Chapter 195: The Impostors Encounter Something Terrifying in the Demon Realm Forest

* * *

The hero's party advances on the path leading to Mount Nanga, the dwelling of dragons, in order to hunt the evil green dragons and bring peace to this land......!

While running such a narration in their minds as if they were heroes spoken of in a story, the actually shabby hero fraudsters "Tea Dragon's Heel" were progressing through the Zamago Forest.

"......! They're here! Noshteruketch, three of them! Front left!"

The scout Modokin quickly detects the approaching monsters and warns his companions!

"Got it! Niese! Use magic for some light suppression! Conserve your magic power for now!"

"Roger! 'Lightning, become a whip and strike the enemy! [Thunder Whip]!'"

Following Patchino's instructions, Niese unleashes her magic.

Pishaan!

The whip of lightning, swung horizontally with intense light and sound, unerringly strikes the Noshteruketch leaping out of the thicket!

The Noshteruketch, who were running towards Patchino and the others with all their might, lost control of their bodies due to the numbness caused by the lightning magic and stumbled pathetically.

"Haaaah!"

Of course, the "Tea Dragon's Heel" won't miss that opening!

Patchino immediately pounces and swings his sword, bisecting the Noshteruketch's body!

He is a magic swordsman.

He can use magic decently, but he's also decent with a sword.

"Uooooh!!!"

And next to Patchino, Darmacy was already letting out a victory cry.

Not sure how, but he went on a rampage and defeated the remaining two Noshteruketch!

It's amazing that he can easily defeat those Noshteruketch!

"Hmph, unsatisfying. This level isn't even enough for a warm-up."

Patchino quipped while swinging his sword around.

"......No, no, don't get carried away, Patchino...... Those were Noshteruketch, you know? If they ambushed us in a forest with poor visibility, we wouldn't be able to handle them so easily."

"Seriously...... I wonder what this is. Wasn't the Zamago Forest supposed to be a demon realm untouched by human hands and rarely approached even by adventurers?"

In response, Modokin and Niese expressed their confusion rather than agreement.

Why are they confused?

It's none other than the fact that they are advancing on a road extending towards Mount Nanga.

............That's right, a "road."

The Zamago Forest was supposed to be a forest ruled by monsters, with an air of death and danger.

And yet, what's the reality?

After crossing the log bridge and pushing through some thickets, the trees are suddenly cut down, and a wide road continues towards the mountain!

It's wide enough for a horse-drawn carriage to pass through comfortably.

Large rocks and stumps still remain, and it seems there are still many obstacles for actual traffic...... but it's extremely comfortable for walking.

It's much easier to walk compared to the forest, and you can handle ambushes from monsters like Noshteruketch with ease.

Occasionally, large trees that have been cut down can be seen stacked horizontally at the side of the road, so this is clearly a road created by human hands, not a passageway for large monsters.

"Could it be that Pokkeroce has already started developing this forest without informing anyone?"

"Huh? No way, right? What about the green dragons then? If they were doing this kind of construction, it would stand out like a sore thumb, and they would be attacked first, wouldn't they?"

Niese and Modokin argue, but a conclusion doesn't seem forthcoming.

"Uooh............"

Darmacy groaned anxiously.

Even the muscular Darmacy finds the unknown unsettling, right? Not sure why though.

"Shut up with the pointless chatter! ...... There's a road? That's a good thing! Thanks to that, we can conserve our energy. It's a big help!"

"That may be true, but...... isn't it eerie? Who made this road, and for what purpose? It would take a large number of people to do this kind of construction, you know?"

"Uooh."

"That's why I said don't worry about it! What's our current objective? It's to hunt dragons, right? Don't think about unnecessary things! Winter is coming soon...... We need to stockpile too."

"That's true...... I don't want to be without shelter in the dead of winter......"

"We'd die."

"Uooh."

"There, if you understand, then hurry up and walk. The next monsters will be coming soon. The destination of this road is the dragon's nest. It's our bright future. Money and fame! Now, walk, walk!"

"Uooh!"

"Haha! That's right, Darmacy, you said it! Either way, we have no choice but to take this road! Now, let's go!"

"Uoooooh!"

"Alright, Modokin! Niese! You guys shout too! Get fired up!"

"Can't be helped......"

"Ehhh! I have to do it too?"

"Quit complaining! Let's go, come on! Ready, set!"

""""Uooooooh!!!""""

After taking a break and catching their breath while engaging in idle chatter, they shouted together to get fired up, not sure why, and started walking again.

Despite their banter, they are a close-knit group of four.

Probably not very smart though.

* * *

"......A town?"

"More like a fortress, right?"

"It must be a secret base!"

"Uooh!"

Now, a few hours later.

The road that seemed to lead to Mount Nanga suddenly ended, and the path of the "Tea Dragon's Heel" was blocked by a huge defensive wall.

The defensive wall is built on a slightly elevated hill and is quite tall, so they can't see inside at all.

Apparently, there are a few large trees growing in the central part, but that's about all they can tell.

A moat is dug at the foot of the hill, and water is poured in from a waterway drawn from somewhere.

"Hey, I just thought of something unpleasant."

Here, Niese said with a pale face.

