“...So I’m gonna have to kill the godbeast, aren’t I?”
“I’m afraid so, bucko. Sorry, you have to do our job now.”
“We’ll still stay put and support you as best as we can. It’s the least we can do, you know?”
That stupid NEET god had ruined everything. I didn’t want to have to deal with that kind of crap!
“The cocoon is likely building a new body for the godbeast from the ground up. In your case, Touya, God Almighty rebuilt you in a similar way. But this creature’s body will undergo a transformation and it should come out even more powerful than before.” That made sense, as the cocoon definitely seemed like something to protect a growing creature. I wanted to destroy it before whatever the hell was inside ended up hatching out.
“Well, that aside we need to see if there any survivors.”
“Let me help, then.”
“Yes, I’ll help too.”
“M-Me and Yumina will help, too!”
There were likely unaffected people in this town, since we’d arrived mid-attack. The Crystal Zombies were probably going to rise up soon enough, so we had to make sure we got to the innocents before the monsters did.
Now that the wicked godbeast was a cocoon, things would be calmer for a while. But I didn’t feel calm at all.
I sighed quietly to myself, knowing full well that a very difficult battle was ahead.
“It’s okay. It’s you, Touya. We’ll survive.”
“That’s right. We’re with you, Touya.”
“...Yeah, you’re right. We haven’t got any other choice.”
Ultimately, that was what it boiled down to. We had no choice but to win. No matter what enemies appeared before us, we had to protect this world. Upon realizing that, I walked faster into town, my resolve bolstered by the encouragement of Yumina and Lu.
Interlude I: The Bewitching Forest
“You need my help...?”
“Yes. We need your help as a gold rank adventurer. The circumstances are unusual.”
Kohaku and I were sitting with Guildmaster Relisha, discussing a request.
“I understand your concerns about public and private concerns, and your duties as a grand duke, but don’t consider this as a request from the village. Consider this a personal request from me, instead of a service to the elves.”
Elves... They were forest-dwelling magically attuned creatures with long lives. They had several racial attributes in common with fairies, but it seemed like there were fewer fairies in the world.
In most countries in the world, you could see elves in the crowded streets here and there, much like Relisha here.
The image I had of elves was that they were forest-dwellers who lived separate from broader society, used bows to hunt, argued with dwarves, and looked down on humans as inferior creatures... More of a haughty race than anything else.
The fantasy elves that I knew about in my stories were kind of similar to the elves in this world, but there were a few major differences. A lot of elves in this world had come out of the forest and integrated into broader society. Those that did tended to be extremely sociable and interested in traveling. Some of them were surprisingly socially aggressive, too. Relisha was much like that. If she didn’t have a considerable drive, she would never have reached the status of guildmaster.
“Alright, what’s the request?”
“Elves originally came from the forests, and nowadays you can find them all over the world. But all elves can trace their origins back to the original seven elven villages. One of them is in the Kingdom of Ryle, and it has a major problem.” If I recalled correctly the Kingdom of Ryle was a country to the west of Lestia. I wondered what the issue was with the elves there.
“Have you heard of a Treant?”
“Yep. That’s a tree-based monster, right?” A Treant was a tree that had become a monster, effectively. It had a face on its front and used branches as limbs. It also used its roots to move around. It was similar to a Wood Golem, but it was much smaller and more closely resembled a tree.
They were somewhat similar to the plant-based demi-humans that received nutrients through photosynthesis. So even though they were monsters, they were kind of in the same category as Alraunes and other green or bark-skinned humanoids. Plant-based demi-humans were incidentally one of the seven major races in Mismede.
“Even though Treants are monsters, they’re not really hostile. They’ll only ever attack in retaliation. However, some days ago, a Treant attacked the elven village in Ryle.”
“Seriously? But you just said they’re passive. What happened?”
