Toward the Foggy Mountain (1)

“Mmm…”

How long was I out?

“Oh. Finally awake, huh?”

I lifted my head at the voice. Brita was looking down at me with worried eyes.

“You sure slept a long time… I thought my leg was gonna fall off.”

Her leg?

Ah…

I’d wondered what I was using as a pillow. She had offered up her own leg.

No wonder my neck felt so heavy. Resting my head on that solid chunk of iron would do it.

“…Hey, what’s with that face? I went out of my way to worry about you.”

“It’s nothing. Thanks.”

I spoke with my eyes still half-closed.

I flexed my arms and legs. They seemed fine.

Well, at this rate I could move without issue.

“You good now?”

“No problem. I was just a little tired.”

“Ha… You really scared the hell out of me. If you’re awake, let’s get moving. We still have to find those kids.”

Brita held out her hand. I grabbed it and pulled myself up.

I remembered what that researcher had said earlier.

‘We were just about to start experimenting on those kids.’

Which meant they hadn’t touched them yet.

“…You need to eat more. Aren’t you way too light?”

“Aren’t you the heavy one?”

“Ugh… Seriously.”

Brita raised her hand, then lowered it again.

Hmm… Did I say something wrong?

She pressed her fingers against her temple and rubbed hard.

Whatever. I’ll shelf it for now.

“Hmm…”

“…”

The inside was emptier than I’d expected.

They hadn’t even finished preparing before starting. That was lucky, at least.

It raised the chances that the kids were still alive.

“The inside… is cleaner than I thought.”

“Hey, hey! Don’t say stuff like that, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it’s bad luck!”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Ha… Whatever. Let’s search. There’s gotta be some kind of hidden mechanism.”

What was she even talking about all of a sudden?

The room looked like a typical laboratory.

The odd part was that it was completely sealed off—no passageway leading anywhere else.

There had to be something hidden here.

Thud—

“Hm?”

Something bumped into my arm and fell while I was looking around.

A small, well-worn notebook.

It looked like it belonged to that researcher.

I picked it up and flipped it open.

“Let’s see…”

“What is that?”

“Research notes. Looks like his handwriting.”

The pages were crammed with messy scrawl.

The handwriting was terrible, but I could make out some of it.

“Look at this.”

“What’d you find?”

“There are blank sections in the records. This is probably…”

“…Those kids. They were planning to use them as the next test subjects. Disgusting bastards.”

An eleven-year-old girl and a twelve-year-old boy.

The circumstances matched perfectly.

“But where do we go from here? This place is completely sealed.”

“Brita, that bookshelf over there.”

“Huh? What about it?”

“Doesn’t it look suspicious?”

If they were hiding a passageway big enough for people to walk through, behind a huge structure like that would be the perfect spot.

“Where… Oh!”

Brita’s eyes dropped to the floor.

There were clear drag marks.

The bookshelf had been moved.

“That way! Haaap!”

She lifted her axe and brought it down hard on the bookshelf.

Crack—! KWAAAAANG!

Wood and stone shattered. The space behind it was revealed.

There had probably been some kind of mechanism, but there was no need to solve it now.

Except…

“Cough! Cough! Give me some warning next time!”

I kept coughing from the thick cloud of dust that exploded outward.

“Well, I got through, didn’t I?”

Brita turned to me with a smug grin.

I stared at her with half-lidded eyes.

“What? Why are you looking at me with those cat eyes?”

“…”

I stayed silent for a moment, then spoke.

“Let’s go, Miss… Caracal.”

“Hey! Why’d you bring that up!”

I left the fuming Brita behind and stepped inside.

Beyond the opening was a long corridor.

Hospital beds had been abandoned everywhere.

Some rooms were tightly locked and impossible to check.

We could only guess their purpose from the signs on the doors.

“‘Incineration Room,’ ‘Disposal Room,’ ‘Drug Manufacturing Room’…”

“Every single one sounds disgusting.”

“‘Warehouse’…”

We were passing the warehouse when—

“Hey, hold on. Krim.”

“What is it?”

“Here. I hear voices.”

I stopped, held my breath, and focused my hearing.

“Save… me…”

The words were mumbled and hard to make out, but someone was definitely there.

KWAAANG!

Before I could even process the words, Brita smashed the door apart.

I was going to say something… Cough. Never mind.

This wasn’t the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to complain.

“Please… save us…”

“Krim, over here!”

Beyond the shattered door were people trapped behind iron bars.

Two children.

The kids we’d been looking for were with them.

Bang! Clang! Ting—

The moment she saw them, Brita smashed the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lock with her axe.

Creak—

“W-who are you…?”

Fear filled every face.

A warehouse. This must have been where they kept the people they dragged in.

Treating human beings like objects… Those disgusting bastards.

“We’re here to rescue you. Let’s get out of here quickly.”

I spoke calmly to reassure them.

“But… there are so many of them outside…”

“If you’re talking about those bastards, we already took care of them. It’s safe now.”

“Y-you dealt with all of them…?”

The people stared at us in disbelief.

“Sister…”

The girl stepped forward, body trembling slightly.

“Can we… go home now…?”

“Of course! Your mom’s waiting for you at home. Let’s hurry!”

“Hic… Yes… I want to see Mom…”

The boy who seemed to be her older brother gently wiped her tears with his sleeve.

“Thank you so much… big sisters.”

“Thank you…”

“Thank you for saving us…”

One after another, the people expressed their gratitude.

A satisfied smile spread across Brita’s face as she watched them.

I smiled awkwardly and followed her lead.

It would feel wrong to stay expressionless in a moment like this.

“What? You can smile? I saw it before too.”

“…Let’s just go. We need to get them back to the castle.”

“Hah! Yeah. Let’s move.”

