Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 65
>Chapter Title: Whatever, Let's Give It a Shot
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Swamp Ruler.
No one knew when this monster had come into existence, but it loomed as a nightmare over adventurers and mercenaries alike.
The true Hamern Great Forest.
The hell called the Depths.
One of the ancient species that had leaked out from there!
“……No one knows. Why this ancient species broke free from the Depths and set up shop in the swamps on the outskirts of the Hamern Great Forest. But…….”
Riley trailed off there.
That was right.
For adventurers and mercenaries, the why and wherefore didn’t matter.
All that counted was that the Swamp Ruler was a monster that had devoured countless adventurers and mercenaries over hundreds of years.
“Hmm…….”
I crossed my arms and leaned back against a tree stump.
Night had fallen over the Hamern Great Forest before we knew it.
Crackle, pop.
We’d set up camp far from the wetlands and lit a campfire, but no one said a word, as if by some unspoken agreement.
After a moment.
“Why’s a thing like that hanging out in the swamps?”
“Well…… I don’t know either. It’s supposed to be holed up in the Death Swamp, pretty far from here.”
Even for Riley, this seemed like a truly bizarre occurrence.
And for good reason.
‘It’s never left the Death Swamp in hundreds of years, right?’
That was why this ancient species, dangerous as it was, had never been hunted down.
No matter how ancient it might be, the Hamern Great Forest was a natural treasure trove.
The resources it produced were beyond imagination.
The great houses, kingdoms, and empires might not care about some swamp monster, but for a mercenary band, it was different.
If it posed a threat, they’d band together and form a subjugation force, no matter the cost.
But instead, they’d just designated the ‘Death Swamp’ as forbidden ground and called it a day. That was the reason why.
“Anyway.”
“……Yes, go ahead.”
“Why not just skirt around it and cross the swamps? Even if it claims the whole wetland as its territory, it doesn’t look like the place is all that big.”
No matter how powerful a monster, it only had one body.
The wider the territory, the thinner the defenses, and there had to be gaps somewhere.
But Riley shook his head at my words.
“……Impossible. It’s relentless. The moment your foot touches the water, it’ll pick up your scent. And then it…….”
“Follows that scent to the ends of the earth?”
“……Yes. Some eccentric noble once did an experiment, they say. He lured the Swamp Ruler away, sent hundreds of slaves into the Death Swamp and back out, then scattered them…….”
“All dead, I take it.”
“Yeah. There were only two cases where it didn’t pursue. One was when they escaped outside the Hamern Great Forest. And the other…….”
“And the other?”
“When they went into the Depths.”
“Hm.”
I paused there for a moment.
Across the campfire.
Riley’s face, illuminated by the faint glow, had gone pale before I knew it.
He’d barely escaped his panic earlier, but the aftershocks still lingered.
‘Two options, huh.’
Flee outside the forest. Or plunge into the Depths.
‘Neither one’s any good.’
We had to stop Destrow, so running out of the forest wasn’t even worth considering.
The Depths, on the other hand……
‘Gives me the creeps.’
I’d been to the demonic realm and back, but the Depths of the Hamern Great Forest were uncharted territory for me.
A land of death that had swallowed countless soldiers, mages, and knights throughout history.
Including grand mages and master knights who’d reached the pinnacle of their arts.
“If you insist on pushing forward…… we’ll have to change the route.”
“And how long would that take?”
“I don’t travel that path often, so it’s hard to say…… but at least ten days. Could be a month or more.”
Ten days to a month.
“Of course, that would mean…… skipping the First and Second Base Camps and heading straight to the Third.”
“The swamps are that big?”
“Not really…… but it’s not about going around them. We’d have to take a big detour. That’s why the guides never found a way straight through.”
I listened up to there and turned to Obern.
“That’s the situation.”
Obern had been listening quietly until then, his face clouded with deep concern.
But.
“……Guess we don’t have a choice, then.”
He accepted the situation readily, agreeing with Riley without hesitation.
But even as he said it was fine, the worry on his face only deepened.
“Truth is, things on the inside aren’t looking good, are they?”
I hadn’t asked about the situation at the Fourth Base Camp on the way here.
‘We cut travel time from the Academy to Grintown with a forced march.’
And if it was urgent, I figured Obern would push the schedule himself.
“To be honest…… we’re still okay for now. But the situation inside keeps changing rapidly out of nowhere. If it takes a whole extra month…… who knows.”
“So it’s urgent.”
“……Yes.”
“Hmm. What to do.”
I took a moment to sort my thoughts.
‘Swamp Ruler, huh…….’
In terms of danger, yeah.
It wasn’t so much that they couldn’t catch it—they just had no reason to.
The payoff didn’t justify the effort, you could say.
‘If it were outside the forest, things might’ve been different.’
There were guys like that.
Ones who hunted monsters hunkered down in quiet corners just to build a name for themselves.
They called it trophy hunting, and the Swamp Ruler would’ve been perfect for it.
What with its infamy.
And the fact that it stayed put in one spot.
‘Of course…… most of ’em would end up dead.’
When Riley panicked and dragged us along.
For that brief instant, I’d felt the raw fear in its roar loud and clear.
- Groooar—
A terrifying presence that shook the mountains and forests with sound alone, stirring primal terror.
A true ancient species of the Hamern Great Forest, no doubt.
Even I’d felt a shiver down my spine.
‘……Felt just like the first time I saw an ogre.’
