#Bugs are a good source of protein, you know. (1)
"Should I run away now?"
"Disobeying military orders and attempting to escape could result in the worst-case scenario, which is a death penalty."
"It was a rhetorical question. Why are you answering? And what's this about military orders? I'm not even a soldier."
"Since you have received the operational directive, you are now considered a mber of the territorial army."
"What? According to who? I didn't hear anything about that."
"Military regulations are not ant for comprehension; they are ant for compliance. Why do you persist in providing terse responses?"
"My situation is dire. Either way, I face certain death."
"Tsk."
Dominic complained incessantly while struggling to keep pace, trudging through a forest with no discernible paths.
The terrain was so mucky that initially, he feared they had inadvertently entered a swamp.
Ian, who would typically reprimand such insubordination, was showing leniency as he could sowhat empathize with Dominic's sentints.
"Why are you making such pointless remarks..."
"That was also a soliloquy. The issue is that Sir Knight has rather keen hearing."
The reason Dominic, who had never wielded a sword properly, found himself involved in the operation and traversing the forest with knights was due to his propensity for speaking too freely.
[The spiders are serving Centipede? Curious. Centipedes usually prey on spiders.]
Upon hearing that a colossal Centipede might be inhabiting the spider's cave, Dominic unintentionally voiced his thoughts.
[Is that true?]
[Yes, indeed? Ah, yes, my Lord. While monster behaviors can deviate from those of typical creatures, Centipedes generally hunt spiders. So, you typically won't find spiders in areas where Centipedes reside.]
Upon hearing Dominic's remarks, the servants and laborers nodded in agreent.
What may be common knowledge to so can be novel to others.
[Listening to you, it does seem unusual. But it's highly likely that the cave-dwelling spiders are gathering prey for the soon-to-awaken giant Centipede.]
An experienced knight summarized and stepped forward.
[Pardon my ignorance regarding monster behaviors, but I must inquire: is the prey collected by the spiders alive or deceased?]
[Why?]
[When they attacked earlier, they attempted to bite my calf rather than ensnare with webs.]
[...I haven't witnessed it personally, but I've heard during an academic eting that they do indeed stack their prey as deceased. The scent of rotting flesh and decaying blood even perates the vicinity outside the cave.]
[Then it's certainly peculiar.]
Dominic shook his head.
"Centipedes don't consu decaying flesh."
He was well aware from his military service experience that Centipedes prey not only on insects and small reptiles but also on fresh at.
'We even used chicken bones to capture Centipedes when we had excess chicken.'
However, they typically ignored decaying matter. Occasionally, one or two might linger, but they generally avoided rotting at.
"Seems Centipedes are finicky eaters when it cos to insects, huh?"
"Yes, they are unlikely to partake of decaying at when live spiders, their favored prey, are readily available. Of course, assuming their behavior is typical..."
Before Dominic could retract his statent, Count Sinclair interjected swiftly.
"If the cook's account is accurate, it is indeed perplexing. If Centipedes are natural adversaries of spiders, why would they opt for tribute over confrontation?"
Once again, the headquarters fell into silence.
Later, Dominic would reflect that he should have refrained from speaking at that mont.
He had no aspirations of becoming a hero, not even the slightest inkling. In fact, he failed to et even the minimum qualifications for such a role. He had thrust himself into this perilous situation solely because he couldn't restrain himself from discussing this particular topic.
"Sir, my Lord."
"Speak."
"What if the mountain of food they are amassing is not an offering to the Centipede but rather intended for soone else who can drive away their natural adversary?"
"What?"
"What if it's not an offering to the Centipede but to another entity capable of repelling their natural enemies?"
"...!"
It marked a change in perspective.
Groot Spiders were uncommon creatures, and the giant Centipede known as their queen was even more elusive.
'There's certainly a chance that this all began with a misunderstanding.'
What if the original discoverer misinterpreted the relationship between the Centipede and the spiders?
It's a plausible scenario.
Were it not for the Village Chief's revelation, they wouldn't even be aware of the food chain involving the Centipede and the spiders.
"Very well. I'll promptly assemble a team of elite knights for a new reconnaissance mission. The primary goal is to clarify the connection between the spiders and the Centipede, and if possible, to eliminate the Centipede!"
Any creature capable of disrupting the mountain range's food chain should be dealt with before it gains a foothold.
"Dominic, Village Chief of Evergreen and temporary chef of the Sinclair territory, pay attention."
"...Yes?"
