“What Bones Are Skeletons?”

The adventurer returned to the town and immediately slew another group of large goblins.

Being attacked by goblins was a common occurrence. This meant that the one in the mansion earlier was indeed not the boss.

Since entering the town, the encounter rate has been low compared to the difficulty level. Perhaps it's difficult for mobs to find Rare, who acts alone.

Not only facing the inconvenience of being attacked by a large number of enemies like the other day, but also being infiltrated by a player with excellent stealth skills is troublesome.

Now, the focus is on finding the location of the goblin boss.

If the previous goblin wasn't the boss, then the boss must be hiding somewhere else.

If it's not in the town, it can only be in the forest. There's no need to wait foolishly in the dungeon being attacked.

If the boss controls multiple dungeons like Rare, it would be wise to wait in a different location than the attacked dungeon. In the case of Neuschloss, strictly speaking, both the forest and the town are considered a single dungeon. Still, drawing attention to the town while hiding in the forest makes sense.

"Shall we head to the forest?"

As a guide, Rare summoned a bird and sent it flying overhead. Confirming the direction of the forest, it guided them forward.

Although Rare entered from the south side of the town, the forest was on the north side. If the safety zone is in the south and the forest is in the north, considering the entire area as one block, the deepest part would be the forest. Even players other than Rare might consider the possibility of the boss being in the forest. There's no reason for goblins to live in the town just because they control it.

However, players would find it more convenient to have the lord's mansion as their base.

Rare considered the lord's mansion as the boss area because of the possibility that the boss could be a player. If considered a wild boss, they might have headed straight to the forest from the beginning.

The goblins appeared from the forest. So, it's reasonable to assume that the root of all evils lies in the forest, and the boss is likely there.

The low encounter rate may be because the town is not essential for the boss in this area, or simply because the number of minions placed in the town is low.

In any case, going to the forest should provide clarity.

Passing through the heavily deteriorated north outer wall beyond the south side, Rare exited the town. It was covered in thick fog outside. Beyond the fog, something like a forest could be faintly seen.

"It's too close from the town to the forest. Building a town in a place like this is absurd. … Maybe the forest spread after the town was constructed."

Alternatively, monsters might not come to important facilities like the town roads, so they built an outer wall as a breakwater and then created the town inside. Checking documents in the lord's mansion's office or study might reveal information about that, but it's not worth spending time to know.

Carefully walking through the mist, Mare's summoned bird returned. In this fog, aerial reconnaissance is not very effective.

It's just a desolate area. Because of the fog, the sunlight is poor, and the weeds growing sporadically are low. There are no small fry around since it's an open area where one can't hide.

However, Rare remains cautious.

In the previous event, undead were initially emerging from this forest. Although Rare has fought Sieg's undead in the Teur Forest before, undead occasionally crawl out of the ground. It's not certain that it won't happen here.

As soon as a sound like "boof" was heard, Rare thrust the spear's tip into the ground where the sound came from.

As expected, there was a hand made of bones growing there, about to be crushed and scattered by the spear's tip.

One after another, bone hands emerged from the ground.

"Just beating mole hands won't solve anything. [Earthquake]."

If you want to come out so badly, I'll make the ground plowable for you.

Although it's called an earthquake, it's an offensive magic. It's not just a normal earthquake.

The earth undulates, pulsating as if alive, creating large, sharp protrusions like rocks intermittently. When the protrusions extend about two meters, they return to ordinary soil, crumbling and becoming the material for the next protrusion. After about five seconds of this, the changes stop altogether, and the ground returns to its original flat state.

The skeletons buried in the ground couldn't avoid it. Shaken with the earth, they were shattered and mixed with the soil.

"I wonder if it's settled at once. It's just small fry, and it didn't add anything to the balance in terms of MP."

Considering time efficiency, it's inevitable. If spending a little MP can expedite the journey, it should be done.

Then, whenever there was a sign of skeletons, Rare activated [Earthquake] and progressed through the desolate land.

There seemed to be quite a few buried, as skeletons began to appear around the area where the effect range of the previous [Earthquake] had ended.

Therefore, without even confirming the appearance of enemies, Rare had developed a routine of walking while periodically activating [Earthquake]. Adjusting the walking speed to the cooldown time of [Earthquake] was necessary, but once adjusted, it became a mere task.

──But, you know, what an ugly skeleton. Maybe I'm biased, but our skeletons look more handsome.

Since Rare only saw the scattered remains, the overall body style is unknown, but even just looking at the occasional head, it's clearly different in terms of facial features. It resembles the skull of something like a primitive human that you might see in a history textbook.

Is it a different race? It's unclear if skeletons have different races. Well, what race are skeletons in the first place? Are they human, elf, or beastman?

Those in Rare's party are probably human or elf. Judging by their height, they are not dwarves, and there is no tail, so they are not beastmen.

──What kind of bones make up a character that was originally a skeleton?

But no matter what, it doesn't seem like the facial bone structure differs significantly. Whether it's a beastman or an elf, although you might feel they are attractive, it doesn't seem like a different race enough to cause discomfort.

"Oh, goblins… These are probably the bones of the large goblins from earlier."

Thinking that, they indeed look similar. These are probably goblin skeletons.

In SNS posts, it was mentioned that in the early stages of the event, undead attacked the town. Rare had thought that they had either [Subordinated] the undead or subdued them with the strength of their goblin subordinates, sending them to the town before the event started. However, it might be different.

Perhaps this boss only used goblins from the beginning. The only difference is whether they are alive or dead.

Specializing in goblins, it seems like quite a versatile enemy. They even have the cleverness to place a decoy in the town. They are indeed a formidable opponent.

