Because the shrine itself is not used for residence, but only a small office space, the group packed up and went to the resting place in the back mountain.
Although Crescent Continent is the same continent as Rigal, its overall size is incomparable. This long and narrow continent, which looks like a crescent moon on the map, is located in an area of intense geological activity. The Kirishima Island occupied by the descendants of Laman that Henry and others experienced when they came here is an island with the characteristics of the Crescent Island - —The terrain is steep and protruding, and there are hot springs because of the ongoing volcanic activity.
This is almost the impression that the entire Moon Country gives to outsiders - it has many mountains and hot springs, and the mountains are often very rugged and steep. In the western world far behind us, even the Kingdom of Suomir on the east coast, which is famous for Talwa-Sutta, or the Kingdom of Avenela on the west coast, which is inseparable from mountains. In terms of the number of mountains in the territory, But none can compare with the Kingdom of the Moon.
Because of this characteristic, the buildings in the mountainous areas of the Moon Country are considered very mature. The design style is significantly different from the fishing village below. Perhaps it is to protect against wild animal attacks, or perhaps because it is close to the north. The design of the mountain huts is closer to the Yidi style. There are no paper windows and they are all made of sturdier wood. The structure consists of a smokehouse built of stone and mortar.
Although the styles were very different, the group could tell at a glance that this was a smoke house from the enclosed style and size. To the great joy of the Rigal people, this was not a smokehouse for processing food.
Galeva, who ran forward excitedly, opened it and saw only layers of wooden structures with some split bamboo pieces placed on them.
"You guys eat bamboo?" The stupid young man turned around and asked Ling. Miss Doctor was stunned for a moment and shook her head in a funny way: "That's for making bows."
"The shrine usually only collects donations. In order to make up for the family income, the manager will do some handicrafts part-time."
As she explained, she opened the wooden door of the cabin, but was stunned at the door. Mira looked over Ling's shoulder and Lulu looked in from her side. The atmosphere inside was more academic than the atmosphere of life: scattered papers, ink and various wooden pens were scattered everywhere. . After all this was seen by the group, Ling's face turned red. She quickly closed the wooden door again: "I, let me tidy up."
"Isn't it just a bit messy? No need to ask, it hurts -" the stupid Galeva said casually again, Mira kicked him mercilessly. Anyway, the young man who was born as a porter has a strong body. , not easy to make mistakes.
"You." "Huh?!" He turned around and glanced at the Luoan girl dissatisfied, and the latter glared at him and the young man turned back.
"Are they really not siblings?" Priest Alfonso next to him spoke to the sage. Henry shrugged: "In terms of age, it's the other way around."
The incident in which Leng Tou Qing, who didn't understand girls' hearts, was beaten by a white-haired girl was considered an episode. As a woman brought up by a reserved cultural background, Aya became a lot more embarrassed after being seen with her unkempt appearance. After she finished tidying up the interior of the cabin, she still seemed a bit reticent.
It wasn't until the group finished the simple meal and started discussing topics related to her major that Ling became talkative again.
Although no new discoveries were made about the records of the golden fungi in the shrine, relying on Aya's previous inferences and the group's experiences, they still tried to sort out some information that would be helpful to the current situation.
If you know yourself and your enemy, you will never be in danger. If you can at least understand some of their habits, what they are attracted to, and the issue that a combat professional is most concerned about - how to kill - even if you don't implement it, having a response plan will make you happy. Everyone felt at ease.
The currently known information is: absorbing magic power itself will cause them to grow. These mineral bacteria, which were originally just bacteria invisible to the naked eye, not only seem to have changed in size but even in their biological form, and have the ability to be parasitic.
The parasitic behavior itself seems to be different: Preacher O'Neill, who has just been parasitized, still retains his human form and is attracted by magic. It can be regarded as related to the energy storage of the parasite. Because it did not obtain a sufficient amount of magic power, it was in a parasitic and incomplete form. In order to achieve a complete form, it actively attacked Henry and Mira, two people who exuded magic characteristics.
But after being completely parasitic and assimilated into the form that everyone casually called "waddle walkers", they became unresponsive to magic and turned into existences chasing heat energy.
It's not clear what effect heat has on these things. However, it is a more reasonable direction to speculate from the aspect of efficiency and believe that heat energy is the energy source of movement of the parasite. Compared to relying entirely on preying on magical individuals or obtaining energy for action through rare magical minerals, the heat source provided by sunlight or flame combustion is a longer-lasting and easier-to-obtain energy.
Therefore: magic power is a must in the growth stage, and when it reaches its perfection, it becomes a walking zombie that only relies on light to survive like a plant. This is the conclusion that a group of people came to after sorting out the information and what they know so far.
And if this theory is true, the only ones who will take the initiative to attack living creatures like them - especially Henry, Mira and the little unicorns with high magic power content - are those who are still trapped underground and are still golden bugs. form of immaturity. These humanoid shambling walkers, which have been parasitized for a long time and have undergone overall changes, will only treat them as pebbles on the roadside as long as they don't start a fire to create an overly obvious source of heat.
Even if they are attracted to the fire, they will go to get the source of the fire, and they will directly ignore Henry and others like the previous encounter in the hut.
In other words, theoretically their actions on the surface of the village should be safe. Even if you are facing these guys head-on, as long as the environment is not so cold that the body temperature of the human body becomes an obvious beacon, you can walk past them safely.
Although the conclusion finally reached after sorting out the discussion is indeed very credible in terms of evidence and various aspects, most people, including the female doctor who made the conclusion, are not very willing to verify the correctness of the theory. courage.
