allendalepharm Page 432
Page 432
The king on the throne glanced down at Latis's squad, patted the armrest, and said:
"That's not the case at all!"
"Goo?" The mantis shrimp raised its whiskers in shock and exclaimed, "Your Majesty! You clearly said before that you were going to defeat the Demon King deep in the Spring Forest!"
"Did I say that?"
The king stroked his long, trailing beard, his pale blue face revealing no emotion. After a moment of silence, he calmly said:
"Were you drunk at the time...?"
“Absolutely not, Your Majesty!” the mantis shrimp shouted, “Are you so lucid that you can settle accounts with us for transactions from three months ago?! The merchants of the mantis shrimp kingdom are terrified of Your Majesty!”
"I see... It's about that time you overcharged me by one shrimp coin when I bought salted fish..." The king nodded without changing his expression, paused, and looked at the mantis shrimp, saying:
"You know, the market isn't that fragile. Let me explain to you how the free market works..."
"Wait, we were talking about the hero recruitment notice, Gu!"
The mantis shrimp was completely unmoved by the king's words. Its face flushed red, and it cried out as if it were about to be cooked:
"Your Majesty, you said it before! As long as that Demon King is eliminated, all the ball monsters will disappear, and the shrimps will no longer have to worry about being attacked when they go out! Now that there is a hero who can achieve this goal, why not recruit him!"
"..."
The king slowly brushed aside his long beard, looked down at the mantis shrimp, remained silent for a moment, and then sighed:
"What do you know, young man?"
The king rose from his throne and turned to leave the hall.
"Your Majesty!" The mantis shrimp couldn't help but take two steps forward, only to be stopped by the guards with pincers in front of the palace. Not daring to charge, it could only call out from where it stood:
"Your Majesty, the history of mantis shrimp always records stories of shrimp freely exploring the wild in ancient times. Is that era truly gone forever, Your Majesty?"
The king paused, turning back at the entrance to the inner chamber of the hall. His gaze swept over the bewildered Latis and the others, finally settling on the mantis shrimp. It pointed to itself and said in a deep voice:
"I am a shrimp, so everything that happened before was said by a shrimp."
Having said that, it didn't look at the crowd again, but went straight into the inner room, waving its long whiskers, and loudly commanded:
"The matter of the Hero Demon King is forbidden to be mentioned again. Anyone who disobeys will be expelled from the country."
……
……
"Sorry..."
The mantis shrimp, its antennae drooping, slowly walked beside the crowd and said in a mournful voice:
"His Majesty the King forbids mentioning the Demon King, so there's nothing we can do... If it's convenient for you, Captain, my companions and I can discuss it and try to come up with a reward for clearing out the ball monsters, but we might not be able to afford the reward for defeating the Demon King..."
"It's alright, we'll just take a look around your tribe."
Latis scratched his head, looking at the gradually dimming light above him, knowing that it was almost evening. He was quite curious about the ecology of the Moss Tribe, and his teammates had been traveling all day; it was time for them to rest.
"Okay, okay... The mantis shrimp's gathering place is on the slope of the meeting place. Captain, you can come and rest there tonight!"
After bidding farewell to Latis, the mantis shrimp quickly ran away on its short legs.
Latis glanced at the mantis shrimp's back, stroked his chin, and looked around at the surrounding area.
This is a gentle downhill section of road, and up the slope is the palace we just saw. Although it is called a palace, it looks very simple, only about forty or fifty square meters in size, covered with different kinds of grass, like a hunter's cabin in the forest.
The downhill section was flanked by winding grassy hills, and only a lake could be barely seen at the bottom of the slope. A trickle of water flowed from behind the palace, past the feet of Latis and the others, and continued to flow to the lake at the bottom. In the mouth of the mantis shrimp, the lakeside was the common meeting place of various races.
It is said that this section of the road is the flattest and widest road in the Moss Tribe. The rest of the area is a landscape of undulating terrain and dense vegetation. It is fine for monsters like the Moss Mantis that are less than knee-high, but it would be a bit cramped for humans to stay here.
It was fine to wander around for a short time. Although the roads were narrow, the Moss Tribe was quite large and had many members, which made Latis and the others, who had just passed through the Naga Tribe and the Moth Tribe, feel a rare sense of relaxation.
After all, coming from tribes that have long since disappeared carries a lot of pressure...
Instead of heading straight to the meeting place, Latis pulled his teammates to a dry, hillside without a stream and sat down, asking:
What are your thoughts on the Moss Tribe's situation?
Everyone pondered for a moment, then Jennifer spoke first:
"The Moss Tribe is largely unaffected by the Will of Light, making it very safe. If the monsters here are as benign as the moss mantis we just encountered, then this is indeed a great place to settle down, except..."
“Except for that king,” Holnet replied.
“My lord, that king possesses a very strong aura of light.” Snyder hesitated for a moment, then glanced at the two high knights. Seeing them nod encouragingly, she continued:
“I am a priest, so I may be more sensitive to light than the knights. In my perception, the king’s aura of light is as if he is in constant contact with some kind of light source. If not, then he must have some kind of artifact with great power of light.”
"Is this so..."
Latis stroked his chin, lost in thought.
Although he was shocked and had a strange appetite when he saw that the king was a giant lobster, his overall perception in the palace was not bad. Even though the king did not seem very approachable, he did not feel any pressure.
Of course, it's also possible that the Moss Tribe is relatively weak overall, lacking legendary powerhouses like Lady Roseti of the Shadow Elf Tribe. Even the king, in his perception, is merely a monster of around the sixth ring, not a match for him.
He also sensed the aura of light that his teammates mentioned, although he wasn't as sensitive as they were. But after spending a lot of time with them, he gradually developed a concept of it.
