I asked the chieftain about Nigpyura, the man who was the cause of this strange phenomenon.
It seemed that the doctor finally noticed us, two large beings who appeared out of nowhere. He stopped what he was doing and came towards us. Around us were three large birds, waterfowl like herons.
“Who are you? Ah, you’re from somewhere else, aren’t you? We’ve heard a bit of a rumor about you. And do you have some business here?”
I told him that the chieftain had asked me to help.
“Help? What can you do? Do you have any special powers?”
“She can use recovery magic. I don’t have anything in particular.”
The doctor narrowed his eyes, his face bruised. The spirits also seemed tired.
“Then you, tend to the injured. You, help that person over there making medicine. And you, you’re the one who talks to trees, aren’t you? I heard you’re always in the forest.”
“…”
“We’re running out of decoctions. Can you go and get some more?”
Ryoku nodded hesitantly. Good boy, for actually helping out. The doctor handed him a book and told him to go collect some herbs. I headed towards the man working hard in the corner.
“Hello there.”
“Huh, whoa! What?!”
It seemed his spirit guardian was a butterfly. I startled it, and it flew away in a flurry.
“Sorry. I’m here to help.”
“Wh-whoa, you’re huge! Where did you come from?”
That’s a normal reaction. But I don’t have time to explain everything from scratch. The nurse seemed to be in the middle of crushing animal bones with something like a mortar.
“What is this?”
“Uh… bones. You drink this so your bones don’t get weak. Why do *I* have to do this? They said they wanted time to rest, but I want to rest too.”
“They” must be the butterfly spirits. It looks like tough work. He was making powder medicine, muttering complaints.
“Especially women who have given birth, their bones become brittle, so it’s important.”
“Then I’ll do it.”
“Really? Then first crush this large bone. And then further reduce it with this.”
While I was crushing the bones, he was making another medicine. It looked like he was kneading an ointment.
“The chieftain said there were many people poisoned, but there are a lot of injured people.”
“That’s right. It’s all injured people. Before, it was the escorts, but recently hunters have also been acting as escorts, so they can’t go hunting. Because of that, the animals have increased and are starting to damage crops.”
That’s rough. If herbivores like deer increase, they’ll come down to populated areas. The role of hunters isn’t just for meat.
“But there were wolves.”
“That’s also true. Before, they wouldn’t appear in front of people, but now more people are being attacked. I heard there’s also a great beast called Behemoth rampaging. They seem to be barely managing to drive it away.”
“So were they originally calm?”
“Apparently. I’ve never seen it, though. I heard it sleeps all day in the deep part of the river and eats aquatic plants.”
So they had just been driven mad by the miasma. They probably live quietly normally. According to him, the increase in injured people is due to the spirits becoming violent. This forest as a whole holds mysterious power. Naturally, evil spirits are also drawn here.
The balance that had been maintained until now is starting to collapse because of the Dark Elves. Even as we speak, new patients are being brought in. Coming through the curtain was Kiba, the hunter girl I met earlier. She was supporting a male companion with her shoulder.
“Oh, here comes another one. I hope they don’t call me.”
The nurse rushed over frantically. I also had something to ask Kiba.
“Um, we met earlier, didn’t we? Kiba, right?”
“You, outsider. What are you doing here?”
There seemed to be several other injured people. Was her entire team attacked by something?
“What happened? Wild animals?”
“Now is not the time to talk.”
She placed her companion down and went outside. I immediately followed.
“Wait! Wait. What happened?”
Kiba turned back towards me while still mounted on a spirit wolf.
“The dam collapsed. We couldn’t stop it. We need to evacuate the residents quickly.”
“The dam?!”
She left without answering my question. Cecilia arrived from behind me a moment later.
“This seems serious. You should take Philiana and go. And we should leave the camp immediately. I’ll stay here to treat the injured.”
A dam collapsing means the river will suddenly swell. I ran back to the camp. I immediately told everyone to flee to the village.
“Philiana, I want to go to the dam. Can you give me a ride on your back?”
“Yes, of course. Get on.”
There’s no time to delay any further. Perhaps someone is still stranded near the dam.
