The Burning Will (Part 5)
Not far from the entrance, massive wild boars lay sprawled across the ground. Every single one had a hole punched through its vital spot. The blood flowing from their carcasses had pooled into thick, dark puddles.
“Judging by the wounds, this wasn’t the work of a typical adventurer.”
“A priest, a druid, and a martial artist. That seems certain.”
“The traces aren’t old. Though, given the time, that’s to be expected.”
Toby said this after dipping his finger into a pool of blood and drawing a line across the dirt. So, that’s how they gauge a situation. To survive is to be strong. Among adventurers, that wasn’t just a joke—it was a grim reality. There was always something to learn from a veteran.
“Boars in the canyon…. You said you’d investigated the dungeon in this vicinity before, right?”
“Yes.”
“What came out of it?”
“In our case, it was gnolls.”
“Then it’ll be boars. They’re simple-minded, but they’re strong and have massive frames. It’ll be a tough fight for you.”
Toby said this, then stood up straight and lifted his ears high. His soft-looking ears twitched. It seemed dungeons had a certain tendency. Dungeons that spawned nearby were likely to share similar environments, and similar environments meant a higher probability of similar monsters. This aligned with the rumor Meredith had mentioned earlier—that the dungeons appearing in this area yielded white bellflowers. If the environment was the same, the materials one could harvest would be the same, too. It was like a Drop Table.
Drop Table: A list organizing the loot that can be obtained from a map or monster.
“Boars?”
“They’re like gnolls with the heads of pigs. Similar to gnolls, but larger. They’re duller, but stronger. There isn’t one you need to be particularly wary of, but every single one of them is a headache.”
The protagonist finished speaking and looked at the rod in my hand.
“This time, don’t step to the front as much as possible.”
“Then what should I do…?”
“Throw a rock or something.”
“…”
“I’m not joking. As we go, if you see a stone the size of a walnut, pick it up. That’s what you’re best at.”
Literally, he didn’t seem to be joking. The protagonist personally scanned the ground and handed me a stone of appropriate size.
“You must conserve your magic as much as possible. At least until we meet the rescue targets.”
“Yes.”
“Two are coming this way.”
Toby, who had been staring quietly into the distance, interjected.
“Can we ambush them?”
“They’re moving quite fast. It looks like they’re riding something…. It must be a boar. Let’s split up. I’ll take one.”
Toby pointed to two large boulders. Not long after we hid behind them, the sound reached my ears. It was a crude, heavy sound, unlike that of a horse. How much time had passed since we held our breath and waited? Two boars mounted on top of wild boars appeared. They were monsters with the features of a pig, just as the protagonist had described. Their ears were wide, their noses were upturned, and thick tusks protruded from their mouths. Even though their backs were hunched, they looked a head taller than the protagonist, and their bulk was even greater. The wild boars supporting such massive frames must have been no ordinary beasts. They wore leather to roughly cover their vital parts and clutched crude spears in their hands.
Across from me, Toby spread his hand. So, rabbit beastkin have four fingers. I had such a pointless thought. His fingers slowly curled. Three. Two. One. Now.
The protagonist darted from behind the boulder and stabbed his stiletto into the boar’s chest. Then, using the hilt of the sword embedded in its chest as a pivot, he brought his left hand—which held a dagger—around to the front of its neck and slashed with all his might. Red blood sprayed.
Conversely, Toby leaped out directly in front of the boar. While the startled wild boar stumbled and the boar lost its balance, Toby rushed in like a thunderbolt. Is this a trait of the rabbit beastkin? With a single step, he closed the distance to the wild boar. Then, drawing his sword from its scabbard, he leaped into the empty space to the boar’s right. The rapidly drawn blade caught the sunlight and glittered. The accelerated edge sliced through the boar’s neck in a single stroke.
The wild boars, splashed with hot blood, began to thrash in surprise. When the wild boars turned their bodies to find a target to charge at, I also jumped out from behind the boulder. For a rear-guard, even if you give up a bit of the initiative, now was the best time to act without being targeted by the enemy. I’d never thrown a ball in my previous life, so I didn’t have much of a feel for it, but… I lowered my hand holding the stone as much as I could and twisted my waist. Rotating my waist with the sensation of throwing a discus, I utilized the centrifugal force to its fullest and lightly released the stone at the end of the motion.
