‘Trump card?’

‘Yeah. I don’t care how it’s been disguised. I’m going to uncover it. …All of you, leave the suspicious area for now! …Move out so you are not within this boundary here.’

I said as I made a large circle on the map.

I was sure that something was hidden there.

‘Okay!’

We hadn’t found any human footprints within the circle.

…Perhaps they had some kind of device that helped them create these cursed magic stones more efficiently.

If that was the case, I could understand why these cursed stones had been placed here so densely. After all, if there was no reason to do so, it would make more sense to scatter them further apart.

The slimes finished their evacuation as I considered this.

‘…Yuji. What are you going to do?”

‘Destroy the forest. …Uh, as a Dryad. Do you mind?’

I asked her.

What I was now going to do was undoubtedly an act of deforestation.

After all, it was necessary in order to uncover what the enemy was hiding.

Unless the Blue Moon of Salvation had done something to make it withstand the power of Hellfire of Death—then it should not be able to escape my eye.

…Of course, if the Dryad told me to stop, then I would think of another way.

‘There are no Dryads in this forest, so it’s okay. Forests return after a while anyway. …And having cursed stones made here is the bigger problem.’

Good. I had permission now.

So there was nothing to worry about.

“…Hellfire of Death!”

I chanted. And magic energy left my body all at once.

And then the now familiar sight of explosive flames. They enveloped the forest.

The flames erased the trees and the packed snow until there was no trace of them ever being there.

And when the fire was gone…

‘There’s something strange there!’

‘There’s a big hole in the ground!’

A giant hole had opened up.

There had been a thick sheet of iron several meters underneath the forest.

And under the sheet of metal…

“…A machine?”

Hellfire of Death had melted them. So they did not retain their original shape, but there were a few dozen clumps of metal that looked much too intricate to be natural.

And so I cooled off the area with water magic and then walked closer to it.

I didn’t know if it was true for all of them, but some of the devices must have been used to help grow the cursed stones.

While I inspected the machines, they started to groan.

It looked like there were people inside of them.

The machines and the thick layer of dirt and the iron plate had saved them from death.

As the surface layer had been destroyed, there was no way to tell how they had gotten in. But judging by the fact that there were no footprints, it must have been quite a while ago.

…This would be very bad if they happened to be innocent.

Well, that was highly unlikely considering where they were, but I would have to save them in order to find out.

And so I moved closer…and then I heard a voice come from the machines.

“…A Saviour…for this filthy world…”

Yes, there was no mistaking it. They were from the Blue Moon of Salvation.

Then…they would only try to hurt themselves if I helped them.

That in itself was fine, but there was a possibility that they would explode or use traps that could affect the rest of us.

And so I stopped walking and put my hands together.

While they were enemies, they were still humans.

I wasn’t going to help them or anything, but I could at least pay my respects.

But I wasn’t going to show mercy to people who were trying to destroy the world.

After a while, the area cooled enough so that the slimes could enter.

The weather had made things cool faster than they would have.

‘Tell me if you find anything!’

‘Okay!’

The slimes said as they entered the giant hole in the ground.

And before long, a slime shouted.

‘There’s a tunnel here!’

So there was a hidden passage after all.

So that’s why there were no footprints.

‘…I don’t know. I’m not sure I feel like going in directly.’

I said. After all, I didn’t know what was in there.

It would be one thing if it was an ordinary crime organization. But this was the Blue Moon of Salvation…

As I considered this… One of the slimes went inside!