To The Wolf Hunt.

Five days have passed since then, making this the fifteenth day since I arrived in this land. Exactly two weeks have been dedicated to labyrinth exploration. Though it’s been less than half a month, the results achieved in that time are quite significant.

First, regarding the changes in the village…

The most notable is the leveling up of the villagers. The current population of the village is sixty-eight. Nearly half of them, thirty-two people, have reached Level 15 or higher in their initial professions.

The breakdown is as follows: fifteen members of the Warrior Corps led by Heimo the blacksmith; ten members of the Archer Squad led by Ethan the hunter; five members of the Mage Alliance centered around the tavern’s poster girl, Mia; and two Healers, the Village Chief and his wife. I plan to train the remaining fifteen able-bodied adults—excluding children under ten and the elderly like Old Man Eugen—within the next few days.

The leveled-up villagers have seen such an increase in stamina and physical ability that they move like different people. This has made manual labor progress at a remarkably faster pace. If things continue at this rate, they’ll become a group that could rival an average mercenary band. However, their actual combat experience is still thin, so I still need to be careful there.

Speaking of stamina, the improvement in their diet has played a huge role. Salt, oil, and meat are distributed in abundance, and even mushrooms have found their way onto the dinner table. This cold season is usually a time of chronic food shortages. But this year, a trip to the tavern provides meat rations without effort. The greatest effect of this has been the increase in smiles. I feel deeply that once people are liberated from a hand-to-mouth existence, they become surprisingly bright. The village is now overflowing with laughter.

For the record, the soft Giant Worm meat is easy to mince, and the “hamburgers” (easy for children and the elderly to eat) are incredibly popular. The Bat meat, which is similar to chicken, is lean and has won over the women, mostly served as simple salted skewers. The Rabbit meat has a firm texture, and the stew is a solid favorite among young and old alike.

But the absolute favorites remain the Great Pincer and Sea Turtle meat. Even when simply boiled in salt, people swarm over them. However, since I also need to secure portions for the Goblins, we’ve been running a bit low on general meat lately. I had high hopes for the new menu item, Branch-Horn Deer steak, but… while it was a massive hit, the supply was cut off almost immediately. Unfortunately, the Branch-Horn Deer is a large-scale species, and it turns out they don’t spawn very often. There are also some tricky circumstances making them hard to hunt, so finding a new meat supply is a challenge for the future.

Another major change was the improvement of the water situation. A well was completed in the center of the village, and the river water has become dramatically cleaner, so the fact that they no longer struggle for domestic water has made everyone very happy. Being able to drink safe water is great, but the massive reduction in the labor of hauling water was also highly welcomed.

And I mustn’t forget the spread of light. Now that White-Glow Stones have reached every household, people can move about without worrying about sunset. Consequently, “Tomorrow’s Cask Inn” is bustling late into the night.

A funny detail came to light as well. Since White-Glow Stones require mana to ignite, ordinary people shouldn’t be able to turn them on. Yet, as the sun goes down, you can see brilliant light leaking from houses all over the village. It turns out the ones lighting the stones were, surprisingly, the children. It seems that while playing with the pretty stones and touching them repeatedly, quite a few children manifested their mana. The ratio of mana-users among the Ordinary Race is usually said to be one in ten, so this is an extraordinary figure.

In this way, the village is beginning to bond strongly around the labyrinth. Along with this, several dependable organizations have been established. First is the sewing team formed by the village women. Utilizing their freed-up time, they now travel to the Goblin settlement to work together. Those who aren’t skilled at sewing have established a clear division of labor, taking over housework and childcare instead.

Simultaneously, the young men in their teens and twenties formed a Youth Association. Their main job involves combat-related tasks in the labyrinth, such as supporting villagers attempting to level up or acting as lures for monsters. They also serve as guards for the sewing team. Some boys have even begun saying they want to become professional monster hunters.

Furthermore, the relationship between Heimo and his Goblin apprentices seems to be excellent. Apparently, they show great promise. There is one other eye-catching team, but I’ll save that for the section on changes within the labyrinth.

