Migration

Another rustling came from the wheat field.

This time, however, the sound made no attempt to hide itself. A figure parted the wheat stalks and slowly stepped out onto the other side of the road.

She was a petite young woman.

Her brown hair was unusually long, reaching almost to her feet. The strands that had killed the Demon Wolves had returned to normal and hung quietly down her back.

There was little change in the young woman's expression.

"Hello, both of you. I'm Zanze, a First-Class True Magic User of the Continental True Magic Association."

Zanze gave them a slight nod.

"Why would a First-Class True Magic User come here?"

Frieren asked the young woman standing before her.

"Well..."

Zanze showed a clear change of expression. She glanced away, looking troubled.

"It's a little complicated."

Zanze turned to look at the Demon Wolf corpses in the wheat field.

"I'm sure you've both noticed that the Demon Wolves have been behaving strangely lately."

"Demon Wolves that originally lived deep in the mountains and forests have begun leaving their territories in large numbers, migrating toward nearby villages and farmland. And it isn't just here. The same thing has happened in several regions of the central lands."

"Some Demon Wolves have even left forests well suited to their survival and traveled long distances to completely unfamiliar areas, as if they were fleeing something."

"So Lady Serie ordered me to come and investigate."

"Then take your time investigating. Lorenzo, let's go."

Frieren said this to Zanze without hesitation. However one looked at her, she seemed to be avoiding something particularly troublesome.

"Wait, Lady Frieren."

Zanze hurriedly called out to Frieren as she was about to leave.

"There's another, larger pack of Demon Wolves in a forest about half a day's journey from here, migrating toward this area. Given the direction they're moving, they'll reach the village ahead by tomorrow night at the latest."

Hearing that, Frieren finally turned back.

"How many?"

Zanze answered:

"At least seventy, and there could be more joining them. If that happens, the village ahead will be in danger."

"A First-Class True Magic User should have a fairly easy time dealing with seventy Demon Wolves. Besides, judging by your True Magic, you seem to specialize in close combat."

Frieren glanced at Zanze's long hair. There was no telling how much True Magic had been cast on it. Come to think of it, her hair didn't seem to have gotten any blood on it after killing the Demon Wolves. Maybe she had some kind of True Magic to keep it from getting dirty.

"There are too many Demon Wolves."

Zanze continued:

"And they aren't approaching the village from the same direction. According to the tracking True Magic I left behind, the pack has already split into three groups. One is moving along the edge of the forest, another has circled around to the north side of the village, and the last is near its south side."

Lorenzo picked up the thread:

"So they've decided to attack the village from different directions? Ordinary Demon Wolves don't coordinate in such a complicated way."

"But these affected Demon Wolves are acting very differently from how they normally do."

Zanze said.

"They seem to be driven, or directed, by some kind of force."

Directed?

The word made Lorenzo frown slightly.

Although Demon Wolves were pack-dwelling monsters with a certain degree of intelligence, they rarely split up and surrounded a human village to attack it. After all, beasts hunted to fill their stomachs. They usually chose the easiest targets rather than taking action that consumed so much energy and exposed them to risk.

Unless the pack's true purpose wasn't hunting for food.

"Is a higher-ranking monster controlling them?"

Lorenzo asked.

"I can't say for certain yet."

Zanze shook her head.

"That's why I need to keep investigating. If I focus only on wiping out the pack, I might lose the chance to trace the source behind all this. But if I let them approach the village, there will be heavy casualties."

The trouble on her face wasn't feigned.

The task Serie had given her was to investigate the true cause of the Demon Wolves' mass migration, not simply to guard the villages along their route. But she clearly had no intention of standing by and watching ordinary people be killed by Demon Wolves just so she could complete her investigation.

"What do you want us to do?"

Frieren finally asked.

Zanze visibly relaxed and looked at Lorenzo and Frieren.

"I hope you'll come to the village with me and help the villagers set up defenses. Once the pack appears, we'll keep them out of the wheat fields as best we can. Also, I'm not sure how many more Demon Wolves are gathering here."

Zanze spoke frankly:

"So I can't guarantee we'll only have seventy to face."

It sounded like things were getting more and more troublesome. At first there had only been seven Demon Wolves, then seventy, and now the number was unknown.

If the numbers kept growing at this rate, they might even find that all the monsters in the forest were heading here by the time they actually reached the village.

What is this, a great monster migration?

Lorenzo turned to look at Frieren.

"What do you think?"

Frieren lowered her head and thought for a while.

"We'll need some compensation."

Zanze's expression stiffened slightly. She probably hadn't expected the legendary True Magic User before her, renowned throughout the continent and once a participant in the campaign against the Demon King, to ask for payment as her first response to a situation that could endanger hundreds of villagers.

On second thought, though, hiring a True Magic User to deal with monsters naturally called for appropriate payment. It was just that Frieren's status was so exceptional that it was easy to unconsciously assume she would help for free.

Zanze quickly regained her composure.

"May I ask what payment you would like, Lady Frieren? As long as it's within my means, you may ask for anything."

"Do you have any True Magic that keeps hair clean?"

Frieren asked without hesitation, and Lorenzo immediately recalled the sight of her being dragged out of a mimic's mouth in the labyrinth not long ago.

It seemed she was still bothered by that, and perhaps more than she appeared to be.

"I do know a similar kind of True Magic."

Zanze finally replied.

Frieren's eyes brightened a little.

"Really?"

"Yes."

Zanze lifted a lock of the long hair hanging in front of her.

Her hair was far longer than most people's, reaching almost to the ground, and she also used it as a medium for casting True Magic. It was easy to imagine that, without some special means of caring for it, simply cleaning off the dust and debris that collected on it each day would take a great deal of time.

"My hair needs to be kept in a condition suitable for casting True Magic at all times, so I learned a spell that prevents stains from sticking to the strands. It can keep out ordinary dust, dirt, and rainwater."

"It isn't complicated True Magic. Once this is over, I'll give you the formula."

"All right."

Frieren agreed readily.

"Then it's a deal."

Zanze visibly relaxed. With Frieren and Lorenzo helping, protecting the village would be much easier. Though the price had been somewhat unexpected, it was at least still within her means.

"Let's head to the village first and tell the villagers to prepare."

Zanze said:

"After that, we'll decide where to defend based on the pack's route."

Frieren nodded.

"Let's go."