Chapter 129 - Fourth Arc: Preliminary Investigation ③
The next day, after receiving a rough greeting from the bandits—(T/N: 'Bandits' refers to the Jaegers' rough mannerisms)—I went to Lewis-san's place, and the topic of the bento shop came up.
"Ah, Beatrix. Regarding the matter of the catering bento shop..."
"How is it? I don't think it's bad. Jaegers basically cook for themselves, so they don't have cooks, and it would be just right if the bentos they wake up early to make were catered, wouldn't it?"
"About that, self-cooking also serves as training."
"Oh? Is it no good?"
"Self-sufficiency and self-cooking are essential for our mission execution. By the way, I have a bit of a consultation."
Apparently, in order to improve their self-cooking skills, there are quite a few who want to participate as students on the days of Angelica-san's instruction.
"I think it's fine, but are there enough hands?"
"That's not a problem. I'll have them participate during their time off. It's not as a squad, but as individuals. They can pay tuition."
"I'll talk to Adolf-san just in case, but since they'll be using the orphanage kitchen, they have to wear an apron and a hokkamuri. (T/N: A traditional Japanese style of tying a headscarf under the chin, used here for hygiene.) Is that okay for the Royal Army?"
This is a rule made by the Headmistress and Jennifer-sensei. The orphans also have cooking duty and make meals with the teachers, but for hygiene, they must do the set of apron, hokkamuri, and hand washing.
"No need to worry about that. Since we are officially supposed to be hunters, that much is not a problem."
I think they might be mistaken for bandits, but oh well. To try and learn cooking on their days off, their ambition is... wait?
Beatrix is also tilting her head.
"Could it be that they're looking for encounters?"
His eyes started darting around.
The mothers who gather are all widows. In other words, they would be marriage partners.
"No, well, you see. We spend our time in the mountains with only men. When Jeanne and the others are here, it's not noticeable, but it's still desolate. There are many fights. It's, how should I say, for daily conversation, or for a bit of enrichment..."
It seems I hit the bullseye.
"Fine. I'll talk to Adolf-san and Angelica-san. Since they're people who fight to protect us every day, they need daily peace of mind."
"Y-Yes, that's it. It would be appreciated if you could understand."
Lewis-san's mouth relaxed into a smile as he took Beatrix's hand.
In contrast, Beatrix was smirking while pinching Lewis-san's hand.
"In exchange for that, though..."
In the end, it was decided that they would have a tasting of the bread made in our bread oven tomorrow and the day after.
Lewis-san undertook it, saying it was no problem at all.
After leaving the commander's office, I immediately asked for details.
"Hey, Beatrix, is it okay? If it's the ones we make, we can't put them out yet."
Since it's a self-made bread oven, it seems adjustments are necessary. It doesn't bake well.
"It's fine. I've arranged for the owner of the pub where we always eat lunch to come to the Ghost Mansion and adjust it with Matilda."
"When did you settle that talk?"
"Yesterday. I went to the meeting hall and talked with everyone from the vigilantes."
Come to think of it, the pub owner is the district head. He was carrying a spear during the Revenant incident.
"If it goes well, we might be able to handle hardtack for the Royal Army with our bread oven."
"Could it be that this is also..."
"Yes, it's one of the measures for people who are struggling with their livelihoods. Along with the bread we put out."
The story is expanding more and more.
"You're amazing, Beatrix. I've seen you in a new light!"
"It's not me. The ideas were thought up by everyone in the vigilantes. I just chose and adjusted the ones that seemed executable."
"Even so, it's amazing. It's not something easily done."
When I hugged her, she was smirking.
I bet she got some kind of reward.
No, this time the pub owner is supposed to adjust the bread oven. You could say she's already received the reward.
"We're going to the Bird's Head Tavern tonight, right? After dinner, we're going to the vigilante meeting hall, so could you wear your vestments and bring your Knight's Staff?"
I have a bad feeling.
"Everyone wants to see it. The gallant figure of Priest-Knight Jeanne-sama."
"Wait a minute. That's honestly embarrassing."
"No. It's already decided. It's okay, Paul-san will do all the talking. You just have to swing the Knight's Staff around appropriately."
Why is it decided?
"It's almost all things I can't talk about."
"It's fine. If you're asked something you can't answer, just say it involves the Medioland Royal Family so you can't disclose it. The main part is how Roberts-sama fought the dragon together with James-sama and Gladys-sama."
Apparently, not only Wilson-san and Mel, but even Henry-sama and Eleanor-sama will not appear.
It seems the story is that the Crown Prince, impressed by the brilliance of our rat extermination, asked us to investigate the site of the landslide, where we found a mysterious cave and fought and defeated the Orcs and the dragon nesting there. I, who fought at the very front the whole time with [Skill: Light] magic, was supposedly knighted...
I feel like it's a somewhat forced setting...
