How Terrifying

“Our Fire Bear meat skewers are exquisite! And right now, they are only three copper coins! A bargain, a real bargain!”

“We have live volcano abalone tasting! The price is one silver coin! How about it, how about it!”

“U-Um, our whole grilled mudfish is delicious, so please come and try some!”

Magros Volcano, which I had visited for the first time in a while, was so full of liveliness that I found myself wondering whether this was truly the same place as before.

People calling for customers everywhere were desperately raising their voices to draw them in, and drawn by that, many people stopped and listened to their sales pitches.

“This is incredibly lively!”

“Yeah, we can’t even talk properly unless we raise our voices a little!”

While replying to Nadja in a voice slightly louder than usual, I looked at the main avenue.

This place, which previously should have had only a small amount of foot traffic, now had large numbers of people coming and going.

The place we were walking along now was the northern main avenue.

Incidentally, Fem-san had said she would quickly take care of some work, so we had parted ways for the time being and arranged to meet again in front of the dungeon.

In order to explain this place, I first had to explain this village itself.

House Trees had been built beside the defensive wall placed around the dungeon at Magros Volcano.

The area, which had been carefully planned and sectioned by Fem-san, was spherical.

And as though cutting that sphere into a cross, four large roads stretched out to the east, west, north, and south.

There were also several other streets, and they were divided by their positional relation to the roads and directions, then strictly separated by number.

If one proceeded east along the northern main avenue we were walking on, it would be North District One, and beyond First Street would be North District Two… and so on.

From my perspective, it felt somewhat stiff and formal, but Fem-san, who had passionately explained it to me, said this.

“Human settlements that form around labyrinths inevitably become chaotic to some degree. Since more and more things will grow complicated, at least the districts must be kept simple.”

Apparently, Fem-san had heard stories through the Divine Beast network from a Divine Beast who had once turned a labyrinth city into a Sanctuary.

If she told me that this was done while taking into account the experiences she had heard from that Divine Tanuki, then I, who knew nothing about it, had no choice but to think, “I see, so that’s how it is.”

It also seemed that the House Trees were meant to be used as defensive walls in an emergency to deal with stampedes from the labyrinth, so I basically decided to do as I was told.

“Still, it is developing rapidly… Tree Village may not be able to remain complacent either.”

“I don’t think they need to compete with each other.”

I walked along the main avenue together with Aira and Nadja.

It might be hard to believe, but even while walking, there were almost no trees in sight.

Most of the trees standing in rows were only Light Trees that could be used as streetlamps.

—Yes, after discussing many things with the representatives of each village and Fem-san, I had decided not to place fruit trees in this location.

That was because I intended to sell Wenti’s fruit as branded products of Tree Village and Guinea Village.

Fem-san was enthusiastic about it too, and I thought management would be possible even in this Magros Village, a provisional name that was gradually taking root, though Fem-san continued to oppose it, but… large numbers of people would be coming and going, and there was no telling what might happen. So it was also a precaution.

“But walking around with so little greenery feels kind of fresh.”

“That’s true. Everywhere Woody goes, you cannot help greening the place, after all.”

“What’s with that way of saying it?”

“It was a joke. Please don’t sulk.”

Nadja laughed softly and poked my cheek.

Air puffed out from my deliberately inflated cheeks.

“Hehe.”

“Ehehe.”

At that silly exchange that we could only have because we knew each other so well, my cheeks naturally loosened.

Things like this, which might make someone watching from the side wonder what we were doing, were actually the most fun when we tried them ourselves.

“But there are already quite a lot of people here.”

“There are many people from the Wing Company, but… there are many adventurers too. Perhaps because of that, the overall feeling is rather practical.”

Just as Aira said, as we walked along the main avenue like this, what we saw were food stalls, weapon and armor shops, and several stall merchants selling small daily necessities.

Perhaps because there were not that many people yet, they seemed to be concentrated on the main avenue for now.

Yes, this Magros Village, and so on, already had a branch office of the Adventurers’ Guild.

Thanks to that, it was already possible to buy monsters and mineral resources mined from the dungeon, so sharp-eyed adventurers seeking new hunting grounds and merchants who saw business opportunities there had come. And if people were there, brothels had also been built to meet the demand that would inevitably arise.

Incidentally, under the guidance of Fem-san, who was strangely knowledgeable about human subtleties, a pleasure quarter had been established in South District One.

I was a man too, so I was a little curious, but… Nadja and Aira’s eyes were frightening, so I had no intention of showing even the slightest sign of going there.

“Mm, I sensed something impure.”

“I-I wasn’t thinking about anything? Falsetto.”

Just thinking a little led to this.

Because Aira’s warning sensor was far too sensitive, I could not afford to think anything careless.

Though it felt odd to say it myself, I already had a strong premonition that in the future, the two of them would have me completely under their thumbs…

We arrived at the plaza in front of the Magros Volcano dungeon, where we had promised to meet Fem-san.

