I run around the village with〖Presence Sense〗on.
Nothing is picking up.
With the whole village evacuated, it’s sad that this place has become some sort of ghost town.

I found a place with lots of life signs showing up and when I went there, I arrived at a tall tower that might also be like the town hall’s evacuation site.
There’s probably a basement to hide in there too.
With all things said and done, It’s like I’m really starting to get used to dealing with the Abyss now……
…… Well, they’ll sometimes flock around the entrance like before.
If that happens again, I’ll have to rely on another endurance match like last time.

I detected a presence that felt like an Abyss so I headed there and what I found was an entire horde of Abyss corpses stabbed by spears.
The stabbed Abyss were already dried up so they couldn’t have been killed today.
Is that like an Abyss repellent or something?
When monsters see a corpse of their own kind, they often perceive it as danger and run away.
But for the Abyss, if they even so much as smell a rotting corpse of their friends, they’d come closer instead……

When I turned to leave the carcasses of Abyss behind, Partner began sniffing the air.
She seemed to have found something and is trying to lead me there by extending her neck in that direction.

“Gra~a! Graa~a!”

What, what is it?
Is something there?

【“This way, this way!”】

No, I asked for a common noun, not a pronoun.
Anyway, what did you find?

I didn’t know what she found, but it’s not like I have anywhere else to go, so I followed Partner’s direction.
We stumbled upon a roof-only warehouse with wine barrels lined up under it.

D-Don’t tell me you actually managed to smell the contents inside these?
No, I shouldn’t have asked…… Partner is already stretching her neck to reach the barrels.
I stand high up and resist her.

What kind of Dragon God are we if we end up drunk on a mission?!
If someone spots us, there’ll be an uproar!
More importantly, we still haven’t confirmed if there are Abyss lurking around yet!

“Gra~a……”

Partner heard my plea and aligned her head with mine.
Don’t be so disappointed now……
We can ask Hibi for more once this is all over, okay?

Partner looked like she actually listened to me for once…… until her face showed signs of thinking then she nodded wildly and licked her lips.
…… This glutton, don’t tell me that even after listening to what I said, she’s still going to pull me to places.
I don’t think we understood each other, so don’t make this any more harder for me, really.

Later after that, I continued to circle around the village but didn’t find any more Abyss.
On the way, I picked up an old woman who was hiding behind a wooden crate and a young child who was hiding inside a house alone.
The child was crying but immediately jumped for joy upon seeing me and was very much delighted when I offered a ride on my back.
This treatment is way too different compared to a certain other village elsewhere.

Whenever I look back to check on the child, I noticed that Partner kept on staring at the child.
I felt my face loosen for a bit, so I stiffened up.
But we have a scaly complexion, how would it even loosen……

We met up with the child’s father who was looking frantically for his child.
About three hours have passed since I left to patrol.
I could keep going, but for now, I guess we can head back and bring these three to the town hall.

“Gru~oooo”

When I called out after arriving at the town hall, the metallic door clanks open and Hibi walks out of it.

…… You know, looking at the pile of rubble scattered around from the cave-in that happened before… hurts.
There were bodies of Abyss rolling out of them.

Though, I was the one who caused the cave-in, scattered them around, and made all this mess.
I wonder if I should help them rebuild this part.
It would be a lot faster if I were involved in the reconstruction.
But, I don’t know if the villagers here will even let me help them out.

Following after Hibi, more people went out of the door and they all went nuts and shied away when they saw me.
I was going to raise a claw to settle them down, but as soon as Hibi went to my side, she calmed them down for me instead.
Maybe I should’ve asked them to give me a rundown of what etiquette I should be acting.

Hibi wore her mask again and muttered another chant.
This time, before she was going to use〖Telepathy〗, she did some kind of hand signal.
It’s most likely to enhance her mental concentration.

【“How was your trip?”】

I picked up these three on the way here.
I didn’t encounter any Abyss.
Since I don’t know how they behave, I’m not sure whether they’ve all retreated or if they’re still hiding somewhere.

【“They are most likely…… not in hiding.”】

Why do you say that?
When I returned to the shrine, they were already bold enough to infiltrate and steal my offerings.
Do they have a set rule for their attacks?
Like…… withdrawing during sunset or something.

