I’m currently floating above the river that flows in front of the First Forest.

The other day, I conducted my first investigation of the river and submitted a report. After that, I sort of felt like maybe another investigation wasn’t really necessary?

That was the impression I got, but I was told I could do as I pleased during the daytime.

It’s not like it’s a dungeon—why the time limit?

That’s what I thought… but well, it is a body of water.

Up to now, the only time I’ve ever fallen from the 【Floating Orb】 was during that recent underground incident, so I don’t think there’s much to worry about… but if I were to fall with a splash, I’d probably die.

Better safe than sorry.

There’s a lot of ship traffic during the day, so if something were to happen, someone would likely notice.

So, since then, I’ve been patrolling the eastern part of the river for about two hours after lunch.

Not the west side of the river—I’m focusing primarily on the forest across from it.

While I was scouting that area, I realized something: regardless of proximity to the river, there’s been a noticeable drop in the number of monsters.

Now that I think about it, it is winter…

When winter comes, both monsters and beasts become less active and tend to stay away from places where they’d be seen.

I don’t know the finer details of the environment in the First Forest or the so-called Demonic Wilderness, but from what I’ve heard, the deeper parts of the Demonic Wilderness are more suitable habitats for monsters.

Usually, powerful monsters—mostly territory bosses—occupy those areas and won’t let others approach. But as their activity wanes in winter, those territories shrink temporarily.

And into those open spaces, surrounding monsters move in… causing their overall activity range to gradually shift deeper into the forest.

That’s why the number of monsters wandering in the shallows has decreased.

“Hmm… There are some over there, though…”

A few hundred meters further inland from the shallows, I can sense a monster presence.

They’re too far away for me to make out their forms, but judging by the size of the group… wolves, maybe?

I don’t see any smaller magical creatures, but yeah, it seems like everything’s generally shifting deeper into the forest.

Anyway, at least I can confirm that there’s nothing abnormal going on… but it’s kind of underwhelming, or maybe disappointing…

I could go in for a quick hunt since I know there are monsters deeper in, but dealing with the corpses afterward is a problem.

Adventurers have started limiting their outdoor activity, and the number of patrols by the 2nd Unit in the forest has also gone down.

With troops being sent to the war front and operations ongoing in the Church District, manpower is stretched thin.

It’d be inconsiderate to ask them to come all the way out here just because I feel like getting some exercise… Guess I’ll give up on hunting.

It hasn’t even been an hour yet, but I’ll make one more round through this area and then wander south through the forest on my way back to town.

◇

After finishing my river patrol, I was wandering along the road that passes through the forest south of the Domain Capital.

I was aimlessly heading toward the Domain Capital.

This southern forest doesn’t have any strong monsters like those in the Demonic Wilderness, but it still stretches across the eastern part of Riana Territory and is home to many monsters and beasts.

It’s said most of them migrate toward the southern mountains during the winter, but some remain here to overwinter without being much affected.

So, while not as abundant as in other seasons, there are still plenty of living creatures to be seen even now.

“…Hmm.”

They’re not worth the trouble of going out of my way to defeat.

The biggest issue is always dealing with the corpses.

Under normal circumstances, even in winter, soldiers would patrol the road as part of their guard duties, but right now…

Even if it was caused artificially, undead just recently appeared in the city.

Given that, and the potential for corpses to become undead, the soldiers would usually take care to dispose of them—but they’re all too busy now.

Unless they show up along the road or attack the city, there’s really no need to go out of the way to hunt monsters around here.

Dungeons really are the way to go.

If you’re harvesting materials, sure, you need to bring them to the surface—but otherwise, you can just destroy the core and skip all the cleanup.

More than anything, you don’t have to spend time wandering around trying to find monsters like this.

“Well then, guess I’ll head back…”

It’s a bit early, but reporting my investigation to the Adventurer Guild will probably eat up some time anyway, and by the time I’m done, it should be just the right hour.

◇

“Good work out there—”

“Thank you for your hard work, Vice-Captain Sera.”

The one who handled my report at the Adventurer Guild wasn’t Branch Chief Karn, but rather the older man who serves as his secretary.

“Where’s the Branch Chief today?”

It’s not like I have any problem with this guy, but it was Karn handling things up until yesterday.

So I wonder if he’s just not in today?

“The Branch Chief has gone to the Merchant Guild today. Something about discussing the use of the Church District… I’ll be handling things for today.”

“…Oh? Well, fine.”

So Karn’s at the Merchant Guild…

The Church District’s future use still hasn’t been finalized, but it’s definitely going to involve either the Adventurer Guild or the Merchant Guild.

…Could they be colluding behind the scenes?

Well, I guess it’s not really a bad thing, so there’s no point in worrying about it.

More importantly, I should get my own report done.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Sera ・Blessing・【Hideout】 +1 【Prayer】 【Mira’s Blessing】 【Wind’s Garment】 Blessed Item ・【Floating Orb】 +1 【Shadow Sword】 +1 【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】 【Monkey’s Arm】 ・8 cards

Seriana ・【Area Identification】・【】・0 cards

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

Alec ・【Power Strike】・【Red Shield】 【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・10 cards