kscans

Chapter 62 - The Monster That Summons Monsters, and the Otherworlder Who Protects the Town

The caravan passed through the gate of a wall made of white stone and entered the town. The sun was still high in the sky. We headed for the Mateo Trading Company's branch office. The group of nomads had planned to camp outside the town, but after hearing about the monster attack, they decided to stay inside. Through Claire, the Mateo Trading Company arranged for them to park their wagons in the stables of various other merchant companies. Our inn was also arranged by the Mateo Trading Company. We were assigned a room that could accommodate all six of us. I promised Kalpana I would pick her up at night. Our party members headed to the Guild to gather information about the locust monsters. On the way, as we reached the main street, we saw a crowd had formed. When we got closer, we saw it was the carcass of a giant pink locust. Even lying on its side, it was as tall as I was. We could tell it was a carcass because of the numerous stakes driven into the ground to pin it down, and the foul stench of bodily fluids leaking from it. A putrid smell, perhaps. The stakes were more than twice my height, and I couldn't even imagine who had driven them in, or how. Some people were working on trying to pull them out. My eyes met Aira's. She had a calm expression. I thought about giving her a playful push from behind, but decided it was too risky to mess with her and left her alone.

"It's a Big Hopper,"

Myra said. I wondered if they just slapped the word 'big' in front of anything to make it a monster.

"Its body hasn't disappeared even though it's dead. So it's not strictly a monster, then."

Myra nodded. Aira aside, the thought of an insect this size existing was terrifying. I wondered if the oxygen level in this world was higher than in my old one.

"Green Big Hoppers operate alone, but when they turn brown, they start moving in swarms of several hundred. They also become more ferocious and their physical abilities increase. Inside a closed space like a dungeon, they're not a major threat, but as an enemy in the open field, they're the worst. They always move in massive swarms, and any town in their path is annihilated."

"Several hundred... So this pink one is the sexy one, I take it."

I wondered if there was any demand for a sexy locust.

"The pink ones act as commanders. The brown swarms move according to the pink individual's movements. A swarm of Big Hoppers will likely be here before long."

I looked up at the sky. A clear blue expanse stretched above. The clouds were drifting slowly to the east. There was no sign of monsters descending from the peaceful sky.

"Even if it's dead?"

"The monsters are controlled by the pheromones released by the pink individual. And it's said they can detect it from a considerable distance. There's a story about an adventurer who defeated a pink one on a quest. But during the fight, he was splattered with the monster's bodily fluids. After he returned, his entire town was attacked by Big Hoppers."

Myra finished her explanation.

"It'd be horrible if they attacked at night."

"Big Hoppers are diurnal. So I don't think we need to worry about that."

I nodded at Myra's reply. And then I couldn't help but glance at Aira. If a swarm of locusts this size attacked, she might die of shock.

"They're just monsters, so it's fine. We just have to defeat them,"

Aira said, as if reading my mind.

"Yeah, you say that, but if hundreds of things like this come flying at us, we'll be helpless."

"It's alright. Only the pink ones are this big. The others are about half this size,"

Myra said. Even half was plenty big.

"...You sisters say it's alright, but I don't see how. Who on earth did something like this?"

"For real, who was it? Apparently there was a loud noise in the middle of the night yesterday. Then this mornin', it was like this."

Hyakka was there, seemingly out of nowhere. She was with the boy who looked like her brother. The boy was slightly taller.

"Nobody saw anything?"

"Seems not."

"..."

This had to be the work of someone with a special skill, didn't it?

"You think we did it, don'tcha?"

"The thought crossed my mind. Am I wrong?"

"You're wrong. We thought you guys did it. Your timing arriving in town was too perfect. But from what I just overheard, it seems I was wrong about that too."

It was helpful that she was so direct.

"How 'bout it? Wanna go on a little date with me?"

"Just the two of us?"

I looked at the boy. He had a delicate, feminine look about him. No wonder Mizuki had mistaken him for a girl.

"This here's my little brother, Chihiro. I'm too cute, so they won't let me walk around alone. You can bring one person along too. It'll be a double date."
So they were siblings. Myra was giving me a look with sparkling eyes. Nope. She was definitely not the one I was choosing. As I was about to call for Famu, Hyakka cut me off.

"Your party's full of beauties. Won'tcha let Chihiro pick?"

"...Well. Alright. But you're not even allowed to hold hands."

It wasn't really alright, but it sounded interesting, so I decided to play along.

"Stingy... Oh well, go on, pick who you like!"

"Sis..."

Hyakka urged the hesitant Chihiro. He looked at everyone. He started to point at Cecily, hesitated, then pointed at Famu. No doubt about it. He was a man of culture.

"Famu, come on. Mizuki, I need you to gather information at the Guild. If you can, I want you to meet up with Avea. I want to know what she's thinking."

"Got it."

Mizuki nodded. Beside her, Myra's shoulders slumped.

"Myra, I need you to check out the situation at the church in this town."

"You're so mean, Mash..."

Myra replied.

"Alright, let's go."

Hyakka linked her arm with mine.

