Settling the Score After the Hunt
Perf—!
The [Priest]'s head, having absorbed the full force of the power erupting from a body of living steel, shot skyward like a firework before splattering against the ceiling like a crushed tomato.
His body swayed for a moment, then slumped forward lifelessly.
The cultists, who had been rampaging like madmen, lost their strength the moment they witnessed the scene.
And not as a figure of speech — literally.
"Huh...?"
"Their bodies..."
The cultists, whose muscles had been bulging just moments ago, reverted to their original forms the instant the priest died — and then, as if that weren't enough, withered into shriveled mummies.
They had apparently burned through a lifetime's worth of life force in one go.
I rushed over to check, but they were already long dead.
I'd been hoping to take a few prisoners...
Just as I was starting to feel a twinge of regret over the less-than-ideal outcome, the adrenaline of battle faded and wails of agony began pouring from every mouth around me.
"My eyes...!"
"Anyone who's only scratched, get out of the way!"
"We've got a man here with a hole in his gut! Someone see to this one first!"
"That's barely a scratch! Get back!"
Noah had been the greatest contributor to our victory, but she was also the busiest person once the fighting ended — because so many had been wounded under the cultists' relentless assault.
And of all of them, Lovrick was in the worst shape.
Uuung...
"Ghhk...! Gentle, please."
"Would it not be better to simply be grateful that your arm can be reattached at all?"
"Fair enough... though I must say, your skill truly is remarkable."
The moment Noah's softly glowing hands passed over the wound, his arm sealed itself back into place as if by magic.
Lovrick turned his arm round and round, wearing an expression of pure disbelief.
Once he confirmed nothing was wrong, he lavished fresh admiration on Noah's healing ability.
"With talent like that, the nobles would snap you up as their personal physician in a heartbeat."
"Is it really that impressive?"
"I don't know how many people in this world can reattach an arm this cleanly. Forget joining a guild — you could open your own hospital. Although... it seems you've finally managed to manifest a Mana Weapon, Miss Noah. Congratulations."
A Mana Weapon?
"Some call it blade aura. But while the sword may be the most common weapon, there are all sorts of others out there, aren't there? Since it'd be impossible to name each one individually, it's a catch-all term."
"Ah, I see."
"But how did you come to use a Mana Weapon all of a sudden? Gaining enlightenment mid-battle is the stuff of storybooks... Come to think of it, how did you break through the cultists' magic, Ha Jun?"
"..."
I had nothing to say in response to Lovrick's question.
I couldn't exactly admit that I'd been throttling my talents to dull my own senses.
Noah seemed equally stuck, her expression turning awkward, and Lovrick waved his hand to clear the air.
"Ah, my apologies! I shouldn't pry into trade secrets. Everyone has their own circumstances."
"It is rather complicated to explain..."
"Well, let's set the small stuff aside. In any case, being able to use a Mana Weapon is a tremendous feat. It means you've stepped onto the path of a Mana User."
"A Mana User? That's a new one on me."
"Ah... that's a system that was only introduced recently."
Lovrick explained it like this.
Anyone who could wield an ordinary Mana Weapon — that is, standard blade aura — was called a Mana User.
Those who went a step further and could reshape their blade aura were Mana Experts.
And finally, those who had broken free of the framework of blade aura altogether were called Mana Masters.
Now that's a classic way of classifying things.
"So by that measure, Ha Jun, you'd be... an Expert. It's clear enough from that strange blade aura you showed when you took down the Ice Golem."
Sawtooth Sword Aura.
It was certainly more powerful than ordinary blade aura.
But since I hadn't exactly mastered it yet, did that technically make me a low-grade Expert?
"Haha! Nobody ranks people within a tier like that. Everyone operates under different conditions — what would you even use as the yardstick to divide them into upper, middle, and lower? It's nothing more than a guideline, created to show you the road ahead."
"So being called an Expert doesn't actually come with any benefits, then?"
"Well... the ability to reshape your blade aura does prove you have exceptional mana control, so the guild would tack on bonus points when considering a promotion. It'd help when signing up, too."
...
Noah treated every single one of the wounded.
Her mana reserves ran dangerously low at one point, but because she'd prioritized the most critical cases, we managed to prevent any further deaths.
Still, there was no reason to celebrate.
"These people..."
"How tragic. It appears they were made sacrifices by the priest's magic."
"...He most likely used them as offerings."
The villagers we'd found being tortured when we first arrived at the underground chamber.
They had been alive — in forms so grotesque it would've been frightening to see them in a dream — but if they'd managed to survive somehow, we could have treated them.
What we found after the battle ended, however, was nothing but corpses, twisted and contorted like pretzels.
"Sniff... Dad..."
"Thank you... thank you so much..."
Even so, we were able to rescue around twenty prisoners who had lost consciousness in the cells tucked into the corner.
Had we not come, they would have died writhing in unspeakable agony.
It was a shame we couldn't save everyone, but I considered it a solid result all the same.
Lovrick, however, clicked his tongue and made no effort to hide his bitterness.
"...This is my fault. I never imagined a group with an actual Priest among them."
"Is that rare?"
"Cult subjugations don't come up that often to begin with. Usually a specially organized unit from the guild handles it. This is only the third time I've ever faced cultists. Up until now they've just been bands of ignorant peasants, nothing particularly threatening..."
"This time was dangerous, though. They used all sorts of bizarre abilities."
"Right... curse-type abilities are exceedingly rare, you see... If even one of you hadn't been here, we might all have ended up as sacrifices on that altar."
