CHAPTER 408: ARC 6, CHAPTER 24: SIDE QUEST!

"There are many old castles and keeps in ruins all over South End. Kids in the town are told not to go anywhere near Casten Castle and most adventurers have already stripped the place bare of anything truly valuable.

This chest was a lucky find, but some of these gemstones, while can be magical components, are not that expensive or of value. The amulet is silver, could sell as an antique for a high price, but I would advise you to keep it.

There is some sort of quality of it that seems old—old enough to be ancient. I’m sure a historian or a scholar will pay a higher price than a pawn shop. Beyond that, none of this is cursed.

People often have visited the castle and say they get sick with the flu, hay fever in winter, nausea, cramps, the list goes on. When that happens, we may have an antidote for it; that is the most abnormal part about that place."

"What about the case from last November?" Fumeko continued to ask the cat-girl.

"That? Sheep were going missing, not that interesting. Could have been a beast, a hungry thief, a loose latch on a gate. The people though, we got a few cases that came to us. Some healing potions and rest did the trick.

Thought it was some new bug or beast with sharp fangs that drew blood, like vampires in stories and fantasy novels, but not much blood was even drained from them. Could have just been an odd double-pronged syringe?"

Jotou pondered for a moment before speaking, "What do you know about magic that can spy on people?"

To that, the shopkeeper’s eyes widened and her ears shook, as did her head, "We do not provide services like that, that’s a lot more illegal... Maybe, somewhere a little more secluded you might find someone who can offer that, but you did not hear it from here."

_

They spent their next morning in Wensteter Village once more, having had another night’s sleep. "Oh no, we should’ve bought the potion that lets us speak to animals," Asobi regretted.

"We can still speak to them, we just can’t understand them," the cross-armed Fumeko walked beside. "I’m more annoyed that you accepted this commission from some random villager."

Her ire was targeted towards the back of the redhead. Hotaru walked along ahead, "You want to buy expensive things? Then you better work for them."

"Because the two gold pieces she’s offered is gonna put us at a net positive," the brunette’s eyes glazed over.

"It’s not that I don’t agree with you detective, but it’s just hunting a few bunnies in a cabbage patch, it shouldn’t take us more than ten minutes," Jotou argued.

Tiffany shook her head, "Nay, twas not mere invasive rabbits, twas cottontails that are as swift as a piercing bolt."

"It was really nice that that lady recognized us as adventurers and asked us to help!" Asobi hopped.

"This is it," Hotaru stopped in front of a relatively small field that hosted freshly watered blooming cabbage flowers, not ready for harvest. They were slightly away from the village, but with it still in sight.

Scarecrows were not doing their job as sparrows roosted on them. "Alright, simple commission. We just have to hunt or at least get rid of these arrow rabbits from these fields; if not permanently, at least for a good while.

Two gold is on the line, so let’s do this!" Hotaru confidently put with a hand on her hip and her tail in a swish.

Asobi raised her wand in the air, "Yeah!!!"

...

"Was there supposed to be some inspirational comical music playing as you said that or something?" Jotou watched with glazed over eyes.

"You’re seriously gonna make us hunt down arrow rabbits?" Fumeko’s arms remained crossed.

Hotaru grunted loudly, "Where’s your sense of adventure?"

"I, Stella Vespertillio, am proficient with a great many number of tasks and topics, however, for the sake of this world’s mortals amongst us, how does one, pray tell, detain or maim a creature such as this?"

"I don’t know, I thought we’d come up with a solution," the wolf-girl shrugged.

"Hey Hotaru," Jotou called.

"Hm?"

"Are you feeling alright mentally?"

Hotaru half-closed her eyes and stared at the blonde.

"Over yonder lies what we seek!" Asobi’s wand was a telescope as she pointed out. There were a couple of brownish rabbits nibbling at the premature cabbage.

They had sharper rabbit-shaped heads and their bodies were long, with their hind legs much smaller than a normal rabbit’s. Their sleek fur sparkled slightly under the morning sunlight. "Let’s get this over with," Fumeko blinked forward.

As the shadows set her down at the targets, the small rabbits took notice and twitched their noses. Their long ears stood up and rigidly went back down against their back.

Before Fumeko could reach down to grab any of them, the rabbit hopped once, very weakly—it was barely off of the ground-

"DUFFFDFDFDFFD!!!"

"DUFUFUFUDFDFFF!!!"

Two massive gusts of wind and sound blasted past the brunette’s face, pushing her hair back and her petite form to plant her feet firmly in the soil.

In the blink of an eye, both rabbit shot downwards into the earth, leaving nothing but two holes and some unearthed dirt in front of her.

...

Fumeko’s waxed open eyes blinked a few times.

Hotaru smiled and smugly turned around, "Still think it’s boring?" she said to Jotou.

"I never said boring. And you didn’t know they did exactly that, did you," Jotou pursed her lips.

"I didn’t know they were that fast," she admitted.

"That’s soooooo COOL!!" Asobi hopped further into the cabbage patch. "Can we keep them as a pet!?"

