10. What Happened One Night - 13
"...Unbelievable. Even as I behold this barrier with my own two eyes—proof that it exists in this era—I still cannot bring myself to accept it."
Heron, a mage retained by the Dekaraznan Ducal House, could not hide his astonishment as he probed the barrier that encompassed the entire forest a short distance from the estate.
"Heron, explain in more detail. What exactly is this barrier?"
Noel looked at him with incomprehension and demanded an explanation, so he let out a long sigh and stretched his hand toward the inner side of the barrier before him.
Wooong—
As Heron reached toward the barrier's interior, ripples spread across its surface. A moment later, the hand he had extended suddenly popped out from a nearby patch of air some distance away. If one had to compare it, the sight closely resembled the body-separation tricks street performers sometimes show. The one difference was that what Heron was demonstrating now was neither street magic nor any kind of trick show—it was reality happening right before their eyes.
"Do you see, my lady? This barrier surrounding the forest possesses the property of denying access to all who attempt to approach it by distorting space itself. An ordinary barrier would forbid entry from outside by heightening its sustaining intensity, but this barrier instead warps the continuity of space to prohibit interference altogether."
At Heron's explanation, Noel blinked a few times, then gently furrowed her brow.
"...In simple terms, you are telling me we cannot even attempt to enter the barrier's interior, nor try to destroy it? Even if we tried, the very space composing the barrier is distorted, so interference itself is futile?"
"That is correct."
When Heron nodded at her words, Noel let out an incredulous laugh.
"Does that make any sense? I admit I am not well-versed in magic, but I know enough to recognize an absurd claim. I am aware of what magic in this era can and cannot do."
Truly. As far as Noel knew, magic studies in the present age considered direct intervention with time and space all but impossible. She had heard that an archmage who had touched a fragment of truth and reached a transcendent realm might partially meddle with spacetime, but only a handful of archmages existed across the entire continent. Why would one invade the Dekaraznan Ducal House, and why abduct Sarah Sernad?
"...Have you heard any rumors of an archmage coming to this area?"
At Noel's question, Heron shook his head.
"I have heard no reports of any tower masters leaving their magic towers. Marquis Castana is also counted among the empire's persons of interest, so if such a figure had arrived here, the news would surely have reached my ears."
Heron's logical reply left Noel with no choice but to nod.
"...Yes, I imagine it would have."
"...Furthermore, even setting aside the identity of someone with enough understanding of spacetime to apply this level of spatial displacement to a barrier covering an entire forest, I cannot even begin to grasp the principle behind the fine-tuning that permits only specific individuals to enter."
Listening to Heron, whose voice now carried something close to awe, Noel suddenly expressed her puzzlement.
"...Only specific individuals can enter?"
"Indeed. Whoever erected this barrier appears to have intended both to prevent us from entering this forest and, at the same time, to draw in certain others without a sound. Those unidentified 'specific individuals' probably walked into the forest without even realizing a barrier had been placed over it."
"And the reason for luring them into this forest?"
"This is purely my personal speculation, but I suspect it is a hunt."
"...A hunt?"
"Yes. They abducted Lady Sernad, flaunted the abduction before everyone's eyes, and even set up this barrier right near the Dekaraznan residence. I can only see it as a means to draw in a third party unknown to us. Is it not similar to how hunters hunt wild animals? Throw out bait, lure the animal to where the trap lies, then sever its windpipe before it even realizes it has become prey. That seems to me the standard method of hunting."
"...If you are correct, then the inside of that forest is already..."
At Lady Dekaraznan's remark, Heron shuddered once, as if genuinely frightened.
"...I believe there is a high probability that it has become hell. A mage so thorough as to erect this sort of barrier could not possibly have failed to prepare at least one means of killing the foolish prey that crawled into the snare of its own accord."
****
Following the trail of the kidnapper who had abducted Sarah Sernad was not particularly difficult. Especially not for the hunting dogs, who prided themselves on being second to none when it came to tracking another's steps. It was unclear whether the culprit had no intention of concealing the trail or was simply inept at such things, but the hunting dogs succeeded easily in picking up the kidnapper's trace. The trail clearly led to this forest, not far from the Dekaraznan Ducal House.
Thus they set foot inside. Nothing barred their way. There were no traps, so they drew closer to their target little by little.
...Only, something about this forest was strange. Even to these hunting dogs, whose sensibilities had long since withered from handling every kind of filth the underworld could offer, the forest felt unsettling.
First of all, the forest was shrouded in an uncannily deep silence. Not a single insect chirped. The only sound was the bushes rustling in the wind, accompanied by chilling shrieks like something wailing.
At a glance, the tangled branches around them looked almost like grotesque living creatures, and a faint, skin-shredding killing intent seeped from the whole forest. ...To put it more concretely, an invisible blade seemed to dangle at the nape of their necks, wrapping them in an eerie dread that their throats might be cut at any moment.
The sixth sense they had honed as hunting dogs was sounding a violent alarm in their instincts even now. No one voiced their feelings aloud, but they all knew that everyone present shared the same impression.
This forest is ominous. And it is dangerous.
As the middle-aged man and the other hunting dogs slowly pressed deeper into the forest with that unease lodged in a corner of their hearts—
They stopped.
All at once, as if they had agreed on the timing beforehand.
