Someday Will I Be The Greatest Alchemist?

Chapter 246: Territory

A white-bodied black-striped Tigerkin man brandished his gigantic sword, sending monsters to their deaths.

「Ora! Don’t fall behind!」

「「「Ou!!」」」

Rebinstan’s Beast King Deega had come to personally command his subordinate warriors in the subjugation of monsters. This operation was not only for securing monster meat, but also to forage for spices that grew in the monster nest.

Bam!!

With a single slash of his heavy magic steel longsword on the gigantic boar monster, its head fell off. The subordinate warriors beat down monsters in teams of three.

These truck-sized monsters which were proud of their size were Mottled Giant Boars. A Mottled Giant Boar was a huge boar monster characterized by having a camouflage-like pattern. Normally, a drift would be composed of 4-6 boars, but this drift had more than 10 in it.

Beast King Deega took the lead routing the drift of Mottled Giant Boars. It didn’t take long for the giant boar monsters to be wiped out.

「Is the foraging done!?」

「Deega-sama, the expected amounts of pepper, sansho, ginger were secured.」

「Your Majesty! The Devil Clan!」

A patrolling soldier discovered a group of soldiers from the Devil Clan.

「Tsk! This is the territory of the Rebistan! It’s a problem if you enter as you please!」

Deega yelled at one man that stood out noticeably among the Devil Clan’s group.

「This is no man’s land! Who enjoys getting near you stinking beasts!?」

「You bastard!」

The Devil Clan that nearly missed Deega’s group was led by the sovereign of the city-state Rhodes, King Gandalf. He was muscular, blue-skinned, had sharp red eyes, and carried a huge halberd on his shoulders.

The two largely built 2m tall men glared at each other.

Deega was a White Tigerkin who possessed a sturdy body which shows stronger beast features than human.

Gandalf of the Devil Clan was a power fighter with high physical prowess and abundant magic power.

Just when the subordinates thought that the situation had turned volatile, Gandalf scoffed and turned back.

The distance between Deega’s and Gandalf’s nations was 5 days worth of walking. The reason the two, who were similar types, were opposed to facing each other was solely because of this monster nest.

This monster nest was abundant in rare medicinal herbs, spices, and fruits that could be foraged. Even if all of it was foraged, the dense mana of the monster nest would restore everything to how it was before.

Be it in Rebinstan or Rhodes, the size of the fields within the city-state were limited, so there was a need to go to monster nests to procure medicinal herbs, spices, fruits, and the like.

The two nations that had been competing for the graces of this precious monster nest are bound by a pact to not fight close to this monster nest. Which was why, Gandalf who came late had left to lead his soldiers to a different area of the so called 「Monster Nest of Graces」.

「……Devil King Gandalf…… that King still has a dreadfully intimidating aura.」

「……yeah, as despicable as it is, he’s equally as strong as my great self.」

「Is that so? If the time the strength of the six kings are not on par arrives……」

The Lionkin Beast King Ryvar, Tigerkin Beast King Deega, Oni King Jairu were specialized in close quarter combat. The Bearkin Beast King Guzhr was similarly good at melee, but was excellent at defense. The Devil King Gandalf of the Devil Clan was highly skilled at both magic and close quarter combat. Queen Fraal of the Succubus Clan was completely a magic specialist.

The abilities of the six rulers, even with the variations, were somewhat equal. For that reason, even after all these years, a war between countries had not occurred.

The six nations in the Demon Continent have, for the most part, not had that many disputes that would develop into a war. There had been disputes to the degree of skirmishes, but under normal circumstances, there is an unspoken agreement to avoid fighting with fellow beings that subsist in a continent with limited living areas.

Bam!! Gon!!

『Gya!』

With every swing of the heavy all-metal halberd, the Crazy Apes attacking from the gaps between all kinds of trees were bisected. In the interval between the halberd’s swings, the heads of apes that attacked from the opposite side are crushed by his free hand.

「Tsk, what a pain.」

「Crazy Apes are able to coordinate attacks, after all.」

「Because of that tiger bastard, we have to forage in the the ape territory today.」

「Even if the likes of these Crazy Apes were killed, they make for stinky meat.」

Deega and Gandalf butting heads was one reason, but it’s also related to the types of monsters that inhabit that area. Unlike the Mottled Giant Boar which was liked for its meat, the meat of the Crazy Ape was unfit for consumption. Its fur and tendons could be used effectively, but they make areas where gathering spices and fruit while also securing meat possible a struggle.

「Hurry up gathering the pepper and fruits! Let’s finish this quickly and go hunting!」

「「「Ha!」」」

Gandalf loudly issued instructions to the soldiers.

Normally, it would be risky to shout in a monster-dominated monster nest as it results in calling monsters. However, Gandalf’s voice contained such powerful coercion that the surrounding monsters likely wouldn’t approach for some time.

「……Aren’t there a lot more monsters?」

At the end of the forage, Gandalf, who was following the accompanying soldiers, muttered quietly.

Gandalf decided to convene with the wise queen and the clever king regarding the change that hadn’t been seen in several decades here.

***

Footnotes:

1. A drift is what a group of boars is called.

2. A type of pepper in Japan.