(EP-297.1) Master #1

297 – Master of the Forest #1

The spiders, weaving webs at the cave entrance, were whispering among themselves.

Even though I wasn’t drunk, nor was I hallucinating, hearing their conversations made my head spin.

Was listening to beasts more mentally exhausting than I had imagined?

「You have calmly judged the situation!

You have gained experience points through the talent 《Calm Thinking》.

All job experience +5」

So it truly was like that…

In any case, this was good news.

I wasn’t sure why or how, but their conversation was definitely worth listening to.

So, I decided to approach the gossiping spiders and try to engage in a proper conversation.

“Was what you just said true?”

My voice echoed in the narrow, dark cave, and the spiders fell silent. For a moment, I thought I could no longer hear them.

But it seemed like they had just stopped talking.

A few seconds passed. Just as doubt started to creep in, that I was simply hearing things or I deluded myself into thinking I could talk to animals like some child—.

━… Did that guy just talk to us?

━I don’t know! He’s weird!

I could hear them again.

I decided I needed to make myself clear.

“Yes, I’m talking to you. I can hear you.”

It was then.

━Krreung…!

The spiders, who had been leisurely spinning webs at the entrance just moments ago, suddenly let out cries like angry lions and began digging into the ground.

Rustle, rustle.

Soon, they were trembling, with only their bottoms exposed above the ground.

━What should we do? This guy must be crazy! He’s talking to us!

━I don’t know! He’s really weird! May the Great Spider help us…!

… Were they afraid of me?

I guessed it made sense. Even though the spiders were about the size of my hand, they were tiny creatures compared to a human. So if I suddenly started talking to them, they would naturally be terrified.

I was also scared the first time I saw the ogres, Gorgor and Dordor. It took quite a bit of effort to convince them.

When I took out a honey candy that I had been saving and gave it to them, they seemed to have finally let down their guard against me.

━Half-fairy! You have the blood of a short-eared fairy. That’s why you can hear us! Of course, that’s not the only reason…

According to the spiders, the reason I could hear them was because I was a half-fairy.

The fairy races that have lived from time immemorial, such as elves and nymphs, had the ability to communicate with animals and beasts.

Come to think of it, Stella, an elf, had tamed various creatures like a blue eagle and hippogriff.

I also quickly became friends with Keongkeong, a dog squirrel that was difficult to tame. Maybe it was because of my heritage as a half-fairy? That would certainly explain it.

━Of course, that was a long time ago when we could talk in the same language regardless of the number of legs. Now even fairies can’t hear us. They’ve degenerated.

━Degenerated!

At some point, the age of gods and fairies came to an end. At the same time, fairies could no longer hear the voices of beasts… according to the spiders.

Whether I should believe what these spiders were saying was still up for debate.

If what the spiders said was true, then perhaps the unique nature of this forest had awakened the fairy blood within me, making me sensitive enough to hear the voices of animals.

Anyway.

Though the story was fascinating, there was a more pressing issue at hand.

“My companion is sick. I heard something about a centipede and a flower that can be an antidote. Can you tell me more?”

━It’s the centipedes! The centipedes bit her!

━There are lots of centipedes in this forest!

Centipede.

The name brought up an image. A long, multi-legged insect.

However, I wasn’t entirely sure if the image I had in mind matched what the spiders were referring to, so I decided to clarify.

“You mean centipedes—long venomous insects with many legs, right?”

━That’s right! They’re nasty creatures! This forest used to belong to the spiders, and the spiders were peaceful. But when the wall appeared, it cast a shadow over the forest, and a lot of dark-loving centipedes swarmed in.

━Let’s kill the centipedes. Centipedes are my enemy.

The spiders continued to gossip about the centipedes, talking about how they had polluted the forest and poisoned streams and creeks with their venom.

「Talking to animals is very fairy-like…!

Job: Half-Fairy 1+ Level

Half-Fairy Lv. 8 → Lv. 9

You can now do more fairy-like things…!」

* * *

I had always been a little scared of spiders.

It wasn’t so much because of their appearance, but more because I couldn’t understand what they were thinking.

In that sense, Aira and the spiders had something in common.

Both would stare at you with unblinking, dark eyes.

There was the tension of suddenly getting jumped and bit in the face.

However, contrary to what I expected, the spiders were actually quite chatty.

━I spoke to a fairy! I need to tell everyone!

━They won’t believe it! It’s been years since we’ve talked to anyone with two legs… 20 years. No one has listened to us since her.

It seemed they were genuinely happy just to have someone listen to them. If I had been alone for a long time, I’d probably chatter away like this if I found someone to talk to.

But something they mentioned piqued my curiosity.

“Is there anyone else who has talked to you besides me?”

━Yes! She was a fairy too, a short-eared fairy. She was the master of the forest. Back then, the centipedes didn’t dare come near our territory. We didn’t have to hide in caves like this….

━Now that I think about it, you look a bit like her, half-fairy!

“You say I look like her?”

━Don’t mind them. They think anyone with the same number of eyes, nose, and mouth looks the same.

━Hehe! Actually, I can’t tell the difference between two-legged’s faces! I don’t know!

Rustle.

At that moment, I heard something behind me. When I turned my head, Stella, with a very red face, was looking at me with a frown. Did I wake her up?

“Theo-kun…, I don’t know if I’m hearing things… Are you talking to the spiders all by yourself right now…?

“…….”

Edit by: faker