Hunt

Okay Roko. What's the plan?"

Roko rolled open a map of the forest and uncapped a marker, "From what I can make of our travels, the Varin tribe camp is here. Which makes the two tombs we've seen, here and here."

Roko marked a few circles on the map, "Does that look right to you, Aida?"

"Yeah." Aida nodded, "More or less."

"So are we just going after more tombs?" Momo asked, "Do you really think we'll be able to find the book that way?"

"It's a good starter at any rate." Roko handed the marker over to Aida, "Can you mark them down?"

"You think I know where all the tombs are?" Aida frowned as she took the marker, "I only know about two more."

"Like I said it's a start." Roko nodded, "We're looking for these flesh pillars because they're essentially the monster's processing unit and their homes. If they would take the book anywhere, it would be one of these locations. They're reusing the once living material from corpses so, it serves to conclude that these pillars are established around areas with a high concentration of corpses."

"Like tombs." Roswell nodded.

"But would there really be so many if they were limited to just tombs?" Melia noted, "If there's so many of them then they have to be converting the corpses of the woodland creatures as well right?"

"Most definitely." Helena nodded, "But where would these pillars be if they're not in tombs?"

"That's where Aida comes in." Roko replied, "Aida?"

"Y-Yes?" Aida looked up, nervous and perturbed by everyone's attention and expectations.

"Your tribe survives by hunting and gathering right?"

"Yeah. Pretty much."

"Then you should know." Roko said, "Where the nests of some creatures are."

"Nests." Kaguya mused, "Yes, the nests of communal creatures would certainly create a space where plenty of potential corpses would be."

"Nests..." Aida muttered, "Nests...yes...Yes, I know where some nests are! I know where a ton of nests are!"

"Mark them down." Roko nodded.

Aida went to the map with renewed vigor, marking down dozens upon dozens of circles across the map.

"Write down any details you can add about these areas." Roko added, "What kind of animals lived there, the surrounding terrain, anything that comes to mind."

"Got it!" Aida grinned.

By the time she was finished, there was an ample amount of marks on the map to explore with small notes around them.

"Will we even be able to find our way with all these notes in the way?" Roland frowned.

"There's enough space to figure out where we have to go generally." Helena shrugged, "You just have to be able to read a map."

"Who knows how to read a map?" Roland rolled his eyes.

As most of the people around him began to raise their hand, Roko stopped them, "No no no. Who here doesn't know how to read a map?"

Everyone's hands went back down and turned to stare at Roland expectantly. Roland grounded his teeth in frustration as he slowly began to raise his hand, embarrassed.

"So only two of us."

Roland spun his head around to try and find the one other person like him and found Roswell standing there sheepishly with his hand slightly up, "What can I say? I've never had to leave Aporia."

"At any rate, our next problem is this map." Roko sighed, "How do we give everyone a copy of-"

Before he could finish, all the princesses pulled out their phones and snapped a picture of the map.

"Done." Helena reported.

"...Okay then." Roko sighed, "We have our groups and we have our targets. Anything anybody else wants to add?"

"We should establish where each of us are going to go first." Kaguya spoke up, "That way, we can avoid overlapping our search areas and if we do need to meet up with each other, we know the general area where we can find one another."

"Good idea." Helena nodded, "I'm heading to one of the tombs."

"Which one?" Momo asked.

"This one. Back here. I've been wanting to explore one in greater detail."

"How about this one instead?" Kaguya suggested, "Your only support is Melia which means you only have two knights to defend you and you are the only one who knows magic. Staying near the edge of the forest means you can retreat more easily."

"What?" Helena pouted, "We can handle it."

"With just Roland and Roswell?"

"...Alright fine." Helena grumbled, "We'll take the ones closest to the edge of the forest."

"Then we'll take the tombs." Momo smiled, "With my reinforcement magic, my group can traverse the forest the easiest and reach the deepest targets the fastest. We'll get the farthest away ones and work our way back to the edge."

"That's fine." Kaguya nodded, "We'll be relying on you."

"Leave it to me!" Momo winked.

"Then what about us?" Corissa asked, "Where do we go?"

"You're with Roko right?" Kaguya replied, "Then it makes the most sense that your group goes after the targets with the most likely chance of having the book."

"We are?" Corissa turned to Roko.

"That's the plan." Roko nodded, "Do you have any objections?"

"N-No! None."

