-Farming Corp’s Four’s POV-
A, we got a little too close.
Our eyes are locked with those of several beastkins.
What should we do now?
「Failed」
Fuh, I’m kind of upset.
I feel disoriented.
At times like this, I should calm down.
….this isn’t good desu.
Even though I know I shouldn’t, I still get nervous while making eye contact with a beastkin.
I’m not a scaredy cat.
I’m just not used to it!
I’ve always had this problem but those who were around me always stand out to solve it….
What should I do now?
-0-
I look at Five next to me.
He doesn’t seem to be panicking.
He looks calm and nice.
I envy him.
Suddenly, Five turns to me.
「Hnn?」
What is it?
You’re even tilting your head.
Could it be that you don’t know why I’m acting like this?
….eh? Seriously?
「We have to observe in secret, right? I think we made a mistake in our landing point.」
And it looks like I’m still too confused.
My words are all messed up.
Or rather, it sounds like I’m trying to put the blame on someone else.
Hnn?
I can feel a sign of major confusion from Five.
Could it be because of what I said?
I understand.
Even I was puzzled by what I said.
However, how can you convey your confusion with just a sign?
Could you at least show a more solid attitude?
Or at least say one word!
No, unnecessary.
I guess it would be better to see it in action rather than hearing the words.
In any case, just help me solve our current situation!
「…..」
….it’s useless.
-0-
I turned my gaze from Five to the beastkins.
Oya?
A few of them are looking above me, aren’t they?
There are signs of Shuri’s children and grandchildren above.
They’re observing too.
By the way, why are you showing yourselves too?
-0-
Hnn?
The group we’ve seen in the forest earlier has come.
Arara….we were sandwiched between them.
Well, just because we were sandwiched doesn’t mean we’re in danger.
However, it is still the best course of action to not be seen so we must move.
That includes you, Five.
-0-
What’s going on? The beastkins who came here first seem to be fluttering.
As I stared in curiosity, I saw someone making strange hand movements.
「「……」」
Ah, right!
Aren’t those the same gestures his lordship was doing before?
I don’t know why I feel excited but it’s probably because I haven’t seen it for a long time.
I miss it.
Just a little while ago, the only way his lordship could communicate with us was through gestures.
Back then, if you could interpret his lordship correctly, you will feel deep joy within you.
-0-
Suddenly, Five pulls me by the arm.
Ah…….
「Well, now that they’ve seen us, what should we do….?」
Right?
We should not forget about the current situation.
We can no longer change the fact that we were seen.
Even if we hit them on the head, we can only count on luck to erase their memories.
Then, the only thing we can do is to….
-0-
Hnn?
An antling came down from the tree.
Is there anything it needs?
It might be something important so let’s use wind magic to keep others from hearing it.
「Is there any problem?」
Hearing me say that, the antling put its leg on my shoulder.
「Are you okay? Looking at you from above, you looked kind of anxious.」
Apparently, it came because it was worried desu.
Embarrassing.
However, it’s nice that it was worried for me.
「Thank you. It’s because I failed. I needed to observe in secret but they saw me. I was thinking of erasing the….witness.」
Last resort!
There’s a little too many of them so we obviously shouldn’t do it!
「I don’t think you should do that. His lordship will be sad if he finds out. Yes, absolutely not!」
For some reason, the antling gets impatient.
And it said no because it would sadden his lordship.
Right.
His lordship is very kind and would be sad if we took this step.
「Have you thought about what the problem is?」
I nodded.
「Are you?」
For some reason, it let out a sigh.
I wonder why?
「Some kids aren’t perfect, I guess.」
Hnn?
The antling seemed to have said something but I couldn’t hear it.
I stared at it but it shook its head.
I’m a little curious but it can’t be helped.
「I don’t think you have to worry too much about being seen. The main objective is to observe a lot of normal people, right? That’s it! “What would normal people do if they encounter us?” is something you should observe, right?」
I see.
That might be a good idea.
However, would there be any normal people among the beastkin gathered here?
…..everyone’s similar.
In the first place, it’s too difficult to find someone normal.
