Transcendents
It was not yet past midnight. Even so, the nobles—worn out from grueling training and harsh working conditions, having turned in early—began to stir from their fatigue and gather one by one in the training grounds.
Waiting for them was Silberna Kaldias. She wasn't just shrouded in the darkness of night; her expression was genuinely dark as she stared them down. Her rigid stance seemed to warn in advance of the hardships to come.
Amid the disheveled nobles who had been abruptly roused and dragged outside, Jonathan—rubbing his sleepy eyes—rushed up to Isaac.
"Sir Isaac, what's all this commotion?"
"No idea. But it looks like something big's gone down."
"A disturbance like this at the front lines is a bit frightening."
As a cold wind blew in, the restless nobles fell silent, huddling against the chill. Thanks to the yeti-fur hat and gloves gifted by Silberna and Anna, Isaac was at least staying warm.
Once silence settled, Silberna finally spoke.
"Gentlemen, at approximately 23:20—about fifteen minutes ago—a stranger arrived at the wall."
A situation from just fifteen minutes prior.
"He introduced himself as a merchant from Holstein, but our checks confirmed he's a grave robber."
Holstein was a kingdom particularly advanced in magic. It had a notorious reputation for grave robbers, who frequently used modern spells to plunder the tombs of ancient royalty and nobility.
"The bastard had raided the Holstein royal tombs, and he even came here to our kingdom to make a deal."
Sighs erupted from a few nobles. They immediately grasped that this could escalate into a diplomatic incident.
"If we've caught the grave robber, can't we just return the grave goods and be done with it?"
One noble raised his hand to ask. Interrupting a commander during a briefing was outrageous, but considering they were all greenhorns, Silberna answered without rebuke.
"The key point is that these scum stirred up a beast horde on their way to the Mallidan Wall."
The rest was predictable. His fellow grave robbers had all become beast chow, and the treasures were lost. Now the enraged beasts were rampaging, assaulting the Mallidan Wall.
"As a detachment, we need to recover the grave goods they made off with. Fortunately, it's not far... but the problem is the beast horde."
Shouts and tremors echoed from afar. A fierce battle was clearly underway at the Mallidan Wall.
"If possible, avoid combat entirely. If it happens, keep it minimal, then return. We move out now."
At Silberna's command, the nobles formed neat ranks and began to move. Their escorts trailed behind, faces full of complaints, but they had no choice but to obey.
Jonathan, sticking close to Isaac, asked with a bewildered look.
"Sir Isaac, why do we have to retrieve the grave goods?"
"To avoid a diplomatic frame-up. You think Holstein will just swallow the story that their grave robbers got eaten by beasts and lost everything?"
"Well... isn't that the truth?"
"Truth or not, accepting it is another matter. Bluntly put, what if they suspect the robbers were hired by us, faking a beast attack to smuggle the goods out of our kingdom?"
"But that's not true."
"Right, it's not. But Holstein could twist it into a diplomatic issue precisely because they were trying to deal here."
That would narrow the suspects to high nobles wealthy enough to buy Holstein royal grave goods. A high noble coveting them? Straight to diplomatic crisis—potentially war.
"Ah."
Jonathan nodded, finally getting it.
"Handling this is part of a border lord's duty. We nip it in the bud before it blows up."
Uldiran Kaldias was probably up on the wall right now, swinging his spear like mad. As they slipped out through a gate untouched by the beasts,
Jonathan had another question for Isaac.
"But why send the dispatched nobles outside? Isn't it dangerous?"
"Fighting beasts on the wall would be riskier."
BOOM!
Something shattered on the wall just as Isaac replied. Startled nobles whipped their heads around or crouched low. Jonathan glanced back too, but Isaac continued on his Isaac,
Isaac continued undeterred.
"That's why you're here in the first place. Most dispatched nobles are promising rookies building real combat experience, but their escorts are different."
"Ah!"
"Exactly. Kaldias wants to use the noble escorts as combat assets. Strictly speaking, though, their mission is to protect the nobles under Kaldias's command."
So he was pulling the nobles out to free up the skilled escorts for battle. Defending the wall was the resident soldiers' specialty anyway.
