Anomaly
Anomaly
The fact that the body of the bastard whose head had been torn off fell backward was a truly fortunate thing for me.
It wasn't because of the bloody waterfall that director Quentin Tarantino would have loved, but because I had no confidence in calmly looking at the severed surface of a guy who wasn't even cleanly cut.
No matter how often I stabbed, slashed, and sent necks flying, things that were aesthetically unpleasant were still unpleasant.
The blood splattered in all directions... maybe it was because the curse's aftereffects still lingered, but it passed right through me without sticking and fell to the floor. I couldn't help but wonder if death only counted once cellular activity stopped entirely, and at the same time, I was at a loss for words as to what the hell he had done to get cursed that badly.
His past was a matter that piqued my curiosity deeply, but right now I had no leisure to ponder such things while basking in the afterglow of victory.
I pushed the unnecessary questions to a corner of my consciousness and examined my battered body.
"Ssseup... I've turned into a rag."
Both arms that I had stretched out, my right shin and left thigh where I had knelt—there wasn't a single uninjured spot. Since I had bought my life in exchange, anyone might call complaining a luxury, but unfortunately, reality wasn't a game where you cleared a stage just by beating the boss, so it was a situation plenty worth complaining about.
The captain those bastards at the gate mentioned was clearly that bastard. Because, aside from his strength, he was a guy you couldn't even touch by normal means. If that guy had been a mere soldier or a mid-boss, I was sure I'd have pissed and shit myself crying.
Anyway, I thought the reason their pursuit hadn't continued until now was purely because of their faith in that bastard's abilities. They no doubt trusted that he could deal with me, whether by capture or kill.
But if they were a normal group, they would sense something wrong within half a day and form a pursuit squad. If I kept wandering around bleeding like this until then, I'd obviously face a situation where my life couldn't be guaranteed.
Before that, I needed to finish treatment and secure a hiding place as far away as possible.
"It's early autumn, so at least I won't have to worry about finding a hemostatic."
I was too exhausted to draw up any more Magic Power, but I was afraid that if I stayed still, I'd die of excessive blood loss, so I couldn't even rest.
Fortunately, it seemed like my arteries weren't injured, but my physical state was so bad that I might simply not be feeling it.
In the midst of desperate longing for the medicine pouch I usually carried, I walked into the forest, grateful that it was at least broad daylight with the sun high above, and began looking for herbs.
"Spirits. This isn't combat; it's cleanup, so I'd like to ask for your help."
I had spoken out loud partly to shake off the gloom that kept creeping in despite my victory because my whole body hurt, but the spirits were already acting on my wishes even before I had said it.
What I was looking for were plants called Black Thistle and Foam Nettle. The former, though it looked exactly like a thistle, was a plant with remarkable hemostatic effects befitting this other world, and the latter could be used as a makeshift disinfectant by soaking its leaves in water.
To use Black Thistle as a hemostatic applied to wounds, I'd have to dry it thoroughly and grind it, but if I earnestly asked our great Fire Spirit Lord, she'd help even if she grumbled a bit. And since this was an emergency, she'd probably dry it thoroughly without much complaint.
I wondered if it was only fitting for my life, which could easily be called the epitome of a blessing in disguise. I felt relieved that neither was hard to find in this environment, and as I walked following the spirits' guidance, I was able to find the plants just when I reached a nice little stream.
Asilie had shown me the skill of finding them just by smell. It was a memory of one of those skills I tried for years but could never even begin to imitate.
Pushing aside the bittersweet nostalgia the sudden good memory brought, I dug at the ground with my hands to pull out the black thistle's root, and using the frayed edge of my half-cape that still had some shape as a glove—since plucking the foam nettle leaves bare-handed wouldn't disinfect but would sting like hell—I tore off a leaf and approached the stream to begin treatment.
It was the most haphazard form of emergency treatment among this world's folk remedies, but for a battered body like mine, I was grateful for even that. Since I'd even found running water, wishing for anything more was nearly a luxury.
"Thank you, Spirits. Thanks to you, this poor human gets to live."
Stripping off my clothes to wash the wounds and treat them wasn't a big deal in itself, but it wasn't easy because my body kept getting heavier, maybe from having overexerted my Magic Power while wrenching that bastard's head off. With the Magic Power I'd used all my life as naturally as breathing completely drained, even aside from the sense of wrongness a normal body gave me, I was like a lump of water-soaked cotton.
