Chapter 575 – Quest Information

A forest on the outskirts of the village—

While waiting for Tauro to recover, the party checked the monsters’ remains and confirmed the result of the quest.

The three smaller monsters were Bloodsucking Wolves. When Tauro examined the large wolf that had pushed him so hard with [True Eye], however, its display read:

“Bloodsucking Wolf King – Subspecies.”

A more detailed appraisal added:

“The king of the Bloodsucking Wolves and a special individual born as a mutation among them. Highly intelligent. Its fangs nullify magical defenses and pierce through them.”

“Since the Bloodsucking Wolves themselves seem to have been forcibly created, this must be an even rarer monster that happened to emerge among them…” Tauro said after explaining the appraisal result to Aeris and the others.

Then he continued.

“Another lucky break is that the Bloodsucking Wolf King was wearing a collar. When I appraised it, the display read: ‘Imperial Antas Mountain Region Monster Research Institute – Special Development Division – Collar for Special-Grade Experimental Monster.’”

“That means the Empire is involved behind the scenes, doesn’t it?” Aeris asked with a grave expression.

“…Yeah. The Empire has technology capable of falsifying appraisal results, so under normal circumstances I don’t think they’d leave this much information visible on a collar. But judging from the short length of broken chain still attached to it, this monster may have escaped from them.”

Tauro reached that conclusion from the circumstantial evidence.

“The Empire is making some outrageous monsters…” Ankh said in disbelief.

“Maybe even the Empire couldn’t handle this one. It escaped while still carrying information that identifies where it came from,” Aeris replied pragmatically.

Aeris was right. There was no point in worrying about another party’s quest at the moment.

They had their own client, and their responsibility was to finish the job they had accepted.

“Alright. Dawn’s almost here, so let’s head back to the village and report.”

Tauro stored the defeated monsters in [Magic Storage], and the group returned to the village.

The shockwave used during the nighttime battle had been loud enough to echo all the way to the settlement as it mowed down trees in the forest. The villagers had apparently spent the night awake and terrified.

When Tauro’s party reached the village entrance, people began emerging from their homes and watching them anxiously.

“Looks like the noise we made kept everyone awake…” Tauro said with an awkward smile as he prepared to explain the situation to the gatekeeper.

At that moment, the village chief hurried over. Taking the opportunity, Tauro brought the defeated monsters out of [Magic Storage] and gave a full report.

“So the enormous noise in the middle of the night came from your battle! It was so loud that everyone in the village woke up and thought the end of the world had come… But now we can finally rest easy. Thank you all!”

The village chief deliberately raised his voice so that everyone nearby could hear his thanks.

It was probably meant to reassure the villagers as quickly as possible.

At his words, the villagers finally understood that their days of living in fear of the monsters were over.

Voices of gratitude rose from all around.

“To be safe, we’ll spend another few days checking the surrounding area before we officially consider the quest complete!” Tauro called out loudly enough for both the chief and the villagers to hear.

That earned the party even more grateful cheers.

Over the next two days, Tauro and the others searched the area around the village. They found a cave that appeared to have been the Bloodsucking Wolves’ den and sealed it.

They also encountered another large monster and defeated it along the way.

Once they were satisfied that the village was safe, they received the village chief’s signature confirming completion of the quest.

“Thank you for being so thorough!”

“It’s simply our job as adventurers. —Oh, right. We’re working on another quest too and need some information. Do you recognize this medicinal herb?”

Tauro showed the chief the request sheet for a rare-herb gathering quest they had accepted some time earlier but had yet to complete.

“Let’s see… Ah, Rainbow Grass. We don’t encounter it very often either, but one of our hunters once said he found some near that mountain. See that rocky outcrop sticking out over there? He spotted it around there, but the footing was poor and too dangerous for him to collect it.”

“Really!? Thank you, that’s extremely useful information! Everyone, before we head back, we’re going up there!”

Delighted by the unexpected lead, Tauro called out to Aeris and the others.

“I wasn’t sure we’d ever manage to complete that quest, so this is a huge help!” Aeris said happily.

“Looks like our luck has finally turned!” Ragune added.

“Alright, then let’s get moving!” Ankh agreed.

“If anything troubles the village again, please send a request to the Adventurers’ Guild.”

After that small bit of promotion, Tauro and his party once again headed into the Antas Mountain Range, this time in search of Rainbow Grass.