Chapter 16: Ghost of Mist 3
A thick mist, like spilled milk, covered the entire Bina class camp.
In the camp, there were 20 church knights, 20 kingdom knights, and a total of 40 people, students of the Bina class, and teachers leading them. The size of the encampment was therefore quite large, but now, after midnight, the temporary wooden fence was only faintly visible.
"We teachers were making our rounds in the middle of the night. Then we received a report of an unidentified fog moving toward the encampment. The knights who came into contact with the fog were disappearing into it and not coming back, so we started to think that this was not just any fog, but a fog created by some kind of monster. We agreed to wake up the people who were sleeping for now and get some distance from the oncoming fog, but it was already late and the fog had covered most of the encampment."
Laranoa raked her fingernails against the surface of the rock on which she was sitting.
"I was running away as hard as I could. I haven't been able to confirm the appearance of the enemy either.... In that fog, there are not only knights but also my students. I want to do something about it, but I can't do anything if I don't have my equipment. So, I thought about strengthening my physical ability, running back to the academy, and requesting support.”
“So you were running with nothing but your clothes on.”
Christo asked, listening to Laranoa's words, while gazing at the camp from the top of the rock.
(About 100 meters to the camp. The fog stretches high into the night sky and is quite thick. And.)
Kyaaaaaaaa.
A mournful scream cut through the silence of the night and echoed through the wilderness.
Laranoa closed her eyes, and Melvina calmly checks the fog.
A voice echoed through the fog.
He could not tell who it belonged to, but from the pitch of the voice, it was probably one of the female students.
"...I'm sorry. I should probably go now. Make sure you two don't get close to the fog. As long as you can, move toward the royal capital. If you can't use holy arts, it may be difficult to travel that distance, but it can't be helped because we don't have horses."
"It's over 100 kilometers from here to the royal capital, are you okay?"
Christo asks after seeing Laranoa's outfit.
Laranois wears nothing but a black chemise.
No weapons, no water.
With physical reinforcement, it would take about half a day to get to the royal capital, even taking into account the rough road.
However, wild dogs and magical beasts roam in the wilderness, and it is impossible to secure water as long as you follow the route to the capital.
"I don't think I'll come across any magical beasts if I don't stray from the route. As for the water... if I just put up with it, I'll manage somehow. Everyone's lives are at stake, so I'll get there even if I get destroyed."
"I'll share some portable food with you. Christo-san, water."
"Okay. Here's a water bottle. It's not much."
“I’m sorry and thank you. Ah, I don't need the saber. Melvina, you carry it. If I run into wild dogs, I'll use the holy arts to fight them.
"I wish you good luck, sensei."
"I hope you both manage to stay safe."
Another scream comes from the fog.
A man's voice this time.
Probably it was one of the knights who accompanied them, judging from the age of the voice.
Uwaa, don't come closer! Don't, hiii... gugyaaaahh―― The rather long line of dialogue was heard with unnatural clarity on the wind.
".......I'm going. See you then."
Laranoa tied food and other items to a cord made from the stem of a withered plant, got up from the rock, and ran out. She activated the [God's Sword], followed by the [Swear to the Blue Holy Tree]. The speed at which she ran increased dramatically.
As Christo and Melvina watched from behind the rock, Laranoa's figure turned into a black shadow, which eventually became as large as a pea and disappeared.
Kyaaaaaaaa――――.
“…………”
(Another scream. Same girl? ……The duration of the scream is five seconds, excluding the reverberating part. The pitch of the voice is also perfectly consistent with the earlier scream.)
Listening to the sharp scream, Christo furrowed his eyebrows.
Something is wrong――.
"A Foglin."
Melvina says shortly, rising from the rock and turning her ash-blue eyes to the dense wall of fog.
“Foglin, you mean the monster that imitates human voices that mainly haunt the [Frozen Plains]?”
Foglins are a subspecies of the vampire race and a close relative of goblins.
They use the terrain, climate, and magical totems to generate fog, which they use as their territory. They always act in groups. Their intelligence is quite high.
They lure their next prey by imitating the voices of their victims in the fog that is their territory. They are not picky eaters like werewolves, who only eat internal organs, but suck their prey down to the bone. Some individuals have even been seen drying human flesh to create preserved food―― apparently.
However, Foglins are monsters that inhabit the [Frozen Plains], which is the frontline against the dragon race.
Their habitat is far from the royal capital.
What brought them to this place where there is nothing but danger for the Foglins?
“The screams we heard earlier were diverse, but if you listen closely, you’ll find that they’re all mixed in with the exact same screams. In addition to that dense fog―― no doubt about it. It matches the characteristics of Foglin.”
