Chương 306: Back To The Woods

"Ah, I remember coming to this place once. Back then, I had no idea that this had been my first introduction to Mara Nebulo… Time really flies, huh?"

"We can say that as well, we had come here to chase after a rogue abyssal being, only to end up getting bamboozled by… I think it was a ghost under Mara's control that came and messed things up""I guess I'm the odd one out. I don't think I ever came here" Binibelle, Hilene, and Jupo spoke quietly as they walked through the forest of Louwoods.

After thinking things through, none of them believed that the overt sightings of what was supposedly Mara Nebulo were true, or rather, that none of them was a sighting of the real deal. Firstly, because these sightings were showing up all over the place, and secondly, because the real deal definitely wouldn't show herself so freely. Such a conclusion was one that didn't require great intelligence to make, and it definitely wasn't the true point of the existence of these creatures, in their opinion…

These things were mere smokescreens. Simple distractions made with the intent to cast doubt in the hearts of the countless headhunters that were after the steel monstrosity. Now, no sightings were even remotely reliable… Now, she could be anywhere. It was a good strategy. Efforts in finding her were now split and unsure, and even if she were to be spotted for real, basically no one would be able to tell the difference with all of the fakes running around.

Regardless, Binibelle was confident that this move was actually a mistake on Mara's end. After all, she had just unleashed several entities associated with her into the wild. These creatures could make for excellent materials in the halfling's spellcasting efforts. If she were able to get her hands on the full remains of one of those, she might actually be able to pierce the veil of obstruction that had been in the way for so long. Even if she could only get past it for a single spell, it would be worth it.

Binibelle was basically trembling with excitement at the thought that she might get a clue to decipher the cypher she had discovered back in Aesther. Her guts were telling her that whatever it translated into would give an answer to what had happened at Harvey's Diner. … And she felt that what had happened at Harvey's Diner was what she needed to truly understand the inner psyche of Mara Maeve Maya Nebulo.

Once the detective was able to fathom what the mind of this woman was like, the case would be able to proceed much more quickly. Binibelle didn't get ahead of herself, however. They first needed to actually find and defeat the Mara look-alike that dwelled inside this forest. Although their purpose was most certainly to serve as nothing more than scarecrows, they were nonetheless quite dangerous, and they all seemed unique as well. Hilene suddenly raised her fist, slightly turning her head to whisper a few words.

"I sense something nearby…" Slayer Blade, as she was known against her will, grasped the handle of her sword and stepped forward with her adventuring companions in tow. She needed a second to fully get into her head that the mage of the group was not present. She wanted to sigh, but kept it in, remaining focused. Binibelle and Jupo followed behind, but not so closely as to get in the way of their teamwork.

"It's right here" The swordswoman sounded a bit surprised. She had been expecting an ambush or an elaborate trick, but it was important to remember that they were hunting down a fake. The monster that had recently begun terrorising the villages near Louwoods was merely sitting on the ground cross-legged, quietly munching on a wild animal that was barely even recognisable anymore. Unlike the one this monster had been built to resemble, it couldn't just absorb flesh, so the scene was a mess of blood and intestines.

It was merely pretending to be eating. Since all of the pretenders were different, the group had done their homework on this one specifically. First of all, it dressed like a sort of druid or shaman, with antlers serving as headwear… Secondly, it seemed to be ritual-oriented, as it terrorised the nearby villages by demanding to be given virgins. It didn't matter whether male or female, or the age. It just wanted virgins.

None of the people it had taken had ever been seen again, and a few parties who tried to slay this creature failed to do so. None of them had been slaughtered as they had been able to run away without casualties, but they had all ended up maimed and severely injured. This was another sign that this entity only had Mara's appearance and not much else–She wasn't known for allowing so many people to escape her. The group tensed up as the monster moved.

It straightened its head and neck like a deer that heard a suspicious noise, and quickly, it turned its dot-like, green eyes toward them. Letting go of the carcass it was holding, rapidly crawling away from it to make some distance. This act revealed that its meal was actually partly rotten. Certainly indicative that it had just stumbled upon the corpse, and decided to pretend to eat it for reasons that even its own mind might not be able to find an answer to.

"I don't like the way it crawls one bit…" The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Gontra grunted as she readied her shield. Since it had already spotted them, she slammed her fist against the surface of her weapon as if it were a war drum, which only caused the monster to twist its head a hundred and eighty degrees, its head now upside down, causing bits of flesh struck to its lower jaw to fall off alongside some syrup-like blood.

"I… Know who you are… I… Know…" The monster emitted a weird, childish laugh akin to that of a little girl before rushing off away from the group, who immediately gave chase, but thankfully for the Binibelle, who was sorely lacking in stamina, the chase didn't last very long as the monster leapt down a rocky gash in the earth, running to hide inside a cavern.

