The Impostors Encounter Something Terrifying in the Demon-Realm Forest

To hunt the wicked green dragons and bring peace to this land, the hero's party advances along the road toward Mount Nanga, the dragons' lair......!

With narration like that running in their heads, as if they were heroes out of a story, the party known as “Brown Dragon's Heel”—in truth just a bunch of grubby hero fraudsters—was making its way through Zamago Forest.

“......! They're here! Noshteruketch! Three of them, front left!”

The scout, Modokin, quickly sensed the monsters coming and warned his companions!

“Got it! Niese! Use magic for a light distraction! Conserve your magic power for now!”

“Roger! ‘O lightning, become a whip and strike my foe! 【Thunder Whip】!’”

Following Patchino's instructions, Niese unleashed her magic.

Pishaan!

The whip of lightning, swung in a sideways sweep with a violent flash and roar, didn't miss a single Noshteruketch as they leaped from the brush, striking them down!

The Noshteruketch, who had been charging full tilt toward Patchino and the others, lost control of their bodies from the electric shock and tumbled clumsily.

“HAAAAAAAAH!”

Naturally, “Brown Dragon's Heel” would not let such an opening go to waste!

Patchino leaped forward instantly, swinging his sword to cleave a Noshteruketch in two!

He was a magic swordsman.

He could use magic fairly well, and his sword was fairly strong too.

“UOOOOOOOOH!!!”

And beside Patchino, Darmacy was already letting out a victory roar.

I don't really get it, but he went wild and beat the other two Noshteruketch, huh!

Beating those Noshteruketch so easily, amazing!

“Hmph, not enough. Something like this isn't even a warmup.”

Patchino cracked a joke, swinging his sword around with a bun bun.

“......Now, now, don't get cocky, Patchino...... those were Noshteruketch, you know? If we'd been attacked in a forest with no visibility, we wouldn't have handled them this easily.”

“Really...... I wonder what this is. Wasn't Zamago Forest supposed to be a demon realm untouched by humans, where adventurers hardly ever venture?”

Modokin and Niese didn't so much agree as look baffled.

Why were they bewildered?

For no other reason than that they were walking on a road that stretched toward Mount Nanga.

............Yes, a “road.”

A dangerous forest ruled by monsters, thick with the air of death...... that was what Zamago Forest was supposed to be.

And yet, look at it now.

Once they had crossed the log bridge and pushed through a little brush, the trees had suddenly been felled from there on, and a wide road ran on toward the mountain!

It was wide enough for a carriage to pass through comfortably.

Large rocks and stumps still remained, so it seemed there were still obstacles for actual travel...... but for those on foot, it was the height of comfort.

Compared to the depths of the forest, it was incredibly easy to walk, and they could deal with surprise attacks from monsters like Noshteruketch with plenty of room to spare.

Occasionally, large felled trees could be seen stacked on their sides at the edge of the road, so this was clearly not a path for giant monsters, but a road created by human hands.

“Maybe nobody's been told, but this forest, Pokkeroce or somebody's already started developing it?”

“Huh? No way, right? Besides, what about the green dragons? Work like this would stick out like crazy; they'd be the first to get attacked, wouldn't they?”

Niese and Modokin argued it over, but they didn't seem likely to reach a conclusion.

“Uooh............”

Darmacy groaned anxiously.

Even a big, brawny man like Darmacy finds things he can't make sense of creepy after all, maybe? I don't really get it.

“Quit your whining! ......There's a road? Good for us! Thanks to it, we're saving our strength, it's a big help!”

“I mean, sure, but...... isn't it creepy? Who would make a road like this, and what for? You'd need a huge number of people to pull off construction like this, right?”

“Uooh”

“That's why I said don't worry about it! What's our goal right now? To hunt the dragon, right? Stop thinking about unnecessary things! Winter's coming...... we need some savings, don't we.”

“True...... no lodging in the dead of winter, I'd hate that......”

“We'd die.”

“Uooh”

“Come on, if you get it, get walking. More monsters'll come. Where this road leads is the dragons' nest. Our shining future. Money and glory! Come on, walk, walk!”

“Uooh!”

“Haha! That's right, Darmacy, you said it! Either way, this way is the only way for us! Come on, let's go!”

“UOOOOOH!”

“Alright, Modokin! Niese! You shout too! Get fired up!”

“Can't be helped......”

“Ehh! I have to do it too?”

“Damn right! Here we go, come on! One, two!”

““““UOOOOOOOOH!!!””””

After catching their breath for a while with idle chatter, they all shouted together to pump themselves up, I don't really get it, and set off again.

Say what you will, they were a close-knit foursome.

Though they're probably not that bright.

◇ ◇ ◇

“......A town?”

“Ain't it a fort?”

“It's a secret base, I bet!”

“Uooh!”

Now, a few hours later.

The road that seemed to lead to Mount Nanga came to an abrupt end, and the path of “Brown Dragon's Heel” was blocked by a giant defensive wall.

The defensive wall was built atop a slightly raised hill, and since it was quite high, they couldn't get a glimpse of what was inside.

They could tell that a few large trees were growing in the center, but that was about all they knew.

A moat had been dug at the bottom of the hill, and water was being poured in from a channel drawn from somewhere.

“H, hey...... I just thought of something unpleasant.”

Here, Niese said, her face turning pale.

