“Aim carefully... not yet, not yet... NOW!!”
“Penetrating Pierce!!”
The drawn bowstring was released.
The magic power kneaded into it was converted into acceleration exactly as the given will intended, and it forcefully launched the arrow round with its metal arrowhead.
The fired arrow traveled through the air for about 50 m, then struck dead center on the target.
“Hit. Good arm, Piribiaga.”
With the captain’s words, the target—the massive body of a Giant Soul Butterfly—swayed heavily.
The hit was good. Or perhaps it was bad.
With vital organs in its torso pierced through, the Giant Soul Butterfly stopped its life activity, and fell as if drifting on the wind.
“...Whew. I can’t believe I took it down in one shot...”
“As expected. Piribiaga, keep it up like this next time too.”
“Give me a break. You don’t get a lucky hit like that over and over.”
Normally, to bring down a Soul Butterfly of that size, you needed to put at least five arrows into it.
If you could accurately shoot through critical organs like a ganglion or a heart, you could drop it quickly. But the enemy was enormous, and individual variation meant it wasn’t as simple as “pierce the same spot.”
If the arrows we fired were the size of spears, maybe it would be different.
“Luckily, they’re prioritizing arrows to us. The problem is, you’re the only one who can pierce that body.”
That giant butterfly monster, the Soul Butterfly, had low attack power and low movement speed, but its defense was ironclad.
Half-baked arrows would just get knocked away from the front.
If you dragged it down to the ground, you could still deal damage with a stabbing dagger or a warrior’s brute strength.
But that monster usually flew higher than the trees of the forest.
Only bows and arrows could reach it.
“We’re forcing people with Penetrating Pierce to learn it as fast as possible. Until then, you’re our only hope.”
“I’m overworked. I’m demanding a temporary bonus.”
“I told the people above, but... well, here, I’ll give you the magic stone, so do me a favor.”
Scenes like that were being repeated all across the Forest Kingdom of Levresta.
The Soul Butterflies pressing down from the north.
And the defense line formed by the security force, and by Penetrating Pierce users dispatched from the military and the private sector, to defend the country.
For now, there were no breaches. Barely, the invasion was being held back.
But no one knew how long it would last. The situation was always on the edge.
Worse, the Soul Butterflies came in regardless of day or night.
Because of that, the fatigue of those fighting was gradually building up.
*****
“GRAAAAAH!!”
With everything he had, he slammed an attack into the enemy in front of him.
In his hands was a longsword.
He raised it high overhead, then brought it down on the enemy’s unguarded torso.
He was one of the precious few in Levresta’s security force who had close-combat skills, and he was working by stepping into <Demon Forest>.
His prey was the larva of a Soul Butterfly.
Find it before it became an adult, and reduce their numbers, no matter what.
The larva that had been ripped open at the side—the gigantic caterpillar—twisted in shock.
The bodily fluid that burst out splashed onto the man who had attacked.
“Guh—AAAAAGH...”
He hurriedly jumped back, but unfortunately, he couldn’t avoid it.
“Ah, damn it. It’s not like finding water is easy...”
With its epidermis cut, the caterpillar spilled organs out of the wound under internal pressure, and then made it even worse with the force of its own thrashing.
Its defense wasn’t much, and its aggression was low. It was just a monster that did nothing but devour whatever was in front of it.
But precisely because of that, its location was hard to pin down, and the only way was to painstakingly search for the open spaces this caterpillar created.
And in many cases, places that were obviously eaten bare had already gone through metamorphosis, making it hard to find them while they were still growing.
“Man, every time, it turns into something awful.”
“...Want to trade places with me?”
“Don’t be stupid. I can’t even lift that sword in the first place. And even if I shoot it with arrows, it won’t do a thing.”
Because of its huge body, this giant caterpillar wouldn’t die from just having arrows driven into it. If you could land a direct hit on a ganglion or the like, you could probably bring it down, but thick flesh got in the way, and no one even knew where those were.
The head was a weak point, but the skin there was correspondingly hard, and normal arrows couldn’t penetrate it either.
“Damn, this is disgusting. Hope we find water before we move on...”
“That way’s a bit mountainous, so there might be spring water. And we’re about due to check from a high place. Let’s go.”
“Yeah, please. For now, this is fine. Put down the usual mana pool hot spot marker and then we move...”
It seemed this monster had a habit of laying eggs at hot spots.
So the places where you killed them became decent gathering sites, but—
“Still, it’d be rough to come gather this deep...”
The area they were active in was a region another three days of travel beyond Levresta’s border. Normally, no one came to gather this far into the interior.
It was dangerous, of course, but there were also limits to what you could carry, and herbs had freshness issues.
And above all, even after moving three days, the vegetation barely changed.
Meaning: even if you went deeper, what you could gather was the same.
In that case, it was better to gather closer. Even just the shallow layer of <Demon Forest> had enough abundance to fully meet Levresta’s needs.
“Well, maybe it’ll be useful someday. All right, this is good. Move out!”
*****
“Are we managing to hold back the Giant Soul Butterfly incursions?”
“Yes. According to the reports, the kill count is 40 to 50 per day, and it has been flat for the past month. In about another month, we expect to secure additional extermination personnel as well.”
“It burdens the people on site, but it can’t be helped.”
The giant butterfly monster Soul Butterflies moving south out of <Demon Forest>. They weren’t a ferocious species, but because they laid eggs at hot spots and the larvae ate vegetation bare, leaving them alone carried the risk that Levresta’s territory would be stripped clean.
Hot spots were Levresta’s most important strategic land.
The magic-converted materials brought from them directly affected the nation’s prosperity.
“The number of hot spots is finite. And we still don’t know how the monsters that spill out of that limitation will move...”
Monsters instinctively seek others who possess magic power.
That was why both larvae and adults had the habit of eating monsters. Though, since their combat ability was low, it seemed they were often killed instead.
“More personnel who can move on site is reassuring, but our equipment stock is becoming a problem.”
“Yes. Here are the forecast materials. ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) At this pace, it won’t last another two months. We have requested increased production, but they say it will take at least three months before supply meaningfully rises.”
“I see... With the existing workshops, it can’t be helped. Any countermeasures?”
Levresta had a history where hundreds of years of peace had continued.
Because of that, there was the problem that equipment production depended on specific workshops.
Of course, they should have secured sufficient stock for emergencies—supposedly.
“For now, nothing in particular. At this point, we may have no choice but to requisition from the private sector. It pains me, but...”
“We can’t afford to say that. Even if we requisition, it won’t happen today or tomorrow. Issue the notice immediately.”
Besides the security force and the standing army, the people who used equipment to operate in <Demon Forest> were the gatherers.
But they basically worked individually, and they didn’t keep large inventories.
And if you requisitioned those, you would be taking away their tools of trade.
“On that matter, the External Affairs Bureau has a proposal.”
And if domestic production couldn’t keep up—
They had no choice but to ask for help from abroad.
“Some units have already begun field deployment, but importing bows, arrows, and armor from the United Kingdom of Aphrasia—”