The king did indeed possess a strong aura of light, but the problem was that his Dream Nail did not react.
When he encountered the ball monster on his way here, his Dream Nail trembled slightly. This was because the ball monster contained a lot of light power with its own will, and the Dream Nail would provide guidance to lead him to absorb the light power.
However, although the king radiated a bright aura like a blanket that had been dried in the sun, the Dream Nail did not guide him into battle.
In other words, the king was not possessed by the will of light.
The source of its aura is then very mysterious...
Latis stroked his chin and said:
"I have a feeling that there is some connection between the king and that so-called demon king. Maybe that connection is the reason why the king canceled the recruitment of heroes."
The teammates exchanged glances, and Leafa asked, somewhat puzzled:
"Then why did the king tell the mossy mantises that he was going to conquer the demon king? Was he just joking?"
"Perhaps it's just a way for those in power to appease people."
Geeta, who was once a noble lady, shook her head and said with disgust, "It's possible that the king and the so-called demon king are in cahoots, using the pretext of an external enemy to keep their people working within their territory."
"It sounds like a heartfelt remark..."
Seeing Geeta's angry expression with her arms crossed, Latis couldn't help but scratch his head and mutter:
"These monsters shouldn't be that intelligent, right? Never mind, I'll observe them a bit more..."
After thinking about it, he and his teammates discussed their next goal.
First of all, it's getting close to nighttime on the surface. In this narrow environment overgrown with vegetation, even if everyone could release light to illuminate the way, their vision would be obscured by the layers of grass and leaves, so continuing to explore at this point would be very dangerous.
Secondly, everyone agreed that the Demon King of this region was likely the next target that Dream Nail was looking for, so even without the King's request, they planned to go and find the Demon King, and incidentally help Pipi Shrimp resolve some of the Ball Monster issues.
Finally, we heard that the Moss Tribe has a night market at night, so everyone decided to go to the night market later... no, mainly to learn about the Demon King and the Ball Monster from the various races.
"Okay, so be it."
Latis clapped his hands, looked at the fading red glow of the sunset overhead, and laughed:
"Then let's break up for now and meet up later at the mantis shrimp's gathering place."
"Great!"
Her teammates cheered instantly. Then, Jennifer slid down, crouched, and used her smooth kneecaps to brace herself against the ground, quickly sliding down the slope towards the meeting place, shouting as she did so:
"Wuhu! Assembly Hall!"
Leafa was startled for a moment, then quickly grabbed her round shield, stepped on it, and, bending over, began to slide downhill while calling out:
"Master, Master! Wait for me!"
"Oh no, Leafa, wait for me!" Before Geeta could react, she saw that the master and apprentice had already wandered off. She was immediately alarmed and quickly greeted Latis and the others before running downstairs.
Latis stood there dumbfounded, glanced at the obedient Snyder and the calm Holnet, scratched his head, and couldn't help but mutter:
"These guys are having such a blast..."
“Yes, youth is wonderful.” Holnet smiled and nodded, tucking the hem of her cloak into her hands to prevent it from snagging on the leaves, and said:
"Back then... I didn't really like going to the market either."
"We first met at the night market!" Latis couldn't help but complain.
“That was an accident,” Holnet said without changing his expression. “I usually only go to the market when I have a specific goal in mind, and I leave as soon as I’ve bought what I need.”
"...Are you even a man?" Latis rubbed his forehead, then looked at Snyder and asked gently, "Aren't you going to go look around by yourself?"
“No need, I don’t have any money.” Snyder shook his head and said, “I just need to follow the master.”
Seeing that his two teammates didn't intend to go out alone, Latis nodded and walked with them toward the meeting place at the bottom of the slope.
……
……
Night falls.
The glowing grass hides its faint light beneath its dense leaves, leaving fluorescent footprints in the places where Latis and the others step.
The lantern grass growing on the roadside mounds gradually lit up, like strings of lanterns. Although the brightness was not high, it vaguely outlined the shape of the road.
After walking for a while, the lake finally came into view of Latis and the others. They stood on the slope and looked down at the scene below with some surprise.
The downhill sections extending from different areas all converge at the edge of the lake. Countless moss-covered monsters crawl around on the gentle slopes near the lake. Lantern grass or orbs of light, either hanging from their bodies or from their pincers, appear from a distance like drifting starlight, reflecting shimmering light on the lake's surface.
The monsters' stalls were set up on a gentle slope near the lake, with various races mixed together. There was only a narrow path between each row of stalls, just wide enough for one mantis shrimp to pass through. As a result, the monsters browsing the stalls had to squeeze past each other from time to time. Their shells collided and made a slight knocking sound. Amidst the babbling of the stream and the soft murmurs of bargaining, the sound was crisp and refreshing, making one's ears itch a little.
Latis led his teammates down a few steps, their gaze following the direction of the lake. Suddenly, they were surprised to find some stalls set up on the lake surface. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that these were fish with legs, and their gathering place was in the lake, resembling a pumpkin.
Upon seeing the settlement, Latis immediately remembered that the mantis shrimp had said their settlement was on the slope of the meeting place, so he immediately began searching for the settlements of various races. Soon, he saw a settlement at the highest point in the distance, which looked like a pineapple lying down embedded in the ground. He wondered if it had been moved in from somewhere outside the tribe.
"It's really lively..."
Holnet's tone was tinged with annoyance. She sighed, looked helplessly at Latis, and said:
"Captain, I'll follow you."
"Why are you starting to call him 'Captain' like the mantis shrimp now..."
Latis couldn't help but complain, glanced back at his two teammates, looked at the crowded night market, hesitated for a moment, then took the hand of the rather thin Snyder, randomly chose the top row of stalls, squeezed in and started browsing.