Afternoon. The Hyzen Great Forest.
It appeared before us with no warning, sitting alone on a grassy clearing where the trees gave way.
"What the heck is that?"
"What do you mean 'what'? It's a treasure chest."
"Well, yeah, but..."
"The question is why there'd be a treasure chest out there."
"Right?"
Yep. A treasure chest.
From any angle, it was unmistakably a treasure chest — glittering and radiant.
The surface was red, the lid and body trimmed in gold, with a large keyhole.
A magnificent treasure chest. You could tell the material was metal — not wood, not stone.
"...A treasure chest, huh."
"Obviously."
"Yeah..."
"...Wof."
"There's no doubt. It's an enemy."
I had already performed Danger Discernment.
Red. Which meant that treasure chest was a mimic.
For starters, it was fishy that such an impressive treasure chest would be sitting alone in the middle of a forest.
It's so suspicious that I'm actually worried about what to do if it turns out NOT to be a mimic.
I casually ask a question.
"...Garado, has anything like this happened before?"
"No. I've been in the Great Forest for a long time, but this is the first time I've seen something this blatant."
So there have been ones that weren't this blatant.
"I ain't had the experience neither."
"It feels like the dungeon already knows it's been found out, so it just stopped trying, doesn't it?"
"Ahaha, and that's why we've got this?"
I can't help but laugh dryly.
I think it's a bit much, even for giving up entirely.
"So then, what're we gonna do?"
We could ignore it. We could engage it.
You don't have to hold up an umbrella on a rainy day. That's what freedom is all about.
Garado thinks for a moment before speaking.
"You know what, Nabel. Good opportunity. Go fight it for a bit."
"Me!?"
"Mimics are great experience."
At Garado's words, Nabel nodded.
"Understood."
"Stay sharp out there!"
Yes!
Nabel answered and grabbed the hilt of Urufeg's blade as she closed in on the mimic.
She crept closer, inch by careful inch — then vanished in an instant.
That was the One Step.
The mimic must have sensed the distance between them hitting zero, because the lid of the treasure chest swung open on its own.
Inside were two eyeballs. The lid and the rim of the box were lined with organic teeth.
Perfectly white teeth — the kind you'd see in a human with no cavities — stood in a neat row along the edge.
They looked healthy, which made the sight all the more viscerally disgusting.
I don't want to get bitten by that. I don't want to get bitten by that.
"Iai!"
Nabel drew her blade in a sweeping slash, but it struck the mimic's lid. Shallow.
It snapped at her, and Nabel scrambled backward.
"She needs a form. A proper technique."
Garado muttered under his breath.
"A technique?"
"She's got good instincts and plenty of talent, but she's the self-taught type."
"Fair enough..."
"If only she had a proper example to model after. I can't pull off anything that nimble myself."
Garado was all brawn, no finesse.
"How about Bid? It's the same principle — draw and cut."
Hmm. It looks similar to my Swift Feet, but it's actually something completely different.
His was more like the iai of a blind master I remembered from my past life.
They looked similar but were totally different.
Wait, now that I think about it, wasn't there someone who used iai?
I feel like I fought someone like that... Ah! There it was! A perfect match!
I might be able to show this.
"Nabel, got a second?"
"Oh, sure. What is it?"
"Sorry about this, but that mimic — could you leave it to me?"
"Huh, but that's—"
"In exchange, I'll show you an iai form."
Nabel's eyes went wide.
"Iai... you mean?"
"Oh? That sounds interesting."
"You can do that, huh?"
"Wof. Can you pull it off? Iai."
"Well, it's just imitation, but I think I can manage. What would you like me to do?"
"P-please, I'm counting on you!!"
Nabel bowed deeply. You really didn't need to go that far.
I gave Nabel a small nod.
Well, time to get to it.
I grab the knife in front of me.
This one hasn't seen any use yet, so it's perfect.
I won't use Agaro's Modified Knife 3.
That one cuts too cleanly — I wouldn't be able to tell whether the iai itself had any power behind it.
I take my stance, gripping it in place.
Recalling that moment, I trace with Level Move.
My trace target is a First-Class Explorer.
The iai of "One-Cut Bisector" Kaede Akima.
It's presumptuous to imitate a master, but I'll muddle through as best I can.
Please, forgive me. I match every gesture and footwork to the letter, step in, and swing the knife.
"Oni Ichimonji!"
The drawn blade traced a line and bisected the mimic clean through.
At the same time, the knife I'd been using—
The oversized blade with its axe-like curved tip and wicked edge—shattered into pieces.
The blade really did break apart in spectacular fashion. Ah, well.
It was a tribal knife, its surface carved with decorations reminiscent of the Nazca and Inca civilizations from my memories of my past life.
A stone knife. So there were limits to cutting through a metal mimic after all.
No. I'm simply not skilled enough.
If I had Kaede's mastery, even a stone knife wouldn't have shattered against metal.
But I should have at least shown the form.
"……………"
"Impressive."
"As expected."
"Now that's some real skill. Whose technique is that?"
"It's Kaede, from 'Ittō Ryōdan Sai.'"
When we fought at the ruins of Hydrangea's arena, she used iai.
I tried to recall it as best I could and put it to use with [Revmuv].
"Isn't that a big shot? And 'Impregnable' on top of that."
