TRM Vol. 2 Chapter 2 Part 3 (Patreon)

Chapter 2 Part 3

After using storage magic to contain Hydra, we set off on the carriage again. It was about an hour later when something caught my attention.

"Oh?"

"What's the matter, Kurt?"

Lara's eyes widened.

"I have a bad feeling again..."

As for Marise, her expression was grim.

"No, this time, it's good news. There's an interesting reaction."

"An interesting reaction?"

"Yes. There's a magic power reaction a little further ahead."

"Does that mean... an enemy!?"

Lara's expression became tense. However ──

"There's no biological reaction from it. It's probably an item that contains a large amount of magic power. It'll become clearer if we get a little closer..."

"By the way, Kurt. How long will it take to get there?"

"About two hours."

"...As expected, the range of your detection magic is ridiculous."

Marise was taken aback.

I thought that if something like the Hydra happened again, Marise would panic again, so I widened the range even further.

And two hours later…

"The reaction seems to be from inside this forest."

The road ended, and instead, a dense forest spread out.

I turned to Diana and asked,

"...So, how about we go into this forest? According to the map, it could be a shortcut, but..."

"Indeed. If we cross this forest, we can reach the neutral city a day earlier."

Diana spread out the map and said so.

"It's all good. Then shall we..."

"But... this place is called Ryobeser Forest. I know this place. It's said that many monsters are lurking here and that even inexperienced adventurers won't be able to return alive once they enter..."

said Diana with a more serious expression.

"Monsters, huh…? But Kurt, who defeated a <<Disaster-Class>> monster in an instant, is here, so it should be okay, right?"

"Lara, complacency is the enemy. Besides, relying too much on Kurt is not good."

Lara and Marise also looked at the forest ahead with a tense expression.

"If you're worried, should I go into the forest alone and head straight to the neutral city? You guys can go through the regular route."

"No... It's more dangerous to separate from Kurt. I trust Kurt. So, do whatever you want."

Diana waved her hand as if dumbfounded, and ultimately said that.

All right. I convinced Diana, so let's go into the forest right away.

The carriage entered the forest and seemed to move a little faster.

"There are no monsters coming out."

"That's true... When I use detection magic, there seem to be some reactions, though."

Lara and Marise looked puzzled. However ──

"Don’t let your guard down. The monsters are following us. It wouldn't be strange if they attacked us at any moment."

"What!? Attack us, you say!?"

"And there are multiple of them."

Oh…? They're even trying to hide their presence from our detection magic. With the detection magic of the two, it is understandable that they haven't noticed yet.

"You should have told us sooner about something so important!"

"What, I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

"How many are there?"

"Exactly one hundred."

""O-ONE HUNDRED!?""

The two hugged each other and exclaimed in unison.

When the carriage came to a halt, and I stepped outside, monsters known as Evil Monkeys peeked out from amidst the grass and trees.

"If it's only Evil Monkeys, even Lara and Marise can handle them. Right... let's review what we've learned so far. Our mission is to defeat one hundred Evil Monkeys!"

"That's crazy!"

"Lara, we have no choice but to do it!"

Lara and Marise deployed their magic circle.

Immediately, the Evil Monkeys sensed that they were being attacked and charged at them.

"Wow! There are so many!"

"But as Kurt said, we should be able to handle it somehow."

While casting their magic, the two took down each Evil Monkey one by one.

Although there were a lot of them, each individual Evil Monkey was only slightly stronger than a wolf.

Lara and Marise were handling the situation calmly. I could feel their growth.

"Haa, haa... Are we safe now?"

"No, the monsters are just observing our movements. They'll attack us again soon if we let our guard down even slightly."

The two stood back-to-back and breathed heavily.

Yeah, Marise wasn't letting her guard down, either.

"You two are amazing. But you're wasting a lot of magic with unnecessary shots. If you add this to your magic circle like this..."

In a momentary lull in the battle, I gave the two a piece of advice. However, we didn't have that much time.

"They're here!"

The Evil Monkeys attacked again, scattering in all directions.

"That's perfect. Shall I show you an example?"

I stepped forward in front of the Evil Monkeys.

For Lara and Marise, simple magic would make it easier to understand. So, let’s go with Fire Spear.

I cast thirty Fire Spears at the remaining Evil Monkeys simultaneously.

The Fire Spears seemed to have a mind of their own as they chased after the Evil Monkeys, hitting their targets.

Even some of the Evil Monkeys trying to run away had flames impaled on their backs and fell to the ground.

"How's that? This is how you add tracking functionality to magic. By doing so, it becomes more accurate, making it easier to hit the target. And you can avoid wasting magic power by reducing the chances of your magic missing the target."

"".........""

Hm? It looks like the two are frozen.

"Was it difficult?"

"Mm… no, adding a tracking function may not be that difficult, but…"

"Being able to achieve both accuracy and multiple targets like Kurt did, seems unlikely..."

Lara and Marise slumped their shoulders.

Did they lose their confidence? However, they don't need to worry about that.

"It's okay. If the two of you practice, you can easily hit about thirty targets. If it's a hundred at the same time, it may take a month, though..."

"A-A hundred!? That's crazy!"

"That's impossible for humans!"

What are they talking about? In my previous life, my highest record was ten thousand. Even now, I could probably achieve that easily if I felt like it.

"Anyway, we defeated the monsters, so let's move forward. The item we're looking for is probably a little further."

We got on the carriage and headed deeper into the forest.

After a while...

"Oh, this is it."

We found shining herbs growing at the base of a tree.

"Wow, they are beautiful!"

"What are these…?"

"These are known as Izunia's herbs."

To think that I would come across Izunia's herbs in this era, how unexpected.

I picked up a bunch of Izunia's herbs. They have been absorbing magic power from the Earth's veins for many years. If my guess is correct, they are probably around… four hundred years old. Using Izunia's herbs, it's possible to make high-quality potions.

This forest seemed dangerous, and Izunia's herbs grew slightly off the path. In this era where detection magic is not common, no one has been able to find them until now.

"I'm sorry for the detour. We've got what we were looking for, so let's move forward."