“Though I trust your recommendation, Archmage, will it really be okay?”
The lord stood by the window, his back to the great sage he had visited. Beyond the window, the coastline where the reconnaissance team was headed was faintly visible in the darkness of night.
“If you’ve ever encountered a Merfolk, you should know… Their claws are incredibly sharp. Misjudge the distance even slightly, and they could sever a horse’s or person’s leg completely.”
What he’d truly wanted was for the Hero to step forward and do it on her own. While he did think using the Hero like this might be a bit much, he was more concerned about his soldiers.
The lord thought of the two soldiers who’d lost their lives or legs during reconnaissance and what toll losing two elite soldiers had on the city when it was already suffering from a shortage of manpower.
If he could protect his precious soldiers’ lives, he would readily make use of the Hero as much as he could. However, he couldn’t openly request that of her, concerned as he was about the Temple’s reaction.
“I understand your concerns, Your Lordship, but I can assure you there is no need to regret hiring the Demon Knight. And I’m not just saying that because he’s accompanying us on our journey.”
“Is that so?”
“In this particular case, he might be even better than the Hero.”
However, if the great sage vouched for the adventurer that much, he couldn’t really complain any further.The lord decided to ease his mind a little.
“Well, he was priced quite a bit higher than other adventurers. I didn’t expect the Adventurers’ Guild to demand such a price first, rather than the man himself.”
“These days, he’s been taking on some smaller requests to match our schedule, but he usually wouldn’t take on these… relatively peaceful requests.”
“Peaceful requests…?”
“Only when compared to Demon hunting. Compared to his usual work, the requests here are rather peaceful.”
“Well, that is true.”
In any case, it was already too late for regrets. There was no power in this world that could immediately call back those who’d already been sent out.
“Have the Demon Worshipers said anything yet?”
“Unfortunately, no. They seem to have also realized there’s a traitor among them, seeing how much of a fuss they kicked up, but… they don’t appear to know anything for certain.”
Even their allies were suspicious of this extremely fast subjugation, so how could the caught Demon Worshipers feel otherwise?
They’d been squealing from the start that this made no sense and had to be the work of a traitor. However, they couldn’t point to any concrete individual or group, so it remained a mere conspiracy theory.
“I am quite grateful to the soldiers who led the raid and agreed to cross-check the progress…”
She couldn’t help but feel sorry for the soldiers who’d been hard at work since dawn.
He’d received a raid report the night before the sweep was carried out. In other words… it was necessary to clarify what had happened before the operation report was submitted.
While he prioritized his soldiers’ health, ignoring the existence of a Demon Worshiper mole—even if they’d betrayed their side, they remained an enemy so long as their intentions remained unknown—would be unwise.
“So far, nothing out of the ordinary has been found.”
Fortunately or unfortunately, there had been no discrepancies between the sergeant’s report and what was found during the reinvestigation.
They’d received an anonymous tip accusing certain individuals of being Demon Worshipers. The source and credibility of this information were unclear, but since several of those mentioned were already under suspicion, an investigation was ordered just in case. It didn’t take long for these accusations to be confirmed true, leading to the submission of the operation plan.
There didn’t seem to be any corruption or irregularities at any stage of that process.
“Ah, do they always act on anonymous tips without consulting the lord?”
“Do you know how many tips we receive in a year? Do you expect me to review all of them? Usually, the sergeant handles them, and only if the investigation results are conclusive do they come to me.”
Furthermore, this report only reached the lord because it concerned Demon Worshipers. Had it been about some common criminal, he wouldn’t have been notified.
“In any case… After receiving the operation plan and a brief report, I still had some doubts, so I had everyone involved monitored until the operation took place. However, no one tried to contact someone secretly or anything like that.”
That was despite assigning someone specialized in surveillance to the job instead of doing it overtly.
While it was still too early to draw any conclusions, there didn’t seem to be a mole among the guards.
“We’re also investigating the person who sent the tip… but because they passed the letter through multiple errand boys, I doubt we’ll come up with anything.”
“I see…”
That informer (presumably a Demon Worshiper) was devilishly meticulous.
