Clouds Over the Border
The scenery was less flashy than the Empire's but still impressively constructed. The tall walls encircling the city and the grand gate welcoming us explained exactly why the word "Cloud" was attached to Cloud City. It was simple, really. The place was unusually prone to clouds. Whether the coastal winds far in the distance funneled every cloud this way or not, the sky here stayed perpetually overcast, and the rain fell heavily as a result. That was also why the city's waterways were noticeably larger than those in other towns—a small but interesting detail.
Another notable feature was how close the nearby villages sat to the Demon Realm.
"You've finally arrived! Please, come in!"
The gates swung open, and as we stepped inside, a man greeted us warmly. His clothes were quite luxurious, and the knights lined up behind him suggested he was the lord of this territory. When he offered his welcome, the Saintess stepped forward to begin the conversation.
"Nice to meet you. You must be the lord of this city. Our messenger reported that the Demon King's army recently attacked a nearby village..."
"Yes, that's correct! It's already been nearly a month. The incident happened only a few kilometers from my city... I've been living in constant anxiety, wondering when the monsters might storm our walls."
It seemed the past month had been especially hard on him. The lord poured out his grievances to the Saintess for a while.
"You must have suffered greatly. But now that we're here, you don't need to worry anymore. In the meantime, have there been any small-scale monster incursions?"
"Fortunately... none so far. After the village ahead was destroyed, we've kept that gate almost completely sealed."
"A wise decision. Well done."
In moments like these, having party members around was actually convenient. At the very least, it meant I didn't have to speak with the lord myself. If someone like me—covered in layers of curses—tried to strike up a conversation, he'd probably shy away first. From a third-party perspective, I could just listen in comfort.
I moved a little closer to the Saintess and whispered quietly.
"Could you ask if there were any survivors in the attacked village, and what kind of monsters were involved...?"
"Huh? Oh, yes..."
She seemed startled by my sudden approach, but she quickly composed herself and relayed my question to the lord.
"Of course. We sent scouts multiple times to confirm. We had to recover the bodies and investigate the monsters, after all. But do you know what was strange?"
His eyes carried a hint of fear as he continued.
"Everything had vanished! The residents' corpses, the attacking monsters—everything! It was as if the village had been a ghost town from the beginning. There wasn't a single living thing left."
"They had vanished?"
The Saintess asked in shock. Adel, who had been listening with a grave expression, spoke up.
Puppetry
"Ugh... This just got complicated."
I hadn't even mentioned the next Heavenly King yet, but they all seemed to recognize the name immediately. That was only natural. The Puppet Master had been active long before I became a hero. If I remembered correctly, he first appeared in the records during the fifteenth hero's era. In other words, he was an elder among the Four Heavenly Kings with centuries of experience. Unlike the Insect King who had appeared in the previous generation, there was a wealth of information available about him.
"The Puppet Master... you mean?"
"Yes. That's the one."
"We can't be certain it's him yet..."
"For now, it would be best to visit the village ourselves. Could you open the gate for us?"
"Ah, yes! I'll have it opened right away!"
When Kamilla asked, the lord nodded vigorously. No matter how much authority a city lord held, it couldn't compare to an imperial noble—especially one as high-ranking as Kamilla.
"Ah, before we go..."
As we were about to set off, the lord hesitated and spoke again. A faint spark of hope lingered in his eyes. Kamilla tilted her head curiously.
"Is something wrong?"
"Well... I was wondering. Did the hero not come with you this time? I'm getting on in years, but I've always been a huge admirer of the hero. If possible, I'd love to meet him."
"Ah."
Kamilla's face twisted into an awkward expression. She glanced sideways at me, silently asking what to do. It seemed the rumors from the Empire hadn't reached this far yet.
What else could I do? If someone wanted their dream shattered, the least I could do was deliver the blow myself. I stepped forward a few paces, pulled off the hood I'd been wearing the whole time, and looked him in the eye.
