Chapter 258
Chapter 258: The Threat of Nature
“Alright then, let’s go out for a hunt!”
“Did you bring enough water?”
“I brought it!”
“Be careful now!”
The young leopard beastman, Gaakina, stepped out of his house in high spirits, waving goodbye to his girlfriend.
Today is a scorching summer day. The sun is sinking, but the blazing summer rays are scorching the town.
“It’s hot!” Gaakina shouted like a shriek as he dashed down the now tidy alleyway, quickening his steps to escape into the cooler mountains.
In the Izanis territory, former Defteros County.
This town, where members of the Izanis tribe, other demon races, Night Elves, and numerous beastmen reside, is one of the newly acquired territories by the Izanis tribe during this military campaign.
Gaakina, who was born and raised in the Izanis tribe’s homeland, decided to move to this new territory boldly, having earned a decent amount while serving in the military. Though a bit anxious about leaving his hometown, he thought, since he’s the third son and wouldn’t inherit the family estate, why not start anew?
(Ah, I’m so glad I moved here!)
He got a nicely constructed house, even if it was a bit damaged, and the mountains and forests surrounding the town are way more abundant than in his hometown! Just a little hunting trip could yield enough meat, be it birds or beasts, to last him for a while.
Moreover, since the members of the Izanis tribe had recently gone out en masse to hunt big game, he could relax knowing there were no dangerous magical beasts around.
“Phew, this feels great!”
Jumping into the shade from the humid stone town, Gaakina inhaled the moist forest air deeply, sporting a beaming smile.
As a born hunter, the leopard beastman truly feels most at home in an environment overflowing with nature.
Moving with practiced steps, he ventured deeper into the mountains, searching for signs like footprints or droppings of prey.
“~♪”
The animals around here are still sort of carefree compared to his hometown, allowing him to hum a tune without fear of scaring them away. The residents of the Defteros Kingdom must have been really poor hunters.
“What sounds good today? I’m in the mood for deer, I think.”
Imagining his girlfriend, who had started preparing soup back at home, Gaakina couldn’t help but break into a silly grin. One of the reasons he was glad he moved here was that he had found a girlfriend, a lovely girl who also sought a new life in this land.
Although war had nearly burned him alive with magic and he had suffered from a human’s arrows taking a chunk out of his ear (he could tell it was a human’s arrow because if it had been a Forest Elf’s, he’d be dead by now), his future outlook started to brighten up since arriving here.
“Defteros is the best! Thanks for being destroyed!”
While Gaakina was cheerfully enjoying life like this…
After some time venturing into the mountains…
“…Huh?”
He twitched his nose in puzzlement.
“…Something smells…burnt…?”
If he had been a wolf beastman, he might have realized it sooner.
However, being more perceptive than regular humans, he caught on. It was clearly a smell that did not belong to the refreshing fragrance of the forest. He jumped onto a nearby large tree and quickly climbed up.
“Ah, oh…!!”
And peering over to the opposite slope of the mountain, he was taken aback.
Thick smoke billowing up and flickering tongues of red—
“F-fire! It’s a fire!”
Finally realizing that flames were spreading to the slope across the mountain from the town.
“FIRE! It’s a forest fire!!”
In a panic, Gaakina raced back to the town. He hurriedly informed the residents one by one, but since almost everyone had just moved in, there were hardly any faces he recognized, and it was hard to tell how much they trusted his words, causing delays in their response.
Furthermore, it happened to be a time when the governing demon race leaders were fast asleep. Residents sent out to scout returned in a fluster, confirming it wasn’t just a small fire, and by the time a representative of the beastmen rushed into the Izanis tribe’s mansion to rouse the mayor, the flames had already reached the peak of the neighboring mountain.
“Why didn’t you report it earlier!!”
Awoken from his slumber by the sight of the impending forest fire, the furious old demon mayor punched the representative of the beastmen and rushed out with his entourage to the scene.
“This is bad! What should we do?!”
“Wood! Cut down wood! Those who can use water magic, try to hold it off somehow!”
The mayor shouted and quickly started unleashing wind blades to fell trees around the town. The raging inferno was clearly beyond the scale to be extinguished at this point.
The plan was to eliminate as much ‘fuel’ as possible near the town. Already, the beastmen, under the judgment of the scene, were wielding axes to chop down trees, but with the addition of the demon race’s magic, their efficiency was drastically improved.
Trees fell with cracking sounds, marked by wind blades. The beastmen desperately dragged them away.
However, since this area belonged to the Izanis tribe, which excelled in wind magic, the immigrants among the demon race had many relatives among them, and there weren’t too many users of water or ice magic.
Plus, lacking the magical power of a Demon Lord, there was no way such a small group could contain the raging forest fire…
“Damn it, we’re running out of time!!”
The old demon mayor screamed. The flames were approaching to the point that it felt like his face was going to burn from the heat.
The beastmen had given up on their work and retreated, while even the demon race members couldn’t completely block the heat with protective spells, forcing them to slowly fall back.
What’s more, the wind began to carry cinders down onto the town. Most of the demon residences had been renovated into stone buildings by the Korvto tribe, but many of the homes of the Night Elves and beastmen, as well as several shops, were still wooden.
“My house!”
“This is bad, the roof is about to catch fire! Someone get water!”
“Break it! Break it before it spreads!!”
The town began to get rather chaotic. Water magic users were running around desperately trying to extinguish small blazes.
The members of the Izanis tribe also began devoting their efforts to manipulating the wind with their favored wind magic, trying to redirect the airflow to prevent sparks from flying over.
As night fell, the flames showed no signs of calming down.
With the hot and dry summer days continuing, the fire didn’t stop until it had completely engulfed the surrounding woods and mountains.
Fortunately, the town itself didn’t suffer a major fire disaster, but—
Many of the Izanis tribe members, forced to continue felling trees and manipulating the wind, ended up bedridden for days due to overexerting their magic.
By the way, upon hearing about this incident, a certain Demon Lord’s Prince muttered.
“It burned more than I thought…”
