I Got the Loot!
Got the loot!
Primrose looked around. Heavy infantry clad in reinforced suits. The heavy equipment they carried, which would be difficult for an ordinary person to lift. And the infantry armed with magical gear purchased from the Serena Union. Entering the contaminated zone alongside this elite escort force, she thought it was an incredible stroke of luck. To be able to step into the exact contaminated area she wanted so easily, and in a completely safe situation after the battle had already ended, without a single worry about their lives—it was a massive jackpot.
“Our Iron Wall Division is doing everything in its power to protect this place so the citizens here can continue their daily lives. To date, we have eradicated more than two thousand enemies, including forty level-five monsters. We also hold the distinction of having subjugated a level-six monster—a Cyclops Ogre—on one occasion.”
The division commander stood beside me, proudly recounting their achievements. I didn’t really follow the details, but I let out an impressed “Wow~” anyway and gazed out at the contaminated zone they guarded.
The thick fog I had only ever seen on TV now filled my vision. A nearby officer seemed intent on warning me about its danger. He picked up a piece of scrap metal and tossed it toward the mist. The metal gradually oxidized before our eyes.
So that isn’t just corrosive to machines. It’s the energy of contamination that turns living creatures into monsters. This is my first time seeing it in person.
The greater problem with this land wasn’t the simple transformation into monsters. The real issue was the periodic outbreaks from deeper inside, forcing the military to maintain a permanent garrison and conduct regular subjugation campaigns. That fixed cost was the killer. Couldn’t they just eliminate the source? Easy to say. But this was a “boss zone” crawling with powerful monsters, a deadly territory where anyone without a special-grade hazmat suit would turn into a monster the instant they set foot inside. Even if every monster were wiped out, purification would require hundreds of specialized level-three mages charging ten million won per day. The cost of maintaining a standing garrison was just the cherry on top. Four months at the absolute minimum, sometimes stretching to a full year. At that point, the government decided it was cheaper to simply abandon the land.
When I saw it on TV or the internet, I just thought “huh, that’s rough.” But seeing it up close… it really is dangerous.
This was the situation humanity now faced, and the true terror of the monsters finally hit home. Contaminated lands like this were scattered across the entire world. This particular zone was large and close to a major city, so it was barely held at bay. But there were dozens of places inside the country alone that had been abandoned due to lack of resources, and thousands more worldwide. Everyone knew these zones were spreading like cancer and would one day strangle humanity. Yet the only thing that circulated were grim rumors that humanity simply lacked the power to stop them.
The truth lies just beyond here.
As we drew even closer to the contaminated zone, they told us we could go no farther. The ground still carried lingering traces of contamination. Countless marks covered the earth. While I tried to figure out what they were, the answer came to me: death. An uncountable number of living beings had perished here.
Before I could even mourn them, I sensed the faint “something” lingering in the soil—something dark, extremely unstable, and possessing an endless compulsion to convert everything into itself.
The instant I focused on that energy, Haru—who had been unable to follow as closely as Primrose and had been watching from a distance—felt it too. For some reason, it looked… delicious. It made his mouth water as if Hunya herself had been turned into a succulent piece of meat. He wanted to eat it. He needed to eat it. He wanted to devour it completely.
I have to eat it.
The moment the whisper echoed in my mind, I thought, Let’s eat.
The instant that thought formed, a noise reached us. When I turned, a swarm of monsters had appeared. The division commander saw them and began to gesture for his troops to handle it, but I charged straight in.
What are you doing? he probably thought. But how could I possibly hold back when a feast like this was spread out before me? I couldn’t tolerate leaving it untouched!
Giant rainbow-colored wings. A massive horn on the forehead and bridge of the nose. Every flap sent brilliant rainbow flames exploding outward like a detonation. The fire consumed the surrounding death, and every trace of energy in the area was “collected” into me.
In that form, more than twenty monsters—not just one or two—rushed toward me. I drew in a breath as I watched them, and the sensation of something “connecting” surged through me. My eyes, already those of a monster far removed from humanity, blazed with infernal light.
At those words their steps froze. They looked as if they had been struck by raw fear. Monsters—creatures said to charge forward without hesitation even against opponents they could never defeat—were trembling in terror.