As for the subterranean labyrinth itself, exploration is proceeding smoothly. The mass-produced Slime skin-bags are convenient and are being used for everything by both villagers and Goblins. We also have an increasing number of versatile Black-Fur Wolf cloaks, Bat-wing hats, and capes, making our equipment situation very secure. Stable supplies of Bat wings and Rabbit fur are being processed into gloves, hats, and shoes.

And the field on the fifth floor—the Labyrinth Garlic has actually sprouted! The Village Chief said it usually takes a month, so less than ten days is terrifyingly fast. It’s likely due to the special soil rich in mana, but the Bat guano stones probably helped too. I remember hearing in my past life that these stones, which solidify with limestone, make excellent fertilizer. Collecting them isn’t exactly a pleasant experience, though…

Around the field, a new resident has started hanging around—though whether you can call her a “guard” is debatable. It’s Eda-chan, a Branch-Horn Deer I brought all the way from the eighth floor. Since the familiar slots were full, her has been released, but since she’s naturally a non-aggressive monster, she doesn’t attack. She just wanders around sluggishly, munching listlessly on olive leaves.

As I explained with the External Trauma Medicine, Branch-Horn Deer saliva contains components that activate cells. This apparently has a remarkable effect on plant growth, which is why I brought her to the field as an experiment. Honestly, I wanted to make plant-growth medicine from collected salivary glands to avoid this hassle, but I gave up after much opposition from the Fairies. Because of that, I currently only have three bottles of Mid-grade External Trauma Medicine in stock—though that’s also largely because I ran out of the high-grade material, Unicorn Horn powder.

On the eighth floor, where the giant trees stand, the migration of fifteen Fairies has been completed. Those Fairies have apparently chosen the docile Branch-Horn Deer as their next mounts. They spend their days perched on the branched antlers, leisurely nibbling on mushrooms. They can even hide under the deer’s belly or in the loose skin of its throat if needed.

For some reason, those Fairies and Ethan-san the Treant hit it off perfectly and formed a team before I knew it.

“I’ve found them. 150 paces to the northeast.”

It seems the Forest Crow acting as a scout for the Black-Fur Wolves got caught in the Fairies’ search net, which spans in 50-pace increments. At that distance, you’d usually have to shout to be heard, which would alert the enemy. However, the Fairies and Ethan-san don’t make a sound. Instead, they communicate using light signals. I didn’t know until Ethan-san told me, but the Fairies use the flickering of their glowing wings as a unique language.

Ethan-san, quickly reading the flickering signals, leads us silently. As soon as we are in range, he nocks and looses an arrow without a sound. Pierced through the neck by a shadow flying from outside its perception, the Forest Crow falls silently to the ground. His sniping skills, honed by years of living in the forest, are magnificent.

The pack of Black-Fur Wolves, having lost their eyes in the sky, find themselves under surveillance by a multitude of Fairies scattered across a wide area.

“Those five are a bit further apart from the others.”

“Alright, let’s clean them up quickly. I’m counting on you, Yoru, Kuu.”

“You bet!”

“Koo!”

Yoru dives into the middle of the five, disrupting their coordination with her sharp claws. While their attention is diverted, Kuu swoops down and delivers a heavy kick to a head. Furthermore, one wolf hit in the leg by Ethan-san’s arrow collapses and stops moving. The arrowhead was coated with Forest Crow talons, which carry paralytic poison.

“I’ll stop the one in front, Mia.”

“Got it! Leave the back to me!”

While one wolf stands frozen under , another behind it flinches as its eyes are struck by . Their coordination is one thing, but the improvement in Mia’s magical accuracy is also remarkable. With the Fairies’ and the subtle but effective attacks of the Blue Slimes bumping into their feet, the Black-Fur Wolves, their mobility stripped away, fall easily to the ground.

We quickly collect only the pelts and fangs and leave the area. The wolf meat doesn’t get stored in the item list; when I tried feeding it to Yoru and Kuu, they just chewed it expressionlessly until the end. It’s not horribly foul, but it’s not the kind of thing they dive into happily.

By picking them off one by one like this, we successfully filled out the map for the depths of the eighth floor.