9. Pipe Tobacco (3)
9. Pipe Tobacco (3)
"The tracks were suddenly and intentionally erased here."
The Archer, who was in charge of reconnaissance, gently rubbed the dirt with their palm where anyone could see the tracks had been erased.
To someone who didn't know better, they might wonder what they were doing, but this was one of the most important tasks during reconnaissance. Because.
Basuk.
A small, clumped piece of dirt caught in their palm.
This was exactly the kind of dirt they were looking for.
The Archer carefully placed the dirt on their palm and rubbed it cautiously with their other hand.
"A fight happened here."
The dirt clumped with dried, black, and sticky blood was revealed in the adventurer's hand.
No matter how well one tries to erase tracks, it is highly likely that blood will seep between the soil and dirt, making it impossible to completely hide.
Unless one blows up the entire ground with magic all at once, it is inevitable that such small things will be missed.
"What on earth did they fight? If they've been missing until now, are they all dead?"
"Who knows. Seeing as they intentionally tried to erase the tracks like this, at least a human did it."
"True, monsters don't have the intelligence to erase tracks."
"Could it be assassins?"
"I don't know, would an assassin have any reason to assassinate mercenaries?"
"That's true. Hmm..."
Even though everyone tried to guess what had happened to the mercenaries here, no answer came out.
"First off, it's a fact that a battle happened here, so let's look around a bit more, and if there's nothing, let's just go back."
"Got it."
Time passed.
All the adventurers could find were small clumps of dirt mixed with blood that had fallen onto the ground.
"There's no answer. Let's just go back now. If there's nothing after this much searching, then there's nothing. Besides, if they erased the tracks this well, it's quite dangerous—"
The adventurer leader stopped mid-sentence. Because something that hadn't been there a moment ago had suddenly appeared in the forest and was staring at them.
It was about the same height as a tree, and its eight legs were, by anyone's standards, legs evolved to kill humans.
A form similar to a spider. But a terror on a completely different level from a spider.
Eyes staring from the dark forest. A bright red light emitting from those eyes.
The adventurer party leader's body froze at the gaze that seemed to say it would never let them go.
"Everyone, prepare for battle..."
The leader said in a low voice so the entity in the forest wouldn't hear.
"Don't think about saving anything, we're going all out."
At the leader's serious and quiet words, all the adventurer party members turned their gazes to where the leader was looking.
"N-no way..."
"What the hell is that?"
"Is that the monster that killed the mercenaries...!?"
All the adventurers drew their weapons and prepared themselves fully.
Everyone instinctively felt that the battle with the monster in front of them would be one where they would have to risk their lives.
"Just don't die. I'll keep you alive."
The Healer said while casting buffs on their party members.
"Don't worry. Who do you think we are? We're a B-rank party."
The leader spoke confidently, but they could feel in their skin that the entity in front of them was stronger than any monster they had faced before.
Just by being stared at, the overwhelming pressure was so heavy they wanted to collapse.
The moment the leader reflexively blinked as sweat dripped into their eyes.
The Ners reached the leader's front in an instant with terrifying speed.
Followed by a huge, sharp leg swinging down.
It was a simple and obvious attack, but combined with the Ners' physical strength and speed, it possessed tremendous destructive power.
'If I just block it, I'm dead.'
The leader, possessing quick judgment honed by a long life as an adventurer, immediately held up their shield at an angle.
Kwang!!!
The Ners' leg slid along the shield and slammed into the ground. At that moment, the ground exploded as if a blast spell had gone off.
One might be flustered by the immense destructive power of a mere swing, but the leader didn't panic—
"One-hit kill!"
Light erupted from the sword in the leader's hand, and they swung it at the Ners' leg that had become stuck in the ground.
Chwaak!
-Kieeeeeek!-
The Ners' leg was severed in an instant.
Green blood spraying from the Ners' leg splashed onto the adventurer leader.
Chiiiiiik!
"Arghhhhh!!!"
The skin touched by the Ners' blood began to sizzle and burn.
"Ugh! E, Erina!"
The leader urgently called for the Healer.
'Damn it, the blood is acidic!?'
" [Heal]! "
Even the shield made of steel was so badly corroded that it couldn't block anything anymore.
"—[Flame Arrow]!"
The Archer's arrow flew toward the Ners' head.
However, although the Flame Arrow struck the Ners' head, it didn't embed very deeply.
But because the attacks were clearly working, the adventurer party didn't lose hope and pushed the Ners.
The adventurer party, which had shown perfect coordination for a long time, displayed the power of an A-rank party, going beyond the level of B-rank adventurers, and was able to inflict significant damage on the Ners.
The Ners twitched while lying on the ground with its large body.
The adventurer party wasn't in a normal state either.
The leader, covered in the Ners' blood, had received continuous heals, but there was a limit, so almost all their equipment had melted away, and there wasn't a spot on their exposed skin without burns.
The Healer and Mage were exhausted from a lack of mana after using up all the expensive potions they had been saving.
