Chapter 138
“But that was an unrewarding mission . I went all the way out there and just slayed a goblin . ”
“Well, better safe than sorry . Maybe the magic beasts are on alert too . The fact that Nalgarn is dead so suddenly makes me wonder if there is a more ferocious monster somewhere out there than Nalgarn . The wisdom of the wild is not to be underestimated . ”
The troopers were walking around chatting and laughing .
They seemed to be feeling completely satisfied with their mission .
“We’ve found the third unit ahead! The second is likely to be beyond that as well . ”
The man who was looking ahead with his far-sighted magic tool said with a lively voice .
Hearing that, a laugh of relief leaked out from the surroundings .
“Uh…… but there’s some weird fog coming out . Well, I guess that’s enough to get a clear view…”
“Fog?”
I nodded my head as the man continued .
“Yeah, they appear near these mountains sometimes . Because the mountains block the wind, the ground heats up easily during the day . When the sun sets, there is a big difference in temperature, and that’s what causes the fog . Nevertheless, since the rains have diminished dramatically, it’s not something you see very often . ”
“Yes, the sun is going down, but isn’t it still early for that kind of time? Is that the way it’s supposed to be? And why is it not raining when there’s fog……”
“I don’t know, it’s not a place I come to very often . Ah! Maybe it’s a sign that rain is coming!”
The man on guard says happily .
I move closer to Euris .
“…… Wouldn’t it be better if we turned back? It could be a doing of a magic beast, or possibly a demon . ”
“However, since the other units are advancing ahead of us, we can’t just retreat here . We could send out a message and move on, but I’m not sure if the fog alone would be grounded enough to convince the captains of the other units to do so . ”
“Is that so……”
“And if there’s a demon that can disrupt the lives of magical beasts, it would be rather fortuitous if we could confront it now that our forces are assembled . There’s no way to miss out on this . ”
Euris doesn’t seem to take it too seriously .
Indeed, she does have a point .
Demons can be extremely fickle, or their thought processes are so far removed from humans that their movements are difficult to read .
A self-promoting fellow like Evil Bound would be easy to detect, but if a high-ranking demon is seriously hiding its presence, even I would have a hard time finding them .
If I can find a sign that can be detected, I’d better kill it before it escapes .
However, the main purpose of this time was supposed to be reconnaissance for the next time around .
Although our forces are put together, we’re not at our best .
Even so, I would normally hope for this, and I’d like to be enthusiastic about killing them, but for once, I have a bad feeling about this .
“Can’t you send the message and change the rendezvous point as well? Then we can talk about it and while moving, and it won’t be a problem……”
“Cut it out already, you pseudo-magician! Don’t interfere with the way Captain-dono are doing things!”
Clark yelled, pointing his sword at me .
“Hey, Clark!”
“You also, Captain-dono! Don’t you think that’s what’s so demoralizing the morale by letting a kid like this do whatever he wants, hey!”
Clark said as if to return his earlier statement of intent .
Euris looked around at the squad members’ faces and then shook her head .
“…… Indeed, if I hesitate, it will only add to their anxiety . Excuse me, Abel-dono, I will proceed this time . ”
…… That time when I’m laying in battle with the goblins must have an effect .
Even from Euris’ point of view, she couldn’t change her decision based on my opinion in front of her subordinates, I guess .
Even more so after Clark poked me and made it clear where I stood .
We continued to plow through the fog and proceeded to the rendezvous point .
The fog wasn’t thick . Visibility was bad, but it wasn’t enough to interfere with walking .
I can feel some magic power from the fog, but it’s not a powerful one either .
Maybe it was just some kind of magical beast that has the habit of spraying water with magic .
There is something suspicious about it, but even if you say something now, they won’t listen to me .
“…… And it’s much better than the sunshine?”
Thanks to the fog, it’s cooler and more watery .
Thanks to that, it helped me get back into shape .
The next time something comes up, I should be able to participate in the battle .
I can’t say I’m in perfect shape, though .
We arrived at the front of the cliffs, where we would soon be meeting .
