The Operation's Premise Collapses
The one who answered the chief first was Stella.
"Already?"
"What do you mean, already? It should be 'finally.' While we were hesitating, five people have already lost their lives. If we include the victims from Flusmirror Village, that makes seven."
At the sharp rebuttal, Stella frowned.
"Is that what you call thinking coldly? It's good that we have more numbers to surround the Nuckelavee. Even so, completely encircling its habitat won't be easy."
"I'll summon freshwater to cover one side of the formation."
Because it was a phrase she used often, Stella sounded far more fluent and wise than usual. The chief answered immediately, as if she had known those words would come.
Stella's frown deepened.
"Chief, are you in your right mind? You are the chief."
"And you are the war chief."
A staring contest broke out between the two women.
WA! Fire across the river! The problem was that it was way too close to call it "across the river."
Even I, who could understand their language, felt like I was sitting on a bed of thorns. The rest of the party must have felt even worse. Everyone except Dana and Heiromain was busy reading the room.
For fuck's sake, don't start a domestic fight after inviting guests over.
"Can the chief really summon that much water?"
"If I have Heiromain's cooperation."
At the sudden mention, all the warriors' eyes turned to him. Heiromain nearly hiccuped. Anyone would, if they were suddenly stared at like that. Alice patted his back reassuringly.
I had no idea how they had explained the sudden disappearance of one horse and the appearance of a suspicious outsider.
"...I understand. Let's do it that way."
At that moment, Stella, who had been pressing her lips together in deep thought, spoke. She let out a deliberate sigh right after.
"Sigh. My road of suffering is crystal clear until all the blood drains from the chief's head."
"Thank you for understanding, but that would be a pyrrhic victory indeed. Now then, warriors, please prepare for the coming battle."
The chief smiled as if pleased and ended the meeting.
It seemed the operation was scheduled for tomorrow.
Personally, I wanted to master Aura or whatever else before fighting, but we couldn't afford to take our time. It had already been two or three months since Tirsi disappeared. I didn't want to torture myself with thoughts like If only we had moved a few days sooner, we might have saved her.
As the warriors stood, we remained seated. We had been told beforehand to do so.
"Everyone. Come closer."
We sat where the chief indicated.
"I apologize for speaking in our tongue. The others can barely speak Britannia."
"Not at all. We understand. What you discussed wasn't much different from what we heard earlier anyway."
Since we were outsiders, they had given us a rough explanation so we could follow along.
The Nuckelavee fears freshwater, they said.
It avoided water that flowed like a river. The reason? No one seemed to know. Still, they said the current active one showed the same tendency.
Why would a creature that withers crops and crawls out of the sea be afraid of water? According to legend, the Nuckelavee is an evil spirit dragged away and imprisoned by a god called the "Sea Mother," only to escape when summer ends.
Whether it was true or not, that was the folklore. Maybe it simply hated being carried into the sea by freshwater.
They said the ones that appeared this time had detoured around the stream the village shaman created on the ground.
"Tomorrow, the chief and I will cover the eastern side of the area believed to hold the Nuckelavee with freshwater."
The chief pointed at a crude map made in the village as she explained.
"There is some distance, but a river exists on the western side as well. If we control the eastern approach, the Nuckelavee's possible escape routes will be limited."
"North or south, then."
"Yes. And we would like all of you to either guard me or take the western side."
East or west. Both were safe zones with freshwater present. The chief spoke as though it were obvious.
"We will not ask outsiders to risk your lives. Defeating its true body is a task for Stella and our village warriors."
"Chief, can you truly entrust your life to us?"
"...Whatever my wishes, the village will likely oppose it. If you can gain their understanding, will you take the western side?"
"We will."
"Thank you. I leave it in your hands."
"No, the thanks are ours."
With that, we stepped outside to prepare for the coming fight.
Of course I wasn't worried. To reuse an earlier expression, our role was once again watching the fire across the river. Quite literally, we only needed to watch from the opposite side of the western river to see if the Nuckelavee approached. It was the position with the lowest risk, so it wasn't uncomfortable.
Still, considering my misfortune-prone constitution, sitting around doing nothing felt too uneasy. Better to prepare for battle.
Thinking that, I turned to Heiromain.
"Professor, are you sure you're all right? It could be dangerous."
