White Night Mountain Range (3)
What was the most crucial thing for a knight consumed by anger at seeing a comrade harmed by the demons' work?
Power for revenge?
A demon subjugation force?
If someone offered those, there would be no reason to refuse.
But would they bring a dying comrade back to life, or strike down the Four Great Demons overnight?
So what they needed most was simple.
A Demonic Energy Poisoning Antidote.
Right now, it was probably what the Border Guard needed most.
I took an antidote from my bag, its cap stamped with the Magic Tower's crest, and held it out subtly for the knight to see.
"Would you happen to need an antidote?"
"How in the world do you have that?"
The knight, who had been swallowing his rage, stared wide-eyed at the antidote.
His gaze flicked between me and the bottle several times before he bowed his head.
"Could you possibly help us, just this once?"
"Of course I intended to help. That's why I took it out."
"Thank you. As expected, the Goddess truly has not forsaken us..."
I cut him off with a light shake of the antidote bottle.
"In return, may I meet the commander of the Border Guard?"
"Absolutely! I'll guide you right away!"
After receiving the antidote, the knight called over a nearby comrade and urgently handed it off.
"This is a Demonic Energy Poisoning Antidote. Use it immediately."
"An antidote? Where did you get it?"
"Just use it! We have to save Ivan, don't we?"
"Uh, right! Got it!"
The comrade, who hadn't fully grasped the situation, gave me a flustered nod and ran off.
After watching the exchange, the knight turned back to me with a relieved expression.
"I will explain the circumstances, so please follow me."
After walking for a while behind the knight, whose steps were lighter than anyone’s,
We entered a building that looked like a barracks and soon arrived at the commander's quarters.
The knight cleared his throat softly, then gave the door a crisp, disciplined knock.
"Commander! It's Brook from the reconnaissance unit. I'm here on business. Permission to enter?"
—Granted. Come in.
Once the commander's permission was given, I took hold of the doorknob immediately.
"After you."
Thanks to Brook, meeting the commander proved effortless.
Once inside, the office was furnished with only the practical necessities, as befitted a Border Guard post.
Everything was set up to handle required paperwork quickly while remaining ready for combat at any moment.
Considering the Magic Devices, barriers, and training I had seen on the way here...
They looked capable of holding out for ten minutes even against a Level 7 demon.
Their objective wasn't to annihilate the enemy, after all, but to buy as much time as possible for the rear to prepare.
"So, what's your business?"
The commander's expression was grim, likely because the Border Guard's internal situation wasn't good.
Brook paid it no mind and introduced me to the commander as promised.
"Sir! A visitor from the Imperial Court wishes to meet you."
"The Imperial Court?"
At the mention of the Imperial Court, the commander shot to his feet in surprise.
"There was no visit on the schedule, and surely no one from the Imperial Court would come all the way out here alone."
"That was my understanding as well, but it appears to be an unofficial visit. This gentleman's name is Karon."
"Wait a moment."
He hurriedly checked the visitor registry.
Since few people came here, the cross-check was over in an instant.
"Your name is indeed on the list. Do you know what brings him all the way out here?"
"Well, about that..."
Brook stepped forward and whispered into the commander's ear.
At first, the commander tilted his head.
'Someone from the Imperial Court showed up out of nowhere.'
That must have been the gist of it.
He likely thought it was just one of those things that happened sometimes.
But it didn't take long for his expression to shift into anger.
Because he had just heard that the Reconnaissance Unit had suffered casualties from Demonic Energy Poisoning.
Stationed closest to the demons, he'd react the same way no matter who was in his position.
And then, at last.
'The man from the Imperial Court gave us an antidote.'
The anger subsided, and he stared at me blankly with an expression of disbelief.
"Is that really true?"
"Yes. Not a word of it is false."
"Good heavens. The Goddess is helping us."
The commander casually straightened his messy desk and gave Brook an order.
"I need to speak with our guest. You're dismissed."
"Understood!"
After Brook disappeared,
I found myself alone with the Border Guard commander.
Brook had neatly handled the earlier matter, so all that remained was the expression of gratitude.
"Truly, thank you! How could we ever repay this kindness?"
"Ha ha, it's nothing."
The commander bowed his head repeatedly.
I had been waiting for him to say those words.
I took out the antidotes where he could clearly see them, set them on the desk, and laid the groundwork as I always did.
"I happen to have spare antidotes."
"Good heavens... how on earth did you come by these?"
"I'm slightly acquainted with the Magic Tower."
The commander nodded without comment.
It would have been stranger for a mage affiliated with the Imperial Court to have no connection to the Magic Tower.
Now that I'd easily seized the initiative, I brought up what the commander wanted first.
"How short are you?"
"As many as possible would be best. We've completely exhausted the supply shipped from the capital."
Under normal circumstances, resupply should have been steady, but the recent attack seemed to have disrupted it.
In any case, I knew the production method, and the materials were abundant around here, so I could just make them myself.