But to determine the next step, they must verify it. If it is true that these things will not attack on their own initiative, then the group of people can walk through the staggering walkers surrounding the entrance of the shrine, and openly collect enough supplies in the village to evacuate.
When discussing this step, Ling seemed hesitant to speak. Henry noticed this and understood that she still wanted to stay here to conduct research, because there were still things about these golden bacteria that they had not yet understood. The academic staff's strong thirst for knowledge makes her unlike ordinary people who are more inclined to avoid danger, otherwise she would not come to such a place alone.
Curiosity killed the cat is the most realistic portrayal of this type of professional. Even after experiencing many real dangers, she still wanted to complete her research.
But Aya would not say this herself. The doctor, who has the signature blue hair of the noble bloodline of the Moon Country, comes from a good background, so she understands that this is not the moment for her to be willful. The fact that these foreigners who came from afar were not hostile to her and were willing to listen to her was already a blessing. If they wanted to push her further, it would not be an implicit and human gesture.
The sage was one of the few who noticed her fleeting hesitation, but he did not point out or choose to support Ling's behavior.
Because there are actually some things in this world that it would be a good thing not to understand clearly.
"I'll go try it." After a moment of silence, he said.
This try, of course, refers to confirming whether those waddling walkers are attracted to living people.
"..." The group of people were a little silent. Even the Luoan girl, who had always trusted her teacher very much, showed a worried look because of the powerful physical performance of Priest O'Neill after being parasitized.
"It's okay." But the sage reached out and rubbed her little head, then grabbed Claymore and stood up.
"I, I'll go too." Although the young Galeva may seem at a loss when facing emergencies, as a person from Suomir in the North, he is braver than Aiji, who is also a young man. many.
"..." Mira stood up silently, followed by Lulu who didn't fully understand but understood the situation. Ling looked at them hesitantly for a while, then ran inside and clicked for a while, picking up a big bow that was taller than any sage, and put a quiver on her back.
"Kazuto's samurai family, even the daughter needs to practice martial arts." She said, but everyone could see that she was trying to be strong. Because Aya's hands were shaking constantly, and she was completely unaware that the doctor's robe she was wearing was not suitable for fighting with a bow.
But no one pointed out the courage that this female doctor had finally accumulated. Henry and Mira knew that if they exposed it at this moment, she might be too discouraged to stand up. Having experienced so many things alone, what she needs now is stability rather than risk. Galeva, on the other hand, did not know what was needed to use a bow, so he only noticed Aya's bravery and nodded in admiration like a chicken pecking rice.
Mira looked at him with contempt, but she glanced at the three missionaries more.
"I, let's stay...here." Aggie lowered his head, and his voice became smaller and smaller at the end of the sentence.
"So be it." Henry glanced at Alfonso, and the priest leader looked away. These three people were of no use anyway, so it was understandable that they decided to stay here without any fighting ability. But as companions who share the same sorrow, others still hope that they can have courage to some extent.
The few people who came out of the door greeted the little unicorn and moved forward together.
Because the journey was not very far, they quickly reached the middle of the road, but before they even got close to the pond behind the shrine, they heard some sounds in front of them that were obviously not heard before——
"The sound of horse hooves!" Ling, who suddenly became happy, grabbed her bow and ran forward, while the few people behind hesitated for a moment and quickly caught up.
"Iruno?"
"Nye." The sounds of conversation, the snoring of horses, and the sounds of hoofs moving and touching the ground repeated themselves and became more and more obvious as they got closer.
In addition, there are subtle "rustling" and "clanging" sounds that Henry and Mira should be very familiar with, which are obviously the sounds of metal armor hitting each other.
"Heavily armed local warriors?" The two of them were alert before they saw anyone.
Even if Ling, Dr. Xingyong, can intercede for them, foreigners may still not feel comfortable in an environment where they are hostile.
"I'm--" Aya, who ran over first, shouted out the moment she saw the other person--
"It's not good!" Mira yelled, "Bang——!" And the sage, who also realized the danger from silence, rushed forward, grabbed Ling with one hand, and pulled her back, and was hit by a huge Dr. Xingyong fell backward due to the force and rolled to the ground and got dirty. The big bow in his hand also fell to the ground.
But she survived. For a moment, the knight on horseback with his bow and arrow had a cold look on his face, and the tail of the huge arrow nailed to her original position was still trembling.
"A-Akai, Yuro." Aya was trembling all over.
"What did she say?" The Luoan girl and Lulu each helped Ling back, and called Galeva, the idiot, to move over and use the temporary shield in his hand to cover her. The little unicorn slipped behind them and lowered its head actively to let Ling hold it. The sage drew his sword with a clang and stood in front of the shield facing a dozen warriors on horseback and holding bows.
"Red armor." Henry literally translated the meaning of Ling's words.
And Mira frowned, these people in front of her were indeed all dressed in bright red.
"In the Moon Country, red is the color of rebellion."
"This is the warrior of the rebel army. Little girl." The sage grasped the sword tightly, and the two people who looked like foreigners at first glance did not make the warriors hesitate for too long.
One of the huge helmets had two horns hanging on it. The man in more gorgeous clothes raised his hand and gave the order.
"Minagar Luxi." His tone was cold.
"I guess that's not a good thing to say." Mira held the sword tightly and looked around trying to find a way out.
"You guessed it right, that's what he said."
"Kill them all." Henry shrugged.
Then.
He sank down.
