Chapter 7

Shuu arrived at the Eldera Forest after several months, occasionally hesitating along the way. Using his enhanced magical perception as a spirit, he immediately hunted down and defeated powerful monsters.

By defeating a high-ranking demon, the Goblin King, and a high-ranking boar demon, the High Boar Demon, he quickly rose to become the lord of the forest.

The demon and boar demon monsters that were under these two began to gather under Shuu.

Unbeknownst to him, he had become the leader of the monster community.

"Hmm... It's more boring than I thought."

Due to the murder of a holy knight, he had to be more cautious about making noticeable moves. He decided to stay low until things cooled down, but being low-key turned out to be quite boring.

In the depths of the Eldera Forest, the demon and boar demon monsters had formed a large settlement, and Shuu reigned over them as their leader. Monsters don't have a concept of politics; the leader of the settlement merely exists as the strongest. Therefore, with nothing to do, he was quite bored.

"Well, I did materialize, but the only things to do are practice magic or swing a stick."

He was still doing daily training in magic control to pass the time, and sometimes he would join the goblins and high goblins in swinging sticks. Unfortunately, Shuu seemed to lack talent with weapons, and his efforts didn't yield much success.

His main tasks were mediating fights between monsters and hunting down rogue strong monsters. Otherwise, he was living a relatively peaceful life. Incidentally, materialized monsters can convert energy from food into magic power and store it, though not in large amounts. This is how ordinary monsters maintain themselves. For purely magical beings, the need to eat is due to this.

For a spirit-type monster like Shuu, "Life Absorption" was probably the equivalent of eating.

He had recently realized this after materializing.

This was the story of the six months since he arrived at the Eldera Forest.

(Lord Shuu, I have a report.)

(Oh? Ah, it's you, Mid-Goblin.)

(Humans have invaded the shallow part of the forest. Several goblins have been killed.)

(That's nothing new. Can't be helped.)

(Yes, it can't be helped.)

(Thanks for the report. If humans come deeper, I'll take care of it.)

The Mid-Goblin left after giving this report.

Incidentally, most monsters can't speak. They generally communicate through gestures. However, as a spirit-type monster, Shuu could communicate by projecting his thoughts.

This ability, like "Life Absorption," was a form of magic.

This is how Shuu, despite being a different species, managed to lead the settlement.

"Another goblin got killed. But last week, about three were born, so it's probably fine."

Shuu didn't get particularly angry when he heard that goblins had been killed by humans. He had been warning the monsters in the settlement not to go to the shallow part of the forest. If they broke this rule and got killed, he considered it their own fault.

The settlement itself was deep in the Eldera Forest, so humans rarely came.

And if humans didn't come deep into the forest, he had no plans to do anything.

In fact, there was a large city near the Eldera Forest. The main industry was processing herbs collected from the forest, and there was also a magic knight training institution. Sometimes magic knight candidates came to the Eldera Forest for field training, so he didn't want to cause trouble and risk a repeat of the past.

Therefore, Shuu decided not to attack humans.

Of course, he would defend himself if attacked.

(I'll go check if there are any more rogue monsters...)

Shuu became a spirit and floated out of the settlement. This was a common sight, so the monsters in the settlement didn't pay much attention. Rather, they waved him off.

They knew that Shuu was protecting them.

(I'll expand my magical perception...)

Shuu headed into the forest to hunt for prey.

◆◆◆

In the middle layer of the Eldera Forest, a girl was running.

Far behind her, a black shadow was chasing her.

"Ha... ha...!"

The girl, out of breath, began to mumble a spell. A magic circle began to form, gradually taking shape. However, just before activation, the magic circle shattered.

It was a failed activation.

"Ugh... as expected."

"Grurrr..."

"Oh! It's catching up!"

The monster chasing the girl was a humanoid creature, resembling a bipedal wolf, known as a werewolf. It was a mid-level monster, which means it could be defeated by a single D-rank magic knight.

For a magic knight, it was a relatively normal monster, but for others, it was a formidable opponent.

"Ugh... I wish I had appeared to someone more capable instead of a dropout like me."

Tears welled up in the girl's eyes as she ran. She was a magic knight candidate and a dropout. Moreover, she was directionally challenged. She had entered the Eldera Forest, but got lost and ended up in the middle layer, where she encountered a rogue monster.

