Battle Maiden of White Fate 3
A dark brown holy tree appears in a swampy area where the fog has cleared.
It was more than ten meters tall and wide enough even if five Christos standing side by side with their arms outstretched would lose out.
It was huge.
Anyone would wonder how old it is.
Christo took a step backward through the mud of the swamp, which echoed with sound.
It comes from instinctive fear.
The spirit's body recognized the large tree in front of him as an enemy.
"I'll have to find the starting point of the barrier."
In contrast to Christo, who was silently looking up at the tree, Laira went around to the back of the tree. Christo ran after her in a hurry.
"Can you feel the presence of the god of the swamp? I can't."
He looked around the swamp after the fog had lifted.
Black mud, marsh grasses, and shallow puddles of rotten-smelling water.
There was no sign of the god of the swamp, except for the skeletal remains of a dead beast.
"I can see a big snake moving far away, but..."
"There is a god of the swamp. Right in front of us."
"What?"
After going around the big tree, Laira suddenly peered into the other side.
Christo also straddles the roots of the tree and peeks over.
Behind the tree, at the base of the tree, there is a large hole, which gives off a frightening atmosphere, like the entrance to an underground cave. However, upon closer inspection, they found that the hole was shallow, with only a three-meter hole diagonally downwards. There was a pool of water in the back, with dead grass, bones, and other debris floating in the water.
(This is the middle of a swamp to begin with. The terrain is not complex enough to create underground caverns, and the soil is heavy and soft.)
It doesn't look like anything is living inside.
Then――.
Christo looked up at a large, dark brown, dead tree.
The trunk of the tree was bumpy in its own way, but there was an unnatural rise about three meters above Christo's head. If you look closely, you can almost see a naked woman.
However, the area from the belly up alone was several meters long, and she was definitely not of the human race.
Could it be a woman from the giant race?
If she is a woman of the giant race, why is she lying dead in the state of being buried in a big tree?
(Or should I say, [assimilated]?)
"Laira. The star reader that brought you here, as I recall, prophesied that the swamp was the fruit of a holy tree that had died out hundreds of years ago, right?"
"Yeah, that’s right."
Laira crouched down in front of the hole in the roots of a waterlogged tree and seemed to be looking through the water.
The star reader also said that the Philosopher's Stone was buried at the base of the holy tree, so she must be searching for something like that.
"Are you saying this great tree is a holy tree?"
"What does it look like to you, Handsome-kun?"
"It's just a big tree. It's oddly shaped, with a huge woman buried in the trunk."
"Looking around this swamp, there aren't any other trees. However, it's obviously strange that there's only one large tree sitting in the middle of nowhere without rotting roots. This is no ordinary large tree."
Laira, who was kneeling on the wet grass, stood up.
"The god of the swamp is that. From the looks of it, it seems to be integrated with the big tree."
"That part that looks like a woman with only the upper half of her body is the god of the swamp?"
"It seems so. The god has already ceased its life activity. It is not the god who put up this barrier. ――It seems that we have failed. The barrier was put up by Eltharion outside, I think? I thought that if we came here, we would be able to meet the god and, upon negotiation, have the barrier lifted."
Laira said that indifferently and sat down at the roots of the large tree.
She continued.
"Unfortunately, we can't get out of the barrier. It won't work unless someone outside does something about Eltharion or destroys the barrier from the outside. Well, as far as dying goes, I'd say it's just below the top. I can have s*x with Handsome-kun until I die out."
"I have no intention of dying. ――Hey, tell me what you think. If this is a holy tree, what do you think a holy tree is? Is it an extra-terrestrial life form, as Schneizel's parasitic tree theory suggests?"
"My owner seems to think so."
Laira rested her staff against the root of the tree, then stood and looked up at the withered branches of the large tree.
The holy tree towering over the Holy Tree Mountain in the royal capital emits a blue light and spreads blue leaves in the sky, but this large tree is dark brown and its branches are like a dead tree without a single leaf.
Since the sky in the swamp was cloudy, it looked like a strange monster with countless tentacles sprouting from its head.
"The Holy Tree is parasitic on something. In many cases, that [something] is a human race or a beastkin race that has been selected as a suitable being. The male members of the Lou family, the [Hero of Light], are particularly susceptible to the parasite. For some reason, it seems that the Holy Tree is not compatible with women at all."
