There Was A Curse

As I considered all of that, I decided to kill them.

I didn’t know why the invaders were so skilled—but people who had been trained to this degree were not likely to give me any information.

Besides, if I did let them go, they would probably start spreading rumors about me.

“Magic Transfer—Area Freeze – Medium.”

I chanted. And then the trapped invaders were frozen stiff.

It was actually impressive that they reflexively tried to jump out of the area of effect, right before it triggered—But as their entire body was covered in the net, they could not make it out in time.

I made sure that their HP was at 0, and then I said to the slimes,

‘Can you tell what is inside of those barrels?’

‘Hmm. I don’t know. But it does seem creepy!’

It seemed creepy, huh…

In order to feel it too, I used Shared Senses.

And then—I felt like I could understand why they said that.

There was something like an ominous atmosphere coming from the barrels.

It was probably related to magic somehow.

…Actually, I was quite sure that I had felt something similar in the past.

‘Hey. Don’t you think these barrels feel similar to a cursed magic stone?’

‘Now that I think about it, yes!’

The slimes started shouting their agreement.

So they felt the same then.

…Well, I didn’t think the barrel was actually filled with real magic stones.

If you tried to carry cursed magic stones in a wooden barrel, the barrel would rot away before you had moved a single kilometer.

Whatever was inside, it must have similar properties to the cursed magic stone, while being less powerful.

However, I didn’t feel like opening it and finding out.

This was the time to call in an expert.

A Dryad. A tree spirit.

‘Does the Dryad look busy?’

‘She’s not busy!’

I asked the slimes that I had left behind, and they replied cheerfully.

So she wasn’t busy right now.

‘There’s something I want her to see. Can you call her over?’

‘Okay!’