Because before them stood a girl with snow-white hair, blocking the path.
"What a quiet arrival, rude guests. What business brings you to a secluded forest at such a late hour?"
It was a bizarre sight, as though they had stepped into Wonderland. A girl with a lovely face in a charming pose had come to greet them, utterly out of step with the forest's ominous mood.
...It was hardly the sort of thought to have in a place like this, but she was beautiful. Poised at the midpoint between fresh adolescence and full womanhood, she overflowed with the kind of dignity one might expect from a noble house's young lady or a princess of some country. Even standing alone, she filled the entire place with a charisma that overwhelmed everyone present.
"My name is Aria. I am a humble handmaiden of the Estel Duchy—one of the Four Great Ducal Houses renowned across the empire. Though naturally, the master I serve is anything but humble."
"...The Estel Duchy?"
For a moment, the hunting dogs could not make sense of her words. Why in the world was a handmaiden of that Estel Duchy blocking their path in this place?
"Oh, for reference, the name Aria was given to me personally by my master. What do you think? Does it not suit me perfectly?"
The girl let out a lovely giggle, and her expression showed no hostility toward them at all. Or rather, her attitude was more like—
"...I have no idea what you are babbling about. Wench, we have no interest in the wretched identity of your master. Cease your nonsense and get out of the way this insta—"
Unfortunately, the man raising his voice at Aria never finished his sentence. ...Because no one whose upper body has been erased mid-speech could possibly continue talking.
Thud.
No one present had detected even a hint of forewarning. By the time they registered what had happened, the man's upper body had vanished without a trace, as if devoured by some invisible monster. His torso, now severed, lost balance and toppled to the ground.
"...Truly, how discourteous. Who taught you the bad habit of rudely interrupting when another is speaking?"
That was it. Aria, who faced them all now with a gentle smile, did not harbor the slightest wariness toward them. In the purest sense, Aria did not consider them enemies.
...Because from the moment they had stepped into this forest, their lives and deaths rested in Aria's hands alone. It was simply that their insolent manner of speaking about Kain had made Aria ever so slightly angry.
"Shall we state our business simply and then both be on our way? That would be the most mutually beneficial, don't you think? In that spirit, I have one proposal to offer you."
Aria kept giggling, apparently amused by something, and continued.
"My business is solely one thing: to stop you here so you cannot reach my master. He left your lives or deaths to my discretion, so I do not see any particular need to kill you. After all, I received his praise today and am in a very good mood. So, one proposal—"
She raised her index finger, then waggled it gently at them as if tossing out mockery.
"—I will let a single person, just one, leave this place alive. Who shall it be? Shall you decide by rock-paper-scissors? Or draw lots?"
"Insolent...!"
As if he could tolerate no more of her treating their lives like playthings on her palm, the middle-aged man drew the sword at his waist.
The blade he wore was none other than Lightning Sword Carbella, one of the Eight Great Treasures of the Continent. House Sernad, which boasted the continent's greatest wealth, had recently purchased it at enormous expense. It carried a legendary reputation: it bestowed upon its wielder enough thunderous force to cleave a mountain or evaporate a lake.
"Strike! The enemy is only a young wench! No matter how skilled a mage she is, stick a blade in her body and she'll die just the same!"
Emboldened by his words, three hunting dogs drew daggers from their chests and surged toward Aria. However far beyond their common sense this mage's arts might be, the hunting dogs themselves were specialists in killing upon the battlefield. Even an archmage dies when you plant a knife in her, like anyone else!
Thuk—
Contrary to expectation, there was no resistance. Without any attempt to stop them, Aria meekly accepted the daggers they thrust into her body. And—
Crshsh—
There was no scream, either. The bodies of the hunting dogs who had stabbed her all turned to salt and crumbled apart.
.....
Everyone stood frozen, robbed of speech by the horrific spectacle. Aria giggled and addressed them.
"Ah, now that I think of it, I forgot to mention one thing. The figure you see before you is only an illusion. I have already given my body and heart to another, so I cannot carelessly expose myself to outside men. Still, you must not lower your guard. Because—"
Aria—or rather, Aria's illusion—drew her finger downward. And in the next moment—
Crrrk—
The two hunting dogs closest to the illusion froze into icy statues on the spot.
Crnsh—
And then they shattered into pieces and collapsed.
"—I can easily take a life or two like yours."
...This was unmistakably a miracle far beyond anything anyone here understood. Within the barrier enveloping this forest, she could exercise great miracles without penalty and even work magic that transcended space itself.
Confined to this forest's interior, Aria was undoubtedly the mightiest mage in the world.
"Do you understand now? You will never leave this forest alive."
From the very beginning, Aria had no intention whatsoever of sparing them. Because they had dared utter the words "kill Kain" with their own mouths and had directed killing intent toward him.
'If I handle this matter well, he'll praise me again, won't he?'
With that thought, Aria beamed brightly. She still had not forgotten the warm touch of Kain's hand when he praised her.
...And in response, truly ferocious killing intent began to shake the entire forest.
That killing intent was, so to speak, the signal for the hunt. A death sentence handed down by the merciless mistress of the forest upon the prisoners fleeing without looking back.
"...I do hope I can enjoy this for a little while."
Aria's profile as she chuckled and murmured those words was much like a certain face Kain once knew—a face from a certain time.