Chapter 89

In the dense forest, twelve men were advancing.

They were the private soldiers of the lord who owned the city of Romane, and they belonged to the second investigation team.

"How is the magic compass, Allen?"

Responding to the call from the team leader Regino, Allen looked down at the magical device in his hand.

The magic compass had a shape similar to a clock with only one hand, and it had the property of reacting to strong magic. There was an adjustment screw to narrow down the type of magic that would cause a reaction, but Allen didn't quite understand how to use it.

"I don't really know how to use it. It's been spinning around... since just now..."

"Hey, you didn't break it, did you...?"

The reason they had come to the forest this time was that a series of troublesome incidents, such as the appearance of dangerous mutants and magical beast disasters, had been occurring recently, and their purpose was to investigate these incidents.

In the postscript of a certain adventurer's report, there was a warning: "Recently, strange incidents have been occurring one after another. When such troublesome events frequently occur, it is because there is a cause that disrupts the magic field, so it is better to investigate it as soon as possible." The lord, upon hearing this, had mobilized the private soldiers.

This kind of investigation is often entrusted to adventurers, with special rewards prepared.

The adventurer support office was originally set up for this purpose.

However, they were often rough, greedy, and loose-lipped, and many of them lacked a sense of responsibility.

Therefore, the investigation team was mainly responsible for important investigations that could not be entrusted to adventurers.

This time, in particular, there were many unclear points, and the idea was to conduct a preliminary investigation internally before causing a big commotion and spreading anxiety.

By the way, Regino, who had been assigned to this investigation, had requested the cooperation of the magical beast scholar Wegener, but after hearing the story, Wegener had a mysterious stomachache, and it didn't work out.

"Ah, it stopped... huh?"

With a click, the needle of the magic compass jumped up.

"S-Sorry! I wasn't trying to use it strangely or anything, but it suddenly..."

As Allen nervously tried to explain, Regino drew his sword and got into a fighting stance. Sweat was beading on his forehead.

"Regino, team leader!? You don't have to get so angry... This is an accident, you know..."

As he said this, Allen noticed something odd about Regino's gaze. Regino's eyes seemed to be glaring at something behind Allen rather than at him.

Allen realized the situation and, while discarding the magic compass, drew his sword and turned around.

A little distance away, there was a dark tree. The tree was somewhat thick, and its bark was peeling and gouged, making it look like a person's face with a wide-open mouth, as if laughing. A branch extended from where the nose would be.

Allen felt a chill and frowned.

Immediately after, the tree's mouth opened even wider, and the entire forest began to stir violently, as if the tree were laughing.

There was no doubt. This was the source of the distortion in the magic field and the reason the magic compass had reacted.

Allen had this intuition.

He then noticed that his hand, which was holding the sword, was trembling.

"Abandon your weapons."

A hoarse voice echoed in Allen's head, as if it were being directly imprinted on his brain.

The other team members were also flustered. Allen deduced that everyone must have heard the voice.

It was the language of the spirits.

The use of the language of the spirits indicated a magical beast of B-level danger or higher, or a demon.

This was not an enemy that the second investigation team could handle.

"Bless the gods."

Allen did not know the language of the spirits in detail.

Therefore, he did not understand what the tree was trying to say to them.

"Die in another way."

But it was clear that the tree was not a gentle opponent.

"Abandon your weapons!"

The tree's eyes opened wide.

Allen gripped his sword tightly, feeling the clear hostility directed at him, who was leading the group.

Black, sharp roots burst through the ground.

Allen swung his sword in a panic, but the blade shattered easily, and the tip of the root pierced through his shoulder.

Allen was thrown back, the intense pain from the wound causing him to drop his sword.

He flew through the air, spewing blood, and hit the ground hard.

Allen landed on his side, then rolled onto his back.

His heart was pounding, and he was in agony. He couldn't breathe properly, and a heat rose from the depths of his stomach.

Allen tried to press his hand against his shoulder wound.

The sticky sensation made him realize the extent of his bleeding for the first time. The fear and pain that had been numbed suddenly hit him all at once.

"Ahh... Ah, ah... Ahhhhhh! Uwaaaaah! Uwaaaaaah!"

Allen screamed in a state of near madness.

Fear is contagious.

Clank, clank. Clank, clank.

One by one, the swords fell to the ground.

No one was in a state to fight properly anymore.

"We're retreating!"

Regino shouted to his comrades and quickly picked up the fallen Allen. He turned around and faced away from the tree monster.

The tree monster lifted its branches toward their fleeing backs.

The tips of the branches were split into five, like thin hands.