Chapter 6 – Terrible Omens
*
On the day of Fragaria’s disappearance.
Prindell, the vigilante leader, sets out to search for her daughter, leaving only the minimum number of people to defend the village.
“How about that? Did you find something? Even the smallest clue would be nice.”
“Nothing….”
“……Whoa.”
After returning home, the unusual thing happened,
That was when she found out that her daughter was nowhere to be found.
“Maybe it’s gone a little far?”
“Because Praga often wandered around the forest…”
“I wish I did, but I’m not the kind of kid who will leave without a word.”
Prindel told her not to leave town alone.
It is a fact that everyone knows that she is not a child who will disobey her father.
“I was obviously fine until I stopped by Mr. Langle’s house.”
“It disappeared after that.”
“No one has seen where Praga is since then…”
The search has already been six hours.
It was getting dark.
At night, monsters move actively. It was time to stop.
‘Praga, where the hell is she?’
The vigilante was unimaginable.
What’s going on in the front yard where they buried the monster they chopped into pieces.
Her golden time to rescue her had passed in vain, and when the next day came, Prindel was barely sane.
“Mmm.”
The members also started searching again, but the number was significantly reduced.
The vigilantes are just a group of young people from the village.
Because they too have their own lives.
Missing Praga seemed impossible to find.
This is a common occurrence in a village like this, which is surrounded by a forest where monsters appear.
Monsters don’t come close to people’s villages easily, but there are bound to be groups that stray from time to time.
No matter how careful one is, there are times when a person’s heart becomes loose,
That was a case where, unfortunately, it led to an accident.
‘But this time…… Strange.’
Praga received a threat on her life just 2 weeks ago.
Even to the unidentified monster.
Now that she has just left her house and has the courage to roam, she goes deep into the woods and she goes missing?
‘It can’t be.’
Something bizarre is happening in this forest.
Prindel couldn’t help but think so.
I need help.
It was early in the evening of the same day that the adventurers who had received the request of “Investigating Worms in the Forest” Visited Prindel’s house.
“I have been asked to investigate. Are you Mr. Prindel?”
“Yes, I am Prindel.”
Prindel was quite surprised on the inside as he welcomed them.
Young.
The age of the adventurers seemed to be no different from their own daughters.
‘These young people are monsters?’
2 females, 1 male.
A man in a robe with neatly grown hair came forward and greeted as if he were the leader of the party.
“My name is Jade, an adventurer of the same class belonging to the Kingdom Guild.”
“This is Tia, an adventurer of the same class.”
“It’s Beth.”
Beth was a trained female fighter.
Her well-built confidence, as well as her strong body, seems to be revealed in her expression.
In contrast, Tia was standing behind Jade, but she is a priest of the Order who can use the Holy Law, and is an indispensable part of the party.
All of them were young people who had just passed the terms and conditions, not much different in age from Praga.
“This is Prindel, the vigilante leader of Rotana Village. Thank you for your hard work.”
“If you don’t mind, should we talk about the request right away? I want to take a look around before it gets dark.”
Prindel explained the situation to Jade.
The worm problem has been solved, but just yesterday the daughter went missing and she is still being searched for.
Jade listened to the story with a sad expression.
“You must be very concerned. Shall we look for it?”
“You?”
“Even if you look at it like this, we’re adventurers. Since we’re of the same class, you might not believe it, but it’s our job to deal with monsters or find something in the forest.”
Prindel held her breath.
When she hears that, she realizes all over again how much she has been mentally driven.
To be saved like this with just one word from her.
Tia smiled.
“Leave it to us, Father.”
“…Help me. I’ll pay double, no, triple!”
“Thank you for your kind words, but the compensation is as much as it is fixed, half as a down payment. When the request is completed, we will receive the other half.”
“Why, Jade. They say you’re giving it to me.”
Beth grunted slightly dissatisfied.
“Beth, we came here after receiving an official request. You know that we shouldn’t receive additional rewards without the guild’s permission, right?”
“That’s true… It was unexpected, but at least a tip…”
“No.”
“It’s small.”
“Bess is really…”
“Tia say something. That’s why we’re on the same level as each other.”
Prindel watched the three of them and smiled slightly.
They are good adventurers.
“It’s late today, so please treat me to a meal and bedtime.”
“Really? Thank you.”
“Hurray!”
Having so emphatically refused the extra pay, she is overjoyed at the idea of saving money on lodging.
You really are an adventurer. Prindel thought to himself.
The average age of adventurers is actually quite low.
It is a job that can be done from a young age without any qualifications, and it is structured so that you can advance according to your skills without discrimination, so preference is high.
Adventurers are divided into bronze, silver, and gold, and there is a special rank above them.
As many people thought they were indebted even if they were only silver, the same class was the class where the most adventurers were classified.
In particular, the level certification system for adventurers in the kingdom is very strict.
The three were proof that they were talented, and very promising adventurers.
“Then I’ll go look around first. Let’s go, Tia. Beth.”
“OK.”
