Volume 1 Chapter 45 Once Again, the Forest Was Surrounded by a Disturbing Atmosphere
Lana and the girls had a chat with the merchant guild about their garden. Now they've got some rules about what veggies they can grow and when, so it's not unfair to the other farmers.
They've also got to pay the guild a set amount each year, just to make sure they're not getting a raw deal compared to everyone else.
It's a decent chunk of change, but the veggies bring in huge profits, so the guild's cool with it.
And Lene and I have been grinding away at magic stone and potion-making for the past couple weeks on a guild gig.
We're not getting enough sunlight; I'm starting to feel like mushrooms could grow on me.
We do get out for a workout once a day, but even then, I can feel myself getting rusty.
Lene's been doing some weird combat training with this oddball gadget.
It's like a alchemy rifle that she can pull the trigger on, and it goes "boom" and hits a target way off in the distance. She and a blacksmith made it together, but it's so lethal that they had to shelf it for being too dangerous.
I asked her about the mechanism out of curiosity, and she just gave me this "it's a secret" look.
Bummer.
"Um... so the 'Standard Magic Stone' is like this, and then there's the 'Magic Stone of Powerful Arms'..."
The 'Standard Magic Stone' is a magic stone that keeps you steady as she goes – helps with balance.
It's nothing fancy, but it's great for not getting seasick on a boat or carriage.
This one's for passengers, and the 'Magic Stone of Powerful Arms' is for the crew.
Lene's got a whole operation going, churning out seasickness meds and soil improvers by the truckload.
The seasickness stuff is a no-brainer for boat passengers, and the fertilizer? Well, it's a hit with farmers even without the 'Magic Stone of Peul' since it's just as effective in the fields.
"Mr. Ryuuji, we're running low on salt. Mind if we go pick up some saltwater and fuel?"
Oops, I guess I should go pick some soon.
A dejected elf with drooping ears shuffled over.
"Hey, no need to look so guilty. I need supplies too, y'know."
"Yeah, but the proportions we need are different, and it's just not the same..."
Look, comparing the one-time material needs for Enchant Magic to the ongoing stuff for Alchemy just doesn't cut it.
"Alright, alright, don't sweat it. It's just a matter of whether we go or not. Minori and the others don't have any high-Rank requests today, so they're home. Let's just ask if they wanna tag along."
My sisters have been taking care of requests at the Sartzstadt Adventurers' Guild since they sorted things out with Lana and the other farmers.
But they're not just taking any old job──anything below high-Rank gets ignored.
I'm going to make sure the lower-Rank adventurers have a chance to grow, after all.
And word is they've been helping out the occasional Sixth Rank party, which makes me both happy and a bit lonely to see my sisters stepping up as leaders. That's between you and me, though.
"Collecting supplies? Sure, why not. Suzu, you good with that?"
"Yeah. A magician's gotta move or they'll get rusty."
In Minori's room, the sisters were reading books back-to-back when they turned their heads to answer.
Suzu's a rabbit, sure, but Minori the swordsman is a bookworm too.
Got the green light for the supply run, so I guess we're on our way.
* * *
"...Something's off."
As soon as I stepped into the forest, that weird feeling hit me.
"Definitely something's off..."
It wasn't just Lene who said that, Minori and Suzu seemed creeped out too.
They were keeping a close eye on everything.
It was weirdly silent, not even a single animal sound.
It didn't feel like a summer forest at all.
"Could it be, another bear?"
"...Maybe. Everyone, let's be careful."
I'm pulling the cart, leading the way.
Since I'm up front and gotta handle anything that comes at us, I keep my staff within reach, propped up against the cart.
Luckily, on the way to the saltwater lake, we didn't run into anything. We filled up on saltwater and collected some stuff before heading back.
And then, they showed up.
"........."
"........."
We were speechless.
"W-wo, 2 golden demon beasts?!"
I can't blame Minori for being shocked. That's pretty wild.
Yeah, there was a golden squirrel and a golden snake, locked in a crazy battle.
We were watching from the sidelines.
"...Wait, no, 3... actually, there's another one. That's a golden crow, right?"
"Wow, you're right."
Looking back at where Lene and Suzu were pointing... yeah, there's a golden crow.
So this thing's a demon beast too, huh?
"...We should take it out, right...?"
"Well, yeah, gotta get rid of it. It'll mess up the ecosystem. Though, it might not be just those 2 plus one..."
Lene answers Minori's question with a tone that says it all.
This kind of scene is totally new to them, so I guess it's understandable.
Me too.
Even though demon beasts are beings created irregularly, they end up being the apex of the ecosystem.
Because of that, the hawks and bears that are supposed to be at the top get attacked, and the whole ecosystem goes out of whack... that's what our 'teacher' told me.
So, we have to take care of them.
"...For now, Suzu, you take the crow. Minori, you're on the snake. Lene and I will handle the squirrel."
"Ugh, I have to be the snake?"
"Just deal with it."
I smacked my whining little sister on the butt as I got ready with my staff.
* * *
"This demon beast has... needles?"
After we ambushed and took down the demon beast, we stared at the golden needles sticking out of its body, feeling uneasy.
It was still pretty weak compared to a bear, but it had magic resistance and could regenerate, so we first burned it with Lene's potions before finishing it off.
"I was suspicious when we faced the bear, but now it's clear."
"Yeah, those needles must turn it into a monster. I don't really know how that works, though."
Lene seemed to have figured it out too.
Well, it's pretty obvious.
"The real question is, who did this and why? That's what I think," Suzu said.
With her usual sleepy eyes, Suzu made that statement.
If it was an experiment, we would've been done after the bear, right?
"They showed up when we didn't expect them... it's almost like──"
It's almost like they were trying to mess with us?
Why would they want to interfere?
"...Mr. Ryuuji, let's head back home. I have a bad feeling about this."
"...I feel the same way."
We loaded the demon beast's corpse onto the cart and, after gathering what we could, headed back home.
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