Volume 7 - CH 1

Chapter 1 – Demon Forest and Switch On

Right in front of me is a dangerous forest called the Demon Forest. We’re going to be in there for days now, and from the looks of it, it has the same atmosphere as the forest I was in in the Western City, but this forest is one that even advanced adventurers avoid… So I’d like to go home.

“Wataru-san, it’s time to go, okay?”

Alessia-san comes talking to me, smiling. Why does she look happy too? Even though we’re going into a forest where even A ranks can’t fully control the forest. I wonder if she doesn’t get nervous when I tell her that I’ll be summoning my ship.

“Alessia-san, the Demon Forest is a tough place even for Girasole. Are you not nervous because I told you there are my barriers?”

“Ah, yes, I guess so. I think it is a tough forest, but we can also rely on Wataru-san’s ship summoning, and we may be able to go to a place that has not been explored yet. Although I’m nervous, I’m more looking forward to it. Oh, and don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’ll be escorted properly.”

So basically, she is an adventurer at heart, huh? She loves to explore the unknown, doesn’t she? I don’t know how it feels, though.

“Yes, please. Then I’ll summon the rubber boat.”

“Yes, please.”

Three rubber boats are summoned and turned over. The grouping was Alessia-san, Marina-san, Ilma-san, and Fuu-chan in the first rubber boat. In the middle are me, Ines, Felicia, and Rimu. With Dorothea-san, Carla-san, and Claretta-san in the rear, we lined up in a row and entered the Demon Forest, aiming for the center of the forest.

…As it turns out, it was a failure. It was not that the monsters were triggered immediately after we entered the forest, we were able to proceed smoothly, but as we proceeded deeper into the forest, we got caught in bushes and branches.

The part that was visible from the outside seemed to have been cleared to some extent, perhaps as a result of pioneering work. Even though we chose an easy path as we proceeded deeper into the area, we always got stuck somewhere.

If it was only my rubber boat, there would be no problem, although it was troublesome to give permission. However, it was difficult for me to give permission to the rubber boat in front of me. There are places in the shadows where I can’t see them, and I often don’t notice them.

For a while, Alessia-san and the others were cutting away the obstacles, but there were places where we had to cut away the entire tree to proceed, and the vines would catch and hold us back, which was very stressful.

We left the forest and reconsidered our strategy. After much discussion, we decided not to summon the rubber boat. I was quite shocked after all my hard work.

I simply surrounded myself with Girasole, Ines, and Felicia and resumed the search in the Demon Forest. My role was to summon the rubber boats immediately to create a shelter in case the monsters in the forest were triggered, and Girasole, who is an A-rank adventurer, said there was no need to rush.

We rearranged our formation and entered the forest again. We can go deeper into the forest without any problem, but we are not sure how to proceed.

It’s a luxury to be surrounded by Girasole, but without the barrier, I get scared when small insects fly by. I guess I’m dependent on the barrier now. When I first came to the other world, I used to go into the forest alone, but now that I’m back in a different living environment, I’m getting weaker and weaker.

“You don’t have to be so nervous, Wataru-san. We will protect you.”

“Thank you, Claretta-san. But I still get nervous.”

“Fufu, that may be true if you are not used to it. But you will be tired, so let’s calm down and relax as much as possible.”

“Yes.”

Hmm, I feel much more nervous when I’m not in the barrier area. I had a plan to use a rubber boat, but I decided against it because I would have to give permission every time I moved, and I would not be able to act quickly… I regretted it.

Well, I heard that most of the monsters could be easily dealt with by Girasole, Ines, and Felicia, so the current formation will be the best. The sooner we can explore, the sooner we can get out of the Demon Forest.

I try not to see the insect monsters that attack us by accident as much as possible. They can be killed in an instant, so I am not traumatized by them, but I do wish the insect monsters would stop attacking us.

“Oh, Wataru-san, that’s the Frenzy Monkey.”

I look in the direction Claretta-san pointed and see a monkey with light brown fur… about the size of a kindergartener on a tree branch a short distance away? There are several monkeys about that size.

“…They’re surprisingly cute.”

“They may look cute, but they are monsters, so don’t let your guard down.”

“Yes, I know, so don’t worry.'”

No matter how much I say it, I wouldn’t let my guard down just because a monster with a name like “upset” or “frenzy” is cute. If I approach it anyway, it will probably bare its teeth and attack me. As long as I am prepared for it, it will not show its ugly face.

“Are you going to beat them?”

“If they attack us, we’ll take them down, but if they don’t move, we’ll just ignore them. We don’t know much about the trigger, but it is very likely that an attack will trigger the switch.”

Dorothea-san answered my question. It’s not that everyone is on their guard when they check the monsters, but they are natural… experts? They’re A-ranked, so I guess they’re experts.

We proceeded deeper into the forest, avoiding the frenzy monkeys. As we move, the Frenzy Monkey follows us, jumping from tree to tree.

It doesn’t attack us out of the blue but rather observes us, which I don’t like. It doesn’t seem to be in a frenzy or upset at all. We walk for a while, but Frenzy Monkey follows us at a distance.

“They follow us all the way. Are they planning something?”

I asked Claretta-san, who was walking next to me.

“Plan? Maybe they are just trying to get an opening in case we are attacked by other monsters.”

“Ah, that’s troublesome.”

“It’s okay. We can handle a monster of that size with no problem.”