“Yea, I got it.”
Jade’s party boldly came out, but a cute little girl jumped in front of them.
“Oh!”
“Adventurer!”
“Who are you?”
Tia arches her back first and strokes her child’s head.
“My name is Agnes. Save her sister.”
“Sure. We’ll be sure to save you!”
“Don’t worry, the monsters here are all low level. We won’t get hit by goblins or anything like that.”
Beth snorted her, and she confidently declared.
“Perhaps your sister is trying to find her way after slaying a few goblins with stones. They are really stupid and weak.”
“Beth, be careful with your words… What is it like to kill a child in front of him?”
Beth, who had been pointed out by Jade, blushed in embarrassment.
“Hmm.”
“I think my sister is very dangerous right now.”
“Did she see where her sister was going?”
“I didn’t see it. But…”
The clown doll that Agnes held in her arms was crushed.
“I feel… Not good.”
“The sun will go down soon. Let’s hurry.”
“Ah, yes.”
“…You have to be careful, sister, brother.”
The group pushes the tangled branches and advances into the forest.
Beth grunted as her mouth came out.
“There were a lot of honey missions nearby, so why did you ask me to come to this corner of the country again?”
“That is….”
Tia seldom gave a cool answer.
Speaking of accepting this request because you were worried about that white worm…… Because I have to say ‘that thing’.
I just hope Beth doesn’t notice.
“…Just for some reason.”
“That’s absurd.”
“Okay, Beth. It’s the first time Tia ever brought her up to do something first.”
“You refused everything I asked for…”
“It’s because we can’t even begin with our current skills, and only the rewards bring huge requests.”
“You can’t become big by catching trash mobs forever!”
Shook shook.
Beth steps briskly and punches her.
Her hair, in a ponytail, swayed in sync with her swift movements.
“Is it time we’re dealing with worms or something?”
“There are various types of worms. Wait. It’s a trace.”
Hearing her words, Tia immediately pulled her collection out of her bag.
“Here.”
“There are traces of chafing on the tree. I think it was scratched while moving towards the village.”
Jade sniffed her as she carefully picked up the bark as a specimen.
“What is this? It’s still wet.”
“It seems a little slippery.”
“The size is… Quite large.”
Although Jade had tracked down medium-sized monsters a few times, she knew that this one was significantly larger than that.
Pretty menacing.
“Maybe even a wild bear.”
“There shouldn’t be anything to eat here, but there was such a fat worm wriggling like that.”
“I don’t see any signs of people.”
Tia looked around her and said.
“It’s strange. If you go out of town and go missing, there must be footprints.”
“Let’s go back, Jade. I just wanted you to know that there are monsters.”
“…”
As the day soon sets in, he recalls that he only intended to do some light research.
Jade was not greedy.
“Okay, let’s go back. I also found a clue to show my father.”
“Eat and get some sleep.”
“Jade, there’s something over there.”
Then, Tia discovered something of hers.
“Rabbit?”
It was a dead rabbit.
“What did you die for?”
The whole body is stiff as if rigor mortis has already arrived, but there are no bloodstains or traumas on the fur.
It was a bizarre corpse.
“Let’s take a look.”
When Jade carefully touched the rabbit,
Bugs crawl up as if waiting from below.
“Jade, hands off!”
Bess quickly snatched the rabbit and threw it outside.
“This…….”
Surprisingly, what’s underneath isn’t a bug…….
“What?”
There was a flower made of meat.
Everyone is startled and speechless because of her grotesque appearance.
If you look closely, it looks like a bunch of insects entwined to form a flower.
The long tentacles from the flower were holding the rabbit’s body in place.
“Ugh…”
Beth vomited at the sight that made her stomach feel sick just by looking at it.
“Never seen… A plant? An animal.”
“It’s like a worm… It’s like that.”
“It’s too small. But… Should I consider it a colony of small worms?”
“It looks really disgusting. It’s even alive.”
“It looks like it’s carnivorous, so let’s not touch it hastily.”
The biggest evidence is that he was biting a rabbit.
“Stay back for a moment.”
Jade spread her hand toward the tentacle flower.
“Fire bolt!”
Roaring!
The flame arrows made by Jade burn the tentacle flowers in an instant… It seemed
Covered in a slippery liquid, it quickly extinguishes the fire attached to its body and moves vigorously.
Jade frowned slightly.
The women at the party were in a frenzy over the lingering tentacles.
“Uh. Really. It’s so terrible. Do something quickly.”
“…I think I’m going to vomit too…”
“I have no choice but to remove it myself…”
This is, of course, the man’s role.
Jade handed her mace to Tia and slammed it down on her meat flower.
Pujujjup!
Blood spurts with a sound like juice bursting.
Even dying was terrifying.
“Suck! Suck!”
Jade took a few more shots just in case.
It’s only after crushing it until it doesn’t procrastinate anymore that I feel relieved.
“Done.”
“…The taste of rice is gone.”
“…”
Jade’s party returned to the village before dark.
