487 Research Subject
So here we are at the griffon's spot. But I immediately lost my will to kill it.
"That's some awful wounds... But I suppose it's still a magic beast. They're already closed. Oh but the burns aren't completely healed yet huh? Also, it seems a bit emaciated..."
From what I can tell, there's slash wounds from blades, stab wounds from spears, burns on its hind legs, and tattered wings. It's also breathing slightly roughly.
And then eyes like it has given up when it saw me.
"No. I can't bring myself to kill this griffon. Haa~. What do I do now?"
It must be because of what Chief Raie told me about griffons on the way here.
I ended up sympathizing with this griffon.
＝＝＝ ～＝～＝～ ＝＝＝
In a naturally occurring field of Waking Grass. Chief Raie walked me through it.
"As I told you before, griffons live deep in the mountain up north. There, they maintain turfs they rarely ever come out of. They have all food they need there. It's said they only leave their habitats when accidents happens leaving them with no prey. That's why we quickly presumed this case had human involvements."
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I listened to her review in silent.
"Their most peculiar trait is their smartness. They're very sensitive to threats thanks to this nature. Also, they don't attack people. Because they understand that causing harms to people will only paint them into a target. They do come to human habitats when they leave their turfs. They target farms and go for livestock, but only one. No more. There's no record of them harming people in towns and villages around that forest. They're so harmless it's almost unnatural in fact. Incredible, right?"
"How are you so well versed on the topic? What do you gain from all that knowledge?"
"That's because the research on Waking Grass is simply full of question marks. Nobody knows if any one thing could affect it in some ways. How are they affected by accidents or changes in environment, I can't miss even the slightest bit. There's just too many unknowns about this grass I'm willing to grasp at straws. I know all kinds of things in this site's vicinity, changes in environmental, economic situation, foot traffic and even eras. Perhaps to the point of insanity even. I'm fully aware of that, you know?"
Sounds like she'd lose all human contacts sooner or later, but then I realized that's just how research is like and focused back on listening.
"Moving back to griffons' traits. They won't attack even if they see you in their mountains. Yes, even in their turfs. They won't go on the offense unless they deem you a risk to their life. They're such a smart creature. But one thing for sure, they don't get attached to people. There's not a single record of one such story. At best, some people forced [Magic Crest] on them, or trap one in a cage. But that means never letting them out. They have a strong wild instinct. Ah, they're also known as forest guardians among villages that live off mountains."
"So, is it okay for a forest guardian to leave this place?"
"That's the thing... Apparently our Waking Grass has just started to stabilize in the current environment. If the griffon is gone, will they wither right away, maintain the status quo, or get restored to their former state. There's no way to know until after the fact."
It sounded like it could become a serious problem. But Chief Raie had another idea.
"But that's alright, it will make for an interesting research subject too. It might help solve a longstanding mystery. Or maybe it'll lead us to a new discovery!"
"Guess we gotta remove the griffon either way in the end, huh."
Chief Raie replied me with, 'You're right', before she stopped walking.
"You can see it from here, look, over there. That's where the griffon is... Are you sure you want to go alone? Hmm, maybe we can keep that griffon here as a research subject? Like what kind of effects does Waking Grass have as a magic beast fodder? Also, we can find out what this environment does to the stabilizing Waking Grass. See this leaf here..."
I'm amazed Chief Raie could even think of making the source of all her recent trouble a research subject, but I just want to get this tea problem done and over with, thus I remind her again.
"That's fine and dandy, but if your source of income from this production site is gone, you can forget about researching anything. Are you okay with that?"
"...I wasn't thinking straight. Okay then, I'll head back. Please take care."
＝～＝ ＝～＝～＝～ ＝～＝
And so, I entered the woods and came face to face with the griffon. Seeing it made me recall something in the past.
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