Chapter 193: Willow Lace
【Luna-chan】─You already finished the Monster Encyclopedia work. o_O
【Hwang Mir】─Seriously, the speed is insane.
【Mysticism】─😮 Amazing.
【Bubble Bubble】─But why is Artpega so obsessed with the Monster Encyclopedia work?
【Yumi】─She likes drawing.
【Bubble Bubble】─I mean, then she could just draw something else.
【Rizenova】─She does draw a lot of general artwork too.
【Pururu】─She's just severely addicted to drawing. She likes creating, but whenever she sees something new, she has to draw it first to feel satisfied.
“Artpega. I'll handle the next Encyclopedia work.”
─［Ah… Understood.］
I made sure to say it in advance.
If I didn't, then the next time we encountered a new monster, Artpega Unibicorn would finish the Encyclopedia work in just one second again.
I needed to enjoy my hobby too.
“Anyway… since Artpega finished the Encyclopedia work, let's stop resting and get moving again.”
【Pururu】─I think we only rested for about 10 seconds.
【Mysticism】─😶
［Understood.］
［Got it, Doodoomba!］
【Pururu】─Huh? Even Dochi was here.
【Bubble Bubble】─Of course, it's SSS-rank.
【Yumi】─Where have you been until now? You weren’t showing up on screen.
【Rizenova】─He was resting inside Elephant Merchant's robe.
After getting up from my spot.
As I was about to depart, I briefly glanced at the corpse of Old Root, which Elephant Merchant had accidentally killed just now.
［Should I keep that corpse?］
“Huh? Oh, are you planning to give it to Necro Puppet Master?”
［Yes. I thought it might help in making a new puppet.］
“Alright, then keep it. Puppet Master did mention needing more diverse corpses.”
Elephant Merchant nodded and approached Old Root’s corpse. Then, he created a black space and stored the corpse inside.
As expected of a Wandering Merchant, he was capable of using subspace storage.
［Ah, and regarding what Hwang Mir mentioned earlier.］
【Hwang Mir】─Huh?
After storing the corpse, Elephant Merchant turned his gaze to me.
［I don’t think killing an opponent first and then reviving them to tame them is necessarily a bad method. Of course, I mean cases where they were accidentally killed in the process of subduing them, not intentionally.］
“Even if it was an accident, wouldn’t they still hold a grudge against me?”
Like I said before.
Subduing and taming was one thing, but killing first and then reviving to tame wasn’t a good method.
At least, in my opinion.
Unless they were turned into puppets that obeyed completely.
Taming was fundamentally an ability to make friends.
Even if they became friends with the one who killed them, resentment would surely remain.
Which meant it could easily turn into a love-hate relationship.
［Some may resent you, but I believe most would understand. Losing in battle means death—it’s a natural rule. In fact, some might even feel grateful for being revived.］
Now that I thought about it.
Elephant Merchant’s words had some merit.
This world followed the rule of survival of the fittest.
Losers were expected to die.
Since death was always near, there were many who were more accepting of it.
Some monsters might not hold a grudge for being killed but instead be moved by the fact that they were revived.
Especially if they were the ones who attacked first.
“Hmm. If you say so, Elephant Merchant… then I’ll at least consider reviving monsters that were accidentally killed for taming.”
After hearing Elephant Merchant’s advice, I changed my stance.
For situations where it was unavoidable or when an accident happened.
And even if it was intentional, I decided to at least consider it.
There might be cases where subduing a monster was simply impossible.
Sometimes, I had to let go of my stubbornness and be open to my friends’ opinions.
After all, my thoughts weren’t always the right answer.
【Hwang Mir】─Wow. When I said it, you dismissed it, but when Elephant says it, you immediately accept it. That stings.
【Bubble Bubble】─Do you think you and Elephant are the same?
【Hwang Mir】─What’s the difference?
【Mysticism】─Mir unnie, you’re not an elephant. 😟
【Hwang Mir】─Ah-ha.
【Pururu】─Ah-ha, my ass.
“Since you were the first to bring up that method, Mir, I didn’t hesitate when Elephant mentioned it just now. If two or more people say it’s a viable method, then it’s worth considering.”
【Hwang Mir】─Ahh, so that’s what it was?
“Yeah. Well, Elephant did bring it up again after seeing your chat… but anyway, if he had said it alone, I wouldn’t have accepted it.”
【Hwang Mir】─So, about 80% of the credit goes to me?
“Around 90%.”
【Hwang Mir】─Damn! 90% credit!
【Pururu】─You really love talking about credit.
【Bubble Bubble】─Gauntlet. So, does that mean you’ve changed your mind about taming Old Root too?
“No?”
【Bubble Bubble】─?
【Mysticism】─😶
“I’m just giving Old Root’s corpse to Necro Puppet Master as material for a puppet. I said I’d consider reviving and taming monsters, not that I’d start doing it immediately.”
I still had no intention of using the method of reviving an opponent I had killed and then taming them.
What had changed was that I was now at least considering revival, even for those I had killed.