I placed the remaining antidotes on the desk one by one and stated my requirements.
"What I have is a small amount, but I'll give you all five."
"You mean that?"
"However, there are conditions."
At the word "conditions," the hope that had filled the commander's face cooled slightly, and he let out a slow breath.
It was as if he were thinking, “Of course, even the Imperial Court wouldn’t give something away for nothing.”
Perhaps deciding he should at least hear my terms, the commander nodded.
"Name them, please."
"First, forget that I ever visited this place."
"Hmm, understood."
The commander didn't bother to press further on that point.
He seemed to have concluded that the Imperial Court had approached him in secret.
Next.
"Second. I need the most recently completed map."
"Do you mean a map of the Empire?"
"No. A map of the north, beyond the wall."
"I understand that as well."
This was one of the repercussions of my imprisonment.
Because Alcyone had lain low for three years under Flora's orders, no updated intelligence had been gathered.
I planned to advance by cross-referencing the routes I remembered with maps produced by the Empire.
By now, he probably had a rough idea of what I really wanted.
"The last one is simple."
So I placed the final antidote on the desk and said it without further hesitation.
"Open the gate so I can cross into the north for a short while. That's all I ask."
"You could lose your life if things go wrong. Are you certain about this?"
"Yes. I have various matters to attend to."
Entering the north alone.
It was a great way to get called a lunatic.
But I had two objectives.
The antidote improvement was based on something I'd heard while filling in the gaps after reuniting with Alcyone.
Alcyone had mentioned seeing animals hold out surprisingly well even when they occasionally wandered into corruption zones during training in the north.
Curious, Alcyone investigated and discovered that the animals had been grazing on a plant resembling mugwort.
Alcyone had even left a record saying that using it personally let them endure inside a corruption zone for several minutes.
At the time, I'd asked if they had a death wish and told them they were insane, but...
Well, anyway.
With help from Madam, who had a knack for potion-making, I would be able to improve the antidote.
Even if I couldn't monopolize the formula, it would give me a competitive edge.
In the end, when the choice was framed as forgetting my visit in exchange for saving his subordinates, the commander had no choice but to accept my offer.
"I’ll take responsibility and make it happen."
"A wise decision."
* * *
"The demonic energy is one thing, but the overall situation looks quite poor."
"Yes. As you can see, the weather conditions are also highly unfavorable."
If I just handed over five antidotes and left without doing anything else, he might talk later, so I walked the grounds with the commander, assessing their needs.
From the watchtower, I surveyed the north where demonic energy crept through the air and gave a concise assessment.
"Judging by the demonic energy, this looks like the work of a Level 7 demon."
"Truly?"
The commander flinched at the mention of Level 7.
He seemed ready to shift into combat readiness at any second.
"Yes. But it doesn’t seem to be trying to destroy this place."
I gathered my mana and scanned for suspicious movements within a three-kilometer radius.
'Did they think hiding behind a rock and messing around would keep them from being found out?'
Based on the spacing and positioning, there were twenty demons deployed to maintain the demonic energy.
Judging by how much sentence reduction they would be worth, even all twenty together would probably shave off only about six months. They were that weak.
Still, Level 7 demonic energy would interfere with climbing the White Night Mountain Range, so I gathered my mana—
Shiiing!
I cast the same spell I'd once demonstrated to Flora and blew off the tops of the demons' heads.
Another sweep of the surroundings confirmed there wasn't a single one left alive.
The commander, who had no idea what had just happened, wore a baffled look as he asked me,
"What did you just do?"
"I dealt with the ones maintaining the demonic energy. Tomorrow, when the fog thins, take a priest and purify the area bit by bit. That should do it."
"...!"
Perhaps sensing instinctively that I was a mage of immense power, he bowed his head like a bobblehead.
"Thank you—for the antidote, and now for taking care of this too!"
"It's a simple matter."
We left the watchtower, and when we reached the training grounds, the setup looked far too crude for the Border Guard, so I lent a hand.
"Because you think of yourselves only as defenders, you focus too much on defense. Block what you have to, but the moment you see an opening, strike."
"Ah, aha..."
"Miss that opening, and you’ll lose your heads."
I showed the rookie knights some basic stances and what they needed to keep in mind during battle, and—
"What do you think you're doing, using Scan openly? Are you advertising your position and asking them to kill you?"
"No, that's not..."
"The demons won't spare you just because you offer an excuse. Forget technique for now and get the fundamentals down first."
Next, I drilled into the novice mages that theory and real combat were different, emphasizing the importance of Mana Control.
Finally, I ordered the mages and priests in charge of recovery to bring the ingredients needed for the antidote and produced a surplus batch.
The commander, who'd watched this over several hours, barely managed to suppress his surging emotions.
"I can't just keep receiving help like this... ngh, thank you..."
"Then all you need to do is keep your promise."
"Yes. Sir!"
I had completely won over the Border Guard. It was time to leave with peace of mind.