Forbidden Ground
“My disciple. This carriage is better than I expected.”
“I’m truly glad to hear that, Master.”
“This is not bad at all. It suits someone of my stature.”
“I’m truly glad to hear that, Master.”
“Aren’t you comfortable as well? Besides, they say this carriage came from somewhere nearby.”
“I’m truly glad to hear that, Master.”
“Why such a cold response? Is there some problem?”
A problem? Was there a problem…? Never mind. What good would it do to say anything now? It would only give me a headache.
To me, Master was an absolutely incredible person who carried an aura of absolute dignity. The only thing I had finally realized was that this dignity was limited strictly to the realm of absolute strength. In every other aspect, Master was somehow even less capable than an ordinary person.
After all, the only people I had met in this place were myself and my disciples. On top of that, I had heard that in the martial world, Master had reigned as the Heavenly Demon for a very long time. When you considered that the Demonic Cult was an extremely abnormal place where nothing mattered except raw power, it made sense that normal human relationships would have been impossible to expect.
In short, Master was completely hopeless when it came to dealing with ‘other people.’
“Is this because of that pig-like fellow?”
“There are other reasons too, but… yes, that’s part of it.”
“I didn’t kill him, so isn’t that enough?”
Yes. Literally speaking, Master had not killed him. But after beating him to the brink of death, the man could no longer function like a normal human being.
The nameless noble who had glared at Master with hostile eyes. The pitiful wretch who couldn’t even remember who he had called a “wench.”
When Master saw him, he simply chuckled with a soft “Heh heh,” and raised a hand. What happened next wasn’t particularly surprising.
With a single slap from Master, a red waterfall began pouring from the man’s nose. His lips split open and bled profusely, while his face swelled up like a balloon.
“Nngh—?”
Even as blood gushed from him, the man stared blankly at Master. They say that when you’re too shocked, you can’t even feel pain. It seemed he couldn’t even process what had just happened to him.
Master chuckled again with another “Heh heh,” and slapped the other cheek as well.
“Gaaargh—!!”
Something white spilled from his mouth in clumps. It looked like several teeth had been knocked out.
Only then did the man realize what was happening to him and let out a scream.
“Baron! My lord!”
Of course, even a noble had a few guards with him. It was only natural for them to rush forward when their master was attacked.
Amidst the chaos, Master let out an impressed “Hoh.”
“Not bad. Subordinates who charge in to protect their master. I respect that choice.”
If he respected them so much, why had he broken every one of their arms and legs? Perhaps he truly had shown restraint out of respect. Normally, he would have simply snapped their necks clean off.
The real problem came when Master tried to abandon the guards after shattering their limbs.
When I nearly fainted and asked why he would do such a thing, his answer was even more absurd. He claimed that this kind of despair was what forged excellent guard warriors. Thanks to that, I had to sweat buckets trying to stop him.
These people still didn’t know that I was the master of the Heroes. It hadn’t even been a full day since I revealed my identity, and these men had come from some remote region. In a world without phones or the internet, rumors could only spread so far. So it was perfectly natural that they didn’t know who I was.
Even so, I was still the master of the Heroes. I couldn’t just leave them to die when it was obvious they would perish if abandoned. It wasn’t out of sympathy—it was the bare minimum of conscience a person should have.
“You want me to take them with us? Where exactly are we supposed to load all of them?”
Master looked extremely displeased. But in the end, he yielded to my wishes. Naturally, the inside of the carriage was off-limits. A few were placed on top of the carriage, and the rest were crammed into the luggage compartment.
“Well then, driver. Let’s be on our way.”
Even though the person approaching him had just beaten his employer and every one of his employer’s guards to a pulp, the driver somehow managed to keep his wits about him and answered that he would take us wherever we wished. Thanks to that, the driver became the only person who escaped Master’s demonic grasp.
After that storm had passed, I watched the Heavenly Demon humming cheerfully inside the spacious carriage and quietly turned my head toward Iris, who was sitting beside me.
“…Iris. About our current situation, if I may ask.”
“They say history repeats itself, Master.”
It was an answer that made perfect sense right away. A regressor really is on another level! She can go from acting like an idiot to suddenly being completely reasonable!
In other words, the poor noble who had once owned this carriage had now been beaten to a pulp by Master twice—once in the previous timeline that only Iris knew about, and once again now. And as if that weren’t enough, Master had declared that pigs shouldn’t ride with people and stuffed the noble into the luggage compartment.
It had already been four days since we acquired the carriage. No, let me correct that. It had been four days since we seized the carriage.
During that time, we stopped by every passing city to have the people with broken limbs treated. The driver had worried that they might spread strange rumors if we let them go.
Well, I wasn’t so sure about that. I simply shook my head. It was only normal to keep your mouth shut if you didn’t want to meet that terrifying woman again. And if they still chose to talk, that courage would be admirable. Of course, they wouldn’t be able to handle the consequences that followed.
