Chapter 86

Well, two weeks have passed since then.

During this time, a girl who seemed to be “the one in question” appeared once at the perfume store “Ingrid Perfume.”

“Seemed to be,” because when a member of the Black-winged knights was guarding “Ingrid Perfume,” the girl apparently visited just once.

However, she had her hood pulled up over her head, making it hard to see her face clearly. What’s more, the bits of hair peeking out from her hood looked light brown in the sunlight, leaving it uncertain whether she had black hair or not.

By the time the knight realized the girl’s presence, she was peering through the window from outside, surveying the inside of the shop. Thinking she might be the person they were looking for based on her height and build, the knight called out to her, causing her to startle and back away.

And then, seemingly frightened, she turned her back and ran away. They immediately gave chase, but she vanished into the crowd and was lost in an instant.

Since then, she hasn’t shown her face again at “Ingrid Perfume.”

Hmm… Her motives remain a mystery.

If she visited “Ingrid Parfum” again, it’s likely because she mistook the bespectacled clerk for a fellow person from another world. But why would she run away upon seeing a member of the Knights?

However, there is one relieving point.

It seems she isn’t struggling for basic needs like food and clothing, nor does she appear to be in a situation where her freedom is unjustly restricted.

According to the knight, judging by her attire and firm footsteps at that time, she didn’t seem to be in dire straits. Someone in this country must be looking after her, although we don’t know who.

And the fact that she appeared at “Ingrid Parfum” again suggests she isn’t being restricted in her actions. Still, something doesn’t sit right.

“…… There are more things we don’t know than we do, but overthinking it won’t help,” I sighed, shrugging my shoulders.

I’m concerned about her, but I can’t afford to focus too much on that.

After all, I have my own job to do. I can’t neglect my current duties by thinking about other matters, especially when I’m on missions where monsters could gobble me up if I let my guard down.

“―However, this is big.”

I stared at the sight before me and let out a sigh of awe. Felix, standing beside me, nodded with a stern expression. “Yes, I’ve never seen this before. As per the report, this is indeed a Drain Dryad. Some say it’s an evolved form of the Drain Flower, having stored enough nutrients.”

It was a troublesome enemy, coming at us with its body two sizes larger than a human’s and its grassy tentacles lashing like whips. I’ve encountered and fought with the plant-based monster Drain Flower before.

Despite being a monster, it moves surprisingly quickly…

And this monster, Drain Dryad, seems to be an evolved form of that Drain Flower.

What catches my eye first is the beautiful female figure.

With closed eyes and a calm smile, she appears almost divine, like the Earth Mother.

Her skin and hair are a vivid green, but she’s so beautiful that it doesn’t matter.

Her upper body is bare, exposing her plump breasts and belly. There are no nipples or navel; instead, a large green stem grows from where the navel should be.

And below that stem, she has roots firmly anchored to the ground.

From just this much, it’s clear she’s not human, but what’s beyond standard is her size. 

She must easily be over four meters tall. Her trunk is so thick that even if an adult man were to wrap his arms around it, there would still be space left. She’s bigger than any monster I’ve ever seen. 

She’s not moving right now, but the thought of her unleashing movement or tentacle attacks like the Drain Flowers from the past sends shivers down my spine.

“…Her eyes are closed, but is she sleeping?”

“Well, the thing is, not much is known about the ecology of the Drain Dryad. But if she’s not making any moves, now would be the time.”

As for the current situation, the Black-winged knights had visited a forest located far away from the royal capital. 

This forest is near a small farming village called Tomi, a place I’ve visited before. A young man living there discovered this Drain Dryad while gathering firewood in the forest, which triggered all of this.

That day, for some reason, the young man decided to venture deeper into the forest than usual. There, he found this massive monster and immediately ran back to report to the village chief.

The extermination request eventually reached us, the Black-winged knights.

The extermination team for the Drain Dryad consists of ten members, led by the vice-commander, Felix. Neither the commander Gazelle nor the executive Iris are here.

Honestly, I have no idea why I was chosen to be a member of the team tasked with defeating this massive monster. Moreover, I’ve been given a temporary role as the assistant to the vice-commander for the duration of this mission! There are clearly more suitable people for this, I think.

Gazelle said, “If Takumi leaves the royal capital as a member of the extermination team, it would give us an excuse to decline the invitation from the noble of Oster Country.”

Speaking of the noble from Oster, he must be referring to Audley-sama, right? Well, it would be problematic to be invited to a dinner party by a noble from a neighboring country.

