Volume 6 Chapter 10 Beast God
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Revision: Uruu is a woman.
I stayed overnight in the Ant Castle and was able to spend a wonderful night enveloped in the kindness of Ms. Ant and the others.
Their thoughts were extremely simple: they wanted to be with the person they cared about forever. The reason was straightforward—it seemed I had treated them with care.
I mean, normally, if someone’s working themselves to death, you’d stop them, and if they’re injured, you’d treat them, right? For Antfolk, that seems to be a major heart-fluttering point.
It’s baffling, but ultimately, it’s all good. Being popular with girls is truly the pinnacle of a man’s life. I’m so glad to be alive.
When people are happy themselves, they naturally want to make others happy too, it seems. Yeah, let’s do something good.
* * *
Among the girls in the Schulz collection stored in my magic bag is one who’s said to be the Beast God.
She was abducted by Schulz long ago, but Ms. Hóa says her clan has no set lifespan, so there’s a high chance she can reunite with her family.
Even though she’s called the Beast God, she’s not an actual deity but more like a top-tier spirit ruling over the Wolf Forest. I don’t really get the difference between gods and spirits, though.
I guess gods are more powerful. But in Japanese culture, forest spirits are considered gods too.
I take her out of the magic bag. Appearance-wise, she looks like a fox-like beastkin.
The beastkin in this world are just hairy humans, but she actually has proper kemo ears and a tail.
As expected of someone abducted by Schulz, she’s a breathtaking beauty. The fixed magic makes her as immobile as a mannequin.
It’s improper, but… I feel a kind of forbidden eros from her. Am I in the same boat as Schulz? No, I’m different. I’m going to free her.
If I leave her like this for a few hours, she’ll be able to move. Or should I deliver her to her family first before “unfreezing” her?
My magic bag is a special type that can even store living creatures, but there’s a high chance of failure if the target resists. It’s called a resist check.
Schulz’s fixed magic also has a resist-nullification effect, so I can take her in and out freely now, but if I can’t store her anymore, things will get complicated.
First, I need to convince her, but if she resists, I’ll be easily killed.
Alright, I’ll keep her stored for a bit longer.
* * *
Humans aren’t supposed to enter the Wolf Forest casually, but I’ve been allowed to pass through when going to and from the Valley of Trials.
Especially now that I’ve rescued their deity, they should let me in.
Of course, I’ll follow the proper procedures. When entering the forest, I need to call Ms. Uruu to guide me.
I owe that noble wolf a lot, so I’ll bring him some quail as a gift.
Come to think of it, there are a lot of rules about giving meat to wolves. The way you give it changes the nuance completely.
Declaring submission is straightforward. But if you’re giving meat to someone who’s bad at hunting, it’s complicated. It can be seen as an insult, like saying, “You can’t even catch this.”
They also give meat as a marriage proposal, so I need to be careful not to cause misunderstandings. Ms. Uruu is a proud female, but I can’t imagine marrying a wolf.
If it’s going to cause trouble, I might as well not bring a gift, but since the Ant Castle will be our neighbor from now on…
To be a good neighbor, I need to understand their customs properly.
As an equal neighbor, I’ll give meat to show I mean no hostility. But I need to prove my hunting skills so they don’t underestimate me.
For them, hunting skill is synonymous with military strength.
When giving gifts to humans, you focus on etiquette, but with wolves, scent is everything. For them, scent speaks louder than a thousand words.
After researching Miss Floria’s collection, I found that past negotiations with the Wolf Forest failed mainly due to humans’ ignorance about scent.
A noble sent as an envoy once gave animal organs and was chased away. Wolves do love entrails, so it was partially correct, but they masked the spoilage with spices. Idiotic.
Wolves with their keen noses would hate even the slightest iron scent.
No matter how eloquent a diplomat is, if the gift lacks sincerity, they won’t be trusted.
Well, maybe I’m overthinking it. As long as I show respect to the wolves, things should be fine.
I’ll imagine devouring my catch raw, like they do. Eating raw wild game is risky due to parasites and hepatitis, so I always cook it, but raw liver must be delicious. If I could purify it with magic, I’d try it too.
First, I’ll make sure there’s no metallic scent. An arrowhead made of flint should do the trick.
Next, I’ll summon Ms. Lime to purify Ms. Claire and me completely. Totally eliminating our scent might seem unnatural, but human scents are extremely unpleasant to them.
It’s like serving oily sashimi—unbearable. Same principle.
Anyway, just outside the Ant Castle, I spot a small flock of quail. The leader looks impressive, but I aim for the weakest one.
Targeting the easiest prey is the law of nature. Carnivores act as forest doctors by culling the weak and keeping the herd healthy.
They probably don’t think about it logically—it’s just instinct.
Following my own instincts, I target a sluggish quail on the outskirts of the flock.
I dismount from Ms. Claire and use Stealthskill to get close. I draw the bow lightly and release the arrow.
The arrowhead pierces the quail’s eye, destroying its brain, and it collapses without a sound. I gently remove the arrow and store the quail, without draining its blood, in my magic bag.
Some quail notice the disturbance but don’t understand what happened and don’t fly away.
Staying to feed despite the danger seems foolish, but flying takes calories. If they fled at every minor threat, they’d starve before being predated.
