Chapter 30

Chapter 30 : Inquiry

The foundation of tracking was information gathering.

Only by closely grasping not only the target’s appearance, but also its habits and movement routes, and preparing accordingly, could one hunt it successfully.

However, Radi and I ran into a wall from the very beginning.

The moment we set out to ask questions, the merchants took an extremely uncooperative attitude.

“A Monster that has been attacking people every night lately? What are you going to do with that information?”

“You are gathering information to hunt the Monster? Another obvious trick.”

“You are planning to run your mouths nicely, take the requested money, and flee, are you not? Do you think this is my first time seeing scammer bastards like you?! Get lost!!”

｢The stall merchant flies into a rage and throws a fixture!｣

｢The merchants’ distrust has reached its peak! Like a swarm of bees after their hive has been stirred up, the enraged merchants will no longer try to speak with you.｣

“D-Damn it…!”

Why?

Radi and I hurriedly fled out into the street while clutching our heads.

We had only asked what the Monster looked like, yet their reaction went beyond wariness and into outright hostility.

This seemed to mean….

“It looks like there were adventurers before us who took money under the pretext of exterminating the beast and then disappeared…?”

“It seems so… And judging by how ugly the public sentiment is, it was probably not just one or two of them.”

“Damn it… We need more information if we want to catch the Monster….”

To hunt a beast in such a wide area, gathering information was essential. But since the merchants had shut their mouths, normal inquiry was impossible.

“Damn it… If Malton were here at a time like this, it would be much easier… His sociability is no joke.”

“I know… Do you not have any other clever method?”

“Well… I am thinking hard, but….”

Exhausted from the continued persecution, Radi and I sat by the roadside and stared blankly at the passersby.

While we were putting our heads together and pondering, I saw a small gray shape wriggling beneath a stall.

When I narrowed my eyes and looked carefully, I saw a rat rummaging through a garbage bin.

At that moment, an idea flashed through my mind like lightning.

“That is it! A rat!!”

“Wh-What? Why me…?!”

“No, I mean that rat over there! I thought of a good way to deceive the merchants’ eyes.”

After all, as the saying went, birds hear words spoken by day, and rats hear words spoken by night.

When I curled the corner of my mouth into a grin, Radi, noticing something, twitched his eyebrow and immediately grabbed me by the collar before whispering as though interrogating me.

“Oh, seriously… You crazy person! Surely you are not about to say something absurd like transforming into a Monster and eavesdropping, are you…? If you are caught after transforming into a Monster, we will all be dragged off as heretics…!”

“Did we not decide to be in the same boat?”

“That is true, but….”

Radi groaned with a twisted expression, then finally let go after a moment of conflict.

“…What do you need me to help with?”

“Nothing major. Just keep watch for me.”

Together with Radi, I entered a nearby abandoned tent.

‘Now, I am certain it was among my transformation list….’

“…Found it.”

[Lesser Rat]

｢A Low-Ranking Monster in the form of a large rat!｣

｢It does not have sharp teeth, nor are its physical abilities especially outstanding! If you disguise yourself as this Monster, you might be caught and eaten by a stray dog and die pointlessly!｣

｢Unless there is a special reason, transforming into this Monster is not recommended!｣

It was a Monster I had hunted while crossing the grassland shortly after meeting Malton.

“Keep a close eye on the outside.”

Leaving Radi peeking beyond the tent behind me, I focused on the [Disguise] skill.

When I closed my eyes and concentrated, every noise in the world faded away, and my senses gradually sank.

‘What did a Lesser Rat look like again?’

About the size of a quokka or a guinea pig. Overall, it was squat, and as befitted the name “degraded Monster rat,” it was extremely small and shabby.

‘What about the internal elements?’

Life at the lowest level of the Monster Ecosystem, where threats were always present.

Even if it had to wander miserably and wretchedly through the gutter, it still possessed a desire to tenaciously pick up crumbs and reproduce no matter what.

The moment I understood the essence of the Lesser Rat, a chant surfaced in my mind.

“Squeak squeak, breadcrumbs! Cheese! Garbage! Plague! Squeak squeak!”

When I recited the somewhat childish spell befitting the intelligence of the Monster, CRACKLE―! My bones twisted, and my body began to transform.

My spine bent, my limbs rapidly shortened, and fluffy gray fur began growing from my skin.

When the change finally stopped, I pushed my way out of the heap of scattered clothes and stood awkwardly on my hind legs.

‘This is a strange sensation….’

Since my viewpoint was much lower, I had to look up at everything.

My vision had also worsened, so the whole world felt hazy and distorted, like a dusty action camera.

It was extremely unpleasant, almost enough to make me dizzy.

However, I soon felt a different kind of sensation.

─Sniff, sniff!

When the wind made the tent flap, waves of all sorts of smells rushed in.

The smells felt vivid and unusual, like colored fog.