"If you can't parasitize something, you can't live on your own."
Christo remembered the pale, glowing slug that Patricia had spat out.
If that was the true identity of the holy tree, it would have been able to survive even after leaving Patricia's body by taking the form of a branch of the holy tree.
"If it's not parasitic, it can't assume its original form. If it leaves someone's body, it transforms itself into a branch and protects its own body tissue."
"It seems that there is a place in the Hero Territory called [Meteor Canyon] where fragments of the holy tree fall from the sky, and the fragments of the holy tree that fall there also take the form of branches. I heard that the dragon race can survive being thrown into magma by hardening their scales and transforming their outer skin into heat-insulating material. As you say, Handsome-kun, it may be a defensive instinct of the holy tree that it takes the form of a branch."
"If they can preserve themselves even in the form of a branch, why would they go to the trouble of parasitizing something? Is it because if they remain in the form of a branch for a long time, their bodies unravel and turn into particles?"
Christo puts his hand to his chin.
Laira shook her leg.
"Either that or the ego dies. Or maybe they can't grow or reproduce in plant form."
"I see."
The seed of the holy sword cannot be used as it is, as a seed.
It's obvious if one looks at the seeds of the [Holy Sword that Slays Fairies] that Christo has.
However, if the seed is swallowed by a woman that was compatible with it, the seed will sprout in her belly and grow into the form of a slug. The reason Patricia looked sick for a while was undoubtedly because she was being nourished by the holy tree in her belly. When she said that her stomach would hurt if she did not use a stomach medicine, it could be said that the tree was growing by eating the inner walls of Patricia's stomach and intestines.
Soon, the seed of the holy tree would devour all of the woman's stomach and take over her body by mimicking itself as an organ instead.
Christo had been dimly aware of this for some time, but now that he was here, he was almost certain of what the holy tree was.
"If this big dark brown tree is a holy tree, what did it parasitize before it grew to this size?"
"Well, that would be the god of the swamp. It's part of the trunk there."
"The holy tree shows hostility to the bodies of monsters and demons. The seeds of the holy sword, which is part of the holy tree, will also come out of the body if the host turns into a demon."
"I heard that vampire Duke Godfred Salvatori's wife spit the holy sword. However, the holy tree here showed no aversion. You mean it continued to grow and parasitize the body of the god of the swamp."
"Are you saying that the god of the swamp has adapted to the holy tree?"
"Isn't it the other way around? The holy tree's body tissue has adapted to the god of the swamp. This swamp. There's no way humans would pass by by chance, and the survival instinct of the tree may have prompted it to mutate itself. As a result, when the tree touched the body tissue of the god of the swamp, it did not recognize it as the tissue of a hostile being, and mutated with a symbiotic relationship with it ――a win-win relationship."
"Then why was the [Wood Woman] able to use holy arts?"
"I think the most convincing reason is that they took into their body the dominant tissue of the holy tree, which had almost assimilated with the god of the swamp. What do you think, Handsome-kun?"
"I think so, too. I have examined the body tissues of the [Wood Woman] with a microscope at Soderholm Castle and found that some of the body tissues have a structure very similar to that of the [Blue Ash]. The [Wood Woman] had incorporated the dominant tissues of the Holy Tree into their body. By drawing holy seals with their arms that incorporated the tissue of the holy tree, they manipulated the [Blue Ash] to use holy arts, just like the holy arts users of the human race."
Christo stared at the withered tree trunk behind Laira.
"If we gouged there, would we be able to extract the dominant tissue of the unvegetated holy tree?"
"I don't know... we're free, so why not try it? If you can take out the dominant tissue, you may be able to use the holy arts like the [Wood Woman]. I've always wanted to use the holy arts, even if it was just once before I died."
Laira seems to be ready to touch the dominant tissue of the holy tree.
But for Christo, it is not something he would want to touch casually, as he has seen Eltharion eroded by the ashes of the holy tree.
It would be safer to pull out a few strands of hair first and let them touch the tissue of the holy tree.
"According to the star reader, the Philosopher's Stone is also buried at the base of the tree. That's just fine. Let's see, then, I'll smelt a shovel."
"Sure."
