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“……Excuse me…”

Well, I’ve taken a step forward, but how should I go about speaking to him? If I make a wrong move and he interprets it as hostility, the White Ape will likely attack immediately.
In fact, just by me stepping forward, he’s become more wary. His pure white fur bristled, and he crouched low.
It’s easy to imagine that if I take just one more small step forward, his crouched body will spring forward like a spring released from its restraints.

…He’s injured, huh?

Amid the white fur bristling with hostility, there’s a faint reddish-black tint.
The murky red that looks like spots isn’t part of his pattern. It’s bloodstains. I can tell by the smell.
The smell of blood that’s been tickling my nose for a little while now. One of the sources must be the White Ape right in front of me.

A wounded opponent, yet one with fighting spirit. Fights against this sort of opponent are usually a hassle.
After all, anyone who tries to face me even under such disadvantageous conditions must have a good reason for doing so.

“…Can you hear me?”

I extended the range of my language translation ability and spoke slowly.
I stay focused so that if he launches an attack, I can respond immediately. If I’m prepared, I can dodge at the speed of a character with maxed-out Agility.
The White Ape didn’t let his guard down, but he didn’t ignore me either.

“Leave this mountain.”

A low, menacing voice rustled through the leaves. It was the tone of someone who, even in our first conversation, made it clear I was being rejected.
The meaning of those words was simple: do not take another step forward.

That said, I couldn’t just say, “Okay, sure.” I might be fine with it, but Kuzuha-chan certainly wouldn’t be.
Whether we turn back or not, we need a reason that’s convincing enough. So, choosing neither to leave nor to continue, I spoke again right there on the spot.

“Why?”
“…I know the purpose of your visit. That is precisely why I cannot let you pass.”

The fact that he knows our purpose means either he’s been watching us for a while, or we’ve been doing something that would inevitably be discovered.
If he’d been watching us from the start, I surely would have noticed him by the time I climbed up here. That leaves the latter possibility.

“So you’re the one who blocked the waterway, aren’t you?”
“……I’ll remove the barrier again in due time. Though I don’t know if it’ll make any difference.”
“Why is that? You knew we’d come here to investigate the cause, didn’t you?”
“One of my comrades has been injured. And the hot spring’s flow is dwindling. It’s obvious which takes priority.”

I see. So that’s it.
The reason he’s standing in our way despite his injury. He has many companions, and they’re likely more seriously injured than he is.
On top of that, he says the volume of hot water is decreasing. In that case, even if we remove this barrier, the hot spring water won’t reach the foot of the mountain. It’ll likely be completely absorbed into the ground along the way.

“Please turn back. Vampires, in particular, are currently a source of terror to my kin… As the leader of the pack, I cannot let you pass—you who carry the scent of bloodsuckers.”
“Terror? Us, vampires, you mean?”
“That’s right. Both the hot springs and our kin—they were taken from us by vampires.”

He’s not talking about Satsuki-san… is he?
After all, we’re here investigating why the hot springs dried up. If Satsuki-san were the cause, the White Ape would have attacked us without warning. It can’t be her.

“I don’t fully understand the situation… but if that’s the case, shall I fix it?”
“What?”
“I don’t know about the hot spring, but if it’s a wound, I can take care of it.”
“You think—”

He either was going to say “you think I’d believe you,” or “you think you can do that?” I didn’t care, I’d do it anyway.
He was clearly wary of me, so I knew his next words would be denial or skepticism—I decided to cut him off before he could say them. With that intention, I spoke, cutting off his words.

“Pain, pain, fly away.”

The words I spoke converted into magic, producing a result.
I don’t know how bad the injury of the White Ape standing in front of me was. But even if the extent of the injury is unknown, my healing magic doesn’t care.
Whether it’s an illness or an injury, I’ll heal it all at once—and as a bonus, I’ll even clean him up. And the person on the receiving end will know the effect immediately. After all, the pain and discomfort will suddenly vanish.

White Ape stood there with his mouth half-open, stunned by the healing taking place in his own body.
He looked completely dumbfounded, like a monkey at the zoo whose food was snatched away by another monkey from the side. He actually does look like a monkey.
Oswald-kun seemed like a cross between an ox and a human, but this guy looks exactly like a giant monkey. Watching him, his proportions are so strange that it feels like my sense of perspective has gone haywire.

“How does it feel?”
“…I’m healed.”
“Right. If you have any friends with you, I’ll heal them too.”
“Why?”
“…For a friend, I guess.”

She can be quite a hassle at times, but it’s true that Kuzuha-chan looks up to me.
She makes clothes for me and even leads the way on mountain trails.
I’m sure Kuzuha-chan would say she does those things because “we’re friends.” If that’s the case, then I guess it’s okay for me to do something for her, too—just because we’re friends. Even if the real reason is, “It’s a hassle, so I want to wrap this up without causing any trouble.”

“……I see.”

His words had a somewhat pensive tone to them. White Ape gazed intently at his own body, as if checking it over, and eventually let the tension drain from his muscles.
I relaxed as well and took a step back. Gesturing behind me to signal that everything was okay, the two of them came over.

“Is everything okay, Arje-san?”
“Yes. I think I’ve made it clear that we have no hostile intentions, at least for now.”
“Is that your language translation skill? I have one too, but being able to understand even the languages of animals and monsters is quite rare.”
“I’ve had it drilled on me.”

Yeah. To be specific, the Loli Grampa drilled it on me. As expected of today’s recommendation, it really is convenient.
Without this skill, I wouldn’t even be able to hold a conversation with others. If that were the case, the first thing I’d probably do after reincarnating would be to study the language.
I definitely didn’t want to go through that hassle, so it was the right decision to go along with it. Hooray for an easy life.

“……Follow me. No, please come with me.”

The White Ape turned his back and started walking.
Since he was the one who brought it up, there was no reason to refuse. The two people behind me didn’t understand what he was saying, so I told them, “He says he’ll show us the way. Let’s go,” and followed White Ape.
I can handle the injury myself. I don’t know about the hot springs, but Satsuki might be able to find a way to solve that.
Turning back now would feel like leaving things unfinished, so I hope we at least get some kind of result out of this.