"I've fought her before."
"So you picked it up from that? That's something."
"No. I only barely managed to pull it off."
I glanced at the shattered stone knife and let out a small sigh.
More than that, Nabel's lack of response was bothering me.
"……………"
"H-how is it? Nabel."
"……………"
"U-um..."
Nabel, who had been silent with her head bowed this whole time, was starting to scare me.
Was my form still too immature after all?
As I was reflecting that even Rev Move had its limits, she suddenly raised her head and looked at me.
"Wan! Wof-san!"
"Whoa!"
She grabbed my hand with a powerful grip.
Wait—she barked?
"Thank you so much! I feel like the fog in front of my eyes has cleared!"
"Um... I'm glad I could help."
"Wan. Yes!"
A nice smile. It seemed to have worked out.
Nabel's tail was wagging at incredible speed.
And she definitely barked just now, right?
So it wasn't just Juicy.
As expected of a tobacco shop's black winged dog.
Anyway, the mimic's contents turned out to be a high potion.
I didn't need it, so I gave it to Garado.
As for the mimic's remains, I left them be.
The dungeon would absorb them eventually anyway.
I also went ahead and placed the broken stone knife inside the box.
After that, we continued on without incident, and a large rock appeared through the gaps in the trees.
Finger Rock. Meaning we'd finally reached our destination—the Subjugation Village.
This Subjugation Village, just like the Hyzen Plains, was situated on top of Finger Rock.
But it wasn't nearly as high up as the one there.
It was more like a flat platform, and apparently monsters never attacked Finger Rock.
Finger Rock was probably the equivalent of a dungeon's safety area.
The Subjugation Village we arrived at had, as expected, only the bare minimum of buildings.
Two weapon shops. Two armor shops. One tavern. One general store. Several inns.
Plus one guild branch office. That was it—just a watchtower besides.
Still, the sight of buildings alternating on either side really did look like one of those old Westerns from my past life.
"The guild owns this place, but we've got permission to use it."
Garado said as he unlocked the door to the largest inn.
"The guild master and the Poor Man's Club are comrades, you know."
"Wait—so the head is..."
"A deer."
"............"
Make up your minds.
After that, we sorted out our rooms at the inn.
"'Torquetam' doesn't seem to be here yet."
Bidd said, having taken a quick stroll around the Subjugation Village.
He was probably worried. I let out a breath.
"They'll be here soon."
"Garado. For the general goods shop, can I really take whatever I want and use it?"
"Yeah, the weapon shop, the armor shop — everything's already paid for, so help yourself."
Huh. I'm not interested in the weapon shop or the armor shop, but the general goods shop is another story.
"Wof. Got any dried meat?"
"I do."
I pulled a chunk of dried meat from my pouch and handed it to Bidd.
I'd been making it on the road to Haizen, and kept drying more in between things after we arrived.
"Thanks."
"Here, I've got something new."
I casually brought out some dried goods.
Actually, I'd used this opportunity to try making several pieces of overnight-dried fish.
"Fish?"
"It's been dried overnight. If you'd like some, go ahead."
"Thanks."
Overnight drying is simple. You butterfly the fish and fillet it into three pieces.
Sprinkle salt over the whole thing, dry it overnight, and leave the rest to the breeze.
The hideout's rooftop was just the right spot, so I'd set up a simple drying rack there and used it.
"Maybe I'll try smoking next."
"Smoking?"
"Yeah, I've been thinking about giving it a try."
If there are no chips, herbs are always an option.
Back in my past life, I remembered there was an herb boom, and herbal smoking got popular too.
Once this whole business is over, I'll give it a try.
Bid-san smiled.
"Looking forward to it!"
"Ha ha, I'll make something tasty."
I'll need to build a smoker first.
I know how to make a simple one out of cardboard.
But there's no cardboard in this world. Maybe I can adapt the idea using wooden crates.
We headed back to the inn together, parted ways with Bid-san, and I went to the kitchen to greet Hoss.
Perfect timing—I handed over the dried meat and dried fish. He said he'd use them for tonight's dinner.
After hitting the restroom, I was walking down the corridor when I heard voices from the courtyard.
Nabel was practicing her iai forms under Galad's instruction.
Nabel's really putting in the work.
Maybe it paid off that I showed her the demonstration—her movements look different now.
Galad had his arms crossed, calling out "Good." Was he coaching her?
Cheering her on silently in my heart, I returned to my room and unbuckled my belt.
"Nya!"
With a little spin, out popped Dagaar.
I couldn't help but smile wryly.
"Good morning."
"Nya?"
"No, I overslept."
"Nya!"
She vehemently protested that she hadn't, but no, I had definitely overslept.
I washed up in the room and lay down on the bed for a bit of rest.
Since the sun had fully set, we all ate dinner together and took it easy.
We played a card game to kill time.
Dagaar was overwhelmingly good. What even is this creature.
Garado looked solemn, and Bid, who'd finished dead last, groaned.
"As expected… of the Queen."
"So it was her, after all."
What were they talking about?
And so I spent my first night in the Hydrangea Great Forest.
It was a very peaceful night.
Deep into the night.
I couldn't quite fall asleep, so I went up to the roof of the inn for a change of pace.
There was someone already there.