When Christo said so and took a distance so as not to get in Laira's way, the swamp behind him suddenly bubbled, and immediately a woman in a black robe emerged from the mud.
"――――" "Arara, enemy attack?"
In front of Christo and Laira, who were instantly ready for battle, the [Wood Woman] slowly opened her graceful mouth.
"It seems that stealing is your specialty, Christopher."
× × ×
(I can see that the ashes of the holy tree are getting used to my body. Apparently, I was able to adapt to the ashes of the holy tree.)
In the forest at sunset, Eltharion sat alone by the spring, testing his motor skills by opening and closing his hands and moving his legs.
"Fuu..."
After confirming that his motor functions were fully restored, Eltharion stood up from the large rock on which he was sitting. He cracked the bones in his neck, and his green eyes lit up with a light of determination.
Ulrika has been kidnapped――
And the criminals ordered him to kill the village chief first if he wanted to save Ulrika.
After much consideration, Eltharion gave up looking for Ulrika.
Or rather, if he left the village to look for Ulrika, there was a possibility that her eyeballs would be sent to him this time. He could not take action badly――.
So he came to a conclusion.
(Kill all humans in this area)
How did he come to such an extreme conclusion?
Objectively, it was too extreme a thought, but from Eltharion's point of view, it was perfectly natural.
Those who kidnapped Ulrika know that Ulrika is Eltharion's weak point. That's why they are planning to take Ulrika away and have Frontier Count Netzel, a person they don't like and a political enemy (?), killed in exchange for her life.
However, only the villagers living in the pioneer village know that Ulrika is Eltharion's weakness.
On the other hand, there is no doubt that the person trying to have Netzel killed is someone from outside the village.
This is because the villagers can't even come up with the idea of assassinating the Frontier Count, who is a person from the top in the first place.
What he can derive from these two is that forces outside the village are colluding with those inside the village.
They are colluding with a group that can be said to be Netzel's political enemies.
Those who hate the village chief.
According to Ulrika's words, the village is currently divided into a group of village leaders who follow the god of the swamp, and a group of young people who are trying to escape from the god's control.
It would seem, then, that a group of young people in the village are planning to leak information to Netzel's political opponents and eliminate those who get in their way.
With these things in mind, he thought about how to save the most important for Eltharion.
The most important is Ulrika.
He definitely wants to help her.
The next most important is the monsters in the forest.
They can't be abandoned either.
He doesn't care about the people in the pioneer village, the army stationed in the wilderness, or the nobles like Frontier Count Netzel in the castle.
(In that case)
First of all, it is absolutely necessary to give in to the enemy's demands for Ulrika's sake.
So, he will kill the village chief.
Next, kill the traitorous villagers who sold Ulrika in order not to leak the situation to the culprit's side.
In addition, kill the spy outside the village sent by the culprit's side for surveillance.
However, Eltharion doesn't know who the traitor is in the village, and he doesn't know whether the culprit's spy is hiding among the army in the wilderness, the private army of the noble's castle, or the adventurers. It may even be lurking evenly throughout.
So what should he do――
There is only one answer.
If he doesn't know, just kill them all.
As long as they're monitoring Eltharion's movements, the spy is definitely nearby.
If he annihilates the villagers, smashes all the forces in the wilderness, and destroys the castle, the culprit who kidnapped Ulrika won't get any information.
Even if they did, the culprit would have no complaints because he had killed the village chief as requested.
If they did complain, they would be in fear of Elthearion, who had slaughtered all the people around them in one night, and they would probably think it foolish to take advantage of him any further.
He had learned from the god of the swamp that it takes a certain amount of cruelty to bring an enemy to his knees.
(Power. After all, as long as I have power, anything will go well.)
Eltharion clenched his fists with his strength restored.
There is a momentary blue luminescence on the skin of the finger, which soon returns to Eltharion's own white skin.
(If I eliminate the army in the wilderness, I can ensure the safety of the monsters in the forest for the time being. As soon as I have time, I can let the monsters escape from the forest.)
In the first place, the predicament began when Eltharion was defeated by the user of the holy sword.
If he had been strong enough, he would have just slaughtered a few thousand monkeys and that would have been the end of it.
As long as he wins, he won't have any problems.
It is a simple and sure solution.
(In order to win, I had to think about how to deal with the user of the pseudo-holy sword.)
