Chapter 178:
It’s a Ruthless World for Monsters
“Sorry, I’ve got to go back and have another look at the old report,” the guild master said, fumbling out of his seat.
“I’ll come with you.”
Oh, good. The guild master’s old mentor is going to help… Uh-oh. Mr. Guild Master, don’t let him see that sour look on your face!
“Oh, got a problem with that? And here your old mentor was being kind enough to help ya out.”
See? He takes advantage of any possible opening.
“Ha ha ha! Ahh, I’m so grateful!”
I looked back and forth between the guild master’s deflated frown and his mentor’s big smile. I got the same impression from him and Druid. It really was strange how he still seemed to have a good rapport with them.
“Well, see ya later.”
“Bye. And good luck!” I called out.
I don’t envy the guild master… Now he has to go back to the guild and reread the whole report. Oh, right! There was something I wanted to ask Druid!
I went ahead and asked him the question that had been nagging at me the past several minutes. “Mr. Druid, do monsters ever eat magic?”
“Hm? Wait, don’t you know, Ivy?”
“Huh?!” Don’t I know what?
“Sorry, I just assumed you knew. Yes, many monsters are known to eat magic.”
“Really?”
So they did eat magic. And judging by the tone of Druid’s voice, it was common knowledge. Yikes! Now I feel really embarrassed.
“And some monsters only eat the magic fruit of the Spirit Tree that grows deep in the forest.”
“Wow, monsters like that exist… So, they’re monster herbivores?”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“Er, nothing, sir.”
That was Past Me again! Argh, I get so relaxed around Druid that it’s easy to run my mouth. I need to be more careful. I don’t want it to happen when other people are around.
“So, what do you think happens when monsters die before their time is up?” Do they spill magic even when they die by unnatural causes? No, if that were the case, there would be many more reports of monsters going berserk. Which means that when they die by some other means, their magic…disappears?
“Unnatural deaths would usually be the result of a fight. And they use up a lot of magic when they fight, so there probably wouldn’t be much left over when they died.”
Oh! That makes sense. I totally forgot that monsters use magic when they fight. And if they’re fighting for their life, they would definitely consume a huge amount. Which means the losing monster would have little to no magic remaining. So, does that mean if another monster eats up what little magic is left, it won’t go berserk?
Hmm…the only other way they could die is of illness, I guess? But monsters are probably pretty easy targets when they’re sick and weak, so maybe it’s quite rare for a monster to reach the end of its natural life span. That would explain why the books don’t say anything about it.
“But why do you suppose the report didn’t mention magic anywhere?”
If monsters eating magic was a given, that should have been written in the book. Why didn’t they put it in there?
“Maybe they didn’t know.”
“Huh?! But I thought everybody knew.” At least that’s what you said, Druid…
“When you read reports that were written before we found out about the magic-eating, you’ll often see it described as a black haze.”
That’s right, his mentor did say the report he’d read was very old. In other words, it was probably written at a time before anybody knew that monsters ate magic.
“He said he was going to reread it. I hope he discovers something new from it.”
“Me, too.”
“Well, I should head on home. Your teacups…”
“Oh, I’ll wash them. I can do it in a flash while I heat up my bathwater.”
“Are you sure?”
“Oh, yes. I’m just sitting around while the water heats up, so it’s nice to actually have something to do.” Time did always seem to drag on while I waited for my bathwater to get warm, but if I had something else to work on, like washing dishes, the time flew by.
“Okay, well, thanks. That wild rabbit ryce bowl was delicious. See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow! Have a safe trip home.”
“Ha ha ha. Thanks.”
I watched Druid until he was safely out of the plaza. “Wow. Today sure was hectic.”
I washed the teacups while my bathwater heated, then I returned to my tent.
“Sorry I took so long, you g—aaand you’re asleep.”
Sora and Flame were already deep in dreamland. I wiped myself off and changed into some fresh clothes. Gee, I’m going to need to do laundry soon. Maybe I should look in town for a place to wash my clothes. No, I think I’d rather go with a river. That way, I can spend more time with Ciel.
“Okay. Tomorrow, we’re going river-hunting.” I smoothed out my mat and lay down. “Good night, Sora. Good night, Flame.”
I’ll go to a river tomorrow to wash my clothes…then I’ll swing by Druid’s father’s shop and hear what he has to say about the sauce. Ahh…good night.
As I woke up the next morning, I sensed people moving back and forth nearby.
“Mm! Good morning, Sora. Good morning, Flame.”
But the two slimes were still asleep. Seeing them so cozy made me want to lie down again, but there was quite a ruckus outside my tent. What was going on? I hope I didn’t oversleep… No, that can’t be.
Judging by the angle of the sun coming through the tent’s flap, it was still morning, but people were bustling outside.
“Guess I’ll have to check it out…” I sat up and stretched my arms. Ooh, that feels so good. In the time it took me just to do that, the ruckus outside my tent intensified. I’d better hurry out there… Now I’m getting worried. I got dressed and stepped outside my tent.
“Good morning.”
I turned around at the sound of the voice. It was my neighbor, Mathewla.
“Good morning, sir. Has something happened?”
“It’s the scout party of veteran adventurers… A few of them just came back.”
“Oh! Really?” Thank goodness they’re safe… Wait, did he say “a few”? “Hasn’t everybody come back yet?”
“We don’t have any confirmed reports yet, but only three of them returned, and I heard they’re all terribly wounded.”
Only three! I remembered clearly that three teams of veteran adventurers had been sent into the forest to scout gurbars. Druid said the three teams included a total of thirteen people. And only three of them came back? I only hope the report we got yesterday was useful.
I thanked Mathewla and went back into my tent. I wanted to go see Druid right away and ask him for the report, but I decided to wait a bit. My being there wouldn’t be helpful, anyway.
“Sora, Flame, get up. Let’s eat breakfast.”
Sora’s eyes blinked open. It yawned and looked at me.
“Good morning, Sora.”
Sora wiggled happily in reply and bounced gleefully around me as I took the breakfast potions out of my magic bag.
“You’re sure chipper this morning, Sora.” As I gave Sora’s head a pat, Flame woke up and did a leisurely vertical stretch. “Good morning, Flame.”
Flame gave me a jiggle, then stared down at the potions lined up in front of it. Was it hungry?
“Go ahead. Eat your fill.”
I watched over Sora and Flame as they ate their potions. The plaza was still quite noisy, and I wondered if any news had come in.
“Oh, I just have to know! Maybe I should try to find Druid? But I don’t want to get in the way…”
Sora and Flame jiggled in reply. I felt like they were cheering me on, though I could have been wrong… Okay.
“I’ll go look for Druid, but I’ll give up if I can’t find him right away or if he looks busy. That’s what I’ll do.”
Yup. I’ll be very careful not to get in his way and…
“Ivy, are you up?”
“Agh!”
“Er, Ivy?! Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. Wait just a minute.”
Hearing Druid’s voice out of the blue when I’d just been thinking about him had given me a real fright. Then again, it was
my fault for getting caught up in my thoughts and forgetting to pay attention to my surroundings.
I took a deep breath and calmed myself. It’s still really early in the morning. What is Druid doing here at this hour?
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login