Ee, Teni Shippai? Seikou?

Since getting the automobile, Tokoroten, led by Yangichi, had been out to Jana Forest day after day.

I had Charlotte prepare a new civilian vehicle of the first military vehicle I had prepared, one of the smaller types around, where I was able to travel comfortably.

"Sorry, but with an emphasis on ride comfort"

"... it's a luxury."

Thanks to the exchange, seats and the like seemed to mount something pretty comfortable to sit on.

"Let's go a little further back today."

Since it is a crusade to explore the location of demons in [Appraisal +], we are able to hunt demons quite efficiently, and using the rewards gained that way, Minori gained more and more mastery of new magic.

Thanks to this, no Minori had gained enough strength to be a leading magician, and along with Yaichi, he even ranked up as a D-rank adventurer.

"Dark Wolf 3 Oak 2 Cobolt 5 in front"

"What...?

Alana frowns at Yaichi's told enemy results.

"Weird after all?

"Mm-hmm. For once, they're acting together, aren't they? There's no way to argue."

"Oh. Thanks for noticing this one. Looks like he's on his way."

"Hmm...... Sometimes an oak can follow a kobolt, but it's not usually possible to have a wolf-based demon mixed in there"

"... as rumored, is something going on?

There have been rumors here lately in Mailgrad's Adventurer's Guild that something is wrong with the forest.

There are many reports that there are considerably fewer demons, and if you think you've finally met them, they're high-ranking demons that aren't supposed to be around, or they're usually herding in unlikely combinations.

Because of that, fewer sacrifices had been made to low-ranking adventurers, and because many of them could not go on a crusade, the Alliance saw more adventurers sober from day to day, drooling dissatisfaction.

"In the meantime, shall we clean it up"

"Oh," "Yes."

Alana and Minori agree with the words of Yaichi, the party leader.

And Alana, who was walking in the lead, ran out to the herd with a two-clobbered axe spear in her hand.

"Make sure Minori defeats the easy target. I'm going to sweep and tow the groceries."

"Yes."

Around the same time Alana rushes out, Yaichi and Minori split left and right.

Minori fired a (thunder spear) at the herd, and Yaichi, from the other side of it, indiscriminately fired a short-machine gun at the herd.

Charlotte made it easier to get ammunition, but there are limits to it nonetheless.

So a relatively easy to obtain 38-calibre bullet was used for restraint.

Balalara! and a gunshot went off, and where the magazine with thirty rounds was emptied, he switches it to a pistol with a 44-calibre magnum bullet.

The first indiscriminate shooting almost wiped out the cobolt.

The oak, which stood back on the urchin, was hardly damaged thanks to the cobolt being walled, and the bullets that arrived occasionally were to the extent of scratching only a little on its hard skin.

Darkwolf, who had deployed to the avant-garde, also received several bullets of short-machine guns, but was bounced by stiff fur and remained to the extent of inflicting a scratch.

Minori's unleashed "Thunder Spear" captured one of the Dark Wolves as the first indiscriminate shooting gathered animosity against Yaichi.

But having sensed it just before, Darkwolf succeeded in quickly turning himself in.

"Voohu......"

Minori's "Thunder Spear" aimed at Dark Wolf pierced the groin of the oak he had refrained from doing.

Alana's axe spear, which rushed in, swings down into Oak's brain weather, which nods by holding her groin with a distressed look.

Alana, who stabbed a stomach in the oak with that blow, waves the other axe spear down.

There was a dark wolf right after he landed away from the "Thunder Spear," and he was suddenly dropped in the neck.

Another Dark Wolf was flying at Alana after a series of attacks.

"Gaung!!

But before reaching Alana, the individual is turned in the air and beaten to the ground.

The bullet fired by Yaichi hit him directly.

Even with a 44-calibre magnum bullet, it won't pierce Dark Wolf's fur, but it still doesn't mean no damage.

Darkwolf, who was bullet in the flank and temples, could not rise while falling to the ground by a severe bruise caused by the bullet (...) and was abruptly stabbed in the stomach by Alana.

The other Darkwolf was desperate after being shot through the eye with a bullet.

"Bhoo!? Bubfa............!!

The last remaining oak tried to escape frightened, but was dropped by Minori's unleashed "Wind Blade".

"We can take it down fine, but it might be tough at a regular C-rank party."

Alana whines as she gathers the remains of the demon she defeated.

Party ranks are based on the lowest rank among members and are then ranked up by merit.

