Polar Night (1)
"Jun. Wake up."
"...What? Is it morning already? Wait, why is it still dark out?"
I had just finished the graveyard shift on wall watch and was sleeping like the dead when Noah gently shook me awake. Yet even after she pulled back the curtains, the world outside remained pitch black.
The moon was hanging there, bright and full, of all things.
"It is currently 7 a.m."
"What's that supposed to— hold on, seven? With the moon up like that?"
"To be precise, 7:05."
Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I flung the window wide open and looked up at the sky. In the darkness, nothing hung there but a perfectly round moon, as full as full could be. There wasn't the faintest hint of dawn on the horizon—if I hadn't known the time, I would have sworn it was the middle of the night.
"Don't tell me... the sun didn't rise?"
"As hard as it is to believe, that appears to be the case. It could simply be a seasonal delay in sunrise, but... I waited just in case, and the moon's position hasn't shifted even slightly. This is undeniably abnormal."
"There's no way that's a natural phenomenon. Let's go see the Village Chief."
I threw on my clothes in a hurry and headed outside. Maybe it was just my imagination, but the village seemed draped in an unease heavier than the darkness itself.
"Could this be what Granny Ryu warned us about?"
"That would be my conclusion. Though the scale is frightening. If the sun fails to rise in a region that isn't even polar, it would mean the planet has stopped rotating... and if that's true, the habitable zones on Earth will soon shrink to a sliver."
"...That's terrifying just to hear. I'm sure it's not that, though. It's probably closer to some kind of magical phenom—"
KREEEEAGH!
Just as I was struggling to dismiss Noah's terrifying, science-based speculation, an old man's scream tore through the air from the house next door. At the same time came the sound of something shattering and clattering to the floor.
Thwack-flap-flap!
Without a moment's hesitation, I smashed through the door of the house and rushed inside. A thick, coppery stench of blood rose up and nearly made me gag.
"Whose house was this again?"
"Mr. Thorval's. Forty years old. No family. An unusual case."
"Mr. Thorval~? Is something the matter?"
I called out to the homeowner as I hurried my steps. No family meant it couldn't be a marital dispute, right? Following the bloodscent, I opened the door to the bedroom where the smell was thickest.
"Mr. Thorval?"
Bwok-bwok?
"What the hell is this now..."
The moment the bedroom door swung open, what greeted my eyes was a middle-aged man lying in a pool of his own blood... and a turkey.
No, wait. Looking closer, it wasn't quite a turkey. Its sheer size had fooled me for a second, but one glimpse of that glowing red comb and I knew for certain it was a chicken. A chicken whose head reached the height of a grown man's shoulder.
"BWOKK—!"
"Gah! What the—!"
It lunged at me, stabbing with its razor-sharp beak. My fist flew out on pure reflex, and in a single blow the thing's skull caved in, killing it instantly.
"Mr. Thorval... he's already gone."
"There is a wound to the chest. This creature did it."
On the chest of the dead man—face pale, blood drained—was the raw, unmistakable mark left by a giant chicken. A fist-sized hole punched clean through, as if his heart had been pierced in one strike. All it did now was seep cold blood.
"For whatever reason, it looks like the livestock he kept at home turned into monsters."
"I have never heard of such a phenomenon... but we must warn the others, and quickly."
"Monsters!!"
We rushed to spread the word, but it seemed we were already too late. Shrill screams rang out, and the acrid bite of gunpowder smoke stung my nose.
The whole thing was suppressed in just thirty minutes. But in that short span of time, roughly seven people were injured or killed. To make matters worse, someone's careless handling of fire started a blaze that claimed even more casualties. Still, thanks to the Guild technicians and the mercenaries who'd come with the merchant caravan stepping in, we managed to bring the chaos under control relatively quickly.
"Mr. Alta. What are these monsters? They have magic stones, so they must be monsters, but..."
"These... I've never seen the likes of 'em either. But judging by the circumstances, it looks like the livestock folks raised in their homes went and turned into monsters."
"That would seem to be the case..."
Once every monster that had run rampant through the village was put down and laid out in a row, the count came to about fifty. The vast majority looked like oversized chickens, though every now and then there was one that resembled a pig. There was no doubt about it—the livestock kept in the village as a side business had mutated.
While we were still gathering the bodies of the dead, a Guild technician with thoroughly disheveled hair shuffled forward, fidgeting nervously.
"Um... I have something to report. The mana concentration in the atmosphere is rising like crazy. It's nearly ten times yesterday's level. It was already unusually high, and now this... It's an unprecedented phenomenon."
"So that's why the air's felt so thick and sticky."
"Couldn't sleep a wink myself. And what in the world is with that moon? Why won't the sun rise?"
As the technician spoke while peering at a strange mechanical device, the others began chiming in, one after another. Everyone was working hard to keep their expressions in check, but the faintly stiffened faces couldn't quite hide the thick tension underneath. The technician wiped the sweat from his brow and pressed on.
"...If the mana concentration is this high even inside a village protected by the Suppression Device, the situation outside the barrier must be far worse."
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"Ah, Village Chief. You were here. You see... when mana concentration rises like this, monsters enter a state of agitation. At this level, they'll be driven into a full frenzy. And the only place with living creatures anywhere nearby is this village, so..."
"You mean they're coming here."
"Er... yes, presumably?"
