I Won’t Fall For Something Like That.

After parting with Kuon, Kikori returned to Aria’s place… thinking it was bad that he was somehow getting used to it, and asked her right away.

“Ah, I see. It’s true there are several fortress cities, you know?”

“Really?”

“Yes, well. They’re fortress cities and defensive fortress-walls that separate the Contaminated Region from everywhere else, but the areas of responsibility are divided up by country.”

“I see…”

Kikori felt like he could picture it now.

In other words, that wall that had seemed infinitely long when he came to this town was managed by multiple nations.

“By the way, Kikori—do you understand what the Contaminated Region is?”

“No, not at all.”

“Thought so.”

Aria nodded, then taught him about that too.

The Contaminated Region. More precisely, it was called the mana-contaminated region… basically a general term for places where abnormal mana had seeped into the ground.

It was an environment where monsters could live comfortably, while humans could not… a place where people were more likely to fall ill.

What existed to prevent it from spreading were the fortress cities and the defensive fortress-walls.

“Got it?”

“Yes. But… do we know what caused the contamination?”

“One theory says it’s caused by something monsters give off.”

There was also a theory that the reason humans and monsters were enemies was because this was the root cause—because as living beings, they were fundamentally incompatible.

“Well, I called it a theory, but it’s a pretty strong one. In the very early days when the existence of monsters was first confirmed, everyone failed—individuals, villages, towns, even entire countries that tried to open a dialogue.”

“So that’s how it is.”

“Yes. And by the way, this kind of knowledge is required for Adventurers’ Guild staff. Even now, people still pop up sometimes saying things like, ‘There’s a way to get along with monsters.’”

“Those kinds of people…”

“They die, brimming with confidence. Not a single exception. If anything, back in the early days, there were cases where goblins tricked people and an entire village ended up becoming goblin food. That was before there were any fortress cities.”

“…”

So there was no room for dialogue with monsters. If you met, it always became a fight to the death, and that couldn’t be changed.

That was what she meant.

“Kikori, make sure you don’t get fooled, okay? For a while, it even became popular among monsters to pretend to be ‘friendly monsters,’ lure people into advantageous positions, and toy with them to death.”

“That’s… terrifying.”

“Yes. I’m worried.”

If Kikori, knowing nothing, ran into such a monster… what would he have done?

He thought about it… and immediately pictured himself bringing his axe down from directly behind, so Kikori nodded.

An opening, he’d think. He’d probably be delighted at the thought.

“It’s fine. I won’t fall for something like that.”

But there was no way he could say that to Aria… so Kikori covered it up with a serious-sounding line.