Chapter 47

It's been a while. Update! This time, it's about 4,000 words. The reason is in the afterword.

Nord walked through the forest, illuminated by the moonlight pouring down from the night sky.

At times, he used the scout skills he had honed, and at other times, he relied on Neut's sense of smell, carefully following the faint traces of the anomaly in the Forest of Alba, ensuring he didn't lose the trail.

And then, Nord arrived at the place.

The place was deep within the Forest of Alba.

It was a steep cliff, and the forest that connected to the foothills of the Northern Mountains formed a large basin there. The last time Nord visited the Forest of Alba, he had been mapping the area up to the cliff.

Nord could tell that the spider's trail continued to this place.

(…It's here.)

This was a certainty.

Not only from the fresh traces around him, but also from the 'sound' that was different, mingled with the wind. At the entrance to the forest, he couldn't tell, but once he recognized it, he could clearly understand the sound made by the creature.

This 'presence' was mixed in the wind.

To avoid being noticed by the spider that was definitely there, Nord suppressed his own presence and approached the cliff, blending into the darkness of the night. He moved cautiously, mimicking the rustling of the leaves to mask his steps. Finally, he reached the edge of the cliff, moving along the ground like a crawler.

Nord realized he was unusually tense. His back was drenched in sweat, and his hands were trembling slightly.

He didn't know why he was so tense. Was it from fatigue, or something else?

Without knowing the reason, Nord suppressed his tension and, hiding in the shadow of a tree growing at the edge of the cliff, he cautiously peered over the other side.

White, white, white.

At the bottom of the cliff, a world of 'white' stretched as far as the eye could see.

(Snow...? No, this is...)

The white landscape that spread through the forest at the bottom of the cliff.

Reflecting the silver moonlight, it shone white, almost like snow.

However, Nord immediately realized what it was and dismissed the thought.

The scene that spread everywhere was not a snowscape. The true nature of what colored the trees in the forest white was,

(Everything visible... is silk.)

It was a giant spider's web that had suddenly appeared in the forest.

§

Nord stared at the scene before him in disbelief. Or perhaps he was just dumbfounded.

An unbelievable amount of spider silk had dyed the forest below like a snowfall, turning it pure white.

The trees in the forest were covered in spider silk from top to bottom, with no gaps where the bark was visible. Even between the trees, spider silk stretched like bridge beams.

The spider's web was so extensive that it felt more like the trees were peeking out from the web rather than the web being woven around the trees.

– A spider's palace.

That was the impression Nord had of the enormous spider's web.

And in this spider's palace, there were shadows moving about.

These shadows were, of course, spiders. They moved freely with their eight legs, navigating the web that stretched in all directions. Many of them were carrying white balls wrapped in silk – probably captured prey – and transporting them.

(...Twelve, thirteen... fourteen... Is this a higher-level individual than a General Spider...?)

The spiders moving about in the palace were not just Knight Spiders. A considerable number of General Spiders, which he had once fought in a fierce battle, were mixed in, and there were also many individuals with even more eyes.

These spider armies were moving in large numbers, like a column of ants, on the spider silk.

It was impossible to estimate how many spiders existed in this enormous palace. But Nord could tell that there were at least a hundred.

(...? On closer inspection, not all the spiders are bringing prey into the nest... rather, the opposite...)

As Nord observed the spiders, he noticed something strange.

In the giant spider's web, which could be called a palace, there was a place where large white lumps were gathered. Nord immediately realized that these white lumps were stacked prey. This was probably the 'food storage' of the spider's palace.

However, it seemed that more spiders were carrying prey out of the food storage than entering it.

They were transporting the food somewhere. But where?

Nord followed the movement of the spiders.

The spider silk was woven in all directions within the palace, and some areas had multiple levels.

Given the ecology of Knight Spiders, this was a strange phenomenon, but everything he saw before him deviated from the common knowledge of Knight Spiders that Nord knew.

As a result, Nord had a strange confidence that nothing would surprise him.

The spiders seemed to be heading towards the Northern Mountains through the palace.

They moved briskly, carrying the prey wrapped in spider silk to the northern end of the palace. When they reached the small hill at the northern end, they piled the prey at its base and returned the way they came.

At first, Nord wondered why they were doing this, concluding that they were moving the prey to a new food storage.

Until the shadow of the hill began to move slowly.

It took a moment to realize what was happening.

He thought a cloud had covered the moon and looked up at the sky.

Then, seeing the full moon shining in the night sky, he finally recognized what was before him.

"......No way."

Involuntarily, a voice of shock escaped Nord's lips. It was an unconscious action.

The hill was moving.

No, it wasn't a hill.

There was a spider, so large it could be mistaken for a hill.

Why hadn't he noticed its presence?

As he asked himself, Nord quickly found the answer.

A rattling sound was heard.

It was coming from his own body.

– Fear had made Nord's body tremble.

He understood deep down that his instincts had turned a blind eye to the presence.

The absence of living creatures in the forest also made sense now.

The subordinate spiders had been capturing animals from the forest to feed the giant spider standing before him – that was part of it.

However, that wasn't the essence. If that were the case, why were there no small birds or insects, which were too small to be prey, in the forest? Why did he not sense any living creatures even at the entrance to the Forest of Alba, where there were no traces of spiders?

The answer to this question was something Nord was now experiencing firsthand.

– Fear, that was the answer.

The small birds and insects had noticed the presence of the giant spider long ago. In the fierce competition for survival in the forest, how do small animals, which are often prey, survive? Without sharp teeth or claws, the greatest weapon of small animals is their fear.

This instinctive fear, which keenly senses danger, keeps small animals away from danger and allows them to survive.

Conversely, predatory animals are insensitive to fear. That's why large deer still existed near the entrance of the forest, and the prey captured in the spider's palace below had been caught before they could escape.

And too much fear can lead to panic and anxiety. Just as a frog frozen by a snake's gaze cannot move, Nord, who had come too close, was also beginning to panic and lose his ability to move.

Nord's failure to recognize the giant spider's presence might have been due to his defensive instincts.

(...Damn, I can't stop shaking... This is bad, if I keep shaking, it will make noise...!)

"Kyu"

"!"

A warm sensation spread to Nord's palm.

Surprised by the sudden warmth, he turned his gaze to the side.

There, he saw Neut rubbing his face against Nord's palm.

(You...)

Neut was also trembling.

He was shaking like a kitten or a puppy in the cold. Through his palm, Nord could feel Neut's desperate struggle against fear.

Despite this, Neut was trying to cheer Nord up, acting as normally as he could.

The smooth, warm scales and body heat of Neut spread through Nord's palm.

Feeling the slightly higher body temperature of the dragon, it was as if the warmth spread throughout Nord's body. The trembling had stopped without him noticing.

(Sorry... Thanks, Neut. Thank you.)

This time, Nord gently stroked Neut's head.

While stroking Neut to calm him down, Nord turned his gaze back to the spiders' palace.

The spider, as large as a small hill, was moving slowly.

Seeing its form, Nord felt an instinctive fear again. But this time, he didn't tremble.

And that's the latest chapter.

Originally, I planned to include the next chapter's content to make it 5,000 words, but I ended up writing about Neut on a whim, so I decided to end it here. I just wanted to write about Neut. Can't help it.

The next update will be soon, possibly tomorrow. I'll start writing continuously from now.

Also, I have a belated announcement about the book release date.

It will be released on February 15th!

And here is the cover image.

I've also posted detailed information on my activity report, so please check there for more details.

See you in the next chapter.