A lot has happened since we left the fort. We have been attacked by starving villagers three times on our journey. We handle them the usual way. Disarming them, giving them food in exchange for information and then leaving. However, we were also attacked by professional bandits too. These guys had some nice equipment. Their two leaders are wearing heavy-looking plate armour, armed to the teeth, and riding strong-looking warhorses. We ended up acquiring their horses and gear after our fight.
The rest of our journey was more straightforward. While running dry, the river provided plenty of water for the trip. We could even catch the occasional fish in the shallow stream. Unfourtantly the shallow water didn't mean we were safe from the monsters that call the river home. When we set up camp that night monsters fish monsters like Flying Eaters and Kelpies attacked us. The danger didn't stop there as Pochi was bitten on her bottom by a sizeable piranha-like fish. A magic potion fixed her right up, but Pochi wouldn't go near the water again after that.
Satou, meanwhile, kept monitoring the demon. According to him, it keeps splitting itself up into more and more doublegangers and spreading throughout the Muno Marquisate. We still don't know what the demon is up to, but Satou thinks one of its bodies might be trying to take control of the City Core.
The goblin villages around the territory have also begun to rapidly expand. We are unsure if it is related to the demon, but Satou said he would keep an eye on them just to be safe. Still, the goblins are only level one, so if they become a problem, it shouldn't be that hard to deal with them. But it doesn't look like we will need to do anything about those goblins. According to Satou, powerful monsters living near the goblins are killing them as fast as they can breed.
Right now, our group is currently stopped for lunch. We are set up in a small camp near an intersection, connecting the main road to one that leads deeper into the forest. Liza and Nana were preparing the kitchen area, Mia and Arisa were setting up the quilt and kotatsu, and Lulu was washing the vegetables in the water Satou collected. While Pearl and I were on lookout duty, Tama and Pochi looked after the horses. As for Satou, he is preparing the meat for our meal.
Satou was the one who suggested our meal for lunch. He said we should have a hot pot since it's getting colder. We passed through a village earlier that was doing surprisingly well and traded some of our food for some cabbages they had grown. We added mushrooms we picked on the side of the road, some vegetables we had on us, and monster meat.
After Pochi and Tama finished tending to the horses, they started helping Satou with the meat while Mia started to assist Lulu. Arisa just stayed by the kotatsu charging up the heaters and keeping them warm well, giving her opinion on how best to season the hot-pot.
It is just as peaceful as our other meals. Everyone talks and works together while Pearl and eye make sure nothing approaches. Our job is redundant thanks to Satou's search skill, but it never hurts to have an extra set of eyes in a world filled with deadly monsters. We check on signs of movement and occasionally fight some weak monsters that approach.
"It's strange how empty this forest is," Pearl comments.
"Yeah," I nod. "It is."
Ever since I came to this world, I have never seen a forest this quiet. Most of the ones before this have been filled with monsters. Considering how bad things are here, I was expecting it to be even worse than usual, but instead, there is only silence. But I have a feeling there is something out there. I can't shake the feeling that some powerful thing is nearby. It's probably nothing, but the feeling keeps eating away at me.
"I think we should search the forest," I suggest.
"Is something wrong?"
"It's probably nothing," I reply to Pearl's question. "I just have a feeling something is out there."
