『Woof!』
A loud howl jolted me awake.
It seemed to have roused Dori and the other explorers as well.
When I opened the window to check, I saw Potato running around on two legs, wielding a hoe.
Potato had never howled like that before, so I immediately realized something was wrong.
The explorers, just to be safe, grabbed their weapons and headed toward the fields.
「Is that a wild boar?」
There was a large animal leaping gracefully over the newly built fence.
At first, I thought it was a boar, but according to Lady, it seemed to be a monster.
Ordinary Person and the others gave chase immediately, but it was surprisingly fast, and they weren’t sure if they could catch it.
「Potato, are you alright?」
『Whine…』
Dragging the hoe, Potato trudged back, looking like a kid who had just lost a bug-catching contest.
As if wanting comfort, he pressed his head against me in a soft headbutt.
Unlike DoriDoriDrill or YuriYuriYuringer, PotatoPotatoPotatoHead was much gentler.
「We can always grow more potatoes, but you didn’t get hurt, did you?」
『Yeah!』
It seemed he wasn’t injured.
I had no idea what would happen if a dog fought a monster.
Ordinary Person and the others returned as well, but the beast was so fast they couldn’t catch up to it.
「What kind of monster is a Wild Boar?」
「As the name suggests, Wild Boars are monsters that resemble wild boars, but the one we saw might be a higher-tier variant.」
TN: Yeah, wild boar in English is the monster name.
Wild Boars are known to charge at their enemies in a straight line when they spot them.
Lady explained that if a monster sensed humans but chose to flee rather than attack, it was likely a higher-tier species.
Even the mere presence of a monster outside was significant for explorers, but if it was a higher-tier variant, it was a situation that required immediate action.
Fortunately, only our household and Haruki’s house were inhabited in the area, so protecting the residents should be straightforward.
Lady immediately left to report to the Explorers’ Guild, while Ordinary Person and Samurai headed to Haruki’s house.
As for my place, Sena volunteered to stay and guard it.
♢
The next morning, we woke up as usual.
「Good morning.」
「Did you manage to sleep last night?」
「Not really, I kept waking up.」
I had been restless all night, waking up repeatedly out of concern.
Grandpa, on the other hand, didn’t seem to share my worries and was happily doing his morning radio exercises as always.
Potato also seemed to have trouble sleeping; instead, Chips was keeping Grandpa company.
「We explorers are used to pulling all-nighters, but it must be tough for regular people.」
Back when I was working as an office employee, I could survive several sleepless nights, but now, without proper rest, my brain barely functions.
「How about you, Sena-san? Did you get any sleep?」
「I’m fine. I can easily stay awake for three days. Before coming here, I even binge-watched Farm Diary Channel for a full 72-hours.」
Explorers really are built differently.
Still, while it’s one thing for a streamer to host a 72-hour endurance stream, I’d never heard of viewers enduring the whole thing as well.
「I tried it once too, but I’m not as young as Sena, so I could only last 48 hours.」
To my surprise, even Lady had attempted endurance viewing before.
If endurance viewing is a trend right now, maybe the time will come when I have to do an endurance stream myself.
「By the way, has the Wild Boar shown up again?」
At my question, Lady shook her head.
Apparently, it hadn’t made another appearance.
Perhaps it was targeting times when no one was around; if it shows up again, it will likely be at night.
「In that case, I have a suggestion, Papa-san. How about setting up some cameras?」
「Cameras?」
It’s true that there aren’t any streetlights or surveillance cameras around here.
Things that were taken for granted in the city are completely absent in the countryside.
「Considering what happened with Dori’s kidnapping, it might be better than relying on satellite cameras.」
When Dori was kidnapped, Lady’s satellite camera helped track down the idiot’s location.
Even so, it took time, and we hadn’t noticed anything before the kidnapping happened.
If we set up cameras focused on the fields rather than the house, it shouldn’t feel intrusive either.
「As long as Grandpa and Grandma are okay with it, I don’t see a problem.」
「Alright, I’ll confirm with them and install the cameras right away.」
With that, Lady began making some calls on her smartphone.
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