Chapter 471 - Seventh Tale: Gnome's Cave (8)
We defeated the monster. Since its form didn't return to normal even after death, it's a real Cerberus. There shouldn't be any Cerberus around here. It must have been jumped here by Gnome. Thinking about it, it's pitiful.
For the beastmen, putting aside the unpalatable meat, the fangs and fur would be a good income. Currently, due to the number of people, entry is prohibited for anyone other than the explorers, so we can't call for backup. Since the escape route is a straight line, we'll return to the hall once, and Wilson-san will carry it outside on a [Wind Barrier].
“Alright! We defeated the monster! Next is Gnome!”
The beastmen are gaining momentum. It would be good if we could conquer it with this momentum, but...
The cave heading West from the junction isn't necessarily heading straight West, but intending to go by the book, this time we started by exploring the cave whose entrance is in the West while riding the bowl.
After proceeding a little, it gradually changes direction to the Southwest and further becomes a descent. This is, no matter how you think about it, not straight.
As expected, after turning sharply to the right while descending, I found that after heading North once, it extends toward the East on the opposite side.
“Is it a miss?”
“No, it might have already made half a circle. Let's go as far as we can and check.”
Eleanor-sama replies to the leader's words. We're riding the bowl anyway. It's not like we're consuming physical strength, and neither the number of times nor the deadline has been indicated. If it comes to it, we can return to Sertoria at ultra-high speed, so we should just settle down and take our time.
“There's a reaction to the front right. Probably C-rank. Two of them.”
Probably, we passed the place where Gnome connected. Suddenly there was a reaction.
The front is a dead end. Since there are shadows on the left and right, it must be a T-junction. Front right means they're there if we turn right after entering the T-junction. I'm detecting by narrowing the range. It'll be a battle right after entering the T-junction. Melee combat will be difficult.
“Shall I go scout?”
“Please, Fiona.”
The appearance of the strongest scout against monsters.
“Fiona. If anything happens, raise your right hand. I'll release attribute magic.”
It's Wilson-san. Attribute magic won't hit Fiona.
“Thank you. If possible, please use something other than wind.”
Apparently, there's a possibility her body could be blown away for a moment by a sudden gust of wind. It's an unexpected weakness, but a monster that suddenly blows wind would be rare.
“Earth magic, then. I'll throw some pebbles. And, Wildcat young lady. Could you prepare lightning magic? Horizontal to the front is fine. Since it'll burst if it hits the wall, you can buy a moment's time.”
“Oh? 'Young lady,' you know what you're talking about.”
The Wolf Man leader, who opened his mouth in a strange way while looking sideways, took a powerful kick, didn't he?
As a result of the scouting, it turned out to be two Ghouls. Apparently, when Fiona approached, they stared at her, but then they started talking. Since it's monster language, Fiona doesn't understand. The Ghouls had already realized they were at a disadvantage, or perhaps they thought it didn't matter since the opponent was a ghost.
“The color of foxfire and the fire I produce are similar, right? So I think they thought there was only me.”
The Ghouls are apparently as relaxed as Fiona says.
“Ghouls, huh. Troublesome. They're undead and use high-level earth magic. If one becomes a defense specialist, we'll have a hard time in an underground battle with only attribute magic.”
The Wolf leader said to me. In short, he's telling me to use holy magic.
“Um, can you all talk to Ghouls?”
“A-Ah, we can talk. Well, we're not on friendly terms, though. Are you going to try a non-aggression negotiation?”
“No, why don't we make them allies instead?”
“A-Allies? There's a limit on the number of people.”
“That's true. But Gnome limited the number of people we bring into the barrier, but he didn't limit the number of people we make allies inside the barrier.”
“T-True...”
The beastmen looked at each other.
When I asked Eleanor-sama, she was enthusiastic, saying 'Let's do it.' Ghoul recruitment has succeeded once before. She must be confident.
“Then, Fox Man-san. We're going to negotiate, so please follow us. You, Jeanne, Fiona, and then, let's see, Wilson should come too. Let's do it with those five. The rest of you, please stay with Henry until I give the signal.”
Henry-sama, hearing Eleanor-sama's words, returned his drawn sword to its scabbard.
“We'll just be observers for a while. We shouldn't make the opponent wary.”
Saying that, he had the Wolf and Fox put away their swords too, and instructed the Bear, who was holding a huge axe, to wait in the back.
“You guys, stay here.”
The Fox walks at the front, sending foxfire flying. He's surprisingly gutsy.
As we walked along in a group, the Ghouls stood up. They lowered their hips, turned half-sideways, and were moving their right hands swayingly. It's probably a threat that they'll release magic at any time. Since Wilson-san is deploying a [Wind Barrier] overhead, we won't be buried alive even if the Ghouls suddenly collapse the ceiling.
