Isekai Nonbiri Nouka - Chapter 1021: Spring Preparations and a Lost Child

The chickens in the courtyard of my mansion.

Normally, they act like the courtyard is their territory, but during winter they stay quietly inside the chicken coop.

Ah, I only came to check on you.

Even if you get angry at me, the snow will not disappear.

Alright. There is enough water and feed.

There is a Hot Stone placed inside the water container, so the water will not freeze.

Ah, right. There are Hot Stones placed in different parts of this coop.

As long as you are comfortable, that is good.

Haha, do not peck at my feet.

-0-

Spring will arrive soon.

Because of that, preparations for spring are being carried out all over the village.

My own preparation is probably maintaining my tools.

I had been working on them little by little during the winter, so it feels more like a final check.

「Village Chief, there are no problems with the waterwheels or windmills. They can be operated at any time.」

Ria, a High Elf, reports to me.

The reason there are no problems with the waterwheels and windmills is probably because the High Elves have been maintaining them carefully.

Thank you.

「Not at all. It is likely thanks to the snow countermeasures we put in place before winter, and because the Mountain Elves built them so well.」

Even so.

「Fufu. Then I will gladly accept your thanks.」

Ah.

Right, Ririus and the others returned earlier.

「Eh? I did not hear about that.」

Of course you did not.

It seems they plan to head straight back to Village Five.

「They are returning without even greeting their mothers?!」

Greeting or not, you see each other often both here and in Village Five, do you not?

「Even so.」

Now, now.

The children are holding them up, so they are still in the village.

「! Then excuse me!」

Ria hurried out of the room.

The one who entered in her place was Daga, a Lizardman.

「Village Chief, we have finished inspecting the waterways. Some trash had accumulated in one area, but we removed it, so there is no problem. However…」

As he spoke, Daga spread out the map he had brought.

The map showed the surrounding area of Big Tree Village.

It was not an accurate map, but one that showed the approximate positions of each village.

「There were no problems with the waterways, but during the inspection a group of Centaurs passing by said they saw a large demon beast around here.」

The location was northwest of Village Two.

Not that close.

「Yes. The Centaurs also said they only confirmed it faintly from a distance. I thought it would probably be fine even if we left it alone, but just in case, I reported it to angel Suarurou-sama, who was keeping watch from the sky, and asked for an investigation. Please wait for further updates.」

Understood.

Right after I replied, Suarurou arrived.

「I have a report. At the location that Lizardman Daga suggested we investigate, we discovered a large demon beast. We judged that it had no hostile intent. We have captured it.」

Oh, I see.

Good work.

Were there any casualties on our side?

「Two of them ended up inside its mouth, but we rescued them.」

Huh?

Inside its mouth… doesn’t that mean they were eaten?

Are they alright?

「Their wings and clothes only got dirty.」

Oh…

That’s good.

Ah, but… if it had no hostile intent, why were they eaten?

「They carelessly assumed it moved slowly and foolishly approached its mouth unnecessarily. The creature likely had no intention of eating them. It tried to spit them out, but the fool’s wing got caught between its teeth…」

I… I see.

「The fools will undergo retraining.」

J-just don’t overdo it.

Um, anyway, about this large demon beast.

If it was big enough to put an Angel in its mouth, it must be quite large.

「Yes. It is about the size of a two-story house. It walks on four legs, with a large head and mouth, and its eyes are so small they are barely visible. Its body shape… is somewhat like a lizard, with a thick tail. Its body color is a dark green, close to black. It has no fur, and its body was slimy with bodily fluids.」

So it is simply a lizard-type demon beast?

No, if the eyes are so small they are hard to see… maybe something like a giant salamander demon beast?

Neither really seems like something that moves around in winter, though.

Well, since we captured it, I should probably go take a look.

For now, I will just be glad that none of the villagers or livestock were harmed.

「There may be others following behind it, so we will increase our vigilance.」

Understood.

I am counting on you.

「Yes.」

Daga will ask the Centaurs and anyone likely to approach that area to stay alert.

Once spring arrives, Kuro and the others will become more active, so it is only until then.

「Understood.」

Suarurou and Daga withdraw.

Now then, as for me…

Before going to see the captured demon beast, I should go calm down the Fenrirs.

Since it was in a place far from the village, they will probably feel bad about not discovering it sooner.

-0-

Northwest of Village Two.

The large demon beast looked like one of the possibilities I had imagined: a giant salamander, only made absurdly huge.

It normally walked on four legs, but it could also stand using only its hind legs.

When it did that, it looked even bigger.

And it looked like a dinosaur… no, more like a monster from a kaiju movie.

As for this giant salamander demon beast, there was someone who recognized it.

It was the Death Knight who lived at the hot spring area.

When he heard about the giant salamander demon beast, he rushed over from the hot springs.

Apparently, it was one of the giant salamander demon beasts that lived in a large pond located northwest of the hot spring area.