However, when it came to the holy sword, he was certain that he could do something about it.
"[God Sword]"
Muttering, Eltharion draws a holy seal with his regenerated left hand.
He tried to draw the holy seal of the Skogsras, and when he finished drawing the holy seal, a shining blue [God Sword] appeared in Eltharion's left hand.
"I did it"
Eltharion mutters while looking up at the blue particles scattered in the sky.
Despite being a demon, Eltharion was able to use holy arts just like the [Wood Woman].
Perhaps now, he was confident that he could suppress the erosion of the outstandingly effective [Blue Ash] by drawing a holy seal. In short, the calculation was that if the [Blue ash] were consumed in a massive amount first, the enemy would not be able to fully use the effect of the holy sword.
And he would not make the mistake of being cut by the holy sword itself again.
The match is decided in an instant.
Now that he had a plan to deal with the effects of the pseudo-holy sword and melee attacks, there was no way that Eltharion would be defeated by the talking monkeys.
"――――"
He held his left hand.
The [Blue Ashes] that had assimilated into Eltharion's skin tingled.
The blue luminescent skin creeps up from the left wrist to the elbow.
"If I use it, it will speed up erosion..."
Holding down his wrist, Eltharion's eyes distort.
The blue ashes that have been adapted to Eltharion's body seem to be eroding more and more each time Eltharion uses his power. If he continues to use his power, the erosion will continue to accelerate. The erosion would continue even if nothing was done. If no action is taken at this point, all of Eltharion's body will eventually be replaced by [Blue Ash], just like the god of the swamp, and he will turn into a large tree that does not speak.
Even now that the adaptation has been completed, there is still no fundamental solution.
But that wasn't something he needed to think about right now.
After eliminating the culprit and recovering Ulrika, he should think about searching for a healer. Even if the erosion of the body progresses at once due to the use of holy arts, there is nothing he can do unless he overcomes the present.
"――Who are you?"
Suddenly, Eltharion noticed a gaze directed at him from the top of the tree on the left and looked up. The presence disappears in an instant, and the forest is enveloped in an unnatural silence.
"Are you the spy of the culprit? No, wrong. They're the ones who want to control me remotely. I don't think they're going to monitor me so close."
"A spy of the culprit?"
A clear female voice echoes.
Did she realize that it was impossible to hide any longer, or was her curiosity piqued by Eltharion's words?
It's probably the latter―― while thinking that, Eltharion gazed at the thin shadow that landed silently on the rocky area in front of him.
"I thought I had completely erased my presence."
Red hair tied with a hairband.
A toned body like a wild beast.
Green eyes that sparkle even in the darkness.
While Eltharion had a wary expression on his face, the red-haired female warrior whom he fought in the depths of the forest slowly stepped out in front of the spring.
"How did you notice? The sound of breathing?"
"No, your gaze."
Eltharion answers while looking for a gap.
Although his body's functions have recovered, his abilities are not effective to the woman.
What's more, she possesses incredible strength and regeneration abilities that surpass those of the king-class demons.
This is not an enemy to be underestimated.
"I see. Gaze. There's nothing I can do about it."
After saying that, the red-haired female warrior put her hands on her hips and sighed.
When he had met her before, she had a great axe and a huge mace, but today, her equipment consisted of a golden spear, a muddy wooden spear, an opulent crossed sword, and three shovels.
All were carried together on a clasp on her back.
The woman's red hair gave off a rotten odor typical of muddy pond water.
"...The peace was held yesterday noon. Don't you know?"
"I know that"
"So what are you doing in this forest?"
"It seems that a person named Ulrika has disappeared from the village. The village chief and everyone else are looking for her with all their might. I was searching the forest in the hope that I could be of some help."
"Did you bring three shovels with you to find Ulrika and bathe in a pond in the middle of the forest? That's quite something."
What the red-haired beautiful girl was carrying on her back was the treasure that Eltharion offered to Christo as compensation for the [Primordial Elixir].
The golden spear is Gae Assail, the muddy wooden spear is Ruin, a magic spear that has the power to burn a city with flames, and the cross sword is Fragarach.
Since Christo chose the spirit horse Anbar as the price, all other treasures that were not chosen were returned to the bottom of the swamp.
