Discovering Traces of the Demon Beast
Discovering Traces of the Demon Beast
I stroked my chin, looking at the carcass of the Boar Monster floating in mid-air, held by a blob of water.
Something's weird.
I turned my gaze back to where the Boar Monster had burst out from.
It was the forest where spirits dwell.
Demon beasts are reluctant to approach land inhabited by beings that are the embodiment of nature's pure power.
Isn't that the reason the villagers serve the Fairy, even while enduring the whims of the spirits?
The spirit's domain has acted as a barrier, preventing demon beasts from approaching.
And yet, this Boar Monster charged in to ram, even with the spirit right in front of it.
Either it lost its fear.
Or it was chased here by something even scarier from behind.
"Anna."
Anna, who had been staring at the beast she herself had lifted as if it were fascinating, turned her head.
"Next time, even if I don't tell you, if a beast that looks scary like this one charges at you, blast it with water just like you did earlier. Got it?"
"Okay."
Anna nodded.
I headed toward the village, with the floating carcass of the demon beast in front.
"Eek!"
"W-what is that?!"
As we reached the village, a commotion spread.
Villagers who had been tending their fields slumped down, dropping the tools they were holding.
Women ran away as fast as they could, and a few men came running with hoes.
"It's a demon beast! A demon beast has entered!"
"W-why is a demon beast here?!"
The Boar Monster floating in the air.
The young men, seeing a demon beast for the first time, were terrified and couldn't even think to swing their hoes until it was right in front of their noses.
"What are you guys doing?"
I hadn't noticed them either.
The village elders came out, each holding a spear, and took a defensive stance.
Their trembling, wary gazes shifted from the Boar Monster to me.
"H-Hunter-nim! What on earth is this?!"
"A demon beast, a demon beast has entered the village..."
This village had enjoyed peace without experiencing demon beasts thanks to the Fairy's help.
There was an underlying mindset that they were more unfortunate and struggling, having to walk on eggshells around the spirits and taste nature's wrath if they made a mistake.
Seeing them at a loss now that a demon beast was right in front of them was inwardly amusing.
Anna gripped my pants tightly.
"Everyone, put your weapons down."
However, the terrified villagers couldn't easily put down their spears.
Because, looking at it from the outside, the Boar Monster didn't have a single scratch on it. With Anna sticking by my side, their wary attitude was blatant.
If they had ever encountered a living demon beast in their lives, they would have known immediately.
"Hyung! What on earth is going on?!"
Hans popped out.
"Good timing. Come here."
"Yes? Yes?"
Hans approached, and I pointed at the Boar Monster with my thumb.
The Boar Monster was several times larger than the beasts Hans or other villagers usually butchered. Cold sweat streamed down Hans's cheeks as he saw it head-on.
"Does this look like it's alive to you?"
".......N-no? It's dead, right?"
"It's dead. Anna. You can put it down now."
Anna whispered to the spirits and lowered the Boar Monster to the ground.
The blob of water that had been holding the Boar Monster loosened and seeped into the dirt floor.
"Dane, what is the meaning of this?"
Hams walked over.
He appeared, parting the villagers as if establishing the village chief's authority.
"Anna caught it."
"...What?"
Hams's eyes widened.
"Since she started handling spirits, she caught this in one shot. She has talent."
The villagers' gazes all turned to Anna at once.
Surprised by the attention focused on her, Anna hid behind me, raising her umbrella.
The spirits, agitated by Anna's emotions, gathered mist.
"Anna, don't let them gather it."
"Uung."
The spirits scattered the mist, and the water droplets that made up the mist evaporated and disappeared.
The villagers murmured.
"D-did the spirit just listen to the Fairy's request?"
"Wasn't the Fairy just supposed to play with them?"
Agitation spread as if it were their first time seeing Anna handle spirits.
"Then she used spirits to catch the demon beast?"
"I told you. She has talent."
I answered Hams's question firmly.
Hans squatted by the Boar Monster's forehead and pressed his finger into the crushed skull.
"...It's really dead."
Hans's voice trembled.
Since the crushed forehead was an injury that couldn't be mimicked by anything other than spirits, the conclusion shifted to Anna having caught the demon beast.
"Dane."
Hams lowered his voice and asked.
"How is it?"
"It's turning out quite unconventional."
"Isn't showing them better than a hundred words?"
"...That's true, but."
Hams glanced back at the villagers.
They are agitated.
Spirits are beings that cause trouble and bring disaster depending on the Fairy's emotions.
You shouldn't touch the Fairy.
The Fairy must be lonely.
That common sense was being shattered.
"Anna."
I carefully brought Anna, who was hiding behind me, to the front.
The villagers stepped back one by one.
Habits are scary, aren't they.
"This child knows how to handle spirits. I taught her how to handle them, and Anna caught the demon beast. I'll show you the proof. Anna."
