[NR] Why They Call Them That - Chapter 531 (Patreon)

The instructions from the badgerfolk guard were easy enough to follow and so the group was easily able to head directly to settlement 306. Of course, easy does mean fast. Though the first part of the journey was even quieter than on the monster front that previously.

As for why? That was obvious enough, there were too many travelers. Even with the whole “lonely roads” thing going on, the System couldn’t keep the group truly alone. At least twice a day and often more, other groups would pass them by.

As Rosha put, “If this is what it’s like with the System trying to keep us lonely, I’d hate to see what it is like when it isn’t.”

There was simply too much traffic for most of the journey. It was only once the roads started to split more and they passed sign after sign that the traffic died down. It was only in hindsight that they realized why there were so many people.

Because 306 was in the middle of the push, anyone trying to get from one side to the other would have to cross the road they were on. Plus, most traffic would end up on the center road if they’re heading back to more central areas in the kingdom. A trip many merchants seemed to be making, with carts stuffed full of stuff such as furs, herbs, and rare lumber.

Courtney, “Those merchants have a little too much stuff.”

Rosha, “What do you mean? They’re taming a giant area of wilderness and taking all the good stuff. Full loads and happy merchants are to be expected.”

Courtney, “Except there are supposedly giant monsters which should limit their ability to scale up their ability to harvest stuff. That and none of those furs looked particularly giant to me.”

Jason, “If they are just giant, there has to be a limit on how many are around. That or all that stuff they’re taking out? Well, the giant animals have to eat something. Normal stuff will work, but what they’ll really go for is stuff chocked full of power. Even trees wouldn’t be safe.”

Courtney laughs, “Especially the trees! They tend to be an excellent example of plants that gain power with time. Most trees that manage to live past a century, do so only because they are protected.

“As a caveat to that, if you see a really old tree, avoid it. There is something protecting the tree. Whether that is some natural defense or they have the nest of a high level bird. Unless you are there specifically for lumber, the danger generally isn’t worth it because the threat has to have existed for a long time.”

Rosha, “That might be a problem then. There is a reason Kaijus have their own designation. They break a lot of rules and one of those is needing a lot less food than they should. Giant animals? Those things, if anything, need more food.”

Jason nods, “To have so many goods means something is going wrong. There is a reason the Deep Wilds aren’t seen as an endless farm. Resources beyond normal stuff isn’t actually any more common and the stuff that lives in there is more likely to eat what does exist.”

Courtney, “I’m going to guess whatever the merchants did with the environmental stuff is the cause.’

Jason, “Well, yeah, that is going to be part of it. The animals are being driven out of their old habitats as they get altered. Not only will that prevent them from eating the resources, but it means they aren’t hiding when the hunters come calling.

“Still, that is too much stuff, especially if there are giant animals. Though no matter how much we mention Kaijus, that isn’t likely to be the answer. There must be something going on and unless it comes to us, I don’t want to deal with it.”

Courtney nods, “For all we know, this might be a Fae trick and they’re normal animals magically enlarged. Not very likely, as the settlements would check for that, but if the Fae are involved, all bets are off.”

In the end, none of them could figure it out and so had to shelve the issue until they actually saw the so-called “giant animals”. Because if they were Kaijus, well, a couple years of traveling to the next place wouldn’t be that bad.

While the word Kaiju was a recent adoption from the players, the local term for them made it clear what was up. They simply called them “Unstoppable Forces”. Well, that is what the name translates to. Sort of like how people like to go on about how “bear” actually means brown one and isn’t the actual name for them.

Kaiju was actually adopted so quickly because while it clearly means them, it doesn’t have any local connotations. The locals just know it is a word from another dimension that travellers kept calling the things. The most interesting part of this is that switching to the new name seems to have worked.

Ever since people started calling them Kaiju, there have been fewer attacks. A scary thing, especially when some primitive tribes that like to worship them have another name for them. Land Gods.

There is magic, so the idea that directly referring to them could call them isn’t the most farfetched. Though no one has managed to notice any actual magical connection happening when the old word or even the name of a specific Kaiju has been spoken. That doesn’t mean it isn’t there, but boy does it frustrate the researchers since they can even, on occasion, detect the movement of faith.

Though the comment about the giant animals being able to sneak up on the settlements isn’t wrong. One requirement to be a Kaiju is size and even tall trees won’t beat them in height. At least none of the more bipedal examples. Of course, even the relatively short examples because of being quadrupeds or more snakey sorts wouldn’t be stealthy.

They’re too big to move through the forest without knocking over a few trees. Only paths they had already cleared would allow them to travel less obviously. If not for the sounds of their footsteps. Yeah, they’re sort of the opposite of stealthy.