“Vice-Commander Felix!”

“What happened?”

“The thing is… We’ve been continuously pouring Elixir at the base of the Drain Dryad, but it doesn’t seem to be having much effect.”

As I was recalling how we got here, one of the team members came running up to Felix, a look of alarm on his face. He was holding an empty glass bottle.

Felix frowned at his report and immediately advanced toward the base of the Drain Dryad. The reporting team member and I hurriedly followed him.

The Drain Dryad is a rare monster with almost no sighting records, not only in the Adventurers Guild but also in the Knights Order. In the one past extermination case, it was discovered deep in a forest, just like now. That time, over half of the adventurers were killed, and the mage panicked and started to indiscriminately fire off flame magic. The flames not only affected the Drain Dryad but also spread to the surrounding trees, causing a wildfire. Although they were able to defeat the Drain Dryad, the spreading flames caused extensive damage.

Taking that failure into account, the Black-winged knights prepared a large amount of Elixir for this mission.

Elixirs have the effect of healing injuries and illnesses, but they have the opposite effect when used on monsters. In other words, they act as a poison, significantly slowing down the monster’s movements.

The plan is to weaken the Drain Dryad with the Elixir and then defeat it with flame magic and sword attacks.

Strangely, unlike its evolutionary precursor, the Drain Flower, which aggressively attacks humans and smaller monsters, the Drain Dryad does not. It simply stands quietly, rooted to the earth. 

In reality, even as we surround it with weapons, it takes no action. However, if left alone, it gradually drains nutrients from the earth, causing surrounding plant life to wither. That’s because the Drain Dryad absorbs nutrients from the earth.

During the last extermination, a nearby farming village began to see significant damage to its crops. Adventurers who went into the forest to investigate the cause discovered the Drain Dryad.

In other words, if we leave the Drain Dryad here, not only will the surrounding forests and fields be affected, but also the people of Tomi village, who have been good to me in the past, will suffer.

“That’s why I’m here, wanting to be as useful as possible… But wait a minute. Did you say the Elixir isn’t effective?”

“—Normally, even for plant-based monsters, applying Elixir should induce some sort of status abnormality…”

There were five team members who had poured Elixir at the base of the great tree, and all of them looked at Felix with puzzled expressions. Indeed, as far as Felix and I could see, the roots of the Drain Dryad were wet from the Elixir, but that was it. There was no sign of it weakening.

The Drain Dryad kept its eyes closed with a calm expression.

In past instances, when adventurers surrounded it, it showed no reaction, but when attacked with a sword or fire magic, the Drain Dryad would go on the offensive.

However, the Elixir-treated Drain Dryad showed no signs of counterattacking.

“Felix, something seems off. Shouldn’t we pull back and change our strategy?”  

“…You’re right. Fortunately, there’s been no collateral damage yet. Let’s withdraw for now and re-strategize. We can attack easily, but I’d like to avoid rushing into combat blindly.”

“Understood, Vice-Commander.”

We all nodded at Felix’s words.

Even though the wind wasn’t particularly strong, the surrounding trees rustled with an unsettling noise.

I felt a strong premonition that this gigantic monster would not be easily dealt with, but without letting that unease show, we silently began our preparations to withdraw.

I moved away from Felix and informed the remaining team members, who were a little distant from the Drain Dryad, that the Elixir had no effect as expected and that we would be retreating to re-plan our strategy.

They nodded and promptly began preparations for withdrawal.

As I was looking around to see what I could do to help, I noticed two members talking earnestly in front of a certain tree.

This tree was one of those growing around the Drain Dryad and was of a type not commonly seen around the royal capital. While the surrounding trees were in autumn foliage and some had completely lost their leaves, only the trees around the Drain Dryad had vivid green leaves. It seemed as though they were being nourished by the Drain Dryad.

“What’s going on?”

“Ah, Takumi-kun. Well, I was thinking we should at least deal with these trees today since they could get in the way during battle. I was considering proposing this to Vice-Commander Felix, but this guy here—”

“We’re not lumberjacks, you know. Plus, our swords will get damaged.”

“We have axes, and these trees aren’t that thick, so—”

Just then, the team member, who seemed quite worked up, drew his sword and cleanly cut off a branch of the tree in front of him. The moment the thick branch, laden with vivid green leaves, fell to the ground with a thud, it happened.

“OOOOOooohhh!”

It was a cry that sounded as if it came from the depths of the earth, hollow and echoing.