The Forest Moves
The greatsword was slowly taking shape in Matillo's hands.
A solid greatsword frame forged from Prezium ore. Onto it he fitted hardened leather and worked horn. The searing-hot blade gradually fused with the materials, slowly gathering the power of the broken horn into a single whole.
The hilt was black — blacker than black. Above it, the ash-gray blade was clearly no ordinary weapon. The fittings between hilt and blade were plain and unadorned, just as I'd asked: no pointless decoration.
"It'll be done tomorrow."
Matillo spoke while looking at the greatsword, still holding heat.
"You like it?"
I nodded without a word. Matillo had crafted a masterpiece without a single flaw.
Blood Horn Sword Kerato. If it had been made from ordinary Kespilatos materials, it would have been a Horn Sword — but forged from the blood-soaked materials of an Elder Species, it had become a Blood Horn Sword.
"Yeah. A lot."
"Well, didn't take long. Head on back. It's late, and there's nothing left to do here."
"Mm."
Matillo said so as he untied his apron and pulled off his gloves. Then he stuck a cigarette in his mouth and sat down in the corner. He always sat in that corner when he smoked. The careful way he exhaled the smoke, glancing my way, made it feel like he was being considerate of me.
"Get going already. This stuff's bad for you."
I had no idea why he smoked it if he was going to say things like that, but I nodded at his words all the same.
The Blood Horn Sword was nearly complete. Having watched its birth from start to finish, even my own chest was trembling. I wanted to grab that greatsword and fight already. Watching it take shape, my body heated up on its own. It wasn't the forge's heat wrapping around me. I was excited for the hunts I'd share with that blade.
Leaving the greatsword's completion for tomorrow, I stepped out of the workshop.
Around half past six. The sun had sunk low, painting the world red. The fallen leaves, the sky — everything was crimson. Antico, deep in autumn, had become a world of pure scarlet. In that blazing world, I felt happy.
I was walking the street, but my mind was elsewhere. What would I do the moment I held the Blood Horn Sword? Which monsters would I kill? I was strolling along lost in those pleasant daydreams when—
"Hah— hahh— hah…"
Someone was sprinting desperately through the streets. He clipped my shoulder as he passed and didn't even look back, as if he hadn't registered the collision. The repeating crossbow slung across his back marked him as a hunter. But his condition was anything but ordinary. His clothes were torn as though something had attacked him, and blood streamed steadily from the wounds visible through the rips.
I touched the shoulder he'd struck. His red blood was smeared across it. Thankfully I was wearing a sleeveless top, so none of it got on my clothes. I wiped the blood off with my hand and stared quietly at the stain on my palm.
My heart was remarkably calm — more composed than startled. I was coldly assessing the situation in my head.
"……"
I turned and looked back toward the Forest of Illusion. The man seemed to have fled from there. But the forest was as still and quiet as ever. Had he simply run during a hunt? The glimpse I'd caught of him had looked far too desperate for that.
Something about it bothered me. I finished thinking and went after him.
The man showed no sign of stopping. The place his feet finally gave out was the Association district. Barely reaching the entrance, he braced his hands on his knees and gasped for air. I set a hand on his shoulder.
"Haa… wh-who…"
"What happened?"
"…Y-you're… the New Light…"
I didn't need him calling my title — I needed him to tell me what was going on. I stared at him steadily. His lips had turned blue, and his face was deathly pale. Under my gaze he swayed and forced more words out.
"D-danger — hurry… the forest, the forest is moving. M-my party…"
"…What?"
"The forest…"
With that, the man collapsed forward. The ragged breathing told me he wasn't dead. Shock, probably. He'd already lost a lot of blood and forced himself to run all the way here. His words had been a mess, but I'd caught the one thing that mattered.
The forest is moving.
Could it be…
His words flashed through my mind like lightning. Just then, a staff member came over.
"…Hunter? What's going on here?"
"He's not dead. He's alive."
The staff member checked the fallen man's pulse. Alive, yes — but he was in critical condition. He needed emergency treatment immediately.
"H-how did this…"
"The forest is moving."
"What? The forest… is moving?"
"Yeah."
From the man's words, I already knew the culprit. The colossal beast that had been sleeping inside the Forest of Illusion. It had woken up.
I left the man with the staff member. They carried him off at once and began emergency treatment with the medicines at the counter.
