126

Whether this really deserved to be called “a sheltered bed” was debatable, but I did find a spot that looked like it would be fine even if it rained.

In short, it was a ramshackle hut with about half its exterior boards missing.

There were traces that someone had once used it as a storage shed, and it had probably been built several decades ago.

(Judging from the state of the interior and the dust, it felt like it had been abandoned for at least ten years.)

I had no idea what purpose the Kingdom’s people had in mind when they built a storage hut way out here, but if no one was using it now, then I could make free use of it.

Its durability and appearance left a lot to be desired, but my luggage and at least half my body should have been safe from the rain.

Thinking that, I set down my pack and lowered myself to sit—only for the floor to give way.

My backside fit neatly into the hole, and I flicked my tail around in the space beneath.

My tail smashed into something with a sharp whip—and a shattering crash rang up through my rear at the same time.

I pulled my butt free for the moment, straightened up, and checked the space underneath.

“So that was a jar that broke, huh…”

It had been an empty jar, so there was no real problem, but from the remains it might have been a water jug or something similar.

Further inspection turned up a ladder and what looked like household items, so I guessed this had once been a living space.

Which raised the question of why a storage shed that needed such a space would be out in a place like this.

(It really was starting to feel like I was ticking all the boxes for “this was connected to some criminal organization,” wasn’t it.)

Driven by curiosity, I searched thoroughly and found a box that was heavily sealed and covered in dust.

I forced open the metal lock and peeked inside; what came out was a bag of unknown material that felt like it would be water-resistant—when I turned it upside down, fine white powder poured smoothly out.

“Yeah, that’s a total no-go!”

No matter how you looked at it, it was some kind of hard drug.

That confirmed this place had been part of a smuggling route for that sort of thing.

The fact that the goods were still here suggested the perpetrators had probably been arrested, I thought optimistically, and carefully buried the white powder in the soil to dispose of it.

I checked for any others just in case, but that seemed to be the only one left, which was a relief.

I smashed through the floor in grand fashion and used scrap wood and the like to create a space big enough for my massive body to sit.

I decided that was good enough for basic rain protection.

It was a truly shabby makeshift base, but the mere fact it had a roof put it above a lot of options.

“Luxury is the enemy,” I said with my mouth, while attacking people for the sake of luxury.

I was a monster, after all; it could not be helped.

In any case, by messing around with materials from the surroundings, I managed—not perfectly, but well enough—to hide the underground section.

Now I could leave my pack here and move around the area without worry.

There was still time until sunset, but I wanted to finish hunting for dinner early.

(Looked like it was going to rain. Come to think of it, I had not experienced rain in the forest since taking on this form.)

I remembered several days of rain back when I was in the elf village—or rather, when I was pretending to be under the control magic—but I had not experienced it in the forest itself even once.

It would not be a bad idea to observe what changes the rain brought.

The next morning—half my body stuck into the underground space, lying there like I was soaking in a bathtub—I woke up and looked up at the sky.

It was still overcast, but my ears caught the faint sound of raindrops falling and popping lightly.

It had rained as expected, but only as the lightest of drizzles.

“This much shouldn’t have much effect,” I said as I stood up—and then I saw, right where I was looking, a writhing mass of bugs.

I reflexively jerked back with a “whoa,” then realized the insects were swarming exactly where I had buried the white powder yesterday.

“…So that dangerous ‘medicine’ had been the bug-attracting kind, huh?”

Or maybe it simply had some smell they liked?

Watching it was not pleasant in the least, and the swarm was uncomfortably close to my makeshift base, so I mercilessly breathed fire and blew the whole clump of insects away.

Confirming that my magic training was going well, I grabbed a shovel, dug a hole, and moved the soil from where I had buried the drug over to that spot.

Then I covered it with more dirt and tamped it down with my feet to finish the job.

“Well then, let’s go get breakfast”—the moment I left my temporary base, I got hit by a full-on downpour.

I had figured, “The trees are all dense and leafy, it’ll be fine even if it rains a bit,” but the rain was much heavier than I had expected.

(At this rate I won’t even be able to start a fire… and what about the gear in my base?)

My worries proved justified, and I found a bit of water had seeped into the underground section.

For a moment I thought, “So this base was useless after all,” but on closer inspection I realized the real cause was that I had damaged the area around the floor when I smashed it open to make it easier for myself to get in.

I had not left my gear directly on the floor, so it was fine for now, but once the water started pooling, this place would become unusable.

Honestly, the world really did not go your way.

Just as I was thinking, “If only I had something waterproof right now,” I suddenly remembered the blue tarp I had tossed out for being in the way.

Was this the curse of the blue tarp I had written off as useless and thrown away?

Come to think of it, I dimly recalled deciding to bring it as a substitute rain cover.

For the moment, I moved only my luggage to a safe spot where it would not get wet and headed out to see if I could find something—or somewhere—better.

My hunt had been interrupted, so I was operating on an empty stomach, but skipping one meal did not really matter.

Being soaked by the rain only made me feel a little chilly at most, and in this body, even that was not something I truly needed to worry about.

However, I did discover a problem caused by the rain.

It was a decline in my ability to explore.

The sound of the rain interfered with sound-based detection.

Naturally, the same applied to smell, so in this state it was hard—almost impossible, really—to use my usual capabilities.

It was only because the downpour was this heavy, I thought, but it was still something I needed to keep in mind.

It might even be worth measuring just how much my abilities dropped at different levels of rainfall.

Since it was a perfect opportunity, I experimented with various things as I moved closer to the town—when suddenly, voices reached my ears.

(The distance wasn’t that great. Normally I would have picked them up much earlier.)

Keeping myself hidden, I crept toward the source of the sound.

The hammering rain made it impossible to make out what they were saying, but there were definitely two female voices.

I crouched low and moved slowly.

In my line of sight, beneath a large fallen tree leaning against the neighboring trunk, I saw two women.

They had made a fire in that rain-free spot; both removed the leather breastplates they were wearing and set them down next to their propped-up bows.

They looked to be hunters.

I hunched down further so they would not notice me and watched from behind a tree.

Downpouring rain, women soaked by it, a campfire at their side—in other words, there was only one thing that could happen next.

My chest swelled with anticipation as I watched their movements… and, just as I had expected, the two of them began taking off their wet jackets.

I pumped a tiny fist in a quiet victory pose and kept watching as they held their jackets out toward the fire with both hands.

But the two of them simply stayed there, practically frozen in place, warming themselves by the flames.

(…Huh? They’re not taking off their underwear?)

As I sat there disappointed, raindrops continued to fall mercilessly through the gaps in the branches and along the leaves.