Ch 108 -- The Forest of Ishtam
We stayed that night at an inn called "The Spinning Wheel", recommended to me by the Guild Master Rodolpho-san. In the morning I tried on the clothes I bought the day before. They felt really good, comfortable and easy to move in with a texture I had never experienced before. I wondered if I could ever go back to the sorts of clothes I had been wearing when I arrived in this world. My shopping expedition had been a definite success.
It was now time to fulfil Rodolpho-san's request so we got ready to head off to the forest of Ishtam to collect Venom Tarantula threads. I didn't want my new clothes to get dirty but there was no helping it.
"Fer, ready to go?" I asked.
"Uh huh." As usual I got on Fer's back with Sui in her bag on my shoulder.
"Okay, let's go." Fer ran off towards the forest of Ishtam.
* * * * *
"That seems to be the forest of Ishtam, isn't it?" I said as we paused for a moment, gazing at the gloomy forest spreading wide before us. It had a creepy atmosphere.
"Looks like it." Fer agreed. A low sound like creatures calling to each other, "Giii Giii" resounded from the forest.
"Let's go." Fer said, pacing slowly up a slope and into the forest of Ishtam. Although it was still before noon the darkness enveloping the trees was disconcerting.
"Oh, that's right. Rodolpho-san told us there are lots of poison-insect monsters here, can you handle them OK?" I said nervously, looking around. The darkness could conceal anything, after all.
"We have the G.o.ddesses' blessings and my Barrier as well. Don't worry." True, Fer, Sui and I all had blessings from the G.o.ddesses. But, I worried, I only had Deplo--, ah, Wind G.o.ddess Ninril-sama's blessing (small), would that protect me properly?
"But I've only got a blessing (small)," I reminded Fer.
"Don't forget what Ninril-sama told you. Yeah, it's a blessing (small) but unless it's an instant death poison your blessing has the power of state abnormality invalidation so it will nullify any lesser poisons." Ah, now that he had mentioned it I remembered what the G.o.ddess had said when she bestowed her blessing (small) on me so long ago. "From what I can detect," Fer continued, "there aren't any monsters with immediate death poison in this forest so you don't need to worry." I was glad to hear it. Safety first, after all.
"So, do you know where any Venom Tarantulas are?"
"Ah. I've got an idea where they're likely to be found. It's pretty deep in the forest. Let's go." Fer headed for the place he thought the Venom Tarantulas would be. Giant moths and other insect monsters like huge mosquitoes attacked us as we pa.s.sed but they were dealt with casually by Fer's claw-slash magic without him even slowing down. It just showed how inconsequential he considered them as opponents, I supposed. Bad luck, insect-sans, to encounter Fer today.