Apparently, this dirty little female monkey was busy stealing while the peace was being held.
To say that she was looking for Ulrika would be shameless.
Not to mention the culprits.
This woman is a piece of trash, a piece of trash that has been boiled and dried.
(This monkey...)
"Go away. Now. I'm in a bad mood."
"Arara. There's no need to be so angry. You said something like [spy of the culprit] earlier, right? That's an interesting statement. I feel like it might have something to do with Ulrika-san's disappearance."
"It has nothing to do with you"
"There is. I might be able to help you with something. I might be able to do things that you, who only know about the forest, can't do."
"――――"
When Eltharion suddenly fell silent, the red-haired woman let out a devilish smile.
Although her appearance is the finest woman among the monkeys, Eltharion hated this woman physiologically.
When she thought of Ulrika's purity and kindness, this thieving monkey in front of him made him nauseous just by looking at her.
"From what I can infer, Ulrika-san was kidnapped by someone."
"…………"
"What is the request from the culprit's side?"
"None of your business. Go away. There won't be a third time."
"Fumu."
After thinking about something, the woman unclasped the pouch on her waist and took out a rune stone.
"I should contact Christo. He might be able to help."
"......Why does his name come up?"
"Because he's my friend. Humans form cliques."
The woman winks and begins to move her hand to do something toward the rune stone.
However, just by looking at her, he can tell that she is a beginner in magic.
The woman didn't seem to be able to handle the rune stones well yet.
While watching this, Eltharion suddenly thought about the black-haired young devil.
That man was going to be sealed away forever in the depths of the swamp along with the humans in the expedition.
As he is Eltharion's enemy, he should do so.
He can sense that the barrier has been activated.
He also knew that Christopher was trapped inside.
Although it is difficult to detect the details due to the distance, it seems that the humans who were in the barrier have generally ceased to function.
If left alone, they will sink to the bottom of the muddy swamp and never rise to the surface again.
They were the ones who went exploring to meet the god of the swamp, so Eltharion didn't violate the treaty.
It's just that they are greedy fools who got lost and couldn't find their way back.
(But――)
For some reason, that devil set up a peace treaty.
He helped keep the peace in the forest.
He was an enemy who slaughtered the monsters in the forest and fatally injured the god of the swamp with that mysterious rune magic, but other than that it was extremely peaceful.
(What I am about to do now is a waste of the peace treaty that he has prepared for me. I must apologize to him for that.)
Eltharion nodded once and called out to the red-haired woman.
"Woman, lend me that rune stone."
"Eh?"
"It's a rune stone. Christopher seems to have a thin connection to it. If I trace it, I can talk to him through the [Wood Woman]."
"I see. Then here you go. Please return it to me as it is very important."
Without answering, Eltharion detects Christopher's location from the rune stone.
He quickly identified it, and then he manipulated the nearby [Wood Woman] to head there.
The [Wood Woman] is a servant of the god of the swamp, but now they are a puppet that moves at Eltharion's will.
The reason is that the god of the swamp was mortally wounded when Christopher blew up the forest a while ago, and it was Eltharion who put an end to her afterward. After Eltharion's blow, the god of the swamp used the [Blue Ashes] to regenerate herself―― she was completely assimilated into the holy tree.
After that, killing the person who adopted him, he was distraught for a while and ended up scaring Ulrika―― but now it's a good thing.
Eltharion calls for the [Wood Woman] to move to where Christopher is.
"It seems that stealing is your specialty, Christopher."
× × ×
Christopher, I want to talk to you alone――.
Having received this request from Eltharion through the [Wood Woman], Christo left Laira by the big tree and moved to the swamp alone.
"Is this okay?"
He called out to the [Wood Woman] who was ahead of him.
Then, he could feel Eltharion nodding through the [Wood Woman].
"So, what's the story?"
"...Do you hate me?"
"Hate? Why would I hate you?"
"That I sent you to the god of the swamp when she is long dead."
When the [Wood Woman]'s mouth moves, a deep male voice comes out of it, which is quite an unrealistic sight. Regardless, he must respond to Eltharion's words.
"I don't really care. It's just that I was stupid and didn't notice that the god of the swamp wasn't moving anymore."
