Grace SIDE
The morning in bed with a musty smell was the worst.
I first tied my silky hair that reached my waist into a ponytail, then tied my favorite weapon, a two-handed axe, behind my back, and wore a dagger longer than my palm on my waist.
After we finished preparing, we each took our weapons, ate the vegetable soup provided as a service, and went out.
Then we headed to the mercenary guild that we had found out about in advance.
The mercenary guild also served as a restaurant, and it was full of mercenaries enjoying work and a meal even though it was morning.
The mercenaries' eyes were focused on me as I opened the door and came in without hesitation.
And when a woman with a heart-shaped uterus tattoo in an obscene outfit came in, they couldn't take their eyes off me.
I felt pleasure at that gaze, smiled faintly, and approached the long request board on one side of the mercenary guild where people were gathered.
While looking through the request board with Ian, I found an unusual request.
The risk rank was D, and the research title was written as Exploring the Forest's Abnormal Phenomenon.
The request was divided into ranks to measure the risk, and the risk was measured in order from A to D, and the characteristics were divided into subjugation, investigation, collection, and conquest.
Subjugation is the removal of a specific dangerous entity, investigation is the investigation of abnormal phenomena in a place or object, collection is the acquisition of items and creatures requested by the client, and conquest is the name given mainly to the destruction of dungeons and bases.
Reading the detailed explanation written on the neat request form that must have been fixed on the bulletin board not long ago, it seems that many animals have been found in the forest recently, exhausted and collapsed.
It has no effect on humans at all, so the risk rank is D, and the main content seems to be investigating the reason for exhaustion and collapse.
In addition, this request was written as a request from the Line Guard.
Since it was a request from a credible guard, the reliability was high, and although the reward was very low at 5 silver coins, I thought it would be good for a first request, so I told Ian.
"Ian, how about this?"
Ian turned his gaze to the request I had pointed out at my words.
"Hmm, it seems okay? The location is nearby, and it doesn't look that dangerous...."
"Yeah, yeah, the reward is a little low, but it seems okay for a first request?"
"Okay, let's do this."
"Hehehe, let's go. Let's finish it today!"
"Hahaha, okay."
I laughed cheerfully and opened the request form.
Then I approached the receptionist with Ian.
Behind the round glasses of the blonde gnome female receptionist, there was a cute, round-faced woman with dark eyes that looked tired.
She was processing the requests of the mercenaries who came before her as if she was used to this kind of thing.
She processed the work quite quickly, so my turn came quickly.
"Request."
The receptionist, who seemed extremely tired and usually saw people surprised when they saw me, spoke in a nonchalant voice as if nothing had happened.
When I gave her the request, the receptionist scratched her head for a moment and read it before extending her hand to me again.
"Mercenary card."
When I also handed her Ian's mercenary card, she yawned and looked at the mercenary card, looking slightly surprised.
I found her cute and smiled without realizing it, but quickly erased it, thinking it was rude.
"Capital?"
"Ah.. yes, I got it from the capital."
"Um... The application has been completed. The deadline is indefinite. For the detailed location, go to the Line Guard."
"Thank you."
"Next."
The receptionist who returned the mercenary card to me ignored us and immediately called the next mercenary.
Ian also found the sight of the small gnome woman working cute and smiled.
I snickered at that sight and went outside with Ian to the Line Guard to hear a detailed explanation.
...............…
The Line Guard located on the outskirts of the city is in charge of the overall security of the city.
It was the headquarters of the place in charge of the security of the entire city, so it looked like a large brick building that was roughly three stories tall.
I went into the guard and took the request form to the man sitting at the reception desk.
The man, who looked strict, stood up when he saw us coming in.
"What's going on?"
"I came after seeing the request form."
"Um, give it to me."
The man, whose expression didn't change even with my attire, accepted the request form I handed him, read it carefully, nodded, and handed it back to me.
"That's what our guards requested. Please wait a moment. I'll show you the place. Ron!"
"Yes!!"
"I'll go out and come back, so sit here and respond to the people."
"Yes.. Yes! Understood!"
A boy named Ron, who seemed to have recently joined the guards and was more like a boy than a young man, quickly came out from somewhere and started answering. He opened his mouth wide and stared blankly at me. He came back to his senses and answered the man's words.
"Follow me."
The man answered in a matter-of-fact manner and moved on.
Ian and I followed him, but when we felt eyes on us from behind, we turned around and noticed that Ron was looking at my back.
I thought that was cute, so I thought I'd give him a daughter, so I grabbed the bottom of my skirt and smiled charmingly.
Ron's face turned bright red when he saw me and he quickly turned his gaze away, but his eyes continued to scan me.
I snickered and clung to Ian.
The guard's footsteps began to pass the city walls and approach the forest.
The guard, who had reached the outskirts of the forest, turned around and looked at us.
"First, I'd like to thank you."
"Thank you?"
"This would normally be our job, but... The city has been in disarray recently, so it's been difficult to distribute manpower to this place... Our guard's budget isn't that great, so we ended up having to ask mercenaries for low wages, and people didn't come to us, so we were anxious. Since you came to visit us in the midst of all this, how could I not express my gratitude? I won't forget this favor."
The guard seemed to feel guilty about having to entrust the work to people other than guards because they lacked the strength.
Then he bowed his head politely with a slightly guilty expression.