"Let us not..." Tiffany opposed.

"Alright," Jotou held the bridge of her nose. "Bunnies at the speed of a train in an instant that go underground. First off, we should get some sort of pesticide or deterrent. I assume the lady commissioned us cause it was too late.

So, we’ll have to get rid of them. Cages and traps I don’t feel like are options... Well, actually," Jotou pondered. ’Something that goes that fast that instantly would carry a lot of momentum. Something solid like dirt and stone might break, but...’

"Woosh." Fumeko reappeared next to them.

"Let’s borrow some nets from the village. If we can wrap them up in it, I bet it couldn’t escape even with speed, cause it won’t be able to speed up in the first place. Disabling the leg is key. All Fumeko would have to do is be quicker than the rabbit."

"Oh, I’m doing all the work?" the brunette raised a brow.

"All you have to be is faster than some little rabbits detective, don’t tell me you’re slower than that~"

"...Do you really think that’s gonna work on me?" Fumeko squinted.

"Pretty please~ The faster we do this, the faster we can all go back," Jotou cooed.

Fumeko groaned continuously as she walked towards the village, "I’ll figure out the holes they’re coming out of."

"Thank you~"

"What task does thou bestow upon one such as I?"

"Well, thou has a roar that rivals my thunder in power, so when time beckons thee, thou shall release thy might onto these measly herd of prey and they shall spring up." ’Probs can’t completely navigate underground and their sensitive ears would hurt if they stay too long.’

"Ha!" Tiffany posed with a few fingers over her eyepatch as a ripple of transparent white waved up her visible eye. "If tis mine roar of which thou seek, I shall bellow till mine divine voice reaches all the hells below and the heavens above!"

"What should I do?" Asobi hollered over from behind a cabbage she was crouched at.

"Make friends with them if possible. We’re not trying to hurt all of them, releasing them somewhere else would be preferable." ’I’m sure the lady would appreciate some rabbit meat though.’

"Ay ay captain, can do!" Asobi skipped into the fields.

Jotou took a breath, "There. Let’s get this done."

Hotaru looked at her with the slightest of frowns, "What’s with the change in mood?"

The blonde shrugged a shoulder, "Thought I’d help, since it’ll make you happier if we do this."

Shades of pink began flushing across the wolf-girl’s cheeks as she kept the same pouty expression.

_

"This is not the same path we took from the guild," Fumeko stated.

Hotaru had the map in her hands, "You’re right, it’s a better route that cuts us an hour of walking. Some adventurers at the tavern in the morning talked about how quickly they got to Wensteter Village through here.

I asked them and they were kind enough to mark it for us," the wolf-girl looked around the barely existing path beneath her feet and the dense foliage around them.

"We’re definitely cutting through the woods, this’ll end well..." Jotou replied.

"There won’t be anything we can’t handle! Even a big bear would be no problem for us," Asobi cheered.

Fumeko leered, "Are you trying to get something to chase us?"

"Tis odd foliage, is it not so?" Tiffany grazed her hand across the underside of a large fern-like leaf from a bush. It was green all around, but grew more purple towards the centre of the bush.

"We’re in a forest with magic running wild, we’re bound to find weird plants," Jotou looked around. She slipped her thumbs into the sling of her backpack, pulling it taut. "Where to? There’s barely a path left," her shoes crunched upon leaves.

"It should continue, this way, no, wait," Hotaru stepped ahead. She looked up at the noonish Sun, "Really should buy a compass. Could you read it?" she glanced over to Jotou.

"Not with the Sun right on top of us."

Fumeko rubbed her hand into one side of her face, "Don’t tell me we’re lost."

"We haven’t made that many turns, so if we just keep heading south-eastwards, we’ll eventually be at the guild or a river," Hotaru eased.

"Alright Aru, where’s southeast," Fumeko tightened her lips and stared.

"I," Hotaru swivelled her head around, her ears at first pricked up, but then falling down in embarrassment. "It’s around- Might be uh... Yeesh, would it have hurt you to pay attention to where we were going too?"

"At this rate, maybe Meko should teleport us back to the guild," Asobi suggested.

"That won’t go wrong at all," Fumeko remarked.

"How about we keep that as a last resort? If the worst case is some switched body parts, I think we can live with that than being lost in the woods," Jotou said and continued forward.

"I think we should go that way," Hotaru pointed through some trees that seemed easy to traverse through. Leading the way, they followed the redhead through the plentiful flora that seemed to bloom.

Wildflowers blossomed all over the forest floor and some grew on vines cascading from trees. There was less undergrowth and more space for them to move their feet and arms freely.

"What is that scent?" Tiffany took a whiff of the air. "Tis not the blooms beneath us."

"What smell?" Jotou sniffed around. ’It’s just the flowers, it’s not even that strong.’

"Really? It’s a bit sour, but sweet. A little like alcohol too," Fumeko searched around, her eyes a little wider.

Asobi stood on the tips of her toes and pointed her nose up, "Nope. I don’t smell anything."

"It’s buttery and soft. Like an expensive perfume, but it’s not," Hotaru smiled and cupped her cheeks in her hands, delighted by the aroma.