The second and third units were ahead of us .
I can’t see anyone who had injuries .
They didn’t seem to have encountered any major magical beasts .
However, there was something slightly strange about the second unit .
All of them have pale and are looking at us as if they want to say something .
“…… It’s him, that white guy from the first unit . ”
“Watch out, if you put him in a bad mood, he’ll take your head off . Just like that Nalgarn . ”
“What’s that thing he’s sitting on? A monster from hell?”
…… For some reason, they’re blurting disturbing things .
Come to think of it, the second unit was the route to enter the range where Nalgarn’s corpse could be seen .
The captains of each unit stepped forward to inform each other about the situation .
“First Unit, Captain Eirs . We have passed through the eastern route as planned . The only thing we engaged was a goblin horde, all of which have been taken out . And nothing else of concern . ”
“Second Unit, Captain Caucus . Due to chasing a magic beast, we diverted off our route slightly from our scheduled route . The new route is just as I mapped it out . The engagement was a pack of hounds, but we missed a few of them . As you can see, there were no casualties, so what I have to report is that…… we’ll have to wait until after we return . ”
Obviously, Caucus looked at me before he said it .
I looked away for now .
“Yes! Third Unit, Captain Maya! Going through the northern route as planned! No engagements, the magic beasts found in the farsightedness tube are a bunch of Sufis and medium in size! Due to the distance we had to travel, we made travel a priority!”
After the general report by the unit leaders, relief spread through the private army corps .
The goblins, hounds, and Sufis are all low-level magical beasts .
They don’t pose much of a threat .
Besides, we could hardly find any other groups of magic beasts .
Not only were they all low-level magical beasts, but they were also encountered too infrequently .
Even though they had been so vigilant, the threat was less than a tenth of what they expected .
From the point of view of the team members, they would probably feel that they had been let off the hook .
However, that was why it was strange .
If the magic beasts were scared by Nalgarn and were running away, it wouldn’t be surprising if they were concentrated here, near the mountain .
“It’s still kind of strange……”
Shall I bring the World Tree Ortem to my hand with teleportation and start sensing it in earnest?
As he thought about it and held up his wand, he heard laughter coming from above him .
It was a high-pitched, ear-piercing voice that sounded like it had scratched the magic ore .
“-Kyahahahahahahaha”
Along with the sound of laughter, a hint of dense magical power drifted out .
All at once, the people in the private army changed expression and began to look around .
“Wha, what?”
“Is-, is this some kind of demon?”
“Don’t panic! There are fifty of us now! Don’t be intimidated by a mere demon!”
I looked up at the sky and there it was .
A shadow of a child, wearing a pointy hat, hovering in the fog .
“You put up a fog as an intermediary to create a cognitive disorientation barrier, huh . ”
If that was the case, why did he bother to show up and laughing loudly after putting up such a massive fog .
The reason is obvious . Because it already achieved its goal .
The child’s shade wavered, dissolving into the fog and changing its shape in a circle, a black foggy circle .
The figure was flat, not a sphere .
Large eyes and mouths opened from it, and it laughed out loud again .
“-Kyahahahahahahaha”
In a circle, eyes and mouths start swapping up and down .
“That’s Hamelin……”
“Ha, Hamelin, you say!?”
When I spilled, Euris, who was looking up at the demon alongside the other troop leaders, opened her eyes and looked at me .
Hearing Euris’ voice, several other troopers screamed as their bodies shook .
Many of them would know about him since he was a famous part of the demons .
I’ve only read about Hamelin in books, but his outward appearance matches his features .
While Hamelin itself isn’t much of a fighter, what is frightening is its nature .
It is often said that Hamelin has a vicious power that is no less than the “Angell’s Magic Mirror”, a magical tool called a negative legacy created by the wise man Angell long ago .
History tells us that only once in the past was there a spiritist who used Hamelin in a war .
It is said that a single unit dropped an impregnable fortress and the war ended without further ado, and the heroic spiritist was assassinated by powerful men who feared Hamelin’s power .