From the Beginning (1)
The Archmage let out a sigh as she surveyed the situation before her.
The special detachment made up of the Inquisitor, the Demon Knight, the rogue, and Baramson had already set out for the next mountain stronghold.
What remained were the Temple’s personnel, the Magic Tower’s mages, a handful of Baramson’s crew and adventurers, and the people they had just rescued.
Compounding matters, demonization of the land had already been observed. The longer purification was delayed, the greater the calamity that would return to them.
“For the moment… your roles will be critical.”
Yet this was Yabad—a land that would not tolerate the Temple. One wrong step and those who ought to cooperate might end up at each other’s throats.
“You will have to mediate between the local residents and us.”
So she made the request firmly of Baramson’s subordinates and the adventurers. Only they stood any real chance of speaking with the townsfolk.
The mages? She held no expectations of them. Even if asked, those fools would lose themselves in their own interests and forget everything else entirely.
She did not trust the people of her own organization.
“I know it may be unpleasant. Still… I ask this of you.”
“Well, it’s a job, so no worries on our end.”
“Honestly, this is turning into a real headache in all sorts of ways.”
Fortunately the adventurers proved immediately cooperative.
“…Don’t fret. We’ve got brains of our own.”
“It’s damn irritating, but… this is my hometown. So I’ll cooperate.”
Baramson’s men, while hardly cheerful, at least showed willingness. Perhaps the public clash between Baramson and the Inquisitor had left an impression—or maybe it was the Demon Knight’s single remark.
“As for the treatment of those people, I intend first to see whether they can be escorted to Zakrati. If that proves possible…”
“Send them that way?”
“We cannot simply return them to their villages, and the strongholds are far too unstable. Splitting our forces here would also be difficult. If this were a one-time matter it might be different, but it will only keep happening.”
Of course, if reinforcements arrived it would be another story. If reinforcements arrived.
If they permitted it.
“Which is why…”
“Hold on, mage.”
“Ah, speak first.”
“…Can you really settle this? I’m not even asking for things to go back to normal. Can you actually drive Bipurit and those damn demon bastards off this land?”
The Archmage paused at the question from one of Baramson’s sailors.
Should she give them the truth, or hope? In that brief instant countless possibilities raced through her mind.
“If we speak only of the conclusion, I believe it is possible.”
With the Demon Knight’s martial power combined with the Inquisitor—who was a demon’s natural enemy—there were few demons that could not be taken down. Even factoring in the drawback of their poor compatibility, which produced no synergy and only left one side unilaterally harmed, that remained true.
Add to that a rogue skilled in spotting traps and gathering intelligence, and Baramson, who had been attached to speak for the Inquisitor.
They might not reach Bipurit’s main base, but up to the point just before it their advance would likely be unstoppable.
“However, if we wish to reduce the casualties further… we will need help. The aid of the forces standing by on the mainland.”
“…Don’t tell me you mean bringing more of the Temple here?!”
“It is hardly a new notion, is it?”
Hunting demons did not end with killing them. The land they had tainted had to be purified, and even after purification every remaining scrap had to be searched out and destroyed.
And those tasks could not be resolved in a single stroke simply because one’s combat strength was high.
“What we need now is time and manpower. And the more we have of one, the less we require of the other.”
“We’ve already got fifty people right now!”
“Look at it coldly. Montata is not so small that fifty people can handle it.”
Fifty was nowhere near enough.
If they insisted on managing with only those fifty, then yes—assuming they never rested for a single moment—it would take at least a year.
Perhaps longer. The longer purification lagged, the more demons would spawn, and the more demons spawned, the faster the demonization would accelerate.
It would become a brutal contest of attrition.
“Or gathering thousands or tens of thousands of purification stones could be a method. However… as you know, purification stones are not so easily made. Even if we scraped together every last one on the market it would still fall short. If Yabad Region requested them, the Temple would supply them free of charge—but even the Temple cannot produce stones that have not yet been created.”
“……!”
In the end the problem was time. If they refused to allow the Temple in, they would have to endure that time, and the damage that would come with it.
“I know this is little better than humiliation to you. I know that simply accepting us has already been an ordeal. But there is no other way. This matter cannot be handled by the Magic Tower alone.”
It was a cruel fate.
“Then why bother telling us all this?”
“Boatswain……!”
At that moment someone stepped forward. With Baramson’s first mate having gone to request reinforcements, this man would be the next in rank among the subordinates.
The fact that he had already sensed the intention she had been holding back made it clear why Baramson had entrusted him with command.
“I need someone to carry word to Zakrati.”
So the Archmage spoke frankly. The boatswain’s face twisted slightly.
“I do have a means of contact. I left one mage behind. But delivering the message is another matter.”