"Nice to meet you. I'm the hero."
"...Ah."
Disappointment flooded the lord's gaze.
"Haha. As expected of the hero... your presence is truly remarkable... haha."
Even in that moment, he managed to maintain his composure. A noble was a noble, after all.
"...It's desolate."
"There really isn't a single sign of life."
When we arrived at the village, we were momentarily speechless. If there had at least been piles of human or monster corpses on the ground, we could have frowned in disgust. But the complete emptiness left us with no way to react. There weren't even bloodstains on the ground or any visible signs of destroyed houses. If we hadn't heard the report beforehand, we might have assumed the villagers had simply moved away together.
"This is serious."
Adel, who had been examining the traces, muttered with a hardened face. The Saintess asked carefully upon hearing her.
"How could this have happened? Is it even possible for an entire group to disappear like this...?"
"It's possible. If the monsters were intelligent and powerful enough to capture them without resistance, or..."
Adel's blue eyes sank deeply.
"If they walked off somewhere and vanished on their own."
"What?"
The Saintess asked again.
"Is that even possible in this world?"
"It is. If it's the Puppet Master, absolutely."
This time Lily answered. She was drawing magic circles in the air, investigating the lingering traces of mana in the area. Despite her thorough examination, very little mana residue appeared. That was only natural—special abilities like his rarely showed up in such scans. As she continued her investigation, she murmured quietly.
"It would've been easier if it was the former..."
I nodded vigorously in agreement. A rampaging horde of mindless, powerful monsters would have been far preferable. At least they would have been less troublesome than this guy.
I never expected the Heavenly King himself to launch the attack...
It was happening much faster than it had in the game. This seemed to be another effect of the restrictions the goddess had mentioned. Enen's past mistake of pouring all her resources into the previous hero was coming back to bite us again.
I didn't have any expectations anyway. That damn idiot Enen.
Muttering curses that would have sent the Saintess into a rage if she'd heard them, I fell into deep thought. The Puppet Master had attacked directly. This wasn't something that would end with a single village disappearing. As I'd said before, he could brainwash people. There was no telling what kind of atrocities he might commit using that power.
In the game, I'd rarely seen him fight in person. Even though his own strength wasn't weak by any means, he always caused chaos with his ability first before stepping onto the battlefield himself. So when he appeared, you had to worry about something else entirely. Not a battle between monsters and humans, but between humans and humans.
My consciousness sank deep for a moment. I needed to figure out his intentions. Let's see... Why would he bother invading such a small village? What possible benefit could he gain from it...?
As I pondered that, a sudden sense of unease rose in my mind—an error I hadn't noticed during the journey here.
Wait a second...
"Now that I think about it, how did the scouts realize this was an attack by the Demon King's army?"
"Hm?"
"What do you mean?"
The party members asked from various directions. Ignoring them, I continued speaking almost to myself.
"Think about it. There's absolutely nothing here that would suggest the Demon King's army. No monster corpses, no blood on the ground, not even any destroyed buildings. If I'd discovered this first, I would've thought it was a bizarre disappearance case rather than a demonic raid. Or maybe a mass migration."
Yet the scouts had concluded it was an attack by the Demon King's forces. Why? Had they realized it was the Puppet Master's doing? No—at the very least, the lord hadn't even considered the term "Puppet Master" until we brought it up. Of course, it was possible the scouts simply forgot to mention it... but if they were careless enough to overlook something that important, they wouldn't be qualified as scouts in the first place.
In short, even the scouts hadn't recognized the word "Puppet Master." And yet they had still concluded it was an attack by the Demon King's army. And they'd done so incredibly quickly. As if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
A chilling hypothesis suddenly occurred to me. One that might already be reality.
"This might be..."
I looked at them and spoke carefully.
"There may already be brainwashed individuals among the scouts."
The poison the Puppet Master had sown had already begun seeping into the human realm.