Without any warning or omen.
The Second Wave struck without warning.
Normally, there would be some kind of omen.
That was why the subjugators had always been able to respond fully prepared.
In truth, Forest Waves resulted in fewer deaths than regular subjugation requests.
That was because the three houses and the guild cooperated to carry them out, with preparations in place.
But this time, that hadn't been possible.
Still, many of the veterans had made preparations in advance, so they managed in time.
But the truly unprecedented part was still to come.
Lining the Hyzen Great Forest from one end to the other were Crystal Beasts.
And spider women.
Even the battle-hardened subjugators who had joined from the Second Wave were thoroughly bewildered and shocked.
Monsters that had never once been seen before, joining the battle.
And they were female-type monsters as beautiful as dolls.
White skin with a texture reminiscent of porcelain somewhere.
Four red eyes. Both arms bore a black striped pattern.
Their hair was spider legs. They were unmistakably spider women.
Some spider women were even straddling Crystal Beasts or spiders.
The whole sight looked like the army of some tribe.
The number was close to ten thousand. About the same as the First Wave. But the quality was worlds apart.
On the other side, the slayers — including those who'd joined in from the Second — numbered around six thousand in the front line.
Some of the slayers understood that something was happening in the Heizen Great Forest.
But this was completely unexpected.
Never before had something entirely unknown come rushing at them as an enemy.
Thanks to years of slayer activity, the monsters of the Heizen Great Forest had been thoroughly catalogued.
The catalogued monsters would rotate to form a Forest Wave.
This was common knowledge among Heizen's slayers.
But now a new species from the Heizen Great Forest was forming a Forest Wave and attacking.
Rookies and veterans alike were shaken, and the turbulent Second Wave began.
We were heading toward the joint clan for the "Kizumono" hunt.
The joint clan referred to Gouro's hunting squad and the Kuun Hunt.
With our Relics rendered unusable, we figured there had to be some connection to the "Kizumono."
So we decided to check on what was happening with the "Kizumono."
How the "Kizumono" hunt was going right now was unclear.
We didn't know where the joint clan was within the "Kizumono's" territory, either.
So we decided to head to the hunting village used by the joint party.
"It's like we're doing a tour of the hunting villages or something," he said.
"Yeah."
Galado gave a wry smile at Bid's remark.
"But still, what was that about?"
"That was some earthquake, huh?"
It had only just happened.
An earthquake struck out of nowhere and left us standing there, frozen in place.
It was so violent that numerous trees snapped and crashed to the ground.
"As far as I know, an earthquake has never once occurred in the Heisen Great Forest."
"I never saw one during my stay there either."
"We had earthquakes... in Hydrangea's dungeon too."
"That was caused by dungeon anomalies, wasn't it?"
"Is that so? I'd heard about the dungeon anomalies, but..."
"It was a huge land catfish. We joined the subjugation team."
"Ah, right, you were a former member of 'Zen Brave'..."
Oops, Nabel.
Galado, who knew nothing about any of this, asked.
"Is that no longer the case?"
"...'Zen Brave' disbanded."
"I see. Sorry about that."
"I'm sorry too."
Galado and Nabel both apologized.
Bid laughed.
"I'm already over it, so it's fine."
"Spider women came out again, eh."
Several spider women came swarming out.
"Annoying, isn't it."
Bid fired the composite bow's "Kimkwee."
Nice headshot. Galado and Nabel slashed through the nearby spider women.
Hoss deflected attacks with practiced ease and cut them down. I took out about two myself.
"What's been going on since a while ago, eh?"
"They suddenly appeared."
"But the air doesn't feel bad."
"Yeah. Strange, eh."
Even though the spider women had shown up, there was no heavy, oppressive feeling.
That was good in its own way, but it was somehow eerie.
"...What's going on, I wonder."
Nabel suddenly muttered.
I couldn't help but ask.
"What's wrong?"
"Wof. This might sound like a weak thing to say, but cutting down monsters that look like women is... a little hard."
"Ah... I know what you mean."
I'd been thinking the same thing.
It has four eyes and hair like spider legs, but its overall appearance is that of a woman.
Whether it's camouflage or not, continuing to cut down something that so clearly takes the form of a woman gets harder.
If they were dirty old men or villains, I wouldn't think twice no matter how many I cut down.
— ...I know how you feel.
— Me too. But they come at us, so it can't be helped, right?
— I'm landing headshots too, but it doesn't exactly feel great.
— That's why we need to figure out what's causing the dungeon to go haywire and put a stop to it as fast as we can.
— Right.
— ...We don't know how much longer Ruma will hold on either.
— Same goes for the Poor Man's Club girl.
— There's a lot on everyone's minds.
Everyone has something they're carrying.
