On a fine winter day, it was discovered that a group of Trents—monsters that look like trees—had settled in the forest surrounding the Village Five shrine. These were wild Trents, unrelated to the Elder Trent living in Village One.
I had previously requested that everyone refrain from hunting within the forest around the shrine, so it had become a sanctuary for them. That was likely why they had chosen to move in. While Trents were typically monsters that attacked any animal that came near, they had no need to do so if they could absorb sufficient nutrients from the soil.
The Trents in Village One lived peacefully without causing any trouble. In fact, they lurked around the outskirts of the village forest and worked hard to alert the Nyunyu-daphne or Kuro’s children whenever dangerous magic beasts or monsters approached. They even served as perches and supply stations for the Harpy Race.
Because of this, I didn't view Trents as dangerous monsters; I saw them as beings we could coexist with—provided, of course, that the ones at the shrine weren't attacking animals.
While I was pondering this, one of the Nyunyu-daphne from Village One heard the news. She headed straight to the shrine forest, captured the Trent, and brought it back to the shrine. Or rather, she "led" it back. Well, she definitely "led" it, though since she had it tucked under her arm, I had instinctively thought of her as "bringing" it like an object.
The Trent she brought along seemed to be the boss of the new arrivals. It couldn't speak like the Elder Trent, so the Nyunyu-daphne acted as an interpreter.
"We apologize for the late greeting," the Trent said, bowing its branches toward the shrine representative, Silver Fox Race Kon. "We will not cause any trouble, so please allow us to remain in the forest."
Kon looked at me, silently asking for my input. Even if she looked at me like that, it was her domain. I asked if they attacked animals.
"The soil here is of such high quality that there is no need to hunt," the Trent replied.
I see. If Kon and her group had no objections, then I didn't mind. Kon agreed that it wasn't a problem, and the Trents were officially granted residency in the forest around the shrine.
"Village Head, I am sorry," the Nyunyu-daphne said, apologizing to me. I wondered if they were acquaintances.
"No, it's not that... I suspected neighboring Trents would settle here, yet I failed to take any precautions."
"You suspected they would?" I asked. Was it because I’d discouraged hunting?
"There is that, certainly... but Village Head, when you built the shrine, you personally put work into the surrounding forest, didn't you?"
Well, I didn't want it to be an overgrown thicket, as that would cause all sorts of problems.
"Yes. Land that has been tilled by the Village Head is like a treasure to us and the Trents. Despite knowing that, I neglected to manage the situation."
"Hahaha, don't worry about it," I told her. The Nyunyu-daphne were stationed in every village, but Village Five was outside their usual territory.
"Even so, if I had told you beforehand..."
"No, no. Even if you had reported it, there wouldn't have been much I could do. What would I have done? Tilled the entire mountain to create a Trent paradise?"
"Village Head... don't you have something else you should do before that?"
I knew, I knew. The Nyunyu-daphne worked hard behind the scenes in ways that weren't always visible. Come spring, I decided I would create specialized fields for them in every village.
"Thank you very much," she said with a bow.
When I returned to the mansion in the Village of the Great Tree, Lu was waiting with a grim expression. I asked if something had happened.
"It looks like an ice-type monster appeared on the north side of the village."
"Is it dangerous?"
"I haven't seen it myself, so I can't say for sure. But we have the Cocytus Wolves and the Fenrirs here, so we should be fine."
The Cocytus Wolves were a mutation within Kuro’s Inferno Wolf pack. The Fenrirs were the family started by the puppy one of Kuro’s children had brought home; that pup had eventually partnered with its rescuer and started a large family of its own. Both species were apparently ice-types themselves, so they were well-suited to countering such a threat.
"And even if they weren't enough, we have a Dragon like Hakuren in the village," Lu added.
That was true. "So, what about the monster? Did they kill it?"
"The Fenrirs are still tracking it, so we're waiting for word. I've already sent messages to alert the other villages, the hot spring area, the Giants in the Northern Dungeon, and the Lamia Race in the Southern Dungeon."
That was a relief, though I worried about the messengers. "Were they safe?"
"Don't worry. I left it to the Angels."
The Angel Race could fly and they traveled in small groups, so they were more than capable of handling an encounter. Still, I preferred that no one got hurt.
"I figured you’d say that, so I had them carry spears tipped with Inferno Wolf horns."
Those spears certainly provided a sense of security, but they also increased my anxiety.
"More importantly," Lu continued, "we have to address the fact that the monster got so close to us."
"How close?"
"I suspect it reached the North Side Waterway."
Wait... was the waterway freezing solid recently because of that thing?
"Almost certainly. Apparently, the ice didn't even melt easily under Aegis’s flames."
Hmm. It was winter, and the surveillance network maintained by Kuro’s children and Zabuton’s children had naturally weakened, but it was still rare for anything to get that close.
While we were discussing countermeasures, the Fenrir family returned. Unfortunately, the monster had escaped. However, they had engaged it once and dealt it significant damage. After it fled, they searched the surrounding area extensively but found no trace of it, leading them to believe it had left the forest entirely.
I wasn't sure if that qualified as a good report. If it had left the forest, it likely headed into the Demon Kingdom proper. I decided I should probably send word to the Demon King.
By evening, the Angels who had been dispatched to the various settlements returned. They had delivered their messages safely without encountering the monster. I was glad to see them unharmed, but I noticed several of them were missing their spears.
Apparently, they had thrown them into suspicious-looking snowy areas to flush out potential threats—mostly Kudel. I see. I just hoped she hadn't caused any avalanches. She insisted she wouldn't make such a clumsy mistake.
"I understand. Thank you for the hard work. Dinner is ready, so go warm yourselves up."
The next day, we organized a proper search team centered around Hakuren and Rusty. We scoured the area for the ice monster, but found nothing.
"We searched everywhere, but there's no sign of it," Hakuren reported.
"Same on our end," Rusty added. "I think it really did leave the forest."
The Cocytus Wolves and the Fenrirs, who had also joined the search, reported the same. I wondered if the threat had truly passed.
"It wouldn't be a threat even if it did show up," Hakuren remarked.
That might be true for a dragon like her, but...
"Ah, no, that's not what I meant."
"Then what?"
"Zabuton is here, even if she's hibernating right now. There aren't many things in this world foolish enough to pick a fight with her. I bet the monster disappeared as soon as it got close because it realized Zabuton was in the village."
I see. For the time being, I supposed it was safe to be relieved. However, just in case, we remained on high alert. I told the Cocytus Wolves and Fenrirs to be especially careful whenever they left the village.
A few days later, Urza suddenly returned to the village.
She brought the ice monster with her.