"Hm, indeed. Tis enticing," Tiffany hummed as well.

"It’s something from right around here I think. A little forward maybe," Fumeko face flushed redder and her eyes began to dilate slightly. "There’s..." her words slurred. She forced herself to squint, "Something, in the tree..."

Hotaru and Tiffany slowly were making their way left from the path they were taking, while Fumeko planted her feet down and forced herself to furrow her brows and observed what she was looking at.

"Are you feeling alright detective?" Jotou placed a hand on the brunette’s shoulder.

"I don’t think so," Fumeko managed to mutter out. She looked up at the blonde, but Jotou’s image seemed a little warped.

"Hey! Where are you two going, that’s back towards the village! I think," Asobi shouted out. However the two continued without looking back.

Fumeko shook her head and then looked down at herself. She blushed and kept her legs closer together immediately. "There’s something off about those trees, do you see those flowers?" she pointed.

Jotou and Asobi looked at the trees in the direction Hotaru and Tiffany were wandering off into. They were large flowers, the had some dew on them and seemed to grow around the roots of the trees.

The wood and trunk of some of the trees in the area seemed more gnarled and less dense than others. As they kept on observing, they could make out odd lines that formed shapes in the trunk of the trees themselves.

"Hotaru, Tiffany, get back!" Jotou exclaimed and quickly jogged forward, followed by the magician.

"I’m staying here, I’ll be there if I need to," Fumeko took a few steps back and wiped her face in her palms repeatedly.

"Huh?" Tiffany’s face was blushing as she turned her head around. Her pupils were dilated and her skin riddled with goosebumps. "What’s... Why do I feel s-so hot?"

"There’s people in the trees," Asobi hooked Tiffany’s arm and pulled her back. Tiffany gave no resistance, but her feet barely made a footstep backwards.

"Hotaru. Hotaru!" Jotou yelled and grabbed her arm. "Let’s go back, there’s something wrong here." ’The trees have body shapes, that’s not normal. Think, if this were some game... Nymphs?’

"There’s nothing wrong here," Hotaru bit her lower lip as she tried to drag Jotou along.

"Nope, this a trick by some fairies or something, we need to go!" Jotou struggled to make her budge in her direction.

"Fairy...?" Hotaru blurted out as one of the trees they were now close to began shifting. Its branches moved first, then its trunk twisted.

Akin to stepping out of a cocoon, a feminine body made of wood stepped out, her branches of hair slowly wilting into greener and purple shades till it draped down her nude form, the bark of her skin growing softer like flesh.

"Oh, it’s just a dryad," Hotaru smiled and drunkenly hummed. The dryad sultrily approached, her hair flecked with flowers that popped with little spores. "Dryad?" the wolf-girl’s vision snapped to reality for a second.

The dryad reached its hands out-

"Tff!"

Its arms snapped like twigs as a sparking sword broke through it. "Hands off. Hotaru, back, now," Jotou ordered and glared.

The dryad’s face sneered and its hair spiked back into wood as its arms regrew in the form of fresh green vines. Other sleeping dryads began unfurling and stepping out from the trees nearby.

Unseen vines formed under Hotaru’s legs and wrapped tightly around her ankles, "Uh Jotou, they got my legs- Ah!" She was pulled and fell in the grass before being yanked along the forest floor. Watery claws formed in the wolf-girl’s hands.

Jotou grabbed Hotaru’s arm with one hand and pulled hard, kicking the closest dryad back which was trying to capture her as well.

"Woosh!"

"Why is it always you!?" Fumeko stabbed the vines in the grass and quickly grabbed the wolf-girl’s other arm. They both got Hotaru onto her feet and ran out of there, away from the slow-moving dryads.

They got back on the path they were on and steadied themselves. "Sorry," the ashamed Hotaru avoided eye contact with any of them.

"It was trying to arouse us, what do you know about them?" Fumeko looked at the redhead.

"Dryads take on the form of women, have spores that charm and attract its prey and they have fun with their food. In a sense, whatever they catch will loose itself and will slowly die and be eaten.

Resistant prey will normally just be stabbed and choked. They often like humanoids and some adventurers even seek them out for fun, despite the danger," Hotaru explained with her head held low.

"Are you one of those depraved adventurers?" Fumeko glared.

"NO! I didn’t know they were even here!" Hotaru argued.

"Screw it, let’s find our way back to the path we were on and keep going; I’ll cut off shrubs if need be. It’s better than getting eaten out here by who knows what," Jotou grunted and walked back the way they came.

"I’m with Jotou, I don’t even know what all of you were smelling. Or, we can go kill all the dryads! They’re really slow," Asobi pointed to the dryads who were shifting back into their trees.

"Let us not," Tiffany cleared her throat. "However, perchance some mortals are immune?"

Asobi shrugged.

Hotaru patted down her hair and dusted off her clothes. "Well, you never know what you may find. It’s a part of adventuring," Hotaru sighed.

"Like a tree to rub off against," the brunette snarked.

"Shut up!"