“We don’t know. It was a sudden attack with no warning or provocation. The Treant had a different color to usual, and its leaves were ashen. The villagers have started calling it a Dark Treant. We elves, much like the fairies, do not employ much Fire magic due to our forest roots. That proved to be a downside for us, as Fire magic is the only major effective way of repelling a creature like a Treant. The battle ended up taking a while, and it escaped largely unharmed.” Relisha went on to explain that the villagers followed after the Dark Treant only to discover several enormous Treants deep in the woods.
“Wait... are there Behemoths or something?”
“I don’t really know, honestly. That place isn’t a magic hotspot, so this is most unusual.” Behemoths were typically formed due to massive magical concentration in the atmosphere, regular creatures would slowly absorb this magic buildup and grow to an immense size.
Behemoths could cause unprecedented national disasters if left unchecked, so it was important to kill them before they got out of control. I’d defeated a Behemoth in Ryle before, using a Knight Baron. If I recalled correctly, it was an enormous scorpion.
Either way, if it was Behemoths threatening the elven village, no wonder they were scared. No ordinary adventurers could stand against them.
“Isn’t the Kingdom of Ryle doing anything about this?”
“If we asked them for help, they’d send knights into the forest, but I’m sure the collateral damage would be great. The knights of Ryle lack a certain level of finesse...”
Relisha seemed concerned about the idea of them fighting. I wondered if they were really that clumsy... I guess it didn’t matter, though. Ryle was never at threat of war. They’d maintained peace with Lestia for hundreds of years.
“Alright, fine. I’ll check it out. If the Treants are Behemoths, will the guild buy the excess materials?”
“Of course. Treants provide high-quality lumber, so it’s a fairly popular market resource. Thank you for entertaining my request.”
I was an adventurer and a grand duke... What a troublesome double life. Still, I had to earn money to pay my knights, and I had to earn money to continue developing Frame Gears. I was covering all of that out of pocket, so I was fine doing quests now and then to keep that money stable.
Rosetta and Monica often bought a stupid amount of resources, and Fam was constantly importing new books... Flora kept on buying fancy medicines, and Parshe ended up breaking a lot of stuff as well... Ever since Doc Babylon joined the team, the costs just kept rising. Sometimes I wondered if inheriting her legacy was less of a boon and more of a detriment... Well, at the end of the day, I had to work to keep them in house and home. I kind of felt like a man supporting his family, despite the fact that I wasn’t even married yet...
There were many golden coins in Babylon’s storehouse, but they were all based on the ancient Partheno currency and were thus completely useless in the modern era. We managed to break it down into gold, but found it was full of impurities. I knew that golden currency coins weren’t pure gold, they were mixed in with other metals. That was standard... But the Partheno coins were ridiculously poor quality.
Doc Babylon mentioned that Partheno was once a beautiful and magnificent civilization, but by the time the Phrase came around it was rife with corruption. I felt like it would’ve been destroyed eventually even without the Phrase.
It was
a shame, but that was how it went. I needed to focus on making an immediate profit. The elves were in trouble, and the reward was reasonably handsome. I waved goodbye to Relisha and left the guild.
◇ ◇ ◇
“These are some big trees, these are...” Yae and I were walking around the forests of Ryle. It was a fairly large forest to the south-west of the kingdom’s territory. And Yae was correct. The trees were quite big.
I looked around and all I noticed was green as far as the eye could see. Deeper into the forest was even more dense shrubbery, dark and foreboding.
“Here we are. Watch your step.” Relisha was guiding us both along. We were on our way to the elven village in order to investigate the mysterious case of the hostile Treant.
Relisha and Yae weren’t the only ones here, though. There was Yumina, Elze, Linze, Lu, Hilde, Leen, Sakura, and Sue. It was basically me and my merry band of brides-to-be. Kohaku and Paula were tagging along as well.
Leen, Sakura, and Sue had not yet applied to be adventurers with the guild. Leen had no initial interest, but upon hearing about the Dark Treant her interest was piqued enough for her to come with. Then Sue and Sakura asked to tag along, so I went with it.
