Chapter 26

“Noisy.”

Swinging the greatsword in a full-body spin, I unleashed a sweeping attack that cut through everything in a full 360 degrees.

As a result, all the monsters that had just begun to go berserk—

“…So, what exactly was ‘unexpected’?”

—lay submerged in pools of blood.

Aside from the man standing amidst the ruins of the fort, everyone and everything else in the area had been slain by that single blow.

“Looks like you’re out of pawns.”

“W-what… are you…?”

The instant I sensed an emotion flicker across the man’s face that wasn’t fear, I closed the distance in a flash, shoved my fingers into his mouth, and poured in a “Paralysis Potion Lv.3” taken from my item box.

“Planning to kill yourself? Not happening. Just sit there and be numb.”

Sure enough, searching his mouth revealed a small capsule hidden in a molar.

I carefully fished it out, confirmed there were no other anomalies, and—

“…It smells.”

I tossed the now-paralyzed man aside and rushed toward the collapsed fort.

“Ice Bind Field… Did I make it in time?”

Catching a faint whiff of burning, I instantly trapped the entire remains of the fort in a vortex of freezing air.

It wasn’t magic, but mercenaries have their own handy unique skills.

This one likely represents a “do whatever it takes” mercenary style, relying on traps, poisons, and bombs—hence why it was implemented.

It consumes quite a few of my trap supplies, but that’s what gives mercenaries their edge.

It didn’t freeze everything solid, but the temporary blizzard snuffed out the smoldering flames.

“Remiya! You’re watching, right!? Get in there and search the fort—there should be documents or evidence we can use! That guy set the place on fire the moment it collapsed to destroy the proof!”

Upon hearing my shout, Remiya, who’d been observing from a distance, cautiously approached, keeping an eye on the corpses and monster remains.

“Unbelievable… all of them… really…”

“He’s still alive. Most likely the one in charge here. I’ve incapacitated him with a potent paralysis drug. He tried to kill himself. This was what was hidden in his molar.”

I tossed her the capsule, likely filled with poison.

“This… This alone could be our most important piece of evidence. I’ll handle the search inside the fort.”

“I’ll leave it to you. I’ll… yeah, I’ll cut off a few monster heads. Looks like they’ve all got some kind of device embedded in their foreheads.”

“Understood.”

Once more, I took in the devastation around me.

Monsters with dinosaur-like appearances, wyverns like the lion-shaped one I fought in the forest, and hulking beasts covered in scales with trunks like mammoths.

Each one of them was large enough to throw an ecosystem into chaos by itself.

Considering their ferocity too, whoever was behind this might not have been aiming to take over a whole country—but they could very well have intended to take down Lindblum.

“…Now that I’ve cut off their heads, how do I carry them back?”

Even if I stash them in my item box, people might question how I transported them—it could be troublesome.

Maybe other magic tools exist that work like item boxes, but I’ve never seen one used publicly.

Guess I’ll have to stuff them in some sacks and haul them manually.

I entered the collapsed fort and searched for tools or bags I could use.

Eventually, I found carts and burlap sacks—probably used for transporting monster feed—stacked near the rear of the fort.

“Alright, these will do.”

“Silent-sama, did you find something?”

“Yeah. Tools to carry the monster heads. They’re big enough to take several. We can also use it to carry that paralyzed guy.”

“I see… I also found documents, envelopes, and other papers that were smoldering in the fireplace. I plan to take them back as well.”

“Good. Then I’ll leave waterway management to you. A lot of monster corpses fell into the lake. It’s only a matter of time before the river becomes blood-polluted.”

“Understood. Then… let’s hurry back.”

The caldera lake before us, now stained a deep crimson.

Honestly, it looked like a scene straight from hell.

The river downstream is definitely going to run red with blood. Considering I just carved up over a dozen massive monsters… maybe I chose the wrong technique.