It doesn’t feel right when Claretta-san talks about that degree or dealing with it. She’s a kind, big-breasted priestess… but when she got angry, she was scary. And she’s a first-class adventurer, so it’s only natural. I must have imagined it all on my own. But I want to be wrapped gently by those big breasts, so I guess it can’t be helped.

“Please take care of me.”

“Fufu, leave it to us.”

After that, we continue walking towards the depths, taking breaks until night. We were attacked several times by vindictive wolves and insect monsters, but Girasole handled them easily.

But I can’t rest my mind thinking about the possibility of the monsters being triggered by it. By the way, Frenzy Monkey is still following us.

After finishing our meal, I summoned three hut boats and a rubber boat for lookout, and we each split up to rest, with Frenzy Monkey watching over us from a distance. Should we defeat the Frenzy Monkey yet? I doubt it.

Come to think of it, there were no tickets, just like we had in Palermo, so the lookout changes only with who is awake at that time. I’m soberly glad. Incidentally, my lookout was exempted again this time.

After entering the hut ship and falling asleep with Ines, Felicia, and Rimu, I heard a lot of noise outside. When I opened the door of the hut boat, a frenzy monkey attacked the rubber boat, baring its teeth and screaming furiously. So they were looking for a night raid.

Marina-san and Carla-san, who were on watch, quickly took down the frenzy monkey. In two or three minutes, the frenzy monkey was annihilated. …It seems that the monsters weren’t triggered. I can sleep in peace.

Morning… I kiss Ines and Felicia firmly and walk out of the hut ship with Rimu on my head… We greet each other and finish breakfast.

I hear the story, and they say the frenzy monkeys attacked them several times while they were on watch. …I’m glad they were not triggered. It’s a nasty wake-up call when you wake up in the morning, and everything around you is a monster.

I heard that sometimes just going into the forest can trigger the switch, so maybe we’re lucky so far. Their level is only 15 at most. …I don’t know if I think too deeply about it, so we resume our search.

At any rate, we proceed toward the center of the forest. If there are no dark elves in the center, what should we do after that? I’d like to find some clues as soon as possible.

We continue through the same Demon Forest as yesterday. I finally got used to the atmosphere and walked around while holding Rimu. The attack of the monsters was easily dealt with, and we were able to act calmly when it happened.

After Girasole took care of the attack by the vindictive wolf, the atmosphere of the Demon Forest changed drastically. The howling of the vindictive wolves echoed throughout the forest.

“Wataru-san, please summon the rubber boat.”

“Yes.”

Following Alessia-san’s instructions, I summoned three rubber boats in a row.

“Come on in, everyone.”

At the sound of my voice, we split up into groups of three and boarded the boats. The howls come closer and closer, and once a vindictive wolf appears, there is no stopping it, and in no time, the area is filled with vindictive wolves.

“This is definitely a trigger, isn’t it?”

I checked with Ines and Felicia while looking at the vindictive wolves that were constantly crashing into us.

“Right. If this weren’t a switch on, I’d be scared to death.”

…Ines has a point; if this isn’t a switch-on, then it’s too scary when it is.

“Ah, yes.”

“So, Master. What are we going to do now?”

“Hmm, well, let’s discuss it together.”

I answered Felicia’s question and looked around. Well, the number is so large that it doesn’t look like it’s decreasing at all. On the contrary, they are increasing.

“Everyone, why don’t we discuss what we are going to do?”

I asked Girasole, who was separated on both sides of me.

“Well, it won’t make any difference if we reduce the number a little now.”

Alessia-san says and moves over to the rubber boat on which I’m standing in the middle. The other members stop attacking and gather around.

It’s too cramped when everyone gathers in one rubber boat, so only Alessia-san moves to the boat, but everyone can hear us because I summon the boats right next to each other.

“Phew, I had heard that a great number of them would gather, but it’s more than I imagined. I honestly don’t even want to imagine what it would be like if we didn’t have the barriers… In addition to the insects and the frenzy monkeys…”

“Yes, that’s true. The vindictive wolves alone are in this number. If the insect monsters and the frenzy monkeys join in, we will either be able to retreat just in time, or we will be crushed by the numbers.”

I try to imagine what I hear from Alessia-san and Dorothea-san’s conversation. …There is no way. It’s going to be sickening. Even now, the whole area is filled with vindictive wolves.

“Well, we have Wataru-san’s ship’s barrier, so let’s reduce it slowly. Is that okay with you, Wataru-san?”

“Yes, that would be fine. We can move on by repeatedly summoning and repatriating ships, but it will take a lot of time and effort. I’m sure other monsters will join in sooner or later, but let’s wait and see for a while, shall we?”

Deciding on a plan, Girasole, Ines, and Felicia attacked the vindictive wolves. I’m going to attack with Rimu and Fuu-chan, too.

When I get tired of attacking, I rest. After I rest, I resume my attack. It’s a simple job to thrust spears at the vindictive wolves that are overflowing in front of me. Will it improve my spearmanship skills?

When the members of Girasole wield weapons and release magic, they are easily cut, pierced, burned, and shot away. Well, they gather one after another, so the gap will soon be filled.

More importantly, even though Rimu is still working on it, Fuu-chan is also firmly releasing wind magic to cut through the vindictive wolves.

…I was content with my daily life magic, but I should learn offensive magic too. I had room for such thoughts, but that was until the insect monsters and frenzy monkeys entered the fray…!