「Do you know how to distinguish someone normal from someone who’s not?」
When I asked that, the antling looked at me strangely.
Did I say something strange?
「Are you okay～?」
I heard a voice from above.
I looked up and saw a grandspiderling coming from the forest.
「I’m okay desu.」
The antling raises its leg in greeting.
「Really? But there are more and more beastkin around, won’t that be a problem?」
The number of beastkins around is increasing?
Hearing what the grandspiderling said, I looked around.
It’s true that more beastkins are coming towards this place.
「We don’t want to disturb the beastkins, right? Shouldn’t we leave this place then?」
The antling looks up at the grandspiderling.
「I agree. That’s a good idea.」
The grandspiderling and the antlings started moving away from this place.
Speaking of which, why are they showing themselves too?
「I’m a little curious. Are the antlings and the grandspiderlings allowed to show yourselves?」
Hearing me say that, they look at each other.
「It doesn’t really matter.」
The grandspiderling nodded at the antling’s words.
I see.
「However, if we show up, it usually gets noisy so we’re usually hiding from them. This time, we came here because we heard a loud noise to check if everything was okay. When we found you here, I came to check you out.」
The grandspiderling pointed at a place a little further away.
There, I saw other grandspiderlings.
And for some reason, a commotion started around us.
「By the way, are you observing them?」
I shook my head at the grandspiderling’s question.
「All of them were weak. They shouldn’t be normal.」
The grandspiderling tilted its head.
「Weak? You didn’t expect the beastkins to be as strong as his lordship, didn’t you?」
I don’t think I did….no, I might be thinking unconsciously.
I see. So that’s the reason we can’t find someone normal.
「I think it is safe to assume that the beastkins around here are normal.」
「Eh?」
The antling’s words not only surprised me but Five too.
You mean, everyone here is normal?
Some of them can be considered weaker than Kuuhi and Usa….
「You mean, all of them?」
「Yeah」
「Even that one?」
Hnn?
Whose voice is that?
The antling and grandspiderling are looking at my side.
Beside me?
Five.
….that’s Five’s voice?
This is the first time I heard of it.
By the way, who is he pointing to?
「Ah, that」
The one who was leading the beastkins in the forest.
「That….」
Emotionally, I don’t want to observe that one.
Just looking at him makes me uncomfortable.
I wonder.
Why is that?
He shouldn’t be so different from the other beastkins around….ah, he hits the beastkin next to him.
「Areh? Is he pointing to us?」
Like the antling says, he seems to be pointing at us and saying something.
He seems to be very irritated.
Is it calcium deficiency?
No, there are vegetables in this world that can provide calcium.
But that’s not the information I need now.
「There desu!」
Hnn?
Whose voice is that?
Ah, it sounded from the newly arrived beastkins.
「More have come.」
The grandspiderling looked at the newly arrived beastkin as if it was a bit impressed.
More and more are gathering in this place.
That means we can observe them as much as we want.
However, there are a little too many.
We are completely surrounded by beastkins.
「They are too close to be observed.」
The antling was right.
「If you want to observe them, it would be better to do it from a distance.」
The antling and we nodded in agreement with the grandspiderling.
「Let’s move.」
After hearing me, Five looked relieved.
It seems like he was troubled by being surrounded.
「I know a good spot.」
A grandantling from above said so.
「Then, may I ask you to guide us?」
「Of course.」
The grandantling quickly started running toward the top of the tree.
Five and I followed it.
Hnn?
The other bugs are coming with us too.
「Whoah!」
「What’s going on?」
Hnn?
What’s that?
There are noises all around us.
-0-
The grandantling stood at the top of the tree and jumped toward the forest.
And of course, we followed it.
「They jumped!」
「Where are they going?」
They were noisy alright.
What was this gathering all about anyway?
The expressions on the faces of the beastkins I saw at the end of our meeting were so dumb…and funny….
They had all kinds of expressions on their faces.
Now, if we observe them, will we be able to tell what kind of gathering it was?
In the meantime, let’s do our best to observe from the nice place the grandantling is taking us.
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