Manuke FPS

I noticed something when I was chasing a trio of pale-skinned humanoids heading to the center of the caldera carrying a flame lizard. The trio climbed straight up the caldera, but another Flame Lizard on the map showed no reaction.

If the flame lizard’s ecology is as per the information, it should react to magic other than from its own kind and attack. In my case, they’re unable to perceive my magic power because I am a magicless. This same ‘flaw’ also exists in the Night Rat.

But I don’t think those three are magicless, yet the lizards weren’t attacking them――what’s going on here? After chasing the trio while maintaining a sufficient distance, the other side of the summit began to enter the range of the sound collecting sensor――.

What I heard was the sound of footsteps walking on two legs, and there’s a lot of them—something’s not right. I stopped chasing, took out the RQ-11 Raven unmanned reconnaissance aircraft from my inventory, and flew it high into the sky. First, lock in to the Flame Lizard that the trio carries.

With this, a red frame will be displayed in my field of vision to inform me of the locked-on item’s location, and I can always check where it will be carried.

三人組を追い越し、カルデラ内を上空から見下ろして足音の主を探す。

Overtaking the trio, I looked down inside the caldera from above to find the owner of the footsteps.

The inside of the caldera was covered in more greenery than the outside. However, if I switch to FLIR (infrared thermography) mode, the camera will capture the heat source and display it in red. From the gaps between the branches and leaves, I could see a large amount of red heat sources wriggling.

What a number…

Switching to NV mode, I confirmed my suspicion. Wriggling in the caldera were the pale-skinned humanoids, and not just one or two of them. Continuing recon while circling Raven around the area, I made screenshot images from the video feed the Raven provided.

“….withdraw.”

The number of pale-skinned humanoids was beyond comprehension. If I go inside the caldera, I will be surrounded instantly. Escape is possible if I shoot them all down, but I don’t know if it is even possible to collect magic stones from them. They’re not monsters, nor are they ordinary demihuman. I didn’t even know if they originally belonged to the labyrinth――no, I can only think that they’re not part of the labyrinth.

I need more information. Return to Big Ship to find out more about the pale-skinned humanoids. Besides, all this made me curious about those three that I saw at the dock.

After retrieving the Raven and returning to the rocky mountain base, I summoned LVTP-5 with a magic formation that connects to Big Ship, and transported back to the rental warehouse. I wanted to start collecting information as soon as possible, but the time was still before dawn. The Big Ship should still be shrouded in deep darkness, and no one would be awake to see me.

Besides, since the information I got from Sierra didn’t mention anything about the pale-skinned humanoids, I might not be able to get any information about them at all.

I set up another set of teleportation magic circles in the rental warehouse, and this time teleported to the Marida Company trading ship anchored in Amar coast. Even when I returned to Amar, it was still midnight. There are still a few days left until the date and time for the next liaison meeting, but I will put out each attribute magic stone that I have collected so far in the hold.

After that, by dawn, we will review the battles on the labyrinth island so far, how to efficiently kill the monsters that I have encountered so far, and scrutinize for advantageous positioning on the island. and the next morning. In front of the entrance of the Zephanel residence, I caught Ashley and Chancellor Zephanel on their way to the command post of the Amar escort fleet.

“Schwartz!”

“Morning, Ashley.”

“So, you came back so early, did something happen?”

“Yes, actually there’s something that I would like the Chancellor to see――”

Ashley headed to the command post because there was a morning meeting that couldn’t be missed, but the Chancellor made time to hear what I had to say. In the mansion’s salon I accessed the TSS, let it visible in midair, and showed the screenshot of the pale-skinned humanoids I had taken from the labyrinth island.

“…what kind…of Skill is this? No, putting that aside…”

Chancellor Zephanell sank into the sofa in the salon, and while poking the screen monitor floating in front of her with her thin, white fingertips, she traced the image of the unknown humanoid on the screen.

“…I cannot see their faces well because it’s too small in the picture, but you are saying that you have seen these faces often in Kurtmerga?”

