Chapter 404 – The Ambush in the Forest

“There are so many unusual plants…”

Rosemary remarked while looking around. Even while exploring, she seemed interested in the vegetation. Though curious, she appeared to be prioritizing the investigation over gathering.

“It might be nice to collect rare plants after we’re done. We could probably grow them in the greenhouse.”

“That sounds wonderful. It gives us something extra to look forward to after this is over.”

Rosemary laughed cheerfully.

That said, whether they’re for food, medicinal raw materials… or even just for ornamental purposes, we should be careful about collecting them without proper knowledge. Adventurers are probably already gathering useful plants, so it would be better to get information from the old capital’s market first.

“I’m looking forward to bringing back coconuts.”

“Indeed. Those are quite good.”

Sheila and Auria were getting excited.

…Well, obvious things like coconuts and bananas should be fine.

I deployed Caduceus in a flat, spread-out manner to survey the wide-range area. Lavigne and Eclair also spread out horizontally, searching for anything suspicious.

Auria seemed to be interfering with the deeper thickets, as branches and leaves parted on their own, improving visibility.

A wildcat-like animal, startled by Auria’s interference, fled deeper into the bushes.

There were many strange flora and fauna – large pitcher plants manipulating sticky tentacles to directly catch and eat insects, palm crab-like creatures with flowers blooming on their backs, turquoise blue giant mushrooms, butterflies flying while scattering glittering scales, and so on… It was hard to tell whether they were monsters or not.

“Hmm… Something’s coming this way.”

“From above.”

At that moment, Sheila and Irmhild simultaneously stopped and looked upward.

“It appears to be… monkey-like monsters.”

It seemed spirits were warning Auria. While they were alerting her, Auria’s detection abilities were quite impressive.

Moving from branch to branch – ah. I know these monsters. They’re called Glide Apes, monkey monsters. Four in total. They seemed to be a small group…

“Glide Apes. Monkeys that can glide through the air. Watch out for their fangs and the claws on their feet.”

I gave a brief warning.

Their most distinctive feature was the membrane-like flaps on their sides that allowed them to glide.

However, these probably weren’t the figures the adventurers had encountered. They shouldn’t have the habit of calling each other’s names and coordinating.

Their frenzied faces had the distinctive aura of violent monsters. Baring their fangs while gliding, they charged toward us.

“You’re in the way.”

It was Grace who kicked off her shield and charged in. Her axe, wrapped in fighting spirit, flashed, and the Glide Ape split in two as it fell. Grace’s speed and destructive power disrupted the coordination of the other Glide Apes.

“Ramriya!”

At that moment, Ramriya, perched on Princess Elham’s shoulder, showered sand into the face of an approaching monkey.

This was no simple eye-gouging. The sand was meant to enter through the nose and mouth, blocking the throat to cause suffocation. The sand clinging to the face couldn’t be scratched off or peeled away. The monkey, its face blocked by sand, crashed into the trees while struggling and fell.

Next came the third and fourth. As they tried to avoid the sand and leap upward, they were struck by Eclair’s lightning strike, and the final one had its forehead pierced by Irmhilt’s arrow before falling to the ground.

“That was over in an instant.”

Auria nodded with admiration.

“Monsters of this level are nothing. Ramriya seems quite strong too.”

Princess Elham gently patted Ramriya’s head as she sat on her shoulder.

“After getting used to the labyrinth, monster attacks feel less frequent.”

Ashley commented.

“Ordinary monsters don’t attack in large numbers, and they usually don’t cooperate or coordinate with other species. The labyrinth is special.”

Indeed. Whether in frequency or numbers, the labyrinth definitely has more. If this were the labyrinth, there would probably be two or three more waves of monster attacks. Well… considering adventurers are entering this forest, there probably aren’t any particularly powerful monsters here. Let’s continue exploring at this pace.

After finishing one block, we moved to the next. Expanding our search area block by block.

There were places in the forest with flowing water. This should be a river… but the flow was gentle, mangroves grew naturally, and it was covered in green, so from above we couldn’t tell where the river was. Or rather… there are even some mangroves walking around on their own.

They’re probably some kind of tree monsters, but they don’t seem to be attacking us. However, with monsters like that around, the forest scenery becomes even less trustworthy. We shouldn’t use visible landmarks here.

“Hmm…”

Auria was listening to the wind spirit’s voice and nodding. The wind spirit that had delivered the message to Auria flew away again. This is how we can conduct scouting.

