Chapter 318:
A New Monster Species?
I STEPPED OUT OF THE INN and stretched my back. The inn where we were staying in Hatada was nice, but its breakfast didn’t hold a candle to the bread in Hatow.
“I already miss Salifa’s cooking.”
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
“Salifa’s bread…I’ll never forget it.”
Druid smiled and tousled my hair. “You’ll probably have to make do with black bread for a while.”
Black bread was tasty in its own way, especially when you dunked it in milky soup, but I really did love that fluffy white bread. Druid seemed to like black bread quite a bit, though.
“Shall we go?”
“Yeah. This is where we’ll start to feel like we’re really traveling.”
We’d wound up only taking two days to get to Hatada. And we’d had a ride, too, so it felt like our real trip was only just starting. I needed to get my wits about me.
“They’re at it again.”
I followed Druid’s gaze and saw another ruckus in the plaza. There really were way too many short-tempered people here. If they were worried about money, then they should just get to work and earn some. Were their egos getting in the way of that? If so, they really were a nuisance.
“After we leave Hatada, we’ll be in the forest for about ten days. Do you have everything you need?”
“I’m still good. We only left Hatow two days ago.”
We cut through the plaza and headed toward Main Street. When we were almost there, we came upon a crowd of watchmen and adventurers. Something must have happened because they all looked a little nervous.
“Is there something going on?”
“Yeah, we should probably see what it is.” Druid called out to the adventurer closest to him. “Excuse me, but did something happen here?”
“What, ya don’t know?”
“No, I don’t…do you?”
The adventurers standing near the one Druid talked to turned and looked at us. Everyone’s faces were tense with worry. Something really had happened. Would we still be able to leave that day?
“Monsters are on the move?”
“Yeah. It wouldn’t matter if it were an ordinary type of monster, but this monster has a ton of magic energy, you see.”
Monsters with a lot of magic energy were on the loose? Maybe it would be too dangerous for us to leave on our trip. Druid looked just as worried as I was.
“What type of monster was it?”
“A very large serpent, from what I’ve heard.”
A very large serpent…hm?!
“The word is that a big herd of them is heading toward the capital.”
Umm… I looked at Druid. His lips were drawn into a tight line. Were they really talking about our friends?
“Now, those other monsters with the serpents? They’re the real problem.”
Other monsters? But there weren’t any other monsters with them…unless they’re talking about my slimes?
“Yeah, I heard they were giving orders to the giant serpents at the front of the line.”
Giant serpents…that sounds like the giant Snakeys Druid and I rode on. But giving orders? And other monsters? Wait a minute…do they think Druid and I are monster charmers?
“What’s more, those other monsters are completely different from any that’ve been spotted before.”
“So they’re unidentified monsters?”
Druid kept listening in on the adventurers’ conversation with an indescribable expression on his face.
“Yeah, these monsters had human torsos and snake bodies.”
“What?!” we both gasped.
Oops! I didn’t mean to say that.
“I know, shocking, right? Nobody’s ever seen monsters like ’em before, so we think either they’re a new species, or the lord of the serpents deep in the forest went on the move. They seemed like a joined pair, whatever they were.”
I don’t even know where to start… I guess we would have looked like monsters with human tops and serpent bottoms if somebody saw us rushing by. But a joined pair? If it’s me and Druid they’re talking about, I suppose we might have looked that way. It sounds like there must have been a witness, but I really wish they’d done a better job witnessing what was really happening. Wait, unless there’s something wrong with humans riding on serpents? Shouldn’t I just be grateful nobody discovered our secret and move on?
“That sounds terrifying,” Druid said. “Do you think they’re still nearby?” His voice was tinged with fear. I admired his acting skills, but I could tell from his twitching cheeks that he was barely holding it together.
“Somebody saw them last night, but they’re probably not around these parts anymore.”
“Oh, I see. Then it might still be safe for us to leave on our travels today after all. Thank you very much.”
“Whoa! You’re going traveling? That’s way too risky!”
“Thanks for your concern, but we’re in a hurry.”
With a quick bow, we headed for the village gate. The gatekeeper also stopped us with news of the unidentified monsters.
“Yes, we know about the monsters, but we absolutely must leave today if we’re going to make it to our destination on time,” Druid explained.
“Is that so?” The gatekeeper looked quite worried, and I felt so ashamed. “Well, please be careful out there,” he said. “They were spotted closer to Hatata, so they probably haven’t come by Hatada yet, but we can’t confirm that for sure.”
“We’ll be careful. Thank you.”
We somehow managed to talk our way out of the village. We thanked the gatekeepers over and over, and then we set off for Hatahi Village on the village road. As we walked along, we encountered quite a few village watchmen and adventurers on patrol. Each time, we had to explain to them that we had permission to pass. Finally, after an hour of walking, the human auras were far behind us.
“Mr. Druid…” I sighed.
“Yeah…?”
“They think we’re monsters…and a joined pair at that.”
“Pfft! Ha ha ha!” Druid burst out laughing. It sounded like holding it in for so long had made him weak.
“Hee hee hee! Mr. Druid, don’t laugh at them.”
I was pretty embarrassed about it, but I just couldn’t keep the laughter from bubbling up out of me. But I really did feel guilty that we’d not only been seen, but we’d also brought terror upon a whole village. Still, a new species of monster or the lord of the serpents… I could see how somebody would jump to that conclusion if they saw us from far away, but I couldn’t help but laugh since I knew the truth.
“I almost cracked up listening to their story,” Druid said.
I’d noticed he’d had to stop himself from laughing several times. And it must have been extra hard for him since he had to look the adventurers in the eyes. I was able to just stare at the ground and hold it in. I’m so happy nobody caught me snickering.
“Boy, what a tall tale we turned into.”
“I know. Do you think everything will be okay?”
“Wellll… First there was the weird noise echoing through the forest near Hatata Village, then there was the giant line of serpents and the new species of monster in Hatada…”
I wasn’t sure why, but I felt like everything would not be okay. The villages would definitely swap information.
“Both places will probably be on high alert for a while,” Druid said.
“I feel terribly guilty about all of this now.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Our eyes met, and we both smiled awkwardly.
“Well, everything will eventually calm down,” Druid assured me.
Yeah, as long as there’re no more sightings, we’ll be okay.
“Still, it’s too bad somebody spotted us.”
“Uh-huh… Well, we did ride on the serpents awfully close to civilization.”
“We sure did. Oh, let’s head deeper into the forest now! I want to take the slimes out of their bag.”
“Any human auras around?”
As we veered off the village road and into the forest, I searched for human auras. I didn’t sense any, but there were plenty of monster auras in the distance. None of them were coming toward us, though.
“It should be safe now. I’ll go ahead and take them out of their bag.”
I opened the bag’s lid, and all four came jumping out together. Even Flame was awake this time.
“Hi, everyone. Today is when the real traveling begins. We’re off to Hatahi Village!”
“Pu! Pu, puuu.”
“Pefu!”
“Te! Ryu, ryuuu.”
Mrrrow.
“Okay, let’s go.”
At Druid’s command, Sol and Flame jumped on top of Ciel.
“Hey, guys, try to walk on your own some of the way.”
“Peh!”
“Teryu!”
“Sorry, Ciel,” Druid sighed.
Mrrrow.
“Ha ha ha! Thanks, Ciel. Okay, everyone, let’s go!”
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