Horn Boar, Part 2
On the third day of the hunt for the Horn Boar, Lawrence had become completely accustomed to fighting with a front line.
Raul moved with quick, economical precision. His blows might not have carried much force individually, but his style was pure mercenary work—thorough, careful, and aimed straight at stripping the Horn Boar of its mobility by attacking its weaknesses first.
Ulrik favored a single decisive strike. There would be no second chance. His giant axe was built to take the Horn Boar’s life with the first blow, almost like a guillotine brought down in the wilderness.
If there was one drawback, it was that once they grew used to fighting this way, they barely accumulated any real combat experience. Lawrence was becoming more and more skilled with Bind, that was true, but beyond that there was little to show for it. If he was thinking about growth, it was probably still better to operate alone.
“You’ve all worked hard.”
“You too. These aren’t iron. Copper, maybe? Honestly, something like this might be worth money instead.”
A smile spread at the corners of Raul’s mouth.
For once, they had managed to take down as many as five Horn Boars.
And the armor wasn’t the usual iron, either—it was copper. That might actually fetch a higher price than cheap iron laced with impurities.
As Lawrence, quietly hopeful, reached to detach the Horn Boar’s tusks, Ulrik suddenly shouted, “Mage!”
He shoved Lawrence aside.
Still not understanding what was happening, Lawrence rolled across the ground and coughed.
“W-what was that…?”
The sentence never made it to the end.
When he lifted his head, Lawrence saw Ulrik blocking something.
Water?
A straight jet of water was slamming down onto the blade of the giant axe.
No—he was blocking it.
The water that had been fired toward the place Lawrence had been standing only moments before was being held back by Ulrik’s axe.
Lawrence’s confused mind finally clicked into place.
“You saved my life!”
“Save the thanks for later!”
The one firing the water, shockingly enough, was the Horn Boar itself.
Gills spread along both sides of its neck twitched like a lizard’s.
This was an anomalous Horn Boar.
The creature was spewing water from a frog-like, swollen mouth.
They had let their guard down.
He had never dreamed they’d be ambushed like this.
No—before that, he’d never imagined an anomalous Horn Boar would attack at all.
Ulrik yanked himself out of the way.
Shiiik.
The water jet, robbed of its target, tore straight through a tree.
With a sickening hiss, smoke rose into the air.
As if it were being melted away, a hideous hole was gouged into the trunk.
Lawrence felt a chill race down his spine.
Poison?
He didn’t know.
He had no idea what it was, but it was dangerous.
Just imagining what would have happened if Ulrik hadn’t reacted in time made his skin crawl.
“That bastard doesn’t react to red!”
“I know!”
Drawing it out was impossible.
They would have to bring it down here and now.
“Bind.”
As if it had sensed where Bind was going to emerge, the creature dodged.
Coincidence?
No. It might have been a fluke once, but not twice.
The boar kept evading the Bind spells that followed.
It wasn’t especially fast, either. Despite moving in a sluggish, wavering way, it still managed to slip past the vines as they sprang up.
Lawrence was sure of it now. He didn’t know how, but the creature was reading the points where Bind would trigger.
That was fine.
Lawrence wasn’t the only one fighting the Horn Boar.
While the creature was distracted by Bind, Raul darted low and went for its legs.
Even that ambush failed.
“What!?”
Raul swallowed his shock.
Having missed, he immediately leapt backward.
A heartbeat later, a water jet bored a hole into the ground.
“This is getting troublesome.”
“Should we just run?”
“That water it spits out is the problem.”
Turning their backs would be dangerous.
This wasn’t an opponent so easy that they could flee while dodging every single water shot.
Worse, there were still the by-products they hadn’t recovered.
If they had to leave, they couldn’t abandon all of this valuable meat and material behind.
“Then we’ll have to kill it.”
“At this point, I’m just hoping there’s a magic stone inside.”
Staying clumped together would only make things worse.
The three of them scattered in different directions, all the while keeping their eyes locked on the Horn Boar.
They searched for rocks they could hide behind.
Shluff, shluff.
What a strange creature.
It was fundamentally different from the Horn Boars that had rushed them mindlessly before.
Its presence was as vague and hazy as its semi-transparent body.
And yet, for some reason, the energy radiating from it felt familiar.
Hiding behind a rock, Lawrence confirmed the Horn Boar’s position.
It was now chasing after Raul.
Was that fortunate, given that Raul was the fastest among them?
What spell would be best here?
Shadow Spear?
No chance.
He might be able to kill it for certain, but the by-products would be a problem.
If he used Shadow Spear and killed it outright, there would be nothing left to recover.
And Lawrence wasn’t alone here.
This wasn’t something he could decide on his own without consulting his companions.
