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Chapter 117 – Day 9 of the Strategy Life
I produced a magic cube from the palm of my hand and stopped time with a cloak on which a magic circle for time magic was drawn.
The magic cube solidified in the air and remained motionless, unaffected by the wind. A colorless, transparent, glass-like rectangular solid floated in the air, and it didn’t move at all, even when I climbed on it or punched it.
“I can climb this.”
If I use the magic cube and the time-stopping cloak, I can create a staircase in the air so I can climb to wherever I want.
“I-i-Is it really that easy to find a way to move through the air like that?”
Sylvia, the person who created the cloak, was surprised to see the staircase that had appeared in the air.
Chel was also able to climb up without any problems.
“He really does unexpected things. Makyo is…”
Chel muttered as she came down to the ground.
“If we can keep up with the speed of the giant magical beast, we should be able to land.”
“Check the predicted location of the giant magical beast’s movement with me later.”
It looks like we’ll plan the giant magic beast’s landing operation from the place Hel and the others predicted today.
“Breakfast is ready!”
Jennifer’s voice could be heard.
Breakfast consisted of a spicy soup made mostly of wild herbs, a skewered death condor, and tubular bread. There was enough food for another two weeks.
“How’s your wound?”
Jennifer asked as I wiped my mouth, which was still sticky with death condor fat.
“Wound? Oh, you mean the broken bone from yesterday. I’ve already applied the healing medicine, and it’s not swollen. I was asleep, so it doesn’t cause any particular problems.”
The bruise is completely gone.
“I see.”
“Is something bothering you?”
“No, it’s just that Hel…”
I looked over to Hel, who was drinking soup.
“I thought the fact that injuries heal so quickly was a characteristic of the human race.”
“I was also injured in the battle yesterday, but it had healed by this morning.”
Jennifer showed me her arm. There were no scars or other signs of injury.
“Elves have long lives, but their wounds take longer to heal, and demons are more susceptible to magic. It’s a small difference, but it could be important for dragonfolk. The royal family of Estinia is said to have dragon blood, and I’m also worried about the disease that’s spreading in Midgard.”
“B-b-blood is important. My family has suffered a lot because of it.”
Sylvia comes from a family of vampires, so she probably has a lot of thoughts on the subject.
“Even though they have strong resistance, some of our ancestors were killed by having silver stakes driven into their chests, so sometimes the characteristics and abilities of our species can be used against us.”
If you ask, there seems to be a legend among the vampires with strong resilience that even if they have a stake driven into them, they won’t die, but they will die from poisoning from absorbing silver.
“I wonder what kind of characteristics the dragonfolk have…”
“Being dragons, are they weak to cold?”
The movements of reptilian monsters change depending on the temperature. It might be a good idea to keep that in mind when facing the dragonfolk.
“That is true. There are even military personnel among the dragonfolk, so they might be belligerent. Wait a minute…”
If we land on the giant magical beast, find the dragonfolk, fight them, and then manage to find out some of Midgard’s history, how much time will we have left?
“Even if we can land on the giant magical beast, we’ll only have one day, so we’ll have to be careful and investigate if we want to get the information we want.”
“That’s right, but the information you want might be influenced by your own desires.”
“Don’t make assumptions. The demon tribe doesn’t realize that it is declining because of this.”
Chel, who had returned home for a while, also looked to the east.
“There are many things that we don’t notice. Think about it carefully. Makyo and the others are going to places where the plague has spread. It’s okay to make contact with the local dragonfolk, but remember that Ka-Zira has turned into a zombie.”
Hel raised the threat level.
“So we should avoid random contact with them?”
“That is correct. So, Makyo and Chel, from today on, you’ll wear these and go into the forest to investigate.”
Hel took out the crocodile skin coat she had made earlier. It hadn’t had sleeves before, but now it had sleeves and a hood.
“On the day of the landing, I’m going to put a mixture of mud and ant honey on the seams and completely block out the outside air.”
“W-w-we’ll also make masks and gloves.”
It seemed that Hel and Sylvia had already come to an agreement.
“So we’re not just going to go into the giant magic beast and ask the people there what happened?”
Lipa said as he cleared away the breakfast dishes.
“I thought it would be easier, but I’ll do it. We can’t let the Ancients kill us.”
“Researching such things is really complicated, isn’t it?”
After a light warm-up after breakfast, we all headed south and entered the coniferous forest.
Chel and I wore stiff coats. They were hard to move in, and we couldn’t stop sweating.
Even if we encountered a monster, we would get hit by attacks we should have been able to dodge, or we would have to work harder than usual, and we would get more tired than we thought.
“I’ll take off the armor I’m wearing underneath. The coat alone should have some defensive power, right?”
“Yes. It’s crocodile skin from a rock crocodile. When you concentrate your magic power on your entire body, it should become soft.”
“That’s right.”
