“Are you familiar with a monster called a Crawler?”
“Yes, somewhat.”
A Crawler was a herbivorous caterpillar-type monster.
About the size of a human infant, with virtually no combat ability.
A village farmhand with a club could kill one without breaking a sweat.
In level terms, probably one or two at most.
What made them terrifying, however, was their voracious appetite and their abnormal rate of reproduction.
Once an outbreak occurred, they appeared in overwhelming swarms and devoured every food source in the surrounding area.
“In this Great Forest, there are Crawler species that swarm in thirteen-year and seventeen-year cycles. This year happens to be one that comes once every two hundred and twenty-one years — when both cycles align.”
“That sounds like a serious problem. Countermeasures would be essential.”
“Indeed. And to make things worse, the Orc clan — the Crawlers’ natural predator — has had its numbers reduced. Normally, even a large outbreak would be consumed by them, but……they suffered a major defeat at the Goblin King’s hands at the start of this year.”
What terrible timing……
Or had the Goblin King attacked the Orcs precisely because of this?
But if Crawlers swarmed en masse, the Goblins themselves would run out of food too.
“So that’s why Piesta mentioned being glad for weapon materials earlier.”
“Makes sense — dealing with Crawlers, you can never have enough weapons……”
“I’d rather not think about that again……”
Alicia and the others — who apparently had experience fighting Crawlers — all grimaced in unison.
It must have been genuinely terrible; their expressions carried an exhaustion that words couldn’t quite capture.
Crawler swarms, once they appeared, were supposedly in the millions……
No matter how weak each individual was, having them pour out in essentially inexhaustible numbers sounded like a psychological ordeal.
“So what does all of that have to do with the magic stone?”
“We use a large magic stone as the power source for the barrier that keeps Crawlers out of the kingdom. If the knight order’s extermination effort goes badly, there’s a chance the stone will be requisitioned by the state.”
“Which is why you can’t sell it to us.”
“Exactly.”
So that was the reason — buying it outright seemed genuinely difficult.
But the fact that he’d brought all this up suggested there was some path to obtaining it.
Otherwise, there’d be no reason to have this conversation.
“What would it take for you to part with the stone?”
“In exchange for the stone, you’d need to supply the knight order with weapons and equipment. Though given the stone’s considerable size, it would probably take something like three hundred steel swords to cover it……”
The owner said it with a grave expression.
……Wait, that’s not actually that many.
Three hundred swords — with the Demeter-types running at full capacity, three days would do it.
“Understood — we’ll provide three hundred.”
“You can manage that!?”
“Yes. Two weeks should cover the round trip and production time.”
“That would be a tremendous help. For our part, we’d much rather the knight order handle the extermination than rely entirely on the barrier.”
With that, the owner extended his hand.
I took it and allowed myself a small, relieved smile.
This should secure most of what we came for.
There was a chance we’d been slightly overcharged — but I’d let that go.
For an inexperienced group like us to have pulled off a negotiation at all was already something to be grateful for.
“For the items besides the magic stone, I’ll have preparations begin immediately. You should be able to take them with you tomorrow.”
“Thank you!”
“Not at all — this proved a mutually beneficial arrangement.”
The business discussion had concluded without major issues, when it happened.
The door to the room opened without warning, and a figure dressed in black — some kind of secretary — hurried to the owner’s side.
“What is the meaning of this? I said not to interrupt during a meeting.”
“The thing is……”
The man whispered something in his ear.
The color drained from the owner’s face immediately.
He turned to us, his voice noticeably weakened.
“The Goblin King has raised his army again and attacked the Orc capital. The Orc King has apparently been forced to retreat.”
“Isn’t that……quite bad?”
“Yes. This effectively removes Orc presence from the regions where Crawlers tend to emerge.”
That was seriously bad……
If a Crawler mass outbreak hit now, with their natural predators gone, their numbers would explode unchecked……!
In that scenario, they’d strip the forest of food in no time.
Countermeasures needed to be worked out quickly — or it would be too late.
“What could the Goblin King possibly be thinking, letting things come to this……!”
“Can the Forest King act? In a crisis of this scale, I’d think only the king could address it.”
“Unfortunately……the king cannot act at present. I’m not at liberty to explain the circumstances.”
The owner made a strained expression. Some deep situation behind it.
If the Forest King — supposedly of overwhelming power — couldn’t be called on, things were looking genuinely difficult.
The Elves would suffer, of course, but at this rate our Isvall would be in serious trouble too.
“In that case, we’ll contribute our forces as well. I’ll go make the offer to Piesta. And we’ll have the swords ready regardless.”
“I’m grateful……! But in this situation, handing over the magic stone has become considerably more difficult.”
“That’s fine. Weapons for fighting Crawlers serve our interests too.”
At that moment, Makina quietly stepped into the conversation beside me.
“I have a proposal.”
In a situation like this, and yet completely unruffled.
That level tone of hers — I found it genuinely reassuring.