Chapter 333: With a Melting Thirst, I Whisper to You

Author's Preface
If by some remote chance this novel ever gets sent to Nocturne (R18 section of Syosetu), I think it'll primarily be this person's fault (lol).

Stranded Diary, Day 1 (Re-Addendum).
The rumor that "there's a dangerous humanoid monster nearby" is circulating among the Forest-folks. How scary.

"You wanna go? Hah? If you're gonna pick a fight with me, you better be at least Level 99, right?"

I have no idea how to read a reptile's expression, but faced with me—an automatic escape device for anything under Level 99—this raptor apparently didn't have the courage to show any guts.
With the last of its underlings turning tail and running, the leader individual let out a frustrated growl before turning its back and fleeing.

"Hah, show some guts like that little dinosaur, will you."

That entire pack probably triggered the Scar together, maybe a Majority Hound?

"At times like this, I conveniently want to feel grateful for the Scar... but still, damn you Lycaon."

Gotta keep the freshness of my motivation maintained.
The Forest-folks are cowards, but when it comes to cowardly actions, they become incredibly competent... meaning they have excellent scouting capabilities.
My Scar is a passive effect, so the moment a monster with a higher level than me enters its range, it triggers the attraction effect.
However, by having the Forest-folks scout ahead beyond that range, we can avoid powerful monsters. And if we encounter monsters that they would normally have to flee from—but whose levels are 99 or lower—my presence causes the monsters to flee instead.

Isn't this actually the strongest combination? Of course, this wide-area scouting is only possible because we can use this large group of Forest-folks as pseudo-party members... but even so, we were making our way to the village the Forest-folks had once abandoned with almost zero combat encounters.

"So there was a next stage to Lycaon's 'Curse', huh."

"This game builds things on the fly with a really 'live' feeling, so I can't be completely sure..."

Telling me to break the curse, then updating it like treating me with a piece of candy... that's definitely ad-libbed, right? An AI that's too high-performance is a problem in its own right.

"Distance-wise, I think we're almost there... Hesh, isn't there some sort of mark only Forest-folks would recognize?"

"I've heard there is one, but..."

"This is a story from your ancestors' generation. There's no way the current generation would know where the marks are, Tottori."

Perhaps because I hit the nail on the head, Hesh glared at me, but didn't offer a counterargument.
Well, well, localized ignorance and dementia are common in games. How many games do you think I've played where keys are lost and doors are pointlessly locked? People living in mansions with elaborate puzzle mechanisms just to unlock a door must find it incredibly inconvenient to live there.

"Your Majesty, normally we should be heading to the base via the shortest route... but please forgive this unnecessary detour."

"I do not mind. I permit it. The reclamation of the Forest-folk village... It will not be a fruitless endeavor for the Pioneers of Einwurf advancing through this land."

Sorry, King, but both Tottori and I are doing this 90% out of self-interest. There's no reason not to release the level cap...

"Ah, ugh... Your Highness, we've been walking for quite a while. Are you... tired?"

Honestly, excluding her from my thoughts entirely would be better for my mental health, but completely ignoring the First Princess here wouldn't be good roleplaying. Do your best, me. Do your best, me...

"Yes, I am perfectly fine, Sunraku-sama. Sunraku-sama and the others are protecting us from the monsters, so I feel completely safe."

In Faer-kuso's case, even though the setting explicitly stated the monsters were attacking Because they were after Faer-kuso, the monster aggro was always locked onto the player, wasn't it〜?

"Your Highness, you are quite strong."

"My! Fufufu, those are the exact words I would give to you, Sunraku-sama!"

Nngoooh, her behavior and speech are pure goodness itself, but my inner trauma, my traumaaaaa... Okay, calm down, switch gears.

"Say, Emul... Don't you think intelligence is a truly arrogant thing...?"

"Whenever Sunraku-san says complicated things, it's usually when you're thinking about completely trivial stuff, desu wa〜"

You understand me so well...

In the end, since this is a real-time progression game, and both Tottori and I have real-life time constraints, we obviously couldn't reach it within a single day.

After logging out and taking naps a few times, we steadily—yet still at what Tottori called an "astounding speed"—continued our advance. The day after our encounter, we finally reached a position where the location was visible from the ground.

"I see... Sticky, spiderweb-like vines growing around the perimeter, and a siege net of thorny briars acting like barbed wire..."

