Ch.176The Sanctuary of Chestnut Trees

Putting the sudden common sense-breaking incident aside, we headed to where the Elder was to fulfill our purpose for visiting the sanctuary.

Unlike the (former) Elder of the Willow Sanctuary who had been enshrined in a mummy-like state, the Elder of the Chestnut Sanctuary welcomed us with a gentle expression, sitting on a wooden platform beneath a massive ancient tree.

Despite being an Elf, his face clearly showed the traces of time, and his gaunt figure made it impossible to even guess his age. Yet, he had a mysterious presence that gave the impression he wouldn’t budge even in a typhoon.

“Welcome, all of you. I am Euclid, Elder of this Chestnut Sanctuary.”

“Adventurer, William J. Kim. These are my companions—”

“I know them. The beautiful sorceress Jessica Walter, Elem Lu Seti, the first adventurer of the Cat-folk, Minaret Belghand, the Dwarf technician. And… Phyllis Aedra, Captain of the Guardians of the Willow Sanctuary.”

As we flinched at the sudden revelation of our personal information, Elder Euclid of the Chestnut Sanctuary gave Phyllis a benevolent smile.

“The Dark Elf raid five years ago was truly regrettable. I was quite acquainted with Shurain, yet I feel constant remorse for not being able to offer any assistance.”

“…No. I understand that there was nothing you could do about the incident at the Willow Sanctuary, hundreds of kilometers away.”

Unlike me, who responded casually following the conversational etiquette between pioneers and natives, Phyllis, being of the same race, addressed the Elder of the Chestnut Sanctuary with utmost respect.

“And we haven’t given up yet. Although we may not be able to improve the condition of the first Elder Shurain, we will definitely rescue her successor, Iris Aedra.”

“As you should. She is your own sister, after all. I sincerely hope for good news.”

“Thank you.”

After exchanging words with Phyllis, Elder Euclid cleared his throat with a “Khrm.”

“So, you’re going to identify the monster that has settled in the lake.”

“I’ll try my best, but I can’t promise anything without conducting field research and gathering information. I heard that the Guardians of this sanctuary have been dealing with it for days without being able to grasp its true nature.”

“Indeed. It would be best to ask the Guardians on duty at the guardpost over there for details. But before that…”

After informing us about the location where the Chestnut Sanctuary’s Guardians were stationed, Euclid waved his hand lightly in the air, and clusters of magical energy, like fireflies, appeared and flew toward each of us five.

I immediately recognized this as the same phenomenon I had witnessed once at the Willow Sanctuary.

“For the next three days, you will be able to freely enter and exit the Chestnut Sanctuary without being confused by Arachne’s Knot. I’d like to grant you unlimited access, but I’m planning to pass on the Elder position to my successor and retire soon.”

“So you can’t freely distribute passes before a generational change. I understand.”

“I would greatly appreciate your help. If this matter is resolved safely, I’ll prepare a personal gift for you in addition to the requested compensation.”

“When I hear that, I feel like I need to give it my all. We’ll begin the investigation right away.”

After finishing our meeting with the Elder, we moved to the guardpost and asked the waiting Guardians about the lake monster, gathering several pieces of information.

The monster occupying the lake looked like a green slime about the size of a cow, but unlike typical slime-type monsters, it lacked the “core” that should exist inside its body.

It had two main methods of attack: controlling the polluted lake water like tentacles to restrain opponents and drag them into the lake, and launching contaminated water blobs as projectiles.

Neither method had enough power to inflict direct damage, and if the lake water touched bare skin, it only caused itching and inflammation, so it wasn’t a major threat if properly treated afterward.

When attacking the slime portion that rose above the water’s surface, it would eventually calm down, but the problem was that they couldn’t gauge “how much attack power was needed until it calmed down.”

Some days it would quiet down after just 3-4 attack spells, while on other days it took nearly an hour of intense battle to finally pacify it.

Even then, they couldn’t completely defeat it, and it would resume activity after 3-6 hours, meaning that all the time and effort spent fighting this monster ultimately had no meaning.

“…That’s the gist of what the Guardians have told us.”

“An amorphous monster that controls water… If we prepare Airy Curtain and antidotes, and be careful not to get caught by the tentacles, it shouldn’t be a major problem.”

