The three of them stood in a loose circle while X-97 dragged a stick through the dirt, drawing a long island surrounded by many smaller ones.
"...Here," she said, tapping a small island she’d drawn. "This is our current location. We are on a small island belonging to the nation of Fūgen."
Nico blinked.
"...A nation?" he said, dumbly.
"Yes." X-97 added a few marks inland. "A sovereign state with a strong military and limited external trade. And most importantly..."
She paused, then looked up at him.
"One of the few remaining nations that actively resists Pantheon influence."
Nico stared at the dirt map.
Then his soul left his body, came back, and slapped him awake.
[No way. This actually worked?]
His mind immediately replayed every confident, bullshit word he’d spoken hours ago.
Pantheon can’t be everywhere.
We can’t hide forever.
Split up. Find where they aren’t.
[They sounded terrifying. They said they were everywhere, and they had the tech... And I believed them! To think there was actually this close...]
X-97 straightened and turned toward him with a look that made Nico’s scalp itch.
"So yes, Young Master," she said calmly, "... despite possessing almost no information at the time, your plan was brilliant."
Nico physically flinched.
"Y-Yeah!" he said instantly, nodding way too hard. "Of course it was. I-Uh... gave it a lot of thought."
[Stop nodding. Why are you nodding like that? Normal people do not nod like malfunctioning dashboard toys.]
X-97 continued, completely oblivious to the internal disaster unfolding three feet in front of her.
"I will admit," she said, inclining her head slightly, "I doubted both you and this plan... But now that I possess the full picture... I understand the weave of intuition and genius you constructed."
Nico suddenly became intensely aware of his hands.
Especially how they hovered uselessly at his sides.
[What do I do with them? Cross them? No. Hands on hips? Absolutely not.]
He turned desperately to Nom-Nom.
She was standing there ramrod straight, nodding along with violent enthusiasm and shining eyes.
"Master is awesome!" she declared proudly.
Nico made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a choking noise.
"Haha... thanks," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Really appreciate the support, but, uh... could you guys maybe just call me Nico?"
"No." Nom-Nom’s reply came instantly, without hesitation or mercy.
X-97 tilted her head. "Young Master suits you."
Nico sighed.
"...I’ll try again," he muttered, then gestured weakly at the dirt map. "Anyway. Let’s, uh... keep going."
X-97 tapped the dirt map again, then made a small circle on the island they were on.
"There is something else you should know," she said. "This island contains a low-tier dungeon."
Nico perked up instantly.
[A dungeon?]
While X-97 continued.
"It has been intentionally left unmanaged," X-97 explained, drawing arrows outward from the dungeon marker.
"The monsters are allowed to overflow, spread across the island, and reproduce naturally. This creates a controlled ecosystem."
Nico stared at the drawing.
"...You’re telling me," he said slowly, "... this whole island is basically one big monster pen?"
"Yes..." X-97 nodded. "It serves as a training ground for low-level adventurers and the nation’s military, and provides the nation with a steady supply of monster materials."
[Adventurers...]
Nico felt something inside his chest unlock.
[Holy hell. After the whole Pantheon fiasco ... I’d almost given up on the classic isekai package.]
On the outside, he kept his face neutral and nodded like this was all perfectly normal information.
"That... explains a lot," he said. "No wonder the monster density felt insane."
Through the day alone, he’d seen more monsters than he could count. Most had been grounded, but at least ten had been airborne and aggressive enough that avoiding them hadn’t been an option.
X-97 drew a small circle near the southern edge of the island.
"There is also a city here," she said. "... A minor hub. It survives primarily on traffic arriving from the mainland."
"However," she continued, looking directly at Nico now, "... to enact the second phase of your plan, I recommend we do not go there."
Nico blinked.
"...Okay," he said carefully. "Then where?"
X-97 then lifted the stick and hovered it over the much larger landmass she’d drawn beyond the water.
"We fly directly to the capital of Fūgen. Shinkōtsu."
Nico’s eyebrows rose, "The capital?"
"Yes. But the timing must be precise."
"Why?"
X-97’s expression shifted to equal parts grim and impressed.
"This nation employs a border defense strategy that minimizes manpower while maximizing lethality. Nearly the entire coastline of the mainland... is surrounded by a species of tree-type monster known as the Jubokko."
"During the day," X-97 continued, eyes on the ground, "... they resemble ordinary trees. Darker in hue, but otherwise unremarkable. At night, however, their trunks morph into humanoid faces, and their branches become mobile."
Taking a deep breath, she continued.
"They ensnare anything that enters their range, pierce victims with roots and branches, and drain them by forming roots inside their bodies."
Nico felt a slight shiver run down his spine as his imagination ran wild.
"And it gets worse..." she added calmly.
"Even if the target escapes... just a minor scratch will inflict a curse. Victims will become violent, irrational, and prone to biting and scratching others within three days of infection, spreading the curse even further. And over the course of a year, the afflicted slowly transforms into a tree-like husk."
"The only cure," X-97 finished, "... is a high priest’s blessing."
Nico swallowed.
[That’s... folklore horror, and zombie apocalypse rolled into one.]
X-97 circled a massive stretch of coastline.
"The forest stretches across the coastline, save for the two coastal cities. Providing safe passage, trade, and other coastal resources to the mainland. And the forest of Jubokko is thirty kilometres wide at its narrowest."
Clearing his throat, Nico said, "...Okay. But during the day, they’re basically just trees, right? So we cross in daylight."
"Yes," X-97 agreed. "However, that is only the first layer."
Nico closed his eyes.
[Of course it is.]
"Beyond the Jubokko forest," she continued, "... lies a second border zone. A monster-infested forest that runs parallel to the coastline."
Nom-Nom tilted her head.
"Then we fight them," she said simply, "What’s the problem?"
"The monsters within can reach Tier Five."
Nico froze.
"...That’s how strong Nom-Nom is," he said.
"Yes. And the forest is approximately fifty kilometers wide at its narrowest point."
Looking up at Nico, she continued, "While our racial advantages would allow us to survive with minimal difficulty..."
[That sounded hella racist.]
But Nico decided not to comment.
"The issue...is noise. Prolonged combat would draw attention. Beyond the forest are watchtowers. And for the second phase of your plan to work, our entry must be discreet."
Nom-Nom frowned. "So we can’t fight?"
"We can," X-97 corrected. "We simply should not."
Nico had been quiet for several seconds now, staring at the dirt map.
And then-
"Maybe we don’t avoid the chaos," he said suddenly as both of them looked at him.
"Maybe," Nico continued while a grin slowly formed on his face, "... we ride it."
Nom-Nom’s eyes lit up instantly.
X-97’s sharpened.
"...How?" they asked in unison.
"Here’s how..."