The Path into the Storm
The expedition's goal beyond the front lines, on the path into the storm, was simple: recover the legacy Adela's mother had left behind and scout Magranas' general movement route. Neither task was easy. Retrieving the legacy meant cutting through countless monsters, and no one could predict what dangers lay along the scouting route. By any measure of difficulty, it bordered on impossible. Yet when you looked at the expedition's strength, there existed a miraculous power capable of turning the impossible into the possible. Not something as trivial as the power of love and friendship. Just raw, overwhelming force.
"Ten Gold-class adventurers and forty Silver-class ones? That's insane."
"With this kind of force, we could probably overthrow a kingdom."
The expedition was simply that strong.
"Is it really all right to bring this many Gold-class adventurers? Won't it affect the front lines?"
Even in the North, a land of monsters, Gold-class fighters were no small matter. They were the elite powerhouses carefully managed amid the hordes, strategic weapons that other regions called Sword Masters or Archmages. Bringing ten from the adventurer side and ten from the knight order left more worry than joy.
Hornst laughed heartily at my concern and offered some advice.
"Think of it the other way around."
"The other way?"
"It means command believes we need this level of strength just to go beyond the front lines."
What a grim thought. But it clarified my worries so neatly that I let out a sigh.
"Of course. The people at the front aren't fools. They wouldn't waste this kind of force on something meaningless."
Normally I would have accepted it without a second thought, but perhaps because this was my first mission as the one in charge, I felt a little tense. Still, the journey itself wouldn't be noisy.
"Our top priority is completing the objective, so we need to move as quietly as possible."
"They might make noise once we reach the destination, but thanks to you and the guild's information agents, we shouldn't get dragged into pointless fights for now."
Hornst glanced around with a slightly disgusted look. In the sky, over a dozen birds flew about on reconnaissance. On the ground, various animals climbed through the trees, sensing dangers nearby. Even underground, small creatures like moles dug through the earth, detecting vibrations approaching from that direction. The fact that they followed Argo without the slightest hesitation was already surprising, but the most absurd part was that every single one of them was an animal imbued with Mystery.
"Were those things really that easy to handle?"
Even in a tamer family, it hadn't been like this. Whatever method he had used to make Mystery-imbued animals willingly obey him, it was helping the expedition, so it was fine. Hornst decided not to think too deeply about it and simply walked on. In contrast, my mind grew complicated.
"Chirp chirp!"
"Tweet tweet!"
"Guk, guk."
I sorted through the flood of information the animals sent from every direction. Even if the Mystery made them smarter, they were still animals. The indiscriminate data they transmitted was far from efficient, but the cost-performance ratio was excellent. All it took was a handful of food that wouldn't even cover one adventurer's meal. Still, it would have been nice if they organized the information a little before delivering it.
"A leopard hiding in the trees? No, you don't need to report that. And how did you know about the centipede inside the rock? What? You can feel it if you focus?"
The senses of the animals living in this region were far sharper than we imagined. Because the monsters that preyed on them were so powerful, their survival organs had evolved again and again. Add Mystery on top of that, and their senses were bound to be exceptional compared to ordinary animals nearby.
"Kii! Kiiit!"
If Rata hadn't filtered the information once in the middle, my head would have been a complete mess from the animals' unfiltered reports. Thanks to combining their intel with my own search skills, we had already avoided three near-misses with monsters. That was fortunate, but the real MVPs weren't us. They were the guild's information agents.
"We've identified a Kiorg ahead. I recommend detouring."
"Ah, thank you."
"Don't mention it."
The man who had given me the information vanished from sight and even from my senses in an instant. Perhaps that was why they were the most outstanding information organization on the continent—always the first to notice anomalies in the North, spotting dangers before they grew into major incidents. Thanks to the information they brought, the expedition had already avoided eleven battles. I was still marveling at their otherworldly competence when Neon shuddered beside me.
"Good thing they're information agents. Imagine if people with that kind of skill worked as assassins."
"They work as information agents precisely because there's no need for that."
"True. Thanks to the will left by the first Great Warrior, the North has fewer corrupt or disruptive villains."
Neon, who seemed to have accumulated a lot of grievances in the Central region, kept talking without pause. He rambled on about how rotten the Central region's power structure was, how the recent upheaval in the Holy Kingdom proved it, and how the Magic Tower was even worse. It was peaceful enough to make you forget we were heading beyond the front lines.
Whoosh.
