Lost in the Endless Fog (4)
"Hasn't it been three days since we entered the Fog Region?"
"That's right."
"For a place called the Fog Region, there's not much fog, is there?"
"This is just the outskirts."
Veronica's words brought back the information about the demonic realms that Lai had shared with him in the past.
-The demonic realms are dangerous places for the continent's creatures to approach.
-What are the features of the demonic realms?
-This one's cold, that one's hot, this one's gloomy, and that one's dark. What a useless goddess.
At least Alicia had casually mentioned that the reason the demonic realms were dangerous was because each one was home to certain entities, giving him a rough idea.
"It's a relief that low demons live in the outskirts. We've been wandering for three days, so we should arrive soon, right?"
It had naturally turned into a format where he asked Veronica questions. She didn't have encyclopedic knowledge, but she knew a lot of basic common sense, which was very helpful.
"That's true, but that's actually what makes it tough. The outskirts are so vast it's hard to pinpoint anything. Since it's a demonic realm, they designated the outskirts extremely broadly as a warning to be cautious."
"Still safer than the foothills, though?"
"If it were the foothills, the area would be narrower even if a bit more dangerous. Though that's just me complaining, since no creatures can really live there, making it hard to form villages."
The Fog Region was divided into the outskirts, foothills, and core. The outskirts were supposedly dozens of times larger than the combined size of the foothills and core.
Thanks to that, they'd been wandering the forest, crossing several cliffs, but still hadn't found a demon village. The cliffs all looked so similar that he couldn't tell if this was the path from yesterday or a new one.
It was a huge relief to have Veronica, an elf who truly shone in the forest. For reference, Silvia was being carried alternately by him and Veronica. Dragging a seven-year-old kid through such rugged mountains would take too long.
"Wow! Pretty mushrooms over there too!"
At Silvia's words, Veronica flinched.
Veronica, known as the guardian, had been the protector of her elf village. While other elves roamed the forests and scaled mountains, Guardian Veronica only had to defend the village. In other words, until humans captured her, she'd never left the village and knew little about the forest.
She was just leading the way because the Demon King and Saintess expected it of her! She did think, 'I'm an elf, so I should be able to find the path, right?'
"That cliff we saw three days ago had those mushrooms too, didn't it? It really feels like we're looping back. Even the waterfall looks exactly the same."
"The cliff from yesterday had a waterfall and mushrooms too!"
Veronica recalled recent events.
-Sylph, is there a demon settlement nearby?
-We don't know about that. The fog here makes it hard for us to move around. Sorry we can't help.
-No, thanks for caring.
She'd asked the wind spirit sylphs floating through the forest, but the answer was "We don't know."
-That elf over there, she's a guardian, right?
-Guardians of the elves are supposed to be super strong, aren't they? Why are they lost?
-I hope that elf finds the way soon.
Three days ago, she'd ignored the spirits' innocent gossip and pushed on...
-Ah! We meet again! Are you guys planning to live here? It might be lonely without other elves!
Somehow she'd glossed it over without the Demon King noticing, but this was definitely the same place from three days ago—and yesterday too. The spirits they'd met were greeting them cheerfully.
"If I have to come back to this demonic realm again, I'm not the Demon King—I'm a demon."
"Then I'll be a witch!"
"Is that something a Saintess should say?"
"Does it make sense for a fairy to follow the Demon King around?"
Veronica let out a deep internal sigh of relief as she watched the two chatting behind her.
-Rustle
"If it's heavy, you can go in my backpack... Mmph!"
The sound of stepping on fallen leaves. Veronica froze in place.
'Wind? A beast? No, if it were a mountain beast, it would flee or attack.'
The monsters they'd encountered over the three days had charged blindly, and animals had either fled or attacked. This was a different pattern.
Too careless for an enemy, too unnatural for a beast. Was she just being overly sensitive to that ambiguous presence? Tilting her head, she turned toward Cluster.
The Demon King had stopped at the same moment and was covering Silvia's mouth. That confirmed it wasn't her imagination.
-Did you feel it?
-Yeah.
-Not a mountain beast, right?
-Doesn't seem like one to me either. No hostility, though.
