Cheche resisted a few more times, but soon accepted that she had no choice in the matter.
However, accepting the situation did not mean she was actively cooperating. She seemed to harbor a deep resentment toward me.
I practically had to kidnap her, dragging her feet as she dawdled, unwilling to cooperate, and placed her before the mountain pass. Only then did she reluctantly look at Samuel.
"Just clearing a way to pass through is enough, right?"
She consistently refused to speak to me. It seemed she wanted to rebel in her own way, even like this.
I also had no intention of engaging in direct conversation with her. It would be more accurate to say there was no need.
"Hello, Sir Knight."
"...Yes."
Samuel, who was dealing with her on my behalf, seemed a bit weary, but there was no one else to handle Cheche.
For instance, Xenon, whom Cheche showed immense interest in, was deliberately avoiding conversation with her on his own.
It seemed my earlier mention of a 'honey trap' had left him uneasy. The fact that he was discreetly keeping his distance on his own was quite satisfactory for me.
Xenon and I decided to stand back and watch Cheche's work from a distance. I considered waiting in the carriage, but worried she might try something foolish, so I chose to stand and observe instead.
Samuel, standing beside Cheche, scanned the pass.
"Can't you remove all the traps?"
"That would take days."
Samuel looked back at me as if seeking my opinion. When I nodded, he turned back to Cheche.
"Alright. Then please proceed with the work to allow immediate passage."
Samuel set down the toolbox he had roughly gathered from Cheche's house.
Cheche fidgeted with the toolbox while looking up at Samuel with a lingering, unextinguished hope.
"Um, but... does the Temple really have nothing else to say? I directly encountered the rampant evil..."
"I'm sorry, but encountering a monster is not a sign of divine selection. If a layperson faces a monster, they could be in grave danger. It would be best to refrain from such actions in the future."
"Then, what about that woman?"
At Cheche's question, pointing at me, Samuel closed his lips awkwardly. But soon he answered bluntly.
"We are here for an investigation."
To the listener's ear, it sounded like an explanation that I was an investigator dispatched by the Temple.
Yet, since he didn't explicitly state that we were dispatched by the Temple or that I was a Temple investigator, it couldn't be called a lie.
"A sly but appropriate answer."
Xenon muttered softly enough for only me to hear, clicking his tongue at Samuel. Samuel calmly ignored Xenon's gaze and urged Cheche.
"Please resolve this as quickly as possible."
"...Fine."
Cheche reluctantly stepped forward.
She crouched on the seemingly flat path, put on thick gloves, and took out her equipment.
Before long, a trap I hadn't even known existed began to take shape. After quickly disarming it, she next found a rope buried in the soil.
At a glance, it almost seemed like magic. The way a trap I never imagined appeared out of thin air.
Xenon, watching Cheche's work with the same fascinated eyes as mine, clicked his tongue softly.
"Phew, if we had passed through unknowingly, we'd have been in big trouble."
"Indeed. It's a wonder no one has been hurt yet. Has no one reported this to the guard?"
This wasn't just any forest, but a perfectly normal path people used, and she had done something like this.
"Ordinary people have no reason to visit the rocky mountain. If someone comes here, it's likely hunters, and hunters usually have their own designated hunting grounds. That hunter is particularly famous for strictly patrolling her territory. Plus, with the recent rumors of her madness, everyone has been avoiding her to steer clear of trouble."
Xenon, with his arms crossed, explained while looking at Cheche's back. Glancing at him, I replied in a nonchalant voice.
"You know a lot?"
"I heard it from her own mouth before... Of course, I didn't express interest first; she was the one who started talking on her own."
"Did I say anything?"
Despite my indifferent reply, Xenon didn't relax his expression. After checking his complexion, I subtly asked something that had been puzzling me.
"What on earth did you do to make that hunter so infatuated?"
"Infatuated?! It's nothing like that!"
Seeing Xenon jump up and protest seriously, my previously ruffled feelings settled down as if they were a lie.
But regardless of my improved mood, I was genuinely curious about how he had gotten entangled with Cheche.
When I silently stared at Xenon, he sighed and parted his lips.
"It's just... I happened to see her having a dispute with a neighbor and helped out a bit. Since they were arguing over a Dullahan issue, I thought helping her would make it easier to get information... I smiled a bit, lent a hand."
"That's a honey trap."
"A honey trap is only a honey trap when a beauty uses it."
Xenon waved his hands as if hearing something utterly absurd.
Tilting my head while looking at him, I called him in a calm voice.
"Xenon."
"Yes?"
"Look at my face."
"...Yes?"
I quietly watched Xenon, who blinked with a bewildered expression, then withdrew my gaze. Just then, I saw Cheche had moved quite far away.
