“Hmm… seriously, there’s nothing here…”

A forest stretched between the capital and the city of Arios.

I was flying in circles on the Arios city side, scanning from above, but while there were small animals, I couldn’t spot any large beasts or monsters.

Below, a reconnaissance unit led by Alec, along with the second squad, city soldiers, adventurers, and hunters, had split into multiple teams to enter the forest.

When a large number of armed humans are present, monsters sometimes refrain from showing themselves… but the reason we weren’t seeing any monsters this time wasn’t just because of the human presence.

They were tracking monster traces, and it was confirmed that before I even noticed—about ten days ago—they had already moved further into the depths.

This area was at an awkward distance from the city, making it unsuitable as a hunting ground for adventurers.

Even though people occasionally passed through the roads along the forest, even in winter, they wouldn’t go out of their way to enter the woods.

That’s probably why no one noticed.

I strained my eyes to look deep into the forest, but after several kilometers, my vision simply wasn’t sharp enough to determine if anything was there.

Flying just above the forest was dangerous since I had to be wary of sudden attacks from birds and other creatures, but with wind and shields, my defenses were solid. I could search further in.

However, I had only come today out of curiosity…

Maybe I should hold back from acting on my own?

With that decision, I wrapped up my reconnaissance and descended to regroup with the ground team.

◇

“I’m back. I scanned from above, but there’s nothing in this area.”

“Figured as much.”

When I reported my aerial reconnaissance findings to Alec, he responded with a wry smile.

The leaders of the reconnaissance squads were also gathered around, all wearing similar expressions.

The monsters weren’t gone because they had died—they had gathered deep in the forest into a single horde.

In other words, this was the precursor to an attack.

That said, these were ordinary monsters, not creatures from the Demon Lands, so as long as we were prepared, they weren’t impossible to handle. However, Arios wasn’t a frontline city, and its residents didn’t have the same resilience to crises as those in the capital.

If an attack occurred, the soldiers would also need to allocate forces to maintain order within the city.

That would make the battle significantly more difficult.

“Should we go a bit further in?”

I suggested, but Alec shook his head.

“You’re the only one who can. We already know there’s a monster horde—that’s enough. Besides, if a battle happens, it’ll be around the city.”

“I see… We also have to be wary of undead transformation.”

“Exactly.”

As Alec pointed out, if a fight broke out, it would be a defensive battle near the city.

Back in my previous life, advancing into enemy territory might have been an option… but in this world, it’s different.

If corpses were left unattended, they could become undead, which meant we needed locations where they could either be retrieved or cremated.

Handling that deep in the forest would be impossible.

I had never seen one myself, but apparently, undead creatures were a huge problem.

Especially when they emerged during city raids.

They didn’t turn immediately after being defeated—it took some time, and just when people let their guard down, they attacked.

And undead were notoriously difficult to kill with ordinary weapons.

Monster attacks were an issue anywhere near monster habitats.

Before countermeasures were established, people would recklessly charge into the monster hordes, suffering heavy casualties while taking them down.

Then, without proper disposal, both human and monster corpses would turn undead, leading to catastrophic disasters.

After many such incidents, people eventually settled on the strategy of fighting in open areas near the city, where visibility was better.

A lesson learned from history.

“Well, we’ll handle things on our end. But… reinforcements from the capital might be tough to get. With Zighart and August there, I doubt there’s much to worry about, though.”

“Yeah. There are plenty of adventurers, too. The commanders must have accounted for that.”

There was a possibility of attacks west of the capital as well.

Liesel and the others concluded that risk was high and split the second squad to address it.

Meanwhile, Alec’s unit would remain stationed in Arios.

We were short on numbers, but the monsters likely weren’t too strong. If we culled them enough, they would disperse.

The main threat, the Boss Wolf, would be handled by the capital’s forces.

Taking down the boss would break the horde, and this side would likely see the same result.

Originally, adventurers were supposed to handle this, but the Knight Order had now fully committed.

Zighart and August would likely play a major role, and if necessary, Teresa and Fiora were also available.

I was sure they would handle it well.

After conducting some more ground-based reconnaissance, we concluded there was nothing else to be found, and they returned to Arios while I headed back to the capital.

◇

“Oh? Still awake?”

That night, after the reconnaissance was complete.

While I was gazing outside from Seriana’s office, she and Liesel, who had been in discussions, entered the room.

Not only Teresa but also Elena and Fiora were with her.

They must have been here to serve as Seriana’s bodyguards, just in case.

“Hmm… I was just worried about the outside.”

For security reasons, the bedrooms didn’t have windows.

Seriana knew that, so she didn’t give me her usual exasperated look when she saw me sticking to the window.

“I understand how you feel, but if something happens, we’ll wake you. Get some sleep.”

Soldiers were patrolling the mansion, and there were more adventurers roaming the city than usual, but nothing had changed outside its walls.

Looks like there wouldn’t be an attack tonight.

“You’re right… Alright, I’ll head to bed first.”

“Yes. Good night.”

———————————————————————————————————————————————-
Sera・【Hideout】+1【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Wind’s Garment】・【Floating Orb】+1【Shadow Sword】【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy’s Eye】【Dragon’s Lung】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Serpent’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】【Red Sword】・15 cards

Seriana・【Area Identification】・【】・33 cards

Elena・【】・【Green Fang】【Amber Sword】・4 cards

Alec・【Strong Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・9 cards