But was it something I couldn’t take down……?
‘Who knows.’
If it were a mage or knight, I could gauge it. But monsters? Hard to say.
Common ones outside, sure. But this was the Hamern Great Forest.
An ancient species that supposedly escaped the Depths, no less.
Of course it defied normal logic.
But.
“Yeah, fine.”
I stopped thinking there and made my decision.
“So…… we redraw the route?”
Riley pulled out his map of the Hamern Great Forest and asked.
But I shook my head.
“Nah.”
“……?”
“We go straight through the swamps.”
My words split their reactions clean down the middle.
“……What?”
Obern’s eyes went wide, like he couldn’t believe what he’d heard.
“Wha…….”
Riley started to blurt out something like ‘what the hell,’ then realized his mistake and clapped a massive hand over his mouth.
I grinned at the two of them.
“Whatever, let’s give it a shot.”
You don’t know till you try, right.
* * *
My words must’ve hit like a bomb.
A chilly silence settled over the campsite.
It wasn’t total silence, really.
Crackle, pop. Sizzle.
Moths drawn to the fire flung themselves into the flames.
Kee-ek, kack! Crunch—
Crack……
From the brush beyond, faint sounds echoed of nocturnal monsters on the hunt.
Obern’s magic kept the camp hidden from their sight.
He’d whipped up a simple concealment barrier in no time—not his first rodeo with camping, clearly.
‘Pretty handy guy.’
That’s why I hadn’t ragged on Obern for not killing a single monster on the way here. These little conveniences!
That’s where my thoughts were when.
“Um…… Mr. Mage. I don’t think you get it. It’s an ancient species. No different from those horrors lurking in the Depths.”
“So?”
“So what do you mean, so! It’s dangerous. The Swamp Ruler’s insanely persistent. It’ll definitely follow us!”
Riley ranted on, his face pale as before.
“Think there’s a misunderstanding here.”
“Oh, a misunderstanding? Whew…… I thought for a second you meant charging straight through the swamps. Scared me half to death.”
Am I crazy?
“Of course not.”
“Right? No way, right?”
I nodded at Riley’s desperate question.
‘Lug around something that relentless? Am I nuts?’
The persistent ones are the scariest.
Strong ones, you dodge. Smart ones, you smack down.
But persistent? They stick to you no matter what.
So what do you do?
“We’re not just charging through.”
“……?”
“We kill it.”
“No, what the fuck.”
Riley finally lost it and let a curse fly.
But I got where he was coming from, so I let it slide.
Mostly.
“Gah! Ack!”
After just two smacks.
Anyway.
“The schedule’s tight, right?”
“No, Mr. Mage. Is this about the schedule? Trying to shave off a few days could send you to the next life decades early in the Hamern Great Forest.”
“Good point. Ever think you could drop dead right now instead of dragging it out just to live a few more days?”
“…….”
Riley clamped his mouth shut.
But he wasn’t the only one objecting.
“Um…… Senior. If it’s because of me, it’s fine. I’m already grateful you came this far. You don’t need to risk…….”
Obern voiced his thoughts carefully, his face darkened.
Caring about others without a trace of show in a situation like this. Pure as ever.
Which is why.
“What a load of crap.”
“……?”
Obern stared at me, eyes wide.
The bewilderment in them only pissed me off more.
“You’ll die like that.”
“Oh, uh. Sorry…….”
“Not you.”
Heart, convictions, whatever.
That half-assed mindset gets you killed.
The problem’s not you dying—it’s everyone around you getting dragged down with you.
“When it’s time to act, you act. You gonna hesitate like that even when Destrow comes? What if you have to take down your master and Destrow at the same time? What then?”
“That’s…….”
Life’s a series of choices every moment.
There are better options, but no perfect ones.
Well, perfect ones exist, but almost no one’s qualified to pick them.
“Anyway, no objections.”
“…….”
“…….”
My firm tone shut Riley and Obern up like they’d swallowed honey.
Crackle, pop.
With the campfire’s soft crackle as background, I declared again.
“Swamp Ruler. We take it down tomorrow and move on.”
Was this the right call?
Even I couldn’t say for sure.
But it beat playing it safe, missing the window, and regretting it later.
“When it’s time to act…… just act…….”
Obern mumbled my words, like they’d struck him deep.
That’s when he spoke up.
“Then…… I think I can help.”
“Were you planning not to?”
Does this guy need a mental overhaul?
I started to clench my fist, but Obern shook his head vigorously and added more.
His face was filled with resolve, unlike before.
He said.
“I still haven’t fully awakened it, but…… it’ll definitely help.”
“Awakened what?”
“……They call it a Gift, too.”
Gift.
The unusual term made me furrow my brow.
‘Gift? Oh, right…… a Gift.’
A memory surfaced.
It happens sometimes.
Mages or knights born with exceptional talent in one area.
Not the ‘genius’ talent like Damian’s.
Something you couldn’t quite call magic, because its principles were unknown.
Yet too tied to magic to call a superpower.
But.
‘He has a Gift?’
I eyed Obern curiously.
And he told me.
By the time he finished.
I realized his Gift was pretty damn useful.
“My Gift is…… Overclock. It can explosively unleash a target’s latent potential in an instant. Of course…… it’s not fully awakened yet, so there are some limitations.”
Overclock. A power that explodes a target’s hidden potential.
I straightened from my lean against the stump and leaned forward.
“Tell me more.”