I, the male, flapped my four wings. Flames erupted around me and began to devour the death itself. The fire spread with ferocious speed, like a blaze meeting dry straw. The monsters tried to flee, but the flames moved faster. In the blink of an eye the inferno had become a wildfire, completely swallowing every direction.
The moment everything vanished, Haru’s reason returned.
“Run…!”
When the nearby bodyguards shouted the warning, Primrose answered in a perfectly relaxed voice.
“It’s fine. I’m simply eating the contaminated energy that dwells here.”
“Eating contaminated energy? I’ve never heard of such a thing being possible!”
“Division Commander, this place is dangerous! You must evacuate immediately!”
While the officers panicked, the division commander beside them remained calm and cut in.
“All troops, stand by.”
“Division Commander, sir. It’s dangerous right now. Please withdraw—”
“Stand by.”
At the division commander’s order, the officers stayed where they were despite their fear. The spreading flames soon died out, leaving nothing but a field of ash.
After my meal, the hunger in my heart eased, if only by a little. I looked at myself and spoke.
“Primrose.”
“Cineurius.”
I, Haru, conversed with I, Primrose.
“Let’s meet again after this, Rose.”
“Yes. See you next time, Lord Cineurius.”
Having said that, [Haru] vanished like dust on the wind.
When I looked forward again, the thick fog that had been there moments ago was gone. The aura of death had disappeared, replaced by a field filled with crystallized condensations of the concentrated scent of lingering contamination.
High-Purity Contamination Crystals
Primrose picked up the crystals in her hands and shouted with sparkling eyes.
“Got the loot!”
Thanks to Hunya, it was exactly the sort of gamer thing I would say.
It was unbelievable. The contamination that even the Serena Union had been unable to properly eliminate had been wiped away in an instant. Even though the root origin of the contamination had not been removed, the contamination itself showed no sign of spreading again.
Moreover, scattered across the purified ground were objects that glittered like jewels. When I ordered the soldiers to collect them, the girl of another race—who seemed to understand what they were—spoke up.
“Those are high-purity crystals of contamination. If an ordinary person touches them… it would probably feel like making direct contact with the land of the contamination’s origin.”
The land of the contamination’s origin. A place so lethal that touching it without a special protective suit worth hundreds of millions of won would kill you instantly. To say these crystals were equivalent to that land… The girl herself didn’t sound entirely certain, and neither was I, but her tone suggested she knew what she was talking about. The soldiers immediately leaped back from the jewels to save their own lives.
“Are you all right?”
At my question, the girl of another race answered in a voice so beautiful it seemed to ring like a bell.
“Yes! I’m… used to things like this… I suppose?”
A statement whose meaning I couldn’t quite grasp. The girl who had just warned us how dangerous the objects were continued picking them up anyway. After a moment’s thought she asked, “Do you have a shopping basket by any chance?”
I answered immediately.
“I’ll prepare one right away.”
I had no idea what was happening, but we might have just discovered something enormous. An unknown entity capable of purifying contaminated land. And a girl who appeared to be on friendly terms with that entity. Excited at the prospect of reporting this discovery directly to my superiors, I wondered whether this achievement might resurrect the chance for promotion to corps commander that had seemed to have slipped away across the sea.
It had been wonderful to witness such a mystical sight. But then—
“Operations staff, compile a report containing every single thing that happened here and submit it by Monday.”
“Division Commander, sir, exactly how much does ‘every single thing’ include?”
“She appears to be some manner of special being. Therefore I want the reason for her visit, the route she took, every conversation she held, her actions, the locations she visited, and any changes observed in the surrounding environment.”
In short, he wanted a report on absolutely everything related to her. It seemed he intended to present it at the corps meeting on Monday.
Monday? Today was already almost over for Saturday, which meant we effectively had two and a half days. Division Commander, you miserable bastard. Just assessing the scene alone would normally take three days, and reviewing everything another two. And you want it all done in two and a half days?
I wanted to flip him off, but he was my superior—the big boss of our entire division. I could only sigh and resign myself to dying at my desk for the next two days.
Staring at her dazzling, impossibly beautiful back, I muttered, “She’s so pretty I’d confess on the spot, reason be damned.”
“My weekend…”
I turned the phone in my hand and made the call.
“Sorry to ruin your weekend, but it’s a direct order from the division commander. We need to write reports, so everyone is on overtime starting tonight.”
I informed the subordinate soldiers that only a bleak future awaited them.