The Witch Hunt (2)
For several days, we wandered through the forest, moving with extreme caution as we neared the witch's habitat, our footsteps silenced. If we were spotted by the witch or the barbarians, the operation would crumble before it even began. A surprise attack was the best course of action. As the name suggested, a witch was a notoriously difficult opponent. A witch who had made full preparations was so cunning that a head-on confrontation was futile. Therefore, having a large number of people would only make us stand out; to be blunt, regular soldiers were of little help at this stage. If the plan went awry, we needed a small, elite force to deal with the witch's bizarre curses and the barbarian warriors who were on par with junior knights. Now, only Kalia and three junior knights remained by my side.
"From here on, focus on suppressing your presence. If you sense any traps or barriers set by the witch, let me know immediately."
At my instruction, Kalia and the junior knights nodded silently. Naturally, their senses were sharper than mine. I just had to trust them. I could feel the air in the forest becoming thick with a purple mist. We had reached the threshold of the witch's inner sanctum. As we drew closer to the habitat, the air touching my skin became noticeably heavier and more stagnant. It was a sticky, unpleasant sensation that went beyond mere forest humidity. It was a natural phenomenon, yet it had nothing to do with the witch herself. 'This is a fantasy world... but is it really unrelated?' Thinking about it now, I suspected that because the witch had settled here and was casting forbidden black magic and curses, the mana-polluted atmosphere was creating this murky air. Things that were glossed over in the webtoon with a few lines of text between panels were only now truly hitting me in reality. The faint, fishy scent of mana pricked at my nostrils.
'In the original work, it was just labeled a dangerous area, but I didn't know it would be this nauseating.'
I lightly covered my mouth and stared into the low-lying purple mist. I had to find the source of this foul air and excise it to resolve Soleia's curse and take the first step toward my peaceful retirement plan. Unlike me and the other junior knights, Kalia didn't seem bothered. Since she couldn't feel it, she was essentially immune to this kind of thing. 'Besides, Kalia's ability is to completely convert the nature of mana into raw power. As long as the medium of the curse is mana, it shouldn't affect her. Probably.'
I had copied Kalia's ability, but it was slightly different from the original. Part of it was because my ability was degraded, but fundamentally, Kalia's unique ability was just that bizarre. Her ability had a strange, random quality to it. It was already rare enough to obtain a strong unique ability in this world, but to have one where the cost was determined randomly? It was essentially a double-gacha. 'And I had it forcibly copied onto me when I didn't even know what my own unique ability was.'
Thinking about it again, it was absurd. My ability had been forcibly copied regardless of my will. Thanks to that, I had returned from the threshold of death, but the bitter, unpleasant sensation lingering in my mouth hadn't vanished. Kalia's ability carried a massive risk in exchange for its power. Above all, the biggest problem was that the medium I had to consume to maintain this ability wasn't just some measly 'mana'. If mana were the only medium, I wouldn't have needed to find a way to neutralize it at the Academy.
'In the end, the answer had to be found at the Academy.'
Thinking of the future, there was only one option. The Academy, where people with all sorts of unique abilities gathered. I had to find and copy another ability there that could neutralize the fatal flaw in my own. If that proved impossible, I would have to find another way, and I was already laying the groundwork for that. Specifically, the Princess, Soleia. The Imperial Treasury was overflowing with treasures, and among them was an ancient artifact that could erase unique abilities. This was an artifact mentioned while I was reading the webtoon. No matter how overpowered my unique ability was, an ability that harmed its user was more of a liability than an asset. Honestly, seeing how strong I'd become just by copying Kalia's ability, I didn't necessarily want to get rid of it, but...
'I don't want to end up a vegetable.'
That was why I was moving to hunt the witch, including the need to secure a minimum insurance policy. 'As I keep saying, it's a two-birds-one-stone situation.' If I could get on the Princess's good side, it would be lucrative. Probably. Seeing how she joined hands with me in the webtoon after being deceived by the Order and having her face healed, I had a small hope that we might become allies.