Not losing to the main avenue, this place was also quite lively.

“Archer! There’s an archer named Boran here! Is there anyone willing to form a party with me?”

“Is there a magician among you? We just had an opening in our group…”

“Yes, yes! I am only a beginner, but I can use fire magic!”

The adventurers in the plaza formed impromptu parties and entered the labyrinth.

Then, as though swapping places with them, another adventurer party came back from the dungeon looking delighted.

At any rate, there were many adventurers, and merchants and vendors targeting them had also come. There seemed to be more people on the main avenue, but in terms of heat and energy, this place might be greater.

“Ugh!? I-It stinks…”

Nadja looked as though she might collapse from the sweaty smell of adventurers who had been inside the dungeon for days. Apparently, as a noble young lady, she found many things here rather harsh.

Incidentally, Aira was elegantly holding a handkerchief over her nose.

For her as well, bad smells seemed to be unacceptable.

“What did you say!? You’re the one who bumped into me first!”

“Haaah? You wanna go, bastard!?”

The adventurers grabbed each other by the shoulders and glared at each other.

At this rate, it looked ready to turn into a scuffle.

I instinctively tried to step in and mediate, but there was no need.

“Fire!”

Boom!!

A Black Projectile fell right in front of the men who were glaring at each other while grabbing each other’s clothes.

The Black Projectile gouged out the ground, then vanished silently with a hiss.

When I raised my face, I saw members of Desert Storm, who managed the labyrinth, and the Dark Wood Golems lent to them.

Tree Guardian Beasts were also standing by at their sides, and all of them were in battle-ready positions.

“If you make the disturbance any bigger than this, we will use force. Understood?”

“S-Sorry…”

“We didn’t mean any harm…”

The men who had been arguing while spitting at each other until just now drooped their shoulders and trudged away.

Naturally, there were many adventurers around the dungeon.

In order to deal with these people, who had the troublesome characteristic of being both armed and quick-tempered, I had decided to station various forces at this dungeon, such as Sandstorm, Tree Guardian Beasts, and Wood Golems.

I had intended to make it so we could somehow handle things even if someone fairly strong ran wild, but… seeing them operate without issue like this was a relief.

“So for now, there do not seem to be any public order problems near the dungeon either.”

“Yes. In an emergency, we will use the Iridescent Wood Golem we borrowed from you, Woody-dono, so there are basically no problems in terms of crime prevention.”

When I turned around, Fem-san was there, wearing her usual relaxed expression.

“F-Fem-san!?”

Could it be that because we had walked here slowly, we had made her worry?

If so, I had done something bad…

“I-I’m sorry! We were checking things as we walked from the main avenue, and I ended up being late.”

“There is no problem at all. It must have been a while since you came here too, Woody-dono, so there must have been many things you needed to check.”

As Fem-san said that, she smiled so widely that her long canine teeth were visible all the way to their roots.

I had not known at first, but now I understood that this was a sign that she was in a very good mood.

It seemed Fem-san, who would become the guardian of this territory, was also quite excited.

“The dungeon is operating without issue for now as well. And…”

Fem-san explained various matters to us.

After I finished listening and was about to start walking, I noticed a familiar spirit at her side before I knew it.

“Ah, you’ve grown quite a lot while I haven’t seen you.”

“Mew.”

It was the fire spirit I had entrusted to Fem-san before.

Apparently, it had grown quite a bit, and it was already large enough to surpass my head. At this size, it probably could not ride on my head anymore.

“Mew.”

“Huh… wait, your size makes that impossible!”

But the fire spirit, unchanged from before, tried to climb onto my head.

The fire spirit forced itself onto my head.

Because a large ball of fluff was hanging in front of my eyes, I could not see ahead at all.

“I’m glad you don’t have weight because you’re a spirit, but… there we go.”

I lifted it up and held it in my arms.

In terms of size, was it about as big as a small dog?

Its size had changed, but there were no other changes in its appearance.

If it kept growing like this, would it suddenly become a burly muscleman one day?

That was somehow very frightening.

When I moved the spirit aside and secured my field of vision, the area had suddenly fallen silent.

Looking around, I realized that we were apparently gathering the surrounding gazes.

Fem-san’s appearance stood out, after all, so I supposed it was only natural.

The adventurers who confirmed my appearance and Fem-san’s prostrated themselves with incredible speed.

There were some people among them who tried to remain standing, but when their companions whispered something to them, their faces instantly turned pale and they lowered their heads.

W-What had they been told?

I wanted to know, but also did not want to know…

“How is it? My instruction has thoroughly spread among them, has it not?”

“I-It seems so…”

Just what sort of method had she used?

Without my knowing, Fem-san seemed to have brilliantly succeeded in grabbing the visiting adventurers by the scruffs of their necks.

Feeling relieved that Fem-san was on our side, I began walking according to her guidance.