Read Novel Full Vol 18 Chapter 7
Vol 18 Chapter 7
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(13/20)
Chapter 7 – The Meeting Dances
We comforted and encouraged Alessia-san, who had suffered a deep emotional wound after the adorable kobolds ran away from her as fast as they could and explored the kobold village. While feeling the ancient earth dragon’s deep affection for the kobolds in some places, we decided on our next course of action. We don’t want the kobolds to hate us anymore, so we’ll go and talk to the ancient earth dragon.
“It’s so peaceful here.”
We’ve left the Kobold Village and are on our way to our destination. It’s a long way, but it’s so peaceful that I feel like relaxing.
“Wataru, you can’t let your guard down. This is an unknown island, so you have to be on your guard.”
I was warned by Alessia-san for my careless and absent-minded comments.
I was definitely careless because there were no monsters around, nature was beautiful, and it felt like a perfect place for a picnic. As Alessia-san said, it is a mysterious island, so being careless could be fatal. I’ll have to be careful.
I apologized to Alessia-san and started walking again, keeping a close eye on my surroundings.
“I’m back.”
I continued to be on guard, but after walking for about an hour without anything happening, Marina-san returned from her scouting mission.
“Welcome back, Marina. Is everything okay?”
Alessia-san asks Marina-san about the results of her scouting mission.
“Nothing happened. It’ll be safe for a while. But…”
Marina-san’s words trail off. Her expression is unusually unsure, and it seems that she may have felt an uneasiness during her scouting that she couldn’t put into words.
“Something must have bothered you.”
Alessia-san also notices Marina-san’s confusion and asks her more questions.
“…Well, it’s just a thought, but maybe there aren’t any monsters on this island.”
While I was digesting Marina-san’s words and saying, “Oh, really?” the other members were getting very anxious.
Ilma-san even pressed Marina-san about traces of monsters.
Then Marina-san’s words that she hadn’t even found any traces of horned rabbits or goblins caused a shrill scream.
“Why are you making such a fuss? It’s a good thing there are no monsters, right?”
Oh, that reminds me. Except for Felicia and me, the rest of the group are all real adventurers. For adventurers, monster materials are an important source of income, so it’s certainly something to worry about.
Especially if you were hoping to find rare monsters while exploring an unknown island.
“What are you talking about, Master? Oh, that’s right. For you, the absence of monsters is the norm.”
It’s strange that I get quietly angry when Ines looks at me with a disappointed expression. No, it’s not strange at all. It’s only natural that I feel humiliated when the person who became my slave because of gambling debts looks at me with a disappointed expression.
“You see, Master, a place where there are no monsters is extremely valuable. It’s usually only found in the living spaces of people who have thoroughly eliminated monsters.”
“That’s right. There are monsters even outside the royal capital and major cities, where the knights, soldiers, and adventurers patrol the area and manage the environment by exterminating them. And yet, not being able to find any traces of monsters outside is a level of abnormality that should be suspected.”
Ines and Claretta-san taught me about the abnormality of there being no monsters outside as if they were explaining it to a child.
Maybe they were kindly teaching me because they remembered that I was from another world, but it’s usually embarrassing when people teach you with a big smile on their face and ask if you understand.
“Well, yes, I understand that this is an abnormal situation. So what do we do?”
To escape the embarrassment, I ask Alessia-san a question. As the leader, please move things along quickly.
“Well, I’m afraid we’re scattered, but I don’t feel any signs of an attack, so I’ll prioritize gathering information. Marina, please go on scouting with Dorothea. Ilma and I will also go scouting in a different direction. Wataru, Ines, Felicia, Carla, and Claretta, please go straight to our destination.”
Scouting in pairs for safety. A four-person escort for my safety. It’s hard for me to judge if this is the right thing to do, but I’m sure Alessia-san’s judgment is correct.
“””Understood.”””
We decided to meet at night, using the lights of the Hideaway as a guide, and Alessia-san and the others went out to scout.
I’m starting to get nervous. It’s unreasonable that the fact that there are no monsters should be a sign of peace, but it’s the opposite that makes me feel uneasy.
＊＊＊
“Maybe there really are no monsters on this island.”
It got dark, and after summoning the Hideaway, everyone gathered for a meeting.
No one could find any traces of monsters.
This is the result of purposely going into the forest and seriously looking for traces of horned rabbits and goblins, which we don’t usually look for.
We could see the Kobold Village from a distance, but there was no sign of any monsters.
By the way, it seems that even when the scouting party found the Kobold Village, they didn’t approach it at all but fled as fast as they could. Apparently, they don’t like the idea of scaring the kobolds.
I feel like I’m not cut out to be a scout, but since I’m about to meet the ancient earth dragon in person, I guess it doesn’t matter.
“Well, we can’t be too careless, but I guess we have no choice but to accept that there are few or no monsters around and act accordingly.”
There aren’t any, so there’s nothing we can do about it.
“Wataru, the reason why there are no monsters is the problem. If there are no monsters, you have no idea what kind of danger is out there.”
Is that all there is to it…? Huh?
“Um, don’t you think that the reason there are no monsters is because the ancient earth dragon destroyed them all for the sake of the kobolds?”
Suddenly, I feel like I’ve come up with the right answer.
“Haha, that’s interesting, but that’s… not… possible, right?”
Alessia-san, who had been laughing, lost her strength halfway through and looked around at everyone as if begging for help.