The stone flew rapidly and struck the wild boar’s body. I meant to hit its head! Still, the wild boar broke its stance, and it was immediately pierced by the protagonist’s sword. Toby made the most of his swift feet, dodging here and there before finishing off the wild boar—whose charge had been stopped after it slammed into a wall—by stabbing its neck. He then lightly shook off the blood, ran his left hand along the blade once, and sheathed it again. Is this what a swordsman is… The protagonist, like me, seemed to have his gaze stolen by Toby’s movements.
“Let’s hurry.”
Toby said that and cleared his throat. After that, we didn’t encounter a single boar. But it wasn’t as if those who had gone ahead had killed all the boars, as there were few carcasses to be seen. The carcasses that were visible were divided into two categories: those with wounds from a sword, and those without. It was evidence that two distinct groups were inside this dungeon.
“Judging by the wounds, these are traces of a rapier.”
Toby said this, glancing at the protagonist’s waist. A stiletto, coated in soot so it wouldn’t reflect light, was strapped there.
“The person who taught me the sword just happened to be from the underworld, but I am a guild member to the bone.”
The protagonist said this with a troubled expression. Toby stared at him for a long time, as if trying to read his inner thoughts, before finally turning his eyes to me and looking away.
“My apologies. Given the situation, I was cautious.”
“I understand.”
No further conversation followed. We climbed the hill, stopped whenever we felt even the slightest presence, and after some time, repeated the process of walking along the path again. I picked up four usable stones. The protagonist said that if I picked up too many, the weight might hinder my movements, but if I balanced them well among my luggage, they didn’t feel that heavy.
After walking for a while, Toby stopped us.
“There’s something ahead. And there are quite a lot of them.”
“Can you tell us the exact number?”
Toby shook his head. The protagonist groaned and scratched his head.
“We have no choice but to see for ourselves.”
At the end of his gaze was a high cliff. Just looking at it, it seemed like it would take a lot of stamina and time to climb up and down. Toby, who had pointed to the cliff, didn’t seem very keen on it either. When I turned my gaze toward the protagonist, our eyes met. No words were exchanged, but the protagonist nodded.
“If I take a little time, I think I can check it out. Would that be alright?”
“A Familiar! You know how to use one?”
Toby’s voice rose as if he had just heard something welcome. “Young mages dislike them, calling them plain, but it’s a magic a true adventurer should master. Please, do it.”
Since it’s a wasteland with nowhere to hide, it would be best if it were an animal that could fly…. Thinking this, I took the materials out of the bag slung at my side. I took out chalk and drew a circular magic circle with myself at the center. Then, I crushed charcoal into fine pieces and sprinkled it along the edge of the circle, being careful not to break the line. Holding the charcoal in both hands, I chanted the incantation.
"Spirit, answer my call."
⟨ Summon Familiar ⟩
The charcoal filling my hands distorted and clumped into a single mass. Then, the mass wiggled and transformed into a crow. Caw! The crow chirped lightly and tilted its head.
“Go see what’s over that hill.”
As soon as I finished speaking, the crow dropped from my fingertips, spread its wings, and soared. At the same time, all sensation in my body vanished. When I came to, I had become a bird. I wasn’t moving my body, but the crow turned in the direction I thought. The feeling of flying through the loosely filled air was… strange. It wasn’t like the sinking feeling in your stomach when riding a roller coaster, nor was it the strong pull of gravity like when you jump. It was just naturally floating in the sky, which felt pleasant and exciting, yet strange at the same time.
Just as I was getting used to such an unfamiliar sensation, the group of boars Toby had mentioned came into view. One giant, three riding wild boars, and five ordinary ones. Just by looking, there were that many. Besides that, there were three fallen boars, suggesting a fierce battle had taken place. The boars were surrounding a cave with its entrance blocked by boulders. Occasionally, they would strike the entrance with their weapons, looking as if they were targeting something inside the cave. Are they trapped inside? They wouldn’t last long at this rate.
Thinking I needed to return to my original body, my mind went blank, and I returned to my familiar Hazel body. My perspective was strangely low.
“Hazel, are you back?”
The protagonist’s voice came from above my head. When I regained my senses and checked my surroundings, I found I was snuggled deep into the arms of the protagonist, who was sitting with his back against a rock. Toby was also sitting across from us, watching us. I felt heat rising to my cheeks, but I didn’t have the luxury to worry about such things.
“The boars are surrounding a cave. It looks like people are trapped inside.”
Both of their expressions turned grave.