"However, Foglin lives in the [Frozen Plains]. Could they be moving toward the capital?"
"That's something we'll find out when we go to that fog."
Melvina said, pulling out her saber and walking toward the fog.
Christo jumped down from the rock.
"Wait. You're not going to run into the fog without a second thought, are you?"
The foggy region of Foglin is a circle with a radius of several kilometers around a magical totem that serves as the starting point for the formation. It is a perfectly round circle, as if drawn with a tool.
If you rush into it carelessly, you will be disoriented by screams from all directions, or you will be taken by surprise by the Foglins, and eventually lose your sense of direction in the fog. If that happens, they're done.
Melvina shook her head.
"I won't rush in without a plan."
"In the first place, our superior―― Laranoa-sensei's instructions would be to get as far away from this place as possible. The rescue team from the royal capital will take care of the Foglin. It's not our job."
“Considering the organization of the rescue team and the travel time, it would be two or three days at the earliest before a rescue would be made. If we wait for the rescue team, few people who are pulled inside will be saved. We need to do something to save as many people as possible."
“The sound that's been echoing from a while ago must be the last screams of the knights and our classmates, right? If so, it is too late. There is no point in risking it here."
"Are you saying that vampire hunters only turn into vampires?"
"That's just superstition. That's not how one becomes a vampire. You know that―― but that's not what I want to talk about right now."
Frankly, he didn't care what happens to his classmates.
One classmate in particular, despite Christo's warnings, gave Melvina unreserved glances at her ass, breasts, and other parts. It was the worst kind of gaze, not out of sincere affection, but out of a distorted sexual desire that lacked any semblance of decency. The current situation is favorable. As for those rutting pigs, they should be eaten alive by Foglin.
If Melvina had been taken by one of them, he would chop the Foglin all up, fingertips first, and lay them out in the wilderness, neck and neck, to make an example of them to the other monsters, but that's not the case now. There was no reason to go to the trouble of soiling Christo's hands with the blood of a lowly creature.
Melvina turned to Christo and called out quietly, "Christo-san."
"It was only a short time ago that everyone was engulfed in fog. If that is the case, then the nature of Foglins is such that they do not kill all their prey immediately, but store them alive."
Melvina turns her calm gaze to the fog.
She continued.
“Foglin has adapted to a lifestyle of eating a certain amount of meat every two days. If they eat too much meat every day or all at once, they get sick to their stomachs. It's a disadvantage of the species' ability to survive for long periods of time on little food."
"So you're saying that these guys in the fog will only kill what they will eat this morning and keep the rest of it alive for a while? They have an interesting ecology. Don't they make dried meat? Well, fresh meat dripping with blood is usually better than tough meat smelling of smoke."
"Yes. Depending on the size of the Foglin herd and the eating cycle, there should still be quite a few male survivors. In the case of females―― Foglins engage in reproductive behavior. They kill those who are no longer useful. If they haven't killed themselves, they are probably all alive, but if they are not saved before they are raped, their hearts will die. Many of them breed at night, so once the sun goes down again, they are no longer viable."
Melvina concluded and began to move her legs, which had stopped.
It was a calm analysis that did not seem to belong to the woman who, just a few hours ago, had been begging for a penis and shaking her hips on her own. Her dainty appearance sometimes makes him forget that Melvina's mind is essentially that of a member of the hero family.
"I understand that we might be able to help our classmates, but how do you plan to get them out? Do you have a plan?"
Following Melvina and start walking.
Although he is reluctant, if Christo's precious princess is going to help everyone, Christo's role is to escort her.
Melvina nodded and opened her mouth with a serious face.
“In our family, three methods have been devised to counter Foglin. Those are Setanta-style countermeasures, Kat-style countermeasures, and Gwendolyn-style countermeasures.”
"It got ridiculous all of a sudden. Is there a Patricia-style?"
"No."
"I wanted to know about the Patricia-style."
“The Setanta-style is to rush into the fog, hunt down every last Foglin that attacks you, and then stroll leisurely through the area, finding and destroying the totems that create the fog.”
"Isn't that just rushing in without any plan?"
“The Kat-style is to tie corpses up in ropes and throw them out into the fog, then fish them out. Once a certain number of them are down, we charge in."
"U-umu... I see..."
It seems to take a long time, and in the end, it is not a very good strategy.
"The Gwendolyn-style is to do a repetitive sideways leap at the fog line."
"??????"
"Doing a repetitive side jump."
"It's a novel method. I can't read her intentions at all."
"It's like ringing the doorbell and running away before the owner opens the door and asks, "Who's here?" It seems that sister-in-law Gwendolyn was inspired by the harassment she received from a neighborhood child when she was young."
