Volume 6, Chapter 32 – Forest Monster Extermination

The next day, we set out once again to cull the monsters in the southern forest.

This time, it wasn’t just Alois-san’s platoon; three other platoons—essentially a full company—were participating, along with about a hundred hunters.

Apparently, this had been planned a week in advance as an operation to hunt down and wipe out all the monsters in the areas closest to town in one fell swoop.

However, in response to the abnormal surge of monsters in the southern forest, they had decided to urgently pivot all available forces to the south.

For this operation, hunters were forbidden from harvesting magic stones or materials themselves; instead, a specialized harvesting unit dispatched by the Hunter Guild followed behind us.

Whatever materials they harvested would be split evenly between the Order of Knights and the Hunter Guild.

As for our group, Lazare-san, the garrison commander, and Alois-san represented the knights, while a hunter party called “The Shield of Airoll” represented the hunters.

“Saint-sama, nice to meet you. I’m Dion, the leader of the hunter party ‘The Shield of Airoll.’ This is Greg and Guy, my fellow members. We look forward to working with you.”

“Yo, Saint-sama. Glad to have ya!”

“Kihishi, nice to meet yaaa.”

The first to greet me was Dion-san, a youth with indigo hair and green eyes who still had a lingering air of innocence.

Next was Greg-san, a muscular, bald youth with brown skin and black eyes.

Finally, there was Guy-san, a scrawny, somewhat worn-out looking middle-aged man.

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Dion-san and Greg-san seemed to be around the same age, but Guy-san looked considerably older.

“Yes. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

I answered, though I couldn’t help wondering if we’d actually have to fight ourselves.

If anyone was going to see any action, it’d probably be Lu-chan, since she could fight from long range.

Captain Lazare was currently delivering some sort of grateful exhortation, but as expected, none of the hunters were listening. For that matter, neither was I.

I mean, he’d been talking for about five minutes already.

They often say that speeches by principals and important people are long, and it seems Captain Lazare falls into that category.

“And finally, we shall receive a few words from Saint Fiene Argentata-sama.”

Huh? Nobody told me. Besides, I can’t raise my voice that loud, so I doubt anyone would even be able to hear me.

However, all the assembled knights and hunters had fallen silent and were staring at me.

Sigh , I have no choice.

I climbed onto the platform and called out as loudly as I could.

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“Everyone. For the sake of the people here in Airoll, and for your loved ones waiting for your return home, please promise me that you will return alive. May God’s guidance be with you all.”

The moment I said that, nearly three hundred people simultaneously performed a Boon-into-Jumping Dogeza.

I hurriedly performed a Boon-into-Jumping Dogeza myself, and with that, the meeting concluded and we departed for the forest.

Wow… that really caught me off guard.

Seeing that many people do it all at once was certainly a sight to behold.

Their timing was all over the place, but considering the sheer impact of nearly three hundred people doing it at once, I’d give it a solid seven out of ten.

◇ ◇ ◇

Now then, remember when I said we probably wouldn’t get a chance to fight? Yeah, that was a lie.

So yes, we ended up on the front lines too, culling the monsters overflowing through the forest.

For now, our ironclad formation—where I maintain the Barrier and Mashiro-chan snipes—remains intact.

After leaving town and reaching the southern forest, we spread out over a wide area to conduct a “forest hunt” rather than a mountain hunt, sweeping through it with a rolling search.

The hunters split up by party, while the knights divided into squads of around ten people, all advancing deeper into the forest while keeping a fixed distance between one another.

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That way, we could clear out every monster across a wide stretch of forest.

Naturally, the people on the far left and right had to deal with enemies both ahead and to the side, so knight squads followed behind them to provide support whenever necessary.

Behind them followed the Hunter Guild’s material recovery unit and a single platoon of knights acting as a reserve.

“Mashiro! Next is a pest. There, there, and there!”

At Lu-chan’s call, Mashiro-chan sent Wind Blades flying, cutting down Goblins and their Higher Species, Forest Wolves, Horn Rabbits, and the occasional Orc one after another.

Is it just me, or have Mashiro-chan’s Wind Blades gotten stronger ever since it plumped up?

Regardless, monsters kept attacking incessantly.

No matter how I look at it, there are definitely more monsters than yesterday.

Can their numbers really increase this much in just one day?

While I was thinking about this, a scream erupted from the right.

“Uwaaaaah! It’s an Ogre!”

“I-I’m gonna be killed!”

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Were those the hunters screaming? But Shizuku-san insta-killed one yesterday. Is an Ogre really something to panic over that much?

“Chris-san, are Ogres really that strong?”

“Yes. Generally speaking, they are categorized as strong. It is said that an average Warrior can defeat one alone once they reach around Level 22 to 24. I may have mentioned this before, but Level 15 is considered competent, and Level 20 is high-level. So ordinary hunters wouldn’t stand a chance against one.”

Ah, right. Come to think of it, that’s what counts as normal in the outside world.

“Shouldn’t we go help them?”

“An Ogre’s individual strength is lower than that of a Goblin Lord, and they rarely travel in large packs, usually only five or six. Their intelligence is not particularly high either, so for the knights of our kingdom, defeating them is a trivial matter.”

While we were talking, cheers suddenly erupted from the right.

I couldn’t see through the trees, but it seemed the Ogre had been defeated.

“Ah, looks like they got it.”

“Yes. When employing a formation like this, it is also important not to leave one’s post.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Chatting with Chris-san all the while, we continued deeper into the forest.