｢You have disguised yourself as a [Lesser Rat]!｣

｢Your stealth is excellent, but it seems wise to avoid combat!｣

｢Some humans will feel disgust and avoid you if they see you.｣

｢‘Radi’ is growing agitated! Agility increases by 2.｣

When I raised my head, Radi was looking down at me with his eyes open as wide as they could go.

“I-It is still shocking even seeing it again… To think you can transform into a Monster so instantly….”

─Squeak!

As though it were nothing special, I flicked my long whiskers with my forepaw and stepped out of the tent.

Then everything that had once been familiar turned enormous and strange.

Signs and billboards loomed over me as if they were going to swallow me, making me feel like a toy soldier exploring a land of giants.

‘I need to take a route where people are least likely to see me, squeak…!’

I began moving while hiding in the drainage channel.

It was a precarious feeling, as though I would burst if the feet of passersby so much as struck me.

After avoiding terrifying leather boots and finally arriving at the stall street I had been aiming for, I felt the frantic liveliness of the area.

The smell of kitchen knives chopping bright red lumps of meat, bread, and spices.

‘Squeak…! This is practically a buffet!’

I picked up a large piece of cheese that had fallen on the street and settled behind a sign. Luckily, the merchants were talking about the Monster in question.

“Did you hear? They say the Monster appeared again last night… This time, that Gnome Fence over there was attacked. They say it appeared from the shadows, clawed him in an instant, and vanished. It is practically a ghost.”

“They say it is so cunning that it avoids every trap too. Those adventurer bastards who came forward so confidently took the request fee, then came back half out of their minds, did they not… Shit, what exactly are those Knight Order bastards doing…!”

“Shh, quiet. At this rate, even the few customers we have left will stop coming, and we will be the only ones left to dry up and die.”

─Squeak…!

‘It sprang out from the shadows and attacked…? Could it be that Monster I know?’

Impossible. That individual was so rare that an ordinary person might never see one even once in their entire life.

Still half in doubt, I climbed a rope and moved over the merchants’ heads while eavesdropping on their conversations.

However, the testimonies I collected from various people all pointed to a consistent target.

A sleek body like a leopard, pitch-black rosette markings, elusive movements, ambushes through shadows, and more….

Every circumstance fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

‘Damn it… If this is true, things have changed a little….’

While I agonized over it and tore into a bagel a customer had left half-eaten, a scream suddenly rang out.

“Kyaaaaaaah!!”

｢A customer eating at a stall looks up at you and is horrified!｣

｢To food-cart merchants, rodents are objects of hatred! Flee!｣

｢Agility increases by 2!｣

‘Oops, I have been found…!’

The shopkeeper immediately tried to swing a club at me, but I used my wits and bit through the rope holding the sign in place.

The falling wooden board struck the shopkeeper on the head and sent him rolling.

Another merchant wearing a baker’s hat charged at me, but I landed nimbly atop a sack of flour and tore it open with my claws.

As white dust scattered like a smoke bomb had burst, the market instantly turned into chaos.

Along the way, a garbage can overturned and some unknown liquid splashed onto me, but so what?

‘This works out even better.’

“C-Cough! Catch that rat bastard!!”

─Squeak!

The nearby merchants joined forces and rushed in, but instead, I slipped into the crowd.

As I ran freely between people’s legs, people everywhere screamed and floundered as they tried to avoid the filthy rat.

While shaking off the merchants charging in from every direction with fire in their eyes, I saw a fluttering lace skirt and a temptation surged up in my mind.

─Squeak!

I promptly leaped beneath the noblewoman’s skirt.

“Kyaaaaaaaaah!! A-A Monster…! A hairy beast went inside my skirt!!”

“Aaaaagh!! Something is crawling under my clothes!!”

I quickly transferred over and playfully bit an adventurer on the chest, causing him to shriek and make a tremendous fuss.

As people screamed and the disturbance grew larger and larger, the bards looked at one another, then all at once began playing their instruments in a rapid tune.

A club swung in panic, struck the person beside its wielder, and when the victim responded with a punch, the fight spread out of control.

─Woof, woof!!

In the midst of it all, who knew who had released it, but a hunting dog came charging while barking sharply. However─.

─Squeak… Squeak squeak!

When I snatched the skewer from an adventurer’s hand and threw it far away, the dog immediately changed targets and vanished beyond the alley.

After leisurely shaking off the crowd that had fallen into chaos, I returned to the tent at my ease, and Radi looked at me with a bewildered gaze.

“I just heard a huge commotion from the market. Surely that was not your doing, was it…? And is it just my imagination, or do you look more muscular than when you left…?”

─…Squeak!

｢The market has fallen into tremendous chaos! It is a great achievement, one that is hard to believe was accomplished by a single little rat!｣

｢Strength increases by 10!｣

｢Agility increases by 8!｣

｢Luck increases by 5!｣

｢Intelligence increases by 2…!｣

‘So this is how a muscle-bound rat feels!’

