## Chapter 766 – Arachne Subjugation

“I wonder if I’m just being a bother.”
“Not at all. You’ve come as reinforcements; how could that be a bother?”

The priest led me inside and served tea.

I felt bad for bothering him when he was probably having a break after suffering in the mountains, so I decided to get straight to the point.

“You look quite tired. Anyway, Priest, is it true that this church sent a request for support?”
“That is correct.”
“You might find it odd that I came alone, but to put it simply, I’m here as the Saintess’s Paladin, on a sort of reconnaissance mission.”
“Reconnaissance?”

I gave a brief explanation.

If only one Paladin showed up after a support request, even the kindest religious person might be a little displeased.

These things need to be explained properly.

“Yes. I’ve come to assess the scale of the enemies and determine how much support is needed… something like that. The Grand Temple is also sending troops here and there, so the Saintess believes we need to properly assess the situation and send forces accordingly.”

The Grand Temple has quite a few Holy Knights.

Of course, they’re not just idling around.

The Saintess, the practical worker, approves everything and dispatches them here and there. The Holy Knights finish their tasks, return to wait, and then get sent out again.

“If we concentrate all our forces in one place, we might not be able to send them elsewhere, right? Especially with the recent appearances of numerous demons.”
“Ah… I see. I understand.”

The priest nodded.

I’m glad he understood.

“So, I’ve come to assess the situation. Priest, if you have any information, please share it with me. As a Paladin, my skills are reliable, so you can trust me. I might even be able to slay Arachne.”
“Hmm… I understand. But please be careful. The situation is quite difficult. Please wait a moment.”
“Yes.”

The priest got up, opened the door, and left the room. I spent some time idly waiting, and soon he returned with some documents.

“Here is the current exploration status and a map marking it. I’ve also recorded all the information we’ve gathered so far, so it should be helpful.”
“Oh, thank you. This will be a great help. Long live Verde.”
“Haha. Long live Verde.”

I briefly listened to the priest’s explanation of the materials.

More than anything, the map showing the current exploration status is the most useful. It will allow me to move without overlapping with others. Plus, there’s no need to bother with areas that have already been explored, making it efficient.

Anyway, I got all the explanations.

“Sorry for bothering you during your rest. Oh, when you’re changing shifts or something, please let the other members know that I’ve arrived.”
“Understood. Goodbye then.”

I immediately got up, bowed, and left the church.

From what I heard, the exploration is still stagnant, and they’re just killing the spider monsters that appear. They haven’t figured out Arachne’s location at all.

There have been quite a few casualties, mostly adventurers and mercenaries from outside. The lord’s soldiers, being trained troops, have suffered fewer losses, and the religious people are just burdened with excessive work, with no casualties.

Anyway, I went straight back to the inn.

“I’m back.”

Let’s rest today and start tomorrow.

* * *

No, I said I’d rest, but I ended up having sex until night again.

I indulged in carnal desires, satisfied my urges, slept roughly, woke up early in the morning, washed my body, changed into suitable exploration clothes, and went outside.

Having a lot of money to rent a large inn is really great.

There were separate bath facilities for men and women on the first floor, so there were no problems with washing. Nothing is more important than washing, no matter where you go. Isn’t hygiene and cleanliness directly linked to lifespan in this era?

If I don’t keep my teeth sparkling, I don’t know when I’ll get a cavity, so it’s essential to carry a toothbrush and tooth powder wherever I go.

Anyway, I came out, had a decent meal, checked the map I received from the priest yesterday, and headed in the direction where exploration hadn’t been done at all, a remote area. It’s just annoying to run into church members or soldiers.

“Katt! Please leave it to me and Ari today! I can already feel the aura of inhuman demons, so I think we can find them quickly!!”

Arriving in such a remote area, Hilde showed inhuman enthusiasm. I couldn’t help but find her cute as she clenched her fists and seemed determined.

“Good. Very good, Hilde!!”
“Ohoho, I want to test my new power soon! This inhuman power…!”
“So inhuman!”

I immediately stroked Hilde’s head, and Ari also clung to my side, appealing her enthusiasm.

“I can hear the voice of the forest too… but it’s a bit strange. It feels like it lacks energy. Is this also because of Arachne and the demons?”
“Is it because of contamination?”
“Probably.”
“Ari, do you think the forest will tell you Arachne’s location?”
“Of course, it will. They regard me as their queen.”

Ari, with a momentary mature smile, spoke as if she was seducing me.

“Hehehe, last time you said I was a flower for you, not a queen?”
“For Father, I can become the queen of flowers anytime.”
“Ugh.”

Anyway, we immediately started climbing the mountain.

This place is a remote area outside the exploration zone, but there was a small path, so we could enter.

The army is currently on the largest road that runs through the center of the mountain range. Spider monsters appear most frequently near that area, and most of all, they say the spiders have sprayed webs all over the nearby trees as if they were marking their territory.

But there were no such signs here yet.

It’s just a quiet mountain with an ominous atmosphere. This is probably proof that this isn’t Arachne’s territory yet.

We climbed the mountain path.

“Are you not tired?”

With Ari and Hilde in the lead, I looked back and asked as we climbed. Claudie, Winia, Risha, Karin, and Liz all didn’t seem tired, but I asked just in case.

“What’s so tiring about this? I fly around even in bed, so why wouldn’t I on a mountain? I’m not tired at all. Just keep going.”

Karin said without breaking a sweat.

“That’s good. What about Winia?”
“I’m okay too.”
“No sweat?”
“I feel cool right now.”

I guess there’s no need to worry about their physical strength.

“Rather, I’m worried about Ari. Are you okay?”

Liz approached Ari and asked, holding her shoulder. Ari is definitely delicate, but she doesn’t seem that tired.

