“Really? But I don’t hear anything at all.”
Agu cupped his ear forward with his hand.
“Hey, are humans a race with good hearing?”
“That, that, I don’t know about that, but I don’t think Lupusregina-san would lie about this sort of thing… though she might… prank people a little.”
Then is she lying? Agu thought as he stared wide-eyed at Lupusregina.
“No, really, I heard them. They’re coming for sure. You’re pretty amazing.”
“Hm? Ah, that’s not the case at all. Compared to Enri-san over there, I’m nothing much.”
Agu seemed to swallow it up, and looked back at Enri with a surprised expression.
No, that’s not how it is. That smile on Lupusregina-san’s face is so damn fake! Enri wondered how she should tell Agu the truth, but before that, a knock came from the door.
Shortly after, Nfirea and a woman in leather armor entered the room.
Brita, the former adventurer, had moved into the village after Nfirea. Originally, she had been an adventurer in E-Rantel, but had retired after certain events. Even so, she still needed to earn a living, and so she responded to the village’s solicitations and moved here.
She was studying to be a ranger, and she had potential. Even though she was weaker than Jugem, she was still one of the strongest people in the village and the leader of the village’s self-defense force (even though it still wasn’t at a level where it could be described as such).
She’d been called along because she was the defense force’s leader, and because she had entered the forest while practicing her fieldcraft.
“Ah— it really is a new goblin… no, hm, I keep thinking from an adventurer’s point of view… he’s not an enemy.”
Brita smiled bitterly. It wasn’t as though Enri didn’t understand where she came from. Going by the stories, goblins were the enemies of mankind. Killing them when you saw them was fine, but this village was different. The hard truth was that humans seemed to be the real enemies in this case.
“Then, since everyone’s here, let’s listen to what he has to say. Agu, can you tell us why you were running while covered in all those wounds?”
“The simple answer is that I was attacked.”
“That’s too simple… what kind of monster attacked you?”
“The minions of the Giant of the East.”
“The Giant of the East? Who’s that?”
“…How do you normally address him?”
“We-we don’t, in the first place, we didn’t even know he existed… Brita-san, do you know?”
The most widely-read person in this place was Nfirea, but when it came to the forest, Brita still knew more than him. Even so, all she could do was shake her head.
“I’m sorry. I haven’t heard anything concerning this Giant of the East. And I don’t think Master Latimon knows either. We’ve never ventured into the depths of the Forest and don’t know much about its residents.”
“Then, Agu, tell us the basics about him.”
“When you say the basics, you mean…”
Enri understood Agu’s confusion. In situations like these, it was better to ask questions one by one, so it would be easier for him to answer.
“Then, can you tell us about the powerful monsters in the Forest?”
“Well, to me the barghests and the ogres are all strong… but if you want to talk about things on the level of the Giant of the East, then in the forest, there are the powerful ones called the Three Monsters. The first is the Beast of the South. They say he’s an incredible guy who will slaughter everyone who sets foot in his domain. I don’t know what happened to him. Then there’s the Giant of the East. His base is in the withered forest. Finally is the Serpent of the West. I heard it’s a disgusting snake that can use magic.”
“Strange… how about the north?”
“There seems to be a lake in the north with all kinds of races. As for who rules them… I don’t know.
But there seem to be twin witches in the swamp. And when the Beast of the South vanished, the forest became weird. I’m not too sure what exactly happened, apparently some really scary guy showed up, and then the balance of power shifted…”
“Is that the Monument of Destruction?”
“That’s right. I also heard that the master of the Monument of Destruction can command the undead, little black shadows that can move through darkness. That’s what the survivors told us.”
Everyone ― with the exception of Lupusregina ― looked uneasily at each other.
The first thing was the Beast of the South. Since its territory was supposed to be nearby, then it must surely be the magical beast tamed by the adventurers who had escorted Nfirea here — or more specifically, the one who wore jet-black plate armor. It certainly had the look of power and strength about it, and so the description fit it perfectly.
“The Beast… the Wise King of the Forest, Hamsuke-san.”
“That’s it! Ahh, yes, that’s the Beast…”
As he heard Nfirea, Brita, who had not moved to the village at that time, made a sound.
According to her, she had seen it in E-Rantel, from far away.
And there were two more monstrous creatures out there who could equal it. Nobody could not feel shock and fear at that realisation.
“Then, how did you escape?”
“Until recently, the three of them held each other in check. The Beast of the South didn’t leave its territory, but nobody could guarantee that would always be the case. If the East and West fought, no matter who won, there was always the chance that in their moment of victory, they would be finished off by the Beast in their weakened state. As such, none of the three powers actually engaged in battle.”
“All right, I can accept that. However, if the East and West cooperated and… no, the Beast of the South wouldn’t leave his domain, so there’s no need to ally to defeat it. And of course, they can’t make provocative moves…”
“I don’t know what those guys are thinking. They just have their own territory and turned it into their own kingdoms. However, the owner of the Monument of Destruction messed up the power distribution. Because of that, the East and West decided to make war on that king of destruction, and they went on the warpath.”
Agu just kept talking and talking, without a pause.
“He forced us to be his comrades in battle. Though that’s a bad joke. We goblins were worthless to them. They used us up and threw us away, and if we messed up, we suffered. Because of that, we ran away. However…”
“It was useless, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. The barghests and ogres came after us. We couldn’t fight them, so we scattered. I fled in this direction with a few people into the Beast of the South’s territory, but we didn’t expect them to come in after us without hesitation.”
He said there had been a few people, but there had been no sign of anyone other than Agu.
A pained expression drew across Enri’s face, and Gokoh spoke.