His response lacked formality, earning him a few disapproving glances, but the current matter was not about minor etiquette.
"You'll accompany the knights and provide insights into any insect behaviors they might overlook."
"..."
"Your response?"
"...Yes..."
So, Dominic found himself awkwardly and laboriously trudging through the forest with the knights.
"The Count's demands are quite unreasonable. I doubt he's ever encountered a single goblin before."
"You're right. What could I possibly know about Centipedes... I've already shared nearly everything I know. Sigh."
En route, a knight from another territory who had enjoyed Dominic's homade jerky ca to his defense.
"But do we have a way to locate the spiders' cave?"
"There's likely an entrance connected to the cave not far from the campsite. They wouldn't stray too far when they have to transport their prey."
Ian replied.
"Ah, I see. But do we have to take this route? There's a better path over there."
Dominic grumbled as he walked along the muddy trail, his boots sinking into the damp leaves. While his greased leather boots were thankfully waterproof, each step was strenuous.
"We don't have much choice. Spiders tend to favor damp caves, so they're more likely to be in areas like this."
"So, no campfire for cooking?"
"We'll have to make do with dry rations."
Screeeeech!
Just as Dominic was about to sigh, a loud cry echoed in the distance, as if from a flock of birds circling in the sky.
"Is that an eagle?"
"It's a Wyvern."
"...A Wyvern?"
"It seems to be mating season; that's why they've co to the mountain range."
"Wait, if there's sothing that dangerous, is it safe for us to enter the forest with just this number of people?"
"Didn't you ask if it was an eagle? If a Wyvern looks like an eagle to you, it must be quite far away."
"Ah... So we're only dealing with the creatures on the outskirts?"
"Exactly. We're only contending with the creatures that have been driven out from the inner parts of the mountain range."
As Dominic continued to familiarize himself with the mountain range, the knights diligently scattered in search of the cave entrance.
"We've found it!"
They had prepared for several days of camping, but it seed they stumbled upon the cave much sooner than expected.
Dominic was sowhat surprised since he had anticipated that locating their target in the wilderness would be akin to finding a needle in a haystack.
"Well, I suppose that's a stroke of luck. Let's investigate quickly and head back. Giant Centipede? There's no way they'd send us with just a few knights to capture those beasts. Seriously, if this isn't a death sentence, I don't know what is. Our lord isn't that reckless."
With a forced smile, Dominic moved toward the direction where the young knight had called out.
"Sir, do you sll sothing peculiar? It's not like sweat; it's more like the scent of sothing decaying..."
As Dominic approached the knight who had reported discovering the cave, an increasingly foul odor filled the air. Despite the wind blowing in the opposite direction, the stench was unbearable.
"...So that's why we found it so quickly."
A grueso scene unfolded before them, causing even Ian, who was typically unflappable, to furrow his brow.
Rats, rabbits, pheasants, and deercreatures lower in the food chainas well as small-sized monsters like kobolds and goblins were haphazardly piled up.
It was literally a mountain of corpses.
Dominic and the knights stood in silence, their faces twisted in disgust by the sight before them, which made no distinction between species or whether they were beasts or monsters.
"It appears sothing inside is already decomposing."
"Yes, with this level of stench, there's no doubt."
"The scale of this is unlike anything I've seen in academic papers."
The knights began to mutter amongst themselves.
"Do you have any knowledge of this?"
The knights looked to Dominic as if hoping for answers.
"What would I know?"
But what could he do, even if they looked to him for guidance? His own experience with these creatures was limited to his military days, and that was in a previous life, not this one.
[Hey, you need to capture the king centipede, not the regular ones. The king ones have superior dicinal properties. You see, a regular centipede is only the size of a finger, but a king centipede is about a span long.]
Suddenly, Dominic recalled a quartermaster complaining about different types of centipedes.
"Ah! There are significant size variations among centipedes. So are as small as a finger, but others in the sa region can be as large as a hand."
According to the quartermaster, there were even centipedes in so other countries that exceeded 30 centiters in length.
When he heard that, he thought they were more like legged snakes than centipedes, but perhaps...
"No, it can't be. What are the odds of such bad luck occurring here?"
Although he attempted to dismiss the notion, an unsettling thought kept resurfacing.
"...If the specin is considerably larger than what was presented at the conference..."
Before the seasoned knight could complete his sentence, the ground trembled with a thud.
"...Is it an earthquake, sir?"
Dominic looked at Ian with a desperate expression.
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