“Let’s move on to another topic. This isn’t an issue that can be solved so easily… Thanks to their infighting, we’ve managed to mostly clear away the disease that was running rampant in the city’s darkness. I doubt there’s still an entire group left after we caught so many.”
“If that’s what you believe, Your Lordship.”
Even so, based on his words, the lord didn’t view this matter negatively.
He was showing not complacency but trust in the guards he and his predecessors had nurtured.
He believed they would not have let Demon Worshipers into the city so easily, nor could they have missed any during their screenings. Even if some had gotten through all that after many hardships, there wouldn’t have been many left—especially now that a significant number had been exposed by this anonymous letter.
“Then how are the Merfolk movements these days?”
“Not good. The number discovered by our scouts has increased, yet the sea remains calm.”
Shifting to a different topic, the lord started another conversation with the Great Sage.
In fact, this matter was even more important than the first.
“According to the records passed down in the city, something tremendous always accompanies situations like these… but I don’t know what it’ll be this time.”
“Hmm. Something tremendous…”
“A huge tidal wave… or a storm… or a dragon.”
“A dragon…?”
“The records are from long ago, so no one knows the truth. They probably just mistook a waterspout for a dragon.”
It had only recently been discovered that waterspouts, which people had believed to be dragons rising to the sky, were actually just a type of storm. This was because the theory was only established after artificial storms had been created using Arcane Power.
As such, some intellectuals still believed that waterspouts were made by dragons… However, the lord of Bemurchen had already confirmed this theory himself.
“There are only two or three records of dragon sightings, but the fact that there wasn’t any damage is evidence enough. The likelihood of it being a dragon is very low.”
With that, he completely dismissed the possibility of a dragon appearing.
After all, with the Sea Dragon of the Western Sea already dead, there should be only one dragon remaining—as far as people knew—and that dragon had never left the North, the land of the barbarians.
It couldn’t be that dragon.
“Still, it should be better to leave that possibility open.”
“Of course. Just in case, we’ve been steadily researching weapons specifically designed to take out colossal monsters. Due to technological limitations, we’ve only been able to create one though…”
“Having even one is something to be—Hmm?”
“…?”
But the Archmage, who was about to respond to the lord, suddenly stood. Her gaze focused intently on something behind them.
“Did something happen…?”
Naturally, the lord also turned his head to follow her gaze.
“That’s…”
Beyond the rectangular window behind him, the light of a flare used to signal the arrival of Merfolk could be faintly seen.
It came from the direction of the coast where the reconnaissance team was headed.
* * *
Earlier, they had dug the ground to divert water from the stream.
However, as soon as the trench had filled with water, they blocked the part connected to the stream—I didn’t know why—so we couldn’t use it to wash dishes.
Since it was supposed to be both the soldiers’ and the horses’ drinking water, we couldn’t contaminate it under any circumstances.
As such, the other soldiers and I went to wash our dishes in the stream. Some people in the other teams who also seemed to have finished eating followed after us.
“Whew. Captain said we could go in pairs or larger groups, but honestly, walking around with just two people would be way too scary.”
Ah… So that’s why even those who knew the rules, unlike me, hadn’t moved. They were too scared to go around with just the minimum number of people.
“Aren’t you scared, Adventurer?”
“He’s probably much more used to camping than we are, senior, so why would he be scared?”
“Ah, you’re right.”
“And besides, you’re not scared of this place just because it’s dark. You’re scared because a Merfolk might pop out, right?”
“Ah. You got me.”
Flinch.
I cringed involuntarily at that. That line triggered a personal trauma of mine. Someone should really banish lines like those from existence. I wanted to cry every time I heard them.
“Am I the only one scared here? Be honest, you guys are the same as well, right?”
“It’s not like I’m not scared… It’s rare, but there have been sightings…”
“See?”
Separately, our campsite was quite far from the shore. The nearby stream wasn’t even connected to the ocean.
And yet, Merfolk could still come all the way here.
How strange.
“…Do Merfolk really come all the way here?”
“Hm? Ah. Yeah. As long as there’s water, they can go wherever they want.”
They could come here because there was water…?