Within the solid formation created by the junior knights, I followed them, painting such happy pictures in my head. The reason I could walk so leisurely, lost in thought in this dangerous forest where enemies lurked everywhere, was entirely thanks to the junior knights standing firmly in front of me. They moved like an impregnable fortress, surrounding me as if to escort me. With their sharp, unsheathed swords protecting me in layers, I only needed to match my pace to the safe stride they created.
"You must be even more careful from here on," whispered Philip, the young junior knight leading the way. Since we had chosen a path that took a wide detour around the barbarian habitat, the road had become even rougher, and the surroundings were filled with primitive, untouched undergrowth. It was proof that we were getting closer to the witch. Philip kept scanning the surroundings, his face clearly showing signs of tension. His hand was already gripping his sword hilt, ready to draw at any moment. The barbarians' senses were as sharp as a beast's, and he seemed well aware that this moment, bypassing their territory, was the most dangerous.
I nodded slowly at his tense advice. I doubted they would be scouting this far out, but there was no harm in being careful. We followed Philip as he moved forward cautiously. After traveling for a long time, a cabin appeared that didn't fit in with this gloomy forest at all. It was as ordinary as the one I had seen in the webtoon. In contrast to the twisted old trees surrounding it, its overly neat and mundane appearance created a sense of dissonance. Given its location, those who stumbled upon it while wandering the forest would likely just dismiss it as the home of a hermit or a dangerous individual and stay wary, but they would never dream that it was the witch from the legends.
"...Is that the place?" Philip asked in a low voice, his sword half-drawn. I nodded to Philip, confirming that it was.
"It seems she hasn't noticed us yet," Philip said cautiously. Philip's unique ability was threat detection; if someone noticed us and attacked, he would be the first to know. Fortunately, everything was going according to plan so far.
"Are you really going through with that plan?" Kalia asked, sounding worried.
"This is the easiest way to lower her guard." Kalia still looked reluctant, even after my explanation.
"We can do it instead," Philip said, and the other junior knights nodded in agreement.
"You guys can't speak the barbarian language." I had even learned the barbarian language for today. I had even gone to meet the barbarians in prison to find conversation partners to master the language. So, it was right for me to do it, and if not, I would have felt cheated. Moreover, the witch's innate combat ability wasn't that strong. She was especially hopeless in unexpected close-quarters combat. The weight of the name 'witch' made her seem immensely powerful, but in reality, her specialty was always her sinister curses. Her physical abilities and direct magical destructive power were all on par with a regular soldier. And since this distance was within the junior knights' range, even if things suddenly became dangerous, I could at least save my life.
I crunched the numbers in my head and changed into the clothes I had prepared in advance. The barbarian attire wasn't the recklessly revealing kind often seen in novels or webtoons. Since this was the North, where harsh cold raged, walking around in such an outfit would be a perfect way to freeze to death. Barbarians weren't stupid. Their clothes were made of raw, rough leather and thick fur, taking on a rugged yet practical form. The strange, beastly smell wafting from the clothes pricked at my nose, but it was a problem I had to endure for a perfect disguise.
'At this rate, I'll look like a bona fide barbarian from a distance.'
There was no mirror, but I could gauge the quality of the disguise from the strange expressions on the junior knights' faces as they looked at me. Still, there was a part I couldn't hide. I pulled my fur hat down low. As a well-bred noble, I couldn't hide the inherent air of nobility that seeped from my skin and features. If I happened to make eye contact with the witch, my identity would surely be exposed in an instant due to the incongruous atmosphere.
'It's the cold North here. Pulling a hat down low isn't suspicious at all.'
I adjusted the awkwardly tight leather top and cast my gaze toward the cabin again. Moving this cautiously was strictly for the sake of 'just in case.' That place was the witch's lair, where evil curses lurked. There might be something I didn't know about. So, I would induce as much complacency as possible. According to Valenvalt's intelligence network, there was a report that the witch and some barbarians were secretly interacting. I didn't know what kind of price they were exchanging, but approaching while disguised in barbarian clothing was the most suitable way to lower her guard. The moment someone is most off-guard is when you can deliver the most fatal surprise attack.
"I'm going," I steeled my resolve. To ensure I could resolve this without anyone getting hurt.
"Please be careful," I heard Kalia's voice behind me as I moved toward the cabin.