At the very least, it would easily intercept small monsters, and even serve to stall large monsters like the Three-Headed T-Rex. If they just shot arrows at them to drive them off, they could have defended it perfectly... Hmm, I really don't understand why the Forest-folks of the past ran away.
Were they attacked by monsters from the sky like the Draclus Dinocoatl? If so, I could understand... maybe?

"If they just dug a moat and planted some wooden stakes here, wouldn't this be an incredibly effective defensive facility?"

"T-This is Tearplaten...! The homeland of us Forest-folks...!"

Perhaps overcome with emotion and losing their focus, the Forest-folks charged right in, got tangled in the vines oozing sticky sap, and became completely immobilized. Watching them with half-closed eyes, I searched for an infiltration route.
Guh, it's tough. Do these vines subtly have slash resistance or something? Ugh, my Duxram is all sticky...

"Emul, blast it."

"Yes sir!"

Immaterial magic power shouldn't care about stickiness, right!? ...Wait, the magic power got absorbed. You piece of shit! Also, these vines smell like mint!!

"Hey Sunraku, they're saying we can cross over these vines from the top of the trees."

"No, surely climbing a tree as massive as a Giant Sequoia is... Oh, I see, a rope ladder."

Are you sure it's safe? Is it sticky? Okay, it wasn't sticky.
The biggest concern was whether the King could climb the ladder, but thanks to the assistance of the Forest-folks—who were gentle out of their sympathy for the weak—he somehow managed to reach the top.
If the trunk is thick, naturally the branches are thick too. We walked in a line along a thick branch that we wouldn't fall off of unless we severely lost our balance.

"───Hoh, this is quite..."

Brushing aside the branches and leaves, the sight that spread out before our opened vision was...
The map shape was similar to Thirdrema and Ruluiath: a plateau-like terrain with houses arranged in a circle. The classic "important facility in the center of the map" type. Is this a trend among the map designers?
Excluding That thing in the center of the village—which clearly stood out and was distinctly different from the surrounding wooden architecture—it looked like a cozy, rustic Western village... No, it's hard to even call it something as grand as a village. It was more like they just found an open clearing, hastily made some animal trails, and hastily built some houses...

"The architectural compromises combined with the ruin really emphasize the sadness..."

"I don't see any fields or anything... Don't tell me they made their living through hunting? With those cowards?"

I always thought what the Forest-folks lacked was courage, but I stand corrected. What they really need is civilization. Even before courage, their foundational aspects like base fortification are completely falling apart.

"I was wondering if maybe this was the goal for a different branching route, but it seems I was wrong..."

I agreed with Tottori's muttered observation. At the very least, this was a place that had already Ended. I don't know how long ago their ancestors fled in the night, but deciding to live in this thoroughly ruined place now would be quite a high-difficulty challenge.

Well, if there were several architecture-focused crafter players like Emi-Lia to ensure a stable supply of materials, it might be usable as a second base...

"───I wanted to see you."

With a hou and a feverish sigh, "that voice" passed right through my ear and struck directly into my brain.

"Tsk!?!?"

Zowawawawa! Goosebumps erupted all over my body. And it wasn't just because someone had suddenly spoken right next to my ear.

"You...!"

"I wanted to see you... I've been looking for you... this wwwwhole time, you know?"

It was because that voice, that tone, was something deeply burned into my memory.
It wasn't just "that voice" whispering in my ear for a split second. It was the "voice" pushing that calculated cutesiness she used the most to the absolute forefront. Standing right next to me with a tearing, creepy smile... was a woman.

"...Nutcracker!!"

"It's Deep Slaughter now, Sunraku-kuuuun... Ufufufufufu."

Deep Slaughter...? Ah, ahh, okay, okay, the double entendre slang version. I figured it would be something like that, you piece of shit!!

Author's Afterword
What's amazing about the vines protecting the Forest-folk village!

• They are sticky, so they act as a natural net to seal monster movements!

• They emit a smell that bug-type monsters hate, keeping them away entirely!

• They are more durable than they look, and because they are woven like a spiderweb, they aren't easily torn!

• They absorb magic, so they can deal with magic-based attacks!

What sucks about the Forest-folks:

• They don't fully trust the power of the vines.

• The power of the vines wasn't passed down to their descendants.

• Even if they try to return to the village, they give up immediately if chased by a monster.

• Or rather, they get caught in it themselves.