To the Village of the Taming Monster Candidates
We reached the village designated by Rumaja without encountering any major events along the way.
The destination village truly felt like a rural farming community, not very large in scale.
However, it was notable for its sturdy moat and fences, seemingly built to keep beasts away.
I couldn’t help but wonder—could there really be a potential tameable monster here?
"Oh, you've arrived."
"Oh, hello, Rumaja."
"Mhm. I'm glad you made it while the sun is still high. Without delay, I’d like to head to the cave where the target monster is said to reside. Is that all right?"
While I had simply been swaying along on the Lumite Grand Wing, I wondered how everyone else felt.
After checking, it was decided that it was still too early to take a break, so we agreed to follow Rumaja's suggestion and head straight to the cave.
On the way to the cave, I asked Rumaja what kind of monster was inhabiting the area, but the details were vague.
It seemed even Rumaja only knew it was a spider-type monster.
"There are reports of six monsters in total. They’ve been sneaking into the village late at night for years, eating vegetables and then leaving."
"Eating vegetables and leaving? Not wreaking havoc?"
"Apparently, they neatly take vegetables from designated plants in specific spots. Carrots, radishes, and the like—they don’t devour bits and pieces but dig them up and eat them whole before leaving."
"Interesting. But how did you even find such a village?"
"I heard rumors from travelers and confirmed them via bird courier. While the villagers do suffer some losses in their fields, there have been no other damages. Even the field damage is minimal. Livestock remain untouched, and any monsters that might have posed a threat to the village appear to have been killed. In a way, these creatures are treated as guardian deities of the village."
Guardian deities of the village.
When I probed further, Rumaja explained that the defeated monsters had been crushed by threads, leading her to suspect the presence of spider-type creatures.
After investigating the area, she concluded that the spiders likely inhabited the cave we were heading to. However, her conclusion wasn’t entirely certain, as the investigation was conducted alone, and attempts to provoke the spiders had led to attacks.
It’s true that provoking them too much would make taming them problematic.
That’s why Rumaja had waited for us to arrive before conducting further investigations together.
"Well, for that reason, I’d rather not provoke them unnecessarily. If it looks bad, we’ll retreat immediately."
"That’s fine, but what about Princess Annette’s protection?"
"… That’s the tricky part."
I hope we find them without much trouble this time.
But can things really go so smoothly?
What do you think about this chapter?
