The Investigation Begins
To begin the investigation of the Western Forest, we passed through the city walls of the Royal Capital.
Ahead, the 2nd Knights Order had set up a makeshift camp, but Rumaja's brief intervention allowed us to pass through without any issues.
It seemed they had made proper arrangements.
However, it appeared that the 2nd Knight Order was solely focused on defense and not on defeating the Ice Wolves.
How odd.
"Well then, from here on, we aim for the Western Forest... There are quite a lot."
"It's full of Ice Wolves..."
"They don't attack us just by looking at us, so is it safe to approach?"
"I don't know. Anyway, let's try getting closer."
We began walking along the main road towards the Western Forest.
Suddenly, the closest Ice Wolf lunged at us!
I immediately began preparing my magic, but before I could cast it, a gentleman from the Black Iron Shield intercepted with his shield and stopped its movement.
The problem was just starting.
"Ugh!? It froze the shield!"
"Drop the shield and get away, Enrique!"
"Got it!"
The man, whose shield was frozen, promptly threw both the shield and the Ice Wolf away, escaping unharmed.
At that moment, a concentrated magic attack from one of the investigation team's magicians aimed to obliterate the Ice Wolf along with the shield.
However, even after the shield shattered, the Ice Wolf was still lively.
"... This one's putting up a fight."
"Fire and lightning are useless. This is troubling."
"Now, how should we get through this?"
As we pondered, we found ourselves surrounded by more Ice Wolves.
Hmm, this could be bad...
(Lily, can I give it a try?)
"Talat? Will you be okay?"
(A piece of cake for me. Also, about that monster, I don't smell any magic stones.)
"There’s no scent of magic stones? What do you mean?"
(You'll see when I defeat it. Watch.)
Talat jumped up to our heads, throwing spider silk in all directions.
The Ice Wolves got entangled and couldn't move.
Although the previous magic was fine, why couldn't the Ice Wolf escape from Talat's thread?
I don't quite understand, but while the Ice Wolves were immobilized, Talat melted them one by one by biting them.
Come to think of it, doesn't Talat's poison dissolve ice?
After defeating all the wolves around us, only Talat's thread remained.
Yeah, there were no magic stone.
There are no magic stones that monsters should always have.
Then what was the core of those wolves?
"... Lily, those wolves' magic stones weren't eaten by Talat, were they?"
"No. Talat didn't eat them."
"If that's the case... it might not be a simple investigation. Let's hurry to the Western Forest for now. Can we leave all the wolves along the way to Talat?"
(Hmm, there might be a few too many. I can immobilize them with my threads, but…)
"There seem to be too many to defeat them all. But he can apparently immobilize them with his threads.”
"That's enough. Let's hurry to the Western Forest. Once we identify the culprit, we'll consider exterminating it."
Huh, so it’s not just an investigation, then?
There might be a troublesome monster that needs to be defeated in a hurry?
Other adventurers were exchanging glances too, and it seems only Rumaja had any idea what the culprit might be.
What on earth could it be?
What do you think about this chapter?