“As you know, Merfolk die when their skin dries out, so they can’t stay on land for long… but as long as there are streams and puddles here and there, they can splash water on themselves as they move around.”
“It’s such a damn pain for us since we need to settle down near streams to let the horses drink water.”
So Merfolk had that kind of trait, huh… Then that must be why we had to take someone with us when we went to wash the dishes.
I gained some new knowledge. I didn’t know about this setting because it had never appeared in the game. Well, it could also be that I simply didn’t remember even if it had.
“Still, this area is far beyond the range Merfolk can actively operate from the sea. There aren’t any significant water sources between the campsite and ocean either…”
The soldiers then complained that rain sometimes left puddles, which enabled the Merfolk to zigzag through other paths to reach this place.
“But this place is relatively safe. Other campsites usually get attacked one out of every ten times.”
It wasn’t a bad thing. Considering Merfolk mostly appeared in the East, I probably wouldn’t have to use this knowledge often… but you could never know how things might turn out.
“So…”
“Stop.”
Right. If I hadn’t heard that information, I wouldn’t have noticed the faint sounds coming from nearby.
“…Stop.”
When I stopped one of the soldiers, the perceptive ones followed my lead. Shortly after, the others who were still confused also caught on.
Some may have wondered what was going on, but none refused to stop.
“Are there enemies?”
“Enemies…!”
The moment I confirmed it, they were quick to respond.
The soldiers quickly regained their composure and grabbed the spears strapped to their backs. They instantly assumed a formation designed to counter an enemy’s surprise attack.
“Follow me at a distance.”
“Shouldn’t we go together…?”
“You’ll just get in the way.”
Wouldn’t this also fall under reckless behavior? Well, it didn’t really matter since neither the captain nor the vice-captain were around to see it.
I stood before the soldiers, pondering these things, when: “Take this torch.” One of the soldiers offered me their torch.
Clack.
Still, holding this torch would prevent me from using an arm, which was inconvenient. I instead attached a lamp to my belt, switched it on, and strode forward.
Having seemingly figured out my position using the light, the enemy also prepared to attack.
Shadowy figures were crouching between the bushes they’d trimmed to clear their view and the reeds they hadn’t yet cut.
“Are you sure it’s fine to let him just go on his own…?”
“Let’s just wait here for now.”
But was an already discovered ambush still an ambush? I drew my Zweihänder. Scrape. The blade naturally lowered to the ground as I drew it, scratching the dirt visible through the grass.
The sound created by scraping over wet soil was decidedly different from scraping over dry ground.
“He probably has a—”
And when I got close enough, I swung my Zweihänder up toward the Merfolk that jumped at me. Slash. The sword sliced through the first Merfolk and, propelled by the blade’s momentum, I took to the air without having to kick the ground and spun midair to slash through the second.
These were legged Merfolk. In other words, these had proper legs.
“Merfolk!”
It wasn’t over yet. I quickly dispatched another hidden Merfolk. Initially, it seemed those still lying in ambush were waiting for the right moment to strike, but upon seeing three of their comrades get cut down like that, they decided to jump out all at once.
Slash!
Suddenly fed up with those things, I just cut them all down at once. At first, I’d tried to refrain from doing any big swings to preserve the natural scenery… But thinking about it again, those reeds weren’t really doing Bemurchen any favors. Even if they did, the Merfolk would only use them to launch surprise attacks, like now.
“You, head back to the camp and…”
Meanwhile, the soldier who seemed to be the most experienced tried to instruct one of the (presumably) younger members.
“No. Everyone fall back.”
I hurriedly cut him off. My incredibly tense senses, busy scanning the area for any more Merfolk, were currently ringing alarm bells.
“Dozens of Merfolk are headed this way.”
The ones I’d just faced appeared to be the vanguard, with more on the way.
“Captain! Merfolk incoming!”
“What?!”
I had considered staying behind to fight alone, but something about this felt off, so I decided to retreat with them.
Looking back now, that decision wasn’t a bad one.
Judging by the substantial number of incoming presences, it was more than apparent the soldiers would have to retreat to the city, and if they did, they would definitely take Frederick with them.
Naturally, that meant I would have to go back on foot.
