Manowa Chapter 259

◎ Hyvern Dukedom, Sky Highway

「Ooh, huge!」

Kazane opened the Thunder Chariot's window and looked at the sky ahead. They had come very close to the huge island floating in the sky. It was a fantastic and magnificent sight that couldn't be seen in their original world.

「Well, as expected, it's certainly splendid.」

「It's a truly unbelievable sight.」

Yumika and Tiara also looked at it and gave their impressions. Even Lyle and the others who lived in Hyvern seemed to be overawed by the sight.

『Why is that floating, Mother?』

「NnーIf I remember correctly, wasn't there a huge Floating Stone in the center?」

When Kazane shared her knowledge from the game, Jinrai replied「It seems so」from the coachman's seat. Since the island wasn't completely uncaptured, a little information was known to the outside world. Also, since it was a place players would invariably have to enter to advance the main scenario in the game, information about what kind of place it was may have also been transmitted by them.

「But why do there have to be Dragon Eaters up there? It's a harsh story that even though a Wyvern at minimum is necessary to get up there, their natural enemy is ahead, isn't it?」

「Dragon Eaters? Such things are on that island?」

After Kazane spoke, Chole accompanying them asked that with a surprised expression.

「Yeah. It's kinda secret, so don't speak about it.」

Dragon Eaters were a natural enemy for dragons, but they didn't parasitize other species, so the only danger from them was from a parasitized dragon. That was astounding enough, but it wasn't something that couldn't be dealt with.

Someone could try to throw Dragon Eater seeds during battle against a dragon, but parasitizing one with one or two grains was difficult, and even if a dragon was deliberately parasitized outside of battle, it wouldn't obey anyone. All of that meant using the seeds for anti-dragon purposes was difficult. But if a person wanted to harm a place like the East Dragon Village, that was a different story. That was also true for Dragon Knights.

Therefore, Dragon Eater information had become a kind of taboo that mustn't be disseminated within Hyvern Dukedom.

「I see. It feels like I understand why information about the island hasn't spread very much even though people have gone there before.」

Chloe sighed.

「It seems there are also wild Wyverns on the island. Even if someone tried to destroy the seeds, any slight amount remaining would take hold of them and repopulate. They're a troublesome opponent.」

The fact that the natural enemy of the dragons was on that island was something that made Kazane want to sigh, considering her husband and son. For now, she wanted to slaughter as many as they could during their search this time.

「By the way, since we've approached this close, doesn't that mean we'll reach our destination soon, granny Chloe?」

Chloe nodded after Emily's question and pointed to a speck in the distance. That speck was the forest. And inside that forest was a huge tree.

「Regen's Big Tree. It's a large tree we go to for our coming of age ceremony at 15.」

Jinrai looked that way nostalgically. That large tree was a kind of sacred place that the young people in the surrounding villages went towards to become adults at 15.

「Those d.a.m.ned Griffons have settled down there. If we're unlucky, monsters from the Dark Forest might come, so I want them brought down as soon as possible.」

Kazane reacted to Chloe's annoyed narration.

「Dark Forest?」

Jinrai answered Kazane's question.

「The forest directly below the floating island. The Magic Particles in this area are thin, but it's different over there. The Magic Particles pulled up by the floating island are concentrated there, so terribly strong monsters frequently appear.」

「If there's something like that, is around here safe?」

Chloe answered Kazane's reasonable question.

「The monsters in the Dark Forest can only live in places with thick Magic Particles, so normally, they rarely emerge. However, Griffons are like the perfect feast for them. When monsters descend from the floating island like this time, the monsters in the Dark Forest may come out to pursue them.」

It felt like some kind of flag was raised, but for the time being, Kazane simply replied「Hmm.」

Then the party got off Sky Highway to go down a side path. From here on, the road was too narrow for the carriage. Kazane was about to make enough additional Hippo-kuns for everyone, but since it seemed they weren't too far from their destination, they decided to go on foot to Regen's Big Tree at Jinrai's suggestion.

