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Chapter 325 – Ready
Starting on the second day after entering the mountain path, the situation began to shift dramatically.
As originally planned, our objective from that point forward was first to make it appear as if the Quad Trading pany had been ambushed and then to secure evidence linking the pany chairman, Kius, to the perpetrators using Monster Tamer.
To acplish this, it was crucial that Quad-san and the participating slaves weren’t devoured by monsters. First, we escorted everyone to a nearby, familiar town.
Guinier, which is ruled by Radd-kun.
Few humans visit this town, so the inns are practically empty.
Furthermore, since it’s a neighboring country, information won’t be easily obtained. There’s hardly a better place to hide out than this town.
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Since it was a large-scale transfer, the scene was predictably chaotic.
Quad-san was especially bothersome—no, unbearably so. I almost wanted to bury his head in the ground. For now, I told him to wait in this town until we make progress. Next stop: Sanur.
There, I had the man mand two Bayblizzards per carriage—sixteen in total. Once they were hitched to the stored carriages, the preparations were plete.
The three of us watched as the perpetrator, seemingly resigned to his fate, sat in the driver’s seat of the lead carriage. He set off toward Sanur from the vicinity where we’d been attacked.
With monsters pulling the carriages, they would arrive faster than if horses were pulling them. The journey from there to Sanur would take about two days, one day less than planned.
Even so, since the cause had been identified, I couldn’t bear to acpany him on this excessively leisurely journey any longer.
—Proceed directly to Sanur via the highway. Do not stop at any towns.
—Do not harm anyone along the way.
—Tell no one about today’s attack.
—Do everything in your power to avoid your own death.
I cast Slave Magic on the perpetrator and sent him on his way with these four pledges.
The last one was especially crucial. If he died, the entire plan would collapse. I added it firmly to prevent suicide.
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Otherwise, this guy would probably end his own life.
“Are you sure it’s okay to send him alone? We’ve e this far. I wouldn’t mind acpanying him until he reaches town.”
“That’s kind of you, but leaving Lodge alone for too long would be worrisome. Besides, Carla seems bored already.”
When we looked over, Carla was swinging a magic training tool that I had bought at auction, playing with it.
Apparently, it’s a wooden sword imbued with a level 4 Swordmanship skill. Anyone who grips and swings it naturally learns the form, even without possessing the skill.
Since he seemed to have an aversion to swords, it was probably the perfect training tool for Carla.
“True. He couldn’t swing it properly in the cramped carriage and was itching to move the whole time…”
“Anyway, I’ve used up all the magic power needed for a long-distance teleport back to base. Let’s stay somewhere nearby tonight, relax, and have a nice, leisurely dinner. We can eat lots of delicious food.”
“Sounds good. Then maybe we could try some different rice dishes…”
And so, the three of us teleported to Sanur. We enjoyed a luxurious, rice-based meal as an expression of gratitude.
Feeling pleasantly full, I passed out on the fluffy bed and slept like a log. The next day, I took the two of them back to the base.
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I had left materials from A-rank monsters, such as the Griffin and Dream Theater, with Lodge, so those would surely be the best souvenirs.
All right, then! From here, it’s the final sprint!
Since I had already flown over the area, I could easily track the man’s movements as long as he stayed on the road.
After confirming that the carriage was proceeding smoothly toward Sanur, I headed to the hunting grounds to level up my skills.
Determined to raise my Transparency skill to level 5 in two days, I targeted Fisher Chameleons while transporting materials to Guinier.
I repeated this assembly-line process relentlessly until just before dusk on the second day.
‘You have acquired Transparency Lv5.’
Finally, this notification appeared in my vision, and I quietly pumped my fist.
While escorting, I’d sneak off to the hunting grounds whenever possible and hunt steadily for about ten days.
For the first time, I relentlessly defeated monsters at skill level 1, bringing it all the way up to level 5.
It didn’t seem worth the mere 0.5-second increase in effect duration, but someday, surely, this kind of effort would bear fruit.
With that mindset, a little hardship was nothing.
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“e to think of it, what was that white worm that suddenly vomited all sorts of stuff and shrank after I killed it? Even my rades, who know monsters well, didn’t recognize it.”
With that, my tasks were plete, and I was fully prepared.
I went to pick up Quad-san, gazing at the tiny speck of the town of Sanur visible from the carriage while questioning the lifeless perpetrator.
“It’s a monster called a White Worm. A rare subspecies of sandworm. It doesn’t digest things. It can store whatever it consumes inside its body up to a certain amount. But, in exchange, its body keeps growing larger depending on the mass it holds…”
“Ah, I see. So it’s a rare species.”
Even Zeo couldn’t identify the white worm, and its monster details remained hidden.
The skill gained from defeating it was also an unusable, gray-text skill called Expansion, which made no sense. But that explains it.
“It’s not as extreme as what Loki-san’s got, but wouldn’t merchants want a monster like this?”
“Hmm… Even if it can store things, it just gets bigger, doesn’t it? And, honestly, would you want to eat meat that a worm has already eaten?”
“I could totally eat it if it’s just a little rotten! You gotta make the most of everything, right?”
“W-well, that’s impressive…”
When I asked the man about its uses, he said it was more about hiding things than preserving them.
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It excelled at hiding and transporting things while they were hidden. It could store living creatures, including monsters, alive inside its body. Plus, it could move underground using its own burrowing skill, so there was no worry about being seen by people.
The downside is that, since it’s a monster native to sandy terrain, it can’t dig very fast in normal ground. The larger it grows, the more noticeable its slowness bees.
While it’s supposedly better than leaving things out in the open, time still passes steadily inside the earthworm’s body. Therefore, things that rot can’t be stored for long.
“By the way, how much can it actually store?”
“About eight carriages. It can swallow them whole and still have a little room left…”
“Huh. It swallows more than I imagined. So that’s why you reluctantly brought out this monster in the end?”
“…!”
The man tried to speak, then immediately clamped his mouth shut and grimaced.
Ah, right. I had bound him with the restriction, “Don’t speak of the ambush.”
In the event that the prepared Bayblizzard was destroyed and the carriages could not move under their own power, the worst-case plan was for that monster to swallow them whole.
Its range of activity is broad, its preparations are thorough, and it’s adaptable.
Even though he was barely ranked, this man was still an Ortran-ranked mercenary. Why did he willingly serve nobles and resort to such wicked deeds?
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(I don’t get it…)
Is money that appealing?
Or is there some other reason he values connections so much?
Feeling slightly curious about reasons for choices I’d never make myself, we entered the town of Sanur separately.
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