Chapter 23: The Higrant's Totem (1)

A new dawn greeted the horizon and I was already up and about—earlier than usual. It was a rather sleepless night despite my prior exhaustion, amongst other things. The woodworkers of Druhwood had also begun setting up for the day’s work as I now found myself taking a stroll around the northern part of town.
Druhwood’s layout was similar to that of the pattern atop of a leaf, where the paths sat on opposite ends of each other—branching out from the petiole or it’s center. That center was the main road that stretched from the south to north gate, connecting it all. Some of the roads had areas that were dedicated to lumber placement and nothing else, as if it were like storage space. The rest of the branching paths mostly held residential areas, with a few shops set up in between.

Actually, is the whole right side of the town pretty much just lumber? Interesting, I don’t remember Druhwood being so organized in MO.

I had aimlessly wandered toward the north gate a short while ago, and in doing so, I took in the sight of the entire town for the first time. The Druhwood in MO didn’t have any rhyme or reason in their arrangements originally, and everything there was just scattered around.

“The magic of having a proper leader. Now, if only it could remain that way...”

I had caught glimpses of several workers along the way, their expressions all wearing apprehension on their face as if it were the collective standard. The town was currently plagued with the upcoming result of their decision after all.

Whatever decision they arrived at last night is stuck on all of their minds, huh? Well, it’s not as if it were any different for me either...

My thoughts on the matter had been swirling ever since last night as well. I didn’t have any say in Druhwood’s direction—nor did the result even affect me directly—but it still left me worried enough to lose sleep over.

“I really do hope this gets settled without any issues, but...”

My eyes drifted toward the brightening sky and I could just make out Cruubi hovering far above. It was focused on something particular in one direction—toward the south. I couldn’t tell if it were just fond of heights or something really had caught its attention. There were a few things I had learned about the little bird over the course of my sleepless night, but I wasn’t currently in the mood to really test any of that out.
I sighed audibly as I decided to turn around and head back to the Mirth Oak Inn—or more specifically—to take a dip in the hot springs. This was in hope that it would help soothe and wash away a bit of the lingering uneasiness. Not to mention, it was also the best place to think about nothing, something and everything—all at the same time.

“It’s probably going to be another long day anyways, so might as well take this small breather now while I still have the chance.”

Arriving promptly to the area behind the inn, I immediately noticed Eru hanging up laundry on a washing line near the entrance to the bathing house. She was fully focused, seemingly lost in thought as she didn’t notice my arrival once again.

I guess I didn’t see her earlier before I left because she was busy doing laundry. I should probably—

“Chirp! Chirp!”
“Huh?! C-Cruubi, is that you?!”
“Chirp!”

The small bird suddenly plopped down on her head from the sky without warning, startling Eru as she clutched at a quilt in her hands. Inhaling and exhaling slowly, she then finished placing the quilt over the washing line and gestured to Cruubi with open palms as it hopped down.

“Don’t scare me like that, Cruubi! But, well, good morning to you too. You’re up quite early. Oh, wait. If you’re here, that means...”

She glanced around, and I silently waved at her as her eyes met mine. She gave a short bow as we both exchanged morning greetings. The moment I was planning on telling her about my hot spring arrangement, she suddenly had a request.

“U-um, Albel, do you mind waiting over there until I’m done hanging up the laundry...?”
“I don’t mind, but for what reason?”
“I’d like to talk to you about...something. So, I was thinking we could possibly walk around town a bit while we discussed it, maybe...?”

Ah. Is it about that then? It definitely would be helpful to know. If I head into the hot spring now, there’s no telling when I’d come out anyways. Guess I’ll save it for after.

“Sure, that’s fine with me. I’ll be over there then.”
“Thank you, I’ll try to finish as quickly as possible.”

Taking a seat on a bench near the side of the inn, I quietly watched on as Cruubi continued to get in the way of Eru’s work. The little bird was leaping and hovering all over the place, not staying still one bit. Thanks to that, it seemingly took her slightly longer than it should have to finish. We then finally made our way toward the main road.

“S-sorry for taking so long, Albel...”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s Cruubi’s fault for intervening to begin with. I wonder what’s wrong with it?”
“Hmm, I don’t really know either. It does seem to be acting a bit strange...”

