Singing Princess (3)
Singing Princess (3)
Rattle, rattle...
Dozens of carriages moved in a line.
Piles of snow were hindering their progress, but the magic on the lead carriage melted the snow, allowing them to push forward somehow.
"Wow... how does this even work?"
"Isn't it like a boiler?"
"But the incoming wind is warm too?"
Nahee and Da-hee giggled as they repeatedly opened and closed the window attached to the inside of the carriage.
Thanks to the freezing outdoor temperature below zero, every time they opened the window, fierce winds rushed into the carriage.
However, the moment the cold wind entered the carriage, it lost its chill and turned into warm air.
It was an overwhelming technology that even the scientifically advanced Earth could never replicate.
"Stop opening and closing it like that."
"Why?"
"It's warm anyway?"
"It consumes Magic Stones faster."
Dojin said this while pointing to the Magic Stone embedded in the carriage interior. As he said, the few Magic Stones that had been shining brilliantly before departure were already starting to lose their sparkle.
The two looked around the carriage interior with eyes full of wonder, saying they hadn't known Magic Stones were used even in places like this.
'Who knew they'd be used in a place like this...'
And Dojin was the same. Though he didn't show it, he never dreamed the Magic Stones dropped by the monsters he hunted would be used this way.
It wasn't for nothing that the Magic Tower boasted a size and grandeur larger than even the Lord's Castle. Magic was integrated into everyday life, and the people of the Otherworld had reached a point where they couldn't imagine life without it.
No matter how many Magic Stones adventurers dug up, if the Magic Tower didn't process them into magic tools, they were just shiny rocks.
Dojin glanced up at the ceiling and noticed Emilia still sitting rigidly in her stiff posture, so he tapped her shoulder.
"What are you doing? Relax."
"Uh, yeah. No, got it... Master."
Ever since boarding the carriage, she'd been bombarded with questions from the girls until her mind was completely worn out, sitting there with a dazed 'Where am I? Who am I?' expression.
They had to travel for another week, and if she stayed that rigid, it'd strain her body quickly, so Dojin corrected her posture.
"No, you don't have to do that, it's fi... fine..."
"You wanna keep sitting like that the whole way? Even adventurers need to take care of their bodies."
"...If that's the case."
Emilia glanced cautiously at the girls, then slowly relaxed and leaned back against the carriage.
The top-grade leather and magic-enchanted carriage cradled her body comfortably. With the tension easing from her body and the cozy sofa, drowsiness quickly came over her.
While Emilia fell asleep, unable to fight the sleepiness, the other kids started dozing off one by one.
Dojin watched them and let out big yawns of his own.
"Mmm... I'm gonna catch a quick nap too-."
And at that moment, Dojin's instincts started ringing alarm bells. He didn't know why, but falling asleep right now felt extremely dangerous.
Feeling something off, he channeled magic power into his ears to check the outside. He only heard the peaceful breathing and snoring of people outside—no signs of danger...
'...No voices?'
Right now, no one was talking. Realizing this, Dojin immediately jumped out of the carriage and climbed onto the roof.
The coachman driving the carriage, the mercenaries, adventurers, merchants, mages, Holy Knights—everyone was nodding off.
'What the...'
Dojin went back inside and tried tapping Emilia and Seoyun to wake them, but they showed no signs of stirring, as if they'd passed out.
"Seoyun! Emilia! Eunha!"
He grabbed the shoulders of the kids who could help in a fight and shook them vigorously, but they didn't budge.
It was the same when he got out and tried waking the coachman, mercenaries, Holy Knights, or Saintess.
Everyone was deep asleep.
"What the hell─."
Dojin gripped his sword hilt and stayed alert. This wasn't normal. It screamed like an ambush was coming.
"It's no use."
As he scanned the surroundings warily, a voice came from behind. Startled, Dojin swung his sword at his back, but Raize, seeing the blade whistle over her head, frowned slightly and spoke.
"Should I be glad I'm short... Tsk. Can't you check who it is before swinging?"
"...Raize."
"You'd be dead if it wasn't me. Know that?"
"...Sorry."
Dojin apologized and sheathed his sword. He thought maybe people were coming to, but aside from her, no one had opened their eyes.
"Anyway, what's going on?"
"Dunno."
"You don't know?"
Raize wet her finger with saliva and held it up to check wind direction. The wind wasn't strong. But it was gathering toward the carriages bit by bit.
Sniff sniff, this time she sniffed the frigid air. Her brain began analyzing the components of the air she'd inhaled.
