Elias and his group eventually reached Mount Nanan. It was a small, forested hill, far removed from the active frontier development zone. As Elias observed the terrain, he noted to himself that this would indeed be a good hiding place for monsters—secluded and unlikely to be discovered.
“Alright… let’s see about these monsters.”
Activating his detection magic, Elias began scanning the area. Seeing this, Luke spoke up.
“You’re casting detection magic from this distance?”
“The cave is supposedly midway up the mountain, right? If I aim directly, I should be able to reach it.”
As he responded, Elias located a hollow space that matched the description of the cave given by the villagers.
“There’s a pocket of dense mana within an empty space… That must be the cave. Now, the question is whether there are monsters inside.”
Elias carefully focused his magical perception, probing deeper. Meanwhile, Luke and Reina attempted to sense the cave as well, but they couldn’t reach that far and ultimately gave up on their efforts.
After a moment of silence, Elias muttered,
“…Hm?”
As he continued his search, something caught his attention.
“Ah, I see now.”
“Did you find something?” Luke asked.
Canceling his magic, Elias nodded.
“Yeah, I’ve got a good idea of what’s inside. The cave doesn’t have any other exits, and it extends underground, forming a labyrinth-like structure.”
“And the monsters?”
“That’s the thing… They’re definitely there. And there’s a lot of them. No doubt—it’s become a monster den.”
Luke and Reina fell silent at this revelation.
“I was expecting a lone monster at most, but this is an infestation,” Elias continued. “We’re not going to be able to clear them out on our own.”
“Is the threat level high?”
“I only detected their presence, not their strength,” Elias admitted. “We could wait until nightfall to observe them, but…”
He turned his gaze toward the mountainside, where the cave was hidden.
“I can’t tell what kind of monsters we’re dealing with just yet… The real question is: what do we do?”
“We need to identify them first,” Luke suggested.
“Agreed. My detection magic can’t pinpoint their forms,” Elias said.
“Plus, with only three of us, engaging them is too risky. As long as we stay clear of the area, there shouldn’t be any immediate threat. For now, let’s warn the villagers to avoid the mountain, then report back to the fortress.”
“So, are we certain that we’ll be eliminating them?” Reina asked.
“That’s for Noque to decide,” Elias replied.
“Mount Nanan is pretty far from the active frontier, so it might not even fall under our jurisdiction. This is something for the higher-ups to settle.”
With that, Elias turned his gaze toward the village.
“For today, let’s wrap this up. We’ll inform the villagers about our findings and head back—”
Returning to the fortress, Elias relayed the investigation results to Noque.
“The threat level is still unknown, but there’s definitely a significant number of monsters present.”
“…Is there a chance they’ll move toward this fortress?” Noque asked.
“Highly unlikely,” Elias replied.
“They seem to be settled in Mount Nanan. And we’ve already warned the local villagers to stay away, so we shouldn’t see any incidents for now.”
“I see… But knowing that monsters are there and doing nothing about it doesn’t sit well with me,” Noque muttered.
Elias nodded. “That’s understandable.”
“But at the same time, our fortress is a rear support base,” Noque continued. “Wouldn’t it be overstepping to launch a purge mission?”
“There is an argument to justify it,” Noque admitted.
“The village you visited serves as a supply waypoint for our fortress.
If these monsters threaten that route, it could disrupt logistics for frontier expansion.
Even if the risk is low, it’s still a potential hazard that shouldn’t be ignored.”
“That’s true,” Elias acknowledged.
“First, I’ll report this to the kingdom, but considering the lack of detailed intelligence, I doubt they’ll immediately order an extermination mission,” Noque continued.
But then, after a pause, he reconsidered.
“…No, actually, they might approve it immediately.”
Elias raised an eyebrow.
“Why do you say that?”
“The recent Magic Beast extermination,” Noque explained.
“Right now, both the northern frontier and the entire kingdom are in a heightened state of vigilance regarding monsters.
Mount Nanan might be far from the main frontier, but given the current climate, ignoring a known monster den might not be an option.”
“I see… With everyone on edge, any potential threat would be viewed as something to be eliminated immediately,” Elias mused.
“But most knights and warriors are already deployed at the frontier, aren’t they?”
“That’s the issue,” Noque replied.
“Even if an extermination is authorized, we have no idea how many forces they’ll allocate to it.
Since it’s not a frontline engagement, they might assume it doesn’t require a large-scale force.”
“Meaning,” Elias concluded, “the extermination squad could end up being small.”
“Exactly,” Noque affirmed.
“In that case, what’s your stance on handling this?” Elias asked.
“I support further investigation,” Noque said.
“If we report the monster presence, we may be ordered to conduct a proper investigation.
And since we’re the only viable forces nearby, the responsibility may fall on us.”
“So, you’re saying that our fortress may be the one tasked with clearing them out?” Elias asked.
“There aren’t any other military units nearby,” Noque reasoned.
“Aside from city guards, and they’re not trained for monster extermination.
If we argue that securing supply routes is critical, then yes, we may be the ones deployed.”
“I see… Well, let’s await orders for now,” Elias decided.
“If we’re given the mission, we’ll formulate a proper strategy. Until then, we’ll hold off on making any moves.”
Noque nodded in agreement. With that, their discussion concluded.