So, I loaded the burlap sacks filled with monster heads, the paralyzed man tied up and being watched, and Remiya herself onto the cart, and we began our descent down the mountain.

“Um… I can walk, really.”

“No, ride. You’re watching him too.”

“…Alright then, I’ll take you up on your offer.”

All aboard the Silent Human-Powered Carriage, now departing.

Meanwhile…

“What is this… blood?”

“This smell… it’s definitely blood. Did something happen further upstream?”

“H-Hey… let’s wrap up early today, okay? I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”

“Hmm… yeah, same here. I’ve never smelled anything like this before. Can’t even imagine what kind of monster could cause this. For the river to be this red… It’s a massacre. Should we run? Or just collect the Axebreaker branches?”

Elsewhere, Melt’s party, making their way upstream through the middle of the river, had just witnessed the waters turning red—and now faced a decision whether to abort their mission.

“The fallen Axebreaker trees should be just a bit further upstream, in the forest that’s been flattened. What do we do? It’s close from here, but…”

“If it means moving away from the river, wouldn’t that mean distancing ourselves from danger? I think we should grab the branches and return immediately.”

“I… I’d like to go back as soon as we can, honestly…”

“Yeah, but since we’re already out here, as long as we stay away from the river, it should be okay, right?”

The three of them turned to Melt, seeking her opinion.

“Hmm… yeah, I agree we should leave the river. Maybe it was some sort of monster conflict near the water source. If that’s the case, it’s unlikely they’d immediately come down here. But still, we don’t know for sure. The visibility’s good here, so let’s head into the forest to hide ourselves. Once there, if it looks safe, we’ll collect the fallen branches. If anything feels off, we turn back. How’s that?”

A compromise, but also the most reasonable plan under the circumstances—and the others agreed.

“Right. First, let’s move away from here.”

“Yeah, debate can wait till later.”

“We’ll still need to stay on guard in the forest…”

“It should be fine. With this much blood, either something huge died or there was a full-on brawl between monster groups. They probably aren’t moving around much right now. Let’s grab the Axebreaker branches and head back quickly.”

Melt didn’t seem overly alarmed.

She had grown used to life in the forest, even in a natural dungeon filled with monsters.

To the others, however, her calm demeanor only reinforced the idea that “an Emerald-ranked adventurer really is something else.”

“I-It’s huge… Just this branch is half the thickness of a normal tree…”

“Can we even carry six of these…?”

“Maybe if we tie some rope around them and drag them…?”

“That should work. They’re sturdy enough. If needed, we could even roll them down the slope.”

The fallen tree the four of them had found was massive—so large, in fact, that it no longer felt like it belonged in the category of “tree.”
If someone from Earth, like Shizuma, had been there, they probably would’ve compared it to the Jomon Sugi on Yakushima Island.

Melt and the others began cutting off the thinner ends of the tree’s branches—though even those were thick enough to be compared to an adult’s thigh. It was a slow process using their large saw.

“It’s not cutting at all! This saw does have teeth, right!?”

“Ugh! Damn! It’s slow, but we’re making steady progress…!”

“If it’s too much, I can switch with you. Let’s take turns, all of us.”

“Yeah! I’ll go next.”

While the other three took turns sawing the branches, Melt kept watch over the area, staying alert for signs of any large monsters or the scent of blood approaching.

So far, though, the only noticeable smell was the one drifting from the river, and she eased up her guard just a bit.

“Hmm… maybe I should gather some things that look sellable too…”

Still keeping a lookout, Melt began collecting items she considered forest treasures.

“Finally done! My arms are dead…”

“Yeah… And now we have to haul this down… That’s a mood killer.”

“For real… Wait, where’s Melt…?”

After collecting six branches, the three realized Melt, who had been on lookout duty, was nowhere in sight.
Fearing the worst, a chill ran down their spines.

But then, from a short distance away, they heard the same “sawing” sound—giko-giko—they’d been making themselves.