"Oh! Raise your head. We came here because we wanted to do it. You don't have to bow your head like that. The security of this city is the most important thing."
When Ian spoke with a gentle smile, the guard finally raised his head.
"Still, thank you. First, let me explain the request."
The expressionless guard, whose guilty expression from earlier disappeared in an instant, began to tell us about the animals that suddenly collapsed from exhaustion and the giant flower that suddenly appeared in the forest as if it were work.
The guard believes that the flower is the cause of the mass exhaustion of the animals.
However, this information was based on the testimony of a herbalist who frequently visited this forest, and it was located in a place that was quite far away, taking about half a day's walk.
Sending a guard to investigate a place that was quite far away for something that would not cause casualties was too much of a burden for the guard who was currently short on personnel and desperately trying to maintain security.
The guard who said that the alternative that came out was mercenaries had a dark face for a moment, but then quickly shook it off and continued.
It is said that the place where the flower is is relatively easy to get to.
"Do you know how to read a map?"
"Yes, I learned it."
"Okay. This is our guard's map. The flower's location has been recorded through testimony, so you can go here... This time, I want you to just investigate the flower's special features. If it's not dangerous, there's no need to remove it."
"Okay."
"I'll go now. Once the request is complete, you can submit the results to the mercenary guild without stopping by the guard. That's all."
The guard bowed his head politely once again and headed toward the city without looking back.
"So, shall we go?"
"Okay."
Following my guidance, we headed toward the forest.
...................
It was like the Giants' Avenue in Humboldt Redwood State Park in the United States.
The forest, where light seeped in very finely, was dark overall.
As we walked around, naturally wary of our surroundings, we didn't see any demons, monsters, or beasts.
No, rather, our anxiety grew due to the strange silence.
Strangely enough, we couldn't even hear the sound of insects in this forest.
Ian must have sensed the ominousness, as his eyes looked around him with wariness.
I picked up our speed to move to the place where the flowers were as quickly as possible, and Ian also picked up his speed even faster.
As I walked while checking the map, I realized that the flowers were right in front of me.
When I raised my hand to signal, Ian also noticed my signal and stopped.
The ominous feeling that I couldn't understand turned into wariness, and I instinctively drew my weapon as my skin prickled.
Ian also saw me and picked up his longsword and shield.
I put the map in my small carry bag, grabbed the axe with both hands, and prepared to swing it at any moment.
And then we cautiously headed forward.
As we cut through the bushes and moved forward, the view that had been obscured by the branches and thick bushes suddenly brightened.
And we couldn't help but be surprised.
In the clearing that we saw, among the animals that were mating bizarrely and violently, a huge tree-like rose that looked at least 50 meters tall was wriggling and moving toward the sky.
For a moment, I forgot what to say and starved for a moment, starving and staring blankly at the rose that was twitching as if its muscles were moving, then came to my senses and looked around.
And then I could realize why the forest was so quiet.
The animals scattered around the rose were shivering and mating, as if they had starved for days, and the vacant lot around the rose was littered with dead bugs as if all the bugs in the forest had gathered there.
I looked around more and realized that even at this moment, animals and bugs were gathering.
Judging that they were emitting some kind of strong pheromone, I reminded myself that the first testimony was that they were not even tall enough for a person, and decided that if I delayed any longer, it would become dangerous.
"Let's get rid of Ian now."
"...."
"Ian?"
"Uh... Huh?"
Suddenly, a warm smell wafted into my nose.
And my body began to heat up little by little.
I realized that the flower's powers were already starting to work on people, so I quickly took out a cloth and covered my nose and mouth.
I didn't know if it would make sense, but I decided that I had to do this anyway, so I slapped Ian's cheek, who was blankly staring at me, and made him come to his senses.
Crack!
"Ugh!"
"Ian! Come to your senses, cover your nose and mouth with this. It must be because of the flower's power. Hurry up!"
"Ugh.. Ugh!!"
Only then did Ian come to his senses and quickly took out a cloth and covered his mouth and nose.
"Hurry up and get the fire potion out! It's a bit of a waste, but I don't think we can delay any longer, so let's throw both of them!"
"Yeah!"
Ian and I took out the small sphere-shaped fire bombs that we usually carry around.
Then, without hesitation, we pressed the button and threw both of them towards the roses.
Ian also seemed to have completely come to his senses and threw the bombs along with me.
After confirming that they fell exactly under the roses, we quickly left the place and hid behind the rocks.
1 second... 2 seconds... 3 seconds... 4 seconds....
Kwaaaaang!!!
I feel an intense heat behind us.
Kkieeeeeeeek!!!!!!
Along with the sound of the ground shaking, a strange, murderous cry that seemed to echo in my brain shook my body.
This was the second time I had to fight for my life.
But this time was different.
A strange adrenaline surged.
My heart started beating wildly, and I felt blood flowing throughout my body, warming me up, and I smiled in joy without realizing it.
I jumped over the rock, feeling the cold axe in my hand.
On the other side, a rose was shaking its ugly, burning body and waving its tentacles here and there.
----------------------
Read +100 chapters in advance and other NTR stories on my Patreon
p@treon(.)com/BiBit22
—TIER 1 you'll get +20 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
—TIER 2 you'll get +40 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
—TIER 3 you'll get +70 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
—TIER 4 you'll get +100 ADVANCE CHAPTERS