Chapter 53

In the dark underground passage, the sound of splashing water echoed.

"Craft! Turn right here! There should be stairs after the turn, so go down them!"

"Got it! Heyo! Black Dragon!"

In the underground sewers of Golden Dawn, intricately woven like a web, a single horse galloped.

It was my Black Dragon.

Despite being called sewers, the smell was almost non-existent thanks to the recent operation, the design to flush large amounts of water, and the simple purification system.

The Black Dragon cut through the water, which reached the horse's knees, without any difficulty.

An ordinary horse would have found it difficult to even move forward.

We galloped through the three-dimensional, labyrinth-like underground sewers at full speed.

Riding the horse were me, Reifan, and Ed.

Fortunately, Reifan and Ed were small, so riding three people wasn't a problem.

Without Reifan, who designed the sewers, leading the way, it would have been impossible to navigate this maze-like underground passage.

However, Reifan had memorized all the routes, which was quite impressive.

"This way, up the stairs, then left!"

"Got it!"

"Craft... I..."

"Shut up! You'll bite your tongue!"

"U, uh, okay."

"Don't worry! Leave it all to me! But I'll need you to guide us after we get out."

"Got it!"

The black horse galloped through the darkness, and we headed straight for our destination.

◆

Meanwhile, Raidock and the others were in this situation.

"Whoa... for real?"

"What is that thing?"

"How would I know?"

"Ugh..."

"The Forest of Demons is the Forest of Demons, after all."

Raidock and the others were investigating the situation of the cockatrices, trying to avoid being seen as they ventured deeper into the forest.

Due to the detour they took, they didn't encounter any cockatrices, but they were also puzzled by the lack of encounters.

In the poorly visible forest, they pushed their bodies into the underbrush, maintaining maximum vigilance as they observed.

In the depths of the forest, where the cockatrices were believed to have proliferated, there stood unusual trees.

While it's normal to see trees in a forest, these trees exuded a distinctly ominous atmosphere.

The branches of the large trees were long and twisted, all of them pitch black, and they emitted a black mist-like substance around them.

Although not over a wide area, this strange phenomenon spread around the trees.

"Maybe..."

The mage Bardack muttered.

"I once heard from my master that there are plants that drive monsters mad. I don't know the specifics, but maybe..."

"Wait! Be quiet!"

The ranger Sollar issued a sharp warning.

Everyone, accustomed to the situation, suppressed their presence and crouched down.

Several cockatrices had appeared from the depths of the forest.

"I don't want to fight here... if we can avoid being noticed, we'll get through it."

"Understood."

"Also, I'm concerned about the miasma-like mist surrounding these black trees. Everyone, take Craft's universal medicine."

"Ugh..."

Raidock and the others held their breath and observed the cockatrices.

The giant birds wandered around the black forest for a while, then began pecking at the surrounding vegetation.

Upon closer inspection, not only the trees but also the undergrowth was black.

The cockatrices were enthusiastically eating the eerie black grass.

"They're... eating it?"

"Seems so."

"I can't believe they can eat that stuff."

"Rather, they seem completely focused on the surrounding grass."

A bad feeling was shared by everyone.

After what felt like an eternity, the cockatrices began to act strangely. The previously calm giant birds suddenly started screaming and thrashing around.

"Whoa..."

The excited cockatrices ran around the area for a while, then suddenly ran off in a straight line.

"That direction is towards the town."

"What's going on?"

After confirming there were no monsters around, they cautiously entered the black forest.

Upon closer inspection, most of the trees had broken off halfway up their trunks.

"What's going on?"

"...This!"

Sollar picked up something green from the ground.

It was about the size of a small shield and emitted a beautiful green luster, something Raidock and the others were familiar with.

"That's!"

"A dragon's scale!?"

"Maybe!"

Sollar and Bardack ran to a nearby trunk.

"Look at these marks, as if they were scraped by thick fangs. It's definitely from a dragon's fangs. So, the dragon was eating them!"

"So?"

"Yes. Although we don't know the frequency, these black trees were likely the dragon's food!"

"Then the reason the cockatrices increased in number is..."

"Yes, with the dragon gone, the area became safer, and they had an unlimited supply of their favorite black trees!"

"Moreover, these trees seem to drive the cockatrices mad. So..."

"The stampede is caused by this!"

"Damn! We don't have proof, but we'll burn it! Hurry!"

