Having finished his meal, Rest left the inn together with Yuri.
And so… in front of the inn, Urla and her female attendant, along with several armed soldiers, were waiting.
"Good morning…"
"Could it be you've been waiting this whole time?"
"We just arrived."
Urla answered shortly.
Her cheeks were faintly flushed, but… she must have been waiting for quite a long time after all.
(It's been getting colder lately. Standing around waiting in weather like this, it's only natural she'd turn red… right?)
Didn't faces only get red after going from a cold place into a warm one?
He vaguely thought that, but… regardless, if he'd made them wait, he owed them an apology.
"Sorry about that. Shall we head out, then?"
"…Yes."
Urla nodded at Rest's words.
They were scheduled to head to the wetlands in the plains right away.
"Um… and these people are…?"
"I am Ostley, of the Lavender Margrave's domain army."
The soldier standing behind Urla introduced himself with a stern expression.
He was a large man, probably in his forties.
A deep scar marked his face, giving him the air of a seasoned warrior.
"Margrave Clover, we are terribly sorry to have summoned you here due to our failures."
"No... rather than that, could you tell me what the situation is?"
"...I will explain as we travel."
Guided by the soldier of the garrison, Rest and the others entered the Sabnock Plains from the eastern side.
Rest had set foot on the plains countless times before, but in truth, this was his first time coming to the eastern side.
Until now, development efforts had been carried out from the western and northern sides toward the center, so the eastern wetlands were entirely new territory.
"I heard the eastern side has a lot of land with poor drainage... but it doesn't seem that bad."
While there were differences in the vegetation of the plants growing in clusters, the land didn't look poor enough to be called 'wetlands.' "Not the entire eastern side is like that. The wetlands are further in."
Ostley explained in response to Rest's remark.
"The eastern plains are divided into dry land and wetlands. The development of the dry land is nearly complete. However, we've been struggling to deal with the worms in the wetlands... especially one enormous specimen that we simply cannot handle."
"They don't come... so the damage has been limited."
Urla added a few more words.
Her terse response only deepened his questions, but the female attendant quickly elaborated.
"The worms don't emerge from the wetlands, so the damage hasn't been that severe. However, they seem to have turned aggressive due to the influence of the barrier, so caution is necessary."
"I see..."
That was a remarkably clear explanation.
He thought that from the beginning, the female attendant should have been the one speaking instead of Urla.
"Come to think of it... it may be belated, but Urla and the others are coming along too."
He had already set foot on the plains, but Urla and the female attendant had followed along as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
She didn't look like a fighter at all, but... was she going to be okay?
"I don't... have any problems."
"My lady may not look it, but she is a master of archery. She won't be a burden, I assure you."
"She's here... let's do this!"
"Oh my, a monster has already appeared up ahead... My lady is requesting that you leave this one to her."
"...Fine."
From up ahead, a black lizard the size of a calf came lumbering toward them.
Though it was called a lizard, its overall form was rather plump.
If anything, it was closer to a giant salamander.
"Let's do this."
Urla swiftly drew her bow and arrows.
She nocked an arrow onto a shortbow and released it without a sound.
"Gyeh...!"
The loosed arrow flew straight and was sucked into the lizard's head.
The lizard collapsed to the ground, twitching in convulsions, and soon stopped moving altogether.
"That's some incredible skill..."
Rest offered his honest admiration.
It wasn't just the raw skill itself — the speed from draw to release was astonishing.
And there hadn't been a single sound from the moment she drew her bow to the moment she fired.
(This was the kind of archery you'd expect from a hunter... or maybe even an assassin...)
Rest always kept the presence detection magic active, but if he were targeted by Urla without it, he doubted he could dodge.
He might not even realize the battle had begun before being shot through and killed.
"...Ahem."
Urla puffed out her small chest proudly.
Was it his imagination, or did she look like a puppy that had just learned a trick, asking to be praised, to be praised.
"That's amazing. Really impressive."
Without thinking, he reached out to pat Urla's head... but Rest stopped himself just in time.
No matter how good a relationship they were building, it would be rude to lay hands on another house's noble young lady.
"...Disappointed."
Was it his imagination, or did Urla's shoulders slump just a little as she pursed her lips.