“So you want us to go to His Lordship with our own mouths and say we should bring more of the Temple?”
“It is not a demand. And I do not even ask that you speak it yourselves. I merely hoped you might voice a little agreement.”
“Same thing.”
So it would not work after all. She felt a flicker of regret, yet abandoned the idea almost at once. As survivors of the massacre—or the children of those survivors—their hatred of the Temple was hardly incomprehensible.
“If a god exists, He is truly heartless. Why force such a choice upon us? A cruel one indeed.”
Yet her disappointment had come too soon.
“…But it’s also true there’s no other way. Fine. Let me speak with His Lordship. You said contact is possible.”
“Boatswain!”
“What.”
“The Temple is……!”
“The Temple, what? You think I’m doing this because I don’t know? My mother was a militia captain. I know better than most what those damned Temple bastards did here! But do we have any other method? Do we?!”
“That’s……”
“Children are dying!”
“……!”
“Not just children—adults, old folk, all of them dragged off or chewed to death in the jaws of monsters! You can see it just looking at those people over there! Bipurit sold this land by joining hands with demons!”
“That’s……”
“The captain’s choice was right. I can’t forgive those Temple dogs. Never. But…… if they can truly save this land, if this is the only way left, then I can give them one last chance. Damn it, I love this land too much.”
“…….”
“So…… make the contact. I’ll somehow persuade His Lordship.”
Some hatreds can be crushed beneath the weight of a fervent love and longing for someone else.
“You—you people. What the hell.”
The sixth day since arriving in Montata.
I advanced as quickly as I could while carefully managing my fatigue. Any drop in satiety I simply filled with the preserved food looted from the strongholds.
If there had been any luck, it was that the stronghold we hit midway had horses.
Thanks to that we had been able to move swiftly for a while. Were it not for the attacks by demonized beasts, we might still have been riding them even now.
“Are you people monsters……?”
“…Leave me out of that, please.”
While the Inquisitor managed to keep up with my pace reasonably well, the two men seemed to be hitting their physical limits. Their breathing was ragged, and the dark circles under their eyes looked ready to slide all the way down to their chins.
Compared to ordinary people they were still overwhelmingly hardy, which only made it more unfortunate that they had been stuck with me.
“Do not act so weakly!”
“I’m not a superhuman like you, okay?!”
“This is not a matter of the body—it is a matter of the mind!”
“Does the mind feed you or put you to sleep?!”
Dev and the Inquisitor were squabbling for the first time in ages. Hearing that racket again after so long, I was enjoying it—
“Silence.”
—when I interrupted. This was already enemy territory, and we were the ones moving toward the sounds of laughing and chatter. The dumpling pair seemed to have forgotten that.
“S-sorry.”
“It’s your fault I got yelled at.”
“I-it is not my——!”
“…One thing’s for sure—if you two keep that up you’ll get yelled at again.”
Baramson pointed it out in a deflated voice. The two flinched, then quietly negotiated a temporary truce. They really were adorable when they acted like that.
“You’re having a rough time of it too……”
Well. Given the shape of my concept, I can’t control the little things very well.
But whether that counts as “rough” is a bit ambiguous. Even when they snarl at each other they still handle their own jobs. They’ve never gotten in the way when things turned serious.
And more than anything, watching them play around so childishly is just cute.
Hostile targets exist within a 30 m radius.
At that moment the notification rang in my ears along with the sound. The noisy chatter that had been audible for a while grew suddenly clearer.
Thud.
My hand came to rest against the solar plexus of Baramson, who had been standing beside me, and halted his steps. Dev, who had been bickering with the Inquisitor, must have heard it as well; he clapped a hand over her mouth.
“Enemy?”
Probably. I hid myself against a tree trunk and looked in the direction of the sound. Beyond the hill.
“I’ll go take a look.”
The steep slope was thick with the fallen leaves of withered, dead trees. While I was still considering how to cross it, Dev volunteered. His hands silently slipped off his own shoes.
Crunch, crunch.
It would be a stretch to call the sound nonexistent.
But that was only because I was watching his footsteps. The people beyond the hill would hardly even register that such a sound existed.
Dev’s body began slowly climbing the hill. Dried leaves had somehow been fastened to his hood, making the camouflage even more effective.
Rustle, rustle.
A short while later, after crawling over the crest and peering beyond, Dev turned back toward us and moved his fingers. He spread all five, shook them once, flipped his palm to show the back of his hand with two fingers, then flipped again and held up four.
“Fourteen?”
A bit many. To me it was still more of the same, but still—what if one slipped away. Though of course none would.
“You going to be okay?”
Was Baramson still unable to trust me? I gripped my sword hilt and glared at him savagely before starting forward.
