CH 259

Episode 259 – Monsters Deep in the Forest 

Author’s Note: This chapter is written from the POV of Tobias, the reporter from the Laudungeon Company.

After donning the combat gear that I hadn’t touched for ages, I hurriedly made my way out of Landaust. The area around the entrance of the city was as crowded as ever, and from this sight alone I couldn’t sense any signs that the Western Forest was being overrun by monsters.

They might have managed to safely suppress the monsters, but even still it made me wonder whether or not the soldiers had given the citizens a heads-up.

Well… given the amount of people here, doing that might only end up causing chaos, huh?

As I was thinking, I made my way towards the Western Forest while looking at the significant number of tourists and merchants out of the corner of my eye.

The Western Forest was close to Landaust, but because it wasn’t on the paved paths, it wasn’t a very popular place. If it was any other ordinary town, it wouldn’t be strange for there to be a lot of adventurers here. But this was Landaust, where there were more opportunities to make money in the Dungeon, so there really weren’t many people in this forest.

The quietness of this area made it easier to search for monsters, so I made it to the brink of the Western Forest without any encounters. I saw a crowd of soldiers near the forest, which meant that Juno’s information was really true.

However, the number of casualties seemed to be even worse than what I had heard, as the injured were even lined up outside the tents, groaning and writhing in pain. After looking around the surroundings, there didn’t seem to be any signs of monsters, so at least the information that they had already finished subjugating the monsters seemed to match up.

As I surveyed the spectacle in front of the Western Forest, a soldier noticed me approaching and came running towards me. I suppose I’ll have to fool ’em somehow.

“That attire… are you an adventurer perhaps? As a matter of fact, the monsters of the Western Forest are running wild right now, so it’s dangerous. Unfortunately, we’ll have to deny you entry.” (Soldier)

“Yeah, I’m an adventurer. Hoh… so the monsters are running wild, are they? All the better then. I’ll help out with suppressing the monsters.” (Tobias)

“No, the monsters that were running wild have already been suppressed. However, just in case something were to happen, we have decided to close off entry to the Western Forest.” (Soldier)

“It’s fine, I’m strong. I’m not so weak that an ordinary soldier would have to worry about me.” (Tobias)

I directed an annoyed expression at the young soldier who approached me, as if to say that I didn’t need his worry. I pretended not to care and just continued on towards the forest.

“Hey! What if you stir up the monsters and cause them to run wild aga―” (Soldier)

“Gilkes, you don’t have to stop him. If he wants to go, just let him go.”

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“B-But…” (Gilkes)

“If he dies, that’s his responsibility. It’s none of our business.”

“Heheh, thanks for saving me the trouble. Well then, I’ll be going in. You can give me a reward if I manage to defeat them safely.” (Tobias)

Leaving the soldier who was standing ramrod straight behind me, I set foot into the forest.

Alright. I’ve managed to enter the forest, but this is where the problem starts. Is something happening in this forest, or did something already happen? I have to get to the bottom of it.

I wiped off the overconfident demeanor I had to put on in front of the soldiers and made my way through the forest with extreme caution, paying attention to every direction. I had only come to this forest once during my time as an adventurer, and, at that time, it had been incomparably quiet, accompanied only by the sound of the rustling leaves from the countless trees.

I was doubting at first whether the monsters had really gone on a rampage, but I could clearly see the footprints left by a large number of monsters.

After following these footprints for quite some time, I came across a somewhat open area. I could feel an evil presence up ahead, so I hid in the shade of a tree and peeked out from behind it.

A lot of trees had been knocked down and uprooted, and in the middle of them was a large black monster.

There was a massive, black serpent-like monster and a Big Boar, and the monster was currently in the middle of constricting its prey. The monster gave off such an intimidating aura that I could feel my breathing become labored just from looking at it, and I had to struggle to stay on my feet.

―What the hell is this monster?

I had never seen it before in books or on the projections, and it was clad in a bizarre aura. Its body, jet black like the darkness, was covered in a sticky mucus, and I could see that the Big Boar’s body was melting where it came in contact with the monster.

It began to slowly swallow the Big Boar whole as if it were enjoying itself. It bared its two long, sharp fangs in its mouth before sinking them deeply into the body of the Big Boar.

As I watched the scene, I was holding both of my hands over my mouth to keep my voice from escaping. Just as the serpent was finishing consuming its prey, I saw a completely unguarded human approaching the serpent from deeper within the forest.

As I was struggling to decide whether or not I should inform the approaching person that there was a giant serpent, I realized that the person approaching wasn’t human.

It was hard to make out its form since the trees were blocking out the sun, but there were two horns coming out of its forehead and a pair of black wings extending out of its back. Its body was a dangerous shade of purple and red… At that moment, I instantly knew that it was a Demon.

“So this is where you were. I thought I ordered you to not get close for now,” the Demon said to the jet-black serpent. The serpent seemed to respond by rubbing its body together similar to the way it would produce a warning signal.

“Don’t be in such a rush. Just a bit more, just a little bit more. Then you’ll be able to indulge in as much prey as you want,” the Demon crooned and reached out to tenderly stroke the serpent’s head, which was shiny with mucus. At that very moment, the figures of the serpent and Demon disappeared, as if they had never existed there in the first place.

Relieved that I hadn’t been caught, my body relaxed as I began to gasp for air.

…For a moment, I thought that the serpent was the one that caused chaos to break out amongst the monsters. But when the Demon appeared, I became certain that the Demon Lord’s Army was involved.

I had absolutely never underestimated the existence of the Demon King’s Army, but now I understood for the first time why Juno was being so impatient.

I wanted to go check out the place where the serpent was before returning home, but I was afraid to go near it… But what if it hadn’t disappeared, and had only gone invisible?

After deciding that informing others of the situation was my highest priority, I made my way back to the road I had come from while keeping myself out of plain sight.