She Becomes The Hero In Another World 19 She Sets A Trap

"No. The tree is hollow, so he slips inside all the time. He likes to scare the woodland animals away with his screeching." Gerard replied, knocking harder on the tree. Indeed, judging by the sound it made, it was hollow.

"I think there's an entrance hole in the top."

Robin was thinking.

"I know that no one knows light magic, but you two.." She looked at Keith and Christian. "Do you not know any magic spells at all?"

Christian shrugged. "I know a small bit of nature magic, only enough to grow a strong st.u.r.dy vine and trip someone."

"Oh? Then when you were tripping through the forest back there, you were actually practicing all this time? How commendable of you." Robin teased. Christian just snorted, unwilling to retort.

"I'm proficient in earth magic." Keith said. "It's helpful to create weapons in places where weapons are scarce. I can do 'earth manipulation' 'molding' and 'harden'."

"Harden?" Robin asked, her eyes lighting up. "Can you describe what that spell does?"

"It does exactly what it means. Even if I used sand, I can still make a competent, sharp dagger." Keith said.

"Then, could you perhaps harden the ground around the tree to the point of being waterproof?" Robin asked.

"...Sure? But I fail to see how hardening the soil is going to help things." Keith said.

"Trust me, this will be a big help in the long run." She rea.s.sured him. Then she turned to Christian.

"You said you know nature magic? Well, could you perhaps be able to use that to make sure there are no holes leading out of the hollow in the tree? Enough so that not even a single drop of water can get through?"

"...I could. But why would you want that?" Christian asked. "Isn't it our goal to make sure that he DOESN'T enter his den? Why would I reinforce it?"

Robin closed one eye, and smirked at the tree. "You'll know soon enough." Then she turned to Gerard. "So, where is that stream again?" The two walked off, leaving Keith and Christian alone to their jobs.

Christian and Keith looked at each other and both let out a sigh at the same time.

"A hard ride to Kelly Village, a night of staying on duty, plus an extended run through a dark forest: does this lad ever sleep?"

Christian asked, as he placed a hand on the tree. Discernable only to those who were proficient with mana, a green glow radiated from around him.

Keith sniffed.

"So you say. But it's men like that who can pull through in times of difficulty. Moreover, I recall that the lad was snoring away up in that tree for most of the day, so he's probably fine...Heh! It's almost like he knew something like this would happen."

Keith began on the other side of the tree, placing a hand on the ground to strengthen his connection to the earth.

"So you're saying he was somehow able to predict this?" Christian asked.

"It depends on what you mean by the words 'predict'." Keith answered. "I think that our little talk the night before got him to thinking. If he somehow managed to connected the Hero's job as one that needs a lot of energy, then he may have come to that conclusion naturally."

"Tell the truth, Keith." Christian's voice snorted from the other side of the tree.

"Or, perhaps it was all just a blooming coincidence." Keith muttered. "Doesn't matter. I've been laughed at more than once for my circ.u.mstantial ponderings." He inspected the job he had done once more, then stood up and dusted his palms.

"Well, that's finished. How about on your end?"

"Wait a moment, I'm not as proficient as you are. It still needs a bit more time, here." Christian replied.

Keith stared out into the darkness, thinking for a minute. Then he suddenly asked. "Are you going to tell him?"

"Tell who, what?" Christian asked.

"The Hero. Are you going to tell him about who you and I are?" Keith asked.

"...I'm not sure. Probably...but not right now." Christian said, thinking about it. "I want to observe things a bit more."

"And how long will this 'a bit more' take?" Keith asked. "You can only be sick with a cold for so long before the king begins to notice something's up."

"As long as it can." Christian replied. "I still have about six days left before my plan falls apart."

Keith sighed. "You know, you'll have to tell him. You'll have to appear before the king to get permission to travel with the Hero, anyways."

"I know."

"Then why wait?" He asked.

"Now's not a good time." Came Christian's reply.

Then silence descended between the two.

Luckily enough, Robin soon returned to aske Christian a question.

"Hey, Christian, do you think you could use your nature magic to create a hollow vine?" Robin asked.

"...I can. Why?" Christian asked.

Robin grinned mischievously. "Well..."

---------------------------

When the kidnapping had happened, it was the darkest hours of the night. Now, the sky was starting to show signs of growing brighter. Dawn would soon bring the light of the next day to illuminate the forest.

It was at this time that the Shadow Monkey Demon made its way back to its den.

It cautiously approached in a circular pattern, eyes out for anything out of the ordinary. The maiden in its claws had fallen into a dead faint earlier when it had dangled her in front of a Stinger Bee Nest, trying to get her to shriek. It climbed onto the branch of its home tree, keeping an eye and an ear out for anything suspicious.

It sniffed. The air was cool with the early morning scent of dew. It hated dew. it would rather stay holed up in its nice dry den, eliciting frightened screams from its victims. It's eyes gleamed with a fiendish light as it discovered nothing out of the ordinary.

It immediately turned around and jumped straight down the hole in the hollow tree, eager to retreat into it's den.

SPLAs.h.!.+

A thunderous roar sounded from within the tree, as the shadow monkey howled in surprise and fright. Forgetting all about its victim, it scrambled and scratched at the walls of the tree, eager to emerge from the deep watery well that was now its den.

After trying its hardest for several minutes, it finally managed to climb back out. Scared, sopping wet, and very confused, it could not understand how so much water had appeared within its nice hollow tree. It stared down at the dark waters, as if they could give it an answer.

"Ahahhahahahah!" Laughter rang out in the surroundings. Robin's was the loudest one.

After making sure that the tree was s.h.i.+p-shape and waterproof, she had gotten Christian to make a long hollow vine, and used what she knew to siphon water from the nearby stream on the hill, into the large tree at the foot of it. This was how they managed to fill the huge tree half-way with water. After that, they had removed the vine, and hidden away nearby, according to Gerard's directions.

Upon hearing the laughter, the shadow monkey understood. The water had not appeared out of nowhere. In fact, it had been placed there by those hateful humans! The shadow monkey's eyes turned red as it began to growled.

Down in the water, the maiden had woken up, due to the shock of the water, but before she could cry out, she heard the menacing growl of the demonic beast. Therefore, she could only stiffly tread water, trying not to attract its attention with sudden movements.

The three down below were roaring with laughter.

"Oh! Oh I can't!" Keith gasped for breath. "It looks like a drowned rat! Hahaha!"

But, Robin unsheathed her sword, ready for the fighting to begin.

"Get ready." She said in warning.

Immediately, although still chuckling, Keith and Christian were at the ready.

Gerard had not once made an appearance, hiding away to maintain his safety. Otherwise, he would probably have become the first victim of the monkey's wrath.

And, like Robin had surmised, the shadow monkey threw itself at the group in a blind rage.