The Forest of Mushroom Golems (2)
And so a day passed.
The sun had only just begun to rise, yet the forest remained a deep blue-black, shrouded by towering trees. The surroundings were still dim and gloomy, but Catherine had risen early and was receiving a report that left her thoroughly puzzled.
"You're telling me there wasn't a single attack all last night and into the morning?"
"Yes. And that's not all. We confirmed that some of the mushroom golem packs were heading toward the center of the forest."
"Any other irregularities?"
"Several of the subjugation force's thieves and archers reported that the miasma rising into the sky from the heart of the forest has grown even thicker than yesterday."
"If we'd delayed any longer, things might have gotten truly ugly."
"And isn't the forest unnaturally quiet?"
"Yes. Understood. You may go."
After dismissing the adventurer, Catherine sat in thought for a moment before turning her head toward Narke, who sat beside her.
"Narke. What do you make of this?"
Catherine said nothing more, yet the meaning was clear enough. Narke fidgeted, tapping her staff with her fingers.
"M-maybe the source of the miasma has seized control of the Akusare mushroom golems, just like I did..."
"You're saying a necromancer took over perfectly intact mushroom golems—not ones whose cores had been shattered into silence?"
Even Narke's own method of controlling the mushroom golems had been something of a cheat. Rather than true necromancy, it was closer to puppetry: using the miasma already sealed inside a golem's core to pilot it, without needing a silenced shell.
"T-the situation is so strange I can't tell just from hearing about it. I-I think we'll have to see for ourselves."
"We'll confirm it as the subjugation force advances."
But there was something to do first. Catherine immediately summoned the party leaders among the adventurers and shared a crude field stew, hardtack, and jerky (provisions she had scarcely needed to touch thanks to Karem). While Narke assisted with her meal, Catherine relayed the report to the adventurers: the mushroom golems ignoring the subjugation force and streaming toward the forest's center; the miasma that had thickened overnight; and a forest utterly devoid of the cries of animals, insects, or monsters.
The party leaders all wore the same expression—of course a subjugation would never go smoothly. They were veterans one and all, ranked C to B. Every one of them had lived through situations like this before and knew, from hard experience, that delay was the one thing they could not afford.
In an ordinary subjugation it would have been different. Schedules were routinely postponed because some highborn still needed to finish breakfast or wanted another hour of sleep. This time, however, even the party leaders could relax. Having a former S-rank adventurer and great mage on the verge of sagehood was reassuring, of course. But more than that, the fact that their commander was a senior who shared their experience and thought the same way meant that this particular campaign would not collapse for some absurd reason.
As the forest began to lighten, they broke camp and the subjugation force set out. Catherine noticed the anomaly almost at once.
"The land itself has been drained dry."
She looked around. Akusare mushrooms thrived in leaf mold, so the forests near Fungusby all rose from deep-brown humus. Now the ground underfoot was powdery and lifeless, as if every last nutrient had been sucked away. A thin miasma lay thick across the soil like early-morning fog after rain.
"Narke, any trouble with the scouting?"
"N-no. The fog's still light enough that it isn't a big problem yet."
Narke answered, blinking her pale, glowing eyes. Remaining idle was not an option, however. Catherine immediately called over a nearby party leader.
"Lady Atanitas? Is something wrong?"
The adventurer approached without complaint and asked.
"Is there any trouble among the people in the subjugation force?"
"Ah—nothing immediate, but everyone is restless. Some of the priests have already started consecrating the ground."
"Consecrating the entire forest would take forever. There's water in the supply wagons—have them make holy water and distribute it instead."
"Ah, holy water!"
The adventurer immediately relayed Catherine's order to the other party leaders. Word spread through the entire force in moments, and the priests set to work preparing holy water. All the while the column continued to advance.
"Lady Atanitas. There's an enemy pack over that way—"
"Mushroom golem pack, front right!"
At Narke's cry and the simultaneous signals from the sharp-eyed adventurers, the subjugation force halted. Every task stopped at once as they formed up. Yet no attack came.
"W-what? They're just walking past us?"
"Come to think of it, the night watch said something like that—"
Catherine recalled the report she had heard at dawn. Until yesterday the mushroom golems had attacked frequently—and with good reason. Even three people of any gender could make enough racket to shatter plates; the subjugation force alone numbered over two hundred, and with the laborers added the count swelled further. Factor in the lowing of oxen and horses hauling the carts and wagons, plus the rumble of wheels, and stealthy movement was impossible, as it always was for such forces. Drawn by the noise, the mushroom golems had come one after another, only to be subjugated, their cores looted, or else reanimated into loyal meat shields for the column.
Thud— thud— thud— ssssssss—
Yet now packs of those same mushroom golems were marching straight toward the heart of the forest even though the subjugation force stood almost within arm's reach—as if they did not notice the humans at all.