Lovrick let out a long sigh and began restoring order to the chaotic scene.
The mercenaries, unable to contain themselves, were already scurrying all over the place in search of hidden chambers, creating pure pandemonium.
Comrades had died, sure — but money was money, apparently.
I suppose living by the sword breeds a peculiar kind of heartlessness.
"Everyone, hold still! You want to trip a trap and get buried down here with the cultists?"
"But still—"
"Jack will search the rooms. If you're that curious, follow him — do whatever you like."
The mercenaries murmured among themselves for a moment before electing a representative.
And that representative was Harrington.
When I wondered why they'd chosen someone from the guild rather than their own association, the answer was a sight to behold.
Apparently, he was so incorrigibly straight-laced that he'd never lie about what he found.
"Gold coins!"
"Seriously!?"
I hadn't expected much, but the search turned up a surprising haul.
From a concealed room that would have been easy to miss, sack after sack of gold and silver coins emerged.
Whether it was plunder or operating funds supplied to the cult, I had no idea, but the sheer quantity was staggering.
Enough that fifty gold coins fell to us alone.
"Granny Ryu gave us ten a while back. So how much is fifty, exactly? Prices here are hard to wrap my head around."
"From what I know, a two-story house in the heart of Bolston goes for around five hundred gold."
"When did you learn that...? That's expensive?"
"Safety is guaranteed there, so the premium makes sense. It is by no means a small sum."
Not bad at all.
Should I make buying a house my next goal?
Lifting and weighing the plump coin purses put me in a good mood.
The others looked cheerful too, having each received a few coins.
"Right, let's move out! I don't want to spend another minute in this dreary place! Anyone who wants to hunt for more secret rooms can stay behind and knock themselves out!"
"Hahaha. I'm quite satisfied, myself. I've earned several months' worth of wages."
"Knowing when enough is enough is a virtue in itself."
It was time to prepare our exit from the cavern.
The altar where the ritual had been performed was demolished completely.
We took the cultists' heads as evidence, and hauled out the bodies of the two key figures — the Knight and the Priest — intact.
They had withered so thoroughly after death that they could have served as firewood, so they weren't particularly heavy.
...
Buoyed by the joy of our windfall, we pressed on without rest and returned to the original village.
The trip out had been slow going, since we'd had to trace the trail of mana residue, but now that nothing held us back, we reached the village before sundown.
The little boy waiting at the entrance came sprinting toward us.
"Lebrillant! You're safe! You sent these people!?"
"Mom! Yeah! I asked them to help!"
"Oh, my brave boy..."
A mother-and-son reunion straight out of a tearjerker.
The people around them seemed to finally feel a sense of accomplishment for what they'd done, puffing their chests out with pride.
But the caravan official, still in a foul mood over the manpower he'd lost, waved his hand dismissively and brought the situation to order.
"We'll rest here tonight. The village is in ruins as it is, so all of you should head to Bolston afterward. Since this was the work of cultists, you'll receive support."
"Thank you, my lords..."
"There now, we're not the sort who deserve such words. In any case, we move at dawn."
Everyone dispersed to their own corners.
We decided to impose on the one house still standing for the night.
At long last, an environment had been created where Noah and I could talk — just the two of us.
"So what happened? You really did manifest blade aura... a Mana Weapon?"
"Yes. As it happens, the [Priest] was of great help."
"Come again?"
Apparently, the Priest — who seemed to outrank the [Knight] in the hierarchy — had wielded all manner of bizarre abilities.
Mostly powers that interfered with human perception.
Thanks to them, every mercenary in the vicinity had been neutralized.
"But for me, it was actually beneficial. Hmm... for instance, there was a spell called Thorns of Pain. Even when I blocked it perfectly, I still experienced a sensation of agony."
"The Knight had something similar."
"Did he? Regardless, when that spell struck me, the sensation came through vividly."
"Huh? Wasn't that true before?"
"No. My sensory receptors are different from a human's, after all."
Noah was an AI bound within a body of living steel.
Her senses were nothing more than her quantum brain interpreting electrical signals and assigning them meaning as it saw fit.
In other words, until now, she had lived feeling only counterfeit sensations.
"But for the first time, I understood what [pain] truly was. It was remarkably vivid. Of course, since I can forcibly adjust my own sensory levels, there was no need for me to roll around on the floor."
"...You were watching that? And what does any of that have to do with your Mana Weapon?"
"The reason I could not create a Mana Weapon until now was a matter of [Will]. I hadn't realized it, but my will — freshly born into a soul — must have been pitifully thin. However... after experiencing genuine pain, my soul seems to have advanced another step. Like an infant learning a new stimulus."
"Hmm... so as your soul grew, your will was stimulated along with it? Fascinating. Well, it worked out great!"
An unexpected result from an unexpected incident.
Today had been a day of many gains.
I was about to close out the day on that happy note, but it seemed Noah still had something left to say.
She glanced around slyly, then drew something out from inside her clothing.
"Actually... there is something I should show you. This..."
"What is that? A gem?"
"I obtained it from the Priest's heart. I took the liberty of pocketing it."
"Ugh. Creepy."
What Noah laid in her palm was a red jewel about the size of an index finger.
At a glance, it looked like nothing more than an ordinary ruby.
And yet its crimson hue somehow seized the eye and refused to let go...
...Thump.
Was it just my imagination?
The jewel almost seemed to be pulsing — like a beating heart.