Yumina and the other girls with guild cards couldn’t really cash in on this quest, either. It was a quest for a gold-ranked adventurer, after all. And they were not quite at that level yet.
When accepting quests above one’s rank, it was fine so long as you were in a part where the majority of members were the right rank. Unfortunately, I was one of only two gold ranks in the world, and my party was quite large. So they didn’t get anything out of this.
Really, the girls were big enough to form two parties, but that’s just how it was. Either way, they tagged along despite the lack of reward. I was kind of pleased to have their company.
“My liege. Something is coming.” Kohaku suddenly bloated into her full Heavenly Beast form and began walking next to me. We stopped. If it was approaching us despite the fact that Kohaku was here, that meant it was no mere animal. There was a high chance of it being a monster or magical beast.
What we found was a tree, a moving one. To be more specific, a Treant. I didn’t expect to see one so soon.
“This is... most different from a standard Treant...” Leen murmured to herself as she looked it up and down.
I’d never seen a Treant in person, but I looked it up in one of the guild’s books and seen a picture. What was shown there was a large, thin-limbed tree person.
This one looked kind of like that, except there was one key difference on top. The leaves sprouting from this Treant were clearly dry, cracked, and dead. The one in the book had a vibrant set of green foliage on its top... I wondered if this was a mutated subspecies or something.
“Oooruuguuuhhh...” The Treant screamed out in a low, booming voice. All of a sudden some of the dead leaves at its top sharpened like blades and aimed toward us.
“Come forth, Ice! Eternal Frozen Ridge: [Ice Wall]!” Linze’s magic caused a huge wall of ice to appear in front of us, blocking the razor leaf projectiles with ease.
Three figures used this chance to dart out from beneath cover. It was Lu, Yae, and Hilde.
They perfectly timed it with the release of Linze’s spell, darting out toward the Treant just as the wall of ice melted.
“Regulus Blade Art: Scissorslice!”
“Kokonoe Secret Style: Lightning Flash!”
“Lestian Sacred Sword: Decapitation Blade!”
“Groooouuugugh!!” The three-pronged pincer attack dug crystal blades into the Treant’s body. Even a Treant’s thick bark was nothing compared to a fully charged phrasium blade.
The monster, now torn asunder, fell to the ground with a massive thud.
“I’d expect no less from those who personally accompany the grand duke... Amazing.”
The three girls bashfully grinned as Relisha lavished praise upon them. Still, I wondered what was up with that Treant... Apparently Relisha did too, as she plucked a leaf from it and began examining it.
“This is the same kind of Treant that attacked the elven village.”
“So is this Dark Treant thing a subspecies or something?”
“I’m unsure. We elves have lived for a long, long time. This is the first time we’ve encountered a Treant of this nature. It could be a new mutation, though...”
“Are you sure it’s a mutation? Have you not considered that it may be a sickness? Its behavior and appearance are highly erratic...” Leen had a point. Treants were mostly passive creatures and didn’t harm unless harmed first. It was unusual for them to strike unprovoked.
For the time being, I stored the Dark Treant’s corpse in my [Storage].
Birds would occasionally flutter out of nowhere overhead, giving an ominous feeling as we walked through the woodland. It kind of felt like the Sea of Trees, but much denser and creepier. Honestly, I wasn’t seeing much in the area to reassure me. This forest felt like bad news to me...
As we continued on, Kohaku suddenly stopped in her tracks.
“Something up?”
“Yes, there’s an unusual smell...”
“Huh?” Suddenly, a sweet aroma entered my nostrils, and it was overwhelmingly pleasant. I had no idea what it was, but it was all over the place. It might have been a fruit or something. Along with the smell, a dense mist began to descend around us. It happened before we could even tell what was going on, just a thick fog out of nowhere. I could barely see in front of myself anymore.
“Milord! Look out!”
“What?!”
As I wondered if it was an attack by a monster or magical beast... Elze suddenly charged at me full-throttle and pulled me into an embrace. She was squeezing me painfully hard.