The Fox suddenly called out. From the sound of his voice, it was probably something like 'Yo' or 'Hey.' He probably called out cheerfully. The Fox apparently lives in the outermost part of the beastman settlement. In other words, he's a scout.
The Ghouls are saying something back, but it feels hostile; they're probably intimidating us by opening their large mouths and making 'sha-sha' sounds.
The Fox calls out further. He has already stopped and raised both hands to face height, showing his palms to indicate he has no hostile intent.
Suddenly, he sat cross-legged right in front of the Ghouls. He must have taken a bottle of alcohol from his pocket; he's holding it in his right hand. He takes a swig directly from the bottle. When he offers it to the Ghouls, one takes it and drinks in the same way. Apparently liking it, they're gulping it down while laughing at something. The other one takes the bottle as if snatching it and drinks. When Fiona, who was handed an additional bottle by Eleanor-sama, flew over, it turned into a complete banquet. They've completely fallen for it.
Everyone brings alcohol bottles in their hands. What I'm holding is mead, which was alcohol to give to Gnome, but it can't be helped.
But, however, the Fox Man told me I could put it away.
“These guys are surprisingly discerning. They only drink fruit wine.”
The Fox Man says something truly unexpected. Does fruit wine go well with rotten corpses?
“You know them well.”
“Well, yeah. I occasionally meet them in the forest at night.”
When the Wolf Man asked, he said something else unexpected. Wolves are nocturnal too, so they go out on night patrols. However, they don't seem to see them that often.
“Foxfire. The flames I use are pale blue. They're similar to the flames ghosts produce. In other words, there might be a corpse nearby. So, there are times when they come to me.”
There was an unexpected connection. That must be the reason why Fiona wasn't wary when she went out to scout.
“It seems these guys were also jumped here by Gnome. They don't know where this is. So, when Fiona approached, they were apparently discussing whether it was some kind of trap.”
The Fox Man approached there and, so to speak, told them they were fellow sufferers, and apparently suggested escaping together.
“Can we go together?”
“Rather than together, it's a contract. In this case.”
I see. It wasn't that easy.
“You know what these guys eat, right?”
“Corpses. I've heard it doesn't matter if it's humans or monsters.”
“That's the point. Since they dig up corpses from graveyards, they're disliked among us. Well, these guys are good at hiding. We don't fight them, but we need someone in charge of guarding the graves, so it takes up manpower.”
Hmm, hmm. That would be true. But.
“How about Bears? We could hand over Bears hunted with that dried meat at a fixed location periodically.”
“Hmm. Not bad. With that dried meat, we can sufficiently calculate.”
“Yes. And, on the condition that if they don't target your graves, we'll continue, and if they dig them up, we'll stop.”
I see, he agreed.
I'll also consult with the Wolf Man and Bear Man. The Wolf leader knows the power of dried meat well enough.
“If we have one, then, let's see... if we change locations during winter, four Bears a day for one pair is a conservative estimate.”
“Four Bears? In one day?”
Both of them recoiled.
“Hey, Fox. Is that true?”
They both asked the Fox Man.
The Fox Man knows how much quantity can hunt one. He egged them on, saying we could probably do more.
“The problem is whether we can carry them, but with flight magic, it'll be fine.”
“Then, I must support too.”
The herbivorous Horse Man shrugged his shoulders.
“I'll help too. We're also having a hard time during winter. For a Bear, I can just drop one lightning bolt from the air and defeat it. And, I'll also help with the agriculture that Bishop Jeanne's companions are teaching. The Bear will help too, right?”
“Yeah! Leave the heavy labor to me. If we can feed the kids plenty during winter, I'll do anything.”
“Can't be helped. Leave tilling the fields to the Wolves. After all, we're good at earth magic.”
Four Bears a day during winter seems to be quite a big deal. They're getting quite excited.
The problem is that it's currently March.
In the end, since Wolves are also fine, it became a contract including them. Wolves are hooked on roasted chicken carcasses. It should be fine if I ask Godwynn-sama.
First, as a down payment, we decided to go outside once and have them look at the Cerberus we hunted earlier.
When we went outside on the bowl, the butchering had just finished.
For the Ghouls, the fur and fangs don't matter. For the beastmen, the unpalatable meat doesn't matter. Both sides' interests aligned, and it was decided to decide on a location, dig a hole, and bury it until it becomes the right eating time for the Ghouls. At the same time, they promised two things: if they can get a share of the prey, they won't ravage the beastmen's graves, and they will take on the role of driving away boars targeting the oats cultivated in the small flatlands, and cleaning up animals that died around the settlement.
Since the opponent was Ghouls who ravage their own kin's graves, the beastmen were reluctant at first, but when they understood that Ghouls don't ravage beastmen's graves by choice but were just looking for some kind of carrion, they decided to accept.