It’s the shrewdness of wild animals—nature is harsh.
I could easily take another, but I don’t need more right now.
I ride Ms. Claire to the edge of the Wolf Forest. It feels like déjà vu—Ms. Nina was still with me back then.
”Wolves, proud hunters of the forest! I am Saburou, a Japanese friend of the rabbit-slayer Uruu. I wish to speak with my friend Uruu.”
Since coming to this world, I’ve gotten used to shouting loudly. I never imagined having a loud voice would be a talent in Japan.
Just yelling would hurt my throat. The trick is to let the voice ride the wind, pushing it from the abdomen.
I could make a megaphone easily, but relying on tools would make me look weak.
A howl answers from the forest—not Ms. Uruu. Another wolf must be calling him for me.
After a short wait, a familiar giant figure dashes through the trees. Not at full speed, but still incredibly fast.
I’m truly grateful Ms. Uruu is my friend. If she were my enemy, even Ms. Claire couldn’t outrun her.
I present the still-warm quail from my magic bag. After sniffing it, she skillfully tears off the wings with her dexterous paws and swallows it whole.
Seems like I passed the test.
Ms. Uruu says she prefers rabbits to quail—quail can fly away, making them tricky.
Well, she liked the quail so much that she’ll accept my marriage proposal.
Marriage proposal?! Wait, that’s a huge misunderstanding!
Seeing my panic, the corners of Ms. Uruu’s large mouth curl up in a sinister smile. Wolves tease too, huh? That smile is terrifying.
I tried to ask about the Ant Castle as well, but building trust as neighbors takes time, they say.
They know about the Ant Castle and are on high alert. At least we’re not starting from a negative position.
When I ask about the Beast God, she’s initially cautious, but after mentioning Ms. Hóa’s introduction, she agrees to check if I can meet her.
There’s probably a different Beast God now.
A relay of howls begins—their primitive communication system. If an outsider heard it, they’d be terrified.
Fortunately, permission is granted quickly. Their howling messages are surprisingly effective.
We’re about to enter the forbidden depths of the forest.
The ancient trees loom in the dim light, and even the usually robust wall barley grows weakly here. Even cheat plants have their limits.
Young shade-tolerant trees thrive alongside the wall barley.
This forest might survive for a while longer. But if light enters, the wall barley will take over instantly.
Ms. Uruu stops at a small stream we could easily cross. Beyond this is the sacred area where even wolves can’t enter. Ms. Claire must wait here too.
An elderly fox takes over as our guide. Are foxes higher ranked than wolves? Well, they’re not ordinary animals.
The fox sniffs me—is it checking for wall barley seeds? I inspected myself thoroughly before entering.
One seed could cause disaster, so their caution is understandable.
The trees change beyond the stream, and soft sunlight filters through. The ground is spongy with beautiful moss—I’ll inevitably trample it.
Astonishingly, the old fox walks without leaving a trace, like a ghost. It’s using an obsolete “flight” skill to reduce weight.
Magicians used to fly, but the “Curse of the Skies” makes flying risky now.
If you don’t fly too high, it should be safe.
I mimic the fox and reduce my weight. I can’t fly, but it uses less MP.
Perfect for walking without damaging the moss.
The fox glances back briefly but continues walking. Maybe it’s annoyed I surprised it. Its pride seems high.
Now, a pond comes into view, sparkling in the bright sunlight.
The nearly circular pond is small enough to throw a stone across. Clear water bubbles from the sandy bottom—probably a spring.
Stone pillars stand like a henge around the pond’s edge. This must be our destination.
A fox-eared woman sits on a throne-like rock, staring at me.
She resembles the girl from Schulz’s collection who’s said to be the Beast God, but looks more mature.
’Human, what do you want?’
Not the usual Mind Communication skill—it’s like telepathy, resonating directly in my head.
There are many similar skills and magics in this world with nearly identical effects. It seems redundant, but different jobs use different magic systems, so it’s necessary.
The danger is assuming similar skills are the same when they’re not.
What if this is a mind-reading magic? I’ve done nothing wrong, but still… I’ll get to the point quickly.
”I’m looking for this girl’s whereabouts.”
I take the Beast God out of the magic bag abruptly. Terrible negotiation skills, but I don’t want anything in return.
If she complains later, I’ll leave it to Schulz. He’s clearly at fault.
The woman is briefly surprised but quickly regains her composure.
’What’s your purpose?’
So she doesn’t have mind-reading abilities. That’s a relief, I guess.
”I want to return her to her homeland and let her live happily. Please let me find her family.”
’Fieme was abducted by a vicious dragon. Why is she now a human’s captive?’
Captive, huh? I didn’t mean it that way, but I suppose that’s how it looks.
I sense hatred, anger, and sharp, thorny emotions directed at me. If she wanted to, she could kill me easily.
I came here so carelessly without realizing the danger.
Acting lightly for a good deed was foolish. I assumed it would cause no trouble. How naive.
But it’s too late now. I must face the consequences.
”I don’t know what happened to her either. Please hear the details from her. The dragon’s magic should wear off in half a day.”
’What? Fieme is alive?’
”Yes, she’s conscious. The magic just immobilizes her.”
Hearing she’s alive eases her hostility somewhat, but the tense atmosphere remains until Ms. Fieme can move.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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