Diary of Guarding Monster Girls

Chapter 845 - 430: The Mushroom Explorer and the Walking Tree

But now, she knows she was wrong.

She realized what she had previously overlooked, forgetting the greatest unknowns—Divine!

Miser had indeed seen much of the scenery in the Mortal Realm.

But she had barely delved into the domain of the Divine Spirits.

The Divine Spirits are mysterious, lofty beings.

They are untouchable and unexplorable by mortals.

Legendary strength, although not weak, is still far from being of concern to those lofty Divines.

Attempting to make contact with Them through normal means requires solving many issues and overcoming significant troubles.

And here, in the Mist Mountain Range, a world-renowned Divine Forbidden Area, was a blind spot of knowledge she had never explored.

Miser was delighted.

Awesome!

Initially, Miser was only stealthily exploring the surroundings.

As Herbert’s private employee, she only obeyed her employer, Herbert.

Though she didn’t cooperate much with Sofia’s orders in name, she consistently aligned her work with what Sofia arranged—to achieve her own goals.

To be precise, after completing the tasks Herbert assigned her with minimal effort, she spent the rest of her time "slacking off."

This isn’t quite accurate—she was conducting more important research, which happened to overlap with her job duties.

A true paid slacker, a salary thief who goes straight to the restroom with a phone once work starts!

—Although Herbert had signed a long-term contract with her, an occasional slacking off had no real impact.

But satisfying personal hobbies during work is quite different from doing so in personal time.

The latter is thoroughly enjoyable.

While the former is not only enjoyable, it also comes with getting paid, double enjoyment.

Enjoyment twice!

In this aspect, her mindset was very much human.

Miser scattered her mycelium around, spreading from the center of the Elda Territory outwards.

The spores of those mycelia became her eyes, ears, and nose, continuously gathering more and more information to satisfy her curiosity for the unknown.

Moreover, through this, Miser incidentally completed the task of monitoring the environment around Elda, preventing occurrences like being approached unnoticed by the Three-headed Chimera again.

Now, Miser even had a legitimate reason for slacking off, with enough confidence to explain if Sofia discovered and reported to Herbert.

Therefore, Miser simply stopped pretending altogether.

She had everyone going out to explore carry a strand of her mycelium—externally appearing as a fist-sized poisonous mushroom.

Everyone was obliged to cooperate.

This included the patrolling Ghost Wolves around; even they have a small, colorful mushroom perched on their heads.

The one named "Wolf King" by Herb, Aite, selected the largest, most colorful mushroom to signify its special status.

In this way, on one hand, she could swiftly rescue companions in case of unexpected dangers.

On the other hand, it catered to her exploratory urges—well, mainly for this.

With her companions, especially the Ghost Wolves, investigating all over, Miser’s understanding of the Mist Mountain Range’s outskirts increased significantly.

Her map drawing was updated daily, with different areas marked with danger levels, anomalies, and potential yields.

One could only say, the Mist Mountain Range truly is a Divine Forbidden Area!

This place, ha, you really shouldn’t understate it!

It’s truly marvelous!

Creatures with three heads, machines growing flesh, zombie-like Heroic Spirit Legions, drifting bodies of water...

Here, it’s as though anything can act on its own will.

Things like eggshells with legs that can run, Centaur Heroic Spirits you can physically touch, waters that wander around...

Freedom, boundless freedom!

What haven’t I seen before?

This sight... Ha, I indeed haven’t seen it before!

Gaining wisdom, noted!

Besides, while this place seems fraught with peril, there are survival paths everywhere.

Although outsiders suffer many damages here, as long as you understand the rules and proceed cautiously, you can still find a way to survive—probably!

Survival paths exist, but they are scarce.

While deadly roads... they are everywhere.

Even the native Mist Ghost Wolves silently vanish into the mist now and then.

No one notices, nor does anyone care.

If it weren’t for Miser suddenly losing contact with her mycelium, even she wouldn’t notice those Ghost Wolves disappearing.

This increased her awe, restraining her reckless exploration gradually.

Having been shocked numerous times, she began to learn to set aside her insignificant arrogance, documenting everything discovered with the humility of a student.

Therefore, when a Ghost Wolf scout, having lost contact for three days, spotted a thousand-meter-high tree moving at an extremely slow pace, Miser didn’t find it strange.

She had seen far too many of these peculiar things and was becoming desensitized to them.

Oh, it’s just a moving tree.

Rated as ordinary.

So, Miser didn’t take it seriously initially, didn’t immediately inform others, and as usual, classified it under "routine report" for Sofia.

However, she spoke casually, but Sofia listened attentively.

After hearing the news, Sofia rushed to Miser straight away, incessantly asking for details.

Mushroom Merchant: Eh? What happened?

The reaction Sofia exhibited at this moment was beyond Miser’s expectations, making her realize something might be amiss.