The reconnaissance and Archer's hands were already trembling, their strength drained from pulling the bow too much.
Still, the Archer, who was the most intact among the party, took care of the party members.
"What on earth is that monster? I've never seen it before. Acidic blood? That's a truly crazy monster."
"But we won. We won! We have to report that monster to the guild quickly. If there are more like that, unsuspecting adventurers will suffer huge losses."
The moment the adventurers recovered their bodies to some extent and stood up to return together.
Standing in front of them was the Ners they had just risked their lives to barely defeat.
For a moment, they wondered if it had gotten back up, but there was clearly one Ners lying on the ground.
In other words.
"O, one more—"
The Healer tried to scream in horror but couldn't say anything more.
It wasn't just one.
Sasasasak. Sasasasak.
10? 20? No, countless Ners, too many to even estimate with the naked eye, appeared in front of the adventurers.
"N-no way..."
The Archer dropped the bow they were holding to the ground.
One of the first things an adventurer learns at the Adventurer Guild is to never drop their weapon from their hand.
They are taught never to let go of their weapon, meaning never to give up on life, no matter how difficult or challenging the situation.
But the Archer had no choice but to let go.
The forest could not be seen.
That majestic forest was blocked by the Ners and couldn't be seen at all. Only thousands of red eyes could be seen.
The Ners saw the Ners twitching on the ground and began to tear it apart and eat it right there.
Because a Ners that couldn't carry out the Queen's orders is a disgrace. Such a disgrace is merely food.
When all the adventurer party members fell into despair, Amin, the party leader, tore his tattered clothes and began to wrap his hand holding the sword together with the sword.
"L, Leader?"
The Mage was deeply flustered by the leader's actions, on the verge of tears.
The leader tied the knot tightly with his teeth so it wouldn't come undone and said calmly.
"I'll hold them off. Everyone run."
"W, what!?"
"Don't say anything. Right now, there's no choice but to run while praying for a 1% chance, no, a miracle. I'll buy as much time as I can, even if it's just one second."
Everyone knows.
That it's impossible to escape this situation without any sacrifices.
No.
They know that even with sacrifices, there is no hope.
They know that even with a miracle, there is no chance.
But.
The leader wanted to believe.
And so, everyone wiped away their tears and turned back to start running.
Let's do this together. Let's survive together. Let's get through this together. They didn't say such things.
Because they knew it was impossible.
Amin looked at his fleeing companions for a moment and glared at the place where the countless Ners were. And he ran forward, shouting louder and stronger than ever before.
==
"Heok...! Heok...!"
Amin knew that the Ners were currently playing with him like a toy.
Just like a cat playing with a mouse.
But Amin laughed instead.
Because he could save the party members, colleagues, and friends who had trusted and followed him, even if he became a toy and died here.
Because spending time on him meant that much more time for them to run away.
[ How stupid. ]
Amin was startled by the creepy voice echoing in his head.
Dagos walked out from the group of Ners.
Amin felt despair at the overwhelming Dagos, who seemed to have evolved one step further than the Ners.
'Is it okay for such an entity to exist in this world? Besides, a talking monster...!'
Amin thought it was a good thing he had tied his hand to the sword. He had almost given up on everything just now. But he quickly regained his composure thanks to the sword in his hand.
[ But that's why it was fun. ]
Ttak. Ttak. Ttak. Ttak. Ttak. Ttak. Ttak. Ttak. Ttak.
At Dagos's words, the Ners all clacked their teeth in cheers.
"Prepare yourselves... The Adventurer Guild and the Knights Order will wipe you all out...!"
[ How, exactly? ]
Dagos lifted the three arms that had been hidden behind his body.
"!?"
In those arms were Amin's party members, colleagues, and friends, who had been with him until just a moment ago and should never have been here.
Seeing them hanging limply like skewers, pierced by Dagos's feet, Amin screamed in rage and charged at Dagos with his sword, but.
Chwaak!
Amin's head rolled on the ground so pitifully.
[ A human that Evolute will like. ]
Dagos carefully picked up Amin's head and returned to the Colony with the Ners.
==
I'm sorry.
I really do think I'm sorry.
"Phew..."
I exhaled smoke, closed my eyes for a moment for the dead adventurers, and prayed for their deaths.
They were truly cool adventurers.
Especially the leader's last appearance was the very definition of a hero.
He was a man cool enough to be called a protagonist in a manga or novel.
The sight of him steeling his resolve to save his colleagues and charging at the Ners naturally drew applause.
I feel sorry for the adventurers, but I can't help it either.
Just like humans raise and slaughter animals, I just did the same thing.
It's not like humans get consent from animals before doing such things.
But that aside...
I chose the weakest-looking Ners and controlled it myself, but it was weaker than I expected.
On top of that, it didn't even carry out my orders well.
Honestly speaking, I was disappointed.
Maybe that's why I felt a little sorry when the Ners mercilessly devoured the fallen Ners after the fight ended.
It seems like it's because they lack strength, so I think it's about time I prepare the animal and Human Farm.