It seemed that the other giant salamanders had told him that one of them had gone missing, and asked him to inform them if he happened to see it.

The Death Knight apologized for reporting it so late.

Well, with information like that, it would not normally be reported to us.

Under normal circumstances, it would have been a matter that ended at the hot spring area.

It was the sort of topic that might only come up during casual conversation.

Since he had already reported it and shared the information with Yoru, Klim, the Lion family, and Asura at the hot spring area, there was no problem with the Death Knight’s actions.

In any case, the giant salamander demon beast had a place to return to.

That was good to hear.

Now then, would it be enough just to point it in the right direction?

Probably not.

If direction alone were enough, it would not have gotten lost in the first place.

The teleportation gate would not work either, considering its size…

Should we have a dragon carry it?

When the giant salamander demon beast saw Doraim transform into his dragon form after hearing my suggestion, it stepped back slightly in hesitation.

Ah, right. It would probably get him dirty with its bodily fluids.

There was also the possibility that it might slip and fall.

That made sense.

In that case, the best option would be to assign a guide.

First, it would walk to the hot spring area.

From there, it would continue on to the large pond where the giant salamander demon beasts lived.

But… there was still plenty of snow remaining.

For me and the High Elves, the cold would be harsh.

As for the Death Knight… he would probably get lost.

He had already gotten lost just trying to get here.

Death Knights were suited for defending a base, but not for guiding someone to a distant location.

Having one of the Angels guide it from the air would probably be the safest option.

If the guide was flying above, the giant salamander demon beast would also be less likely to lose sight of them.

Just as I was thinking about which Angel to ask to act as the guide, one of the Fenrirs volunteered.

It seemed eager to restore its honor and clear its name…

But like I said before, it was not a problem even if it had not discovered the beast.

I tried to calm it down and tell it not to worry about it, but its determination seemed firm.

So I considered letting it do it, but…

The Fenrir’s fur was white.

It would blend in with the snowy scenery.

As a guide for the giant salamander demon beast, that might be a bit inconvenient.

What should we do about that?

-0-

The Fenrir ended up wearing a red vest.

Yeah, it really stood out.

As a marker for the guide, it should be more than enough.

However, I feel like it would stand out too much if they ended up fighting something.

Would that be okay?

Would they deal with it by relying on numbers?

It turned out that it was not just one Fenrir wearing a red vest, but three.

Apparently, three Fenrirs would guide it.

Oh, in that case, it should be fine.

I’m counting on you.

…

Hm?

It seems like the giant salamander demon beast wants to say something, but it can speak freely if it wants.

…It can hardly see, so colors do not really matter?

Instead, it is very sensitive to presence?

But if something comes near its mouth, it might instinctively eat it, so we should be careful.

Ah.

In that case, the Fenrirs do not need the red vests.

I told them they could take them off, but the Fenrirs did not remove them.

And so, the Fenrirs wearing red vests and the giant salamander demon beast first set off toward the hot spring area.

-0-

A few days later.

The giant salamander demon beast safely arrived at the pond where its companions lived.

The three Fenrirs who guided it returned using the teleportation gate at the hot spring area.

I’m glad they were safe.

And the three Fenrirs that guided it were still wearing their red vests.

It seemed they had grown quite fond of them.

I don’t mind, but if they get dirty, make sure to ask Ann and the others to wash them.

Also, try not to show them off too much.

Most of the spiderlings are still hibernating, so even if others ask for new ones, we would not be able to make them right now.

-0-

Ghost Sorceress: 「Why haven’t I received that report?」

Village Chief: 「You mostly just come back to the hot spring area to sleep, right?」

Ghost Sorceress: 「Research! I’m doing research too!」

Village Chief: 「Maybe they thought they shouldn’t disturb you because you’re always shut up in your lab?」

Ghost Sorceress: 「Well, I do appreciate that, but…」

Later, a sign was hung on the door of the Ghost Sorceress’s laboratory in the hot spring area that read: 「I’m in. Feel free to visit anytime.」

Sword (Quentan): 「Ghost Sorceress-sama’s troublesome side is showing again…」

-0-

Yaa: 「Just in case something like this happened, we prepared red vests. Use these as markers.」

Spiderling: (Clothes? W-wait, that’s supposed to be our role!)

High Elf: (Eh? Wait a moment. Did she just say “just in case something like this happened”?)

Beastkin: (She did. Did she predict this situation?)

Angel: (…The mountain elf transport team is simply waiting with a wide variety of supplies.)

-0-

Lizardman: 「What should we do about the alert status?」

Centaur: 「It’s just a lost one, right? There aren’t any following behind it.」

Minotaur: 「Until spring, we might as well keep it up. There’s no guarantee others won’t come.」

Lizardman: 「I see. You’re right.」

Centaur: 「We shouldn’t let our guard down.」

Minotaur: 「Yeah.」