Though it was no fault of his own, the technician sheepishly spilled the truth of our current danger. The moment he did, the crowd that had gathered began to murmur all at once.
"Good heavens! A monster stampede!"
"Of all times, with the Eternal Snowfield right on our doorstep..."
"Now see here, the contract said nothing about this! We're heading back at once!"
"Don't spout nonsense! The contract stands until we've safely returned to Bolston!"
It was utter pandemonium. The villagers were thrown into confusion by the looming threat, and cracks were starting to show among the caravan and its mercenaries—a split was brewing. As I racked my brain for how to defuse it, Alta stepped forward and puffed out his chest.
Jun and I clapped our hands over our ears just in time.
RRRAAAOOOWR—!!
The roar of a beast filled the entire space. Even with my ears covered, I could feel the vibrating soundwaves pulsing through my body. If I were exaggerating slightly, I'd say the nearby houses shook hard enough to send the snow piled on their rooftops sliding down.
The marketplace-brawl of a scene fell silent.
"...Everyone, cool your heads."
"But—!"
"You really think you can make it back to Bolston safe and sound if you leave this village now? Look, mercifully the snow hasn't piled up too deep, but it's still more than enough to slow you down. You want to fight off a horde of frenzied monsters, at half your usual speed, out in the open plains without a single piece of cover?"
"Hmm..."
The bravado of the caravan mercenaries who'd been loudly demanding to leave the village deflated. The caravan side, who'd clearly wanted out all along though they hadn't said so outright, was no different.
"And besides—do you honestly believe Bolston would be safe?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Mana running wild. A sun that won't rise. Do these unheard-of phenomena look like they're confined to this one little village?"
"!"
"It's certainly happening everywhere, all at once. And Bolston is the largest city in the North—countless monsters will be converging on it. So wouldn't fortifying our position here be the wiser choice? As it happens, our preparations are already thorough..."
At Alta's persuasion, the crowd began to nod. And no wonder—they'd seen the evidence with their own eyes since arriving at the village. Everything the Village Chief had ordered from the caravan, without a single luxury item among it, had been aimed squarely at bolstering the village's defenses.
"Right... we've got plenty of magic-stone-coated rounds, steel plating to reinforce the palisade, and materials for temporary Enchantment. Plus five Guild members..."
"I may be retired now, but I was once a 5th Rank Guild Member. And the village has two fighters of around Rank 7 as well. Our strength is more than sufficient."
"Wait, what? A village this small has that kind of..."
The caravan's man in charge made a face of pure disbelief. Pioneer village or not, that was firepower wildly out of proportion for a settlement this size.
"Then let's consider the matter settled. No time to stand around talking—let's move."
"...Damn it, fine. Just make sure the pay at the end of this is generous!"
"Don't worry. I'll see you compensated well beyond what's fair. And look on the bright side—hunting monsters from a fortress is as good as it gets. Think of it as your chance to line your pockets."
"Well... when you put it that way..."
At the prospect of profit Alta dangled, the caravan and its mercenaries—who had been on the verge of splintering off—knit back together into one. Like it or not, they'd fought monsters side by side long enough to work well together; moving as one was clearly for the best.
Under the Village Chief's direction, everyone began bustling about. But amid the flurry, a few figures held their ground, staying put. They were the five Guild members dispatched alongside the technician. One of them approached Alta.
...
The Guild. An armed organization created by transnational accord among the nations of the continent for the sole purpose of exterminating monsters. Its uses were remarkably varied, ranging from small jobs like temporary escort duty and exploration of the Unexplored Lands all the way up to confronting calamities on a national scale.
"Name's Lovrick. Modest as it is, I hold command of this team."
"Rank 7?"
"That's right. Every last one of us is Rank 7."
A man in his mid-forties with gray hair swept back in a neat pompadour, his face carved with a prominent sword-shaped scar. He extended a hand to Alta.
"By the way, if you're 5th rank, that makes you senior to all of us by a wide margin, no? Why didn't you mention it sooner?"
"Hmph. What's a retired man got to brag about, going around broadcasting his old rank?"
"But still... 5th rank is truly remarkable..."
It wasn't always the case, but as a general rule, monster ranks and Guild member ranks were judged by the same standard. In other words, a Rank 7 Guild member was expected to handle Rank 7 monsters.
...The Shadow Bear, a Rank 7 monster, had been a handful even with Obsidian in hand—just how strong did a Rank 5 have to be?
Getting utterly demolished in all those sparring matches with Alta suddenly made a great deal more sense.
"That said, forgive me, but might we verify that claim? I'd like to be certain."
"Nothing to it. Here."
Alta pulled a small card from inside his coat. About the size of a credit card from my past life, it was a metallic card with a luxurious blue sheen. When Lovrick pressed it against the square device the technician was holding, it let out a cheerful ding-dong. Lovrick swiftly handed the card back to Alta.
"A genuine 5th rank, then. In that case, from here on, our team will place itself under your command... no—under your command, sir."
"Hm? You sure about that? There's no real need."
"None of us has much experience commanding anything anyway. More importantly, this..."
Swoosh.
His speech shifting to formal register in an instant, Lovrick drew from his worn leather coat a disc the size of his palm. It gleamed a marble-pale white, and within it—as if it had some kind of display—tiny dots marked in blue were drifting this way and that.
"An Artifact I obtained in the Ruins back in my younger days. It has the function of displaying the positions of living creatures."