After exchanging glances, Veronica shouted toward the bushes where the presence came from. "Stop skulking around like a rat and come out boldly!"
Looking closely, the bushes were trembling slightly as if something had hastily hidden, even without wind.
-Roll roll roll
"?"
"?"
"Whoa! A helmet!"
A helmet rolled out from the bushes, then back in. Not just any helmet—it was an ominous one spewing bluish will-o'-wisps from carved grooves.
"That was a helmet, right?"
"And not a normal one."
"The hand that picked it up was wearing a metal gauntlet."
Veronica had been struggling to find the way, so maybe he should step up here. "If you don't mean us harm, we won't fight you either. So stop hiding and come out."
Cluster blocked her path as she advanced toward the still bushes. "Being that cautious means it's intelligent. Better to deal with it here for safety."
"That's why I'm trying to talk. It might be connected to the place we're looking for, so let's approach with dialogue. Things could get messy if we kill it needlessly. We could even ask it to guide us."
"I see. We can't wander the forest forever. We can have it show us the way."
With Veronica, they wouldn't get truly lost in the forest. But they couldn't keep wandering aimlessly without knowing the destination, so he persuaded her.
He sensed a subtle relief in Veronica's expression, but he understood her feelings now. Even an elf who loved forests would tire of searching for an unknown location.
"You heard our talk just now, right? We want to talk, so come out?"
No movement from the bushes despite his call. He'd have to drag it out by force. As he stepped forward, the bushes rustled.
"Humans and an elf. Noticing me hiding here... You're no easy opponents."
What emerged was a being in rather ornate armor, a headless figure with the helmet tucked under its arm.
"A dullahan."
"Dullahan?"
"An undead knight who couldn't let go of the sword even in death, devoted to swordsmanship. Not someone to take lightly."
He knew dullahans were named undead, unlike zombies or ghouls—each had an individual name. For one to pop out so brazenly...
"My name is Lovern. I abandoned my family name when I closed my eyes on the battlefield, so regrettably, no surname. What did you wish to discuss?"
"We're just looking for a place where demons live."
"Versilver Territory?"
-Shing
The will-o'-wisps from the helmet in Lovern's hand flared brighter. It seemed to mistake them for attackers targeting Versilver lands.
"We're not here to attack it—we came to settle there. So stay calm and show us the way..."
"Not an invasion, but to settle there? Then you know the path?"
Was it his imagination? The bluish flames from the helmet seemed to glow green with envy. No eyes in those hollow sockets, yet it felt like sparkling stars were shooting out.
"Do you... not know the way?"
"Indeed. Embarrassing, but I've lost my way."
"Ah..."
"Having awakened after 500 years, I'm not familiar with the paths. My apologies."
A sigh escaped Veronica at the dullahan's admission of being lost. She'd hoped for a guide, but even the dullahan was lost.
'If you're gonna be useless, don't give false hope.'
Veronica's disappointment, having believed her mistake would be erased, was beyond words.
"Veronica's good with directions in the forest, so no worries about getting lost. Just tell us if you spot a familiar place, Lovern? Everything's new to us, so that alone would help a ton."
"Very well. I'll do my best to assist the elf lady."
Veronica swallowed her urge to cry and trudged down the forest path they'd walked yesterday. What kind of forest didn't even have signposts?
Then it happened.
"Look, pretty mushrooms!"
"Silvia, those are the ones we just saw."
"No, not those. The pretty mushrooms next to the waterfall over there!"
"Yeah, we saw that waterfall yesterday too."
While the dullahan and Demon King talked, Silvia had slipped up beside her and pointed at the mushrooms they'd seen for three days straight.
Veronica usually loved chatting with Silvia, but she desperately wished she'd stop mentioning this scenery. Lest the Demon King realize she was lost.
"There's a cave behind the waterfall! It feels like Lovern Uncle!"
At Silvia's words, everyone's eyes turned to Lovern—especially Veronica's, which burned with intensity. Later, Lovern would recall nearly ascending to nirvana under that sparkling gaze.
"To reach Versilver Territory, you pass through that cave. I'd forgotten!"
The group had finally arrived at demon lands.