"Being acknowledged by Erin's descendants is always a dangerous affair. Well, it's still better than being told to hunt ogres."
Right. This man was a field scholar too. Scholars in this world were combat professionals. Field work made it even more so. He was a true mage-scholar.
Mage-scholar Heiromain gave a dry chuckle.
"Besides, I've gained more trustworthy comrades. The child who used to be nothing but a traveling companion can now hold real conversations and fight alongside me, hasn't she?"
"Yeah! From now on I'll help with your work too!"
Alice thrust her hand into the air and shouted brightly. She really was the most cheerful horse-girl I'd ever seen.
But it seemed she still didn't understand the human world.
Congratulations! Your personal mount has become a graduate student!
A unicorn grad student—who could have predicted that? To think that the moment her curse lifted, she would willingly choose such a thorny path.
What if that kid goes insane in twenty years and becomes a unicorn professor or Hoenir's lackey?
I could only pray it never happened. I silently made the sign of the cross.
Had Heiromain lost his means of transportation only to gain a rich, unpaid lab slave? Love really was terrifying.
Somehow it didn't feel like someone else's problem, so I glanced at Dana. She answered with the brightest smile I had ever seen from her.
This fucking adorable wife of mine. What are you giggling about?
I will not become your slave! I will be the head of this household!
"Oh? I'm looking forward to it. But if you want to help me, shouldn't you start by learning to read and write?"
"I'll learn! And if I help, the number of nights you'll actually get sleep will increase too!"
At Alice's bold ambition, Heiromain chuckled softly.
A late-night laboratory with just the two of them. A beautiful female professor and a dawn rendezvous. Depending on your perspective, the genre could swing between horror and romance. To a current grad student like me it was 5D horror, but to the innocent unicorn it must have been the romance of her dreams.
I prayed to the gods that good fortune would follow their path. Hardships are nothing. Willingly walking it is the path of love.
Congratulations on employment, Alice. Live strong in the lab.
People can be divided into those who like exercise and those who hate it. If forced to categorize myself, I fell into the latter. It wasn't that I particularly disliked it, but I wasn't the type to exercise voluntarily in my spare time.
That had been true while I was still on Earth.
But perhaps it started after I suffered through Professor Brammaton's hellish weight-training course in this world? Before I knew it, I had begun to enjoy iron pumping.
Even people who hate exercise get hooked on fitness once they see their muscles swelling, right? The macho types who become addicted to the iron, neglect their families, and head to the gym on weekends! Somehow I had taken one step into that realm.
Thanks to that, even with a dangerous battle waiting tomorrow, I spent the entire day training in Aura and new techniques. And afterward I felt refreshed rather than tired. If this wasn't becoming a gym rat, what was?
It was practically the same as hitting the weights the night before a make-or-break company project.
Still, after sweating properly for the first time in a while and immersing myself in training, the feeling was quite refreshing.
"Throw out the weight equipment and wind X!! Even attaching only two or three plates makes it heavier than the wives. I've wasted half my life!!"
Naturally, since there were no weight machines in this world, what I did was a ballet dance with my beloved spear Mimi-chan. I had gone all out trying to follow the martial-arts advice of becoming one with the spear.
─Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!!
To state the result first: I gained nothing.
"Fuck."
It simply felt like I had practiced the usual Gertude for a long time. I had stuck to simple swings and thrusts rather than the high-difficulty latter-half forms.
If someone could manifest Aura after a single day of practice, who couldn't become an Aura master? I also wanted to become a publicly acknowledged Mythril-class, but right now I was merely above Gold-class and below Mythril.
Should I think of my average ability as around Platinum level?
If I could land my ultimate skill, I could even take down a Master-class opponent, but the casting time was rather long, so using it alone seemed impossible. Even setting the berserk state aside.
I spent the remaining time beneath the moonlight on conceiving and trial-and-error testing of new techniques. Staying up one night was fine. For a master and superhuman like me, a single all-nighter was no issue. As long as I managed my pacing and received a small heal from Dana, I'd return to full strength quickly.
The sound of the spear slicing wind and the roar of Beast Regression decorated the night of the Ulster village.
Thus the night passed, and the dawn of battle arrived.