Based on the lowest rank among members, Tokoroten is D-ranked, but based on Alana's track record and request achievement over the past few days, their party rank had recently been ranked up to C.

Nevertheless, Alana has more than a real A-rank strength and would surely be C-ranked if both Yaichi and Minori could take a rank-up exam.

That would likely make it a B-rank party, depending on the track record, and it actually combined that much strength.

That is why the earlier herd could not be defeated without difficulty, but in the case of a regular C-rank party, it was expected that it would have struggled depending on the number of members and the good and bad operation.

"Hey, Alana. Did something start to go wrong in the woods in the last few days?

"No, the anomaly was gradually reported from you for about another month."

After answering Minori's question that way, Alana sees Yaichi.

"The first time I met Lord Yoichi..."

Remember when you met Yaichi, Alana's face turns a little red.

"Back then, a group of people were sent to investigate forest anomalies."

"Oh, oh...... At that time, you know..."

He remembered Alana, who had been betrayed by his allies, deprived of his physical freedom, and became obscene because of his ecstasy after being stripped of his clothes, and Yaichi felt his groin fit worse.

Minori tilts her neck at those two appearances.

"Since then... hmm? It hasn't been half a month..."

I felt like I'd been spending months with Alana already, but I can't help but be surprised that that's all the time I've had.

I guess that means we're having all that intense time.

"Mm-hmm. Something like a month or so since the anomaly was first reported. But things seem to get worse every day."

If you ask me, they have more cases of low-ranking adventurers who can't go on crusades causing violent shakedowns in the Alliance's liquor stores and all over town.

Regardless of the guild's liquor store, the adventurers who caused problems all over town are once captured by guards and imprisoned in detention.

And after a brief ID check, we hand it over to the guild, and then we're punished according to guild policy.

Well, with a little bit of trouble, he's often released on the spot, with great care, but because of these problems, William, Alana's father and lord, and Celestan, his grandfather and guild master of the Adventurers Guild, seem to be extremely busy.

(Oh, is some of that stacked paperwork a problem with that system...)

And, Yaichi meditated in his heart.

"I'd like to find out what caused it and lighten the burden on your father and grandfather... but there's not much I can do as an adventurer"

"... I'm still an adventurer and the sun is shallow too, so I wonder if I can help you"

Alana and Minori fall shoulders together.

(Hmm, I could handle that, couldn't I?

If Alana's family, who is dear to me, is in trouble, I want to help you.

Or that William and Celestan are taking care of Yangichi themselves.

(Besides, selling a favor would make “cute” a little better... maybe?

With that intention in mind, Yaichi used [Appraisal +] to explore forest anomalies.

Expand your search and pick up only demonic reactions for now.

(Hmm, something seems to be getting so little away from town............ hmm? What is this......)

As we expanded our search towards the back of the woods, the number of demons gradually decreased and eventually something like a complete blank zone appeared.

But as we expanded further from there, suddenly more demons began to appear, which eventually became too dense a group to call herds.

(Whoa, whoa... how many of these are there...)

For now, Yaichi narrows her search to that dense demonic population and counts the number.

When I left the count to [appraisal +], the answer came immediately.

(Yi, Ju, Hiku... Seriously...)

"Lord Yoichi, what's wrong?

"Something looks pale..."

With their gaze in the void, Alana and Minori speak carefully-to Yangichi, who shrugged.

"Uh, erm"

With a little mouthfeel, Yaichi pointed to the presence of a group of demons.

"Ahead... about 200 kilometers, but there's a lot of demons out there"

"Ho. It has not yet been investigated to that depth, but is it also a demonic settlement?

"Uh, no, it's not a settlement or that easy level"

"Hmm, hundreds of units? If we don't mobilize some high-ranking parties..."

"No, it's not like that."

"Hmm... when it comes to more than a thousand people, it's better to form a crusade of over a hundred people -"

"No, because it's over 100,000"

"Hmm?"

"So the number of demons. 'Cause we've got over 100,000 hiccups."

"............ what!?

For a moment Alana, unable to understand the meaning of Yangichi's words, raises her surprise after a slight silence.

Minori also had a blue face to the number 100,000, although she would not give a voice.

"Hey, Lord Yoichi. Ask the attempt, is that group staying there?

"... no, it looks like it's moving"

"... any idea where we're going? I hope you're headed back into the woods."

"... I've also searched and checked previous travel routes, but this is going to town."

To the answer, Alana blued her face and shivered her mouth with a flashing expression.

"Demonic mass outburst (stampede)!!

The cry of the princess knight echoed in the forest of Jana.