When I returned to the Hatch tribe's village, the miasma was not the same as when the miasma was in the air, but the Hatch people were outside.

The miasma must be quite toxic for a miasma that strong.
　As I was muttering about this, a few of the Hatch tribe members smiled as they flew towards us and called out to us.

''Sage-sama, thank you for saving the queen and the village.
'I don't know what the village would have been like if it weren't for the wise man.
"The wise man saved my life.

　That's what he called me, and I decided to ask him why he thought I was a wise man.
'I'm glad I was able to save you all. By the way, why do you think of me as a wise man?

　He answered with a strange look on his face.
'According to the legend of the wise man, when the miasma was spreading in the forest, he emerged with a dashing, blue-white light that wiped out the miasma from the forest.
It is said that when the forest is covered with miasma again, I or a second or third wise man will appear.
"Isn't it true that you are a wise man, who, as lore has it, emitted a blue-white light and wiped out the miasma?

　 What is the second and third wise man? What part of the beaten path are you........

''........Unfortunately, I'm a healer in training. I've come to negotiate with the Hatch tribe this time, but you can't talk to me unless you're a queen, right?
'What? Then I'll bring Master Hanir to you.
　Then one of the hatchlings flew to the beehive above.

'Then why was the queen caught? And why didn't you guys run away from the forest too?
We can't just leave our queen and run away!
　One young man? He then began to go on and on about how wonderful the queen was.


'Enough of that.
　When a dignified voice sounded, the queen, the old man from earlier, and another slightly larger young man appeared.
　Then the hatchlings in front of me cleared the way.

Wise man, thank you for saving me and my village this time.
　The queen, who bowed her head in this way, was different from the other hatchlings in that her wings may be enchanted with magic, or they may be a little luminescent.

'It happened, but I'm glad I was able to save you.
So, what's the deal?
'Yes. If I'm not mistaken, I believe you all can produce honey.
...Yes. I'm sure of it.
　We decided to start with what we wanted and let me explain it properly.
''My plan is.........''


　I told him my plan. And I asked him to help me somehow.
I see. But no matter how wise you are for saving our village, I can't give you a quick answer.
I'm sure you do.
　It was a difficult proposition, so I didn't expect him to agree to it right away.

"...so please take my son Hanir and a few others with you to Yenis.
You mean?
"It is my pleasure to make a request as long as I am completely confident that the story is completely reliable.
Thank you, sir.
　I naturally smiled as it was confirmed that they were going to send personnel to me, which I didn't expect. I felt the need to negotiate many times, so this is huge.

''Even so, Sage-sama has some interesting things in mind.
Is that right?
''Yes. I thought the human race was a more arrogant species, so I'm surprised by that as well.
　It was easy to imagine that something had happened with the human race in the past. From there I would have to look into the history of the Hatch tribe...I had an intuitive feeling.

'So why had the Queen turned into that slime? Or was he captured?
About half a month ago now, when the flying dragon flew away at dawn, it threw something into the forest. When the young people of the village saw this, they went to see it and found a small bottle broken and the slime began to emit miasma.
　Half a month ago ... when he may or may not have been in the maze...
'That slime had no physical attacks at all, and the nucleus was not visible in that color, so when I, the only one who could use magic, was about to attack it with wind magic, the slime suddenly jumped on me... and from that point on, I have no memory of it.

　The story began as the old man from the Hatch tribe took over the conversation.
'We even tried to attack the queen with fire to save her, but we couldn't attack her well because she was used as a shield.
　Slime and intelligence? Or is it a defense instinct? I looked at Lionel and Lionel was listening intently to the story, unusually not noticing my gaze.

'Gradually, the slime grew larger and began to call and absorb demons with its miasma. Since yesterday, it created undead demons, and we had no choice but to ask the spirit-sama, as per the lore.
　Not relying on God, but relying on the spirits.
　The spirits in this world must be quite religious.
　More importantly, if the wise man is surely a reincarnation, he should read the story of the wise man...and the biography.
　Oh, I need to concentrate on the story.
'So that's why we're here as per the lore.......is that the situation. But I'm surprised the queen didn't melt.

