79 – Ominous Rumors
After a while, the four humans were gathered together.
Three men and women with broken legs and a middle-aged adventurer who was half-killed by Shizu.
Since she was a slave hunter, I thought she would kill her mercilessly, but surprisingly, Shizu spared the middle-aged adventurer without killing her.
Of course, since his limbs were shattered, it was safe to say he was almost dead.
“You could probably extract information from this guy too. “Interrogate him somewhere.”
“I don’t think I can even talk in that state…” .”
It seems like he believed in me and deliberately saved me.
A middle-aged adventurer lying dazed and foaming at the mouth.
It seemed like he was in no condition to proceed with the interrogation, but it didn’t matter because there were three other adventurers.
I tapped the unconscious wizard to wake him up and then softly opened my mouth.
“I will be interrogating you from now on. “If you have a good attitude, I won’t kill you, so try to answer diligently.”
I wanted to proceed with the interrogation after moving to a safe place, but I couldn’t because it was clear that the centaurs would lose their senses when they saw the adventurers.
Unfortunately, you will have no choice but to come up with questions on the spot and dig up as much information as possible.
As I looked at the adventurers soaked in fear, I asked the first question.
“Have you ever participated in slave hunting like the dying guy over there?”
Three men and women responded to my question by shaking their heads vigorously.
“We never did that!”
“Most slave hunters are high-level adventurers! “We are only mid-level adventurers!”
It was an intense denial that even felt desperate.
Even if you have experience with slave hunting, you would say that you don’t have any in the current situation.
I slowly crouched down and brought myself to eye level with the adventurers.
Then, I awakened the wolf’s sense of smell and tried to smell it.
[Are you guys speaking short?]
“Huh! “I never did that!”
All kinds of bad smells were coming from the adventurers.
Most of it was the smell of centaur blood, but there was also a faint smell of burning wood.
Even though he had no experience hunting slaves, he seemed to have experience cutting down spirit trees.
You could tell this right away just by looking at Piyi getting angry and throwing stones.
“Do you think even a mid-level adventurer can cut down spirit trees?”
“Huh!”
I pointed that out right away.
In response to my question, the adventurers looked at Piyi and sighed.
Looking at the bloody atmosphere, it seemed like he shouldn’t lie, but with the tree spirit right in front of him, he seemed afraid to tell the truth.
[Not answering?]
Pui climbed on my shoulder and growled, throwing rocks at the adventurers.
The adventurers who had been avoiding answering such urging closed their eyes and nodded.
“Yes, that’s right! Depending on the location, even intermediate adventurers can apply for the request to cut down spirit trees!”
“How many times have you cut down trees?”
“Twice… no see….”
[Hey!]
“Ugh!! Wrong! “Please save me!”
Looking at the reaction, it didn’t seem like he was lying.
Perhaps fear had been imprinted in him from the battle a while ago, and his attitude had changed to a completely obedient attitude.
This gives credibility to the information they provide.
I began to inquire about information about the human world in earnest.
“I won’t kill you so easily. Rather, what exactly is the level classification of adventurers?”
“It is classified into nine grades, from apprentice to emperor.”
“Do not speak roughly, but explain clearly.”
“Sorry! Adventurer grades are divided into Apprentice, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Small, Medium, Great, King, and Emperor!”
First of all, I thought it would be a good idea to learn about the adventurers’ ecology.
Intermediate adventurer is only the third of the nine levels.
The guys I faced seemed to be among the weakest among adventurers.
I continued to ask questions, showing a look of disappointment.
“What are the criteria for classifying adventurers?”
“It is possible to advance to the upper level based on experience without taking a separate test. However, from the minor level, you must complete the promotion quests given by the Adventurer’s Guild.”
“You’re taking a separate promotion test? “What on earth is different from the lower level?”
“That’s right… “From the small level, we deal not only with monsters but also monsters.”
“Ah.”
From small adventurers to monsters, they go hunting.
Since monsters are the standard, I was able to guess the level of adventurers to some extent.
Middle and high-level adventurers were not threatening at all, but from low-level adventurers onwards, they could become quite a nuisance.
As I was thinking about that and nodding her head, Shizu, who had been quietly watching, quietly opened her mouth.
“So there were no dragon-level adventurers among you?”