"The enemy is begging us to kill them. What are you waiting for?"
Catherine rapped her staff against the floor of the wagon, spurring the adventurers on. Those who had been forming ranks charged out at once and fell upon the Akusare mushroom golems. One after another the golems fell silent without the slightest resistance. Watching the adventurers loot the cores, Catherine frowned and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Narke. Can you raise those?"
"Y-yes! I think so."
"'Think so'? I don't care for that answer."
"N-no! I can do it!"
Narke, who had answered vaguely, hastily corrected herself at Catherine's professorial displeasure and climbed down from the wagon. Unlike the first day, the adventurers now stepped aside of their own accord to clear a path. Following it, Narke stopped before an Akusare mushroom golem that had been left unlooted and began her chant.
"A-a gold coin to the boatman of Acheron, a bone to the wolf of Nastrond. Hm?"
Until yesterday the incantation had been three verses. Today it ended after two. One verse shorter. The thin miasma carpeting the ground was assisting her necromancy. Yet on the way back Narke rarely scowled so hard; she even bit her knuckles in thought. The worry followed her all the way into the wagon.
"S-something really is off."
"What's off?"
"I-in the miasma that has soaked into the cores... there's a faint will."
"Another necromancer's?"
"N-no."
This time Narke spoke with absolute certainty.
"I-if it were, the will would feel much clearer. 'Come this way,' or 'Obey my commands,' something like that."
"So only the golem's unconscious instincts are being guided?"
"Yes. It's like when a right-handed person reaches out and unconsciously uses the left hand instead of the right?"
Was that the right analogy? Narke tilted her head. But for Catherine the explanation was enough. In short, some entity was controlling the unconscious depths beneath the mushroom golems' instincts. And given the circumstances, that entity was almost certainly the source of the miasma saturating the forest. Naturally, the source of the miasma had to be a necromancer—or an artifact connected to one.
They added the newly raised mushroom golems to serve as meat shields for the subjugation force, and the loot wagons grew a little heavier. By the time the faint miasma blanketing the forest floor had thickened further and the powdery soil kicked up small clouds of dust with every step the column took—
"Ghk—!"
Narke's head snapped violently backward. It was not by her own will. The shock sent her staff clattering to the floor and rolling away. Blood streamed from her eyes, nose, and mouth as she clutched her throbbing head and turned bloodshot eyes on Catherine.
"Narke. Don't tell me you were reverse-tracked?"
"N-no. The link to the undead I sent scouting was severed."
"Rebound, then. Don't tell me the control was stolen—"
"I-I don't think so. The mana composing the undead was forcibly ripped away, so the magic just... unraveled—"
"At least they didn't reverse the flow and attack you through it. That means we're nearly at the epicenter. Can you still operate the mushroom golems?"
Narke closed her eyes, calming the surging mana, pulled a potion from her robes, drained it in one gulp, and nodded. Thanks to the incident, however, they now had a precise direction. Hearing her words, Catherine immediately adjusted the column's course slightly.
Not long afterward, at the bottom of a sloping descent, they glimpsed the culprit through the gaps in the trees.
Akusare mushroom golems with blunt arms and legs—or tentacles—were swarming and writhing in a single mass. Their walnut-like forms, magnified to monstrous size, inspired pure revulsion. Yet the moment eyes shifted to the center of the clearing, that revulsion was banished. The reason was simple: something far more hideous stood there.
A long, lizard-like body formed of countless Akusare mushrooms of every size was sheathed, scale upon scale, in thousands of hands whose fingers writhed like caterpillars. That massive bulk was supported by six legs made of tangled arms. Hundreds more arms were woven into a net that formed enormous bat-like wings. In place of a head, a gigantic Akusare mushroom pulsed like a brain, its three-way-split maw slowly devouring the mushroom golems that streamed toward it. At the tip of that "head," a tattered-robed figure oozed miasma; it seemed to possess no will of its own, its staff-bearing body merely swaying like a reed in the wind with every movement of the monster.
It was a sight so nightmarish that a perfectly sane person might suddenly develop trypophobia. From the people of the subjugation force down to the beasts of burden, every living thing fell silent.
But only for a moment. The veterans recovered first and moved organically according to the prearranged plan, forming ranks—vanguard forward, rearguard back, supply wagons and carriages drawn into the center.
"Tch. We've already been spotted."
"Lady Atanitas? That means—"
While the subjugation force bustled into position, Catherine rose from the wagon at once. The monster turned its head toward them.
"Form ranks—now!!!"
Catherine slammed her staff down hard. Ice walls erupted through the miasma-fog, encircling the column.
Kiiik-krrrrrrrr-puhaaaaaaak!!!
Kagagagagagang—!
An instant later hundreds of claws smashed against the ice.