(2 more chapters coming today please give power stones)
The Whispering Woods, once silent, suddenly filled with faint rustling sounds.
Paimon jumped in fright.
She shivered without warning and hurriedly flew to the back of the group.
Yesterday, when she and Lumine had passed through Whispering Woods, it was daytime—and they hadn't encountered a single monster. Because of that, she'd underestimated this place.
She hadn't expected the forest at night to be this terrifying.
In truth, there was a reason for that.
Yesterday, the two of them had just happened to run into Stormterror descending upon Whispering Woods. With the Anemo Archon's calamity looming overhead, what other monsters would dare show themselves?
"Kaito, so the other person you mentioned… it's Master Diluc?"
Barbara looked a little intimidated when she saw Diluc.
Once, when she had been singing at Angel's Share, Diluc had happened to be there—and he'd been frowning the whole time.
Barbara had convinced herself that he thought her singing was bad.
So now, standing in front of him, she couldn't help but feel nervous.
"Well?" Kaito teased. "Having Master Diluc act as our escort—shouldn't we write up a report about this?"
"I bet the noble ladies and young misses of Mondstadt would be jealous enough to go mad."
"I wouldn't dare," Barbara said softly.
As she spoke, there was a faint look of admiration in her eyes.
Asking Mondstadt's uncrowned king—Master Diluc—to serve as an escort was something no one in the city would even dare imagine.
Yet here it was, happening in reality.
Only Kaito could pull something like this off… right?
"Tch."
"If you still have the mood to chat, you might want to think about how to deal with the monsters blocking the road ahead."
Diluc spoke with clear irritation.
Holding his sword, he pointed toward the dark forest behind him.
"Monsters blocking the road?" Kaito asked, surprised.
This area was still fairly close to Mondstadt City, and it was a route frequently used by merchants. Monsters setting up roadblocks here?
"They're hilichurls," Diluc said. "They've set up barricades ahead."
"Cyrus seems to be troubled by it as well."
Cyrus was the branch master of the Mondstadt Adventurers' Guild—an enthusiastic sort.
"Because of Stormterror, Mondstadt City hasn't had the manpower to spare lately. The hilichurls have started getting bolder—attacking caravans, and now even setting up roadblocks."
Diluc paused, then continued, "The Abyss Order is likely pulling the strings. If that's the case, our investigation into Stormterror will be slowed down."
"Cannon fodder," Kaito nodded.
"Hilichurls aren't exactly known for their intelligence. They're easy for the Abyss Order to manipulate."
The group followed the trampled path left behind by merchants and entered deeper into Whispering Woods.
Dense foliage blocked out the moonlight, lowering visibility even further.
Yet ahead of them, bright campfire light flickered unmistakably.
Snoring sounds rose and fell.
It was a hilichurl camp.
In front of the camp stood thorny barricades. On both sides were watchtowers over a man tall, each with a hilichurl archer fast asleep atop it.
Around the camp, wooden-shield hilichurls patrolled back and forth.
There were also captured Pyro Slimes, trapped inside water jars, their flames extinguished and dim.
"Look over there."
Diluc gestured toward a large rock not far from the camp.
A hilichurl archer was stationed there, keeping watch—well hidden.
The two watchtowers at the camp entrance were just decoys.
Even low-intelligence hilichurls knew a few simple, inherited tactics.
"Clear them out, or go around?" Diluc asked.
By the rules of adventuring parties across Teyvat, the initiator acted as the leader and made these calls.
Diluc knew the rules well and had no intention of overstepping.
Besides, Kaito was more than reliable enough.
Kaito swept his gaze across the camp, assessing the average level of the hilichurls.
This group, driven here by the Abyss Order, was noticeably stronger than ordinary hilichurls found across Teyvat.
Which meant—
Decent experience.
"Clear them out," Kaito said.
At the same time, he murmured inwardly:
"Add training targets: Diluc, Barbara, Noelle."
[System Notification]: Relationship assessment in progress at Host's request.
[System Notification]: Training targets added — Diluc, Barbara, Noelle.
Target Name: Diluc
Level: Lv.18
Element: Pyro
Skills: Searing Onslaught, Dawn
Target Name: Barbara
Level: Lv.5
Element: Hydro
Skills: Let the Show Begin, Shining Miracle
Target Name: Noelle
Level: Lv.5
Element: Geo
Skills: Breastplate, Sweeping Time
"Seven monsters total," Kaito said calmly.
"One of them is a Dendro samachurl."
Diluc glanced at him in surprise.
He'd had to scout the area carefully to figure that out—yet Kaito had seen it at a glance?
It was… a little demoralizing.
Then again, during their last operation together, this man had done things even more absurd than that.
Diluc steadied his mindset.
"Lumine, take out the hidden sentry."
"Barbara, extinguish the fires, then support Noelle."
"Diluc, eliminate the Dendro samachurl. Don't let it finish chanting."
With a samachurl providing support, the difficulty of a hilichurl camp skyrocketed.
Kaito assigned targets and laid out the battle plan.
"Got it!"
Lumine drew her Favonius Sword, already eager to move.