In the first place, there's no way a Crown Prince of a country would be interested in something like rat extermination.
"But is it okay to use Roberts-sama's and James-sama's names?"
"It's fine. I've made arrangements. I thought about what to say when asked why Jeanne became a noble together with Adolf-san and Paul-san. And we've told Roberts-sama and got his OK."
Come to think of it, she was talking to Roberts-sama during the festival.
"You really are amazing."
She made adjustments with royalty.
"Well then, I'm counting on you tonight, Priest-Knight Jeanne-sama."
"Ah, wait a minute..."
She escaped. She's already trying to get on the Bowl...
When Beatrix talks to Paul-san, Paul-san looks over here and nods. It seems I have no choice but to do it.
"I'm going to see it too!"
Bonnie, I've told you everything already!
The second hole is bats, so the method is already decided. Since they fly in the sky to get food, there's no cannibalism. With Marcelo-san's and my [Skill: Holy], we defeated twenty-three of them without a scratch, and it ended easily.
Riding the momentum, we go to the main hole.
It's on top of a hill in the middle of the Flatlands, so I found it immediately.
Lewis-san called it a rocky mountain, and indeed, I can see large stone protrusions here and there.
The hill is a small one with only grass growing on it, very similar to the hill of the fortress where we went for bat extermination.
The surroundings are surrounded by wasteland, as if practically asking to be made into a fortress. There's a forest a little distance away to the south, so hunting would be possible too. If a well could be dug, wouldn't it be possible to build a fortress without any problems?
"It's under this rock. There's a hole, right?"
On the southern slope halfway up the hill, there was that hole.
There's a large flat rock, and a hole is open beneath it. One has to crouch, but it's not that narrow.
"Isn't it for a bear's hibernation?"
"We thought so too. However, when we checked in the spring, we found that there's a deep cave beyond the hole."
As a result of Paul-san diving inside and investigating, the continuation of the hole was revealed.
It was just like the rock was the ceiling, but it split into two halfway. If you go to the small hole on the right, it's a dead end. If you go to the back of the large hole on the left, a vertical shaft leading underground was open. Apparently, one human can fit in perfectly.
I illuminate it with [Skill: Light], but I can't see anything.
Immediately, two Goblins enter.
After waiting for about half an hour, the Goblins came out looking flustered.
I bet there was a centipede or something...
I'd hate it if they had grown large by cannibalizing each other again.
"They say there's a wide horizontal hole underground. And this was dropped in that horizontal hole..."
The Goblin took a black lump out of a bag and showed it to us on the ground. I feel like it might be soil, but there's an atmosphere that makes me not want to touch it for some reason. The Goblin didn't want to touch it either, as he threw the bag away.
"There might be a big one in there."
Paul-san seems to know, as he's poking it with a wooden stick. I have a bad feeling.
"What is this?"
"It's snake dung. Judging by the size, it's a pretty huge one."
"A snake this time?"
Beatrix is poking it along with him.
As expected, he pointed the tip of the stick toward me.
Stop it already. You're not a child.
He's chasing Bonnie around while she screams.
"How do we defeat it?"
"What, I think it'll easily bite if there's bait."
"Like a fox?"
"Speaking of snake bait, it would be rats. I'll catch some rats in Nakanohara."
Um, is it rat extermination before snake extermination...
"How much will the reward be?"
A satisfied Beatrix returned to the conversation.
The stick passed into Bonnie's hand, and she's chasing around the Goblins who are running away while screaming.
"A snake is D-rank."
"It's stronger than a bear."
"If you get coiled by something that long, even a Fenrir would be in danger."
This is already a job for the Jaeger squad.
When I look at Lewis-san, he's nodding.
"I hate snakes. I'm counting on you, Priest-Knight Jeanne-dono."
It can't be helped.
I called Bonnie, got the stick, and decided to chase around Lewis-san as he ran away while screaming.
After satisfying myself by chasing Lewis-san around for a while, I returned to everyone, and they were making plans for the snake extermination.
It seems Robinson-san will try to manipulate it once they lure it out with rats.
"The problem is after that."
"Is there something?"
"The snakes around here don't dig holes in the ground. It probably entered a hole that was already there."
"Is there something else there?"
"Mm. this hill might be an ancient person's tomb."
"A tomb?"
A long time ago, in the era before records remained in the Church, powerful people built mountain-like tombs. Those burial chambers were made by combining large stones. Under the stones, there was a space underground, and there was a coffin...
"Is it a Revenant?"
"That's how it would be. There might be some."
Fortunately, I newly learned [Skill: Purification]. I haven't used it yet, but I might be able to defeat at least one in one shot.
"After that, there are ghosts and curses. Marcelo, what should we do?"
Come to think of it, there was a former expert.
"A curse that triggers just by approaching a tomb has supposedly not been confirmed until now. Therefore, we should first check the inside, and if there is a tomb, it's better to leave it to the Church."
