Chapter 64: Colony

With Urushi's speed it takes 2 hours to the colony of Ghost Grass . Walking normally would take a day . We decided to move with Argen on a horse and Fran on Urushi .

Argen was quite surprised to see Urushi get big . Oh yeah, that's right . He thought Urushi was a dog, and he turned out to be a Darkness Wolf . I will praise him for not running away .

However, Argen's horse is terrified . It refused to get within 5 meters of Urushi while moving . It made Urushi a little depressed . Come on, you're a predator! Don't get down from a damn horse!!

「Urushi, good boy」

「Kuuu」

As Fran said that, we came back to a place I recognized . That rocky cliff, and that tree on the hill; we passed here yesterday as well . Over there's where the colony was .

「In that forest」

「Hou, well done finding it」

It's a small grove a bit away from the highway, which you'd normally not have any reason to enter when travelling . We could not have found it without Urushi's nose .

「Thanks to Urushi」

「Onon!」

Urushi sticks out his chest as if bragging .

「Hee As expected of a threat level C monster」

「Urushi is amazing」

「Oon」

Don't look so embarrassed! Because Urushi is so smart he really does have a lot of facial expressions .

「Well then, shall we go?」

「Nn . Here」

It's nothing complicated getting this far . Though the colonies are in the middle of the forest .

『Hey, shall we ask a little about how to use Ghost Grass?』

I'm interested in magical catalysts .

「Um?」

「What is it?」

「Ghost Grass, how to use?」

「There are various uses, but if used as is it has a combined effect of poison and paralysis . It's pretty dangerous if you eat it without knowing anything . Though I don't think anyone would ever eat it by mistake」

「Other uses?」

「By making it into a potion . You can make a potion that only damages the undead, and sprinkling that on the ground can keep undead away temporarily」

So it's like Holy Water?

「Also, it can be used as a catalyst to increase the effect of Ghost Magic . I'm an amateur when it comes to knowledge about Ghost Magic though, so it's just something I've heard」

Hmm, there are a set amount of known uses it seems . It seems interesting to try out some experiments with it .

While we were walking and being taught about Ghost Grass, right before we entered the forest, Argen suddenly stopped .

「Argen?」

「Hey, are they really further up here?」

「Growing up there」

「Iya, understood...」

What? Did he suddenly become afraid? But why? There are no sign of enemies .

「?? Going?」

「Iya, but...」

「Urushi」

「On!」

「Uwawawa! Don't push me!」

「On! On!」

「Uwaa!」

Arget got pushed by Urushi's nose, fell forward and rolled forward into the forest .

Ah... Isn't that too excessive? Arget crashed headfirst into a tree .

「Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!」

「All right?」

「Ah, yeah」

「Then, let's go」

「I, I got it!」

Oh? Didn't he say he'd return home already? Making him forcibly enter the forest if he doesn't want to is a bit harsh, you know .

However, this time it was Fran who stopped and tightened her expression . Well, I'm the only one who can see that change in expression though . I also know the reason why Fran stopped .

『Something's there』

「Nn . Probably a monster」

「Eh? There's a monster?」

Raising the level of Sign Perception was worth it . It seems Argen doesn't notice it . Well, his highest detection skill is Chrisis Perception at lvl 3 so it can't be helped .

「Towards the colony」

「Is that so...」

I just feel a presense, so I don't know any details . However, if it was a really strong monster we'd be able to feel it's magical power all the way over here easily . It's not an opponent we cannot beat .

「Then, let's go carefully」

「Nn . Urushi」

「Oun!」

「So he can even do things like that huh」

Urushi gave out a quiet howl . Then, a thin layer of shadow covered Fran and Argen . It's a barrier that blocks of their life-signs . It covers the body like like armor so you can move with it active . Furthermore, it even shrinks the body a little, a perfect covert mode .

「Going covertly」

「Ou」

「Got it」

We slowly approach the colony of Ghost Grass . When we're approaching the center of the forest we can detect the magical power of the enemy . It's a magical beast of about rank E .

Fran and Urushi won't have any problems, but it might be a hard foe to Argen .

「You should crouch a little」

「Ah, ok」

「Guruu」

We proceeded while protecting Argen . Light is filtering in from ahead of us, from the clearing where the Ghost Grass grew .

「...there」

『Human?』

When we looked into the colony from the shadow of the trees, something was there . It was squatting down in the field of red and black Ghost Grass and doing something . It seems like it's picking the grass .

However, I do not know if it's a human or not . It's wearing a big robe with a hood covering the head . Although it feels a bit too thin it is human-like in terms of physique .

『Let's take a moment to observe』

(Nn)

「It is slow, it's slow」

The moment when the robed person stood up, we saw it's face . And Argen suddenly gave out a shout .

「Wa!!」

「Who!?」

Damn! We were noticed!

『Shit! Let's go, Fran!』

「Nn!」

「Ouuuu!!」

Make fast decisions . Rough estimates are not good, you need to be decisive .

『Skeletons have their magic stone in the torso』

「Decide with a single blow」

So, the thing wasn't human . Peeking out from the hood is a white skull .

It's a skeleton . I don't know why a monster is picking Ghost Grass, but since we're noticed we'll take care of it quickly .

「Fu!」

Fran makes a great leap while drawing me, and Urushi runs along the ground like a black wind .

The skeleton starts to move but, too late! We'll make it no matter what!

But, the next action by the skeleton was completely unexpected .

The skeleton didn't pull out a weapon nor chant magic, nor even show any intention to dodge, it just held it's hands above it head .

「Hiyaaa!! Help!!」

『Wait a-! Fran! Urushi! Stop!』