The forest is already in front of them. Skeletons haven't appeared for a while. There's no need to use [Earthquake] anymore.

Even though it's daytime, the forest is dim, emitting an eerie atmosphere. It's not filled with fog like the desolate land, but visibility is poor.

"[Hellflame]."

For now, she burned the surrounding trees with magic.

The forest ignited over a wide area, turning into ashes and crumbling. What remained were the blackened ground and a few charcoals standing on the ground.

Kicking one of the charcoals, it easily crumbled and disappeared into the wind.

It doesn't seem to be a treant.

If they had a treant as a card, they would mix it in with ordinary trees. If there are no treants within such a wide range after burning everything, it's reasonable to assume that the opponent doesn't have treant minions.

So, normal caution will suffice.

She walked through what has literally become a burned field.

And just as she was about to enter the forest again, she sensed a group-like presence.

"Rai—"

"Wait! Please wait!"

Thinking that they would all be enemies anyway, Rare was about to cast a lightning-type area-of-effect spell when a hurried voice stopped them.

It seems to be a player party.

While keeping their guard up, they temporarily stopped casting magic.

Looking towards the group, Rare gestured for them to speak.

"Uh, um. We are players who are conquering this forest. Are you too?"

Is there a need to answer?

However, they've already been seen. Even at this distance, the face under the hood may not be visible, but recognizing a person is not only about their face. The figure, clothing, walking style, behavior habits, etc., can all be used to identify an individual, and voice is also an important element. If they engage in a conversation face to face, it will be immediately apparent when they meet again. It's different from being briefly seen during a surprise attack.

If Rare doesn't intend to have Mare act as a PK from now on, it's not good to kill them recklessly here.

"…I'm also a player. Solo, not in a party."

Speaking like a noble's daughter, she decided to speak politely, at least to some extent. It's not quite a role play, but if Mare is going to act solo, there is a need for Rare to imitate the current Mare. A polite tone should be easier to trace. Also, many players use polite language in the game, so it reduces the likelihood of being suspected.

"You came here solo all the way!? Magic user? No, a spear? You have something like that. A magic warrior, huh. If so, you must be a pretty high-level player… Can I ask your name? Oh, I'm Takuma."

"…Call me Mare. That's what my friends call me."

She introduced herself, but it's just a nickname. No problem.

The player called Takuma seems to be a beastman, and judging by the name, he seems to be a tank class. He's carrying an impressive armor and shield.

The armor is full of scars, and the shield is dented in places. Whatever it was, if repaired with production skills, small scratches and dents could be completely erased. If that hasn't been done, it means that this party hasn't returned to the town for a while.

"Is your friend not here today? By the way, I haven't seen your face around here. Did you really come to the forest just today? That's impressive. Oh, I'm Shiitake. Nice to meet you."

Shiitake is an elf. The gap between appearance and name is severe. Moreover, he seems frivolous. The name Shiitake and the race Elf do not match this frivolity.

Shiitake, who seems to be a light warrior with a short bow, is probably the scout of this party. I think beastmen, who have a bonus in acquiring sensory skills, are more suitable for scouting, but it's not something to nitpick about. If a scout also handles trap removal, the initial low DEX of beastmen might be a drawback, so they might have prioritized that.

"I'm Kouki. Your magic is amazing. How much INT do you have?"

There's no way she would say. He seems to be the most friendly, but also the most rude.

He looks like an elf based on his ears, but his facial features and style are completely human. He seems like a wizard, and he probably chose Elf for its high initial INT. Or maybe he, like Rare, had his real body fully scanned.

"Hey, isn't it rude to ask someone you just met? Sorry about that. I'm Tonbo. I'm a spearman attacker."

The name seems like it could be cut by a famous spear.

Tonbo is a large human man. He's more polite, but his appearance is rough. From sideburns to mustache and chin beard, everything is connected.

He seems to be curious about Rare's spear on her back, but he doesn't ask about it. His own spear is similar to a bamboo spear but with a slightly longer tip. Perhaps it's a custom order.

"…Hourai."

The silent man is short. He looks almost like a child, but he's carrying a huge hammer on his back. If he has been active with this playstyle from the beginning, he would have needed a reasonably high STR from character creation.

He has a slender and childlike face with a sweet mask, but he's probably a dwarf.

"Even if you've come here alone so far, I think it's amazing, and judging by the power of your magic, your skill is unquestionable. However, to be clear, the difficulty of this forest area is incomparable to the town area. Probably, the displayed difficulty is an average per unit area between the town and the forest."

"…Huh."

Rare had considered the possibility that the town's forces were modestly deployed.

If they think that way, there is probably an imbalance in the deployment of forces, just as Rare thought.

"Even if you've come this far alone, I don't know if you can continue alone from here.

What do you think? Wouldn't you like to form a temporary party with us? If you're as skilled as you seem, there's a benefit for us, and our Kouki can use [Healing Magic]. Leave the surrounding vigilance to Shiitake, and it should be easier to proceed than solo."

"Easier" means being in a state of ease, not that the work is easy. It's impossible for Rare's mood to become easy by forming a party with five men she just met. Killing them all here is easy, but that would make the self-introduction she made quietly useless.

On the other hand, it's not entirely without benefits. Observing the tactics of an elf scout, the general skill of a spear user, the use of skills, coordination, and the performance of equipment is a rare opportunity.

"…Sure, why not.

Well, it will be for a short time, but nice to meet you."

If it becomes too much trouble, it's better to kill them all. It's just a difference of doing it here or later. In that case, it's not too late to see how things go a little before deciding. If she was seen during PK in town, it might be a bit troublesome, but that's a problem for when it happens.