The Wrong Hero

Chapter 44 - Fun in the Forest

The carriage ride in Faubrey was mostly uneventful. For the most part, Dante was either making potions and medicine with his shield or reading a fire tome. Atla chatted with Dante while he did so, and Fohl tried keeping Atla's attention. Keel read over a magic tome of beast magic with Donavan. Likewise, Reiko read a shadow magic tome with help from Nisha. Like Raphtalia, it seemed fox demi-humans had light and shadow magic.

While the overlapping magic attributes might normally be a bad thing, Dante figured it would work out well. Raphtalia mostly focused on melee combat now with some bow use. That wasn't to say she was bad at magic or making illusions, but her therianthrope form offered great battle potential. Reiko wasn't that suited to using a weapon anyway, so spellcasting would be his role, should he become an active member in the party.

The ride to the North Ferret Forest also gave Reiko a chance to recover a little. Before they departed, the king of Faubrey wanted an audience with Dante. It wasn't anything crucial, just to "catch up" as Dante understood it. No one in the party wanted to meet with him. The vampires knew enough about him to stay away, and Keel nearly freaked out on hearing about the meeting. Atla did offer to go with Dante, but he and Fohl told her no, for different reasons. Reiko was curious about the man and Dante relented, not particularly wanting to go alone anyway.

It took over an hour for Reiko to calm down after the meeting. Apparently, fox demi-humans were really popular as slaves. The king had made mention of that, in fact. Beyond that, the king again mentioned Malty and how he couldn't wait to have her. He even offered Dante a taste before he dug in himself. Dante did his best not to show his repulsion, especially when the king said he wouldn't mind both of them going at Malty at once.

With that highly unpleasant experience behind them, they reached the forest in the late morning of the next day.

"Huh..." For a while, Dante had noticed the scenery around them changing. Trees had started becoming more common in the plains they traveled on before becoming a forest with a cleared path. Even then, the trees started becoming wider and taller, though more spaced out. He couldn't recall how this place was described in the web novel, if at all, but this did have quite the fantasy feel to it.

They arrived at a small town which seemed appropriately themed with the surrounding forest. Most of the buildings had a deep green color scheme, and a few of them looked like log cabins.

"Welcome, Shield Hero and retainers!" A man greeted them as they exited the carriages. He wore a similar uniform as the guards at Faubrey's castle. "I am Baron Vilkas, and I have been charged with overseeing the Great North Ferret Forest."

"Dante MacRory. Nice to meet you." Dante said, though he had a strange feeling in the back of his mind.

"I welcome you to the activation event. Before you proceed, allow me to tell you the history of this place." Vilkas spoke, beginning to lead them.

Oh, that's why. I feel like something similar happened to Naofumi at Cal Mira.

The baron began showing them around, pointing out a few of the attractions of the area. It didn't have the beach resort feel to it he assumed Cal Mira would, for obvious reasons. It did, however, feel almost like a hunting resort. There were numerous adventurers around, some at the shops, some preparing to fight the monsters here.

After passing a few hot spots, Dante noticed a totem pole. It had the carvings of a penguin, rabbit, squirrel, and dog on top of one another. There looked to be a plaque near the base of it.

Now that is definitely familiar.

"You have a good eye, Shield Hero." The baron approached with Dante, explaining how these monsters were the founders of this forest.