“Defense-wise, yes. The issue is attacking…”

“We can’t say anything without fighting it first. There are some suspicious aspects, but it’s an opponent that defies the common sense of amorphous monsters.”

“I guess we’ll have to try various methods after engaging it directly.”

Believing we had gathered all the information we could, we asked one of the Guardians at the guardpost to guide us to the lake occupied by the monster.

The distance from the Chestnut Sanctuary to the lake was only about 800 meters.

As we got closer to our destination, Seti’s expression soured at the sour smell carried by the wind.

“We’ve arrived. It’s over there.”

“Wow… what a terrible visual.”

What we saw through the densely growing trees was a body of water about 50 meters in diameter, too wretched in color to be called a “lake.”

It was a murky yet bland light green liquid, as if the concept of environmental pollution had been given a color.

The unpleasantness wasn’t just due to the color.

A proper lake should have ripples on its surface from the wind, even if polluted and murky, but this green liquid was swaying slowly with the wind like a diluted slime toy.

The harmony created by that subtle color and texture was like…

“Snot.”

“Hey, Seti. That’s something people usually keep to themselves…”

“…Sorry.”

After patting Seti’s head as she scratched it awkwardly, we began our battle preparations.

The target was the slightly bulging part in the middle of the lake, which had been presumed to be the monster’s “main body” until now.

Our immediate goal was to gauge the monster’s weaknesses or characteristics by attacking that area with as many different elemental attacks as possible.

“Airy Curtain!”

After setting up a minimum safety measure with a wind barrier that repels liquid, we began our monster exploration battle in earnest.

The opening move was Phyllis’s lightning magic with its powerful destructive force.

“Lightning Bolt {Accelerated Thunder Bullet}!!”

*BZZT!*

The lightning that streaked through the trees completely obliterated the green mass protruding above the water’s surface.

If it had been an ordinary slime, that single strike would have ended the situation.

Unfortunately, it seemed the monster wasn’t greatly affected, as a new green mass rose from the center of the lake, and the surrounding surface began to writhe like jelly.

“Everyone be careful! Attack incoming!”

Thin, long, mucous tentacles extended from the light green surface.

Meanwhile, the main body(?) in the center began shooting volleyball-sized sewage blobs in parabolic arcs.

Perhaps because we had just heard Seti’s comment about it looking like snot, I felt a tension rising within me that wouldn’t allow even a single hit.

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

*BAANG!*

“Flame…!”

As white magic bullets shot from my, Seti’s, and Mina’s guns, Jessica hesitated as she was about to launch a Flame Lance.

Though its destructive power was inferior to Lightning Bolt, the flame spear possessed high penetration.

It was clear what would happen if it pierced through that green mucus and lodged in the forest on the other side.

“Seti! I’ll leave the fire attribute to you! Break Enchant!”

We couldn’t cause a forest fire right in front of an Elven sanctuary.

Having made that judgment, Jessica decided to verify the effectiveness of the fire attribute by using an enchantment spell on Seti’s spear, and Seti silently nodded, slashing away the sticky mucus tentacle extending toward her.

Or rather than slashing, it would be more accurate to say she struck and scattered it.

“How is it, Guardian? Compared to when you fought it, is there anything different?”

“Not yet. Both its behavior pattern and aggressiveness are almost identical.”

We had asked the Guardian member accompanying us to focus on observing the monster’s reactions rather than actively participating in the attack.

This battle was merely exploratory.

Determining whether the monster’s reactions changed due to differences in opponents or attack methods was also important information.

“Stone Bullet!”

Earth attribute attack magic, no special reaction.

“Diamond Dust!”

Freezing magic, no special reaction.

“Hah!”

Seti’s fire attribute close-range attack after approaching on an ice block, no special reaction.

No special reaction to vacuum blades, revolver, rifle, shotgun, battery fragment, or the subsequent Derringer rapid-fire.

Even when we threw a fireball into the center of the pond causing a large explosion, the situation remained unchanged, and after about 30 minutes of battle, the green monster’s activity ceased after the Guardian member’s final magic bullet.

“…Did we get it?”

“No, it’s merely in a temporary state of inactivity.”

“I know. I just wanted to say that line.”

I never thought we could defeat that unidentified monster that had been persistently troubling the Elven Guardians in a single battle.

The “Did we get it?” quip was just a courtesy toward a monster with resurrection abilities.

The real investigation was about to begin now.