Chapter 65: Forest Wave – Interlude 6: The Unreal Kingdom

While exploring, we didn’t find treasure, but we did discover some intriguing documents.
They were written in an ancient script I didn’t recognize, but surprisingly, Garad-san could read them.

It told the story of a city that prospered through the power of a giant spider—the very same kind that had caused the dungeon anomaly.
That city itself had been a surface-type dungeon.

At first, the people were sincerely grateful for the spider’s blessings.
But as time passed, they split into three factions:

• A faith faction that worshipped the spider as a god. 
• A subjugation faction that saw it as dangerous and sought to eliminate it. 
• A control faction that tried to use the spider as a tool. 

Gradually, the control faction rose to dominance, pushing aside the other two.
However, the faith and subjugation factions formed an alliance, sealed the spider away, and dismantled the control faction.

They chose sealing instead of extermination because it was a condition set by the faith faction.
That sword—“Kumogiri”—was hidden by the subjugation faction afterward as a last-resort weapon, in case something went wrong.

Judging from its design, it clearly involved the mountain ascetic people, and it was made specifically to kill spiders.

The city that sealed the spider gradually declined and was eventually abandoned.
No one knows what became of those who left—or those who stayed behind.

“…So the power that brought prosperity really did exist,” 

Garad-san said.

“But it’s too dangerous,” 

Hoss-san said.

“Sealing it was the right call,” 

Bid-san added.

“I would’ve preferred they killed it,” 

Nabel-san muttered.

Nabel-san gave a wry smile as he looked at the Kumogiri in his hand.
I felt the same way.

We continued our exploration.

Splitting into teams, I ended up with Bid-san.

“…Wof-kun, what’s that?” 

She asked.

“Uh… a stone statue, I think.”

I picked up a statue that had been casually left in what looked like a storage room.
It resembled a shakōki-dogū from my past life.
Actually, it felt like I’d seen something similar somewhere in this world too, which made me curious.

It was glowing green.

Bid-san glanced at it from slightly below.

“You taking that with you?”

“Uh… no, I just thought it looked unusual.”

I put it back.
It wasn’t worth taking—just something that caught my eye.

“Find anything, Bid-san?”

“…Hmm, nothing in particular.”

“Same here.”

Even 【Circle of Fortune】 showed no reaction.

We checked several rooms, but found nothing noteworthy.

“There’s really nothing here.” 

“Yeah…”

“There should at least be something,” 

“Right?”

Just as we were about to head to the next room, Bid-san suddenly cried out.

“W-wait, ah!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Something’s caught on my pants—I can’t get it off!”

“Huh? Are you okay?”

Looking closer, something had snagged her spats.
A nail—one that had stuck out from a poorly fastened wooden crate—had caught the fabric.

“Ugh! It won’t come off!”

“Bid-san, if you move like that, it’ll tear—ah…”

Riiip.

Her spats tore.

She managed to free herself, but the tear was pretty big.
And… because of where it ripped, part of her backside was visible.

…Huh? That’s strange.

“Ugh… I messed up…” 

She groaned, shoulders slumping.

“F-for now, you should cover—”

“It’s fine, I’ve got a spare.”

“Huh?”

She pulled out another pair of black spats from her pouch.

“I tear these a lot, so I always carry extras.” 

She said with an embarrassed smile, then started taking off the torn pair right there.

I quickly turned away.

“I-I’ll go over there!”

“I’m wearing underwear, you know.”

“That’s not the point!”

“…Oh, wait—I’m not wearing any. I usually don’t, because the lines show. Totally forgot.” 

She said, laughing.

That is definitely a problem.

Now I understood why there was nothing covering what I saw earlier…

“Okay, done.” 

She called.

“…You wear those a lot, don’t you?”

“I like them, but more importantly, they’re easy to move in.”

She stretched the fabric and gave her hip a light smack.

“Haha, but they tear easily.”

“They’re cheap, so I just buy a bunch.”

“But still, not wearing underwear…”

“You can just change right away, no problem.”

…Is that how that works?

“You don’t mind being seen?” 

I asked.

“Hey, Wof-kun. That’s not okay,” 

She said, frowning slightly and giving me a sharp look.

“I-it’s not?”

“I’m still a girl, you know. Of course it’s embarrassing to be seen.”

“…Sorry.”

Yeah, that was definitely insensitive of me.

She blinked, then tilted her head.

“…Wof-kun, do you want to see?”

“Huh?”

“My body.”

“W-what!?”

The sudden question threw me into a panic.

Do I want to see? Of course I do. Obviously I do.
But that’s—no, that’s not something I should just say—!

“Hey! You two! Find anything?” 

Garad-san called out.

Saved by the bell.

“Nah, nothing here,” 

Bid-san said.

“Nothing on our end,” 

I added.

“Alright, then let’s head back.”

“Okay!”

“Got it.”

Honestly… I wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or disappointed.

Bid-san acted like nothing had happened and urged me along.

