A Blade Made of Slime

Side Story: Demon Wolf's Garden?

"Seems like she's completed her quest."

I had trouble tracking her movements with my spirits, let alone tracking her master who vanished into thin air after leaving my office. The only thing I could presume her master being a master of is Space-Time Magic or Moonlight Magic since the properties of those two respective magics are relatively unknown but would explain her sudden vanishing act. That or some highly advanced application of Light Magic but I couldn't be too certain.

Handling those two was an absolute pain. Thankfully they weren't against the guild in any sort of way nor did they have any sort of malicious behavior towards Alessa. The only problem was their origins which were completely unknown. While Fran had access to Alessa through her connection to the guild, it was likely her master was not supposed to be in the city. Someone like her only recently showed up and I have yet to see any sort of identification from her master...

I was tempted to ask her master if she also wanted an Adventurer's card so she wouldn't get into conflict with the city's guards but considering she's been avoiding them just by hiding around Fran. She likely wouldn't need it...

Regardless, I have quite a bit more work to fill out here. If I recall correctly, Fran's promotional exam should be soon. Some in the guild were tempted to call me a kiddy fiddler but thankfully everyone in Alessa quickly shot that down.

I truly thank the people of Alessa...

Now... where was I?

Ah, I need to write that report to Count Olmes about the capture of his son-

"I'm back!!!"

She slammed open the door with a rather loud boom.

"Amanda, I've been expecting your return for a while now."

"I heard from the guards, there was a goblin stampede?"

"Yes, fortunately the stampede and the dungeon it originated from have already been dealt with."

"Were there any children hurt?"

"Well..."

"There was a child hurt?!"

"Not in that sense, recently we have gotten a new adventurer working for the guild. She claims to be only twelve years of age and everything so far besides her abilities have proved it."

"... you hired a twelve year old."

Amanda was staring at me with daggers. She would try to murder me now if she didn't know I was strong...

"W-we would've had her enter the training program if it wasn't for the fact she beat Donadrond."

"Are you positive that she was a child and not another elf?"

She didn't even care about the fact the child beat Donadrond. She's just trying to figure out if it was indeed a child.

"She's a beastman and she has a guardian watching over her. There's a slim chance that they are hiding their true race and identity though if they are, they are hiding it rather easily from me."

"Hm..."

"Regardless, I need to hear your report on the state of the Demon Wolf's Garden."

"Right... unfortunately, things have changed drastically over in the Demon Wolf's Garden... if it can be labeled that anymore."

"... what do you mean?"

"Well it was the second week of the expedition. We had just arrived in the Withering Forest when a rather massive Earthquake began to shake the ground violently. The quake came to a stop rather easily after a moment but I could sense something had drastically changed in the forest."

"Drastic changes?"

"For starters, the purification barrier that had remained since the birth of the Demon Wolf's Garden had been shattered into pieces."

"What happened next?"

"If I recall correctly, the day directly after. It was the third week on the expedition when we entered the forest. We didn't realize it initially but the mana of the area became drastically different. There was a rather massive excess of monsters around the area."

"Yes... monster populations around Alessa have been rather excessive. It reaches as far north as the Demon Wolf's Garden then?"

"Yes but the monsters were species I have never seen before."

"Never seen before?"

"Ever heard of a monster called a Cattledeer before?"

"A what now?"

"A Cattledeer. It's appearance wasn't entirely bizarre but the fact they were a never seen before monster species was."

"What was their behavior like?"

"Docile. They seemed to move in herds. They didn't immediately pose a threat like most monsters so they proved to be a rather easy monster to hunt and eat."

"A docile monster? Those monsters are rare enough..."

"The strangest thing was what our guy with Analysis said about the monster's description.

He described it as a monster not native to this world. Summoned through a Dungeon Core that lay in the center of Demon Wolf's Garden where once laid the Divine Beast Fenrir. It may be a matter of time before more of these creatures appear and begin to breach the Withering Forest's boundaries and enter the ecosystem of this world."

"What?! Another Dungeon Core?!?"

"Yes, thankfully its distance and its position in the Demon Wolf's Garden would make it impossible for monsters to stampede out of it into neighboring regions. Unfortunately for us, we were unable to enter the Dungeon."

"Why was that?"

"It wasn't the only new species in that forest. Armorsaurus', Barghests, Black Spiders, Grave Lizards, Knight Spiders... any of those names seem familiar?"

"None..."

"Exactly. Whatever they were, they were species that we have never seen before. Worst yet, not a single one of them had a Crystal."

"Not a single one?"

Crystals were supposed to be the source of a monster's mana and were supposed to be their cores. The fact not a single monster there had one is beyond bizarre.

"As much as we tried to reach the center, we had to fall back. I could have gone ahead but-"

"It would have been far too risky, correct?"

"Yes, there was an overwhelming feeling of terror emitting from the center of the Demon Wolf's Garden. I wasn't entirely sure as to what I was feeling but..."

"We'll hold off for now. We'll need to keep the area restricted. As long as the Withering Forest isn't breached, things should be fine."

"That is it for my report. You may ask other adventurers for their experience. For now, I'm going to have a good night's rest."

"R-right..."

Amanda left my office soon after, before she did, she handed me a physical report of the situation of the Demon Wolf's Garden. On the list were loads of monster names I have never even heard of. There were a few that were similar to ones I have heard about before such as Slimes but the rest were bizarre names with bizarre descriptions that held one key similarity. They were summoned by a Dungeon Master somewhere in the Demon Wolf's Garden, they had no crystal, and were described as being from another world.

What the hell was going on there?!