◎ Regen's Forest

「Ah, it's been a long time since I've traveled like this.」

Kazane said while walking down the path.

「Well, we're almost always riding something.」

Yumika replied.

「I've basically always been on foot, though.」

Naoki said. The forests and dungeons that were an adventurers' field couldn't be moved through with ordinary horses, and even with traveling from town to town, it was cheaper to take a carriage than buy a horse.

While a large party might buy a carriage, that hadn't been necessary for Naoki's party size.

「This party is dreadfully luxurious.」

Emily said bitterly. She was extremely anxious about whether she would be able to return to normal living if she left this party. It was considerably difficult to lower one's standard of living once it had risen. Emily knew it was common for n.o.bles to be ruined and die drowning in debt.

「Huh? I was thinking that having a carriage like that was due to being Cindy's grandchildren. Was I wrong?」

Chloe wondered and asked. It seemed Chloe thought a city's distinguished family was simply that amazing.

「No, we were just normal adventurers until a little while ago. The White Party... or perhaps I should say, Kazane is strange.」

Lyle said while looking at Tatsuyos.h.i.+-kun Normal walking beside him. By the way, Tatsuyos.h.i.+-kun Normal was now equipped with a large tower s.h.i.+eld instead of the dragon bone spear. Its Childstone had changed to a high output one, so it could now wear heavy equipment with some leeway.

Since Lyle frequently used Tatsuyos.h.i.+-kun as a guard, Kazane chose and purchased a reasonable s.h.i.+eld in Deer South and Crystallized it.

By the way, when Kazane's『Crystallization』was applied at its highest level of quality, it was a little harder than steel and had something like resistance to magical power.『Arms Creation: Black Flame』didn't require a medium, and if it was created at it highest level, it was stronger than something that was Crystallized while also possessing extra ability from its Darkness and Fire mixed Black Flame attribute, but unlike the permanent effect of Crystallization, its summoning time depended on Magic Power.

There was also an appearance problem, since one made transparent and divine crystal equipment that attracted the surrounding eyes while the other made jet black equipment with red lines like blood vessels that looked like evil itself, but in any case, there was a difference in performance and sustainability between the two Skills.

Anyway, the tower s.h.i.+eld was transparent due to crystal processing, and it had the advantages of being easy to handle and allowing vision of enemies even if Lyle was hiding behind the s.h.i.+eld.

Also, when Chloe saw the beautiful s.h.i.+eld that was like a work of art, she said「Naturally, that was really expensive, right?」so it seemed she misunderstood that it was bought with the Barnes family's money. However, there was no need to purposefully expose Kazane's Skills, so they didn't correct that misunderstanding.

It would take about an hour for Kazane and the others to reach Regen's Big Tree on foot. There was also the risk of encountering the Griffons along the way, so all members were tense and vigilantly watching the surroundings as they walked.

Kazane was also searching by smell, but as they expected, the monsters around here were goblins and the like, and it seemed they were turning and running due to the presence coming from Yuuko-nee, who was walking with them.

********

Meanwhile, just ahead of Kazane and the others, another problem was occurring at Regen's Big Tree. The Griffons in the vicinity of the large tree, which Kazane and the others were planning to hunt, were about to reach the end of their lives before Kazane's group could encounter them.

「KueEEEEEEE!!!」

Then one of the few remaining Griffons trembled with rage and attacked『That』. However,『That』was protected by a hard sh.e.l.l that wasn't even scratched by the Griffon's claws, and it swung down its sword-like claws and cut the attacking Griffon right in half.

『FOoLis.h.!.+』

The『Thing』that cut the Griffon proclaimed its victory.

And the Boost Griffon, the boss of the flock, saw that sight and recognized that they would be completely annihilated, so it turned its back and chose to escape from the more than a dozen insects surrounding it.

