The Caliber of the Soul (3)
Rescue.
What Count Dornen had requested was a rescue of sorts.
While eliminating the root of the problem would technically solve everything, since a request for rescue had been made, it was only right to find the person first.
But that was impossible.
I didn't know the sender's identity, nor did I even know if they were male or female.
Just as the creeping suspicion that this might be a trap began to take root, the boat, failing to slow down in time, collided with the dock with a sharp jolt.
"We're here. Get off before you ruin my deck."
The old woman turned the bow around without a single backward glance the moment I stepped off.
...I felt like throwing up my guts.
The place I had arrived at was the village wharf.
Despite sharing the same lake, it was far larger and cleaner than the old woman's dock.
I was just beginning to savor the reality of being left entirely alone in a village where I knew no one.
“How clever. It seems to recognize its own mother, does it?”
Tirmisia, who had been asleep this entire time, slowly stirred within my mind.
The sudden mental jolt twisted my already protesting stomach, forcing me to retch and heave up everything I had eaten the day before.
The vomit hit the water, sending ripples across the surface.
The small ripples swelled into waves, spinning rapidly until they formed a massive whirlpool.
Glimmering within the center of the vortex was a scarlet pupil.
A colossal eye of immeasurable size was glaring directly at me.
"Oh..."
One by one, the people gathered at the wharf fell to their knees.
Some bowed their heads, unable to bear the weight of that gaze.
Others trembled violently, staring blankly as if completely entranced.
One man, reaching out unconsciously, slipped and fell into the fathomless depths.
"O Guardian Deity!"
Voices filled with ecstatic reverence echoed from all around.
As if answering their prayers, the beast dragged its massive body through the water, gliding toward the drowning man.
The man was swiftly enveloped by a sleek, scaled torso and dragged under.
...!
I immediately took a deep breath and dove into the water.
The bottomless lake was disorienting, instantly stripping away my sense of direction.
My eyes stung.
Channeling energy into my blurred vision, I tried to locate the beast's trail as quickly as possible.
A giant serpent.
The beast slumbering in the depths of the lake possessed the form of a serpent.
A creature that drowned humans and fed on their rotting corpses.
Normally, they traveled in packs, but for some reason, only one was visible.
Had it somehow been trapped in this lake alone?
Perhaps because of that, its body, suspended beneath the surface, was dozens of times larger than any of its kind I had ever known.
This is troublesome.
The lake wasn't small, and I wasn't an exceptionally skilled swimmer. Fighting it directly in its own element raised the difficulty exponentially.
Damn it, my breath...!
The beast had already plunged into the dark, lightless depths.
I barely managed to break the surface, gasping wildly for air.
My vision swam with white spots, and my consciousness began to fade.
It was then.
Boom!
An explosive burst shook my vision.
A black pillar—the beast's tail, which had crept up on me—breached the surface and lunged toward me.
I immediately wrapped energy around my arms and swam with all my might.
A deafening roar shattered the air, and a numbing shockwave rippled through my entire body.
I'm getting dragged in!
I had barely avoided a direct hit, but that wasn't the end of it.
The tail dragged the water down where it had just been, creating a massive void.
The surrounding water rushed to fill the vacuum.
My body was caught in the violent torrent and sucked down.
Once again, I faced the scarlet pupil.
As the beast's deceptively small maw gaped open, a splitting headache assaulted my skull.
"Down..."
"Down..."
"Down..."
The beast's voice, wishing only for my drowning, burrowed deep into my mind.
It was a suicidal urge I hadn't felt in a very long time.
To make matters worse, Tirmisia's humming echoed in the background, making my mind drift even further.
Grit.
I bit down hard, the metallic taste of blood spreading across my molars.
A fleeting moment of pain.
I immediately drew energy from my heart and wrapped it tightly around my mind.
"...down..."
"..."
The voices fell silent.
Forcing my sinking head upward, I swam against the current with everything I had, pushing toward the light.
"...Cough!"
With a violent cough, I hacked up a mouthful of red-tinged fluid.
My vision was stained black, and my entire body felt like lead.
Stay calm.
I didn't even have time to assess my injuries.
I had to move.
I redirected the energy wrapped around my head and forced it into my limbs.
My briefly cleared vision began to blur again, but I lunged toward the shore visible through the haze.
"Ugh... *bleh*."
I retched, vomiting up a mixture of clear water, blood, and chunks of scarlet flesh.
I didn't even have the strength to stand.
Who would have thought?
That the gloomy, cloud-covered sky could look so welcoming.
Only after barely circulating my energy was I able to drag myself onto the dock.
...Let's assess the situation.
The serpent beast was a higher-tier entity than I had anticipated.
It possessed power incomparable to the red wolf beast or the grafted beast.
The only reason the Dornen Territory hadn't been destroyed yet was purely due to the serpent's inherent limitation—it could not leave the lake.
