"Ranga," Rimuru muttered, glancing back at his own shadow.
A moment later the massive leader of the tempest wolves in question emerged, the shadow seeming to become almost fluid as he leapt out of it. "Yes, master?"
"I want you to go with them, just in case something happens." Rimuru mused, causing Ranga to nod and walk forward to join us.
"Fear not, master. With me by their side they'll have nothing to fear."
"Thanks, Ranga."
"There is no need for such thanks, master. After all, this is my duty." The large tempest wolf barked, tail wagging as he turned to me. "Lady Suu, please feel free to ride on my back."
"O-okay." I muttered awkwardly.
(I guess I finally get to try this; however, it does feel kind of weird riding on my friend.) I thought to myself only to pause for a second afterwards, my face turning a little red at how dirty that ended up sounding.
"Be safe out there, guys." Rimuru hummed as he waved bye to us.
"Don't worry, my lord, we'll be fine." Rigur said as he mounted his wolf.
"Yeah! There's nothing out there that we can't handle." Gobta grinned as we started moving away.
(Why do I feel like Gobta just jinxed us with that?) I thought, waving back at Rimuru as we left.
What followed was a long walk; we moved down a dirt path in a somewhat straight line. The path itself was nothing fancy, just a strip of ground that had been thoroughly cleared of greenery by the hobgoblins. Why weren't we heading right into the forest you might be asking? Well, because Rigur had said we needed to make some distance between us and the town. This was mainly because most of the bigger creatures would know to avoid the village thanks to the presence of so many powerful beings living there.
The forest around us looked normal for the most part. I did notice a few things that stood out, but for what i could tell it was mostly the same as what I had seen from within the village. The only thing that really surprised me was a withered grey tree I saw off in the distance as we passed by; it really felt off to me. And that's not just because everything around it was smothered in layers of roots covered in thorns, and its central body had dozens of creepy faces growing across its surface.
I asked Ranga about it and he told me that it was probably a plant-type monster called a withered weeper. It wasn't really an active threat and simply used its insanely long and poisonous roots for defence. The reason for its name was the fact that the faces covering its trunk looked like they were constantly crying streams of purple tears; those tears were in fact highly toxic sap.
"So... what exactly will we be looking for? Is there a specific type of creature you're planning to hunt?" I asked, trying to break the silence that had settled between us.
Honestly, I was just trying to distract myself from my growing nervousness; thankfully someone eventually spoke up in response. "That's a good question. I mean, we're not exactly short on options."
(Now that I think about it, I actually have practically no knowledge about the monsters and beasts that live here; I probably should have asked more about that before now.) I thought to myself as I listened to the debate I had accidentally caused.
"How about an emerald hawk? They are super tasty and big enough to feed the whole town." One of the hobgoblins suggested, getting a thoughtful look from the others.
"Knight Spiders are way tastier." Gobta chimed in with his own opinion.
"Sure, but they are also way more dangerous to hunt and far less common." Another hobgoblin pointed out before continuing with their own point of view. "We should be going for something safer to hunt and easier to locate while also being delicious, like blood rays. You can find large numbers of them in most lakes and ponds around here after all."
"While all of them are great options, it really depends on what we come across." Rigur sighed, shaking his head slightly. "Normally I'd suggest we find a bulldeer or two for a festival; however, if we encounter something else then who knows."
"Okay, got it." The other hobgoblins said in unison, although that didn't stop them from bickering, something that caused Rigur to roll his eyes in amusement.
(I have no idea what any of those things are...) I hummed internally. (I can make some assumptions by the names, but I'd still appreciate more information.)
With that in mind I turned my attention down to my mount. "Hey, Ranga."
"Yes, my lady?"
"Could you tell me more about the creatures living around here? Anything will do; I just thought I should learn what I can while we have a little time." I asked curiously.
"I would be honoured to educate you, my lady!" He woofed, tilting his head slightly so he could look back at me. "Let's start with the four that were just mentioned, shall we?"
"Sure."
And so my education of the surrounding area began. Ranga didn't just tell me about the various monsters and beasts in the area; he also told me where I could expect to find them. This information not only helped me form a rudimentary mental map of the immediate vicinity but also made me realise that this place was far more dangerous than I had expected.
The more common creatures he told me about, giant bears that could rip through trees with ease, bats that can bite a normal person in half, or even giant chickens that can turn you to stone, were one thing, but there was so much more out there. He, of course, couldn't tell me everything he knew in the short time we had, but it was enough to make me anxious. And yes, I understood that as a phoenix I was probably pretty high up on the food chain, so to speak; however, that didn't change the fact that I still had very little experience when it came to actually using my abilities in general, let alone using them in combat.
(I really need to get better at using my skills... maybe I can ask Rimuru to teach me?) I thought to myself as I continued to listen to Ranga.
(On that note, I should probably try and learn more about this world's history and languages; maybe I can get great sage to tutor me or something.) I mused internally, the idea was something I was honestly rather interested in.
"I still think Knight Spiders are the best," Gobta said from off to my right.
The hobgoblin next to him simply shook their head, clear annoyance on their face. "I keep telling you that they are too uncommon. I'm not disagreeing with you; they taste great, I'm just saying that we don't have the time to hunt one down if we have to get back for a festival before nightfall."
"Are you two still going on about this?" Rigur sighed at them.
(At least they're having fun, I guess...) I thought, shaking my head as I glanced around.
We had just arrived in a small clearing a few moments ago and were taking a second to prepare before we began hunting. Up until this point things had honestly been pretty peaceful, all things considered, but it was about to get a bit more chaotic. And yeah, while I wouldn't actually be taking part in the hunting, for the most part I'd be watching from the sidelines, I still hoped things went well.
"Are you all right, my lady?" Ranga asked, bringing me back to the present.
"S-sorry, what did you say?" I asked, not having heard him.
He took a moment to look back at me before replying. "I asked if you were all right. You have been quiet for a while now."
"Oh, I'm fine." I coughed awkwardly. "I was just thinking about... everything..." I mumbled, trailing off as I felt a sudden shift in the air.
"My lady?" Ranga barked, but I didn't answer; my focus was elsewhere.
(The wind? Why is it... is it my skil-?) I tried to think, but my vision was suddenly blinded by a flash of bluish-gray light.
"What was that?" I asked, shielding my eyes with my arm.
"I don't know." Ranga hissed.
"Hey, hey, you all right?!" Gobta's panicked shout immediately got our attention.
Turning, we saw everyone expect Gobta and Rigur had collapsed, their bodies now laying on the ground completely unresponsive. "They're asleep?" Rigur said, checking over the Tempest Wolf he had been riding.
For a moment I was confused until I felt it, my Magic Sense skill picked it up the moment they came into range. "Someone... someone's coming..."
"Show yourself." Ranga growled; he had clearly noticed their approach as well.
They came from ahead of us, six of them, each with a slightly different appearance. Despite their differences, however, it was clear they were of the same species. Some of them looked more bestial in appearance while others looked far more human-like, but the one thing they all had in common was their horns. Some had only one while others had two, but they all had horns growing from their foreheads.
Additionally, they were all wearing similar clothing, kimonos, leather armour with segmented and rigid sections, and so on, the kind of stuff you'd probably see in feudal Japan. However, what truly alarmed me was their weapons, not the weapons themselves, but the fact that the newcomers looked very ready to use them. And since there was no one else here, it wasn't hard to figure out who they were planning to use them against.
"Ogres?" Ranga snarled, baring his teeth threateningly.
"What are they doing here?" Rigur muttered to himself.
(Why... why do I feel like this is Gobta's fault...?)