We will hunt Treants this time, but according to Heath-san’s information, the Treants are filled with malice.
The Forest of Death is condensed with magic, and it seems that there are an unbelievable kinds of other-worldly monsters inhabiting it.
I don’t wanna~ I don’t want to enter such a scary forest, but Lyle-san said that we will be fine if we’re at the outskirts of the forest.
While we were making camp on the first day, Lyle-san came over and was being annoying.
「Well, it was just by chance. I’m an artisan, aren’t I? I sold a few things I made, and rented a house with the money I earned. I consulted with Papeck-san about getting someone who could manage the house. Papeck-san then recommended a slave, and I was lucky enough to have come across these two.」
「What do you mean come across?! Sophia-san is an elf, isn’t she?!」
Lyle-san couldn’t calm his excitement.
I’d probably have said the same if I were in his position.
「Off[1]!」
「Woah, Takumi, I’m really curious about this girl that’s really stuck on you but………」
Kaede camped on my knees.
「About Kaede~?」
「Kaede has been with me since we were in Bohd Village. She is really popular with the housewives in the village.」
「Kaede made many threads~!」
Un, the village housewives were amazing now that I think about it.
「Even if she is a unique species, I’ve never heard of a Killer Spider evolve into an Arachne before. In the first place, I think Arachnes themselves are an unknown monster, but am I paying it too much mind?」
Seeing Sophia and Maria accept Kaede normally, Heath-san had nothing to say.
「It’s fine! Kaede-chan is cute!」
「Kaede is cute~?」
「Yup, you’re cute.」
I pat Kaede’s head while she was looking up and leaning on me.
「Leaving that aside, how did you earn enough money to buy two slaves?!」
「Lyle, get a grip.」
Heath-san warned Lyle-san, but it fanned the flames of Lyle-san’s jealousy.
Heath-san said that Lyle-san is frivolous so he can’t do with a serious girlfriend.
I heard that Heath-san’s adventurer party 『Lion’s Fang』 is close to rising to Rank B. It seems that Lyle-san wants to settle down soon. By the way, I learned that Heath-san and, surprisingly, Bogah-san are already married, so I can kind of understand why Lyle-san is getting impatient.
「Sophia-san, how about me?」
In the end, he began making moves on Sophia directly.
Hmm, what to do when someone makes a move on another’s slave.
「Both my body and soul are Takumi-sama’s.」
「Hey hey, Maria-chan. You think a man of my age and body has a manly appeal, don’t you? Well? I have tolerance.」
「I too have decided to walk beside Takumi-sama my whole life.」
Well, being turned down after making a move on Sophia, he immediately moved on to Maria. And was rejected completely.
「D, daaamn iiiiiittttt!!!」
Lyle-san ran off somewhere.
「Sorry about that Takumi, Lyle is usually more decent, but it seems he was rejected by a woman from a night shop. And then your two slaves are a peerless beauty and a pretty girl. I’d appreciate it if you go easy on him for a while.」
「…… I’m somewhat sorry.」
It makes me feel like running away.
I’m on my forty-year-old-salaryman self[2].
Norn-sama, thank you.
For making me handsome.
Next morning, Lyle was acting as if nothing happened.
I ended up respecting that boldness.
Even when Wolf-like monsters occasionally attacked on the 2nd day, it was mostly uneventful and we progressed smoothly. It’s probably strange that I say it’s uneventful when monsters attacked.
「Takumi, you’re not half bad. It’s nothing great but that’s not how an artisan fights.」
「Thank you very much. I sometimes hunt monster materials by myself, so I need to do battle training. I still have a ways to go.」
I am still half-baked when compared to Heath-san and his party.
Sophia is as strong as the Lion’s Fang members even without magic. I might have higher status values than them, but I am overwhelmingly lacking in experience.
「No, Takumi, we will soon be promoted to Rank B, which are called veteran adventurers. It would be unbecoming if an artisan can fight on par with us.」
Certainly, while I say keep saying I’m an artisan, my subjugation request ratio is high.
Is that strange? It’s strange. Yeah.
Around the time the sun started going down, the Forest of Death could be seen on the right.
「Is that the Forest of Death?」
「Yeah, that’s right. That’s the Forest of Death.」
「It looks somewhat ominous.」
「Your perception is correct. It’s not like that on the outskirts, but it definitely is at the center. It is not a place people should set foot into.」
It’s not unusual that the Forest of Death that we can see in the distance feels like it has evil spirits lurking within it.
「Alright, let’s camp in this area for today. It would be dangerous to go any nearer to the Forest of Death.」
We started making prepare the camp in an area a bit far from the forest.
Since we’re going to have to explore the outer edge of the forest to hunt for Treants tomorrow, we slept earlier than usual today.
***
Footnotes:
