“We, the pigman clan, are willing to follow you, great High Slime and great white dragon.”
A few days later, dozens of pigmen who had trekked all this way prostrated themselves respectfully before Zoe.
The pigmen were physically weak, dressed in tattered animal hides, and carried almost no luggage. They looked like refugees fleeing a disaster, showing absolutely no combat capability.
The majority of their group consisted of female pigmen, elderly pigmen, and young pigmen.
Only a few adult male pigmen could be considered combat units.
Meanwhile, the white dragon sat nearby with her wings folded, looking as if she were showing off and claiming credit.
“Squish.”
「Where did you come from?」
“To answer your question, great High Slime, we came from the southern part of the Great Hera Forest.”
The oldest pigman, who stood before the rest and seemed to be the pigman elder, continued to speak.
“That area is on the southernmost edge of the Great Hera Forest. There are no particularly powerful monsters there, so our clan has lived there for generations.”
“We would also trade materials from monsters we hunted with passing human merchant caravans for some goods.”
“But just half a month ago, a group of humans wearing black robes attacked our tribe.”
“Squish.”
「Humans? Didn't you say you also traded with human caravans?」
Generally speaking, humans would not subjugate harmless, intelligent monsters. The fact that this group of pigmen could trade with human caravans clearly meant they were harmless monsters.
“Those were not adventurers, but spellcasters capable of wielding an extremely ominous, evil red magic.”
“They used magic to control our tribe's warriors, and they even controlled several Land Dragons and giant bearmen.”
“They threatened our tribe, demanding that we submit to them, accept their mind-control magic, and fight for them.”
Perhaps recalling the scene back then, all the pigmen in front of him began to tremble in fear.
“We escaped into the depths of the Great Hera Forest under the cover of our tribe's warriors.”
“But half of the warriors who escorted us died along the way, leaving only us in the end.”
Listening to the pigman elder's words, Zoe fell silent, lost in thought.
‘Is it the Headhunter Cult?’
Why does the Headhunter Cult want to control these monsters? Judging by their target, they are not just controlling a few, but rather trying to establish a monster army.
Land Dragons and giant bearmen were both top-tier combat forces among Low-tier Monsters.
The only thing Zoe could think of was that the Headhunter Cult wanted to control these monsters to wage a small-scale war.
In that case, the target of this war would obviously be humans.
‘In that case, could the purpose of Elijah—the fallen adventurer from the Headhunter Cult whom I met in the eastern region of the Great Hera Forest a few months ago—have been to control monsters in the Great Hera Forest as well?’
What benefit would there be for the Headhunter Cult to control monsters and attack human towns?
Zoe ultimately decided not to think too much about it.
After all, he was just a High Slime with limited strength. No matter how much he worried, he had no way of solving it.
In any case, he just had to keep a mental note of it.
“Squish.”
「You will set up your shelters in the area at the foot of the hill. I will protect your safety, but in return, you must contribute your strength to me.」
“Yes, great Lord.”
Hearing Zoe's words, the pigman elder replied in haste, and the trembling pigmen all let out a sigh of relief.
After all, having gone through the destruction of their home and wandered in the dangerous forest for so long, they finally had a place to settle down. The joy and peace of mind they felt in their hearts could only be truly understood by themselves.
Watching the pigmen walk down the hill, Zoe simply had Vera deliver a small amount of food to them.
He couldn't keep spoon-feeding these followers forever. After all, he needed labor, not pets.
“Squish.”
「Vera, you did very well this time.」
“Of course! I am the evil white dragon, Vera!”
...
To the east of the Hera Plains, right at the border with the human world's Grand Duchy of Rose, stood a town with hundreds of years of history.
Hera Town.
Serving as an outpost to monitor movements on the Hera Plains, Hera Town was a famous adventurers' town.
Countless adventurers gathered in this town—some who had already made a name for themselves, others who were rookies harboring beautiful dreams.
This place was a graveyard for adventurers. Every year, a massive number of adventurer licenses were revoked here.
Yet, it was also where other adventurers took their first steps toward becoming legends.
In a tavern in Hera Town named the Crimson Lily...
A woman dressed as a traveler, yet wearing clean leather armor with a simple longsword hanging at her waist, stopped in front of the tavern.
“This... must be the place.”
The woman had a beautiful face and wore her brown hair in a clean, sharp, shoulder-length bob.
She then pushed open the tavern door and walked inside.
Even though it was daytime, there were still quite a few people inside, most of whom were adventurers.
Ignoring the gazes that swept over her, the woman went straight to the counter and set down a silver coin.
“Give me a drink. Also, has Zoe Sable been here recently?”
“Zoe Sable?”
The bartender did not pour a drink for the woman.
“Sorry, we never sell personal information. Besides, this tavern refuses to serve you.”
“Please leave, lady.”
The bartender pushed the silver coin back.
The woman held down the bartender's hand. At that exact moment, the entire tavern fell dead silent. Every single adventurer turned their gaze toward her, and even the bard's lyre fell silent.
Yet under such pressure, the woman showed not the slightest trace of tension.
“I'm in a real hurry right now, and I'm very annoyed.”
“Though I think you might have misunderstood something, my younger brother hasn't written back to me in over half a year.”
“If you know something about my brother but choose to hide it from me...”
“I'm really going to feel like beating all of you to a pulp.”
The woman gripped the longsword at her waist, speaking each word with cold emphasis.
“Younger brother?”
“Are you Zoe's older sister?”
The bartender looked at the woman in front of him and asked hesitantly.
“In the flesh. Want to see my credentials?”
The woman pulled out an adventurer license. Although the rank on it was only the lowest, F-rank, her registered class was listed as...
Mid-tier Swordsman!
Class: Magic Swordsman!
Flora Sable.
Once her identity was confirmed, the bartender raised his hand. The surrounding adventurers retracted their gazes, the sound of the lyre filled the air again, and the tavern returned to its previous noisy atmosphere.
“Please, follow me.”
The bartender gestured to his colleague and left the counter. The two of them walked up the stairs to the balcony on the second floor of the tavern.
“Mr. Zoe did indeed dine here often. He was always very generous with his tips and very kind to the servers, unlike the usual rudeness of other adventurers.”
“Many girls in the tavern even viewed him as their ideal partner—if only he weren't an adventurer by profession.”
“However, I've never heard Mr. Zoe mention having an older sister.”
“And your appearances are a bit...”
Zoe's hair was black and his eyes were amber, while Flora's hair was brown and her eyes were grass-green.
“Our family is a bit complicated. Zoe is my father's illegitimate child, so we're half-siblings.”
As an illegitimate child, he had no inheritance rights, so Zoe was not considered a noble.
But it was precisely because he had no inheritance rights that Flora and Zoe could get along without any conflicts of interest, fostering a pure sibling bond.
However, it was because Flora had grown too close to Zoe, an illegitimate child, that suspicion was aroused.
In the end, Zoe was forced by her other siblings to leave the family and embark on a journey of adventure.
Although in Flora's eyes, Zoe actually looked quite happy the day he left the family.
“I see.”
“So... how is Zoe doing now?”
“I'm sorry. Mr. Zoe passed away more than half a year ago.”
Rate on N.U.