Inside the lake, defeating it was impossible.
At least in my current state, no one could guarantee victory.
And then there was the people's reaction.
The way they bowed as if worshiping a god.
A display that went beyond mere fear into absolute reverence—it was utterly incomprehensible.
As if that beast possessed some other talent besides devouring humans.
Brainwashing... or is it an illusion?
The dark clouds hanging over the village and the sun that never set.
Was it not just time itself that they had shrouded?
Perhaps I, too, had already fallen into an illusion created by the beast.
I circulated my energy once more and surveyed my surroundings.
The lake had grown calm again.
No one was prostrating themselves on the ground or crying out to the beast anymore.
As if nothing had happened.
They simply shook out their nets and went about their business.
As if I were the only one who had witnessed that colossal beast.
Drenched from head to toe, I wandered around the village.
I passed an inn with a terrace offering a clear view of the lake, a crowded diner, a general store selling miscellaneous goods, and a tavern bustling with patrons despite it being broad daylight.
It looked exactly like a normal village right before the beasts ran rampant.
I needed to gather information.
If there was any way to drag that nightmarish beast onto dry land, it was worth trying by any means necessary.
I decided to call over some children playing nearby to ask about the village.
While digging for info at the tavern would have been ideal, doing so in my current state would likely drag me into unwanted trouble.
I'd be lucky if someone didn't try to pick a fight.
Fortunately, the children weren't overly wary and answered my questions readily.
"All the grown-ups go out to catch fish."
"No they don't, dummy. They make bread, sell apples, and..."
"You're the dummy! You liar!"
That is, if I could filter out the useful bits from their bickering.
I turned to the girl who seemed the brightest among them.
"So, do they go out on boats every day?"
"Yes! Some leave early in the morning, and others go to pull up the nets they cast after the sun sets."
Even for a lakeside village, this was strange.
It was highly unusual for almost the entire population to be engaged in fishing.
For one, the lake didn't seem to have enough fish to sustain the entire village.
And more importantly, a man-eating serpent beast resided in those very waters.
There was no way they could casually sail over its head under such circumstances.
But what bothered me most was a single phrase.
The child had clearly said, "after the sun sets."
I looked up at the sky.
Despite a significant amount of time having passed, the sun, hidden behind the dark clouds, remained fixed in the exact same spot, illuminating the village.
An illusion created by the beast, or some bizarre phenomenon.
I recalled the contents of the letter once more.
"For several days now, night has not fallen upon the gray sky..."
The sender of the letter was clearly aware of this fact.
A village where people disappeared and the sun never set.
The sheer anxiety was palpable in their handwriting.
Why didn't they leave the village?
I watched the people wandering the streets, laughing, chatting, or frowning.
People living their lives as usual, without harboring the slightest doubt about their broken reality.
If someone had been facing the truth all alone among them, they would have wanted to escape this mad village immediately.
Was it because of family?
It was highly likely.
Even I wouldn't have fled alone, leaving behind entranced family members.
Or perhaps there was a physical reason preventing them from leaving.
Alright. Let's find out.
"I heard there's a bridge connecting to the village. Where is it?"
I asked the girl who was still chattering in front of me.
"Oh! The bridge? You just go way over that way!"
She pointed toward the far right corner of the village.
The same direction Gyal had headed.
Seemingly excited to see an outsider for the first time in a while, the girl told me to follow her and began leading the way.
After passing through several alleys and paths, we arrived at the bridge leading out of the village.
By then, my soaked clothes had mostly dried, leaving them only slightly damp.
The log bridge was cruder than expected, and a sign hung upon it.
KEEP OUT
A warning written in a hurried, frantic scrawl.
The handwriting matched the letter perfectly.
"..."
Where on earth did things start going wrong?
I stared intently at the last trace left by the letter's author.
"Is the bridge no longer usable?"
"I don't know! It wasn't there before, but it suddenly appeared!"
The girl hovered around the sign out of curiosity, slowly sounding out the words written on it.
Then again, a child born and raised in this village would have no reason to leave.
I pulled two copper coins from my pocket, handed them to the girl, and returned to the inn to secure a room with a clear view of the lake.
The faint, shimmering reflection of the water scattered across the surface, casting its light into the room.
“What is it you await?”
“Have you been struck with unsightly fear, then?”
The distance to the lake where the beast slumbered was barely a hundred meters.
Just as I could sense its presence, the serpent beast was undoubtedly aware of mine.
"It's not time yet."
The beast biding its time in the deep, waiting for the perfect moment.
And me, the one who had to slay it.
With both of us targeting each other, the battle had already begun.
Just as I wished for it to show itself on the surface, the beast was waiting for me to plunge back into the lake.
Now, how was I going to lure it out?
My thoughts began to tangle.