In the middle of the night, I switched with the beastkin sisters and slept until morning. When I woke up, it was raining.
Now that I think about it, it hadn’t rained since that heavy storm back in summer. I had completely forgotten about it.
It was only a light drizzle, but since winter was approaching, the temperature had dropped to around five degrees. It was definitely cold.
「Maybe I should put out some vinyl sheets.」
There were only two huts, so it seemed they could only be used in turns. If only we kept using the tent, it would attract resentment. Better to improve the situation before anyone starts getting jealous.
I bought some vinyl sheets and, with the help of the adventurers, set them up as cover.
For the adventurers who had gotten wet, I used magic to remove the moisture from their clothes, and I set the Heat Sword to about five hundred degrees so they could use it as a heater.
「……Using a divine-world weapon like that again…」
Mishinie still seemed unable to accept how I used the Heat Sword. But tools exist to be used, so what’s the problem?
「Rusul-san. I’m going to scout around the fortress.」
「Yes. Please be careful.」
I told Bisha and Mebi to sleep until noon, then left the fortress with Mishinie.
「You’re really not going to exterminate the goblins?」
「Yeah, I’m not. I’ll scatter processed meat around the area and bait them instead.」
Goblins shouldn’t store food for the winter. Well, even if they do, they’ll probably jump at the processed meat I scatter.
We went down the mountain and began by circling around it.
「There are fewer goblins than yesterday.」
Yesterday there were quite a few within my detection range while we searched across a wide area. Today they were scattered. Their presence felt very cautious.
「……There’s a Buff around…」
Mishinie muttered quietly.
「A bear?」
「No. Simply put, it’s a spider monster. It sets up webs and waits for prey to get caught.」
Ah, spiders. So, it’s not just animal-type monsters. There are insect-type ones too. I had completely forgotten about that.
「Would it be dangerous to go in carelessly?」
I wanted to go into the mountain and scatter the processed meat, but maybe it would be safer to do it near the base of the fortress.
「No. If it’s raining, that actually works in our favor. Let’s hunt the Buff. If it’s a big one, it might have a magic stone.」
After saying that, she sniffed the air and stepped into the thick forest.
I drew the machete attached to my backpack and followed behind Mishinie.
Mishinie moved through the trees without stopping. Then she suddenly halted, crouched down, and pointed ahead.
I crouched beside her and narrowed my eyes to see what she meant.
「…………」
For a moment I thought it was a bear, but it was actually a bear-sized spider sucking on a goblin that had been caught in its web. So, there are monsters that prey on goblins after all.
「Looks like the mountains had a poor season this year. Hunting goblins of all things.」
…So goblins only get preyed on when there’s a bad season. Just how bad do you taste?
「How are you going to take it down?」
「Like this.」
She pointed her index finger at the spider. A flame appeared, and in the next moment it swelled and shot forward.
The speed wasn’t that fast, but the impact when it hit was brutal. The spider was burning fiercely. No wonder the rain was convenient. If it were dry, this would have turned into a forest fire in no time!
「You should just become a Gold Seal already.」
「Being a Gold Seal is just a hassle. Especially for female elves.」
Do some dirty old men harass them or something? Women really have it rough.
After confirming the flames had died down and it was no longer moving, we approached. She cut off the legs, turned its belly upward, and stabbed her sword into it. Gross.
「It’s a bit small, but if the season was poor, then this is about right.」
I brought out a cloth for her and had her wipe the bodily fluids off the magic stone.
「It’s an earth magic stone. Buff ones are high quality.」
「Oh. Do you think there are more around?」
「No. Buffs are very territorial. If two of them enter the same territory, they fight until one of them dies.」
That’s good to hear. If creatures like that were everywhere, I wouldn’t want to enter the mountains at all.
Since there were no Buffs around, we scattered the processed meat here and there.
After doing that until noon, we returned to the fortress. Since it was cold today, I decided to make some stew.
I cooked it together with the women in charge of cooking. While it simmered, I brought out giant bread(a name I came up with myself) from Home and had everyone cut their own portions.
「Takato-san. How was it down below? The rain has weakened, so we were thinking of going to cut some trees.」
After the meal, Rusul-san came to speak with me.
I brewed some coffee for them and told them about the Buff and the lack of goblins.
「I see. Monsters used to appear often until spring. Could it have something to do with the goblin king appearing?」
「It might be related, but no one truly knows the answer. Still, it’s better to act as if it is related. If you lose everything first, it will already be too late.」
If one of the Demon King army’s officers has been moving around, then it’s better to assume all these events are connected.
「When you say it, it sounds heavy.」
「How you take it is up to you. I’m only here to exterminate goblins.」
There’s no way an individual can face the Demon King’s army. If they attack in large numbers, that becomes the nation’s responsibility. Well, if they bring out a goblin army, I wouldn’t mind cooperating.
「Anyway. We’ll spend about four days baiting the goblins. Once that’s done, we’ll head back once.」
I looked at Rusul-san with the unspoken meaning that our situation comes first. Please handle things on your side.
「…Understood. At least we no longer have to worry about water, so the work has become easier. Four days should be enough to complete the minimum repairs.」
With that settled, we went out again in the afternoon to scatter more processed meat.
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