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We both started at the same time—the sharp click of a tongue and a man’s voice yelling, “Damn it!” rang out at once.

Relieved that I could now deal with him without hesitation, I closed the distance in one burst.

But my moment of satisfaction was cut short when a dull pain shot through the soles of my feet.

(Whoa! He scattered metal fragments!)

The soles of my feet were not that tough, so they were more than enough to injure me.

The tools were clearly meant for use against humans, so they did not quite pierce my feet, but they certainly fulfilled their role of hindering my movement.

Thinking, “What a nuisance,” I swept my hands in front of me to clear the obstacles away, then pushed off hard and leaped.

I could have just stomped him from there, since I had no intention of letting him escape, but the small-built man moved with extraordinary agility and barely dodged with an acrobatic twist.

However, as I landed, I spread my arms and swept my left arm across, and the man, unable to dodge, was sent flying.

From the feel of it, I was pretty sure I had broken several of his bones.

On top of the damage from the fall, he probably would not be able to move for a while.

The man glared up at me between ragged breaths as I strolled up to him.

“You frog-eaters are using monsters now, are you!? You—!”

I tilted my head at that last part, but still finished off the small man.

At the same time, from the sounds around me, I judged that the group who had been exchanging light signals earlier had noticed what was happening here.

(Still… I had absolutely no idea what he was saying.)

There was not a single word I could pick out.

No, more than that—this was not even the Canaan Kingdom language.

(Huh? So this guy was from Canaan, and the people over there were from Seizeria?)

Unable to get a grip on the situation, I felt a bit confused.

Meanwhile, the two groups sensed something was wrong and were already moving away from this area.

The man’s last words came back to me.

“You frog-eaters”—that was a phrase Canaan’s people often used to mock Seizeria’s food culture.

The part I had not caught was probably just more insults, and not understanding it would not really change anything.

So those people had been from Seizeria, and this man had been watching them?

For what purpose?

(All I knew for sure was that I was completely lacking information. I had no clue what was going on.)

As a rough guess, if they were exchanging signals in the dark like this, they were probably intelligence agents of some sort.

If I assumed this man had been watching them, then he was likely in the same line of work—in other words, I had stumbled right into the middle of a counterintelligence operation.

(I see… If that was the case, then it made sense he would think the timing was too perfect and mistake me for a “monster controlled by Seizeria.”)

It was just a provisional scenario I had thrown together, but it was surprisingly plausible.

As I was patting myself on the back, thinking, “Maybe that really is how it is, I’ve been pretty sharp lately,” the Seizerian agents scattered and began to flee.

By the time I noticed, it was already too late.

Even if I wanted to deal with it, they were escaping in exactly the way I least wanted, making it practically impossible to silence them all.

Unless I went all out there was no chance, and if I went all out and still let even one escape, information would leak.

“Ah, crap,” I blurted out before realizing that, when I thought it through, I currently had no real reason to attack people from Seizeria.

At the very least, they had not done anything so critical that it warranted me taking the initiative against them.

(I have barely had any dealings with Seizerians to begin with, right? At most there was Boobs Lady, and I returned her sword properly.)

They might have reason to see me as an enemy simply because I was a monster, but if they knew what I could do in a fight, they would surely avoid a pointless battle.

Unless Boobs Lady turned out to be someone with noble-level authority, they were not likely to try to subjugate me without caring about casualties.

I watched them scatter like startled spiders while I just stood there, then lumbered off across the night grasslands.

My current objective was to improve the quality of my diet.

I had absolutely no need to chase them.

I definitely was not saying that just because, before I knew it, they had taken the one option I could not counter.

However, it was clear I could no longer make use of this route.

(If I was going to change locations… where would be good?)

Naturally, a highway with caravans going back and forth would be ideal.

But in such well-maintained places, there were almost no spots where I could hide this huge body of mine.

That was why I had chosen such a remote area in the first place, but—

(If I could not use this place anymore, then my next options were… yeah, I had one.)

There was a town that fit the bill perfectly.

It was a town that did not exist in my old knowledge, probably built for southern development.

Given its purpose, people and supplies were likely being sent there in droves.

Looking back, I had overlooked that convenient spot because I was worried about “hate control”, but now that our mutual hostility was beyond doubt, I had no hesitation about shifting my activities there.

(Although this did mean my actions would end up benefiting Seizeria even more…)

“Well, no need to worry about it,” I decided, and started moving toward my new destination.

Since I was less restricted at night, I figured I might as well get as close as possible.

And so, by the time dawn broke, I was in the forest.

For the time being, I had headed almost straight south toward the forest of the former Imperial territory, but that land was now claimed by both Canaan and Seizeria.

Obviously I could not just stroll right into such a place, so I veered west and ended up here.

(Man, that fortress really had a heavy atmosphere.)

Apparently, Carnash Fortress, which the Empire had once seized, was now in the hands of Canaan.

It looked like the reinforcement work would take a bit longer to finish, but as a frontline base against Seizeria, the number of people there was on a whole different level.

Even if I had become a monster, I had absolutely no intention of actively interfering in human conflicts.

So, being the socially aware monster I was, I avoided the fortress and stuck to the forest.

For the moment, I searched the area to secure breakfast and a place to sleep.

I did not find anywhere suitable as a bed, but I did manage to catch not one but two chickens.

There was no reason for them to be out here, so they were definitely livestock that had escaped.

I had let them get away last time, but this time I was going to enjoy them properly.

Wild meat had its own charm, but meat raised by human hands was something else entirely.

With that settled, I quickly processed and butchered them.

Plucking the feathers was a real chore, but by the time the meat was roasting, that effort would turn into a pleasant memory.

I secured a spot to build a fire, piled up stones to make a simple stove, then fed in dry leaves and branches as fuel and lit it.

I set a metal plate over it, oiled the surface, and waited for it to heat up.

The moment arrived—I laid the big cuts of chicken onto the hot plate.

The sound of the meat sizzling and the smell rising up put a smile on my face.

The seasoning was only salt, but the meal was thoroughly satisfying.

The difference in meat quality really was obvious.

Meat raised as livestock by humans simply tasted better.

After a short rest following the meal, I began cleaning up and felt someone’s gaze on me.

In reality, I was not actually sensing their gaze; it just felt like I was being watched from the sounds and smells, but saying I “felt a gaze” sounded cooler, so I went with that.

(Not human… but definitely bipedal.)

Given those conditions, it was probably that green guy.

They were not the type of creature that should have been active this early in the morning, so it was probably just a nearby individual drawn in by the smell of my cooking.

For those who lived in the forest, exterminating goblins on sight was basic manners.

I had just come up with that, but there really was no benefit to letting them live, and the longer you left them alive, the more the disadvantages piled up.

Just then, the goblin caught sight of me and bolted.

I let out a small breath and paused my cleaning.

With the metal plate in one hand and my pack on my back, I set off after the fleeing goblin.

They basically never acted alone.

There was almost certainly a pack waiting wherever it was running to, so I would let it lead me there and then wipe them out.