Chapter 44

「It would be best if we do not get close to the town……you say?」

Luuty made a puzzled face at Shion’s proposal.

The Earthworm, which had started running again after their encampment had finished, was now stopped in a place where the town that they were aiming for was in sight.

This place that was surrounded by grasslands had good visibility, and they could even see the forest that spread out at the back of the town very well.

For the time being, there was nothing that seemed like the figures of Ogres, and they were feeling relieved.

「Yeah. From what I can see, it isn’t like the Ogres have closed in on the town. But if we were to go there now, there is the concern that our actions will be restricted.」

According to the request, it was a situation where missing persons have already come up.

If they were forsaken by the feudal lord as well on top of that, the anxiety and stress of the citizens of the town should have risen.

There are probably people that have abandoned the town and run away, but among the citizens whose living foundation was in the town, there were probably many that were hesitant to do that.

It was for this reason that he suspected that it turned into a situation where they bet on a sliver of hope and sent a request to Adventurers.

This naturally meant that Adventurers who come to the town would be the same as messiahs to them.

However, at the same time, a mentality of not wanting them to be distant from the town would probably also come into play.

If that were the case, they would come up with some sort of reason to ask them to not leave the town, and it would definitely result in them petitioning that they wanted them to protect the town from the Ogres that they didn’t know when they would come.

And it would be fine if the Ogres attacked, but in the event that they didn’t, they would be confined to the town for who knows how long.

If the Ogres were to create a settlement on a scale that they couldn’t deal with during that time, then there would no longer be anything that they could do.

In that case, it would be completely pointless.

「B, but, there are Adventurers in the town’s Adventurer’s Guild, right?」

「……It seems that they just happened to all be out.」

Luuty answered like that to Sharon’s words.

However, Shion was thinking that that wasn’t actually the case.

He had no positive proof, but they most likely ran away.

For Adventurers that don’t have the ability for them, Ogres were that much of a threat.

And then, he couldn’t simply criticize them for that.

It was because although fighting with one’s life on the line was an Adventurer’s job, throwing away one’s life in a fight that had no chance of success wasn’t an Adventurer’s job.

That was the job of the feudal lord or the country which should be protecting the population, or the knights that work for them.

However, with Luuty’s position, she probably had scruples over saying that to a student that had a future.

「In any case, it’s not like we can leisurely wait in town for Ogres that we have no idea when they will be coming. We should probably go after them from here.」

For this reason, Shion also made that remark after choosing his words.

There wasn’t any need to be considerate for Humans, but maybe due to what happened last night, a bit of kindness had mixed in before he knew it.

「That’s, true. However, even if you say that we should go after them……」

「It’s, the forest.」

As Kain seemed to be lost in his words, Nino said that and cut him off.

「That’s right. Ogres have a tendency to live in forests where it’s easy to protect. Did you know that?」

「If they are not in the plains, they can only be in the forest.」

In response to Nino’s reasonable words, Luuty said “That’s certainly true” and laughed.

That’s right, Ogres lived in forests and mountains.

Goblins that lacked intelligence would create settlements without minding if it was in the grasslands or the plains, but Ogres were different.

They who possessed intelligence wouldn’t create settlements in places like that.

「In that case, it makes things simple.」

When Luuty said that, she started pouring magical power into the magic ball.

「For Steiner, he will wait here on standby, and if anyone suspicious draws near, I have told him to deal with them appropriately.」

「That would be good.」

Since it wasn’t like they could charge into the forest with the Earthworm, that was probably appropriate.

Of course, it would probably be alright even if it charged in, but there was also the possibility that the foundation of the town’s livelihood was forestry.

In that sort of case, pointlessly making trees useless would cause a bad result.

「In that case, we’ll be walking from here, won’t we.」

「Yeah. It would be best to keep the encampment tools to a minimum as well.」

Shion answered like that to Kain, and Nino briskly started to pack Shion and Nino’s share of luggage.

Sharon also mimicked her and hurriedly started to work, but it seemed that she couldn’t do it like Nino who was a pro at those routine tasks.

Incidentally, Shion wasn’t very good at that sort of work.

From the time he was in the Dark Continent, he only had no exposure to it since Ichika and Nino would be too helpful, and if anything, he was the type that would pack too much.

「Once the preparations are done, let’s immediately head out.」

Luuty, who, although didn’t have the same speed as Nino, finished packing her luggage with good skill, announced that while helping Sharon out.

After seeing Nino stand there without helping out, Shion thought that part of Luuty was the part as an educator.

Or, it might be due to the fact that Nino wasn’t kind to anyone other than Shion.

「Yosh, it’s done!」

With Kain being the last one to complete his preparations, he climbed down the rope ladder.

How they left with the rope ladder still in a state of being left down made one have questions about it in terms of crime prevention, but no one felt that there would be anyone that would think of trying to steal the Earthworm.

It was completely different from stealing a horse, and if someone were to try and do that, the possibility of them being turned into mincemeat by the Earthworm was higher.

The fact that Luuty possessed a stable for her own personal use in the royal capital was not for the reason of crime prevention, but out of consideration so that injured people wouldn’t be pointlessly produced.

At the same time that she was being fussy over that part as an educator, it was also something requested from the guards of the royal capital.

Therefore, there was absolutely no problem in leaving the Earthworm here alone.

「Well then, let’s get going.」

Everyone nodded at Luuty’s command.

They would go past the town from here and go deep into the forest.

The Ogres were most likely there.

Chapter 45