We broke through the forest early in the morning and established our position by the riverside. Sending scouts toward the Nuckelavee was impossible—they said it would chase and kill anyone it discovered—so we accepted the uncertainty and set up our formation as quickly as possible.
─Glance.
I checked my pocket watch. More than thirty minutes had passed since the operation began. Stella should have already led her handpicked warriors in a surprise attack on the Nuckelavee's location.
Since the Nuckelavee's leader avoided her, it would likely descend toward us or the south.
Since it's not stupid, it'll probably head south.
In that case, the Ulster warriors including Tarzan-man would risk their lives to buy time until Stella arrived. When a signal flare rose into the sky, we would join the fight to assist in the hunt. Until then, we would wait here. If it came our way, we simply needed to fire our own flare.
It felt like we were enjoying the sweet spot while others risked their lives, and the guilt gnawed at me. We were outsiders, though.
"Your husband's face looks dead. You're not scared, are you?"
Dana read my mood and teased me. I chuckled as I pocketed the watch.
"Actually, I am scared. Your husband has a metal allergy, so he can't get stabbed."
"Husband, try using your brain a little when you talk to me? You've got a perfectly good skull, yet it's rusting away."
"Even if it breaks, if I pop the lid off and blow on it, it'll be fine."
"Once you open it you can't close it again. Who's going to take responsibility, you idiot?"
Even the German one-eyed god had offered himself as a sacrifice to summon the sky god Odin. Surely I could manage something similar? Of course, my life was too precious to test the theory.
I quietly gripped my spear. It wasn't that I had conspired with the age to escape my wife's scolding. A rough sound of hooves had reached even my ears.
Franc, who must have heard it first, pricked up her ears, concentrated, then shouted.
"The footsteps are light! It's probably not the big one we heard about!"
"It's a minion! Let's turn it into a beehive☆!"
Larilura pointed the fourth finger of her Ringling toward the direction of the sound. I loaded Lightning Missile with no chant. Maybe because I hadn't practiced this spell much lately, the number of missiles hadn't increased from last time.
─Clop, clop!!
A skinless monster burst from the bushes with violent hoofbeats.
"AAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
It was already on the verge of death, having taken several hits on its way here. Arrows were even embedded in the head of its humanoid torso connected to the horse body. One look told me the bastard was done for.
There are things that don't die even with arrows stuck in their rotten skulls?!
I fired the prepared missiles without lowering my guard.
"Pa-thetic weak-ling!!"
─Crackle crackle crackle!!
The launched lightning scorched the Nuckelavee's torso. As promised, Larilura's arrows punched countless holes through its body, and the human half tore away from the Nuckelavee's torso.
─Crash!
─Clatter clatter clatter clatter!!
Having lost the human part that shared its dual heart and body, only the horse torso remained. The Nuckelavee began charging madly. With only glowing eyes visible on its face, it was impossible to read any equine expression.
But as I calmly prepared a second volley, I frowned at the charge that showed no hesitation whatsoever.
"Senior, it's not retreating at all?!"
Larilura seemed to have noticed the same thing and shouted. I agreed. The river was right in front of it, yet the creature showed no sign of stopping. What was going on? Had the information been wrong?
─Splash!!
The Nuckelavee's horse body dodged the checking shots and threw itself into the river.
It was completely different from the oral legends. Our party pulled the formation back and tensed up. We had been wary of it leaping out for a surprise attack, but even after waiting, it did not emerge.
Veronica, preparing her magic, muttered half in disbelief.
"Did it jump into the water and... commit suicide?"
"...Uht! No! Look over there!"
Franc, who had sharpened her ears with rune power, cried out. I looked and frowned. Far downstream, the Nuckelavee was swimming.
─Splash, splash!
The body whose skin had been flayed was healing little by little, as if the river water were a healing potion. Once its skin regenerated, it became a horse with beautiful white hide and blue eyes. Yet from those eyes I could sense the wicked nature of a monster that devoured humans.
The head of the now-'healed' creature turned as though afraid of something. If it had been looking toward us, I could have understood, but the direction was where it had fled from.
Upon confirming that, Dana widened her eyes and muttered.
"...Kelpie?"
Kelpie. An evil river spirit that takes the form of a horse and devours people.
When I heard that murmur, I realized it.
That the fundamental premise of the operation had completely collapsed.