Shadow Trap.
Never mind its power—the time it took was far too long.
Using it immediately in a situation like this was far too risky.
Given the distance, there was only one choice left.
“Bind.”
Even if it didn’t catch the creature, that was fine.
Even if it could tell where the spell would emerge, it still had to make unnecessary movements to avoid Bind.
The Horn Boar withdrew, dodging the creeping vines.
One step. At that instant, Ulrik’s giant axe came swinging down.
It was a strike loaded with Ulrik’s full weight.
The Horn Boar caught the attack aimed at its head with both hands.
“With its bare hands!?”
The creature’s cheeks bulged again.
He saw it.
Before that mouth could open, tree vines coiled around it.
“Good work, mage!”
“I can’t hold it long!”
Even forcing mana into it, the resistance was fierce.
The opening lasted only an instant.
But that was enough.
Before long, Raul had circled behind the Horn Boar.
“Die!”
From above, the giant axe descended.
From below, a sword flashed upward.
The Horn Boar had no room left to dodge.
No blood splashed.
The skin where the axe and sword made contact rippled as though it were soft flesh bouncing under the blades.
“—!?”
It hadn’t been cut.
The two mercenaries’ eyes met as they looked at the weapons that had bounced back.
The hesitation was brief.
They judged the situation in an instant and sprang away from the Horn Boar.
“Tch.”
Bind broke.
Dodging the water shot, the two men retreated behind a boulder.
“I definitely cut it….”
“I saw it too.”
“Don’t panic. It’s a monster with an anomaly.”
“I know that. But isn’t this a bit much?”
The chance they had worked so hard to create had vanished in vain.
The greater problem was that the situation still wasn’t over.
“We’re out of time.”
The Horn Boar was already approaching them at a slow, steady pace.
“At this point, I’m just going to kill it.”
“Fine. We’ll draw its attention. Land one big hit!”
“Trust me and cast it. No matter what happens, we’ll protect you.”
The by-products didn’t matter anymore.
Lawrence nodded.
“Be careful!”
The two men burst out from behind the boulder.
Watching the Horn Boar move away, Lawrence raised both hands.
Shadow Spear.
The boy’s signature magic manifested.
A spear of burning shadow.
Responding to Lawrence’s will, the spear shaft transformed into a rope.
He had to aim at a moving target.
Since they were still pursuing it through the mountains, the creature kept threading around trees and rocks, using the terrain to maintain its speed.
Aim wasn’t easy.
He would have to fire purely by predicting its movement.
There would be only one chance.
If he missed, the creature’s attention would turn to Lawrence.
…Don’t think about failure.
Finish it in one blow.
The shaft of Shadow Spear stretched into a long rope.
Gripping it, Lawrence began to whirl the shadow spear around.
Perhaps because they had seen how hard it was to aim at the Horn Boar, Raul changed his escape pattern.
Instead of using trees and rocks as cover, he moved into open ground with nothing to shield him.
Because Ulrik was taking the risk, the chance finally came.
The Horn Boar stopped moving. Its mouth slowly began to swell.
Got it.
The Shadow Spear left Lawrence’s hand.
Speed. Position. Aim. Not a single thing was off.
Lawrence was sure the launched Shadow Spear had struck home.
However, the problem was the water jet.
Before the Shadow Spear could connect, the creature had already fired.
“Holy Shield!”
Light blazed into being.
The gathered radiance hardened into a single shield.
It spread out in front of Ulrik, who was bracing for the water jet.
It would hold.
A water jet should be no match for Holy Shield….
Crash!
That belief shattered before it was even complete.
The force flipped his vision on its axis.
Something surged up in Lawrence’s throat with a violent lurch.
Like a shield breaking to pieces, his knees hit the ground too.
And Ulrik?
With great effort, Lawrence lifted his head.
Through his shaking vision, he saw Ulrik collapsing.
“Kgh!?”
With a short groan, something snapped.
The axe blade, now severed from its owner, flew far away through the air.
“Ulrik!”
There was no time to be stunned.
Clenching his teeth, Lawrence ran to the fallen man.
The giant axe that had taken the water jet head-on had been broken apart.
The iron plate and armor protecting his chest had been pierced, and even now the part that had met the water jet was melting away.
Lawrence hurriedly stripped the armor off him.
After tossing the liquefying iron plate aside, he raised his hand.
“Water.”
Clean water washed over the wound.
White steam rose where the water touched the injury.
Something was wrong.
Red and black blisters began to bloom across the wound.
“Damn it!”
There was no time to think.
He pulled out the last potion hanging at his waist.
Half of it he poured over the wound, and the other half he forced into Ulrik’s mouth.
