Chaos "Flower"?
The night breeze quietly swept across the farm.
The animals were not disturbed.
The old man used magic on them early this morning, and then put a big lock on the gate of the cowshed.
After he came out, faint sounds of snoring could be heard coming from inside the shed.
"This magic is really effective."
Frieren looked at the old man walking towards them and couldn't help but sigh.
The anticipation for collecting this magic seems to have increased even further.
After they met up, the group hid in a corner outside the farm.
Waiting for the other party to show up.
In the sky,
The silvery moon is occasionally obscured by the hazy night fog, then quietly reappears.
The wind stopped without us even noticing.
The surrounding environment was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Even the rustling of grass blades has vanished.
The distant woods stood dark and imposing, like a giant beast.
The old man said he had been woken up by this noise several times in the middle of the night.
The group had originally prepared for a protracted battle.
Just as Galan was about to unpack the snacks he had brought to enjoy,
A chilling scream then echoed from the woods.
The reverberating echoes reverberated through the space.
"That's the voice!"
The old man's nerves tensed instantly, his face turning serious like that of a beast preparing for battle.
One hand had already drawn an arrow from his back and skillfully nocked it to the bow.
They behaved in a way completely out of character for their age.
Is he truly worthy of being called a man who can single-handedly defeat Lone Wolf?
Galan felt a deep respect for him.
Not far behind them.
After the sound reached the cowshed, a commotion broke out inside.
Subsequently,
The gate, firmly locked with a heavy padlock, shook violently, emitting loud thuds.
Clearly, it was the cattle banging on the gate.
"It seems things are becoming clearer; I told you the problem was with those cows."
Galan seemed quite pleased with his previous assessment.
My intuition was right after all.
Especially the guy who bumped into him from behind; he'd suspected something was wrong with him long ago...
"Does he control his prey by making sounds...?"
"It seems this sound has a great effect on cattle, but little effect on humans."
Frieren looked at Lia beside her, then at Galan and the other two, and made her judgment after confirming that no one had been affected.
"Indeed, when I first heard it, I just thought the sound was too jarring; I didn't feel anything else."
The old man bent down and peered out.
Even with my eyes squinted shut, I still couldn't see the light in that darkness.
There was no light source, and it was too far away.
The group couldn't see what was happening inside or the faces of the people inside.
So he drew his bow, intending to lure his opponent out with a feint.
"No rush, let's see how things go."
Frieren spoke up, signaling the old man not to make a move, lest he startle him.
In her Mana Detection, the feedback she received from the other party was very strange.
She seemed like an animal, but that mixed Mana made her deny that judgment.
What a strange guy...
As the moonlight once again fell from the clouds, it shone upon the earth.
The darkness in the forest was gradually dispelled.
The true identity of the source of the sound was finally revealed to everyone.
"What is that...? It's disgusting..."
This was the first time Galan had ever seen a monster with such a unique physical structure.
A surge of emotion welled up inside me.
It clearly has the body of a deer.
But it had a head that looked like a chrysanthemum—it really did look like a chrysanthemum.
There was even a large, wriggling mouth growing from the center of the flower.
Extremely horrifying.
It must have used that to make those strange sounds that could control livestock.
However, upon closer inspection,
He then discovered that the flower didn't naturally grow on it.
Instead, it burst open from the animal's original skull.
Because from another angle, he could clearly see half of the remaining deer head's outline.
But they were almost all entangled by the leaves that stretched out from the flower stem.
"Is it... the Chaos Flower?"
He could barely make out the origin of the thing.
But she still turned to look at Frieren, her tone uncertain.
Although I knew such a thing existed,
But he had never seen this variety before.
The Chaos Flower in his memory—or rather, a subspecies of the Chaos Flower.
It must be one of those giant, flower-shaped, tentacle-like monsters that grow in the soil.
It's similar to Terraria in a game I played Plantera.
But this one in front of us,
But it looks more like a elk infected by a virus in Resident Evil.
Biological changes have occurred.
"... No"
Frieren also narrowed her eyes, carefully examining the strangely shaped creature.
"[Chaos Flower] can produce subspecies through hybridization with local plants, but it is impossible for it to grow into an animal form."
"It must have been that deer that mistakenly ate the seedling of the [Chaos Flower], and as a result, its nutrients were drained, turning it into a parasite, and eventually it became like this."
She analyzed carefully.
After all, it goes back to the time of Flamme, or even earlier.
She had never seen a [Chaos Flower] capable of evolving into an animal body.
"Is that so...? Not only has the appearance changed, but even the eating habits and methods have changed?"
Galan vaguely remembered that they should have spread some kind of curse to put people into a deep sleep, and then feed on Mana.
However, once it parasitizes a deer, it simply becomes a carnivore.
Control the sleeping livestock to bring the food to their mouths.
That really lowered the bar a lot...
That kind of look definitely gives off a more boss-like vibe.
"Well, anyway, since they've appeared, let's take care of them."
Frieren summoned her Staff from her hand.
But after thinking for a moment, she turned her gaze to Lia hadn't spoken at all.
"Lia, you can have these. Consider it a test of what you learned in class today."
"--Hmm?"
Looking at the expectant gaze that Frieren was casting at him,
Although Lia was surprised, she nodded and then summoned her Staff.
But perhaps it was because the new teacher was watching me?
Galan sensed that she was somewhat nervous.
"If it's just this one, I'll handle it."
The old man seemed to think it was somewhat unwise for Frieren to entrust the task of dealing with monsters to a girl who didn't look very old.
He spoke up, intending to do it himself.
After all, at this distance, even now that he's older, he's still confident he can hit his opponent.
"Well, you said it yourself, 'just this one,' but the other side has more than one."
Frieren raised an eyebrow, gesturing for everyone to look in that direction.
Really,
From the shadows behind the monster, a dozen or so more deer, also parasitized, emerged.
After all, deer are social animals.
If even one is parasitized by the [Chaos Flower], it will be difficult for it to escape the fate of the entire group being infected.
"... In that case, wouldn't it be even more inappropriate to give this task to a young girl?"
The old man still seemed uneasy.
I don't understand how Frieren others could let the girl put herself in such danger...
But after listening to his words
Galan and Frieren simply exchanged a smile.
They all simultaneously patted the old man on the shoulder.
He said with a smile:
"--Don't underestimate her."