In my current state, if even two of those soldiers from the gate rushed me at the same time, it would have been a close call.
"Huu... Right. Let's think of it as an advance lesson for the journey of revenge."
I couldn't always travel comfortably. In fact, compared to what I'd have to do later, my current situation might actually be quite comfortable and well-supplied.
Thinking that, I asked the water spirit to sweep over the spot where I'd been to clean it up once, then walked in the opposite direction from the path I'd come.
Now I had to find a place to hide.
◈
Though it was a matter decades in the past, the man had once been a candidate for legion commander.
Though due to his own mistake he had been swept up in an absurdly powerful curse and had lost nearly all his strength, and all of that was nothing but past glory; though he had replaced his lost Magic Power and spells with Mana, leaving him with combat ability only slightly better than an elite soldier; and though the years of living entangled with the curse occasionally caused him to display signs of madness... he still possessed the capability to be deployed on secret missions without any hesitation.
Above all, the fact that he couldn't be killed due to the curse that bound him, while likely a curse to him, was a considerable advantage from the Demon King's Army's perspective. So he was appointed as captain of the mission to kidnap the imperial princess, and had been carrying it out well.
Thus, the soldiers who witnessed his death before their very eyes had to face a transcendental fear as well.
"Just... how..."
The one leading the pursuit squad stopped at the point of staggering back pale as a ghost, but most of the others simply collapsed onto the spot.
It was around the time dusk fell over the forest that they judged the captain's return was too late. Even then, it wasn't so much a judgment that something had happened to the captain, but rather that they acted out of a sense of crisis that his madness might have flared up and caused him to act strangely.
Since they had no means or method to even attack the captain, let alone kill him, they had naturally been without any worry as they moved following the blood trail. On the contrary, they even had the leisure to marvel at how little blood there was for someone who had faced the captain.
So even when they saw the red head rolling on the ground, they couldn't think that it was the captain.
"W... was he really a Hero after all? There's no way he could've killed the captain otherwise."
"With our skills, we can never catch him. This mission is a failure. We have to return and report to the army."
"But... looking at the traces, he's also badly hurt. This might actually be our chance. I think we should track him and either kill or capture him."
"Who cares if he's hurt? Didn't you see him swinging his sword the moment he came through the gate? I don't know what happened, but the plan was completely blown on the other side! A guy like that didn't bring a squad, came through alone, and you think he didn't bring a single potion? All of this must be a trap!"
Even though those who were at least elite began to accept the scene before them and analyze the situation as coldly as possible, there was no sign of their opinions unifying. All opinions were valid, and all arguments lacked adequate evidence. Because of that, the analysis consisting only of predictions and assumptions gradually began to devolve into an argument.
"Even if he's a Hero, he's a fucking eighteen-year-old brat! And a guy who wasted years in the Empire because of his uncooperative attitude! It's true that killing the captain is shocking, but does that mean we should be mindlessly afraid of him?!"
"It's not just a matter of killing the captain. I don't know what happened at the end, but the captain's attacks only wounded him once on the way here. Does it make sense to dodge the captain's invisible magic like that? We're all being toyed with right now!"
"Enough!"
The leader's shout felt almost like a scream, but there was no problem in conveying his intent and achieving its purpose. Anxiety and doubt rose in his eyes as he stared at the blood trail leading into the forest, the silent pursuit squad behind him.
It was a forest they'd roamed like a front yard for the past few weeks, but now the forest reflected in his eyes was no different from a labyrinth of terror inhabited by an unidentified magical beast.
"...members of the Human Race, retrieve the captain's body and return. And erase all traces of the camp and finish preparations to leave. We will pursue the bastard."
"...Will you be alright?"
"Of course not. With the captain we thought was immortal dead and no certainty at all, it can't be alright. I just don't want to think that someone of the captain's caliber died without even dealing any damage to him."
Whether he was a Hero or not, it was a problem. Amidst all that, if the captain had landed a decisive strike, but they lost their nerve here and let him slip away, it would surely come back as an absurd catastrophe.
"I'll return before dawn breaks. If... we do not return by then, assume we are dead and return."
There were no objections, so with his words as the end, the six Demonfolk followed the trail into the forest.