It helped.
　Saying that, the queen showed me a protective amulet that I had seen somewhere.
''........What's that?''
"This is the water spirit's talisman. This talisman will be passed on to the future queen of the world.
　The queen stroked the amulet as if it was important and affixed the amulet to her body.
　While looking at the protective amulet that was gradually disappearing, I realized that I had been completely swept up by the spirit this time.
''........I see.''
　I don't blame her for losing the inflection in her voice as she returned to the queen.


　This time, the water spirit wanted to save his faithful family members to him, right?

　........But if we had left that slime alone, there is a high possibility that it would have grown even bigger and plunged both this forest and Yenis into a critical situation.......Considering that, it's probably a good thing that the spirit was swept away this time.

　It's an early stage, so it was easy to defeat it, but if it had produced enough miasma to cover the forest, it would have been all but impossible to attract adventurers.
　Besides, saving the Hatch tribe this time allowed us to negotiate with them, so we were fortunate to be able to do so.
　That's right. In a situation like this, there's no point in thinking negatively.
　Let's just think of this as... a golden opportunity to get a little bit of help.
　When I thought about it, I felt a little better.


''Will you be staying the night today?''
　The queen said so, but I couldn't muster the courage to stay, as I imagined what would happen if I looked up and said I was staying the night.
''I'm sorry to trouble you, but I'm having to wait for my companions this time, so I'm afraid I'll have to decline.
　I smiled and declined.
'I see. Well then, please take a thank you gift.''

　The queen turned around and handed me a barrel that looked like it could hold about 30 liters and a crystal yellow ball.
'There's honey in that barrel,' she said. And if you put the water and this bead of honey in a container about the same size as this barrel and let it sit overnight, you can make a honey wine.
　I see there are many ways to make sake in this world.
''I would be grateful to take it. ''Would you like me to send for Master Hanir and his followers at a later date?''
No. We'll stay with you.
Are you sure?
Yes. It was a good opportunity for me to show you the outside world.

　He'd already heard of the negotiations and assumed a few patterns. Had the breakup already been done?
'I understand. We will take care of your son and his attendants. They will continue to come to the forest periodically and I promise to bring them with me each time they come.
Nice to meet you.

　And so we left the Hatch settlement.



'I didn't know we were this close.'
　It was less than ten minutes' walk from the Hutch settlement, and when we emerged from the forest, we saw everyone there.

'We're almost done with dinner, Nya.
　I made eye contact with Lionel and immediately Ketty tried to pull my hand away, but I stopped her and decided to introduce them to the Hatch and my squad as well.
'Think of them as an inspection party of the Hatch tribe. They will play an important role in carrying out my plan, and I will need them to be well guarded. Lord Hanir and his followers, they may be my slaves, but they are my subordinates and followers. Please take care of them.
　After that, the sun was setting as we filled our bellies lightly with the dinner that had been prepared for us.

It will be dark soon, so let's proceed with caution.
"Yes.
　After hanging area barriers on all of us, just in case, we began our departure.

　The lights strapped to the carriage illuminate the road, making it easier to spot enemies in the distance, and Paula had made a magic tool that was immediately useful.
　There's a risk that the enemy will also know your location, but this is to ensure that you won't be taken by surprise and unable to move.


'Apparently they decided to only monitor us from a distance.
Okay.
　I understood that there was an opposition organization, as I had been informed, and that they were going after their prey outside the city.
　The information I received from Dorstar had warned me that there were people who didn't find it amusing that I, as the representative of Yenis, wasn't being quiet.

'Their races are horse-beastmen (centaurs) and those are demons, Nya.
Let's hope there aren't any more attacks.　
We'll see how it goes today. There could be an attack after tomorrow.
Don't let each of you die instantly.

　Thus, this time we confirmed the hostile forces, and although I thought it was going to be rough in the future, I was happy to be able to return to Yenis safely.