“Ah, yes. I’m fine, Liz.”
“So, your stamina is better than I thought?”
“Maybe. I haven’t felt tired while moving so far. Ah, but I feel like my stamina gets especially better when I’m in the forest.”
“Is that so?”

As an Alraune, she feels stronger in the forest. This will become more apparent as she grows stronger.

“This one is not particularly tired either. This one exercises every day, so this much is not a problem.”
“Oh my, what kind of exercise have you been secretly doing?”

Claudie tilted her head at Risha’s words.

“Are you perhaps talking about exercise in bed?”
“That is not it.”

Risha smiled and emphasized her chest.

“If you carry these around every day, your stamina will naturally become stronger, won’t it?”
“Hehehe, is that so? That’s right. Risha’s are definitely big and heavy. I’m jealous.”

Claudie playfully smiled and poked Risha’s breasts with her finger.

“H, heung, ah. D, don’t joke around. It’s ticklish.”

Kind Risha couldn’t refuse and just blushed. Anyway, looking at them, it seems like this speed is no problem at all.

We’re climbing quite fast… then let’s keep going at this pace. We can stop in the middle if they look tired.

We continued to walk quickly along the mountain path without slowing down.

How far had we walked?

“Hmm, just a moment.”

Hilde stopped.

“What’s wrong?”
“Hilde?”

Karin and Winia asked Hilde.

“How should I say it? I’ve been feeling the aura a bit more clearly since just now. It seems like we’re slowly entering their radius. I think there are quite a few of them over there. Should we keep going?”

It seems her detection ability has been enhanced.

“We have to keep going. But if you’re tired, let’s take a break and eat. Should we do that?”
“Yes. That would be good.”

Liz answered first, and everyone nodded. So, we immediately took off our backpacks, made a place to sit, and sat down.

“Aigo, Ari. Ari, do you feel anything?”

Sitting down and rummaging through my backpack, I asked Ari.

“Rather than feeling, it keeps telling me that if I go that way, they will appear. The direction is correct, so we should keep going.”
“Is that the direction where Arachne is?”
“Yes… probably. It will be certain if I keep asking.”

As expected of an Alraune.

“Wow. That’s so great, really. Huh? You’re very capable.”
“Eueut…”

Karin admired and stroked the back of Ari’s neck.

Anyway, we immediately ate the jerky and nuts we brought, as well as bread, sausage, and dried fruit. There’s no better meal when moving around. I even carry things like pepper, so there’s no need to cook.

After eating and resting, we moved again.

* * *

How far had we come?

Hilde said we should start preparing, and we walked while looking around with our weapons drawn. We haven’t encountered any other monsters yet.

Did those spider bastards eat them all?

“Ah, Katt. Over there. Above that tree. Everyone, look.”

At that moment, Hilde stopped and pointed to a tree in the distance.

ㅡCreep…

“Holy…”

Indeed, as Hilde said, something black and large, like a spider, was glaring at us with red eyes on top of a large, thick-branched tree in front of us.

ㅡKrrr…

That spider is really as big as a person.

No, before that, is it even a spider? Except for having eight eyes and legs and being made up of a head and abdomen, it was so bizarre that it was hard to see it as a spider. First of all, its mouth looked like a human’s, and its legs? No, aren’t those human arms with carapace and hair growing on them rather than legs?

“Agh! That looks so disgusting!”

Liz shouted as if she was having a seizure.

It really looks bizarre.
That’s Arachne’s child.

The child of a monster is indeed a monster.

Looking at it, there were no spider webs on the tree. Is this not their territory yet? A simple scout? Seeing it waiting there, can we assume that this is slowly becoming their area?

“It’s so big?”

Karin also tilted her head.

ㅡKreeeeeeeek!!

Did it consider our observation an insult?

The spider monster suddenly screamed and flew towards us.

“What the hell is that?”

It’s a pretty fast attack, but it’s not a problem for us in the first place. Before the flying spider could even reach us, Winia shot a Fire Bolt and shot it down.

ㅡBoom!
ㅡKweeeeeek!!

The spider, turned into charcoal with a small explosion, let out a death cry as it fell to the ground, and soon completely stopped moving.

“There are a lot of these bastards, right?”

Winia poked it with the end of her staff to check.

“I think so.”
“Hmm? This is a bit different from what this one knew. Did the power of the devil intervene and change it?”

Risha asked Hilde.

“I don’t know about that. But what’s certain is that I can feel the aura of the devil from this spider monster. Maybe… it’s presumed to be a slightly stronger devil…”
“A strong devil?”
“No, not that strong of a devil. Maybe it’s a devil that has accumulated quite a bit of power here. In other words, a Lesser Demon has been promoted to a High Demon.”

A High Demon.
Still a pushover.

“Anyway, let’s go further.”

We advanced, slaughtering all the spider monsters we encountered. There were times when ten of them fell at once, but Claudie or Karin would just swing their swords once, and they would all turn into pieces of meat and fall down.

Besides that, there were times when they crawled up in swarms, but that wasn’t a problem either.

In fact, even if dozens of them charged at me, I felt like I could handle it alone. Still, it would be tricky to be attacked from all sides and above.

“There are so many, you son of a bitches.”

If they were corpses, how many silver would they be worth already? Let’s just collect the spider corpses on the way back and keep moving forward endlessly.

“Oh my, Katt. That.”

As we were walking, Claudie pointed to the other side, as if she had found something.

Wondering what it was, I turned my gaze in that direction.

“A, anit!!! That is!!!!!”

I couldn’t help but be shocked when I saw it!!!

ㅡPeople hanging upside down from trees, wrapped in black spider webs!!

There were so many people hanging upside down from the large branches!!!

“Murderous fruits!!!!!”

It was like a desperate fruit said to be born from the most terrible nightmare, hanging from an inhuman hell tree!!!