The Monster Stampede (1)
"My lord. The tremors from the mountains have grown increasingly ominous. Reports are pouring in from residents who claim to have heard strange cries..."
"Haaah. It must be some wild beast causing trouble. If we place a large order for hides with the hunters, the situation should improve."
"Understood. I shall see to it at once."
One day, an ominous report arrived. The Count of Ariente responded with a yawn. How bad could these tremors possibly be? Could they be more terrifying than the massive earthquake that had nearly overturned the entire Ariente domain? Surely it was nothing serious. The Count decided to dismiss the matter as trivial.
And the very next day—
"This is terrible, my lord! The hunters have testified that they spotted monsters in the mountains!"
"Monsters in the mountains? Kuhaha! Not even a dog would laugh at such nonsense! My father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and even my great-great-grandfather never once heard of monsters emerging from those mountains! Beyond them lies the Belmont domain—don't tell me the Belmonts have released monsters into the wild?"
"Huh?"
"..."
That... actually sounds plausible!? The butler and the Count of Ariente exchanged meaningful glances. Given the rumors of all manner of experiments and misdeeds being carried out in Belmont, releasing monsters wouldn't be out of the question.
"Hah, what nonsense! My benevolent younger brother would never do such a thing!"
"Y-you're absolutely right. A most reasonable assessment."
No. I mustn't suspect him. Who saved the Ariente Construction Company from bankruptcy? Belmont. Who kept supplying us with work when we couldn't even pay interest and were on the verge of collapse? Belmont. Ah... my dear brother. I allowed petty old prejudices to cloud my judgment and entertain unworthy thoughts. The Count of Ariente shed tears of repentance and reflected deeply on his mistake.
"I must have misheard. There's no way monsters could appear there. Tell the hunters this: if they wish to prove their words are true, bring back a monster's corpse."
"Understood. I shall relay the message."
They must have been frightened in the dark mountains and made up the monster excuse out of embarrassment. There was no other explanation. The Count of Ariente quickly reached his conclusion and decided to ignore the matter once more.
However, three days later—
"M-my lord! Something terrible has happened! Eyewitness accounts of monsters appearing are flooding in!"
"What!? Have they all started seeing hallucinations this time—"
The Count of Ariente shot to his feet, but his words trailed off. Beyond the window, he could clearly see the distant green forest of the mountains collapsing with a series of loud cracks.
"Aaaah!"
An enormous black wave, like a tide too vast to count, surged forward. Ants. They were ants. The sight of a massive swarm of giant ants pouring down like a flood drained the color from the Count's face.
"Evacuate all the residents into the castle immediately! If even a single person is left behind, there will be severe punishment! Make that clear!"
"Yes, sir!"
"A-and send word to the imperial palace... No, request support from Belmont first!"
If those things reached the castle, it would be a massacre. Ariente would be destroyed! Though his body trembled with fear, the Count clung to a single thread of hope.
"Brother... I'm counting on you once more...!"
Aslan Belmont, who had already demonstrated countless eccentricities. Perhaps he possessed some brilliant solution to this crisis. The Count prayed that it was true as he threw on his coat and rushed outside.
"Julia! Hurry up! They said it's urgent!!!"
"Uwaaah! I was in the middle of a snack... What is this!?"
Dragged along by Charlotte's hand, Julia came running out in a hurry. She wore comfortable clothes with a hastily thrown-on coat and hat. The crumbs around her mouth confirmed that she had indeed been eating a snack.
"It's an emergency."
"Th-then I'll bring Muddy too... yo!"
"Call him."
"Muddy! Come here!"
[Kyaah! I don't care about human affairs—]
The moment the words left his mouth, Julia opened hers. A sharp hissing sound escaped her lips. She had unleashed a spirit command.
[Kyaaak! My body is moving on its own!!!]
"There you are, Muddy!"
With a cloud of dust trailing behind him, Muddy came running from afar and leaped straight into the carriage, where Charlotte caught him in a hug.
"Lucky guy."
"Let's depart."
"What about Sister Sylvia?"
"She left ahead of us. On horseback."
Sylvia hadn't had time to wait for us and had gone on ahead. Riding a horse directly would naturally be faster than a carriage. Since I'd already replenished her mana, she should be able to handle the initial response. The carriage carrying Charlotte, Julia, Muddy, and myself left the mansion and sped off into the night.
"Phew. So what exactly is going on... yo?"
"A monster stampede has broken out in the mountains, putting the Ariente domain in crisis. From what I've heard, a massive number of giant ant monsters have appeared."