At the faint sound near my ear, the entire expedition's weapons snapped toward a single point. Even while maintaining an outwardly relaxed atmosphere, not a single person had let their guard down. However, contrary to the expedition's expectations, what emerged from the grass wasn't a monster but a slime-like droplet of water.
After examining the droplet's appearance and mana pattern, the expedition lowered their weapons and returned to their usual demeanor.
"What? A newborn spirit?"
"Once it grows into a lesser spirit, we won't be able to see it anymore, right?"
"The mana really is richer beyond the front lines. Even spirits like this are being born."
"But is it all right to leave the spirit here?"
"Monsters are surprisingly lenient toward spirits, even if they're hostile to everything else."
The expedition glanced at the water spirit wriggling about as it observed them, then quickened their pace. They had too far to go to spare attention on a newborn spirit. Everyone was highly skilled, and the scholars and staff who moved slowly had been loaded onto wagons, so their speed wasn't bad. Still, there was no reason to delay.
The water spirit, however, wriggled its small body with all its might and eventually climbed onto one of the wagons. The scholars and staff who had been recording surrounding information immediately focused their attention on it.
"Oh my. We must look interesting to it."
"Judging by its size and condition, it can't be more than three months old."
"Usually other spirits take care of newborn spirits. Why is this one alone?"
The expedition looked at the spirit that had climbed onto the wagon with curious eyes. Spirits born from condensed natural energy were considered beneficial beings to the people of the continent. If you played with one, other spirits would eventually come and take it away. Newborn spirits had the habit of being looked after by nearby spirits. Occasionally there were misunderstandings where spirits went on a rampage thinking someone was trying to kidnap one, but given the expedition's strength, the spirits would calm down before things got out of hand.
I glanced at the spirit being doted on by the group and muttered.
"A newborn spirit, huh. This expedition is off to a lucky start."
"It is. Meeting such a small and pure child means the gods must be watching over our path."
Owen, wearing what he probably thought was a very pure smile, looked at me.
"I never expected the Church to provide holy water free of charge. And in such large quantities, no less."
"The Central region's Church might be a mess, but the branches in other regions are full of sensible people."
"Well, this expedition could be a major turning point for the North's fate, so they must be quite interested as well."
Owen nodded at my words. Although the Holy Kingdom in the Central region had lost face due to corruption, the Churches in other regions still maintained their reputation. The Northern Church in particular was deeply intertwined with daily life in the North. Even the Adventurer's Guild had partnered with the Church of Truth to place Truth Crystals at every reception desk. There were also the Church of Healing, contracted to rush over whenever an adventurer was injured, and priests who taught common sense to villagers. They were simply part of life in the North, and we were grateful for it.
'Oh dear, Father! Are you all right?'
'I-I'm fine. But are there usually this many bears near the village?'
'This is the season when bears come down looking for food.'
'I-I see. More importantly, are you hurt? It looked like the bear hit you earlier...'
'Haha! A Northerner doesn't collapse from a single hit. If you can't catch a bear bare-handed, what kind of hunter are you?'
'......?'
Occasionally priests assigned from other regions had trouble adapting at first, but they usually adjusted quickly. Thanks to them, the North ran smoothly, and their generous supply of holy water had been a great help on this expedition as well.
"Having priests come along would be best, but that was probably impossible."
"They're busy enough studying the gods' teachings and helping the weak. Unless we asked the paladins, who are known as the Church's military force."
Priests weren't combatants to begin with, so it couldn't be helped. And requesting paladins would have been excessive when the expedition's strength was already sufficient. We should simply be grateful they provided the holy water for an important mission. Since that matter was already settled, I pushed aside any lingering disappointment and continued cutting through the forest. After avoiding monsters we could avoid, fighting the ones we had to, and crossing countless mountains and rivers, we finally drew near our destination.
"A large-scale Mystery phenomenon has been detected ahead."
"What kind of phenomenon?"
"We couldn't determine anything beyond the fact that space is distorted."
"Finally."
I smiled at the information agent's report after finishing their reconnaissance at the front. The agent, understanding the meaning behind my smile, smiled back.
"If what Lady Adela said is correct, we should reach the location of the Queen's legacy once we pass through that phenomenon."
"From here on, we'll handle it ourselves. Thank you all for your hard work."
"Not at all. This is simply our job."
After thanking the information agents who had worked so hard, I turned around. Looking at the expedition that showed no signs of fatigue despite the long march, I gave the signal that we had arrived. The expedition smiled back, expressing their joy.