"……"
I looked past the Association district entrance, toward the distant forest. It was still quiet. But that quiet stillness looked like the calm before a coming storm.
When that thing moved, it would have looked exactly like an entire forest heaving. Just as the hunter said — the forest itself, moving. A creature that slowly stretched its massive body, carrying a miniature garden on its back.
The lazy king of the forest. Sacred Forest Beast Alberoelva.
The creature at the apex of the Forest of Illusion's ecosystem had begun to stir.
My heart pounded. Not with fear — with anticipation. Alberoelva. I'd wanted to take it down for a long time, and here it was, presenting itself. I touched the corner of my mouth. Just the thought of killing a new monster was enough to make me smile.
On the other hand, doubt crept in. Why had Alberoelva suddenly started moving? That thing never stirred unless something threatened or provoked it first. Had that hunter's party done something?
Well. Whatever the reason, it was fine. As long as I could kill the Sacred Forest Beast.
Unlike ordinary subjugation requests, a special subjugation request was a crisis large enough to warrant an emergency summons of every hunter in the city. If it had been Alberoelva alone, gathering veteran hunters would have been enough — but its movement had thrown the forest's low-grade and mid-grade monsters into chaos as well. With the king of the forest on the move, monsters driven from their territories could appear in Antico at any moment.
Alberoelva wasn't normally that aggressive a monster. According to the surviving hunter's testimony, however, this one had been extremely aggressive. The hunter party had been resting at a safe zone when it hit them. Thoroughly unlucky people.
Because of Alberoelva's characteristically slow movement, the estimated time remaining was five days. If it didn't change course, there were only two options left. We either drove it off — or we killed it.
The day after the survivor returned, tension blanketed all of Antico. A crisis the city had never faced before had arrived, and everyone moved as one. Craftsmen shut their workshops and went outside, installing cannons facing Alberoelva's approach and reinforcing Antico's walls. Hunters ran perimeter watches, while survey hunters under the Antico Research Director left to investigate and observe any unusual monster activity in the forest. It was a busy time all around — the look of preparing for a real war.
Pina returned to the lodging around evening, but given the situation, I couldn't exactly greet her with cheer.
"A-Alice-nim, what on earth is going on?!"
"Uh…"
Pina dropped her bags at once and asked in total shock. I just blinked, not knowing how to answer.
"W-why would Alberoelva suddenly…"
"I don't know either."
"We haven't even gone on our trip yet~!"
Pina said it like it was deeply unfair. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.
"It was going to be my first trip~. Ampianura was so beautiful last time, I even reserved a carriage so I could show my family — but it got refunded because of this…. They said we can't leave the city during a special subjugation request, it's too dangerous…."
So the family trip she'd been talking about had been cancelled before they even left.
"That so?"
"Why does nothing ever work out for me, seriously…. Why can't I — why can't I ever be happy—!"
Pina wilted into a drooping squirrel and flopped around on the lodging bed. The way she buried her face in the pillow and suffered was cute. I'd missed this innocent side of her. I carefully sat down beside the sprawled-out Pina and stroked her hair.
"It's fine. Nothing bad's going to happen. Once this is over, go enjoy yourselves."
"…You think so?"
"Yeah."
"Th-then what are we supposed to do?"
Pina still didn't seem to know what role we'd been given. I tilted my head at her asking something so obvious.
"Subjugation, obviously?"
"…Subjugation? Of w-what?"
"What else? Alberoelva."
"……"
"We're on the subjugation team."
I drove the point home. Pina lifted her head and stared at me blankly.
"W-who decided that?"
"I signed us up."
When the Association was dividing people into teams, I'd written both our names onto the subjugation roster in place of Pina, who hadn't been there. Hearing that, Pina's eyes went wide and her mouth fell open.
"W-wait, th-that's a lie, right?"
"What else would we be doing?"
"…N-no, are you seriously planning to take down Alberoelva? That's a high-grade monster. High-grade. Even groups of mid-tier hunters struggle with high-grade monsters."
"Nothing we can't handle."
"…If it's you, Alice-nim, I guess it might actually be doable."
My firm answer seemed to convince her; Pina thought it over, then nodded. Then a different question occurred to her.
"Th-then why did you put my name down?"
"We're a set."
"Ah— I'm going to die—"
Pina laughed weakly and buried her face in the pillow again.