"Yea!"

Raidock and the others gathered dry branches and logs from the surroundings, taking care to prevent the fire from spreading, and burned the black forest.

After a day of work, they returned to their base camp.

Thanks to the stamina potions, they weren't physically tired, but mentally exhausted.

They gathered around the campfire and discussed their next steps.

"So, what do we do now?"

"We burned that eerie forest, but we don't know if it's the only one."

"We might need to thoroughly explore the forest."

The party's brain, the mage Bardack, and the leader Raidock, deliberated.

"Either way, we should return to town. The movements of the cockatrices are also concerning."

"True, given their behavior, a stampede could have already started."

"Also, we discovered a useful habit of the cockatrices. Craft can probably make good use of it."

"Right, after observing them for days, I noticed they have a weakness."

"It's not a clear weakness, but it can be incorporated into an extermination plan."

"Agreed."

Raidock and the others, who had been facing the cockatrices for a while, had accidentally discovered a minor habit of the cockatrices.

While it wasn't very useful in the forest, using this habit could make the extermination of the cockatrices easier.

"Wait a minute!"

Sollar suddenly called out in the middle of the conversation. When she made such a sound, it usually meant something was wrong.

Everyone grabbed their weapons and stood up, on guard.

"What is it!?"

"I hear something, over there!"

From the darkness where Sollar pointed, the sound soon became audible.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

"This sound..."

"Raidock!"

The heavy, low-pitched sound that didn't seem like hoof beats came from the direction of their base camp, and it was none other than Craft and the others.

◆

"Craft!?"

Of course, the ones with their swords drawn were Raidock and the others.

Thanks to Ed, they were able to find their location without getting lost after exiting the underground.

Since there was a possibility they wouldn't be at the camp, I sighed in relief.

"Good! You're here!"

"From the looks of it, things are pretty bad. Tell us what happened."

"Right. Give me a moment."

I placed my hand on Ed's head, who was swaying from the intense movement of the Black Dragon.

"Good job, Ed. Thanks to you, we were able to meet up with Raidock quickly. Take a rest."

"U, uh, okay."

Before I could be surprised by Ed's presence, Sollar immediately noticed his condition and offered to help, so I left Ed in her care.

Sitting around the fire, Raidock spoke up.

"Is it the stampede?"

"Exactly. It's pretty bad."

"I heard it would take one to two weeks to gather the petrification-related medicine, but is the town safe?"

"It's taken care of."

"Nice work, Craft."

"Let's save that story for later. I need to ask you to do something risky. I have a guild request, but you have the right to refuse."

I handed over the designated request letter from the adventurer guild leader.

Raidock and the others all smiled wryly.

"Craft, we've known each other for a while, haven't we?"

"Y, yeah."

Raidock looked at me with a serious expression.

But his next words made me smile.

"Then, stop wasting time and tell us the plan."

Raidock's grin made me feel a bit nervous.

After that, I briefly explained the situation while discussing the plan with Raidock.

"Ed and the others came all the way here. I wasn't hiding it, but I didn't expect you to know about this base camp."

"Sorry. I underestimated their abilities. If a child has the power of an adventurer, it's only natural for this to happen."

If I had the same power as a child, I probably would have ignored the priest's advice and gone on an adventure.

"True. We also share some responsibility. They got carried away with training."

"That's because I asked them to."

"Even so, we should have taught them more about things other than their abilities. Adventurers take responsibility for their actions, but they are still children."

Adventurers would investigate what they can and cannot do on their own.

But Ed and the others are children. They have the ability, but lack knowledge, experience, and judgment. It was our responsibility to fill those gaps.

"Right. I understand why Kyle emphasizes the importance of education."

Kyle has made morning school mandatory in this town.

It's an extension of the Sunday schools that were primarily run by churches.

There was some resistance to taking away the valuable labor force of children, but several policies were quickly implemented to address this, and the concept of school is starting to take root in Golden Dawn.

"Children's education is a tough challenge."

"Agreed."

"Hey, hey, what are you two moping about? Reifan's preparations are done!"

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Reifan had been putting on the armor she had stored in her spatial storage.

"Alright! Let's go! Craft, are you ready?"

"Yea. Leave it to me! We can use the cockatrices' habit you discovered."

"We might be a bit late for the action, but we'll get the best part."

"Haha. I'll leave that to you."

Raidock's party and Reifan led the way,