And I wasn’t a fan of that. Even though I’d prepared two days’ worth of rations when I heard this mission would take place outside, I really didn’t want to walk so far on foot.
“How many?”
“At least thirty.”
Although I hadn’t confirmed it visually, I was pretty confident in my answer. Feeling them get closer by the moment, I drew my longsword instead of my Zweihänder.
Worried the Merfolk would reach us first, I positioned myself to block the path I could feel them coming from.
“They’re within forty meters.”
“…Prepare to retreat! Throw away anything unnecessary! Everyone, get on your horses!”
The captain looked like she wanted to say something to me, but she didn’t try to question the authenticity of my report. She clearly understood that wasting time on that here would have dire consequences if my report was accurate.
“Tell me every time they get ten meters closer to us!”
Instead, the captain stood beside me. Like me, it seemed she was trying to buy the ordinary soldiers time to escape by holding back the enemy.
“Thirty meters.”
I watched the soldiers rush to their horses with only their weapons, leaving their water, food, and blankets behind.
“Damn it, I didn’t even get to eat yet.”
There was a tinge of regret in some of the soldiers’ mutterings.
Actually, had I been left to handle this alone, I would have cleaned up those things myself before they even reached this place, so they wouldn’t have needed to retreat in such a rush. I felt guilty for no reason.
“Twenty meters.”
However, it was a bit difficult to explain this to them, and it was also a bit difficult to ignore this discomfort.
I continued to update the captain on the Merfolk’s location as she’d ordered. As I did, I also couldn’t help but think they were surprisingly quick on land despite not living on it.
“Captain, Adventurer, your horses!”
The vice-captain had led our horses right behind us so we could immediately mount them.
“All soldiers are mounted!”
“Good, let’s leave!”
And when the distance between us had closed to about ten meters, all the soldiers finished mounting. “Get on first.” My sword shimmered, covering in pitch-black Arcane Power.
Slash!
Unless I planned on fighting for an extended period, there was no need to conserve my Arcane Power. With just a single swing, I cleaved through the space several dozen meters before me.
“…That would have been a spectacular sight during the daytime.”
Perhaps so. The way my sword cleanly cut through the surrounding vegetation would have been quite fascinating, though the same couldn’t be said about the process of separating the Merfolk’s souls from their bodies.
Clink.
Anyway, since I’d killed the closest Merfolk, we now had time to retreat.
I climbed atop Frederick, who seemed neither nervous nor excited. Only after I mounted my horse did the captain move hers.
“Let’s head toward the city! Adventurer! Are there any more enemies?”
“There are.”
“How many?”
Well… They weren’t close enough yet for me to count. I knew there were some, but not exactly how many.
“…Are you confident you can handle them all on your own?”
“Don’t ask the obvious.”
Oh… Good thing I didn’t use up all my Arcane Power… Honestly, it wasn’t like I needed to.
Anyway, the captain nervously swallowed at my confident response, and then she shouted.
“Vice-captain! Take the soldiers and return to the city.”
“What?!”
“All units, return to the city with the vice-captain! The adventurer and I will gather more information!”
“But!”
“Adventurer, slow down!”
“…Damn it!!”
Due to our late departure, the captain and I were still at the group’s rear, so it wasn’t hard to break away from them.
My horse and the captain’s gradually slowed down. Frederick impatiently scraped over the ground with his forelegs.
“We’ll eliminate all approaching Merfolk and scour the coastline. Any objections?”
“No.”
I wondered whether it would be better to dismount or handle everything from horseback, blowing them away with ranged attacks before they could even get close.
After serious thought, I decided on the latter option. If it didn’t work out, I could always just jump down and fight.
“…Let’s go.”
I followed the captain’s lead.
Fortunately, my initial attack had already wiped out most of the Merfolk, so I could easily kill the remainder while on horseback.
“Now we just need to check the coast…?”
The real issue was what I’d seen when approaching the shore after killing the Merfolk.
“…We’re heading back immediately!”
Defensive battles were often called battles of numbers, but wasn’t it a bit excessive for so many enemies to be rushing in that they completely obscured the waves?!
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