【“No. It is simply just that if there was still an Abyss in the village, they would indiscriminately devour the corpse of other Abyss.”】

………… Ah, I see, right.

【“Because we were hiding underground, the greedy ones would resort to cannibalism instead. While they are eating, they become visible and detectable, and since Ryujin-sama never found any, we can safely assume that they’ve all left the village.”】

I-I see.
I see…… I see……

【“Surely, they must’ve felt fear from Ryujin-sama’s greatness that they had no other choice but to flee.”】

Uhh, I know you want to keep on giving me high praise, but since tension isn’t rising anytime soon, I’m going back to the shrine……
I want to wash myself in the river.
And, remove all this Abyss juice in my body.

【“Y-You’re leaving already, Ryujin-sama?”】

Well, yes……
I’ve had enough stink-bombs for one day.

【“What about the dead Abyss bodies? Will you take them with you in the near future-……”】

No thanks! I don’t need them!
I shake my head with all I’ve got to refuse her offer.

Even though she wasn’t part of our telepathic conversation, Partner also shook her head ferociously.
Thanks to her, we both rejected the offer in unison.

Hibi looks at me, concerned.
But, if it meant not having anything to do with that mountain of grossness, I don’t mind bumping heads with Partner every time we shake our heads together.
Though, the problem is disposing all that Abyss carcass.

But like I said, I don’t need it!
You can burn them, bury them, rip them apart, or even use them as decorations, I don’t care as long as you get rid of them!
I honestly don’t want to even look at them!

Hibi tilted her head as if I was crazy.
No, you’re the crazy one here. Just, enough about the Abyss.

【”…… Understood. I will inform the whole tribe.”】

…… I’m glad we understood each other.
I thought you were teasing me by offering the Abyss corpses to me as tribute or something, I nearly felt like leaving the village at first there.

Aah, by the way, how many Abyss corpses are there?
I killed around twenty today, so I should’ve ruined their whole population by now……

【“As long as their nest remains hidden, it will be difficult to ruin the Abyss entirely. If you want to stop their mass breeding, killing their leader is the only way.”】

…… A nest full of Abyss? What is that, ‘hell’?!
Wait, you’re telling me there’s even more of them out there?!
But, she’s right. If I don’t stop the mass spawning soon, these Abyss raids will only keep happening……

【“I personally advise you to don’t even think about letting yourself get capture by them. We already sent out a team of Lithuvar men to search their nest…… for a while now. But, we heard no news about anyone even entering their nest.”】

Is it really that hard to find?

【“No one ever returned after following the Abyss to their lair.”】

…… O-, kay?
No one, huh…… did they all get wiped out?

【“There’s this story from 100 years ago, a hero named Gagaza stumbled upon our village…… along with the Dragon God, they formidably annihilated an army of Abyss when the village was raided.”】

Ohh, so there were heroes in the past too.
The Lithuvar Tribe has some decent fighting skills, so the best of the best were probably selected by that hero.

【“However, our Lithuvar ancestors insisted on Gagaza to find and eliminate the Abyss nest. And so, Gagaza gathered every gallant and esteemed fighter in the village to join him on his quest in finding the Abyss nest.”】

…… I suddenly have a bad feeling of where this is going.

【“His plan was to capture an Abyss alive, break its leg and let it run away. This was so they could follow it to their nest. All the women and elderly who stayed behind the village cheered them on during their departure.”】

…………

【“Then after that, the sun rose and set for days and nights. The Abyss breeding season had already ended…… yet, none returned. Even you, Ryujin-sama, also concealed yourself away from us from then on……”】

Eh? Ah, aah, right……
N-Now that you mention it, I think I remember something like that before…… (except I don’t!)

Still though, if there’s something the Lithuvar Tribe can’t do…… then, that’s where the Dragon God comes in…… b-but, a nest full of Abyss is just……

【“Even normal days can become terrifying, but if the leader of the Abyss’ mass spawning is lying idle right now, then…… it is the perfect time for a full-scale search of their nest……”】

After hearing all that Hibi said, I shivered.
It looks like there’s a moral in that story of the past.
I could come off as rude if I say anything unnecessary.

【“Hee~ey, this is too much for us, let’s take break.”】

Partner speaks to me from my left side.
…… Yeah, I’m also with you on that break.