"A monster stampede...!"
Charlotte and Julia's eyes widened, their mouths falling open in shock. It was only natural. Monster stampedes were an uncommon disaster.
'Monsters themselves aren't exactly common to begin with.'
Monsters referred to animals that had been transformed by mana. Animals instinctively avoided areas with high mana concentrations. However, if they were unavoidably exposed to dense mana for extended periods, they would mutate into ferocious monsters. A few monsters wouldn't pose a major problem. The real issue arose when an entire herd of animals underwent the transformation. In such cases, a swarm of monsters would rampage, bringing calamity—this was what was called a monster stampede.
"Where could so many monsters have come from...?"
"If it's Muddy, who lived in those mountains, maybe he knows something... yo?"
"Muddy! Do you know anything? Huh?"
[Kyaaak!]
Charlotte grabbed Muddy and shook him vigorously while demanding answers.
[I don't know! There's no way I would have allowed monsters to run wild in my territory!]
"If you don't know, then who would? Think harder!"
[If I don't know, then I don't know. What else can I say— Oh. Now that you mention ants, there is something that comes to mind.]
"What is it!?"
"Tell us! Quickly!"
Charlotte and Julia both grabbed Muddy and pressed him for answers.
[When I was hibernating, an ant colony had built a nest beneath my resting place. They kept crawling out and annoying me, so I sealed the entire colony with a barrier out of irritation.]
"Hold on. As far as I know, barriers are made of high-density mana."
[That is correct, human.]
"..."
A barrier was a sturdy wall constructed from mana. The ant colony sealed within it would have been exposed to high concentrations of mana for a long time. Which meant—
"This is all your fault, Muddy!!!"
[...]
Charlotte grabbed Muddy and shouted at him. Muddy turned his head away, refusing to meet her gaze.
[How is this my fault? If the barrier had remained intact, the monsters wouldn't have been able to escape anyway. The fact that I left the mountains and could no longer maintain the barrier is your fault, isn't it?]
"You should have told us! Why are you blaming us when you didn't say anything!?"
[...I forgot.]
"You little—!!!"
"That's enough. We'll settle the blame later. For now, let's focus on dealing with the situation."
To calm the commotion, I slid the window open. A thunderous roar, like an earthquake, filled the air as a black tide of ants covered the ground. In an instant, they had engulfed the villages of Ariente, destroying everything they touched without leaving a trace.
"From now on, we have no choice but to fight them."
"Oh..."
"Ah..."
Charlotte and Julia's mouths fell open.
"Have all the residents of the fifth district been evacuated?"
"N-no! We've confirmed the evacuation of the first and second districts, but the third, fourth, and fifth districts are still—"
The butler's words trailed off as a vein bulged on the Count of Ariente's forehead. Damn it! The monsters were already closing in on the villages, yet the evacuation status was still this pathetic! The first and second districts had evacuated quickly because they were close to the castle. The three outer districts had the largest populations, meaning less than half the residents had been evacuated.
"Why is it taking so long!? At this rate, all my people will die! If the residents die, there won't be anyone left to pay taxes...!"
I still haven't repaid my debt to Belmont! I'm already struggling to pay the interest! If I lose this many residents, Ariente will be completely ruined! A miracle! I need a miracle! The Count's hands trembled violently.
"We are mobilizing all available personnel and soldiers, but it's not enough. Roughly half of the guards left the domain a week ago for training, so it will take at least three days for them to return..."
"Damn it! How can we be short on manpower—"
"My lord! Look over there!"
"...!"
At the sudden call, the Count of Ariente turned around. He saw a line of residents approaching the castle's rear gate in an orderly fashion. That direction... wasn't it the fifth district? The guards hadn't even gone there yet, so who was leading the residents so methodically?
"Who is evacuating them!?"
"I-it's the knights of Belmont! And employees of Belmont Security are guiding the evacuation!"
"The same is happening in the third and fourth districts! Evacuation processions are coming from those directions as well!"
"Good heavens!"
Again! Again! Was I going to owe Belmont another favor this time!? Honestly, when I first heard they were starting a security company, I had laughed inwardly. I thought such a business would never succeed. But to think I would be the first to benefit from it!
"Aaaah! My brother...!"
Faced with the miracle he had so desperately hoped for, the Count of Ariente fell to his knees and wept. Whether the tears were of gratitude for Belmont's benevolence or despair at how much more Belmont would take from him this time, only he knew.