“It seems there’s a large body of water just ahead.”

“Should we investigate the waterside more thoroughly? If someone lives in this forest, securing a water source would be important.”

“We might find footprints.”

“Yeah. I’ll do my best.”

We all headed toward the water source the spirit had told us about.

That place was also overgrown with mangroves.

…A spring, it seems. Water appears to be welling up from underground. It holds clear water. This seems to be the source of the river flowing through the forest. Sheila immediately began investigating the waterside.

“There are lots of animal footprints.”

As she said this, Sheila seemed intent on making a full circle around the water’s edge. In that case, I’ll investigate the area near the center of the water body.

While moving across the water surface and looking around, I found a gaping hole in the deep part of the water. It was large enough for a person to easily enter.

…What is this? An underwater cave, perhaps?

“Theodore! Something’s coming!”

At that moment, I heard Sheila’s warning voice. From tree to tree. Something like a small human figure was rapidly approaching while repeatedly kicking off trunks and rebounding.

A metallic glint. First leaping to the right, then rebounding – charging toward me. The sound of cutting wind. I blocked that strike with my dragon staff swung behind my back.

And indeed, that figure – was carrying a single-edged sword.

It seemed intent on knocking me unconscious with the flat of the blade. Our gazes met for an instant. The face I glimpsed momentarily from under the hood was definitely that of a child.

While changing my body orientation, I swung my staff as if to shake it off, and it flew backward as if riding the momentum. After spinning once in the air, it landed on a branch, keeping distance from me.

Extremely agile. And this movement and the weight of that strike. This is no ordinary child… It has magical power with a strange wavelength. Not a demon, it seems…

“A magician blocking that strike with a staff…”

It seemed unexpected that I had stopped the first attack. But the hesitation lasted only a moment. It readjusted its sword stance. Though only a glimpse was visible from under the hood, the mouth might be curved in a determined expression.

The adventurers who were the source of the rumors also seemed to have been ambushed… meaning there should be at least two more people –

“Two more! They’re approaching!”

Irmhild said. Caduceus’s vision also captured two small human figures appearing and disappearing among the trees. One was a black shadow wearing a mantle. The other was also wearing a mantle, but a ribbon and skirt were visible through the gaps. Both were wearing matching coats.

Were they surrounding us? While maintaining a certain distance, they traced circular paths, leaping from trunk to trunk, right and left.

“We haven’t come to fight! Won’t you listen to us!? I’m related to the royal family of Nahalbia!”

Princess Elham said. The sword-wielding child didn’t respond but called out to its companions.

“Sigritta, Marceska. Be careful. I think these people are probably strong.”

“…Understood.”

“Be careful too, Sion.”

Carried by the wind, I could hear such voices… They prioritize eliminating us without discussion.

The black-mantled one was floating something like a grimoire on its palm. From the automatically opened pages, black liquid overflowed like ink into the air – transforming into shapes of large birds, dogs, bees, and so on.

The other one held a weapon of peculiar shape with blades attached to both ends of a staff… both blades seemed to be sheathed.

And Sion too. Probably doesn’t intend to kill. Not turning the blade edge. Seems insistent on using the flat.

There’s one thing I want to confirm.

“Forest sinners.”

When I said that, Sion twitched in response.

Doesn’t seem good at subtle games. But the stance remains unchanged. If anything, fighting spirit seemed to be intensifying.

“You’re not being forced to fight… are you?”

“Are you trying to insult us? This is something we’re doing of our own will.”

Came the reply with a hint of anger.

Insult. Is that because they respect the masters somewhere in this forest, or because they take pride in their own actions?

I watched carefully, but even through the monocle, no unnatural magical reactions were visible. I thought if I shook them up and there were mental control techniques applied, there would be strange reactions.

Even when emotional, the flow of magical power itself remains natural – can I assume there’s no lie in those words?

“No. My apologies if I misunderstood. I just want to ask them something. I have no intention of harming them.”

“We have no reason to trust you, and we don’t want to hear your reasons. If you knew and still came this deep, simply knocking you out and sending you back won’t suffice anymore. We’ll be taking your memories of this place.”

That’s what they’re saying, but… I see room for negotiation.

Essentially, if we clearly demonstrate that eliminating us is impossible, then to achieve their objectives, they’ll have no choice but to talk with us.

Even if we can’t ask for guidance, we should at least be able to hear why they’re interfering, or their reasons.