They followed the sound and found—

“Oh, you three are done? I got a few things too!”

There was Melt, still carrying her pack, sawing at another fallen tree.

“Hey, hey, what about keeping watch, Melt?”

“Hmm? It’s fine. There’s no sign of anything nearby. I did hear a cart in the distance at one point, but there wasn’t any monster presence. Though… the cart reeked of blood, so maybe a big group just finished a large-scale subjugation?”

“R-Really…? Then… we’re not in danger anymore?”

“Can’t say for sure, but someone was definitely hauling a ton of corpses.”

She was sensing the presence of Silent’s party, who had just completed their task and were transporting monster corpses.

“So… I guess it’s safe to say we’re in the clear?”

“Seems like it. Maybe, in response to the recent monster sightings, a party of high-ranking adventurers formed a subjugation squad.”

“Ah, that makes sense. So the weird stuff in the river could be from a big battle near the source.”

“Yup, that seems likely. So let’s take our loot and head back while we can?”

“Well… these branches are already a lot to carry. I doubt we can fit anything else in our packs.”

“Oh no… Well, then, how about we split the profits from what I gathered? I didn’t help with the logging, after all.”

Melt offered that, but the three of them immediately declined with full force.

“No way! We only finished the request safely and could focus on cutting because of you!”

“Exactly. Those items you collected are your own earnings.”

“Is that how it works?”

“Yeah, that’s how it works.”

“I see. Then, you three can split the reward for the logging request. I didn’t do any cutting, after all. That part’s true, right?”

“Nope, that’s not okay either. Splitting a four-person job three ways is shady. Only a scummy party would do that. Melt, you supervised us and made sure we could complete the job safely. That’s a big contribution to the request.”

Melt couldn’t help but agree with Grant’s passionate reasoning.

It wasn’t about whether she had actually done the cutting—it was about how much she had contributed throughout the journey leading up to it.

Thinking about it that way, it only made sense for Melt to receive part of the reward.

That’s how requests worked. That’s what “contribution” meant—something Melt learned that day.

“Then… if we find these on the way back, can you toss them in my basket? I think it’s fair to split the profits from those, right?”

Saying this, Melt pulled a few thin branches out of her basket to show them.

“What’s that? Looks like just some regular old sticks…”

“Firewood? I mean, sure, someone might buy it, but it’s barely worth anything.”

“Yeah, it’s bulky and doesn’t make much money… We used to collect it a lot as kids though.”

Melt tilted her head, puzzled by their reactions.

She seemed genuinely surprised they didn’t know—or rather, didn’t understand the value of what she had.

“Eh? This is fatwood, you know? At this size, one of these could go for five silver coins. It wasn’t on the notice board, but a traveling merchant once bought some from me for that much.”

“Are you serious!? What kind of branch is that!? Which tree does it come from!?”

“Hmm… Ah! You mean those resin-rich branches used for kindling? But I’ve never heard of them being worth that much…”

“Probably depends on the quality, right? This mountain’s rich enough to grow Axebreaker trees, after all. The fatwood here is much higher quality than usual. And I don’t think many people collect it.”

“H-Hey, so how do you even find that stuff?”

“Hmm… You see those? Big dead trees still standing upright. The base of the branches on those kinds of standing dead trees tend to have good fatwood. You can also get it from fallen trees, too.”

“Alright! Let’s get to gathering! They’re not too heavy either, so carrying them back should be easy!”

“Right? Unlike mushrooms, they don’t crumble. But it’s strange, isn’t it… I’d heard this country had poor harvests and barren land.”

“Yeah, well… Realistically, only this mountain and the area around Lindblum are stable. That’s all thanks to the artificial dungeon.”

“Huh… I wonder how that even works?”

“Hey! I got one! I’m tossing it down, watch out!”

And so, under Melt’s guidance, the group eagerly gathered thin branches to bring back with them.

Would they really sell for a high price—or was it all just talk…?

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