"Then we have everything prepared." Roko announced, "We have more or less half a day left. If we can't find the book by nightfall, we'll just have to leave it to the staff to deal with the forest. This is our one and only chance to do things our way. That doesn't mean you should act recklessly. Move quickly and move safely. Do not start any fights you don't have to. Keep aware of your surroundings so you don't get ambushed by monsters and approach every nest with a plan. There will be monsters there and you only get one chance to ambush them. Surprise is your best weapon. Retreat is always an option. Ready? Break."

Each of the groups broke off into their established pairs and walked off into the forest, leaving Roko, Corissa, Aida and Varis to act on their own.

"Where do we go first?" Corissa asked.

"Ideally, one of the nests." Roko said as he consulted the map, "While it's a reasonable assumption, it's still an assumption so it's best we confirm it as soon as possible."

"Okay." Corissa nodded anxiously, "...So which one?"

"This one in the middle seems to be the largest. That seems to be a likely place for the book."

"Okay! L-L-Let's go!"

"Is she okay?" Aida asked as Corissa began to walk stiffly off in the wrong direction, "She seems like kind of a wuss."

"If I had to guess, it's more excitement than it is nerves." Roko sighed, "Can't imagine she goes on adventures often."

"And whose fault is that?!" Corissa snapped as she turned around.

"Eh?" Roko said, surprised at Corissa's sudden mood shift.

"There was a whole adventure going on below my own city and by the time I get wind of it, it's already over!" Corissa cried as she marched towards Roko with her hands on her hip, "You kept it secret from me the entire time and left me out of the entire adventure!"

"Wait, are you actually angry about that?" Roko blinked.

"Well, I wasn't at first." Corissa pouted, "But after hearing about all those adventures you had with the other girls, I…I wanted to have an adventure with you too!"

Roko stood there, unsure of how to handle the upset Corissa, "Ummm...are you still angry?"

Corissa looked away, still pouting and slowly gave a small nod.

Roko sighed, "I'm sorry."

"Good." Corissa smiled, "Well, we do have this adventure to make up for it so let's go already!"

Corissa began to walk off again.

"Corissa."

"Huh?" Corissa looked back as Roko called out to her.

"This way." Roko pointed off to the left.

"O-Oh...okay..." Corissa blushed as she corrected her direction.

"What was her problem?" Aida asked as they began to move into the forest.

"Who knows." Roko sighed again, "I try not to think about it."

"Are all people from outside the forest like that?"

"Hmmm...well...Roland would probably say that's typical for women."

"I hope I don't grow up to be like that." Aida nodded.

The group of four made their way through the forest, cautiously monitoring their surroundings for any signs of monsters, taking care to try and sneak around any groups they came across rather than engaging them. As they neared the location of the nest, Roko pulled out the map again to check the notes, "So what kind of nest is this?"

"They should be Tsuchinoko." Aida explained, "They're pretty flighty so if we don't act extra sneaky, the entire nest might just run away."

"That's assuming any of them are still alive." Roko said.

"But if they're so flighty, then there should be a chance that they all ran away right?" Corissa noted.

"Well..." Aida mused, "Tsuchinoko are pretty fast so I wouldn't be surprised that they could survive."

"But there has been no signs of any other creatures aside from the tentacled ones." Roko added, "Much like everyone else, they're probably all dead. However-"

"If they're as volatile as you say they are, the nest might not even be there anymore." Corissa gulped, "That would suck."

"It certainly wouldn't provide much useful information." Roko sighed, "Maybe I should have picked a better target."

"I don't think you have to worry about that." Aida called.

Roko, Corissa and Varis joined Aida near a collection of bushes and peaking through the shrubbery, they could see a large indent dug into the earth and bordered by a short but thick walls of straw. An overhead of branches and leaves would have kept the nest compact and hidden but those have been clearly torn apart and a flesh pillar had erected itself in the middle, covering the floor of the nest with its tendrils, the tip of it's organic structure poking out from the undergrowth. Any signs of their original inhabitants were completely gone, no corpses or skeletons of any kind left. No signs of any monsters either.

"It seems empty." Corissa noted, "What do we do?"

"Well, it confirms that the nest strategy is viable at least." Roko said as he stepped into the hidden clearing, "Now, we just have to check for the book. Varis."

"Poor tsuchinokos." Corissa whispered as she and Aida joined them in the hideaway, "Do you think they could have ran away somewhere?"

"We've established that there is nothing living in this forest outside from those tentacle monsters." Aida said at a normal volume.