Cruubi was hovering far above the town once more. I couldn’t really understand what was going on through that bird’s head. It seemed more active than usual, and it wasn’t as if we could just simply question it like it had the ability to answer us.

“Maybe I should just try that out after all? At the very least, I could—”
“Albel, about last night...”

Murmuring to myself, Eru’s also muttered words caught my attention. She was attempting to find the correct way to bring forth what she wanted to ask as her endeavor led to a gap of silence between us. It was evident that she was quite uneasy about bringing up the topic, and feeling this was the case, I decided to initiate a separate conversation myself to ease her into it.

“Eru, I actually have a question to ask you too. Aside from you and Palvo, I haven’t really seen many younger people around—our age. Is there a reason for that?”

Walking around earlier and seeing all of the townsfolk, it was as if the majority that lived here were easily in their late-40s. A few small children here and there, but I didn’t really see any young adults.

“Huh? Oh, yes, actually... Many of the people that live here nowadays are those who are retired or really into their woodworking. Most, if not all, of the younger men that were once here have already left to either join the Crethian army or make it big in Nefra—or in any of the other major cities.”

She paused as her feet suddenly came to a stop. Her eyes were at a downcast as it became accompanied by her now faint voice.

“That also goes for the few women who were around my age as well... Altogether, only a small handful from my generation remain in Druhwood, which includes Palvo and myself...”

As she raised her eyes and looked toward me again, her expression had changed once more. A forced smile masked whatever emotion she decided to hide behind it. I could somewhat catch and understand an inkling of the why. The reason for her remaining behind, to do the opposite was like attempting to drag along a locked box of unknown origins—chained to her every action. At the very least, it didn’t seem as if she was ostracized here.

Ah. That question didn’t really lighten the mood at all... To watch as all of your childhood friends leave, yet you’re forced to stay behind? That has to feel quite... No, maybe...I can relate—

“Hey! Please don’t tell me you’re leaving again, Eru?! And if you do, please notify me the next time you teleport back here! Do you know how worried I was, only to hear about your return from someone else?!”

I hadn’t realized it until I heard his voice, but we were now standing near the south gate as Palvo shouted and ran toward us. That being said, there were two things that surprised me here. The first being that Palvo hadn’t been sleeping on the job this time, and the second, caught my attention with a vice-like grip compared to the former.

What...? Teleport?! As in THAT kind of teleport? Huh?!

“I’m not heading out today, Palvo. I was just going on a short walk with Albel. Sorry about the other day though, it slipped my mind due to...something else that came up.”

I could feel her eyes make a swift glance toward me as if I were that something else. And before I could address the teleport comment, she then tugged the right sleeve of my shirt—gesturing to move closer. I leaned toward her as she attempted to whisper something in my ear.

“...We should really hurry out of here before he—”
“Regardless! How many times have I told you to check in with me before entering the town? It’s my job to make note of everyone that walks through this gate, whether it’s from our side or the opposite! If not, we...”

The man named Palvo continued on and on, for what seemed like hours. He explained how it was necessary for everything to work in a unified manner to truly make sure Druhwood and its surroundings were secure. He made note of every instance that Eru hadn’t signed in on her return. I couldn’t help but respond to him in turn as I spotted a stopping point—a very, very small opening within his armored speech.

“...due to this, Druhwood’s defenses and overall protection is complete! That’s why—”
“But don’t you sleep on the job, Palvo...?”
“Mhm, that he does. That’s why I didn’t bother checking in with him on several occasions.”
“Th-that’s...”

Eru immediately tugged at my sleeve once more to imply that we should get moving immediately while Palvo was stun locked. Palvo was either at a loss for words or he couldn’t come up with a usual, semi-altered excuse. Either way, our goal now was to simply sneak away from him as his eyes were closed in thought.

“Thank goodness you said that, now we can—!?”

A rippling quake. The ground suddenly shook as if something massive had fallen in the distance, several times over. We had stopped in our tracks as we tried to figure out what was going on.

“E-eeeeeeh?! Wh-what was that...?! M-monsters?!”
“Albel, look! Above!”

