Departure for the Investigation of the Western Forest
Early the next morning, I arrived at the Adventurers' Guild headquarters a little earlier than the designated time.
There were already several adventurers there, adjusting their equipment.
The atmosphere these people exuded was far stronger than that of the Wildcat Claws members.
I didn't know there were such strong people in the royal capital.
"Hmm? Are you the Tamer joining us this time, Missy?"
"Yes. My name is Lily."
"I see. I'm Volta from the Black Iron Shield. We've been assigned to be your escorts. Don't wander around too much."
"Yes, understood."
Here, I parted ways with the Wildcat Claws members who escorted me.
They will be stationed at the Vardmoi Marquis’ mansion to guard it.
They seemed to realize they wouldn't be of much help among these adventurers.
Gathering such strong individuals for this investigation suggests it's a very dangerous mission.
"It looks like everyone has gathered."
A few more adventurers arrived, and Rumaja came as well.
It seems everyone is here now.
"Let me explain today's objective. The investigation site is the forest area west of the Royal Capital. Normally, it should only contain monsters that even white-ranked adventurers can handle in a party, but now it's different. Despite their superficial strength, the 3rd Knights Order has been devastated by the monsters residing there."
Rumaja explained everything she knew.
The other adventurers were focused, not making light of the situation, ensuring they didn't miss a single word.
"… In essence, the Royal Capital is currently isolated due to the Ice Wolves spilling out from the Western Forest. The characteristics of these Ice Wolves are unknown. We searched through past records, but there were no matches, so we are dealing with a completely new monster with no information available. Any questions?"
"Yes, from me. Just to confirm, it's okay for us, the Black Iron Shield, to prioritize protecting Missy, right? Frankly, the information we have so far indicates a bad match for us."
"That's correct. Black Iron Shield should focus on Lily's protection. While her combat ability doesn't seem particularly high, she can fight to some extent. More importantly, we need the combat power of Lily's familiar, Talat."
"Her familiar's combat power? This spider?"
"This spider is known as a Frost Silk Spider. Its basic characteristics align with those of Frost Spiders. Isn't that sufficient?"
"… I see. More than sufficient."
As expected, the adventurers Rumaja selected can understand Talat’s strength just from its species name.
I've never seen Talat fight seriously, but he must be incredibly strong.
There were a few other questions, but most were unclear.
It seems there's very little information available.
Many members of the 3rd Knights Order who survived couldn't provide coherent accounts, so gathering enough information was impossible.
Therefore, we plan to explore the shallow parts of the Western Forest over the next few days and gather information.
A full-scale attack will come once we have enough information.
I don't know if I'll be joining that, but I'll do my best not to be a burden.
Alright, let's get going!
What do you think about this chapter?
