The Spider Nest

-----Yui's POV

Here I thought there would be no such things as spider's in this world. Growing up in the mansion, I never once saw spider, not even in the academy dorms or Luna's house. But now Faye's telling me that there's giant spiders?! How big?! And what about regular spiders, are they big as well?!

Olivia: "Yui? You okay?"

Yui: "Huh?"

I didn't realize, but we've been walking outside this whole time. I thought we were still back inside the guild. It's like my brain and body are independent of one another.

Kaede: "She's just scared of spiders is all."

Olivia: "Ohh~"

Yui: "Wait, since when did you come join us?"

Olivia: "Hmm? Back in the guild?"

Sicily: "Did you not notice Olivia coming downstairs to join us?"

Kaede: "Probably was too busy stressing over spiders, fufu~"

Yui: "...Sorry"

Olivia: "It's okay. We all have our fears."

Now that my brain has caught up with my body, we soon head out the west gate of Azalea, making a right turn to head north.

Kaede: "Are you sure you guys want to come? You can still turn back."

Lillian: "Nope. It's been a while since we adventured last. Plus Sicily and I are still E rank so we would've been just picking flowers."

Sicily: "Yeah! Spider hunting sounds WAY more exciting!"

Kaede: "Suit yourself~"

Mell: "Yui!"

Yui: "Hmm?"

Mell: "It will be okay! Mama will protect us."

I didn't realize, but I've been clinging onto Kaede like a baby, whereas Mell has just been holding onto Kaede's hand. I probably look more afraid of this than Mell. Still, it feels funny to be comforted by Mell's words as I smile forms on my face.

Yui: "Mmm! You're right."

Olivia: "So how much does this B rank job give?"

Kaede: "Faye said if we bring back the fangs of the giant spider, we'll receive 50 gold."

Lillian: "50?!"

Olivia: "Gold?!"

Kaede: "Yeah. But if we can harvest the silk glands as well, then we can get a bonus."

Oliva: "50 gold is a lot though. Why is that?"

Kaede: "Maybe because it's unknown how big the nest is. We don't know how long it's been building it since the last report from the scouts."

Sicily: "I see~"

This talk about giant spider and nests is only making me freak out more as I cling tighter around Kaede's arm, completely forgetting about Mell comforting me.

It's still morning so we have plenty of time to find the nest. Kaede seems to know where she's going, so we've been following her closely as to not get lost in the woods. The further we went, the denser the forest became.

Sicily: "Strange..."

Oliva: "What is?"

Sicily: "Those wolves that we just past by our left. They didn't attack."

Everyone immediately looked behind to our left, but I couldn't see what Sicily was talking about.

Lillian: "I'm counting 9 of them. Yeah that is strange."

Olivia: "Your guys' eyesight is so good."

Yui: "Do wolves normally attack?"

Lillian: "Alone, no. But in a pack like that, they most certainly would've attacked us."

Mell: "It's cause they're scared of mama!"

Kaede: "Pfft. Yeah, you might be right there, Mell."

I recall how Kaede did manage to domesticate a wolf, even giving it the name, Silver. Maybe it's somehow linked to that?

Kaede: "It happened when I was younger. At some point, other monsters started to get weary of me."

I can't help but be irritated on how she said that; "other" monsters. She clearly still thinks she's a monster, but what's worse is that her face tells me that she's content with it despite not having a smile.

Sicily: "Well vampires are a dominating race, right? They're practically extinct, and I've only heard stories of them, but it makes sense for monsters to kneel at their presence."

Unlike Kaede, Sicily doesn't think that she's a monster despite how humans view her, completely opposite of how Kaede see's herself. Personally, I don't think Kaede's a monster at all. Sure she's not human, but when I think of a monster, I think of something that kills purely for their own enjoyment. Even humans can fall into that category, so I don't see why Kaede still thinks that.

Kaede: "Well, you know Silver? The wolf back in the guild?"

Olivia: "Yeah?"

Kaede: "I actually charmed him. If I didn't then he would've killed Faye when she was looking after him."

Olivia: "What do you mean by charmed?"

Kaede: "I actually don't remember how I did it. I haven't really practiced my vampire side. But yeah, he obeys any command I give him."

This new talk is a lot better than the spider talk from earlier, making me loosen my grasp on Kaede's arm a little. "Charmed..." When I think of that word, I remember Kaede's eyes. When seeing them up close, like when we were in bed, they sure do look enchanting.