“U-um… but why won’t you let me down…?”
All of his guards had been thrown out like baggage, yet he alone remained stuffed in the luggage compartment. It must have bothered him. One day, the noble asked the question with a trembling voice.
“Didn’t you say you came from the western region?”
“Y-yes, that’s correct. The territory I govern is quite well-known in the western…”
“Don’t lie to me. Everyone knows the western region is a barren wasteland. What kind of person from a place with nothing to offer would only be a baron with just three guards?”
“Ugh…”
“If you spout another lie from that mouth of yours, I’ll knock out every last tooth you have left.”
“I-I’m sorry! In truth, I am merely a baron of an insignificant territory. I don’t have much to offer, but I will do anything you ask if you would please spare my life!”
Who said anything about killing you? I only asked where you lived, so why are you reacting like this? Besides, I never hit you or took part in any of it, you idiot. In fact, I was the one who stopped Master from beating you even more!
So why are you trembling more at me than at the actual person who hit you?
“First. I have no intention of harming you. Second. However, if you keep spouting nonsense, that intention might change. Third. So I will ask again. You came from the west, correct?”
“Y-yes. That is correct. I am indeed from the west.”
“Then tell me everything you know about this region in as much detail as possible.”
What I showed him was the area where Iris had reportedly disappeared. Since it was located in the west, it probably wasn’t too far from this man’s territory. I could have asked Iris directly, but I was worried about accidentally triggering some kind of restriction. That was why I decided to ask this easily intimidated local noble instead.
Fortunately, because he believed there was a chance he could survive, he became extremely cooperative. At least he wasn’t the kind of rock-headed fool who would shout something like, “How dare you do this to a noble and expect to get away with it!” He clearly didn’t have a death wish.
“Could you… show me a proper map? Ah, thank you. Let me see… This area appears to be at the very edge of the western region. The drawing next to it looks like the Gebi Desert… Excuse me, but may I ask where you obtained this map?”
Where did I get it? It was something my fourth disciple, the Shield Hero Gerard Geranium, had sent along with a letter when I contacted Garam. He said he had enclosed the best map he could obtain.
There was no way he would have sent a defective or outdated map. I wondered why this noble was reacting this way, but his next words made me nod in understanding.
“It is an extremely detailed and well-made map that is difficult to obtain even in the west. The parchment itself is of the highest quality… A map like this would normally be used by someone of very high standing.”
“Enough with the flattery. Just look at the map properly.”
“I’m sorry. Please spare my life. In any case, looking at this map… it seems to be that place.”
That place? What is “that place”? You have to actually say what it is.
“It is a forbidden ground.”
“Forbidden ground?”
“Yes. By definition, a forbidden ground refers to land where entry is strictly restricted…”
“I already know that. Tell me something else.”
“Understood. The place I am referring to is one that people from the western region absolutely never enter. They say that even if a monster is chasing them from behind, they would never flee into this area.”
“If people would rather die than go there, there must be a reason. What is it?”
The noble scratched his head with a troubled expression. Why is he dragging this out? Just as the words were about to leave his lips, he glanced at me nervously and continued in a hesitant voice.
“As everyone knows, stories often start as one tale but become distorted and multiply into dozens, right? It’s something like that. The reason people don’t go there.”
“In other words, you don’t actually know the reason.”
“Ahaha… I suppose that’s how it turns out, probably…?”
Probably my ass. And this guy is supposed to be a noble who can be considered a local dignitary? He doesn’t even have any solid information about the public sentiment or the rumors floating around his own region. No wonder he’s stuck as a mere baron, you damn pig bastard.
I put my arm around his shoulder and pulled him close. Then I lowered my voice just enough for him to understand the threat.
“There has to be at least one thing. Give me the most plausible reason you’ve heard.”
“W-well… from what I’ve heard, it is said that the place was once the capital of one of the ancient kingdoms. A splendid city that vanished in a single day, and because of that, it became cursed…”
An ancient kingdom. So it seemed there really had been an ancient kingdom where Iris disappeared. Both the information from my fourth disciple Gerard and the words of this local matched. At first I had thought it might just be an empty rumor, but it looked like that wasn’t the case.
“Good. Then you will accompany us there.”
“Pardon?”
“A map alone isn’t enough. We need a local guide. I will compensate you properly.”
“I-it is impossible! Why do you think it is called a forbidden ground?! It is forbidden precisely because you must not enter!”
The noble refused firmly, strongly expressing his unwillingness. He didn’t want to be cursed. He wanted to live a long life. But it seemed this fellow was under some kind of misunderstanding. Because I had treated him like a human being, he apparently thought I was making a request.
No matter what, the fact that he had been rude to Master and was therefore a pig did not change.
“The place I am telling you to go is indeed a forbidden ground. However, if you refuse to go, this place will become your death ground. Choose one. The forbidden ground where you might receive a curse, or the death ground where you will definitely die.”