As I considered all of that, I decided to kill them.
I didn’t know why the invaders were so skilled—but people who had been trained to this degree were not likely to give me any information.
Besides, if I did let them go, they would probably start spreading rumors about me.
“Magic Transfer—Area Freeze – Medium.”
I chanted. And then the trapped invaders were frozen stiff.
It was actually impressive that they reflexively tried to jump out of the area of effect, right before it triggered—But as their entire body was covered in the net, they could not make it out in time.
I made sure that their HP was at 0, and then I said to the slimes,
‘Can you tell what is inside of those barrels?’
‘Hmm. I don’t know. But it does seem creepy!’
It seemed creepy, huh…
In order to feel it too, I used Shared Senses.
And then—I felt like I could understand why they said that.
There was something like an ominous atmosphere coming from the barrels.
It was probably related to magic somehow.
…Actually, I was quite sure that I had felt something similar in the past.
‘Hey. Don’t you think these barrels feel similar to a cursed magic stone?’
‘Now that I think about it, yes!’
The slimes started shouting their agreement.
So they felt the same then.
…Well, I didn’t think the barrel was actually filled with real magic stones.
If you tried to carry cursed magic stones in a wooden barrel, the barrel would rot away before you had moved a single kilometer.
Whatever was inside, it must have similar properties to the cursed magic stone, while being less powerful.
However, I didn’t feel like opening it and finding out.
This was the time to call in an expert.
A Dryad. A tree spirit.
‘Does the Dryad look busy?’
‘She’s not busy!’
I asked the slimes that I had left behind, and they replied cheerfully.
So she wasn’t busy right now.
‘There’s something I want her to see. Can you call her over?’
‘Okay!’
The Dryad wasn’t really an expert on curses.
But she was still the closest thing to an expert among my acquaintances.
After all, she could teleport anywhere as long as there were trees.
As I mused on this—the Dryad appeared in my room.
“Uhh… So, is this the place where the cursed stone is?”
“No, it’s not here… And first of all, there aren’t any trees here, are there?”
I thought the Dryad could only go where there are trees.
So how did she come inside this hotel room?
“There’s one right there?”
She said as she pointed to a potted plant in the corner.
I didn’t know what the plant was called, but it did look like a small tree.
“…So, even that will do…”
“Yeah, it’s fine. …But it sounds like some bad people have left a curse again… Hmm, I don’t sense anything like that…”
She said as she scanned the room.
The town was currently peace itself.
“The curse isn’t here. It’s with the slimes. Over there, towards the volcanic mountain…”
“All right. I’ll go and take a look.”
She said as she vanished.
At the same time, I saw her appear again where the invaders had been.
The Dryad looked at the barrel and muttered.
‘…This is definitely cursed. But it’s weaker than a magic stone… What were they trying to do with it?’
‘Well, it seemed like they were going to pour it over the Fire Dragon.’
‘I don’t think that would kill a Fire Dragon. This seems like a really ill-natured curse, though. I bet it would just make it very angry…’
As I thought. This was just to make it angrier than normal water would.
I had been right.
‘I think making it angry was their plan. …Remember? The guys who brought the cursed stone to your forest also had no intention of hunting the monster.’
‘…So they want to use the monster to destroy the forest?’
‘Either the forest or the town. I don’t know which yet.’
‘But… I can hardly believe it…’
The Dryad said with sad eyes as she looked at the barrel.
‘Well, we were able to stop them. …I’m going to lift the curse now. So stand back.’
‘O-okay!’
As I considered all of that, I decided to kill them.
I didn’t know why the invaders were so skilled—but people who had been trained to this degree were not likely to give me any information.
Besides, if I did let them go, they would probably start spreading rumors about me.
“Magic Transfer—Area Freeze – Medium.”
I chanted. And then the trapped invaders were frozen stiff.
It was actually impressive that they reflexively tried to jump out of the area of effect, right before it triggered—But as their entire body was covered in the net, they could not make it out in time.
I made sure that their HP was at 0, and then I said to the slimes,
‘Can you tell what is inside of those barrels?’
‘Hmm. I don’t know. But it does seem creepy!’
It seemed creepy, huh…
In order to feel it too, I used Shared Senses.
And then—I felt like I could understand why they said that.
There was something like an ominous atmosphere coming from the barrels.
It was probably related to magic somehow.
…Actually, I was quite sure that I had felt something similar in the past.
‘Hey. Don’t you think these barrels feel similar to a cursed magic stone?’
‘Now that I think about it, yes!’
The slimes started shouting their agreement.
So they felt the same then.
…Well, I didn’t think the barrel was actually filled with real magic stones.
If you tried to carry cursed magic stones in a wooden barrel, the barrel would rot away before you had moved a single kilometer.
Whatever was inside, it must have similar properties to the cursed magic stone, while being less powerful.
However, I didn’t feel like opening it and finding out.
This was the time to call in an expert.
A Dryad. A tree spirit.
‘Does the Dryad look busy?’
‘She’s not busy!’
I asked the slimes that I had left behind, and they replied cheerfully.
So she wasn’t busy right now.
‘There’s something I want her to see. Can you call her over?’
‘Okay!’
The Dryad wasn’t really an expert on curses.
But she was still the closest thing to an expert among my acquaintances.
After all, she could teleport anywhere as long as there were trees.
As I mused on this—the Dryad appeared in my room.
“Uhh… So, is this the place where the cursed stone is?”
“No, it’s not here… And first of all, there aren’t any trees here, are there?”
I thought the Dryad could only go where there are trees.
So how did she come inside this hotel room?
“There’s one right there?”
She said as she pointed to a potted plant in the corner.
I didn’t know what the plant was called, but it did look like a small tree.
“…So, even that will do…”
“Yeah, it’s fine. …But it sounds like some bad people have left a curse again… Hmm, I don’t sense anything like that…”
She said as she scanned the room.
The town was currently peace itself.
“The curse isn’t here. It’s with the slimes. Over there, towards the volcanic mountain…”
“All right. I’ll go and take a look.”
She said as she vanished.
At the same time, I saw her appear again where the invaders had been.
The Dryad looked at the barrel and muttered.
‘…This is definitely cursed. But it’s weaker than a magic stone… What were they trying to do with it?’
‘Well, it seemed like they were going to pour it over the Fire Dragon.’
‘I don’t think that would kill a Fire Dragon. This seems like a really ill-natured curse, though. I bet it would just make it very angry…’
As I thought. This was just to make it angrier than normal water would.
I had been right.
‘I think making it angry was their plan. …Remember? The guys who brought the cursed stone to your forest also had no intention of hunting the monster.’
‘…So they want to use the monster to destroy the forest?’
‘Either the forest or the town. I don’t know which yet.’
‘But… I can hardly believe it…’
The Dryad said with sad eyes as she looked at the barrel.
‘Well, we were able to stop them. …I’m going to lift the curse now. So stand back.’
‘O-okay!’