Magic detected components starkly different from normal air and presented her with a detailed breakdown.
"Hmm, nitrogen overdose causing fainting."
"...Nitrogen overdose?"
"Yeah. They passed out from lack of oxygen. Oh, what oxygen is—"
"I know that much."
"...Really?"
Raize looked at Dojin with surprised eyes. Who knew he'd know about atomic theory, which was just starting to be researched even among mages.
"But that's not the point, right?"
"Right."
But what mattered now wasn't whether Dojin knew atomic theory—it was why the nitrogen levels had spiked.
No effect without a cause. There had to be a reason only Dojin and Raize were awake amid this sudden phenomenon.
Even Charlotte at level 4 and Hero Emilia were asleep, yet these two were awake...
'Poison... immunity?'
Dojin realized their common point. Both immune to poison and drugs.
Dojin with Man-dok-bul-chim from his skill, and Raize with acquired drug resistance from countless experiments since childhood.
If the reason everyone suddenly fell asleep was some drug?
"...Raize."
"Yeah."
"Does a drug that knocks people out exist?"
"Of course."
"Then, are there animals that produce it naturally?"
"Tons."
In the Otherworld, so different from reality, where dinosaur-sized beasts still flew the skies, it was plausible for monsters that breathed sleep gas on people to exist.
Hearing Dojin, Raize realized the possibility and racked her brain for creatures active in winter that could knock out this large a group.
Even pulling in unrealistic possibilities, one beast popped into Raize's mind.
"...No way."
"What?"
Raize looked around. She thought the fog from the blizzard was natural.
It wasn't.
"Terror Bear..."
It was an animal known as a legendary creature like dragons—something that couldn't exist, a fantasy beast inflated from travelers' tall tales.
Raize lightly raised her hand and cast magic. The gas filling the surroundings scattered in the wind, revealing a massive hill in the distance still spewing the gas.
Looking closely, it wasn't a hill. It was a huge polar bear with white fur. In the snowy winter, it had disguised itself as a mountain on the snowfield, steadily exhaling sleep gas at them.
"...That's."
Seeing the massive body, Raize frowned slightly. Inherently, grotesquely huge things instilled fear.
Even this polar bear bigger than most buildings. The moment those front paws swung at the carriage line, the sleeping people wouldn't resist and would die on the spot.
Its cover blown, the Terror Bear slowly rose. Slow movements, but fast considering its enormous bulk.
"We gotta run..."
"Hey."
Shing-.
Dojin drew his sword and stepped forward.
Raize freaked out at the sight and tried to stop him.
"What are you doing? We need to run now."
"Run now? And abandon all these sleeping people?"
"Well..."
Logically, that was the right choice.
You couldn't throw away your life to save dozens of sleeping people, right?
Moreover, no guarantee sacrificing himself would save the rest.
But Dojin didn't think that way.
'First monster this big since then.'
The only monster the size of the Terror Bear before him was the Dungeon Ruler on the 30th Floor.
Surprisingly, dungeon monsters weren't that huge.
So, facing the monster before him now wasn't arrogance.
It was a way to confirm his growth, to break free from the chains binding him.
"That's nothing."
He grinned, aimed his sword, and poured magic power into the Magic Sword.
The sealed Magic Sword's power awakened, and Absolute Severing Energy that could cut anything bloomed.
─Guoooo...!
Realizing Dojin was baring his fangs, the Terror Bear lifted its massive bulk and approached.
It looked like a meteor falling from the sky... but Dojin advanced fearlessly.
Raize stared blankly before starting what she could do.
Wake the people. And help Dojin.
Boom! Kwang!
"Mmm..."
Ga-hee woke to the sound of explosions and slowly stretched, twisting her body this way and that.
Catching her breath, she looked around the carriage interior and realized Dojin was gone.
'Where'd he go?'
Come to think of it, the carriage seemed to have stopped. Maybe a rest break midway?
Overcome by sudden curiosity, Ga-hee cautiously opened the door and stepped out.
Whoooosh-!
"Kyaa!?"
The moment she opened the door, fierce winds whipped around. In the bone-chilling cold that made her limbs tremble, she realized she'd been riding in a magic carriage until moments ago.
"Ugh, why's it so cold..."
After getting out, she looked around and noticed everyone—mercenaries, mages, everyone—was staring blankly in the same direction.
Their eerily identical gazes, enough to spark slight fear, drew her eyes there too.
"...Huh?"
And there was Dojin.
A single small man was fighting a mountain-sized monster.
She blankly watched the myth she could hardly believe despite seeing it with her own eyes.