Anna looks up at me.
"Make it rain."
"....Ung-ah."
Anna moves her lips and speaks to the spirits.
Clouds gathered in the clear sky, and a thin rain began to fall.
The villagers' shoulders got wet in the rain.
"...Huh?"
"It's raining?"
"Now, make it stop."
"Uung."
As Anna whispered again, the rain stopped.
"The rain, it stopped?"
"Good heavens!"
The villagers' mouths dropped open.
Hams looked at me. When I nodded, Hams stepped forward.
"Everyone, listen to me."
The village chief's voice rang through the village.
"Dane said he met an Elf in the past and learned how to handle spirits. He said he would pass that method on to the Fairy. This is the result. The Fairy is no longer a disaster. She has become a true guardian deity that protects our village."
The villagers look at each other and whisper.
"Chief, but what if..."
"I will take responsibility for any potential losses. But you saw it, didn't you? How long are we going to keep taking a young girl and offering her as a human sacrifice to the spirits?"
Hams gripped my shoulder.
Unlike his usual bravado, this time he put strength into it, filled with determination.
"I've decided to trust Dane. Even though it hasn't been a few months since he settled here, you all know from experience that he's a good guy."
The villagers' whispering didn't die down, but no one voiced opposition.
Anna tugged at my clothes.
Her eyes looking up at me are full of anxiety.
Hams finished persuading the villagers, and I placed my hand on Anna's head.
"Well done."
Anna accepted my touch quietly.
I retraced the footprints left by the Boar Monster.
They stretched long into the deep forest.
Since it stepped on the ground with that bulk, the grass was dug deep into the soil, leaving clear footprints.
The forest where spirits dwell is an area that demon beasts instinctively avoid.
Just as beasts challenge or avoid places where their own kind have marked their territory, demon beasts try to avoid the spirits' domain as much as possible.
'That's usually the case.'
The Boar Monster had invaded the spirit's domain.
Whether it was running away.
Or if there was another reason.
As the manager of the hunting ground, I had a duty to investigate the ecosystem of the hunting ground.
I'm hired at a pretty high price, so if I can't even manage the hunting ground, it would be pathetic.
I moved deeper into the forest.
Sunlight is blocked by leaves, the view darkens, and I can feel the air temperature gradually dropping on my skin.
Before long, the dense bushes parted to both sides.
A wide clearing appeared.
'This is...'
The Boar Monster's footprints led here and overlapped with other traces.
'...Huh.'
An absurd, hollow laugh escaped me.
There wasn't just one or two types of footprints.
This one is from a feline-type demon beast.
This one is where a snake passed.
This one is from a bird.
This one is...
If you add them all up, there were over ten of them.
Footprints carved with various sizes, shapes, and weights gathered in one place in the clearing.
Even the stench of excrement left by the demon beasts mixed together and stung my nose.
'Demon beasts usually don't group together with other species.'
Predator individuals that should normally be eating each other were gathered in one clearing.
'What on earth is this...'
Living as a hunter, there was only one time I had seen a case like this.
But in that case...
Just then, I felt a red gaze.
The gaze of a large demon beast looking down at me from a place higher than my eye level.
It stared at me intently from the bushes, keeping a close watch on me.
Silence flows.
I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword and prepared for the Wolf Beast to attack or for other ambushes.
How many minutes passed like that?
The Wolf Beast watched me, then soon turned its head and moved away.
"...."
Direwolf.
A species that rarely lives in packs among demon beasts.
There might be a wolf pack led by the Direwolf nearby.
I carefully backed away and returned to the village.
The existence of the Direwolf was in itself a threat that put the village's survival at stake.
But what bothered me even more were the traces left in the clearing. Among those traces, there were no traces of other wolves, and it was full of those of other demon beasts.
Demon beasts fight over territory with each other.
Those guys grouped up.
I know this case.
It was only once, but it was a moment I would never forget until the day I die.
Demon Beast King.
The king of demon beasts that leads demon beasts.
Whether a Demon Beast King was actually born, or if there was another reason the demon beasts grouped together, it was a matter that shouldn't be taken lightly.
'This is a pain.'
How long has it been since I got hired, and already there's something to report to the Lord.
Rustle.
Just then, there was a sound from the bushes.
Was it ambushing me from the path ahead?
I was startled and wary, but for a beast, the ambush was light and sloppy.
I reached out and pulled out the identity of the thing that had been peeking at me and then hid again.
"....."
"....."
Two round eyes stare at me expressionlessly.
A sigh burst out on its own.
"Why did you follow me? No, how did you follow me?"
"Ah... um..."
Anna hunched her shoulders a lot.
She fidgets with her gaze lowered.
"...."
I opened my mouth to scold Anna, but then remembered that this was the forest.
After returning home, I scolded Anna firmly not to go into the forest without permission.