As Palvo began freaking out, Eru turned my attention now toward a very large flock of birds in fleeing flight coming from the forest area to the south west of Druhwood. Eru suddenly hastened down a path that hugged the southern wall and toward the western wall. I could see a tall lookout post from where I was standing, that towered over that western side. As I followed her, Palvo noticed us leaving and instead of frantically mirroring my choice, he surprisingly remained behind at the south gate.
Shortly after arriving, Eru immediately began climbing toward the top while I stood at the bottom as I waited in bated breath.

“Do you see anything?”
“I can see...a large pack of treants... They seem to be moving away from the shallow area of the Enheim Forest. And rather quickly too!”
“Any idea as to why they would be reacting in such a way?”
“I don’t know... From what I was told, even their migration away from the mountain pass area had taken some time. This hasn’t happened before...”
“It has to be due to whatever created that tremor from earlier, right? I’m heading up—!?”

Yet, the moment I decided that, the sound of a series of ringing bells now began to echo across the town.

“What is that, Eru...?”
“It’s the bell from the south gate! Palvo must have rung it! It’s only supposed to be used when something is heading our way! We need to hurry back immediately!”

We quickly began to head back toward the south gate, and upon reaching it, we could see a crowd of people now forming. For whatever reason, they were attempting to close the gate at that. Eru immediately rushed ahead of me, shouting her confusion.

“What?! Why are you all closing the gate?! What is going on...?”
“Eru? Palvo said he saw something in the distance heading this way!”
“Huh? Was it not the treants leaving the forest?”
“From what he said—by his given description—it definitely wasn’t...”

The woodworker revealed this, all the while turning behind, where Palvo was on the floor with a look of complete terror over his face. His body was aggressively shaking, while muttered words escaped from under his breath in a strained stutter.

“Wh-wh-wh-wha...w-was...th-th-that...!?!? Wha...”

Turning back to us, the woodworker continued in place of the frightened Palvo.

“...He said earlier that...what he saw was a Giant... Possibly a Higrant Giant on its way over here! We haven’t been able to confirm it completely yet, but Palvo has the best sight of all of us...”
“What...? But why...?!”

In disbelief, Eru’s legs folded as she suddenly slumped to the ground without saying anything else. Hearing his explanation, I quickly decided to figure out what exactly was going on toward the forest area for myself. My eyes met the sky as I began searching for Cruubi. I could see it, still looking toward that same direction from before as I called its name.

“Cruubi! Come!”
“Chirp!”

The small bird immediately responded and made its way toward me, hovering slightly in front of me while awaiting my next command. Looking into its eyes, I attempted to use a skill that I had discovered last night after a bit of trial and error.

“[Conjurer’s Agent], HOLD!”

After a few seconds, the connection took place successfully. The small and black eyes of the bird now glowed with a dim yellow. It immediately understood the task I had in mind for it as it took to the sky once more. It wouldn’t take more than a minute or two to reach its destination.

Let’s hope this works...

The connection then finally signaled back to me after around a minute.

“OPEN!”

With that simple word, my sight was now linked together with Cruubi’s. And with that proper connection, the scenery Cruubi saw transferred over to me. I now understood and saw exactly what was currently heading this way.

“Geez...”

Remaining connected, I initiated one last step—to activate [Investigate] from afar and through Cruubi’s eyes. And as I did, it worked successfully as the status menu of what was in route to Druhwood appeared before me.

Name: [Chief of the Higrant Tribe, Kortbos]
Rank: [Special Beast], [Higrant Giant]
Level: [130]
Class: [Warlord Hero, Tier XI]
Alignment: [Lawful Neutral]
INFO: The current tribe leader of the Higrant Giants, in a special form, as the one who bears the responsibility and recognition of "Hero" amongst its own kind. When enraged, it has the ability to activate the fleeting skill, [Berserk Vitality], in which strengthens its overall abilities immensely and deals set damage regardless of Defense stat, skills or buffs. During that time, keep a distance and avoid at ALL costs. Weak against mental attacks and certain ailments. Strong against all physical attacks, poisons, stuns and pacification attempts.

“I must’ve truly jinxed myself earlier. It really is going to be a long day...”