Brita’s voice was bright and excited.

Well… things had worked out.

We were walking through the waterway with the rescued people when—

Step. Step.

“Hm?”

“Someone’s coming this way. Stay alert.”

Multiple sets of footsteps. Reinforcements?

According to the information we’d gotten from that man, their main base was somewhere on the mountain.

Was this a squad from there?

We continued forward warily until—

“Who’s there?”

A man’s voice called out.

He raised his lantern, illuminating us.

We could see them clearly too.

They were wearing armor. City guards.

The grey-haired man at the front appeared to be their leader.

“Are you the guards? We were on our way back to the castle after rescuing these people.”

I explained the situation.

“The blonde swordsman and the red-haired mercenary… You two must be the ones who accepted our request. Rescue, you say? You mean the missing people?”

“That’s right. We chased those bastards and found these people locked up here.”

“…I’m truly ashamed. This is because we were negligent in our search. Thank you both for your hard work.”

Finally, someone I could actually talk to.

Compared to the guards we’d met before, his speech was surprisingly decent.

“Ah, I’m late with introductions. I’m Leonhardt Windner, the newly appointed captain of the Wind-keepers in Windenstadt.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Windner. I’m Krimhild Eschen. This is my companion Brita.”

“Brita Caera. You weren’t at headquarters when we stopped by.”

“Please just call me Leonhardt. I’m not quite at that level yet. Haha…”

He scratched his head lightly as he spoke.

He still wasn’t used to the title.

“Have you been in the position long?”

“No, not long at all. I only recently took the post. I’m still not comfortable being addressed by my surname.”

“Then please call us by our first names too. Is that alright with you, Brita?”

“I don’t mind. But Miss Caera… ugh…”

Brita waved her hands in protest.

I’d heard mercenaries didn’t usually use surnames with each other. Her reaction confirmed it.

“Then I’ll be in your care, Miss Krimhild, Miss Brita.”

“Likewise.”

“Well, that’s enough pleasantries. How did you even find this place? The entrance was supposed to be well hidden.”

The well that served as the entrance had been cleverly concealed.

It would be nearly impossible to find without a thorough search.

“We heard an explosion from underground while we were returning. We followed the sound and came down here.”

It must have come from the fight we’d had.

“Returning?”

“We went up the mountain to check on the device there. We were heading back empty-handed when we heard the noise.”

I’d heard those bastards had a base on the mountain.

“Did you find anything?”

“No. We couldn’t even reach the top.”

“Huh? You didn’t go up at all?”

Brita sounded genuinely surprised.

“The entire mountain is covered in a strange fog. Any animal that touches it becomes violently aggressive.”

He paused, then continued.

“…We lost several of our own people. They breathed in the fog and turned into monsters…”

Leonhardt lowered his head, clearly in pain.

Fog… It was probably connected to Void mana.

Turning people into monsters, though…

“Could you take a look at this?”

I handed him the madman’s research notebook.

“What is this?”

“Experiment records from the black-cloaked remnants who were working here. It seems related to what you just described.”

Leonhardt slowly read through the notes.

“How could anyone do something like this…!”

“W-what the hell is this!”

The two guards beside him couldn’t hide their horror.

“…”

He continued reading in silence.

His face had gone pale. It looked like he was just as shocked as his men.

“…Thank you. Comparing it to what you said, it matches.”

He gave a small bow.

Judging from Leonhardt’s reaction, the experiment that man had mentioned was likely meant to create the fog on the mountain.

“But even with this, I can’t think of a way to clear that fog. We need some kind of method…”

“What’s even on top of that mountain? There has to be a reason those bastards occupied it and turned it into that nightmare.”

Brita was right.

Those followers claimed they were working to resurrect the god they served.

What did stationing themselves on the mountain and spreading that bizarre fog have to do with it?

“An artificial wind device is installed there. It’s necessary for people to live in this region.”

Ah. So that’s what it was.

I’d heard that Adelgard had originally been a harsh land for humans.

In the past the wind god had circulated the air himself, but now artificial devices performed that role.

“Why would they care about something like that? Wouldn’t it make life harder for them too?”

“They must not be locals. Those selfish bastards…”

Leonhardt ground his teeth.

At least this man actually cared about the city’s safety—unlike the lazy guards we’d met before.

But was that the full reason?

Making life difficult for the people didn’t seem connected to resurrecting their god.

Well, it would be faster to go there and hear it straight from them.

A few good pokes and the answers would come out.

“If it’s that fog, I have a way.”

I stepped forward.

“Pardon? You can deal with the fog?”

“If it’s the same mana those bastards used, I can overwrite it with stronger power.”

I had already torn through the Void barrier he’d made.

If it was the same nature, my power should be able to strip it away.

Tap—

“That slash from earlier… If it’s that, I’ll vouch for her. I saw that guy’s sword get ripped apart by her blade.”

Brita rested a hand on my shoulder in support.

“Then… this is shameless of me, but could we ask for your help?”

“Of course. We have business with those bastards anyway.”

“Yeah. I won’t feel better until I’ve smashed their faces in.”

We’d been planning to go anyway.

My revenge had only just begun…

If I knew where the next target was, of course I had to go there and kill them.

“Thank you… Thank you so much.”

He bowed to us repeatedly.

“Then could you come to headquarters tomorrow? I’d like to discuss the recapture and reactivation of the device.”

“We will.”

“Sure.”

After the guards left, a short while later—

“Whew… Finally, I can breathe.”

“Yeah.”

“But what happened to you earlier? You suddenly jumped up and got all strong out of nowhere.”

“…It’s a long story. I’ll explain when we get back.”

Honestly, I didn’t fully understand it myself.

That woman named Mist.

Just who—or what—was she?