Dev silently and desperately waved his hands.
His lower jaw worked, forming silent words.
“…Hostages?”
That… complicated things. I’m terrible at protecting people! This was exactly the sort of job for a mage or the Inquisitor!
“Hostages make this difficult.”
“…The captives will be people from around here, no doubt.”
“I will save them, so do not worry. …Sir.”
“…….”
At the still-wavering form of address, the expression of Baramson—who had looked thoroughly furious only moments earlier—turned peculiar. At the very least, his anger at the present situation seemed to have taken a back seat.
“Hearing honorifics from the likes of you doesn’t make me feel good, so just talk however you want.”
“……! Understood!”
“…….”
This guy had spent six whole days with the Inquisitor and still hadn’t figured out her character? Or had exhaustion simply diluted even his rage? Either way it wasn’t particularly important.
“Composition.”
Setting that aside, I urged the newly returned Dev. The young man squatted on the ground of his own accord and began sketching the situation with a twig.
Fourteen people spread out in a defensive formation centered on a carriage. Children inside the carriage. Adults bound near it.
Crrrk.
Grit.
The moment I heard that children were locked inside the carriage, my sword hilt and glove scraped together in a vicious sound. Immediately afterward came the grinding of Baramson’s teeth.
The atmosphere turned murderous in an instant.
“…Looks like they set up camp because the sun’s about to go down. There’s a stream nearby, and the hill side has a clear view.”
They would come to regret that.
I hated crimes that touched children more than anything! If it were a war where adults and children died without distinction I could at least pass it off as tragic and sorrowful, but capturing kids and locking them in a carriage?
Bring it. I don’t normally endorse personal revenge, but you lot really need a beating. Even the concept will allow this one!
“Fall back. Do not get in the way.”
I drew the scimitar and spun it half a turn.
For the record, the words I had just spoken were a sort of insurance. Who knew whether those bastards might seize the children or the others as hostages in a fit of rage.
If the Inquisitor who had already fallen back raised a barrier, Dev unlocked the shackles, and Baramson covered for her by saying she was Temple but one of the decent ones, then we would be safe.
Of course it bothered me a little that I had spoken rather ambiguously…… but they had understood, right?
If they hadn’t, I would have to cut every last one of them down before they could take hostages.
“Got it.”
“But I can still fight……”
“You idiot, it means secure and protect the people while he draws their attention.”
Fortunately Meat Dumpling grasped my intention perfectly.
“…There was that kind of meaning in it?”
“So that was it. As expected of the Demon Knight……!”
“Even when he pretends otherwise he’s a kind person, after all.”
No. Not perfectly—corruptly.
Kyaaah. Stop the corrupt interpretations! That kindness is the real personality showing through, not the concept’s kindness! The concept is kind too, of course, but not like this—I’ve always thought it wouldn’t be, wouldn’t be, wouldn’t be, but anyway hyaaah!
“Hic.”
I swung the blade in a sharp arc and stopped it right in front of Dev’s nose. The sudden wind whipped the dry leaves about.
“Get lost. Before I tear out your tongue.”
For the record my face right now was no doubt the face of someone genuinely, thoroughly pissed. After all, if they kept closing the distance while calling me kind and looking ready to get comfortable with me…… well, I had to keep them at a proper remove, didn’t I?
Crunch.
Without correcting my irritable expression I turned toward the hill. My combat boots crushed the dry leaves as I climbed steadily upward.
Fwoosh-fwoosh-fwoosh
The moment I reached the crest, several arrows came flying. The two-handed sword slammed down at the same instant the skill activated, and Ground Crash unleashed raw mana in every direction.
Every arrow that had been flying was knocked aside as a bonus.
“Sh-shit, what the hell is that!”
“A-a knight!”
“He can use mana! It’s a knight!”
“Weren’t all the knights already dead?!”
As the mana subsided I looked down from the torn-up earth at what lay below.
The carriage and the people bound in shackles. In front of them the human traffickers who had made their camp. Everywhere were the traces of laughing, talking, and drinking they had left until the moment I appeared.
Kill them all.
I put strength into my legs. Boom! With a roar my body shot down the hillside in a single bound.
Crunch!
First one was already dead.
“Kids.”
Leaving behind the one whose face I had kicked in on landing and who had died instantly, I turned my gaze beyond him. Every child locked inside the barred carriage was staring at me.
“Close your eyes.”
In an instant jet-black energy began to gather in thick strands along the silver blade of the scimitar.
“This is nothing you need to see.”
Very obediently, the children shut their eyes.
Soon two black Chamgyeok flew out, carefully avoiding the carriage and the prisoners outside it.
Screee. The scimitar sang a metallic note.