"I see. ――You cannot escape from that barrier, and I'm not going to let you escape. I have no intention of letting you go. You will be sealed there until the end of time. Is there anything you need to tell the people out here?"
"No, there isn't."
"I have a message for you. I'm sorry that you took the trouble to prepare a peace treaty, but from now on, I will kill not only the villagers, but everyone around me. You will hate me, so... First of all, I apologize for doing something that.''
"――――. I don’t really understand what you mean."
"Things have changed. The people in the village, the people in the wilderness, the people in the castle, they all need to die. There may be a few good ones, but I am not willing to let a great evil escape in order to save those few good ones. I have seen the fundamental malignancy of the human race in the past few days in a disgusting way. I wish they would all just go extinct."
"How on earth did you come to think like that? Up until now, as the god's representative, you had been doing well with the pioneer village, right?"
"I have no desire to explain it to you. This is my decision. To begin with, you are probably someone who doesn't care how many humans die."
"Well, it's generally true about unrelated people. I can't deny it."
"I'll ignore the red-haired female warrior here. She's your friend, right? I'll tell her about the attack, and make sure all your important people are out of there before dawn, when the attack is scheduled to take place. You don't need to worry about that."
"I understand that you plan to kill everyone around you, but is that possible with your ability? Isn't your body being affected by the holy sword?"
"I have overcome the holy sword. I don't know how long my body will last, but for now, I won't be defeated by a ranged attack with the holy sword. With my current power, I can kill all the people around me. It is quite possible.”
Eltharion's voice was filled with quiet confidence.
Christo frowned upon hearing his words.
"I want you to wait before destroying the village. I don't care what happens to the army or adventurers in the wilderness."
"Why? Is it because it's the village your father built?"
"That's one thing, but recently I've found another reason."
"……?"
Christo continued while looking at Laira, who was scraping the trunk of the large tree and collecting it in a test tube.
"I want to understand the strength of the human race. They are able to love their neighbors as a species. They have the courage to unite and stand against a great enemy."
"I don't think so... They're sneaky and cowardly monkeys who can only talk. The only way we can learn from them is as role models. But the world is becoming more evil and dirty just by keeping them alive to serve as role models. That's how intolerable the human race is."
"You're just too naive to understand humans. It's not good to dismiss what you don't understand as evil."
"I understand humans very well. After understanding them, I judged them to be evil."
Eltharion's tone was quiet, but filled with uncontrollable sadness and anger.
"Christopher. Do you understand why the world created us spirits?"
"No……"
"It's to control humans, beastmen, and monsters. Especially to control the cunning people like humans and beastmen. If it were me, I would create them to prevent them from building more civilization than necessary. In your case, you were born into this world as a fair and just being in order to suppress their endless reproduction and to warn them of their habit of creating evil laws. Am I wrong?"
A devil controls contracts.
Controlling people's desires.
Maintaining order in this world by being the receptacle of people's evil desires.
Because they are born with such a role in the world, if they are martyred for their mission, their power as demons will increase.
What Eltharion said was not wrong.
Whether it's Christo, Eltharion, or Piercarlo, they are not on the side of humanity.
Either they are an enemy, or they continue to be a fair and just transcendental being.
They were designed and born into this world to continue to be that way.
They are beings who have been assigned the role of cleansing to protect the world from the pollution, destruction, and collapse of order carried out by human beings, and have been given the abilities appropriate to this role.
That is the Demon God.
Christo remembers the old man talking about that.
(However, the old man's words are not everything)
Likewise, it is not all about the mission that was given to him or something like that.
Christo only acts where his soul takes him.
It would be the same for Eltharion.
Ultimately, it didn't matter what his role was, as long as he had a will.
"Christopher. I will destroy human civilization. I will return the human race, with all its unbelievable wiles, to the apes, who are just trying to live day by day. Then there will be less evil in this world. And for that, some thinning of the herd is necessary."
"――――"
"If you are willing to fulfill the role given to you by the world, please cooperate with me. If you agree, I can take you out of there."
"I have no intention of complying. I won't let the pioneer village disappear. I just want to explore people's potential."
"I see. It's a pity."
Eltharion's words stopped there.
The [Wood Woman]'s head hangs down, and the roots of the tree grow out from under her robe, rotting away.
All that remained was the remains of a silent, humanoid tree.