“About that――you can magnify the image by moving your finger like this.”

“Wow, it really enlarges!”

Chancellor Zephanell was amused and dexterously scaled the image, using her fingertips to confirm each individual pale-skinned humanoid, but her curious smile gradually faded and her eyes narrowed slightly as she began to speak.

“Still… It’s a story from before the founding of Kurtmerga…”

Chancellor Zephanel and the Founding King’s party were traveling to a labyrinth created on a certain coastline. However, what they saw there was a herd of monsters attacking the labyrinth. A single monster took up a position in front of the labyrinth, sent many of its followers into the labyrinth, and attacked the living creatures of the natural world—people and animals.

A large insect-type monster――Empress Ant. Later, it was a monster that would be designated as the first first-class threat in the Kingdom of Kurtmerga.

The Empress Ant is a large ant-type monster, but its characteristic is its enlarged abdomen that makes it impossible to walk independently. In addition to taking in people, animals, demi-humans, and monsters as nutrients, it reproduces their abilities and appearances to the eggs it lays. This spawning ability is the only ability of the Empress Ant, and apart from this, it does not even have combat abilities.

However, the larvae that are created are the greatest means of attack, and in addition to the larvae’s original abilities, they possess the ability to duplicate nutrients, giving them a certain amount of freedom and releasing them――the purpose is to secure food.

Empress Ants are monsters with voracious appetites. Even if limited to what Chancellor Zephanel knew, some had managed to devour cities and even labyrinths. Incorporating many large magic stone dungeon cores, it continued to grow by evolving its existence as a species.

“Then, are you saying that these pale-skinned humanoids are its offspring?”

“They have similar characteristics…These larvae are just as troublesome as the Empress Ant. Using a skill called Mimicry, they can disguise themselves. The odor emanating from their body causes those around them to see and hear hallucinations, making their prey let their guard down.”

“Disguise…themselves?”

“Yes, they can. That man, as you might expect, was not affected by the mimicry, so he was able to chase the larvae away… but that’s it. We didn’t know where they escaped… 300 years have passed since then.”

Their hallucination inducing body odor was imbued with magic power. Therefore, the mimicry didn’t work for me and the Founding King, as we’re both Magicless.

From the beginning, I knew from several encounters that the trio looked like someone I knew. I could have predicted that there would be some form of magic power working there, but――I didn’t think it was a being created by a monster.

“However… I have seen the same face as this monster many times in the Kingdom of Kurtmerga, but are they also juveniles? They are not white though?”

“That can be explained easily. Unlike the puppets of the Empress Ant, the larvae have a certain degree of willpower. And while repeatedly hunting to bring food to their parents, it will eventually evolve into an adult… if that happens, it will gain freedom as an individual and leave the nest.”

“I wonder why…all those characteristics of the Empress Ant, strangely similar to labyrinth…”

“That’s right――that is the most annoying thing about it. They move in search of food and flee when they sense danger. And then they lay down the larvae all over the place and devour them.”

The entire body of the juvenile is white, and it seems that it doesn’t change whether it takes the shape of a humanoid or a monster. However, when it becomes an adult, its color changes. The Chancellor’s prediction is that the trio that I saw in the Kingdom of Kurtmerga were the already evolved adults.

The actions of adults who have gained freedom were mostly based on the last actions they took. Those who hunted in the labyrinth became an adventurer, those who were guarding the Empress Ant became an escort, and those who were bait for hunting became a gluttonous eater. The trio, who were monsters that could live longer than humans or beastkin, were probably unconsciously pursuing this set of motives.

Having obtained good information about the pale-skinned humanoids, I immediately returned to the labyrinth island to confirm it. I have an idea of ​​where to look――the labyrinth that should exist in the center of the caldera――it’s probably hiding in the Caldera Labyrinth.

It is necessary to hunt them down――the Empress Ant is only a hindrance to the smooth collection of magic stones that I planned to do.