“There were about ten minor workers… “It looks like everyone died in the campground.”
“Ah. Were they useless?”
“Yes, that’s right…” “Only we who were collecting firewood were able to survive.”
[Firewood?!]
“Oh, no, that’s not it! My words came out in vain! Sorry!!”
The adventurers’ answers made me think of the battle a little while ago.
The adventurers who fought against Centaurs and Shizu were minor adventurers.
Now that I think about it, the opponent was Siege, so the combat power of a typical elf would have been a bit of a struggle.
‘In any case, it probably means that the adventurers are acting quite professionally.’
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I still had a lot of questions, but I felt like I needed to know some information about the adventurer.
If we are greedy for the sake of obtaining detailed information, our ignorance will be exposed and the credibility of our answers will decrease.
I immediately continued with the next question to prevent the adventurers from losing their minds.
“The information about the adventurer is now complete. Then let’s continue with the next question. Don’t just answer to one person, make sure the rest respond actively as well.”
“Yes! All right!”
“Do you know about druids?”
“Yes? Druid… “You mean?”
The next question was about druids.
In the past, I had spread the lure of ‘breed-improved plants’ to humans.
In order to find out how far my plan had progressed and where it had stopped, the fastest way was to ask about the druid.
In response to my questions, the adventurers began to tell me the information they knew.
“I heard about it when it was still warm. “It is said that a druid appeared in the great forest.”
“There were rumors that druids were humans. Since there was no way elves and beastmen would recognize humans, it was dismissed as a rumor….”
“There was also a rumor that the woman who delivered the news to the Adventurer’s Guild had gone missing.”
The bait of breed improvement was clearly thrown.
But someone made a move to hide the bait and take it all to themselves.
We were able to infer such circumstances through the adventurers’ answers.
“Um….”
Then who and why took it all by hiding the existence of the bait?
I have a rough guess as to who the culprit is, but it would be better to find out for sure.
I continued to ask questions to be sure of its identity.
“Now that I think about it, before the fight, you said there was ‘information that the elves are calm these days.’ “What does that mean?”
I looked at Shizu with the meaning of ‘Have you guys really become so calm?’
Shizu neatly denied such information with her snort.
Then the female wizard who had provided the rumor spoke in confusion.
“This is information I heard from the Empire’s Adventurer’s Guild! “They said that the elves in the Great Forest have become quieter.”
“Do you think this young lady is quiet?”
“Oh, no…” .”
It was a rumor, but it seemed like information spread by the empire.
I looked at the other two adventurers to be more sure.
When I looked for additional information, the warriors who were caressing their broken legs opened their mouths.
“Wow, there was definitely information that the elves had become quieter. So many adventurers flocked to the great forest, hoping to make a fortune.”
“Although it was quickly revealed that it was just a rumor, the information was widely known enough for the Empire to move its troops. There were even rumors that there might be a large-scale invasion soon.”
As I listened to the story, I felt like it was going in an increasingly uneasy direction.
I looked at Shizu and asked if he knew.
Shizu was lost in her thoughts for a moment and then opened her mouth.
She said, “Now that I think about it, she said that Joo Joo Joo and Su Hae Jo made groaning noises. “I’m annoyed because humans are invading the western region.”
“What? “Why are you telling me that now?”
“That’s right, because you didn’t have to worry about it. Right now, I’m staying in Qingqing Yongyue and defending the east. Thanks to this, most of Eldennor’s troops have been dispatched to the west. “Unless the empire really invades, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Um… “But you should have told me in advance.”
“I’ll let you know next time.”
Currently, human movement is becoming more active in the western part of the major forest.
The reason for this was a rumor spread by the adventurer guild in the empire.
Even the empire’s troops showed movement, and there were even rumors that there would be a large-scale invasion.
‘I guess it was the Empire that hid the bait I threw.’
An empire that seeks to monopolize information on improved plant varieties. A movement that stimulates adventurers and invades the great forest.
As the puzzle pieces came together, a picture began to form in my head.
‘I stretched out my hand hoping for peace, but they bit me back.’
I wasn’t sure, but it feels like the Empire’s large-scale invasion will not end with just rumors.
I thought I needed to resolve the centaur problem as quickly as possible and then cross to the west of the Great Forest.