The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 118: ...We Come In Peace?

Chapter 118: ...We Come In Peace?

Damien didn’t respond to Lane’s question, only letting out a heavy sigh as he rubbed his temples. There was no point stating the obvious, after all - no, Lane wasn’t supposed to let himself be stabbed, but there was no need to toss the creature that far either! How was that supposed to help them appear peaceful and harmless?

What was done was done, however, so he just sheathed his sword, and raised his hands up, approaching the loudest yelling creature, which seemed to be the leader of the group.

And then he stopped, stumped.

To be fair, he also had no idea what to do. He didn’t want to fight the monsters. They seemed like civilized, intelligent beings, so perhaps communication would be possible? If so, then maybe they could learn something about this world, monsters, or Gates. And coexist in peace.

But then again... how? The creatures most likely didn’t know English, or any other human language. Even if he were to pull out his phone and open a translator app, the monster language was simply not included in available options. And any signs and gestures could be easily misinterpreted, even among humans. So, what exactly was he supposed to do?

Luckily, now that they put their weapons down, the teddy bear monsters seemed to have calmed down. Why they still pointed their spears at the team, at least it was just a defensive stance, without trying to attack.

"Myab blyap buap!" the leader of the creatures spoke.

"...We come in peace?"

"Myab blyap buap!"

...As expected, it didn’t work. But, perhaps because of how calm and soothing Damien’s low voice was, the teddy bear leader turned to its group, commanding, "Hyap glap!"

And the creatures started slowly withdrawing, while still holding their weapons on guard. They made their way back to their settlement, and shut the gates.

Not that it could stop the team, if they wanted to attack the village. It would be all too easy for them to break the crude walls. Or, they could just jump over it and spare themselves the effort.

But they didn’t. Following Damien, they just circled around it, watching the settlement from above the wall, as they approached the Mana Wall.

Upon a closer look, it kind of resembled a primitive human settlement, or a tiny version of it. There were some crude wooden houses, built along the streets, as well as some storage buildings, shops, and whatnot. A tiny village, a bigger scale version of which could easily be presented as an open-air museum of early human civilization.

It ended abruptly at the Wall, with some houses seemingly built into it.

It looked quite weird, so much so that Lane couldn’t help but comment on it, a smile playing on his lips, "Interesting architectural choice!"

Damien gave him a serious glance. "I don’t think it was built that way," he pointed out.

Of course it wasn’t. Lane knew next to nothing about architecture, but even he could tell that much. Maybe if it was modern human architecture - some people designed buildings that were neither particularly good looking nor practical - but why would the teddy bear creatures want to build a house with no door, or one so thin that even their babies couldn’t squeeze through?

No, it was obvious that the village was there for a long time, and once the Gate appeared, the Wall that formed just happened to split the village in the middle. They already knew that behind the Wall, the rest of the world spread out. And one day, the Wall could move back, enlarging the territory comprised within it, and perhaps helping the villagers reunite with their missing neighbors.

As Lane was craning his neck over the wooden wall, observing the settlement, he felt a strong tug on his arm, pulling him away.

"Just leave them be for now," Damien furrowed his brows, "You’re making them uncomfortable."

Damien... was probably right. The creatures hustled together, muttering among themselves, some trying to hide from sight, while others watching the team cautiously.

"Hm. Worried about the monsters?" Lane, however, only chuckled in response. "We might have to fight them later on, you know?"

"That’s for the Association to decide. For now, we’re on a scouting mission, and we don’t need to engage in combat. We just need to take note of everything we see, take all necessary measurements, and report back."

"Hm."

How boring. However...

"Don’t you think those teddy... I mean, those creatures might be the reason behind the dungeon break?"

Stunned by Lane’s question, Damien couldn’t help but pause. The Mana fluctuation measuring device in his hand displayed the result, then went blank, and started measuring again, but he still didn’t remember to release the button.

"What do you mean?" he finally asked.

"Well, just a thought." Lane shrugged his shoulders. "Since they’re intelligent, and have weapons, maybe they chased those snakes and dogs out of the Gate? Otherwise, what else? The dungeon is clearly not overpopulated."

Lane had a point. They’ve been in the dungeon for hours, but they barely ran into any monsters. There were clear traces of activity, and it was only a fraction of the territory that they had seen, but...

It wasn’t how a dungeon at the time of a dungeon break should look.

Why would they do that, though? For their own safety? No, that was unlikely. Based on what they had seen in the settlement, the creatures hunted the dogs and snakes themselves, using them as a source of food and leather. They didn’t mind the stench, as they smelled just as bad themselves - it was likely that all the creatures in this world simply had a vastly different sense of smell from humans.

But if not for this reason, then why?

"...Either way, that’s for the experts to figure out," in the end, Damien gave up trying to understand. "Once we report out findings, the Association will surely send some scientists... Maybe some language experts, who would be able to find a way to communicate with those... beings. Then, perhaps we might get the answers."

"Hm. If you say so." Lane cast one last glance at the settlement, meeting the eyes of one of the teddy bears guarding its walls, and followed after Damien. While he was curious, and wanted to find out more, his wide range of abilities sadly didn’t contain ’monster communication’ or anything like that... Maybe he could find something with Memory Scan, but not now. He couldn’t reveal his abilities in front of Damien or the team, after all.

So, he had no choice but to wait, until the Association figured it out. Even though, knowing them, they would be unbearably slow...