Yui: "Hmmm~ Could you order me to do something then?"

Kaede: "Huh?"

Yui: "It can be anything. I just want to see something."

Kaede: "Okay? Then~ hold onto me tighter."

That's mean. I would like to do that anyways, but I want to see if my body will be forced to move on it's own. Instead, I choose to wait a few moments, seeing if my body does in fact move, however I remain where I am. Feeling satisfied, I hold onto her more.

Kaede: "Why did-"

Yui: "I was wondering if I was charmed or not."

Kaede: "But you're hugging me like I said."

Yui: "I know~"

Mell: "Hmph!"

Mell seeing me claim more of Kaede, starts to cling onto her as well. I don't want to compete against Mell, she's Kaede's daughter after all. But clearly Mell see's me as some sort of competition...

Lillian: "Hehe, Kaede being as popular as ever."

Kaede: "Oh hush."

Sicily: "Then-"

Suddenly, Sicily barges her way into my side, linking her arm with my free arm. Lillian seeing that, links arms with Sicily as we start to form a chain.

Mell: "Olivia?"

Olivia: "Yes?"

She reaches her free hand to Olivia before Olivia gently grasps it. What are we even doing? Linking arms like this in a forest filled with monsters without a care in the world. It feels like we're not even- Oh great, I just made myself remember why we're even out here... Spiders... yeah...

After a long walk, we finally come to an area where some trees had traces of spider webs, which only grew the further we continued. Just the sight of spider webs is enough to make my skin crawl, but seeing that we're getting closer, I take out my rapier, preparing myself for what's to come. Everyone else also began steadying themselves, with Sicily and Lillian drawing swords. I guess Olivia will be focusing more on magic it seems.

Kaede: "Alright. I can feel the presence of a few creatures. Mell, stay very close to me."

Mell: "Mmm!"

Yeah no, I don't want to be here, this is fucking terrifying. How can Mell be calm in this situation? Doesn't seeing all this web frighten her? I find it difficult to keep my blade steady as we slowly continue forward.

Getting deeper into the nest, even the ground started to become webbed as it made it a bit difficult to walk. Then, after a few seconds of us walking on the webbed floor, I could see 3 spiders crawling down from some distant trees. But these didn't look like any spiders I knew of. Even the smallest one out of the 3 would be several times larger than anything I knew back in our old world. I guess if I had to compare, these spiders would be like tarantulas, only like the size of a wolf. If these are spider's then how big is a giant one?!

Kaede: "Be sure to watch mama, okay?"

Mell: "Yes!"

In the next moment, Kaede raises her hand as 3 balls of light appears in front of her. If I would've blinked, I would've missed it, as a beam of light shot from the balls of light, piercing the 3 spider's simultaneously, with their corpses dropping to the ground.

Mell: "Woooah~"

Kaede: "Hehe."

Lillian: "Ah~ It's been a while since I've seen your magic, Kaede."

Sicily: "Beautiful as ever!"

Kaede: "Thank you."

Our discussion would be cut short as I could spot another spider coming down from the trees. That's it! If it's just this one, then maybe I can throw my fear away and try and- Before I could act, several more spiders came around the corner, scuttling around the trees, heading to our direction. Nevermind!

Sicily: "Let's go. Lillian and I will try and hinder their movement on the sides so they don't flank us."

Olivia: "I'll support you!"

Lillian: "Yui. Could you support me?"

Yui: "Eh? Uh~ Yes!"

I'm still struggling to even get my legs moving, but I slowly make my way to the right side with Lillian, with Sicily and Oliva on the left side. Kaede would be taking the brunt of the force, but that's to be expected, with Mell sticking close behind her.

Yui: "Foo! Haa! Foo! Haa!"

This is the most nervous I've been in all my life, I don't think my heart can take this.

Lillian: "Hey. It's okay. They're nothing but monsters. Let's keep each other safe, okay?"

Yui: "Y-yeah! Sorry."

She's right. I can't be getting this nervous, especially when Lillian asked me herself to support her. I have to pull my own weight and the very least not drag her down.

With everyone in position, we ready ourselves as the horde of spider's make their approach. I steady my breathing as much as I can, trying to fill my heart with determination of protecting everyone; not that of fear.