"Isn't this where a bunch of people got slaughtered by the abyssal?"

"I doubt there are many places like this one in this forest" Hortus and Hilene exchanged a few words.

"It probably turned this cave into its nest or whatever. Following it would be dangerous" Gontra spoke of caution, but it was quite clear by the way she slammed her shield into the ground that she wanted nothing more than to go in and beat that thing to death.

"This creature seems to have some intelligence, but I don't think it has the dexterity or knowledge required to craft traps–But it doesn't matter, we can just check it out from a safe distance" Jupo cast a spell that looked nothing more than a head-sized sphere of simple mana, but as a flat, floating square of mana came to accompany it, it became clear that this was a more refined spell than the looks implied. Binibelle nodded in approval.

As she had thought when she had decided to take him as her disciple, he was a real genius of magic. He might not have incredibly powerful mana or any fancy affinity that he could use on a whim, but he had the makings of a truly great wizard, seeing as he was capable of inventing new spells basically from scratch. His inner mana proved flexible and highly receptive to his will.

So even if he might not look like much now, with time, she definitely believed that he could give all of the old mages of the continent a run for their money.

"Aah, is this what it's like to have a son?" She muttered to herself as it soon became clear to everyone that the sphere was like an eye, and the square projected what the eye was looking at. Thus, they were able to inspect every nook and cranny of the cavern from a safe distance, just as Jupo had said. The group paid close attention, especially Hortus. As the ranger of the group, he was not only the one with the qualifications but also the one with the responsibility to identify traps.

As such, he and Jupo were side by side, with the archer asking Jupo to look at certain things more closely at times. Meanwhile, Gontra went ahead and took on the role of making sure the perimeter was safe. There was basically nothing dangerous other than the steel monster in this forest, but being careful even when you thought you were in a safe place was of tremendous importance, as she had learned firsthand recently…

As for Binibelle, once she was done being proud like a mother watching her baby take its first steps, she nudged Hilene's side. Due to the height difference, instead of the ribs or side of the stomach, she nudged the swordswoman in the thigh.

"Is something the matter?" The detective signed for Hilene to crouch so that they were on the same level.

"Now is as good a time as any, but… You have my benediction to date my disciple""I don't-! I mean… Really? I don't want to sound disrespectful, but isn't he a bit too young for me?"

"You mean that you think you're old?"

"Ouch, what is this old woman on old woman violence, Binibelle?"

"You aren't as old as me, and besides, you still look like you are in your twenties. I don't think I've met more than a handful of men who gave a crap about age difference. You're a pretty lady, and he's a genius, masterful young mage with so much potential, and…" Binibelle looked around.

"... He's totally into warrior women. I managed to get out of him that he used to have a crush on Loopeifa… You know… The Armour Queen?"

"Oh, I used to have a crush on her too… But that's because I thought she was a man""How could you think the Armour Queen would be a man?"

"My mother used to tell me about all of those warriors, but turned the women into men in an attempt to discourage me from turning into a warrior myself""I see that it didn't work""Not at all. I just thought that I needed to be the first and all, but then I realised that there was nothing to prove. There are… So damned many warrior women. There really was nothing to prove at all, which was quite disappointing, I must admit…

My little self thought that there was some sort of injustice, but turns out everyone loves warrior women" Hilene scratched her nose.

"Actually, the one thing that did make me reconsider was that the ones whose career ended, they ended because they got pregnant and started a family, and I felt like it was a bit lame that instead of a big injury or anything of the sort, the fact that something so mundane could put an end to warriors of such strength felt a bit weird… But I think I get it now.

Being a warrior is not anywhere near as glamorous as my little self imagined""Retiring with a husband and the promise of a future within me sounds quite good these days, actually. Don't you think so, Binibelle?"

"Hell no!" The swordswoman and mage stared at one another for a few seconds in silence, until Hilene smiled deviously.

"Really? But you clearly have the equipment ready""Equipment…?" The mage looked down.

"... Seriously?"

"Seriously" Hilene swallowed her laughter and turned a little more serious.

"I mean. You must have had a lot of men trying to court you, right? Whenever Hortus gets drunk with guys at the tavern, and I get them to reveal everything that goes on in their noggins, I realise that they all have very, very flexible standards… It reminds me of the guy who claimed that he was only into barbarian women, only for him to show up one day with the freaking smallest, most frail-looking elf woman I have ever seen. They're married now""I… When did this conversation turn into this, again?

I just wanted to set you up with my son–I mean disciple" They were interrupted as Hortus suddenly clapped his hand, the typical sign that he had found something.

"We have sight on the monster. There were no traps, but there is… Something"