“Wait, what are you doing?!”
“I got youuu... Nyuufufufu...” Elze let out an uncharacteristic giggle and simply refused to let go.
Hey! This is real nice, but I need to focus here, so please let me go!
“Heeey, Touya... You’ve been so busy lately, you know? We’re gonna have some good quality time, got it?! Me and the grand duke!”
“O-Ow! P-Please, hey! That hurts!”
“Nyuufufufu...” Elze continued on with her bear hug until I could feel my bones creaking.
Gaaah! You’re gonna break my goddamn spine!
“Ga-Ga... Gather forth, Darkness! Tranquil Rest: [Sleep Cloud]!”
“Hngh?!” A thin purple smoke settled around Elze and she slumped forward against me. She hadn’t exactly fainted or anything. It was more like I’d put her into forced naptime.
[Sleep Cloud] was an ancient spell I had uncovered while reading in Babylon’s library.
“A-Are you alright, my liege?!”
“Yeah... kinda... Just a little sore.” I used [Cure Heal] on myself and erased the pain. Just what in the world had gotten into Elze?
I couldn’t see any of the other girls through the dense fog. It seemed like we’d gotten separated.
“Touyaaa... Ufufufu...”
“Huh? Lu?”
Lu suddenly appeared from nowhere and hugged me from behind. She pressed her body right up against my back. My nose was still filling up with that strange, sweet scent...
“I’m really happy I met you, Touya... I could never find someone as amazing as you, even if I scoured the entire world for them...”
“W-Well, thanks I guess... Are you okay?” Okay something weird is going on here! What’s the deal?! “Mmm... Heeey... How about we... smooch, and do other things...”
“Ga... Gather forth, Darkness! Tranquil Rest: [Sleep Cloud]!”
“Uwaaah!” Lu fell to the ground.
What the hell is going on here?!
“My liege... I believe they might be intoxicated.”
“What?! With booze or something?!”
Wait, come to think of it... that sweet smell is kind of like sake, isn’t it? Don’t tell me this fog is laced! I suddenly heard a rustling sound from nearby, and Rel
isha appeared from the undergrowth.
“Your Highness, are you okay?!”
Relisha seemed to have her sanity, at least. I was a little relieved she wasn’t as hug-happy as the other girls. Still, I wondered if the others were okay.
“Sorry, I noticed it far too late. Leen is watching the other girls right now.”
“What’d you fail to notice, exactly?”
“This is the work of the drinker mushroom.”
The what now?
“It’s a species of mushroom. It detects nearby lifeforms and sprinkles out a liquor-laced mist from its spores. Its tactic is taking down its foes by getting them too drunk to function. The alcohol inside it isn’t very potent, though, so it’s ineffective against people with decent tolerance.” That made sense. Kohaku and I were unaffected due to my status as a divine being and Kohaku’s status as a heavenly beast. Relisha and Leen had been alive for a while, so they’d probably had a fair deal of alcohol tolerance.
I took my smartphone out from my breast pocket and looked it over. Relisha had given me enough information to identify it... so all I had to do was search for mushrooms. It didn’t take long for the search to work. Sure enough, there were three in the area.
“Come forth, Ice! Freezing Javelin: [Ice Spear]!”
Three spears of ice appeared in the sky. I used my smartphone to lock on to the targets and the spears quickly found their marks. I could’ve cooked them using Fire magic, but I didn’t want the forest igniting and going wild. That was why I just opted to freeze them out.
They’d stopped moving on the map, so I figured they were dead.
“Blow forth, Wind! Soaring, Spinning Gust: [Whirlwind]!” I used Wind magic to disperse the fog. This made the airborne booze swirl around too, but it wasn’t like we could get any drunker.
Then, I used [Recovery] on Elze and Lu, and they gradually woke up. The two of them stumbled to their feet, then nervously looked at the ground...
“...I think I did something stupid... Auugh... How embarrassing...”
“Uwah... I did something shameless...”
In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 12 Page 7