After that, it depended on whether Lyudmila could carry out the agricultural reform for the herbivorous beastmen.
Lyudmila was in the center of the settlement where the Horses and Deer lived. In front of a pasture-like field, she was talking with the Horses and Deer.
“Lyudmila, how is it? Do you think we can change it with clover or turnips?”
“Hmm. Clover seems to be growing here and there. So, we just need to increase the seeds for that, so I think we can manage. But, for turnips, we have to till many times. But, it seems these people can't use earth magic. So, they can't sow many seeds for oats or pasture grass because of lack of manpower.”
That's why it's a landscape where pastures and wastelands are mixed.
However, that point is fine. The Wolf Man promised. Besides, if we have dried meat, chicken carcasses, and leftovers, the manpower and effort for hunting can be reduced. That much, we can also earn the number of times for tilling for turnips. For chicken carcasses and leftovers, we must have Godwynn-sama cooperate, but they're originally things being thrown away. Shouldn't it be fine?
Once the plan to solve the problem was established, this time she raised problems along that line.
“You know. We went to Vectis Island before, right? At that time, I was taught how to preserve pasture grass for winter.”
“How to preserve pasture grass?”
“Yeah. Right now, they're just putting harvested pasture grass in sheds and piling it up, right? Apparently, if you stuff it into a dedicated warehouse like a stone-walled one with no windows and sealed gaps with mortar, and put a lid on it tightly, it becomes delicious pasture grass that cows and horses love to eat.”
Lyudmila says that if we combine that delicious pasture grass and turnips, we can somehow make it in time for winter food. It seems to be the latest method transmitted from the continent, which is at the experimental stage even in Engrio.
“A normal shed is no good. You put in a lot of pasture grass while treading it down from above, leave it like that for a while, and when you use it, you take it out from the bottom.”
Apparently, strength and airtightness to withstand the pressure of treading down are necessary.
I don't really understand, but I guess that's how it is. For Horses, delicious hay, and for Deer, turnips, are apparently attractive food items. The problem is mortar. Even looking around the settlement, I only see buildings made of stone, soil, and wood.
“Let's consult with Godwynn-sama. If we can make that delicious hay well, Mary can teach the method to the Regnentes nobles, right? It's an experiment here.”
“Ah, I see! That's right. Let's do that! Thank you, Lyudmila.”
The down payment of Cerberus meat was successfully handed over. The location for future handovers was also decided. Ghouls are good at earth magic. It was even discussed that when the Wolf Man has to go hunting or patrolling, they will help with farm work using tilling magic. The payment is fruit wine made by the beastmen. Since they understand each other's words, once they get along with alcohol, the conversation is picking up speed.
“Bishop Jeanne. You are, after all, the second coming of the Priestess. We beastmen, you humans, the spirits including the Four Great Spirits, and even the Ghouls who are known as outcasts among monsters. Even though each has different purposes, you are guiding them to move in the same direction and achieving a splendid harmony. Coexistence and co-prosperity is exactly this.”
The Elder, whose face was red from having a drink, praised me. At the end of his gaze, Alex, who had woken up before I knew it, was drinking alcohol together with Salamander, Ghouls, the Wolf Man leader, and other beastmen.
“It's fun, isn't it? The path the Goddess showed is correct.”
“Truly. Bishop Jeanne, who embodies that, came here, and I feel like I've understood that thought anew. Thinking back, we beastmen who found meaning in fighting were shallow.”
“But, I heard that after reconciling, there were no conspicuous conflicts. You were achieving coexistence and co-prosperity through non-aggression, weren't you?”
“I'm grateful you say that.”
The Elder bowed to me.
“The Demon Lord said before. Winning in battle and plundering is apparently the instinct of the Demon Race. But, humans, monsters, animals, and plants are all the same, aren't they? Everyone plunders something from others to live.”
There are animals that eat plants, animals that eat those animals, those who eat their corpses, those who return them to the soil, and plants get nutrients from that soil. Humans hunting boars and cultivating wheat is just one of those cycles. In that sense, humans, the Demon Race, monsters, and spirits are no different. In short, it's the balance Dune always talks about. If one part becomes excessive, that balance collapses. If humans increase too much, many people die in a short period due to plague, famine, or wars caused by them. It's not just the Demon Race that has the instinct to fight and plunder. It applies to all living things. I wonder if it's just that the Demon Race centered around the Demon Lord is clearly aware of that and putting it into words. In other words, there's no difference between races. Everyone is the same.
“Bishop. Those words just now... Bishop, could you perhaps be with the Demon Race... no, even the Demon Lord...”
“Yes. I think it would be good if we could achieve coexistence and co-prosperity.”
When I said that, the Elder silently bowed to me.