It didn’t mean I was going to revive them and tame them no matter what.
***
Thirty minutes had passed since we started exploring the great forest.
Suddenly, a chilling aura wrapped around my body, followed by a cold mist filling the space, and a ferocious energy overwhelming the forest.
【Pururu】─?
【Mysticism】─😮
【Hwang Mir】─What’s that?
Sssss—
A massive shadow seeped through the trees, making the leaves tremble in fear.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
With heavy footsteps shaking the ground.
A colossal figure slowly emerged from the thick fog.
［……］
At first glance, it looked similar to Old Root.
But it was much larger than Old Root, and its arms were unnaturally long—it was a tree-type monster.
【Bubble Bubble】─Just looking at it, it seems incredibly strong.
【Luna-chan】─Gauntlet, can you tell us the danger level?
“It’s SS-rank.”
I immediately took a combat stance.
Just by its appearance, it didn’t seem like it would be friendly toward me.
As I kept my guard up and looked up at it, Elephant Merchant wiggled his trunk beside me and spoke.
［Ohh. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that species. I didn’t expect any of them to still exist.］
【Pururu】─How does he know every single monster he meets? What the hell.
【Mysticism】─He’s an elephant uncle.
【Yumi】─He used to be a Wandering Merchant. Even though he was a black market merchant, he still must’ve gathered a lot of information.
【Hwang Mir】─Didn’t he lose most of his memories?
【Bubble Bubble】─Maybe he still remembers information about monsters in the Labyrinth.
I glanced sideways at Elephant and asked.
“You know what that is?”
［That’s the evolved species of the Old Root we saw earlier. It’s called Willow Lace. I thought they had gone extinct long ago after challenging Solorb, but I didn’t expect any to still be around.］
【Mysticism】─😮
【Pururu】─An SS-rank monster challenged Solorb?
【Yumi】─They must be a fearless species.
【Bubble Bubble】─In other words, they’re a crazy species that picks fights no matter how strong the opponent is.
【Luna-chan】─That individual might not be aggressive. It survived, after all.
Even if he lost most of his other memories.
He seemed to have a clear recollection of monsters.
Unfortunately, his memory of the Ancient Labyrinth’s layout was vague, so he couldn’t guide us through it.
“Willow Lace, huh… Do you remember what kind of abilities it has?”
［It has the ability to merge with nature. It’s probably using that ability right now. This part of the great forest, everything around here, is essentially a part of Willow Lace’s body.］
“Not the entire great forest, just a part of it? Even though it’s SS-rank?”
［All beings in the Ancient Labyrinth have their ability range restricted. If it were to leave this world, it could merge with an entire planet.］
【Pururu】─Whoa.
【Hwang Mir】─Are you saying it could control a whole planet like its own body? Is that even possible?
【Yumi】─It’s SS-rank, so probably. The Black Magma Slime could cover an entire planet in magma in an instant, too. And there’s no reason for Elephant to lie about this.
“Then killing that Willow Lace wouldn’t be a good idea. If we kill it, part of the great forest will be destroyed, and that would ultimately lead to the destruction of the Ancient Labyrinth.”
［Ah. That won’t be an issue. Any unavoidable destruction that occurs during battle is taken into account.］
“Oh? That’s a relief, then.”
I nodded and looked back up.
Willow Lace was silently watching us talk.
Was it not aggressive?
If it had attacked in the middle of our conversation, I would have immediately countered.
Willow Lace remained still, not making any sudden movements.
If it had no intention of attacking, we had no reason to attack first either.
If it was a monster that could communicate, then of course, we should tame it through peaceful means.
［…It, it looks like your conversation is over.］
Willow Lace, which had been looking down at us, finally spoke.
［You, you are not residents of this place, a, are you? If you do not leave immediately, I will kill— Ah, no! I will punish you…!］
For some reason, it was stammering heavily.
［No, normally, I should be saying something like this… but, b-but I am a bit more open-minded, so I do not mind if outsiders step into this great forest…! I-I do not automatically consider it an intrusion… I-I mean, you might just be visiting for fun, r-right…?］
Its stuttering grew worse as it spoke.
And upon closer inspection.
A thick, sticky sap was pouring down its entire body like a waterfall.
【Pururu】─What's wrong with it? Did it glitch out?
【Mysticism】─🧐 It stammers a lot.
【Yumi】─And it's sweating profusely?
【Hwang Mir】─No matter how you look at it, it's terrified.
【Bubble Bubble】─Now that I think about it, that reaction makes sense. There are three SSS-ranks standing right in front of it—who wouldn’t be scared?
【Luna-chan】─If anyone saw three SSS-ranks walking together, they'd probably piss themselves.
【Rizenova】─Agreed. If it didn’t have the ability to gauge the power gap between us, it wouldn’t be scared like Old Root wasn’t.
［Fr-from what I see, you just came to the great forest for a visit… Th-then there’s no need to drive you out… W-well, then, I’ll be going now…!］
It seemed like that liquid dripping from it was more like nervous sweat.
【Pururu】─Totally scared out of its mind.