Hi!

　whistling sound

　The blade of my wielded "fairy sword" cut off the "black glowing stone" in the air.

　A lump of mud collapses to the wet ground.

　The five of us were once again in search of the Great Marshlands.

　It was the third day after we left.

　We were currently engaged in a battle with the Mud Golems that had emerged from the swamp.

''Nun!''
Pooh!

　Kilt's 'Great Sword of Thunder' blew up the mud body, and the 'divine Qi' that Po-chan tapped into blasted the mud demon from within.

(Found it!)

　In the blowing mud, I found a "black glowing stone".

　Immediately, I ran towards it and swung my sword.

　In the same way, Illtimina-san also ran and brought out a white spear.

　Kahut Kyin.

　The two black stones shatter and the two 'mud golems' lose their shapes.

　Kilt-san and Poe blows up the mud bodies, and me and Illtimina-san find the 'black glowing stones' and put the finishing touches on them.

　Solstice stood by for magic in case of an emergency.

　It was that kind of coordinated battle.

　But if I look around, there are still five 'mud golems'.

(Alright!)

　I made the magic stone in the bracelet on my right wrist shine.

I ran the 'Fairy Sword' and with the tip of the blade, I drew Thanatos magic letters in the air.

''Marl!''

　Illtimina's surprised voice.

　Ignoring it, I chant.

'O butterflies of fire!　Blow their bodies to bits!　--Fraim Ba Toffin!

　Butterflies of fire erupted from the Thanatos magic letters.

　Dopapang.

　Nearly 100 butterflies rushed to the five 'mud golems' and exploded on their bodies.

　I ran to them.

''Hey!''

　Caugh. Caugh.

　In the heat wave, the 'nucleus' of the golems we found is severed.

　Five crumbling golems.

(Yes!)　

　I exhaled heavily.

　Mr. Kilt looked at me admiringly.

'Ho, you're doing it,'

　Compliments.

　Poe opened his clenched fist, but he was a bit underwhelmed and waxy.

　Click.

　I sheath my sword.

"Okay, we've beaten the monster here. Shall we go on?

　He said.

　Solstice put her hands behind her head.

Oh, come on, Merle, you're getting cocky.

　And a pout of the lips.

　I don't mean to get carried away........

　Illtimina-san next to her doesn't say anything, she just stares at my face.

(?????)

　What is it?

　That's the look on your face, as if you were trying to say something.

　........I'm a little uncomfortable.

　Kirt-san reasserts the 'Great Sword of Thunder' on his back and starts walking.

''Hm, let's go then.
Yes.
'But Merle. Don't make too many moves that ignore coordination, do you?　If you don't keep your word, there's no party.
.......... Yeah, I'm sorry.

　I nodded depressingly.

　Pong.

　Putting her hand on my head like that, Kilt-san stroked it a little roughly.

(............)

　The emotions in my mind are suppressed.

'Okay, let's go.'

　At the sound of Kilt's voice, we formed a line and started walking through the 'Great Marshlands' again.


　◇ ◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇


　At noon, we walked incessantly through the marshes.

　Four to five times a day, we would encounter the "Mud Golems" and get into battle.

　We would only defeat 5-10 of them in one battle.

　Maybe it was because we knew their weaknesses, but we had plenty of time to fight.

　In one day, I could take down as many as 50 golems, but

(You could have come up with a lot more.)

　What a thought.

　Because that way there would be less danger to others.

　We're going to spend the night in the field.

　We would lie down with a blanket in a place that looked like a good vantage point.

　We took turns standing guard, too.

　We had been walking for a few days, and even got caught in a squall.

　We had to put on waterproof robes to get through it.

　After ten days of walking through the marshland, we arrive at the reddish brown wilderness.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


Bright red...

　Unlike the green marshes I'd walked through so far, the land was reddish brown and dry.

　It was like the Martian landscape I had seen on TV and in movies in my previous life.

　There was no vegetation in sight, just dirt and rocks.

　As Mr. Quilts noted our current location on the map, he said

Hmm. It looks like we've arrived at that 'wilderness' you were referring to in The Voyage Log.

　I uttered.

(This is....)

　It's really empty earth.

　The dry sand dances in the wind.

　Ke-ho-ke-ho.

　Solstice coughed and covered her mouth with her arm.

'It's a sandy place.'
Yes.
Hey, Kilt?　I wonder if they're going to build a base here as well.
I don't think so.

　Mr. Kilt nodded.

'The Warriors are a day late. It is possible that others may have found a suitable place to base themselves first.

　And so we walked through the 'reddish brown wilderness' for a while.

(Ah....)

　In the middle of the wilderness, there was a place where people were gathering.

　A simple tent had already been erected and was currently in the process of being surrounded by an iron fence.

　Some people noticed us and waved to us.

　We also turned around and headed towards the 'Reddish brown wilderness, base' where construction had already begun.

　.............
　.............
　..............

　Ten days have passed since then.

All the people who had gone out to explore the "Reddish Brown Wilderness, Base" gathered there, and the remaining 150 people in the "Great Marshlands, Base" joined up with them.

　In the meantime, we rested well.

