Chapter 29

When I returned to my room, Libia turned her face toward me.

"Lord Crest. During the meeting, the humans didn't notice anything, right?"

It's probably about the investigation in the north.

Since I hadn't explained in detail how I gathered information, Libia seemed worried about that part.

She had also looked apologetic before, as if she felt bad for putting the burden on me alone, and she was probably concerned about that again.

"Of course. There was no hooded man this time, and there were no problems at all."

"Is that so? Then, is it really certain that the leader of the northern sub-humans is that hooded man?"

"Probably, yeah."

If the enemy leader doesn't go outside, it's hard to tell.

"Anyway, that's good. If something happened to you, it would be a big problem. By the way, how about the gacha points? Did you find any new monsters?"

"No, not yet. If I go further north from the northern sub-humans' base, I might find some monsters, but..."

That area is completely within the enemy's territory, so I'd rather not go there.

The risk of encountering something dangerous would increase significantly.

As I was thinking about this, Libia's gaze turned toward me.

Her expression seemed somewhat apologetic.

"If only we could move more effectively..."

"Don't worry, it's fine. For now, I plan to gather more information from the north tomorrow. Please take care of the village."

"Understood. Please be careful."

For now, there's nothing to do but continue gathering information.

The next day.

As usual, I went to the north to gather information from the sub-humans and to look for monsters to practice my skills. I headed to the beach.

Using the Perception Spell, I detected a monster's reaction from the sea.

In the sea, huh.

Indeed, I haven't fought many sea monsters before.

Only during the early days.

While thinking about this, I walked around the beach, but no monsters appeared.

I might have to go into the sea... but I'd rather avoid getting wet.

"Maybe I can use the Shadow Spell."

The Perception Spell and the Shadow Spell.

Combining these two might work.

Since it doesn't cost anything to try, I decided to give it a shot.

First, I activated the Shadow Spell and extended a shadow into the sea.

While manipulating the shadow, I extended the Perception Spell to the monster's reaction.

Then, I sharpened the tip of the shadow and pierced it.

I could feel the monster, which had reacted to the Perception Spell, moving frantically through the shadow.

I covered the monster's body with the shadow, constricted it, and pierced it.

Eventually, the reaction from the Perception Spell disappeared.

I lifted the dead monster's body with the shadow and examined it on the beach.

...It's a monster that looks completely like a fish.

It gives 200 points, so I'll keep killing them.

I continued to kill monsters using the Shadow Spell.

It seems there are two types of fish monsters.

Since both types give 200 points, I'll aim to kill 25 of each, for a total of 50.

It's also good practice for controlling the Shadow Spell.

After killing the limit of 25, a total of 50 of both types, I finished hunting on the beach.

Using the Perception Spell, I could tell there were still more monsters.

However, I think the remaining ones are probably the same type, so I decided to stop fighting.

If I go further from the shore, there might be more monsters, but I can't fight them in the water.

Only the lizardmen can move freely in the water.

Speaking of which, will those lizardmen come back here?

I think the northern sub-humans are divided into several groups, each honing their skills.

So far, I've only confirmed humans and lizardmen, but are there others?

While thinking about this, I searched for monsters near the beach.

I couldn't see any monsters.

The sand retains footprints easily, so I usually don't want to walk on it... but thanks to the Assassin skill, I don't leave footprints.

As I walked along the beach, I found some footprints.

These aren't human footprints.

They're probably from the lizardmen.

The footprints lead north, so I decided to follow them.

I hope I can find something.

As I followed the footprints, I eventually got a reaction from the Perception Spell.

It seems they moved from the beach into the forest.

Relying on the Perception Spell, I searched for the sub-humans... and found them.

As expected, they were lizardmen.

They had just finished killing a monster and were sounding relieved.

"Alright, that's enough."

"You've gotten pretty strong, haven't you?"

"Hehe, ever since I was given a demon name, I've been growing rapidly. Of course, I've become stronger."

Demon name, huh.

The face that came to mind was Reibhalt's.

Is he the one giving everyone demon names?

Or is there someone even stronger than Reibhalt?

I continued to follow the lizardmen, hoping to gather more information.

"Hey, do you know anything about the plan to invade the upper world?"

Invasion.

My attention focused even more on this conversation.

It was exactly the information I wanted to hear.

The lizardmen continued talking while hunting monsters.

"It seems they plan to invade after subjugating the southern sub-humans."

The southern sub-humans must be referring to us.

...So, our existence has been noticed.

"The southern sub-humans, huh. I heard they're just being made to fight each other and then gathered?"

"Exactly. Then, they plan to eliminate the leader of the gathered group and make them submit."

...I see.

The reason the northern sub-humans haven't invaded yet is because of the time it takes.

They plan to let us fight and gather into a group, then invade and subjugate us.

If they have the confidence in their strength, it's a pretty easy plan.

Especially since sub-humans are meritocratic.

If they can persuade the leader of the group, the others are likely to follow.

There are several ways to persuade them.

First, try talking to them. If that doesn't work, show your strength.

If that still doesn't work... in the worst case, killing them is an option.

"What if they resist?"

"In that case, we can just kill everyone and then invade the upper world."

They laughed.

...These guys are pretty reckless.

They must have a lot of confidence in their strength.

Either way, if they invade the upper world... there's a possibility they could easily conquer a country.

At least from what I know, there aren't many people in the upper world who are used to fighting.

Since there are hardly any monsters, they don't know what a harsh battle is like.

If someone like Reibhalt were to free the sub-human slaves in the upper world... it would definitely become a historic event.

They started walking in the direction of their base.

They're probably heading back soon.

I wish I could have gathered more information, but I don't want to be attacked by Reibhalt again.

For now, I'll stop gathering information here.

After watching the lizardmen leave, I headed back to my village.

When I return to the village, I'll talk to everyone and then try the gacha.

If possible, I want to max out the Dark Knight skill.

It's physically demanding, but it should be effective against stronger opponents.

This is a new series. ↓ Please read from the link below!

While helping with my sister's dungeon streaming, I accidentally went on a rampage against an S-rank monster and ended up going viral.

https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9783ig/

The Dark Knight who time-looped uses future knowledge to go on a rampage—From the lowest rank, I rise to the top.

https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9795ig/