Those burdens are finite. So I'm sure the sense of urgency is real.
And even for those not directly carrying those burdens, there's still the desire to do something about it.
Everyone feels the same way.
But we have far too little information.
We haven't even begun to see what it is we're truly up against.
Fighting without information puts us at a severe disadvantage.
Garado understands that too.
That's why he's scrambling to move pieces around and gather intelligence.
"But to be able to move this far without resting — the witch's water is amazing."
"That's our witch for you."
"Yeah. Gotta hand it to the witch on this one."
"Which means gratitude to her apprentice, Wof-san, too!"
"Ha ha ha…"
A dry, forced smile from me.
There is no such thing as witch's water. Its true identity is elixir.
Since we didn't have time to rest, I decided to recover using elixir.
I can't exactly say "it's elixir, you know," so I'm calling it witch's water.
Of course, they were suspicious about the abnormally fast recovery of both body and mind, but once I said "witch's water," they bought it.
That witch sure is trusted.
For the record, I did not get the witch's permission. This is retroactive approval.
"I can see it now. That's it!"
Mr. Garado points ahead.
The Finger Rock, emblem of the subjugation village, towered before us.
It looked like a thumb standing straight up.
"Just a rock, huh."
"The subjugation village here is inside the Finger Rock. It's the safest subjugation village in the Hyzan Great Forest."
"But earlier, inside the village… there were people, right?"
Ms. Navel speaks up timidly.
So much for the safety myth.
"Yeah, so be careful out there."
We drew our weapons and advanced with caution.
When we got close to the entrance of the subjugation village, the gates were shut.
Well, that was only natural, but it still made us hesitate.
"So they haven't shown up yet?"
"Or an enemy closed it."
"But, um, they didn't seem like the type to have that kind of intelligence."
"Can't tell which. That's exactly why we've got Wof."
Garado said this with complete confidence.
I'd always thought so, but this guy was a lot like Agaro.
Not in looks—the atmosphere, the way he carried himself. Strikingly similar.
Dependable, knowledgeable, someone you could count on. Both their names even had "Ga" in them.
Come to think of it, in this world—well, maybe just on this continent—a lot of men had short, three-letter names.
Mine was three letters. Same with Hoss.
And they all sounded like Middle Eastern names from my past life memories.
Plus the "XX-ro" pattern was hard to miss. Gauro, Agaro—the same deal.
Others too: Lagaro. Ouro. Buzaro. Ebaro. Mazuro. Dooro. Gouro, and so on.
Anyway, with that tangent out of my system, I activated Danger Discernment.
No red. No black. It was white.
"Nobody's here. It's safe."
"Good. Let's go in."
Garado unlocked the gate, and once we stepped inside, he closed it behind us.
The Thumb Rock was hollowed out at the very top, and luminescent moss — the kind you'd see inside a dungeon — clung to the rocky surface.
Maybe because of its thumb-like shape, the interior was surprisingly spacious.
A tavern. A bar. A general store. A weapon shop. A guild branch. And a church — all dotted around.
The ground was paved edge to edge with stone, forming proper roads.
Plants had been planted, and there was even a stream. It was so well-maintained you'd never guess you were inside a rock.
Hm? Someone was running toward us from up ahead.
That was... Pakira?
"Bid!"
"Pakira!"
Bid couldn't help himself and dashed forward, wrapping Pakira in a hug.
The two of them held each other tightly. We watched, feeling a bit warm inside, as we drew closer.
"You're safe, then."
"We were worried."
"Sorry. The forest changed on me all of a sudden. Got turned around."
"Pakira. What about Lupinus and Riv?"
"...Lupinus is taking care of someone."
"Don't tell me — is it Riv?"
I panicked. Riv, of all people...
"No, it was some man I picked up along the way."
"A man?"
My curiosity was piqued, but I felt relieved.
It was a good thing it wasn't Riv.
"Besides... well, never mind. Let's talk about the details inside."
"Right."
"This way."
We were led to a two-story inn.
Pakira went to call Lupinus, and then we headed upstairs.
Lupinus appeared almost immediately.
"Everyone. You made it back safely, I see."
Lupinus's eyes welled up with tears as she beamed with joy.
"...The man you rescued — he's on the second floor?"
"Yes, he's sleeping right now."
"Mind if I take a look?"
"Of course. Let me show you."
Garado was led upstairs by Lupinus.
I turned to Pakira and asked.
"Um, what about Riv?"
"Where's Riv?"
"Can't see him nowhere."
"…………He ain't here."
"Huh?"
Pakira kept her head down and spoke in a trembling voice.
"Riv ain't here."
"……Gone……wh-what do you mean!?"
The shock hit me.
Riv was gone.