It will apparently be made a subject of the Church's academic research.
"In that case, will we not be able to build a fortress here?"
For Lewis-san, that's probably what he's worried about. If it's no good, he has to find a suitable place.
"We have to get confirmation from the Church, but it should be fine as long as we don't modify the burial chamber. In fact, there are examples of fortresses built on top of ancient tombs."
"I see. That's good then."
It would be easy if a well could be dug from the hole underground, but that might not be the case. However, since they purposely choose a hill, they probably intend to make many basements anyway.
"Regarding ghosts, they might attack just by entering the tomb. Attacks with weapons are completely ineffective except for those made of silver or white silver, and since they disappear, it's difficult to hit them. Elemental magic is also ineffective. Since it's confirmed that holy magic is effective as a countermeasure, Marcelo and Jeanne should be at the vanguard."
As I thought, that's how it is. There's been a lot of that lately.
"Then, the policy is decided. Let's go back for today and catch some rats. We'll start over tomorrow."
We'll be going back split into two groups.
Just in case, Marcelo-san and I, who can use [Skill: Purification], became the late group along with Beatrix, who can use ice magic for snake countermeasures, and stayed behind with Lewis-san and the other Jaegers.
Seeing off the Bowl, I looked around the surroundings from the top of the hill once more.
Because I'm at the highest point in the basin, I could see the Flatlands well.
Just as it's called the Flatlands, there are only small hills rising here and there.
The Flatlands are a patchwork of wasteland with only forests, weeds, and shrubs. When I was wondering why, Marcelo-san told me.
Apparently, they used to burn the forests to make fields here, and when the land became thin, they would move and burn the forest, repeating the process. The places where trees aren't growing were fallow land, waiting for trees to grow. I feel like it's quite leisurely, but you can't come here without crossing the mountains. The population probably wasn't that large either. They could manage with hunting and small fields.
However, along with the previous Demon Lord's resurrection, monsters gradually increased and it became dangerous, so everyone moved away. The reason there was some prospect of returning was because Henry-sama defeated the Demon Lord, and since then, they were caught up in war and couldn't even recover lost territory.
"What did they do for water at that time?"
"It seems they were digging wells. There are depressions here and there, right? Those are probably the remains of settlements, and weren't there wells too? Since it's dangerous if a hunter falls in, they probably filled them all in when they moved."
It's a wasteful story, but it can't be helped if there are no people to manage them. It's meaningless if animals fall in and the water rots.
It was then.
"...scape... this... way..."
Hmm? I felt like I heard a voice from the forest...
"Did you hear something?"
Even when I asked Marcelo-san, he shook his head.
"Better... to escape... this way..."
No mistake. It's from the southern forest.
However, even when I look at the forest, I can't see anything.
"Is someone there?"
I try asking in a loud voice.
"Is something wrong?"
Lewis-san also came over and looked at the forest I was looking at.
"Isn't there nothing there?"
If even the eyes of a Jaeger can't see it...
"It's better to escape this way."
This time I heard it clearly. It's a girl's voice. Presumably, something that is not human is in the forest. Moreover, it's telling us to escape.
"Did you hear it?"
"No, nothing?"
Everyone shook their heads.
Apparently, I was the only one who heard it.
"Let's escape. We're going toward the forest."
"What's going on?"
Lewis-san has a suspicious look on his face.
However, there's probably no time to explain.
"Just come on, we have to escape toward the forest quickly."
I hurriedly pull his sleeve.
"It's dangerous here, so we're escaping toward the forest, right?"
Beatrix asked with a serious face.
"That's right. Hurry."
"Understood. Let's escape immediately. Marcelo-san, we're escaping!"
The two of us pulled the sleeves of the three of them and scrambled down the hill.
We actually slipped and fell and got covered in mud, but that's not the point.
Anyway, we entered the forest.
"What's going on? Jeanne, what happened?"
"Please be quiet. I'm sorry, but please watch the surroundings. Beatrix, for now, lightning magic please. Marcelo-san, please look for the next place to escape with [Skill: Teleport]."
Right now I have no choice but to trust the voice and see how things go. I took a rude attitude, but even so, the two Jaegers are nocking silver arrows to their bows and watching the surroundings. Something should happen around where that rock was.
Robinson-san and the Goblins aren't here. From here on, the eyes of the Jaegers are the only thing to rely on.
While I was chanting [Skill: Holy] just in case, something moved around the rock where we were.
"W-What is that..."
Beatrix was speechless.
From the tip of a head larger than a human torso, a black, long tongue can be seen flicking in and out.
Expressionless eyes, a long body covered in scales. On a light brown ground, there's a black pattern that seems to wrap around the body.
Raising its scythe-neck—(T/N: Literally 'to raise one's scythe-neck,' a common Japanese idiom describing a snake raising its head to strike)—it was a giant snake.