Since we only passed by the Table Mountains before, we decided to investigate it at least once.
Riding the carriage Tsubaki pulls for the first time in a while, we headed south at full speed.
Traveling with us were our usual members and Sylph and Dryas. We didn’t bring the pipsqueaks this time. In the first place, we’d be exploring monster nests, so of course we couldn’t take them along.
At such a time, having something on her mind this entire time, Sophia asked a fundamental question.
「The Table Mountains are fine, but how would we climb that high, vertical mountain?」
「A reasonable question. It’ll be okay, I’ll go up alone then teleport you guys. As you would expect, the only one who would really be able to climb that would be Kaede, after all.」
Yep, I’ll make footholds using attributeless magic 『Shield』, while using Wind magic concurrently, otherwise I think it would be impossible to climb.
◇ ◇
Finally, the Table Mountains which was over 1000m high in elevation and the vast forest at its foot came into view on the left side.
「This is probably the biggest monster nest in the western savage lands.」
To pass through the forest, Tsubaki returned to the Subspace because her body is too large, the carriage was stored in the Item Box, and everyone checked their equipment. My weapon will be the 【Zekken】[1] for the first time in a long while. Sophia is equipped with her sword and circle shield, Maria with her usual spear, Kaede is at the lead with her claws, Marnie with twin daggers, and Laeva with her staff that can be used as a spear as well. Akane who seems to be devoted to being a rear guard is equipped with a staff, and Lulu-chan is wearing a breastplate over her maid clothes and has a war hammer modelled after a mop. With everyone wearing their respective mithril alloy-made armor and matching overcoats, our preparations are complete and we pushed through the forest as we headed for the Table Mountains.
Because Kaede would instakill assailing monsters with her threads and claws, we typically don’t get a chance.
「Master, the monsters in this forest are not so strong, huh.」
「When compared to Kaede, majority of the monsters are small fries, so that can’t be helped.」
「Still, there are many monsters that I have never seen before living in this monster nest.」
「Rather than the new monsters, it’s tiring to walk in this difficult terrain.」
As Sophia was taking note of the types and characteristics of the monsters we encounter, Akane said she was tired with a fed up expression.
And true enough, a primeval forest that no man has set foot in made it feel as if the distance to the Table Mountains was more than double of what it actually is.
Thus far, we’ve been catching small animals, and small, seemingly harmless monsters and bugs and stowing them in a newly made subspace, and once we’re back in the Sanctuary, it might be a good idea to make a smaller wall inside the bulwark to protect the small animals. If we release the rabbit-type animals and monsters and wolf-like monsters and animals to prey on them in the eastern grasslands, it might make for a functional food chain. When we do so, it would be necessary to make walls for the residential areas as well.
But getting the balance right will probably be challenging. If the forest and copses take damage, we would have failed.
「Master, do we catch the monkey monsters?」
「No, it would be bad if they break into the orchard and fields so I’ll have to think about it the monkey-types.」
「Deer and deer-type monsters feed on sprouts and tree bark, causing it injury. Would they not invade the orchard and fields?」
「Sophia, when it comes to deer, both monster and animal are excellent as meat. The Elves have increased, so once we release the wolf-type monsters, their numbers would be regulated and I think it would be alright. Dryas and Sylph could probably also help with managing their numbers.」
Creating a natural ecosystem was difficult for human hands. But we have the Spirits (Great Spirits included) living in the Sanctuary. There is also the Spirit Tree that brings harmony just by being there. Furthermore, the Faeries, Elves, and Cat Siths were protectors of nature.
It was at this point that a floating Sylph appeared.
「I explored the forest, but it looks like it’s mostly safe with the exception of goblins and orcs.」
「Are the bugs also okay?」
「H~mm, I think they’re generally safe except for ants, but we’ll only go for butterflies and the like this time. If it’s things like butterflies then small birds can eat both the larvae and adult form, after all. And bees, you can make the Elves do the beekeeping.」
「Then we’ll need small birds too, won’t we?」
「Master, leave the small birds to Kaede!」
「You’re right, Kaede’s so great, catching small birds is a simple feat if it’s you, Kaede.」
「Eheheheーー」
When I caressed Kaede’s head in a grand manner, she was extremely happy though abash.
Afterwards, we continued safely through the dense forest.
If we headed straight for the Table Mountains, we would have probably reached it in 2 days, but we did extensive research of the forest at the foot of the mountains as if we were biologists.
It was not just animals and monsters either, we found plenty of new plants as well, so we had Dryas check them. She would explain each time as we travel, so we ended taking a whopping 4 days, double of what we had scheduled.
***
Footnotes:1. Typo. Raw says Sword of the Absorber, but those swords were actually already upgraded to Absolute Sword (Zekken) for Takumi and Sacred Sword (Seiken) for Sophia in Chapter 93.