly battles.
Rain of arrows, as well as magic bullets of various attributes poured down at the monsters, killing many.
The monsters fought back with their fangs, claws, strong limbs, sturdy body, whatever they could use as a weapon to overwhelm the humans.
The humans formed a tight formation, protecting each other with the shields at hands, raising their spears or swords to perform a bloody festival upon the monsters.
Wherever I looked on the battlefield, there would be blood and corpses.
[Hoo, I think I arrived at the best moment.]
I flew over the battlefield, circling around in a large arc as I observed.
At this rate, the human forces will win.
There might be a lot of casualties on the human side, but the momentum is on the human side who could change formation and intercept the monsters' wild stampede accordingly.
Of course, breaking through the stampede would be impossible if their formation collapsed. They'd get trampled underfoot if that happened. However, the human will be superior so long as they remain firm and organized.
I guess the people's taxes are really not wasted on these soldiers.
[Now, how should I help them?]
Still flying around at high speed, I took out the bonded sword from inventory and concentrated my magic power into it. The sword's crystal core amplified my already enormous magic power, causing the sword to emit intense light.
Maintaining my focus, I casted the level 4 pure magic which would allow me to shoot a laser-like destructive force in a straight line.
I crossed the battlefield while firing a thick laser beam from the bonded sword, decimating a large flock of monsters. Nothing remained except the vitrified sand along the path where I shot the laser beam. My bonded sword is really too overspec-ed.
The human forces' rear guard, especially the mages, looked at me in awe. Amazing, isn't' it? But I'm not finished yet.
The bonded sword reacted and amplified my magic power once more as I casted another magic. This time I launched a maximum explosion, creating a lot of craters on the battlefield, erasing any monsters caught within each explosion.
[Explode!]
Three light bullets flew in succession, landing at the monsters' rear guard that hadn't even had any chance to engage in battle with the Miscronia kingdom army. Violent explosions followed.
Along with their screaming, any monsters caught within the radius of the explosion disappeared, leaving only a huge crater on the ground.
The monster horde fell into chaos thanks to my sudden intervention. Any monster that was lucky enough to not be in my maximum explosion radius started running away. While those who were already engaging the army in battle were taken down one by one.
Although they also didn't have any idea of what's really going on, Miscronia kingdom army took the opportunity to field their clean up squads. The cavalry forces that had been preserved at the rear marched out and began to work.
As for me, I continued to provide air support, shooting magic bullets at a cluster of monsters or large sized targets like trolls or ogres. The small explosion was more than enough to crush their body.
About half an hour later, the monsters were completely decimated, and the cheerings of the Miscronia kingdom army echoed throughout the battlefield.
=====
[Kuh, how cowardly to use magic!]
[Mel has no right to say that]
[Then return it to me. Please return it to me!]
[Unfair monopoly is not allowed, you should just give up]
[My candyー!]
[That person said to give the candy to the kids. That means it's our candy]