In order to soften the skin, the amount of magic power consumed also increased. In this state, Chel and I boarded the giant magic beast. We did this while wearing the masks.
When I looked to the side, I could see that Chel was sweating profusely from her face.
“From now on, this is the area where the giant magic beast is likely to appear.”
The area where the giant magic beast is predicted to move is sunken like the remains of a huge river, and there are many rocks and stones. Moss grows in the gaps between the rocks, and there are many holes in the ground that look like they have just been dug up. There are also rows of trees that are thinner than in other places.
“It is changing more and more every day. The plants that were in the holes are probably escaping.”
“Even in the deserts of the south, the forest begins to erode at night, so maybe it’s normal for plants to move around in the demon land to adapt to their environment.”
“The monsters move to match the plants.”
As Chel says, there are few signs of monsters. The only thing moving around are some flies.
“Makyo, can you look underground?”
“Yes.”
I release my magic power into the ground and search underground.
There are many rocks and stones and few monster bones or dead trees. There is water deep underground.
“It really looks like the remains of a river.”
“I think the ground that was trampled by the giant magical beast sank, and all the rainwater from the storm poured in at once. The trees that were left standing and the monsters that were too slow to escape have been crushed, and moss has grown. Most importantly, there isn’t much soil underground, even though this is demonic land, right?”
“That may be so.”
There certainly wasn’t anything like a layer of dead leaves. Come to think of it, when I found Hel, she was buried in dead leaves.
“Places like that are scattered around. If they were the remains of a river, they would be connected and continuing, but there are gaps between them.”
“So you’re saying that the giant magical beast keeps going at the same pace?”
“That’s the only thing I can think of. Do you think it’s possible?”
“After all, it is the demonic land.
It’s a place where things happen that don’t happen anywhere else.
“Actually, there are other things that seem impossible.”
Hel says that there is something between the footprints of the giant magical beast.
When we went through the footprints of the giant magical beast and into the coniferous forest, we found the skull of a giant monster. Inside the skull, which was about three times the height of a human, were small monsters gathered together and making a nest.
“It is not like it has a magic circle embedded in it or is made of a hard substance. It’s just a skull that Makyo could smash if you hit it. But the monsters know they’re safe there.”
If the giant magical beast stepped on it, the monster’s bones would surely be crushed.
“Is there an unspoken agreement?”
I said, and a large bear monster slowly emerged from behind the skull. It was much larger than a wild bear, and its fur was gray.
The monsters in demonic land are big, but there aren’t many that are as big as the surrounding trees. I’ve seen giant monkeys and big crocodiles, but this is the first time I’ve seen a big bear monster.
The skull is even bigger.
When we examined the ground, we found the bones of the skull’s owner still in place and several remains that looked like guardian spiders were buried around them.
“The remains of a battle?”
The gray bear monster walked around the area, guarding the monsters inside the skull and keeping an eye on us.
We quietly left the area and headed towards the next set of footprints left by the giant magical beast.
As expected, the next set of footprints also consisted of many stones and rocks. There were few trees and few things to block the wind, so the wind blew strongly, and the grass, which was as tall as a man, flew through the air. It looked as if the bushes were being blown away by the wind.
“This grass is real. When it stops at the water’s edge, it seems to send its roots deep into the ground and spread its leaves. When the wind blows, it closes its leaves so that it can be blown away easily.”
Hel explained simply. There are strange plants.
Further on, there was a large swamp with shallow water, and Hel predicted that this was also the footprint of the giant magical beast. The water strider monster was hiding in the rocks and escaping, but if it was really trampled by the giant magical beast, it would be difficult to survive. The floating water plants began to wither.
“I’m at my limit.”
Chel took off her coat and swallowed some water.
It was already past noon.
I also stuffed some fruit and dried meat into my mouth.
When the sweating stopped, it might be a little dangerous.
“Is it too much?”
Jennifer handed me a cloth.
“I still feel like I can move, but when the sweat stops, I get dizzy, and it’s hard. I think we should take frequent breaks so we can keep moving.”
“M-m-maybe you should change your clothes.”
As Sylvia says, when the sweat dries, it suddenly gets cold.
“That’s true. It would be good if there was a place to rest on the giant magical beast that’s moving.”
“We should look for a dungeon.”
“Is that so?”
“If we go to another space, we won’t be affected by the vibrations or the storm, right?”
“I see. But this time, let’s try to look for something outside the dungeon. I’m curious about the ‘Guardian of the Ruins’ and the ‘Keeper of Time.’ Peter and Park seemed to trust them.”
“W-w-we should listen to what our predecessors say. There must be a reason.”
“I guess so.”
In the distant forest, the giant tree monster Treant was seen moving around, scattering dead leaves.
The western side of the demon land is almost completely covered by dense forest, so you can’t see the distant forest through the trees. The forest on the northern side is usually covered in green and can’t be seen, but here, there are so few trees that you can see through them.
It seems that the arrival of the giant magical beast is imminent.
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