The spot where the trap was disarmed was marked.
I began walking through the pass with long strides, and Xenon, who had been standing dazedly, snapped back to his senses and quickly followed.
"Wait a moment, Lady Anelli. What does that mean?"
Urgent questions poured out low and fast.
"Lady Anelli?"
Pretending not to hear Xenon's call, I fixed my gaze ahead and spoke to Samuel.
"Can we follow behind?"
"Yes, just avoid that area and proceed straight ahead."
Perhaps because she was disarming her own traps, Cheche's work speed was quite fast.
Just as she started off slowly, I was watching Cheche's retreating back as she moved quickly when Xenon sidled up close beside me.
"You mean you like my face, right? You're just looking at my face? This face is enough, right?"
His low question was filled with determination to get an answer.
Amused by his rare persistence, I let out a soft chuckle and shrugged.
"Hardly."
After giving a short reply and pausing briefly, Cheche had moved even farther away.
Samuel, standing guard beside Cheche to monitor if she was working properly, looked back at me.
He stood still as if urging me to come quickly. I gave him a look to indicate I understood and spoke flatly.
"I look at the body too."
Xenon froze in place once again.
Leaving him behind, I walked toward Cheche. Xenon, regaining his senses faster than before, hurriedly caught up.
He persistently urged me to say more, but I cleanly ignored him. That attitude seemed to make Xenon even more frantic, but...
"Ah, I don't like persistent men."
Seeing Xenon immediately clamp his lips shut at my answer was simply enjoyable. Thanks to that, the time spent waiting for the traps to be disarmed wasn't boring.
Though it probably wasn't the result Xenon had intended.
* * *
The section of the pass cleared of traps was shorter than expected, and we arrived at the rocky mountain in no time.
I considered sending the panting Cheche back alone, but worried she might set new traps on the return path to spite me, so I had Samuel accompany her.
Samuel seemed genuinely displeased, but was somewhat persuaded by my subtly expressed concern. After sending them off, I summoned the Dullahans from the subspace.
[Wow, we've arrived!]
Zigore, with an excited voice, flew through the air.
"Zigore, do you sense the aura?"
Pallides also seemed inwardly expectant. Zigore, the most sensitive among the Dullahans to a comrade's aura, flapped his wings vigorously.
But even as the small sparrow flew up energetically, it looked utterly insignificant before the massive rocky mountain.
[There is a faint, lingering aura.]
Zigore seemed unable to get a proper grasp. While Zigore moved about searching for traces, Bark and Tristan chattered amongst themselves.
[Who could it be?]
[Maybe Dasha? If it's a bird of prey, it's Dasha!]
[What about Soana?]
[Want to bet on who it is?]
I'm not sure what kind of bet could be made between Bark the black bear and Tristan the bumblebee, but the two quickly became comrades-in-arms.
Minte watched them with a look of disdain and sighed.
[Idiots.]
Nadav also seemed to view their bet with disapproval, much like Minte.
[It seems there are no dangerous beasts on the rocky mountain. Since Bark is burdensome to take along, perhaps we should send him back?]
It was Nadav who had advised taking Bark as an escort, as he could fight without being pushed back even in animal form, given the unknown creatures of the rocky mountain.
And now, Nadav seemed to deeply regret his own advice.
[Whatever beast appears, Pallides can handle it. We also have that human mage, so we can manage.]
Nadav's gaze turned toward Xenon. Xenon, completely unaware that he had earned Nadav's recognition, flinched in surprise at Nadav suddenly looking at him.
"I really didn't abandon it. That horse ran off on its own."
"When are you going to talk about that?"
"If you're holding a grudge for no reason, please let it go."
It seemed Xenon was still uneasy about the incident during the monster attack when Nadav shook him off and ran to find Mori.
Judging by how he avoided eye contact, he seemed somewhat afraid of Nadav the Dullahan.
"That horse keeps glaring at me."
"He's just looking."
"Is that it?"
[He's not a very reliable mage. It would be better to keep Bark by your side.]
Nadav said with a serious expression. Xenon had just lost the recognition from Nadav he never even knew he had.
While Nadav and Xenon were having that communication breakdown, Zigore, who had flown quite far away, shouted in an excited voice.
[There is, there is!]
At Zigore's cry, the Dullahans, busy chattering among themselves, shifted their attention all at once. Their excited demeanor was evident as they swarmed toward where Zigore was.
[Da~asha!]
[Soa~ana!]
Tristan and Bark shouted loudly toward the rocky mountain. The resonant cries carried quite far.
I stared intently at the rocky mountain. By now, something should be appearing soon.