A girl who couldn't use body enhancement magic had no chance of escaping a mid-level monster.

She was caught and her back was slashed by the werewolf's sharp claws.

"Aaaah!?"

She felt a burning pain and fell to the ground. Her back was torn, with three painful wounds. Red liquid dripped and soaked the ground.

"Grurrr..."

"Ugh... it hurts..."

The werewolf, seeing its prey stop, slowly approached. Werewolves are cruel and enjoy toying with their prey, relishing the screams of their victims. The girl, seeing the approaching werewolf, couldn't help but scream.

"Ah!"

She started running again, surprising the werewolf.

It had expected her to be immobilized by the pain from the deep wounds. However, the girl was running as fast as before.

Upon closer inspection, the blood had already stopped flowing from her back.

"Grurrrrr!"

But for the werewolf, this was convenient.

It meant a longer hunt.

This time, it picked up a stone and threw it. Surprisingly, it had good control, and the stone, about the size of an adult's hand, hit the girl's left arm.

"Uaaaaah!"

The girl, in pain, fell again.

But she quickly got up and ran again.

The werewolf, using its superior physical abilities, chased after her. There was an absolute difference between humans and monsters, so the girl had no chance of escaping.

(At least... if I could use the enhancement magic...)

Unfortunately, she was a dropout.

She couldn't use such magic. She had to rely on her natural physical abilities to run, even though she knew it was futile against a monster.

She was caught again, and the werewolf grabbed her arm.

The girl, grabbed with great force, lost her balance and almost fell. However, the werewolf, holding her arm, kept her from falling.

"It hurts!"

"Grurrrrr... Grrroo!"

The girl's face contorted in pain as the werewolf squeezed her arm even harder.

Her arm broke with a sickening crack, and she immediately felt intense pain.

"Uaaaaahhhhhh!?"

Trying to escape, she only increased her pain as her arm was still firmly held.

The werewolf then bit her shoulder with its sharp teeth.

"Ahh... uuuuuu!"

The werewolf, wanting to inflict more pain, considered but stopped short of making her faint, as that would ruin the fun.

It released the girl, who fell to the ground, her shoulder and broken arm in agony.

The werewolf watched with delight as she struggled to endure the pain.

Then, something astonishing happened.

The girl's broken and swollen arm rapidly healed, and the severe wound on her shoulder was completely repaired.

"Grur... Hahaha!"

The werewolf was both surprised and delighted.

It had found a toy that wouldn't break.

This was going to be fun.

The girl, seeing the werewolf's manic smile, was terrified.

"No... help... me..."

No one would respond to her cries.

She had come to the forest alone, and there were no friends to help her. People rarely ventured into the middle layer of the Eldera Forest, so it was futile to hope.

But sometimes, luck balances out.

A stroke of luck came to her, erasing her misfortune of getting lost and encountering the werewolf.

"Found prey!"

"Kyaa!?"

A voice came from above, and something fell, crushing the werewolf.

"Good, magic absorption complete."

Shuu Arkwright, who had been hunting rogue monsters in the Eldera Forest, happened to be there. He stepped on the werewolf, using "Life Absorption" to drain its life force and convert it into magic power, which he stored.

The werewolf's body would disintegrate into magic power within a few days.

After that, Shuu noticed the girl, who had fainted from shock.

"..."

"..."

"Hi."

"U-Um, hello."

Shuu, unsure how to greet her, gave a short greeting. The girl, after a moment, responded, but her confusion was evident.

(I didn't expect a human to be here... My magical perception must have overlapped their auras, so I didn't notice her.)

In fact, Shuu's magical perception was still imprecise.

The auras of the girl and the werewolf had overlapped, so he hadn't noticed the girl.

However, Shuu had no intention of harming humans.

"Well, I'll be off then."

Shuu decided to return to the depths of the forest in his materialized form. He would dematerialize where the girl couldn't see him and float back.

However, the girl quickly recovered and called out to him.

"Wait, please!"

"..."

"Thank you! And can you tell me your name?"

Shuu, thinking it was a small request, stopped.

The girl stood up, straightened her torn and disheveled clothes, and bowed.

"Thank you for saving me."

"Ah, it's fine. I'm Shuu Arkwright."

This was how Shuu Arkwright and the girl met.

The heroine has appeared.