After seeing that the [Wood Woman] was completely silent, Christo turned back to Laira.
× × ×
(It's about time I crossed the mountain.)
Ulrika wiped the sweat off her face with her handkerchief as she watched the sunset over the horizon.
The village was about halfway down a mountain pass in the southeast of the village.
Ulrika had returned about halfway down the pass.
In the end, she was never able to meet the alchemist that Siegfried and Tiger said to her.
He did not show up at the meeting place.
She thought about going all the way to the Baltic city, but Ulrika didn't have a pass for the city, nor did she have a way or money to get one.
She had no choice but to return to the pioneer village without any results.
(Those two mercenaries! Don't waste my time! When I get back to the village and find them, I'll have to complain to them!)
"Fuee... t-this is hard..."
Although it was well-maintained, the mountain pass was surrounded by forests on both sides, and Ulrika, who had little body fat, was wearing down her physical strength to the limit.
She didn't meet any peddlers on the way, so she didn't eat or drink much.
She was even considering starting a bonfire nearby and camping out today.
(I left a note on the desk just in case... but if Grandmother didn't notice, she'd probably make a big fuss as if heaven and earth had turned upside down... Camping in the wild is no good after all.)
Moreover, in the Baltic city, she passed by a patrol unit of Frontier Count Netzel's soldiers, but she never encountered them on the mountain pass.
If she was attacked by bandits in a place like this, there was nothing Ulrika could do by herself.
"Hmm?"
As she managed to move forward in a state of exhaustion, she saw a group of familiar military uniforms near the bottom of the pass.
They were dressed in splendid, silver-colored uniforms. It was a unit of the [Band of the Great Hawk of Salvation].
Ulrika's expression suddenly lit up.
She almost died of thirst, but it seemed that she had been saved.
She would talk to them and ask them to give her some water.
If she can persuade them well, they might even be able to carry her on a horseback to the village.
"Heeeey! Heey! Over here!"
Ulrika summoned the last of her strength and raised her voice.
Waving her hands over her head, she ran down toward the dozen or so strong mercenaries hanging out at the base of the mountain pass.
Then, the mercenaries seemed to notice Ulrika's presence and came running towards her, pointing at her.
"Heey! Hel... h-huh? W-what...?"
Rather than an atmosphere of help, it seems to be cloaked in a somewhat swarthy atmosphere.
"U-um."
"Hey, are you sure this is the one?"
"Well, she's all sweaty, but she looks exactly like in the portrait."
"Hey, you! Are you Ulrika from the pioneer village!?"
"Aee? T-that's right. I'm Ulrika from the pioneer village."
"I see. ――Do it. Capture her!"
"Eh? Gyaaaaa! S-stop! Where are you touching me!"
A large man forcibly grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up.
She hit his back, but her fist hit the hard metal, and it only hurt her.
"Tch, shut up. And you smell awful. You're covered in sweat, damn it."
"It can’t be helped, she's a peasant woman."
"Captain, do you want me to reap her consciousness?"
One of the mercenaries asked a man wearing a fine helmet.
The man called Captain looked at Ulrika with a sharp gaze and nodded.
"Be careful not to hurt her cervical vertebrae."
"Yes"
"――――!? N-no! W-what are you doing!"
She struggled, but a strong force held her down and she couldn't do anything.
When the man's strong hand reached out, Ulrika's eyes filled with tears and she closed them tightly.
(Help me, Eltharion!)
"H-hey!"
Just as the soldier's hand was about to touch Ulrika's neck, Ulrika heard a familiar male voice.
"Pontus?"
She opens her eyes.
She twisted around to look ahead and saw Pontus, a young farmer and childhood friend of hers, standing in front of the soldiers.
"Hey, why are you being so rough with Ulrika! You didn't say anything about this!"
"Pontus! Help, help!"
As she cried out desperately, Pontus seemed to become even more desperate, he angrily lashed out with his thick arms and closed in on the mercenaries.
"Hey, let go of Ulrika."
"Do it"
"Eh?"
A bright red flower of blood bloomed in front of Ulrika's eyes.
Who was the one who muttered that?
Pontus, who had been stabbed in the stomach from behind, looked down at his body with a dumbfounded face and collapsed helplessly on the spot.
"P-Pontus!"
No comments:
Post a Comment