Point of Contact
Point of Contact
After scraping up every last spoonful of stew and filling our stomachs, we made a few final preparations and moved out according to plan.
Since we'd set out a little early, the whole party first confirmed the observation point overlooking the abandoned dungeon, then followed the forest route I'd used while tailing the men toward the village and identified the spot where we'd stage the ambush. Only then did we split up.
It was insurance in case the plan went wrong: someone besides Gaendal or me would still know the route well enough to carry a message. It took a fair amount of time, but true to their experience, the others properly memorized the difficult forest path.
"You got to that observation point in thirty minutes by running through this kind of path?"
"I used aura and kept the pace reasonable so I wouldn't waste stamina. It wasn't especially difficult."
Watching Yekaterina scratch the back of her head and shake it, I figured padding the return plan with buffer time had really been the right call.
"Besides, I've actually been taught how to do it—by an elf, no less."
"I haven't lived that long myself, but I've never heard of an elf teaching a human skills like this. How in the world did you win her over?"
"You could say we simply saved each other's lives."
"No, that's just brushing it off. That's not an answer."
It wasn't as though I could simply tell her that, as a child, I'd stabbed half a dozen bandits to death, rescued an elf, and entered into a contract with her. If some fifteen-year-old brat had told me that story with no context, I probably would have smacked him on the back of the head and told him to stop reading so many novels.
No matter what accomplishments I had as an adventurer or how much skill I'd demonstrated firsthand, I couldn't expect a near stranger to place unconditional faith in a story that sounded that absurd.
Explaining at length would've only sent us in circles, so I gave her a vague answer. Maybe she'd decided I had my reasons, because Yekaterina kindly stopped pressing the subject.
After that, well, it was nothing but a wait so boring it couldn't possibly be more tedious.
We knew a little conversation wouldn't cause trouble, but after checking our weapons and reviewing the ambush plan one last time, we kept silent. I could pass the time practicing Magic Power manipulation; Yekaterina's composure and patience impressed me yet again.
She stared at the path with a completely blank expression, not moving a muscle, like a predator watching for an opening. It was so intense it scared even me.
Most of what I'd seen of her in our short time together was a woman laughing openly and heartily, so this side of her felt even stranger. Eventually I couldn't resist my curiosity, and I started watching to see just how long she'd hold the same pose.
"They're coming."
Nearly two hours passed with Yekaterina making no movement beyond blinking. My little experiment ended in amazement when she finally spoke.
"Right?"
"Exactly."
The figures appearing at the far end of the trail she'd been watching were the Demonfolk worshippers, drunk enough that their steps were already unsteady. My pocket watch showed a little after five-twenty. Judging by their gait, they must've left much earlier than we'd expected.
Even though they'd gathered both adventurers and people who weren't adventurers at all, by now it was obvious that they thought and acted with the solidarity and sense of duty of soldiers. I couldn't help offering silent applause to whoever had drilled them to this degree.
Of course, the only applause we could actually give them was Yekaterina's hammerwork and my swordwork.
"How will we manage another month or so... huh?"
Yekaterina moved so quickly it was hard to believe she couldn't use aura. Her long blond hair streamed behind her as she burst through the brush as though the war hammer weighed nothing at all. She looked every bit like a charging lion.
The carnage her war hammer produced, however, was so gruesome that no mere lion could ever imitate it.
-CRASH!
What lingered in my ears was the heavy impact of the hammer striking the ground, but mixed into it had unmistakably been the violent sound of something bursting. It was even worse than the sickening pop I'd once heard in my past life when a small pet dog was crushed under a passing car because of its owner's stupid negligence.
My enhanced nerves and accelerated thoughts let me wrench my eyes away just before I saw a person flattened like something under an industrial press. If I'd reacted a fraction later, that grotesque death might have stayed with me forever. While the others still stood dumbstruck, I charged their flank.
"Deni?"
The war hammer that had just reduced one man to paste rose back to mid-guard as if it weighed nothing, then drove toward two men who still hadn't recovered from the sight of their companion's death. Even then, the single word they managed to utter was the name of the comrade whose body no longer retained its shape.
Their deaths were certain, so I paid them no more mind. Because once that war hammer—no different from an anvil—stabbed in, there was no option but for their faces to be smashed to bits.
Instead, I drove a straight punch into the nearest man's eye, drew the sword hanging at his waist, cut the throat of the man beside him, and threw the blade at the one farthest away. The sequence had become so familiar that it flowed perfectly.
As I rushed the man with the thrown sword buried in his solar plexus, the last survivor finally grasped what was happening. His eyes went wide and darted helplessly between Yekaterina and me.
His trembling hand fumbled toward his waist as aimlessly as his gaze and still hadn't managed to take hold of his sword when I pulled the blade back out of the other man's solar plexus. Yekaterina was already winding up a terrifying full swing.
"Uwaaah!"
He managed to scream in terror, but in his drunken state he couldn't even draw his sword. Under the panic, he couldn't keep blade and scabbard aligned, and the half-drawn weapon caught on its own sheath.
"NOOOOOOO!!"
Flustered by his own mistake, his gaze dropped from Yekaterina to the sword and scabbard in his hands. The fight was effectively over. Still, to guard against the slightest chance of trouble, I dropped into an angled kneel and severed both wrists gripping the weapon just before Yekaterina's full swing landed.
-SPLAT!
The fight ended not with a crash or a thud but, literally, with a bursting sound. I heard something wet strike and stick to nearby trees and the ground, but I deliberately didn't look. The scene was hellish enough as I rose after driving my sword into the neck of the man who'd been staggering upright while clutching the eye I'd punched.
Chunks of flesh. Human remains blown apart. Yekaterina had created a bloodbath that looked impossible to clean up. One exhale was enough for her predatory expression to vanish, and she turned to me with a broad grin.
"Just like you said, they couldn't even react properly. I learned something good from this, Eldmia."
Though it was a scene that could well have been terrifying, all I felt was admiration for her skill and the solid reassurance of having her as a comrade.
"Be honest. You can use aura, can't you?"
"Hahaha! Yes! Keep praising me! Compliments are always good, no matter when you hear them!"
Without exaggeration, her strength was beyond common sense even by this world's standards. The head of that hunk of iron looked to weigh well over forty kilograms, and she swung it like a two-handed sword. At that point, I could understand perfectly why she didn't bother with an axe or greatsword.
If she could swing that war hammer with that much speed and precision, why the hell would she bother with those treacherous edged weapons anyway?
"Is your hidden surname or given name something like 'Zemen,' by any chance?"
"Huh? What does that mean? The nuance sounds like a compliment, though."
"There is one. An incredible warrior who uses a hammer so enormous you could call it a battering ram without exaggeration."
"That's amazing! Must be a legendary figure! I really like it, but unfortunately it has absolutely no connection to my name!"
Standing amid a sea of blood and corpses that made me want to leave immediately, she laughed with genuine, boisterous delight. Her sensibilities really did belong to this world.
"Phew! This isn't the time. Let's head back and deal with the rest, quickly."
"It ended so quickly that we have time to spare. Let's find their coin purses in this mess before we go."
"Oh?"
"I doubt whoever funded them gave them a stingy allowance for drinking and having fun."
Sheryl might have shot us a cold stare if she'd seen this, but Yekaterina and I were thoroughly adventurer-minded.
In a short time, we swiftly found their coin purses and headed for the abandoned dungeon.