“Could it be, this place...... is it a secret base...... of the Demon Lord's Army, maybe?”

Her own words, ‘It's a secret base, I bet!’, had probably led Niese straight to the worst possibility.

After all, the Demon Lord's Army appears out of nowhere.

They carry out attacks on humans day and night all over the world, so much so that it almost seems unplanned.

It was by no means unlikely that this defensive wall was a base the Demon Lord's Army had built to attack Pokkeroce.

“Brown Dragon's Heel” had been going around calling themselves heroes, but actually running into the Demon Lord's Army was the last thing they wanted.

If they did that, no amount of lives would be enough.

Green dragons were dangerous, but the Demon Lord's Army was even worse.

Normally, there's no way a few people could stand against an “army”.

It's only natural.

“Uooh......”

Darmacy also groaned in fear, I don't really get it.

“No, wait, that's not it. Look at that.”

But it was Modokin who said that, pointing at the slope between the defensive wall and the moat.

“Do you see those red vines planted in several clumps over there? Those are demon-repelling herbs. As the name suggests, they're perennials that emit a scent many monsters hate. No matter how you look at it, those were planted on purpose. The Demon Lord's Army uses monsters, right? Then there's no way they'd plant demon-repelling herbs.”

“Uooh!”

At Modokin's cool-headed point, Darmacy was relieved and perked up too, maybe? I don't really get it!

“Then what the heck is that place?”

“Who knows, I don't get it...... maybe it's a thieves' hideout.”

“Uooh......?”

“......The people in there are our allies. We'll make them our allies.”

Patchino clapped his hands with a pan! to forcibly end his companions' rambling conversation.

“Listen. Our goal is to slay the green dragon. If the people living inside that wall cooperate with us, nothing could be more encouraging, right? We'll use that place as a base and attack Mount Nanga!”

“Cooperate? How do you plan on getting them to cooperate?”

“Haha! We're the honorable hero's party, remember? Righteous heroes slaying a dragon; good, decent folk ought to help out, right?”

“You...... you're gonna do hero fraud again? I'm done getting caught, okay?”

“What, I'm not talking about deceiving them to steal their money. I just want them to cooperate smoothly. They're happy the green dragon threat is gone, we're lucky the green dragon hunt gets easy; we both come out ahead!”

“Uooh, uooh!”

“That's right, a win-win relationship, as they say!”

“......But what if the other side is some kind of thief?”

“Thieves wouldn't build a hideout in the depths of a forest like this, where there's no one to attack and it's full of monsters! It'll be fine.”

Patchino kneaded his fairly handsome face with both hands, then put on a bright, winning smile.

Bathed in the summer sunlight, his fairly beautiful blond hair glittered fairly brightly.

“Now, let's go! Time to play hero for the first time in a while! Put on your best-behaved faces! Niese, you reek of booze, so don't breathe!”

“Don't be ridiculous! I'll stay as close to Modokin as I can and make them think it's Modokin's breath!”

“That's cruel. I'm always the one drawing the short straw.”

“UOOOOOH!”

The four of them pumped themselves up and began to walk proudly toward the gate on the hill, which seemed to be the entrance to the facility surrounded by the mysterious defensive wall!

They began to walk...... and then.

““““!!?””””

They were hit by an unbelievable 【Intimidation】 unlike anything they had ever felt in their lives, and they found themselves unable to take a single step forward.

Before they knew it, a girl was standing right in front of them.

No, Patchino alone had seen it.

That girl had, without a doubt, fallen from the sky.

Why would a girl fall from the sky?

It made no sense.

That made no sense, and neither did why the girl was blasting them with such 【Intimidation】.

In the first place, he didn't even know if a mere human could release such 【Intimidation】—one that felt as if you might die just by being bathed in it.

Patchino thought.

This was the same as that time with the hero.

He understood that no matter how he struggled, he could not win against the girl in front of him—the one with black hair and black eyes, a so-called cursed child.

No, the situation might be even worse than with the hero.

The Divine Aura the hero had released was overwhelming, but it was pure and beautiful enough for even the faithless Patchino to perceive.

And yet, what of the presence coming from this ominous-colored monster in front of him?

It was a presence that was utterly cold, terrifying, and loathsome.

And probably, this was something very bad for the world.

He felt it, by instinct.

That ominous girl, without any expression, stared at Patchino and the others...... and then.

“......I was waiting. For people like you.”

she said.

(That can't be! You must have the wrong people! It's some kind of mistake!)

Patchino and the others felt like wailing that aloud, but not one meaningful sound came out of their throats, gone bone-dry in an instant, and so they were led inside the defensive wall by that ominous girl.

The four of them had managed to infiltrate the defensive wall unintentionally, but they were no longer in a mental state where they could play at being heroes.

The Demon Lord's Army in this world rampages within the limits that the Evil God has negotiated with the other gods and been granted.

Therefore, looking at the world as a whole, it may seem as if they are rampaging without a plan.

However, since they focus their attacks on the hero, in a story from the hero's perspective, the Demon Lord's Army appears to be a super-massive organization invading the entire world.

And Emi's isekai communication technique, ‘Opening Move: 【Intimidation】’.

Make the other side clearly understand the gap in strength, and steer the negotiations that follow in your favor!

However, in some cases it leaves deep scars on the other person's heart, so be careful where you use it!