Chapter 575 – Quest information
A forest on the outskirts of the village—
As Tauro recovered, the party confirmed the completion of their current quest while standing before the monsters’ remains.
The large wolf that had pushed Tauro to the brink was a type of vampire wolf, while the other three were of the vampire wolf type, but when I checked it with the ability “True Eye”, it was displayed as:
“Vampire Wolf King – Subspecies.”
Upon deeper appraisal, additional details appeared:
“The king of the Bloodsucking Wolves, and a special mutant individual born among them. Highly intelligent. Its fangs nullify and pierce through magical defences.”
“Since the Vampire Wolves seem to have been artificially created, this one must be a rare mutation born among them…” Tauro explained to Aeris and the others.
Then he continued.
“—We were lucky, this Wolf King was wearing a collar. When I appraised it, it displayed:
‘Imperial Antas Mountain Region Monster Research Institute – Special Development Division – Collar for Special-Grade Experimental Monsters.’”
“That means the Empire is involved behind the scenes, doesn’t it?” Aeris asked gravely.
“…Yeah. The Empire even has techniques to deceive appraisal results. I don’t the under normal circumstances, they would leave this much information visible on a collar. But judging from the broken chain still attached at the base, this monster may have escaped from them.”
Tauro drew his conclusion from the circumstantial evidence.
“The Empire’s making some insane monsters…” Ankh muttered.
“They may have struggled to control this one. After all, it escaped while still carrying identifying information.” Tauro replied, pointing to his collar.
“If that’s the case, we should probably assume the new species, the Olog-Hai, are also tied to the Empire,” Ragune concluded.
“What is the Empire trying to accomplish?” Zion tilted her head.
“The most reasonable answer is military development. Even if this Wolf King disobeyed and fled, it was incredibly powerful. And while the Olog-Hai may be individually weaker, they excel in coordinated combat and are highly intelligent. With proper equipment, they could be deployed as soldiers into extremely dangerous locations. From a usability standpoint, they’re highly efficient.”
“I don’t even want to imagine monsters like that in army-sized numbers… but in fact, there were more than 200 of them in the ancient underground ruins, so it’s highly likely.” Ankh recalled grimly.
He was remembering the massive Olog-Hai force Tauro had glimpsed while escaping the ruins, along with the mysterious group commanding them.
“They might have even been using Olog-Hai experimentally to explore trap-filled ancient underground ruins instead of risking human lives,” Aeris added.
“…Then do you think the ancient ruins expedition team will be alright?” Zion asked worriedly.
“…I did inform them about the Empire possibility. And they gathered a large number of soldiers and adventurers specifically to counter the Olog-Hai… so they should be fine… right?” Tauro looked slightly uneasy as he glanced at Aeris.
“…We should focus on completing our own quest. Even if no more Bloodsucking Wolves remain, we’ll need to stay in this village for a few days to be certain,” Aeris replied pragmatically.
She was right. Worrying about another quest wouldn’t change anything.
They had their own client to answer to. Their duty was to fulfill their contract.
“Alright then. It’s almost dawn—let’s head back and report.”
When Tauro said that, he retrieved the monsters he had subdued with magic storage and returned to the village.
Because of the massive shockwave Set had unleashed—flattening trees in the forest—the sound had echoed all the way to the village. The villagers had apparently spent the night trembling in fear.
As Tauro’s party appeared at the entrance, the villagers emerged from their homes to watch anxiously.
“Looks like our big noise kept everyone awake…” Tauro said awkwardly, preparing to explain to the gatekeeper at the entrance of the village.
At that moment, the village chief hurried over. Seeing the opportunity, Tauro took out the defeated monsters from storage and gave a full explanation.
“So the loud noise in the middle of the night was from your battle! The entire village awoke in terror, believing it was the end of the world… but now we can finally rest easy. Thank you all!”
The chief raised his voice so the villagers could hear, smiling broadly.
It was likely meant to reassure them even if a little.
The villagers seemed to finally understand that their days of fear were over.
Gratitude poured in from every direction.
“To be safe, we’ll continue surveying the surrounding area for a few days before officially concluding the quest!” Tauro also answered in a loud voice so that the village chief and the villagers could hear him, which only brought even greater thanks.
For the next two days, Tauro’s party thoroughly surveyed the area. They discovered and sealed what appeared to be the Bloodsucking Wolves’ den—a cave nearby.
They also encountered and defeated another large monster during patrol.
With the village’s safety secured, they received the village chief’s signature confirming that the quest was completed.
“Thank you for being so thorough!”
“We’re just doing our job as adventurers. —Oh, that reminds me. We’re also working on another quest and need information. Do you recognize this herb?”
Tauro presented a request sheet for a medicinal herb collection quest they had previously accepted from a village at the foot of the Antas Mountains but had yet to complete.
“Let’s see… Ah, Rainbow Grass, is it? It’s quite rare even for us. But one of our hunters once spotted it near that mountain—see that rocky outcrop jutting out over there? He found it around that area, but the footing was poor and too dangerous to harvest.”
“Thank you for your valuable information —thank you! Everyone, before we head back, we’re climbing there!”
Tauro beamed at the unexpected lead and called out to Aeris and the others.
“I was skeptical about whether we could complete that quest. This is a huge help!” Aeris smiled.
“Fortune has turned in our favor!” Ragune declared.
“Alright then, let’s get moving!” Ankh agreed.
“Should you ever face trouble again, please place a request with the Adventurers’ Guild.”
After offering a bit of promotional advice to the village chief, Tauro and his party once again set their sights on climbing the Antas Mountains—this time in search of Rainbow Grass.