Even then, Ulrik didn’t open his eyes.
“Goddamn it!”
Twenty-five silver my ass!
Lawrence hurled the empty bottle away.
“Lawrence! Calm down!”
Someone gripped the boy’s head.
Through the wavering blur of his vision, Raul’s hardened face came into view.
“You did everything you could. If the potion isn’t working, then it’s poison. It’s not too late yet. If we get to the village quickly, we can still save him.”
Raul’s calm voice brought Lawrence back to himself.
“I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize. I feel the same.”
Raul hoisted Ulrik onto his back.
Lawrence gathered the remaining gear and supported his body from behind.
There was no time.
The two men hurried toward the village.
* * *
Once they arrived, Raul bought every antidote he could get his hands on.
But even after using five different antidotes, Ulrik’s condition didn’t improve.
“Don’t you have any more antidotes?”
“I’m sorry. That’s all we brought….”
The peddler lowered his head, clearly apologetic.
It couldn’t be helped.
There were no monsters around here that used poison.
They should at least be grateful the peddler had been carrying so many antidotes no one could usually even sell.
“Let’s go to the monastery, Raul.”
“The monastery? Do you have some way?”
“I don’t know if it’ll work. But if there’s any chance at all, it’s there!”
There was nothing they could do by staying here.
The two men carried Ulrik and headed for the monastery.
For some reason, no tobacco smoke was rising today.
Was she away at a time like this?
No.
She simply wasn’t smoking.
At the doors of the chapel, they found Sister Caterina sitting quietly in place.
“Sister Caterina!”
At Lawrence’s urgent cry, Caterina rose to her feet.
Raul laid Ulrik down in front of the chapel.
By now, the blisters on his wound had turned black.
His breathing was weakening.
The body that had been so hot just moments ago was growing cold.
Death was close.
“Isn’t there anything you can do?”
Instead of answering, Caterina pulled something from her sleeve.
A vial filled with blue liquid.
It was the same vial she had come to the inn and entrusted to them.
Caterina slowly poured it over the wound.
“…And He showed me a river of clear life-water, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of the Goddess and from her side, running through the midst of the path. On either side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of all nations.”
When Caterina’s prayer ended, dazzling brilliance poured forth.
How should he describe it?
It was similar to the radiance of the stars Lawrence had once encountered in the Spirit World.
A light that made you reach out without thinking.
A warmth that softened something deep inside the heart.
When the blinding radiance finally settled, Ulrik’s wounds were gone without a trace.
“A miracle…!”
Raul could hardly close his mouth.
He dropped to the ground and bowed his head low.
“Thank you, Goddess! Thank you, Sister!”
A miracle.
That was exactly what it was.
The power that had unfolded before their eyes was surely a miracle of the Order.
“Raise your head, little lamb.”
At Caterina’s voice, Raul and Lawrence both shuddered.
Raul was moved by the sister’s tone.
Lawrence, on the other hand, was shocked by the voice—so soft and clear it hardly seemed to belong to her.
“The Goddess’s love and mercy have descended upon this man, but don’t think it means we can relax yet. Rest at the inn tonight, and if he still hasn’t awakened by morning, come find me again.”
“Yes! Of course, Sister. May the Goddess bless you.”
“May the Goddess’s blessing be with you as well. And Brother Lawrence, I’d like you to remain here for a moment.”
Raul kept looking back over his shoulder as he descended from the monastery.
With her kind smile, Caterina looked as though he was truly overwhelmed.
Soon, Raul disappeared from view with Ulrik on his back.
Caterina took off her shoes.
Then she kicked off even the long socks she had been wearing and took out a tobacco cigarette.
“Huuuu….”
A cloud of pure white smoke rose, unlike the one from before.
With the cigarette in her mouth, Caterina wore a satisfied expression.
“You little brat. You came all this way after so long, and this is how you behave?”
“So you can use miracles.”
“What, did you think I couldn’t?”
Her voice was sharp and blunt.
“Of course not. I really appreciate what you did today. I don’t even know how to thank you properly.”
Lawrence bowed deeply.
If not for her, Ulrik might have lost his life.
“Thank you? Don’t be ridiculous. Don’t get the wrong idea, brat. I didn’t help because you asked me to. Helping little lambs is the Goddess’s will.”
Maybe he had misunderstood Caterina all along.
For all her rough manner of speaking, the woman she had shown Raul just now was the very image of the Sister Lawrence respected.
“So you got hit by that thing too?”
“Hit by what?”
“You were laid up in bed for days. Given the severity of your injuries, wasn’t it because you got hit by that?”
Was that why she had left the medicine behind?
The blue liquid used to treat Ulrik.
Its true identity was the holy water he had suspected all along.
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