"Y-Yeah but they might have left the forest!" Corissa cried as Roko and Varis began cutting into the pillar, "You never know!"

"I doubt that." Aida scoffed.

"Why can't you have a little bit of hope?" Corissa frowned, "Kids like you shouldn't be so dour all the time."

"I've killed a rabbit and seen the life drain from its eyes." Aida scoffed.

"...Have you tried petting one?"

"...No."

"...Are tsuchinoko cute?"

"They're kind of like fat snakes?"

"That sounds cute."

"They're venomous."

"Oh..."

"They taste pretty good though."

"Oh!"

"Probably because of all that fat."

"Oh..."

In short time, Roko and Varis managed to carve into the cavity of the pillar, only to find nothing there.

"So it's not here." Roko sighed as he stepped back, "That's a shame."

"It couldn't be this easy could it?" Aida sighed.

"Where do we go now?" Corissa asked.

"First things first." Roko said, "We need to destroy this pillar. Varis, if you don't mind?"

Varis nodded and raised one hand. In an instant, a bolt of lightning obliterated the pillar, leaving a scorched black mark on the ground where it once stood.

"Scary." Aida shivered, "So this was what destroyed a good portion of the forest?"

"Actually no, that was someone else." Roko said.

"Are you kidding? Just how powerful are people from outside the forest?!"

"Quite weak for the most part." Roko shrugged.

"I didn't know Momo had that much power." Corissa nodded, "Do you think she's stronger than Varis now?"

"If she learns how to control amp, maybe." Roko shrugged, "She could overpower Varis for a few seconds but Varis' armor is pretty sturdy so I don't think she'll be able to outright beat him. Once her boost is over, Varis can throw magic at a similar power level without using amp so in a straightforward fight, I don't think Momo is quite strong enough yet."

"Wow." Corissa smiled, "That's pretty impressive. But just as I expected, no one can beat Varis after all! He's unbeatable after all! Right, Varis?!"

Varis looked up and just kinda shrugged uncomfortably.

"Can he not talk?" Aida frowned.

"He can, he just chooses not to." Roko replied as he reached into his backpack and pulled out the map again, "In any case, for our next move..."

"That's right, where are we going?" Corissa asked as they all knelt down to examine the map, "Another nest?"

"Yes but no." Roko held up his marker again, "Aida."

"Y-Yeah?" Aida asked, surprised and confused at what more Roko could expect of her.

"These nests you've marked. They're all prey aren't they?"

"Prey?" Corissa blinked.

"Exactly." Roko nodded, "When I asked you for nests, you recalled the nests of creatures that the adults told you about. The ones you use for hunts right?"

"Well yeah." Aida frowned, "Did I do something wrong?"

"Not something wrong just something you probably didn't consider." Roko explained, "If the adults told you where to go to hunt creatures to eat then they must have also told you about the creatures you shouldn't go near. The dangerous ones and where they live."

Aida's eyes widened in still shock as she realized where Roko was going.

"Where are those nests, Aida?" Roko finally asked, "Where are the nests of the creatures you were told not to go near?"

"W-Wait, hang on Roko." Corissa bit her lip, "Isn't that dangerous? To walk directly into the nests of predators like that...you want to head straight there with a child?"

"It's highly likely that these apex predators are also all dead." Roko replied, "We haven't seen or even heard any signs of any animals other than the eldritch ones."

"Yes but...some really big and scary creatures supposedly live in the Paramnesia Wildwoods. Are you saying these small things managed to not just kill one but take over an entire nest?"

"If there were predators around to cull the population of monsters for us, the forest would be in a much different state. Whenever or not you believe it should be possible or not, it's clear that it is."

"..." Corissa looked down, still uncomfortable with the idea of running into the den of truly dangerous monsters.

"If the monsters have managed to take down even the apex predators of this forest, then it'll be through sheer numbers." Roko continued, "Individually they are weak. But against an entire swarm, there is not much simple creatures can do against them."

"Being the strongest doesn't work..." Aida muttered as she looked down at the desecrated den, "And running away doesn't mean you will survive either..."

"Against these numbers, the only effective attack is wide scale magic. In that regards, we have Varis' power. I don't want to depend entirely on him but we are able to defend ourselves. And for what it's worth, I'll do what I can too so-"

"It's not that I don't approve of your idea." Corissa gave the slightest of smiles, "I just...have a bad feeling about this..."