『AkEcHi, dECeIvEDーーー!!』

『UnIFy tHE nAtIOnーbY FOrCe!!』

The Boost Griffon ignored the shouting of the insect monsters chasing it from behind and fled. As might be expected, the Boost Griffon was at least faster. Although its wings were sliced up by somethings being shot from behind, the Boost Griffon gradually grew distant from the insects.

Then only the Griffon corpses and the monsters that hunted them remained under Regen's Big Tree.

『ReSErVeS』

『CUcKOoーKiLLー』

『SuPpOrTーSuPpOrTー』

The insect monsters shouted at each other. Then the mask-like parts of their faces peeled away, and squirming claw-like appendages moved in their open mouths. The insects began to eat the Griffons they had killed.

They were insect monsters from the species called Odan.o.bunaga that resembled the figure of a person wearing armor.

They were an alien species of monster that originally inhabited the eastern lands, but since the Odan.o.bunaga species had high fertility, they had quickly spread across the continent. The common opinion among scholars was that eggs had attached to wagons, but it wasn't certain.

And under the large tree, the boss King Odan.o.bunaga, next in line Queen Odan.o.bunaga, and the Odan.o.bunaga Archers, Blades, etc. were eating the Griffons.

As shown by hunting the Griffons without any problems, these monsters were much more dangerous than Griffons. These dangerous monsters, lured by the scent of the Griffons, slipped out of the Dark Forest and arrived at Regen's Big Tree.

Kazane and the others didn't know this fact. The White Party had not yet noticed the existence of the dangerous monsters they were heading toward.

Name: Yuihama Kazane

Occupation: Summoning Fighter

t.i.tle: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner, Rea King

Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Two Handed Sword『Black Fang』, Draghorn Tonfa x2, Dragonscale Breastplate, Drake Gauntlets, Silver Sheep Clothes, Sylphyn Skirt, Plasma Pants, Dragon Eating Ogre King's Greaves, Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, Heroic Spirit Summoning Ring, Circlet of Wisdom, Aim Bracelet, Magic Acc.u.mulator, White Magic Acc.u.mulator, Rainbow Necklace, Rainbow Dragon Ring

Level : 33

Health: 135

Magic Power: 260+420

Strength: 57+20

Agility: 52+14

Endurance: 33

Wisdom : 65

Dexterity : 41

Spell : 『Fly』『Torch』『Fire』『Heal』『Firestorm』『Healer Ray』『High Heal』『Golden Dusk「Dragon Exclusive」』『Mirror s.h.i.+eld』

Skill : 『Kick Devil』『Warrior's Memory: Lv2』『Night Vision』『Crus.h.i.+ng Blow』『Dog's Sense of Smell: Lv2』『Golem Maker: Lv3』『Rush』『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』『Healing Principle: Fourth Chapter』『Air Jump: Lv2』『Killing Leg: Lv3』『Fear Voice』『Invisible』『Tiger Eye』『Wall Walking』『Intuition』『Cheat Death』『Nimble』『Charge』『Material s.h.i.+eld: Lv2』『Information Link: Lv2』『Optical Camouflage』『Dash』『Bloodsucking Blade』『Dragonization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Regenerate』『Soul Breaking Blade』『Stealthy Hand Placement』『Thunder Chariot: Lv2』『St.u.r.dier Teeth: Lv2「Dragon」』『Crystallization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Fabricated Coercion』『Stone Minotaur: Lv2』『Mega Beam: Lv2』『s.p.a.ce Expansion』『Pseudo-Silver Creation』『Poison Claw』『Fireball「Dragon」』『Cuticle「Dragon」』『Arms Creation: Black Flame』『Ingredient Connoisseur』『Dragon Pheromone「Dragon」』

Kazane:「It's a little more to our destination. However, the floating island is steadily getting closer.」

Yumika:「It's impressive that that huge thing doesn't fall, don't you think?」

Kazane:「If it fell, it would be an unmitigated catastrophe, right? Probably.」