Inn Overlord: Reincarnated with Enhancement Magic, Now Worshipped as a Divine Messenger! - Chapter 17

Seraph’s Perspective

I felt the wind. Then, something was placed in my mouth. It was the thing I needed most right now—a magic recovery potion. As I drank it, I opened my eyes.

I saw David riding on the back of a large Vilkas while giving me the potion. In front of him, Luka was leading the way. Someone was carrying me.

“You’re awake?”

It was a beautiful woman with one eye hidden by her hair.

She smiled at me and jumped over a fallen tree. She was wearing the clothes David had been wearing, but she had nothing on her lower half.

I asked,

“Who are you…?”

She answered while running.

“I am the griffon you saved earlier.”

I had a feeling that was the case. So, I apologized.

“I’m sorry…”

“Why are you apologizing!?”

The griffon woman suddenly stopped running.

David looked back and shouted,

“What are you doing!? If you don’t hurry, the army ants will catch up to us!!”

Ignoring David for a moment, I spoke to the griffon woman.

“I… I changed you.”

Just like with Luka, I had turned a creature that was born as a cow, as a griffon, into a human.

“What!? I’m very happy! I am grateful that you changed me into this form, Seraph-sama!”

Then, David yelled,

“They’re here!!”

A swarm of ants, each the size of a small car, was closing in on us.

The griffon woman started running again.

Still carrying me, she dashed through the forest.

I asked David why the army ants were attacking us.

David explained.

Apparently, the army ants’ queen controls her worker ants. When one of them is killed, she knows exactly who did it.

I asked another question.

“How does she know?”

“They say ants secrete pheromones from their butts, and the queen detects the scent using magic.”

“Pheromones…”

That means when Luka struck an army ant’s head and when the griffon woman used wind magic to slice them apart, their pheromones stuck to us.

“I saw the army ants earlier, but how many are chasing us?”

“About 8,000.”

“What!?”

A chill ran through my entire body.

“The griffon lady used magic detection to count them! That’s why we’re running deeper into the forest!!”

I see. If we ran toward the village, those 8,000 army ants might attack it instead.

—What should we do…?

Then, I remembered what David said earlier.

“They detect the pheromone scent using magic.”

While still being carried by the griffon woman, I brought my nose close to her neck and took a sniff.

“Wait!? Seraph-sama!?”

“Sorry. I just need to check something…”

“Y-yes…”

In my past life, I learned that ants use different pheromones, such as s3x-attractant pheromones, caste-regulating pheromones, alarm pheromones, and trail pheromones to coordinate their movements.

I don’t know if that knowledge applies to the ants in this world, especially when they’re the size of small cars.

If they use magic to detect pheromones, then it’s similar to strengthening their sense of smell with magic.

I turned to David, who was still riding Vilkas, and asked,

“Before we were chased, you mentioned that if we took down the queen ant first, the worker ants would stop attacking. Does that mean they’re following her orders?”

David thought for a moment before answering.

“I don’t know the details, but it seems like the queen can sense the magic of the worker ants. She probably sees us as a threat.”

“But if she’s connected to 8,000 worker ants, that must require an enormous amount of magic, right?”

If the queen’s magic spreads to all 8,000 ants and links them together, then she must share her senses with the ones closest to us. The farther she is from an ant, the harder it must be to maintain the connection. It would take a massive amount of magic.

David corrected my thinking.

“No, it’s not like that. The worker ants act as intermediaries, passing the magic along!”

I see. The queen uses the worker ants like a chain to extend her awareness across the battlefield. She controls them like they’re her own limbs.

“I see.”

Now, I had an idea.

“Everyone, stop!”

At my command, everyone halted. Only David, still on Vilkas, looked unhappy about it.

I asked the griffon woman to put me down, and for the first time in a while, I stood on my own feet. I was still unsteady, but she supported me.

I ordered Vilkas to protect David. Then, I asked Luka and the griffon woman to capture two ants and protect me from the rest.

“Got it~♪”

“Understood.”

Luka and the griffon woman responded.

The sound of marching grew louder. Trees were being crushed. A massive dust cloud filled the sky.

“They’re here!? What’s the plan!?”

David shouted, while Vilkas barked and took a battle stance.

“Luka! Griffon lady! I’m counting on you!”

“Yes!!”

“Understood!”

Luka and the griffon woman charged toward the swarm of army ants.