…Well, I guess this works.

We left the forbidden land.

There were no monsters there—nor any sign of the dungeon anomaly.

But we did gain something:

Kumogiri—a spider-slaying blade, now in Nabel-san’s possession.
With that, dealing with the anomaly should be much easier.

We concluded that the anomaly was most likely hiding somewhere in the forest.
Troublesome—but we’d have to track it down.

“We’ll have to think of a way to find it,” 

Garad-san said.

“If it’d just rampage, it’d be easier to spot,” 

Bid-san added.

“…Yeah.”

We returned via the teleportation circle.

The forest still felt oppressive.

“What is this…” 

Hoss-san muttered.

“No enemies, right?” 

Bid-san asked.

“…None,” 

I confirmed.

【Danger Detection】 showed nothing.

“So what now, Garad?” 

Hoss-san asked.

“…We’ll head to another subjugation village. There’s one not too far from here.”

“Yeah, I remember,” 

Hoss-san said.

“Torquetum might be there too,” 

Bid-san said.

“That’s possible.”

“Alright.”

We started walking again.

The scenery didn’t change—still wrapped in eerie silence.

And that heavy atmosphere… what was it?

I kept 【Danger Detection】 active the whole time.
Occasionally, red or black dots appeared on tree trunks or the ground—but they were just poisonous plants or mushrooms.
Hoss-san would sometimes gather them.

“But seriously… no monsters at all is just too strange,” 

Garad-san said.

“This atmosphere is weird too.” 

“…Um, this is just my guess.” 

Nabel-san began hesitantly.

We all looked at him.

“What is it?” 

Hoss-san asked.

“If you’ve noticed something, speak up,” 

Garad-san said.

“…I think this is a territory,” 

Nabel-san said.

“You mean the forest itself?” 

I asked.

He nodded.

“I think the heaviness in the air is because we’re inside its territory.”

“…A territory, huh. Hossu wasn’t there a ‘Kizumono’ territory around here?”

“Yeah. But if it were Kizumono, we’d already be under attack. And its territory doesn’t feel like this.”

“Then this must be the dungeon anomaly’s territory,” 

Bid-san said.

“Probably. It’s possible… that Kizumono and the anomaly fought,” 

Garad-san said.

No one reacted with surprise.

A territorial battle—that explanation made the most sense.

“Garad-san, do you think the subjugation team is okay?”.

“The Gouro Subjugation Team are veterans. They know when to retreat. And Araya is cautious.”

That was true—Araya-san wasn’t reckless.

“If they wiped each other out, that’d be ideal.”.

“…With this atmosphere, I wouldn’t count on it.” 

“We should also consider the worst-case scenario—that Kizumono lost.” 

Garad-san said.

“That would be the worst,” 

Hoss-san replied.

“Seriously the worst.” 

“I don’t like that.” 

“But even worse things could happen,” 

Bid-san joked lightly.

We all gave uneasy smiles.

Eventually, we reached another subjugation village without incident.

This one was located beneath a finger-shaped rock formation.

The facilities were mostly the same—except there were two taverns.

The moment we entered the village… red dots began appearing all over inside it.

“…Garad-san. There are enemies in the village,” I said.

“What!?”

“I smell something strange.”

“There’s something here!” 

Bid said after Hoss’ remark.

“What the hell?” 

Hoss-san muttered 

From around the village, they began to emerge—

Monsters…?

No—white women.

They were naked, but strangely, there was nothing erotic about them.
Their skin looked like sculpture or porcelain, and both arms were patterned with black mottling.

They had human faces—but four red eyes.
And their hair… were those spider legs?

“…Spider women?” 

Bid-san.

“…Spiders…?”

Muttered Hoss

“The dungeon anomaly?” 

I asked.

“No. That one was a giant spider. But these… what are they?” 

Garad-san asked.

“—One thing’s certain. They’re enemies,” 

I drew my knife. Everyone else readied their weapons.

Once they entered range, I’d activate 【Blue Saint】 and hit them with 【Vanish】.

But… there were too many.

Dozens of them.

Still—not a threat to us.

We took up positions and prepared to intercept.

The spider women moved to surround us.

Then, just as they stepped into my range—

(…My kingdom… my kingdom… this is [My Unreal Kingdom]…)

“!?”

What was that?

(Brace your gauntlets—brace them!)

A voice—both male and female—echoed in my head.

Instinctively, I raised my Blue Saint Gauntlets in front of my chest.

At that instant, something like a heavy wave slammed into them.

I managed to deflect it—but even the aftershock nearly knocked me off my feet.

“That was close… What was that?”

Right—everyone else—

They seemed unharmed… but something was off.

“W-what is this…”.

“Hey… what the hell is going on…!?” 

Garad-san asked.

“What is it?” 

Hoss-san asked.

“…Why… can’t I use my relic?” 

Nabel-san said, his voice filled with shock and despair.

“…What?”

And then—

We were completely surrounded by the spider women.