"Could this possibly be...... a secret base of...... the Demon Lord's army?"

Niese must have thought of the worst possibility based on her own words, "It must be a secret base!"

After all, the Demon Lord's army is elusive.

They attack humans day and night, seemingly without a plan, in various parts of the world.

There is a not-so-low possibility that this defensive wall is a base created by the Demon Lord's army for attacking Pokkeroce.

The "Tea Dragon's Heel" has been operating under the guise of heroes, but they don't want to actually clash with the Demon Lord's army.

If they did that, they wouldn't have enough lives.

The green dragons are dangerous, but the Demon Lord's army is even more so.

Normally, it's impossible for just a few people to stand up against an "army."

It's common sense.

"Uooh......"

Darmacy also groaned in fear, not sure why.

"No, wait, that's not it. Look at that."

However, it was Modokin who pointed to the slope between the defensive wall and the moat.

"Do you see those red vines planted in several spots over there? Those are demon-repelling herbs. As the name suggests, they are perennial herbs that emit a scent disliked by many monsters. They are clearly planted there on purpose. The Demon Lord's army uses monsters, right? Then there's no way they would plant demon-repelling herbs."

"Uooh!"

Upon Modokin's calm observation, Darmacy also regained his energy in relief, right? Not sure why!

"Then what is that?"

"Who knows, I have no idea...... It could be a bandit hideout."

"Uooh......?"

"......The ones inside are our allies. We'll make them our allies."

Patchino forcibly ended his companions' conversation that was starting to drag on by clapping his hands with a bang!

"Listen up. Our objective is to defeat the green dragons. If the people living inside that defensive wall cooperate with us, there's nothing more reassuring, right? We'll use that as our base and attack Mount Nanga!"

"Cooperate? How do you plan to secure their cooperation?"

"Haha! We are the hero's party, remember? Righteous heroes slaying dragons. Good citizens should cooperate with us, right?"

"You...... You're planning to do hero fraud again? I don't want to get caught anymore, okay?"

"No, I'm not saying we should deceive them and steal their money. We'll just get them to cooperate smoothly. They'll be happy to be rid of the green dragon threat, and we'll be lucky to have an easier time slaying the green dragons. It's a win-win situation!"

"Uooh, uooh!"

"That's right, it's what you call a win-win relationship!"

"......But what if they turn out to be bandits or something?"

"Bandits wouldn't make a hideout deep in a forest like this with no one to attack and full of monsters! I'm sure it'll be fine."

Patchino massaged his decently handsome face with both hands, kneading it, and then put on a refreshing smile.

His decently beautiful golden hair shimmered decently in the summer sunlight.

"Now, let's go! It's been a while since we played heroes! Put on a virtuous face! Niese, you smell like alcohol, so don't breathe!"

"Don't be unreasonable! I'll try to stay close to Modokin and make them think it's Modokin's bad breath!"

"You guys are terrible. I'm always the one drawing the short straw."

"Uooooh!"

The four of them got fired up and began walking with dignity towards the gate on top of the hill, which seemed to be the entrance to the facility surrounded by the mysterious defensive wall!

They started walking...... and then.

""""!!?""""

They were bathed in an unbelievably strong [Intimidation] that they had never felt in their lives, and their feet wouldn't move a single step.

In front of them, a girl was standing before they knew it.

No, only Patchino saw it.

That girl undoubtedly descended from the sky.

Why would a girl descend from the sky?

He didn't understand.

He didn't understand that, and he also didn't understand why that girl was emitting such [Intimidation] towards them.

In the first place, he didn't know if it was possible for a mere human to emit [Intimidation] to such an extent that it felt like they might die just from being exposed to it.

Patchino thought.

This is the same as that time with the hero.

He understood that no matter how much they struggled, they couldn't win against the black-haired, black-eyed girl, the so-called cursed child, in front of them.

No, the situation might be even worse than with the hero.

The divine aura emitted by the hero was overwhelming, but it was pure and beautiful enough for even the irreligious Patchino to sense.

In contrast, what about the sinister aura emitted by the ominous-looking monster in front of them?

It was an endlessly cold, terrifying, and gruesome aura.

And probably, this was something really bad for the world.

He intuitively thought so.

That ominous girl stared at Patchino and the others with an expressionless face and then.......

"......I've been waiting. For people like you."

She said.

(No way! It must be a misunderstanding! Some kind of mistake!)

Patchino and the others wanted to cry out like that, but no meaningful sound could be uttered from their throats that had instantly dried up, and they ended up being led by that ominous girl into the defensive wall.

The four of them had unintentionally managed to infiltrate inside the defensive wall, but they were no longer in a state of mind to imitate heroes.

In this world, the Demon Lord's army rampages within the scope permitted by the Evil God's negotiations with other gods.

So from a global perspective, it may seem like they are rampaging without a plan.

However, since they focus on attacking the hero, from the hero's perspective in the story, the Demon Lord's army appears to be a huge organization invading the entire world.

And Emi's otherworldly communication technique "Opening Move [Intimidation]."

It clearly makes the other party understand the difference in power and gives you an advantage in subsequent negotiations!

However, depending on the situation, it may leave deep scars on the other party's mind, so be careful when using it!