I Got Transferred in the Middle of a Mountain. In Retaliation, I Chose Amenity over Strength.

For the time being, I urged Ash to tell Chris to call us by name without telling her the reason.

Chris, the guy with the wild intuition, huh. It’s really terrible that he can be air-headed at times. If I just flat-out request him to stop me calling me by name and tell him the reason, it’s tantamount to me revealing that I can see spirits. Even so, if I’m the only one who knows all the secrets…

Ah, maybe it’s not a secret if the person himself isn’t aware of it? Hey, Retze, what should I do!? — Ugh, why do I feel like he’s smirking at me and egging me on, like ‘go ahead, worry, worry, worry all you can’, huh.

Folks Chris don’t address by name can see spirits — tsk, he did seem to have that tendency, so I fell for Retze’s trick, huh. I ended up implying that Chris did have that ability, so I got laughed at. Ahh, I totally got played by Retze. Maybe it’s because of the gap in our life experiences? So he’s not just growing that beard for show, huh.

There’s still time before Chris returns, so let’s just forget about this problem for now.

I worked on the fields, named the spirits that I encountered on route from the forest to the fortress city, idled the time away in the library, and played with Riche.

There’s still time before Chris returns, so let’s just forget about this problem for now.

I worked on the fields, named the spirits that I encountered on route from the forest to the fortress city, idled the time away in the library, and played with Riche.

The house along the『Ash Fox’s Back 』 street officially became mine during that period, although it was a bit more expensive than the one I’m renting now. I also booked a slot for the sewage works through my connections — er, actually, I just went to the first store I explained the sewage structure to, and urged them to speed things up. I have to think about how I’m going to renovate it.

First, I have to consider whether I’ll rent it out or not. This city is so jam-packed that any vacant place sticks out like a sore-thumb, so if people can rent it out, then they better do it. Alright, this can work, I just have to ask the Commerce Guild to introduce me to a real estate agent, and make it so that people can’t trace me as the owner, then there shouldn’t be any problems.

So, who will I rent it out to? It’ll be troublesome if they’re going to work from home, so I should close the workshop on the first floor, huh. I can go through the back door so there’s no need for me to pass through the alleyway, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful — it’s a location that’s really great for adventurers, after all.

At any rate, I can just take my time until Roza and the other Gold Guys move on.

***

The adventurers who came from the fortress city had already started hunting deep in the forest. Canum’s guild already contacted them, apparently, so they totally skipped doing the investigation and directly went out to gather the subjugation team. Even the castle guards formed a squad to participate, so they split into two groups.

The fortress city is actually more advanced than Canum, but the feudal lords had a greater influence over there, and they have a lot of soldiers, so being the suspicious guy that I am, it’s not a place I want to stay for long. Plus, if I entered the city as a free knight — the status given by the deities for me to use — I have to greet the feudal lord and go through a lot of troublesome things.

Oh, right, I’m a lord with a castle and a territory of my own, huh. I don’t have any people in the fief, though. Maybe I can consider the spirits loitering around over there as my people… wait a sec, is it just me or are they getting bigger?… Ah, but why is Riche still a puppy?

I mused over this while activating【Search】 to look for the subjugation team. A wide river runs from the citadel to the forest, and it’s the main stream channel from where the river in Canum branches off. I thought they are going up in the opposite direction of the river flow, but then, there are no trees around the river.

Yeah, they must’ve lumbered those trees down since they can transport it by boat after all. Perhaps, that citadel must have been on the front lines before they started chopping off the trees in this forest, but that place is far from the forest now. It was probably in the middle of the forest in the past.

I relied on the hints of presence as I made my way through the forest. A huge owl swooped down and attacked me, so I slashed it. Actually, I know which way to go but couldn’t take a shortcut because of the dense trees and uneven ground. I had to do detours as I ran.

【Teleport】is tempting, but the monsters have started to crowd together. Instead of hunting, I’ll be the one hunted, obviously.

A sense of urgency gnawed at me; it’s hard to go forward more than I imagined. The tree roots, crumbling rocks and slippery grass were in the way.

Few bicorn ash wolves, 5 tri-horned badgers, owls, bats — wait, won’t they cause a stampede? Those monsters didn’t even spare me a glance even if their comrades were killed. They were all headed in the same direction.

What’s happening at the top?

I sensed a pure black bear and the presence of six people — indistinct yelling, metallic clanks,  and there you go, the angry roar of a bear standing on its hind legs while brandishing its arms.

I slashed the bear in half as if I’m splitting bamboo. Excuse me for attacking from behind you.

The bear that had been split in half from its head to its bottom fell to the ground with a thud. A group of people were supporting each other, their armor dented and gouged out. They were all wearing matching clothes, so they’re obviously part of a squad.

When the bear collapsed, whoever they were that had been charging straight toward us suddenly lost their momentum, apparently scattered. There were a few who were still headed towards us, but it’s clear that they already lost that single-minded urge to move in one direction.

I suddenly remembered what Kaina-san, the one from the Adventurer’s Guild, had been worried about. The fortress city had more soldiers and adventurers than Canum, but they sent out investigation teams less frequently than our city.

Normally, the fortress city should be the first to notify Canum of a possible monster wave. Not sure if it’s because they’re protected by strong, thick walls and soldiers, but they’re lax in their vigilance towards the forest monsters. Maybe their distance from the forest has something to do with it too; they’re far, after all.

「 Don’t get conceited. 」

I put my sword away and casted 【 Heal 】 on the two guys who seemed badly wounded. One of them was lying on the ground in a pool of blood, and the other had his armor torn off his chest. Ooh, bears are scary, treating armor like it’s made of paper like this.

「Ah….Ah…… 」

「Who…no, we offer our thanks 」

「 Squad leaderrr! Hold on!! 」

「Ugggghhhhh!!! Squad leaderrrrrrr!!!!! 」

「I, I, I….! I’m a failure, and yeeetttttt!!!!! 」

…………

I【Teleport】home.

I thanked the spirits who did their best to help me keep my hood on and prevent my cuffs from turning up while I’m running around, and treated them with all the things they loved. Mission accomplished for today.