We had climbed up a flanking tower, one of the towers situated between sections of the city wall. It looked sturdy, made of stone, but there were gaps and some slight warping, signs of aging. This was the western edge of the city. I thought it would be busy with preparations for the Big Hopper defense, but there were no guards, and we were able to enter freely. The wind blowing in from outside the city caressed my cheek. The four of us gazed out at the world stretching beyond the city. To the north, the flower field we had seen on our way here spread out. Herds of cattle were visible here and there. The sun was beginning to set, but there was no sign of anyone trying to herd them back to their barns. I wondered if they didn't run away. Further in the distance, we could see the forest we had come from to the north. Of course, the city of Richel was not visible from here. To the south, wheat fields stretched out. A peaceful scene. Come to think of it, I had met Emma on top of a bell tower too.

"Does the wind always blow from the west?"

"At this time of year, yeah. Sometimes it switches to an east wind,"

Hyakka answered. It was so quiet.

"Surprising, ain't it? There are no soldiers here. Not enough of 'em."
I heard there was a city to the east in a state of war. Was this because of that?

"Don't the citizens fight in times like these?"

"They're making their own preparations. But they ain't got no weapons,"

Hyakka said. She continued the conversation.

"We were transferred to this world a year ago. We go out sometimes, but we've always been in this city. That's why we wanna protect it."

Hyakka had no intention of hiding the fact that she was an otherworlder. I, on the other hand, wanted to get out of this town with the caravan as soon as possible.

"I heard Big Hoppers move in swarms of hundreds?"

"That's the story... We don't even know where the pink one was brought from. We don't know which direction they'll come from either. But it don't seem like it's from the north."

So Hyakka's investigation today had been a bust. But their opponents could fly. They could cover long distances at high speed. I didn't know how the pink one had been brought into the city, but it was highly likely that the main swarm was not within a half-day's walk.

"How many guards are there?"

"Two hundred. Even with adventurers, it won't be three hundred. The rest are city volunteers."

So there was a chance the monsters outnumbered them? I remembered hearing that the Crimson Brigade that attacked Famu's village had five hundred members. It was a smaller number than I'd expected. But since we didn't know the scale of the enemy, I couldn't tell if it was enough.

"What about storage?"

"Storage?"

"Yeah, I was thinking of a way to keep them away from the city. If we somehow deal with the body fluids and hide the carcass in storage, the locusts won't come, right?"

The person who brought the pink Big Hopper in was probably someone with adventurer's storage, or had a companion who did. Storing and retrieving items had to be done by the person themselves, or someone assigned to share it. I didn't know if anyone could put something that huge in and out of storage, but it seemed more natural to assume that they had defeated the monster somewhere and brought the carcass in by some means. Then I remembered there were people who could bring in monsters using special skills. But the monster brought in was, strictly speaking, an insect. It probably wasn't their doing. Where were they now, I wondered.

"Master, the city is filled with the smell of the Big Hopper's body fluids."

"The fluids have been scattered around?"

Famu nodded. For what purpose? A grudge against the city? An attack on Hyakka and the other otherworlders? Or maybe a trap set for us, knowing we'd be passing through.

"Then we might just have to cut our losses. Can we move that carcass outside the city? It doesn't have to be far. We place it on the west side, in a location advantageous to us. We direct the enemy's main force there and hit them. After that, we take care of the monsters that enter the city."

An enemy attacking from the sky couldn't be prevented from entering the city. And I didn't think there were enough soldiers to cover the entire city.

"Why the west side?"

"I was thinking about the person who set this up. They must have anticipated considerable damage to the city. They wouldn't want to get caught in the monster attack, so they'd want to escape to a safe zone before the assault for sure."

"Yeah, that makes sense,"

Hyakka nodded.

"I think the Big Hopper swarm is on the west side. The wind in this area usually blows from the west. It's probably a seasonal wind. During that time, the smell won't reach the west side, which is upwind. In the meantime, the person who set this up will leave the city. Hyakka said the wind sometimes changes to an easterly direction. When that happens, the smell will be carried to the west. If we place the monster's carcass on the west side, we might be able to stop their advance before they reach the city."

I took a breath.

"To summarize my prediction: the person who created this situation killed only the pink Big Hopper somewhere, carried away the carcass without being attacked by the swarm, brought it into the city, drove stakes into it so it couldn't be moved, and then scattered its body fluids throughout the city to ensure a monster attack. Furthermore, they predicted and utilized the change in wind direction to escape. This is not something an ordinary person can do. They could probably destroy the city on their own. Another question remains: why did they leave the carcass in the city where it could be found, instead of just scattering the body fluids?"

"Maybe they wanted to draw attention? The culprit might still be in the city."

"You mean they're using this as a decoy to set something else up behind the scenes?"

Hyakka nodded.

"...For now, I'll go talk to the Guild,"

Chihiro said.

"This is all based on the premise that we can accurately predict that the wind will change to an easterly direction. Also, regarding the monster body fluid smell scattered around the city, can we get the cooperation of the beastmen?"

Chihiro went down from the tower. I hoped that what I had just said had already been considered.