“…I don’t want to believe that a great dragon would be so overprotective. There must be another reason.”
Dorothea-san half-smiled and denied it. It seems she has a special attachment to dragons.
“In the picture book, the kobolds were kidnapped, and the dragon destroyed the country.”
Carla-san muttered to herself.
“There was clearly some kind of abnormal technology used in the village’s facilities.”
This is Ilma-san.
“He saved the kobolds, split the continent, and built a barrier on this island to keep out the outside world, right?”
Claretta-san seems to agree with me as well.
Yes, I said it myself, but when I think about it again, it’s kind of strange.
I never thought that the great dragon, of which there is only one in each attribute, was just a dog lover, or rather a kobold lover.
Huh? Now that I think about it, do the exterminated monsters include slime?
“Um, have you seen any slime?”
Alessia-san looks like she just realized this. Yes, I understand that much. I guess she was being considerate and keeping quiet.
…I’ll harass the ancient earth dragon with all my might, depending on the situation.
I comforted myself by stroking Rimu.
“…W-well, I don’t know if the ancient earth dragon really destroyed all the monsters. But I can’t deny it either, so let’s be careful.”
Alessia-san came to a rather ambiguous conclusion. I can’t help but wonder if this is really the best thing to do, but in this case, there’s not much information to go on, so it’s unavoidable.
“This is the only way. But then it’ll be impossible for us to travel in Wataru’s Ranger.”
“Huh? Why, Ilma-san?”
Personally, I’d like to use the Ranger when there are no monsters around, and it seems safe—it’s more comfortable.
“Wataru, do you really think it’s safe to drive the Ranger on an island where there are kobolds that have never seen a human before and run away in a panic the moment they see one?”
“…I don’t think so.”
It’s not impossible for a kobold to have a heart attack and die at the sight of the Ranger, and even if you think that’s overthinking it, it’s not hard to imagine a kobold trembling with fear.
And then, after we scare the kobold, the ancient earth dragon, who is strongly suspected of being overprotective, appears in an angry state.
For a moment, since there was the Ship Summoning barrier, I thought it might be a good idea to let the dragon come over even if he was angry, but if we could make it on foot, I thought we shouldn’t take any unnecessary risks.
Despite the rather heated discussion that took place, the meeting ended with a safety-first outcome.
Let’s take a bath and go to sleep for now.
＊＊＊
“It looks like they’re on high alert.”
Through the binoculars I had received on the luxury liner, I could see a magnificent fortress with cute armed kobolds wandering around.
Probably, the escaped kobolds alerted the others, and that’s why things are like this.
After walking for two days since the meeting, we finally saw the foot of the mountain we were heading for.
During that time, we were unable to confirm any attacks or the presence of any monsters, and while we were discussing the possibility of the ancient earth dragon being overprotective, Marina-san, who had gone out on a scouting mission, returned in a state of excitement.
There is a fortress at the foot of the mountain…
“The kobolds serve the ancient earth dragon, right? If that’s the case, there’s a high chance that the ancient earth dragon is on that mountain.”
It was good news because it would be worth it after enduring the boredom of walking for two days.
And the worst thing is that the fortress at the foot of the mountain is too impregnable.
We should be able to take it if we attack. That is if we could attack…
“Marina, is there a way around it?”
No, Alessia-san’s heart is already broken. She wants to avoid the fort at all costs.
“I couldn’t find it in the area I was able to search. I’ll have to try looking elsewhere.”
It seems that Marina-san also looked for a way around before returning.
“Well, there’s nothing we can do about that. For now, let’s go around the mountain and look for another route.”
No one objected to Alessia-san’s quick decision. Well, it can’t be helped since attacking the kobold stronghold is impossible for me as well.
But if there were goblins or orcs holed up in that fort, I’m sure Alessia-san and the others would have chosen to scout the area for enemy forces instead of taking the alternate route.
However, the ones defending the fort were the kobolds, who had immediately enchanted the ladies.
What’s more, even though they’re dressed in cosplay-like outfits and trying their best to be vigilant, their tails curled in fear exude a fierce cuteness. Being cute is really powerful, isn’t it?
“Let’s get this meeting started. The topic is how to deal with the kobolds without scaring them.”
After we decided to find another route, we organized a scouting team and went around the mountain again.
What we found was that the mountain we were aiming for was surrounded by a huge wall all the way around.
It’s not that we’re looking down on the kobolds, but it’s definitely the work of the ancient earth dragon.
It would have been possible to break through the giant wall if we had really tried, but there were kobold guards scattered around, so we would have ended up fighting.
In other words, the grand plan of sneaking out and meeting the ancient earth dragon to get him to guarantee that we were safe had failed.
Since it was impossible to fight, we returned to the Hideaway and had to think about what to do next.
“Here.”
“Yes, Carla-san.”
“Mmm. Wataru, don’t add san.”
No, I asked you like a teacher because you raised your hand so happily, but it seems that Carla-san still doesn’t think it’s okay. As I thought, Carla-san is strict about honorifics.
“I’m sorry. Then, Carla, please.”
“Yes. I think we should give them lots of delicious food.”
Carla-san’s confident reply was cute, but her opinion was as expected. Normally, you can use strange food from another world as a bargaining chip, but it looks like they won’t eat it.
I don’t think we’ll be able to make any final decisions at this meeting either. It looks like we’re in for a rough ride.
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