Chapter 61: Forest Wave – Interlude ③: Oni Ichimonji

Afternoon, in the great Heizen Forest.

It appeared suddenly before us in a small clearing, avoiding the trees.

“What the heck is that?”
“Well, no matter how you look at it, it’s a treasure chest.”
“That much is obvious, but…”
“The real question is, why is there a treasure chest sitting out in a place like this?”
“Exactly.”

Yes—it was a treasure chest.

No matter how you looked at it, it was clearly a treasure chest, glittering brilliantly.

Its surface was red, with gold trimming along the lid and edges, and a large keyhole. It looked sturdy, clearly made of metal rather than wood or stone.

“…A treasure chest, huh.”
“Sure looks like it.”
“Yeah…”
“…Wolff.”
“There’s no doubt. It’s an enemy.”

I had already used [Danger Detection]. It showed red.

In other words—that treasure chest was a mimic.

To begin with, it was strange for such a flashy chest to be sitting alone in the middle of a forest. It was so suspicious that I almost wondered what I’d do if it wasn’t a mimic.

I turned to Galad.

“…Galad, have you ever seen something like this before?”
“Nope. I’ve been in this forest for years, but something this obvious? First time.”

So there have been less obvious ones, huh…

“I’ve never seen one either.”
“Feels like now that it’s obvious this is a dungeon, it’s just stopped pretending.”
“Haha, and this is the result?”

We couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. It was just too blatant.

“So then, what do we do?” 

Hoss asked.

We could ignore it. Or we could fight it.

Freedom is like choosing whether or not to use an umbrella in the rain.

Galad thought for a moment, then spoke.

“Alright. Nabel, good opportunity. Go fight it.”
“Me!?”
“Mimics are good experience.”

At his words, Nabel nodded.

“I understand.”
“Give it your best!”
“Yes!”

Gripping the hilt of the Wolfeg blade, Nabel cautiously approached the mimic.

Step by step… then suddenly—

He vanished.

That was One Step.

The moment he closed the distance, the chest reacted and opened its lid.

Inside were two eyeballs. The rim of the lid and box had turned into rows of biological teeth—perfectly white, neatly lined like human teeth.

They looked… healthy.

And yet, utterly disgusting.

I do not want to get bitten by that.

“Iaido!”

Nabel drew and struck—but the blade hit the lid. Too shallow.

The mimic snapped at him, forcing him to retreat.

“No good. He needs a form,” 

Galad muttered.

“A form?”
“He’s talented, but not the type to make it up as he goes.”
“That’s true…”
“If only there were a model technique… but I can’t do something that precise.”

Galad was more of a brute-force fighter.

“What about you, Bid? It’s similar to your quick-draw style.”
“Hmm… it looks similar, but it’s actually completely different.”

Her style was closer to a blind swordsman’s technique from my past-life memories—similar, yet fundamentally different.

Then it hit me.

There was someone.

A perfect example.

“Nabel, can I take over?”
“Huh? But—”
“In exchange, I’ll show you a proper iaido form.”

His eyes widened.

“Iaido…?”
“Oh? Now that sounds interesting.”
“Can you really do it?”
“Wolff, are you sure?”
“I’ve only seen it once, but I think I can replicate it. What do you say?”

“P-please!!”

He bowed deeply.

I nodded.

Alright… let’s do this.

I gripped a knife—the one I hadn’t used yet.

Not Agaro’s upgraded blade. That one cut too well—it would ruin the demonstration.

I steadied myself.

Then I activated [Reve Move] and traced the memory.

The target:

A Rank I explorer—

“Ittō Ryōdansai” 

Kaede Akima.

Forgive me… but I’ll borrow your technique.

I matched every movement, every step—

And drew.

“—Oni Ichimonji.”

A single line of light flashed.

The mimic split cleanly in two.

At the same time, the knife I used—

A large tribal stone blade with a curved edge—

shattered beautifully.

…Well, that was expected.

A stone knife couldn’t withstand cutting metal.

Or rather—I lacked the skill.

Kaede would have cut it without breaking the blade.

Still… I showed the form.

“…Impressive.”
“Nicely done.”
“That was something. Whose technique?”
“Kaede, the ‘Ittō Ryōdansai.’”

I had fought her once at the Hydrangea arena ruins.

I simply reproduced what I remembered.

“That’s a big name. And ‘Unassailable,’ too.”
“I only managed to imitate it.”
“That’s still incredible.”
“It’s far from perfect…”

I glanced at the shattered blade.

Then—

Nabel hadn’t said a word.

“…Nabel?”
“……”
“Uh…”

He suddenly grabbed my hand.

“W-Wof!! Thank you! It feels like a fog has lifted!”

“Ah… I’m glad it helped.”

“Yes!!”

He smiled brightly—his tail wagging furiously.

Looks like it worked.

The mimic’s loot turned out to be a high potion.

I didn’t need it, so I gave it to Galad.

We left the mimic’s remains behind. Eventually, the dungeon would absorb it anyway.

I also tossed the broken knife into the chest.

After that, we continued on and soon reached our destination—a hunting village built atop a “finger rock.”

Like the one on the Heizen Plains, but lower—more like a plateau.

Apparently, monsters never attacked these rocks.

A safe zone, perhaps.

The village was simple:

Two weapon shops. Two armor shops. One tavern. One general store. A few inns. And a guild branch.

Almost like a Western town from my past life.

Galad unlocked the largest inn.

“This place belongs to the guild. We’ve got permission.”
“The guild master’s with Poor Man Club, right?”
“Yeah.”
“…So his head is—”
“A deer.”
“……”

Make it consistent, please.

We settled into our rooms.

The others hadn’t arrived yet.

Later, I saw Nabel outside practicing his iaido form under Garad’s guidance.

His movements were already improving.

Looks like showing him that technique really helped.

That night, after dinner and some card games (where Dagaa completely dominated), we went to sleep.

My first night in the great forest- was peaceful.

But deep in the night…

Unable to sleep, I went up to the inn’s rooftop.

And found someone already there.