"Profound."
Isaac knew Jonathan was clueless about this stuff, but it was worse than expected. Even passing through the gates, Jonathan still looked displeased.
"We're the victims here, yet we're the ones suffering."
"Hm?"
"Isn't that right? Out of nowhere, grave robbers, grave goods, diplomacy. Feels like we're tiptoeing around Holstein too much."
Jonathan pouted, lips jutting out.
"If they're trying to pin a false charge, can't our kingdom just push back hard?"
Isaac gave a wry smile and asked,
"How old are you this year?"
"Twenty-two, sir!"
"Right, Jonathan. I've only got about two years on you, but here's one thing I know."
"......"
"A little humility, a bit of hassle—if it averts war—that's nothing."
Jonathan furrowed his brow slightly. Isaac understood a knight's eagerness for battle, but
"Wars spark from minor diplomatic spats more often than you'd think. We need to snuff them out early."
"Hmm, not sure I get it."
Sticking with Helmont through all the bullying—must be some hero worship or idealism. Patting his shoulder, Isaac advised sincerely,
"You're seeing it firsthand now. The kingdom's peace is built on their dedication and toil."
"Is that so?"
"Protecting peace isn't always about drawing your sword, Jonathan."
"......Sounds like something a Helmont shouldn't say."
"That's why Helmont and I don't mix."
Isaac said no more, and Jonathan followed silently. He seemed unsatisfied, but his guard on Isaac didn't slack.
Soon they were beyond the wall. Only the crunch of snow underfoot and moonlight allowed their stealthy advance.
Silberna really does have great night vision.
Trailing her led them straight to the accident site without incident. A cart—not a carriage—lay half-wrecked. Clearly, they'd planned to bypass the wall via the mountains. Horses couldn't manage the peaks, so they'd used a rural cart, pulled by hand.
"What a hassle they went through."
"Whoa, total mess."
"Look at the bloodstains."
The churned snow was blood-soaked, but no bodies remained. Probably devoured by beasts. Signs pointed to feeding frenzy over fight. Amid it all, a case—likely holding the grave goods—sat exposed atop the shattered cart.
And.
Someone standing before it.
"Shh."
Silberna, leading, swallowed hard, face tense. Gripping her spear, she took a guarded stance and demanded,
"Who goes there?"
The man—realizing too late the spear tip on him—turned his head slightly.
"Ah."
Under the dense trees, shadowed from moonlight, his form emerged. About two meters tall. Massive shoulders under a thick vest. Body covered in shaggy white fur. Bipedal, but his face evoked a tiger, with a swishing tail and vicious fangs proclaiming him no human. Finally, the enormous greatsword on his back.
"A beast?"
"What the hell is that?"
"Not a yeti? A tiger in human shape?"
Confused murmurs rose among the nobles. The northern-born Silberna might know what it was, so all eyes turned to her.
"......"
She gripped her spear two-handed, biting her lip in position. Instinct screamed: one lapse, and it'd pounce.
Only one among them knew its true nature.
Isaac.
A Transcendent!
The monsters that would doom humanity. Intelligent beasts harboring nothing but hatred for mankind.
He'd thought they had time before appearing.
Already active in the North?
Were they tied to the grave goods fiasco? Regardless.
Dangerous. Extremely so.
Not your average foe. Even Silberna would struggle now.
Even with noble escorts, victory wasn't assured. That's what Transcendents were.
Its blue eyes swept the nobles, then it growled low.
"Your luck's run out."
No mercy, no negotiation, no parley. It just kicked off the ground with thick paws, swinging its greatsword wide.
CLANG!
"Nngh!"
Silberna, meeting it head-on, buckled under its overwhelming strength, forced to one knee.
"Miss!"
Anna thrust her spear from beside her in desperation. But it ignored the strike to its side. Its thick hide repelled the blade effortlessly.
CRACK!
A fist smashed Anna's spear shaft, snapping it in two. Then, swatting her like a bug, her body flew, tumbling across the snow.
"Pathetic humans."
Its blue eyes locked on the nobles again.
"I'll slaughter you all."
With that snarling declaration, the hunt began.