Chapter 107 (1/2)

Volume 2

Chapter 108

Ch 108 — The Forest of Ishtam

We stayed that night at an inn called “The Spinning Wheel”, recommended to me by the Guild Master Rodolpho-san . In the morning I tried on the clothes I bought the day before . They felt really good, comfortable and easy to move in with a texture I had never experienced before . I wondered if I could ever go back to the sorts of clothes I had been wearing when I arrived in this world . My shopping expedition had been a definite success .

It was now time to fulfil Rodolpho-san’s request so we got ready to head off to the forest of Ishtam to collect Venom Tarantula threads . I didn’t want my new clothes to get dirty but there was no helping it .

“Fer, ready to go?” I asked .

“Uh huh . ” As usual I got on Fer’s back with Sui in her bag on my shoulder .

“Okay, let’s go . ” Fer ran off towards the forest of Ishtam .

* * * * *

“That seems to be the forest of Ishtam, isn’t it?” I said as we paused for a moment, gazing at the gloomy forest spreading wide before us . It had a creepy atmosphere .

“Looks like it . ” Fer agreed . A low sound like creatures calling to each other, “Giii Giii” resounded from the forest .

“Let’s go . ” Fer said, pacing slowly up a slope and into the forest of Ishtam . Although it was still before noon the darkness enveloping the trees was disconcerting .

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“Oh, that’s right . Rodolpho-san told us there are lots of poison-insect monsters here, can you handle them OK?” I said nervously, looking around . The darkness could conceal anything, after all .

“We have the Goddesses’ blessings and my Barrier as well . Don’t worry . ” True, Fer, Sui and I all had blessings from the Goddesses . But, I worried, I only had Deplo–, ah, Wind Goddess Ninril-sama’s blessing (small), would that protect me properly?

“But I’ve only got a blessing (small),” I reminded Fer .

“Don’t forget what Ninril-sama told you . Yeah, it’s a blessing (small) but unless it’s an instant death poison your blessing has the power of state abnormality invalidation so it will nullify any lesser poisons . ” Ah, now that he had mentioned it I remembered what the Goddess had said when she bestowed her blessing (small) on me so long ago . “From what I can detect,” Fer continued, “there aren’t any monsters with immediate death poison in this forest so you don’t need to worry . ” I was glad to hear it . Safety first, after all .

“So, do you know where any Venom Tarantulas are?”

“Ah . I’ve got an idea where they’re likely to be found . It’s pretty deep in the forest . Let’s go . ” Fer headed for the place he thought the Venom Tarantulas would be . Giant moths and other insect monsters like huge mosquitoes attacked us as we passed but they were dealt with casually by Fer’s claw-slash magic without him even slowing down . It just showed how inconsequential he considered them as opponents, I supposed . Bad luck, insect-sans, to encounter Fer today .

However a bit further on Fer suddenly came to a halt . “What’s wrong?” I asked .

“Something big’s coming . ” As Fer spoke an enormous centipede appeared before us, at least a metre wide at its head and its seemingly-endless body receding back into the forest’s darkness .

“Giiii-” it screamed .

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“Hey, is that a Giant Centipede?” I asked worriedly . I had been warned about them by Rodolpho-san, they were A-ranked monsters and really dangerous .

“Yeah . Get off and wait behind me . ” Fer bared his fangs and faced off against the Giant Centipede which raised its head . . .

Pew . Thud . The Giant Centipede fell down sideways . There was a big hole in its head running from its underside all the way up through what was left of its brain and out the top .

“Yay! Sui defeated the big creepy-crawly!” Sui bounced around happily . Su-Sui-chan . . . ? When did you get out of your bag? And how . . . ? Fer was shocked that Sui had dealt with his intended prey .

“Uh, sorry, Fer-ojichan-” Sui apologised for butting in, a bit late perhaps .

“Humph . ” Fer conceded, not very graciously . Since the Giant Centipede that Sui had defeated was an A-ranked monster I put it into my Item Box .

“Right then,” Fer announced, “We actually came here for Venom Tarantula, didn’t we?” He looked at me . “Didn’t we?” Yeah yeah Fer, the A-ranked Giant Centipede that cute little Sui-chan one-shotted through the head was a mere distraction and hardly worth your attention and you’re definitely not annoyed she killed it before you got the chance to fight it yourself . Sure .

“Let’s go then . Get on . ” Fer said brusquely, not meeting my gaze . I resisted the temptation to pat him on the head and say ‘there there’ as I climbed back on board after collecting Sui again .

“Is there something else to pew-pew where we’re going-?” Sui asked eagerly . Fer’s hackles rose .

“Ah, let Fer-ojichan do it this time, will you?” I said, trying to defuse the situation . For a country-destroying monster Fer’s feelings were more easily hurt than I had anticipated .