　We have regained our energy and strength.

　And from today, we will start our search of this "Reddish Brown Wilderness".

(Okay, let's do it.)

　I'm fired up for this.

　General Roberto and his team have said that we've made good progress so far.

　I hope to continue on in the same way.

All right, let's go.

　At the sound of Kilt's voice, we entered the depths of the 'reddish brown wilderness'.


　◇ ◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇


Bug, bug, bug, bug, hey.

　Solstice muttered as she walked through the unchanging red earth, ahead of her.

　Worms.

　That was a phrase from The Voyage Journal.

　Also.

A lot of our people were eaten alive...

　There was a statement about that too.

　From the looks of it, there are no insects that look like that.

　Rather, there was no creature in sight.

(What is it, the land of death.......?)

　It's a bit of a nasty image,

　Illtimina-san says to her sister.

''Properly, do you have the 'Yellow Magic Stone'?
Of course.

　Solstice replied and took out a yellow magic stone from the pouch on her waistband.

　A yellow magic stone.

　It is an insect repellent magic stone.

　Adventurers who work outdoors can use it to reduce the threat of poisonous insects and parasites.

　I heard this explanation from Illtimina-san in the carriage that I took on my first Goblin extermination mission.

(Convenient, isn't it?)

Would this help the 'Voyage Log' bug?

　I asked.

　Illtimina-san smiled.

''At that time, these magic stones hadn't even been invented yet. I think there's a good chance it will work.''
Okay.

　I nodded reassuringly too.

　I wondered if he had heard me talking, and Kirt, who was walking in the lead, said in a simple tone.

'If the bug in The Voyage Log is really just a bug,'
..........
..........
Oh, God, the quilt.

　Me and Solstice fell silent, and Illtimina-san stared at her as if she was troubled.

　Kilt-san has the 'demon princess's intuition'.

(No pun intended........)

　I sighed.

　Kilt-san laughed at our reaction.

　And so, we walked through the 'reddish brown wilderness' for half a day.

(Hmm...?)　

　A world of rocks and red earth.

　Suddenly, a huge white rock-like object appeared there, half buried in the dirt.

　For a moment, I didn't know what it was.

　But I soon realized.

(It's a bone.)

　It was an ossified, ossified body of some kind.

　But it was the wrong size.

(How many dozens of meds is this thing?)

　No, this could be more than 100 meh.

　We looked up, stunned.

"This is amazing. These must be the bones of a giant species.

　Kilt says.

　The Great King Species.

　It's an ancient creature that existed before the ancient Thanatos magic dynasty and is now extinct.

　I've seen its bones on the Dollar Continent as well.

''So it existed in this dark continent too.

　Solstice muttered, her crimson eyes sparkling.

　'Concon.'

　Poe tapped lightly with his fist.

　The red sand that had been clinging to the bones fell in a flurry.

　Up close, it's really a small mountain.

(I wonder how big it would be if we included the part buried underground?)

　It's a strange and romantic feeling to think that creatures of this size were alive long ago.

　We pass by its huge bones.

　After that, as we walked in the wilderness, we saw what looked like the bones of the "great king's species" several times.

　That night, we camped under the bones of the "Great Species".

(............)

　It was as if he had been eaten.

　The starry sky beyond the big ribs was very beautiful.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇


　The next day we walked through the 'reddish brown wilderness' again.

　It was windy today.

　The dust was so bad that we were walking through the red earth, covering our mouths with a cloth.

　I really don't see anything moving.

(..............There's not even any plants.)

　There are no watering holes around, so maybe it's no use.

'Huh?'

　Suddenly, Solstice muttered.

'What's wrong?'

　I ask, "What's going on?

"There's a dead tree growing over there.
What?

　Solstice's little fingers pointed to the side.

　My blue eyes also turned towards it.

(...Oh, it's true.)

　On the other side of the sand-dancing wind was what looked like a thick tree trunk.

　The trunk circumference was three meters in diameter.

　But it seemed to have broken off about five meters high, and its surface was covered with red earth-like soil.

'You've found a plant.

　I muttered.

　It was amazing to see such a large tree growing on such a dry land, I thought to myself.

　I headed my feet to get a closer look.

'Don't do it,'

　Illtimina-san's arm blocked my path. ........eh?

　I look up at my sister.

　She was looking at the dead tree with a slightly grim expression on her face.

'That's not a tree. It's an ant(s) mound.'

　......................

　Eh?　Anthill?

　An anthill, in other words, is an ant nest. They're nests that are built above ground, not underground.

(But so big?)

　I was startled.

　And just then, the wind that had been blowing dies down.

　The dust disappears.

(Ah.....)

　My vision opened up and I noticed.

　In the land around us, there were more than ten huge anthills, like dead trees, standing in a row.

　..................

　The red soil at the base of them is rippling.

　Ants.

　Millions, tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions, of tiny red ants had come out of their nests.

　They were about an inch long.

　But they had long scissors growing out of their mouths that looked like they were half as long as they were.

　Some of them had wings.

'This is not good.'

　Mr. Kilt let out a harsh voice.

　I noticed that the earth around us was full of ants, and the siege was slowly narrowing.