We accepted the request in the late morning and departed for the forest, arriving at the river just before the forest by around noon. Several adventurer parties were gathered along the riverbank, apparently taking a break.

"Are they here to check out the forest?"

"Probably," she replied.

The forest is about an hour away from here. A B-rank adventurer party should be investigating the monsters in the forest ahead. Depending on the results, even getting close to the forest might be prohibited.

I extended my presence detection toward the forest ahead. The monster in question didn’t appear to be within range. If I deliberately stretch my detection range, it can exceed ten kilometers. If I can't detect it within that range, it should be fine for now.

"Alright, shall we have lunch first?"

We claimed an open spot along the river and started cooking, taking out various cooking utensils. None of the surrounding adventurer parties seemed to be preparing elaborate meals like this. Since the city is nearby, most people settle for pre-made lunches.

After attracting some attention but finishing our meal, we approached the forest. Not sensing anything unusual, we reached the forest’s edge without particular caution.

"Hey, you’ve heard, right? Don’t go into the forest," said one of the adventurers keeping watch at the entrance. He was probably monitoring the forest to report any abnormalities to the guild immediately.

"Ah, don’t worry. We’re only here to check on a lumber storage site as part of a request," I explained.

"A storage site? Then head over there; all the storage sites belonging to various trade companies are clustered in that direction."

"Thank you."

"If you notice anything strange in the forest, make sure to flee back to the city immediately."

"Understood."

He was kinder than expected. After thanking him briefly, we headed in the direction he indicated. Before long, sturdy wooden fences came into view. Could this be the storage site we accidentally wandered into the first time we exited the forest? There were several fenced storage sites, but it was easy to identify the right one since the trade company names were written at the entrances.

Given the report about an unidentified large monster, there didn’t seem to be any guards stationed at the storage site entrances.

"Is this it?"

"Seems like it," she confirmed.

I unlocked the gate with the key Fleur had entrusted to me. Inside were piles of wood stripped of branches.

"Wow, this is impressive," she remarked.

The wood consisted mostly of thick, straight logs, though there were also plenty of slightly warped pieces. The thickest logs seemed to have diameters of about three meters. Nothing appeared to have been tampered with.

"If I remember correctly, we need ten thick logs about fifty meters long, right?"

"Yes, that’s what they said."

"Alright, let’s store these quickly and head back."

We walked around the site, storing logs that matched the criteria into the spatial storage box.

"This should do," I said.

"Yeah. But there sure is a lot of lumber here," she observed.

"No kidding. How many logs are here? Over a thousand, maybe."

"And there are other storage sites like this, right? It seems like a natural forest, not one with replanting efforts."

"It doesn’t look like the forest is being managed. Near the entrance, the trees are growing wild."

"The plants in the Demonic Forest had an unusually high growth rate too. Maybe it’s the same here."

"If that’s the case, they can harvest as much as they want."

Marveling at the mysteries of this world close at hand, we continued inspecting the storage site.

"There doesn’t seem to be anything abnormal," I concluded.

"Agreed. Let’s head back."

After ensuring nothing was amiss, we left the Rashiyu Trading Company’s storage site and locked the gate behind us. As we walked along the paths between the other storage sites back toward the main road—

"Huh? …Ah, it’s here!"

"What?"

I sensed the presence of the monster and quickened my pace, breaking into a run.

"Is it that the sky wolf?" Ria asked, running alongside me.

I nodded in response. The creature seemed to be heading straight for us, its movements synchronized with ours. And it wasn’t alone; I sensed other presences moving along with it. Could they be the B-rank adventurer party conducting the investigation?

"It’s coming straight at us," I said.

"The storage site might get destroyed."

"That wouldn’t be good. Let’s move away a bit."

"Right."

Following Ria’s suggestion, we left the path and headed into the grasslands. After walking for a while, the sound of something collapsing reached us from behind.

"Whoa!"

Looking back, we saw a cloud of dust rising from the direction of the storage site. Even though we had moved away to prevent damage, it might not have made much difference.

"It seems to be coming straight for us," she observed.

"Yeah, well, it can’t be helped."

Through the tall wooden fence of the storage site, I could see the figure of something approaching. The fence was quite high, but the creature was still visible. It must be enormous.

As it came closer, it smashed through the fence as though it wasn’t there, revealing itself.

—With a massive bone clamped in its mouth.

"…A bone?"

Ria tilted her head, murmuring in confusion.

The monster stopped about ten meters away, facing us. Behind it, the adventurers who had likely been pursuing it appeared. Even the adventurer keeping watch near the forest entrance seemed to have arrived.

"What is this thing…?" one of the adventurers muttered in shock, his eyes glued to the monster.

"I’ve never seen one this huge."

"Ah… Hey, there are kids over there! Are they okay?!"

It seemed they had noticed us too, shouting in our direction. Their loud voices might attract attention, but I almost wanted to reply, "Aren’t you the ones who should be more careful?"