After savoring the lingering sensation, I canceled the transformation and returned to human form. My sense of smell dulled as though my nose had been blocked, and I felt my viewpoint rise.

I accepted the Robe from Radi, who let out a short scream and covered his eyes, and said,

“I found out the Monster’s identity.”

“Please at least warn me before transforming!! …You found out the Monster’s identity?”

“Yes. I will explain later, so let us leave this place first. We have to hurry and prepare before the sun sets.”

“…All right. But come over here for a moment before that.”

Radi brushed the flour from my hair, then followed me without complaint.

***

｢Night is approaching.｣

｢Prepare for the Monster’s attack!｣

By the time dusk was slowly falling, we were in a secluded clearing quite far from the shopping street.

In front of the tent we had rented after predicting the Monster’s route, I was busily piling firewood into a brazier when Radi opened his mouth.

“So… I did as you told me, but what kind of monster is it that we have to prepare this much?”

“It is a Monster called the [Night Stalker].”

“Night Stalker…? I have never heard that name before.”

Radi tilted his head and asked again, but I shrugged as though it were nothing.

‘Of course you have not.’

The Night Stalker was a nimble and intelligent jaguar Monster.

It was so rare that it was practically treated as a quasi-Phantasmal Species.

Even I had only seen it a handful of times while playing Velheim for ten years.

Unless one saw a stuffed specimen in a noble’s Treasure Hold or happened to see one being raised as a pet of the gods, it was essentially a Monster one would never encounter.

I did not know why such a creature was wandering around this place, but if it was that thing, I could understand why the merchants had failed to guess its identity despite the many eyewitness accounts.

“Such a rare Monster… Are you sure you have not confused it with some other Monster? Like a leopard….”

“Among the things I overheard from the merchants, there was testimony that it sprang out of the shadows to attack and then vanished. Around here, that is the only Monster with that sort of ability.”

“Leaping through shadows… That is an extremely troublesome ability. But how do we catch a Monster that appears and disappears so unpredictably?”

“Fortunately, it cannot use its ability without shadows. So if we fill the surroundings with light, we should be able to seal off its ability.”

“Ah, so that is why you set up Kerosene Lanterns all around the clearing.”

“Yes. We are going to remove every place it can hide.”

As an extremely rare Monster, the Night Stalker would also bring in a lucrative side income when defeated.

If we could skin its hide intact, we might be able to get our hands on a fortune at once.

“But… how do we lure it here? There is a high chance it will come along this route, but there is no guarantee it will come to this exact place among all these tents….”

“I considered that in advance too.”

There happened to be an item suitable for a time like this.

‘I never thought I would use this here.’

[Naga’s Heart]

｢An item made by extracting the heart of a Naga that lived in a river, then preserving it.｣

｢Nagas lure in Monsters with their unique mana and scent before devouring them! If used properly, it should be able to draw in a large number of Monsters!｣

When Radi saw the contents inside the container, he immediately let out an exclamation.

“Th-This is… Naga’s Heart! Where did you get something this precious…?”

“When I first met Malton, we were attacked by a Bandit Gang. I obtained it from them then.”

No matter how cunning it was, as long as it was a Monster, it would be unable to resist coming after us.

“This should indeed be enough to lure it in. …Then I will go check the traps I set up over there one last time.”

“Sure.”

While Radi was away for a short while, I went back into the tent and made a small cut on my finger with a dagger.

When I sprinkled blood onto a piece of the heart taken from the container, a notification appeared.

｢The bewitching power contained in [Naga’s Heart] has been activated!｣

｢The being drawn by the magic will scent your blood and track you!｣

Now, if we waited for a while, the Monster would come on its own.

But at that moment, the candle burning inside the tent went out with a WHOOSH─.

‘What was that? Was it the wind?’

I tilted my head in confusion and walked toward the candlestick to light it again, but at that moment, chills ran through my entire body.

The flame had not gone out. Rather, the middle of the candlestick had been severed as though cut away with a blade.

“Has it already appeared?!”

The instant I drew my sword and turned around, I met a pair of yellow eyes glaring at me from within the darkness.

And for a moment, I could not help being bewildered.

Because in its gaze, I sensed a cold intelligence that should not have been there.

｢You have encountered the ultra-rare Monster [Night Stalker]!!｣

｢It is an exceedingly rare Monster! By witnessing its beautiful rosette pattern, Insight permanently increases by 1.｣

｢It is a Monster difficult to encounter even once in a lifetime! Among nobles, it is called a symbol of luck, but to adventurers, it is like a nightmare!｣

｢Traces remain that it was once raised by someone.｣

｢May fortune be with you.｣

‘Wait… Something is strange…?’

The moment I sensed the abnormality, it lunged at me in an instant.