"If the fog is the Foglin's house, then the repetitive jumps are like having the door of your house slammed violently in your face. It's a nuisance from the Foglin's point of view."
"That's the Gwendolyn-style. It works very well. The Foglin usually comes out of the fog angry. If sister-in-law Gwendolyn does it herself, the success rate is over 80%. According to her, it is best to laugh at them when they emerge from the fog, in a mocking tone."
"I see, that was very informative. Thank you."
When Christo came to the front of the barrier created by magic, he turned to face Melvina.
He bent down in front of her and picked up a thick, sturdy-looking wooden stick that was lying at his feet.
"We don't have much time, and today we'll have to go the Setanta-style."
"Are you going to charge in without a plan? I would prefer the Gwendolyn-style."
"Then try Gwendolyn-style until I'm ready. I'll be ready in fifteen or sixteen minutes."
"Understood. I'll show you how to lure out a horde of Foglin!"
"Good luck. I'm counting on you."
Melvina starts a repetitive horizontal jump at a distance.
It is quite interesting to see her doing it in her negligee.
Christo, on the other hand, began tracing the border area of the fog precisely with a wooden stick he had just picked up.
The wind is blowing in the wilderness, but Foglin's magical fog is not diffused by the wind.
Even without the use of a catalyst, Christo's ability could accurately draw the boundary line.
(Foglin's domain is nicely circular.)
And the magical totem generating the fog is in the center of the circle.
If only this magical totem could be destroyed, the fog would disappear and the flock of Foglins could be thrown out into the unobstructed wilderness.
To destroy the totem, it is necessary to determine the location of the center of the circle and to reach the center of the circle without getting lost.
(Take three points on the boundary line of the fog―― that is, on the circumference of the circle.)
Christo gouged the ground with a wooden stick.
(Connect the dots in order. Make one broken line―― two straight lines)
The two straight lines thus formed.
Next, he drew their perpendicular bisectors.
Christo drew a perpendicular intersecting line about fifty centimeters in length at the halfway point of the straight line.
He draws a perpendicular bisector on the other straight line in the same way.
(The point where these two perpendicular bisectors intersect at the end is the center of the circle―― the location of the magic totem.)
"ᚱ"
Rune magic.
Christo took two stones inscribed with "ᚱ" from his waist pouch and threw them on the ground.
Raido.
It is written as ᚱ and read as Raido.
The meaning of the rune is wheel, journey.
Christo put the meaning of wheel on these rune stones.
The stone, which Gwendolyn has had sharpened with her [God's Sword], has a beautiful cylindrical shape, thanks in part to her dexterous hands and her sober, meticulous nature. The carefully crafted rune stones show no signs of diminishing in effectiveness even after leaving the northern lands where they originated.
"Trace. Leave ruts in the ground."
Raido's rune stone rests on the perpendicular bisector drawn by Christo.
As the stone rolled, it gouged out the hard ground, leaving a deep rut about 20 centimeters deep in its wake.
This would extend the perpendicular bisector.
"ᚲ"
Kenaz.
Meaning torch.
With the wolf's blood as an offering, it becomes the light that illuminates the foggy area.
The rune "ᚲ" that Christo threw into the air stopped falling around his right shoulder and began to float. The rune glows orange and the entire stone begins to glow.
(Okay. The last one.)
"Arms of Clay, Feet of Clay.
Replacing the pulsation of the branch for the heart.
Return, earth giant.
I, the descendant of the holy tree.
In the abyss, I call thee.
Fill it, close it, fill it again.
Borrowing the teeth of the dead, the first cry rises.
――Activate, [Clay Doll]."
He throws the golem, which was left over from the previous battle against Setanta, to the ground and chants the incantation as soon as it lands.
The black dirt took in the red, dry soil around it and soon became a giant golem.
The heaviest object from his waist pouch is gone and he becomes lighter.
(I lamented the fact that I didn't leave it in the tent when I left the encampment with Melvina, but now I'm grateful that I happened to bring it out. I should be thankful for the holy tree. I'm a demon, though.)
Preparations are now complete.
All that's left now is to use rune magic according to the situation.
Christo looked at Melvina, who was continuing her repetitive horizontal jumps.
"Come on! Foglin-san! Come out in anger! I'm right here! That's it! That's it! That's it! What do you think? It must be very uncomfortable for you to go in and out of the fog! There! There! If you feel anger, try to catch me! O-ohohohohoho!"
(Are, could Melvina possibly be......? No, it can't be. Melvina is a goddess. No matter what anyone says, she is my goddess.)
"Melvina, I'm ready. Let's go."
"Eh!? It's already been 15 minutes!?"
"You've been doing repetitive side jumps for fifteen minutes. Are your legs okay?"
"I still have some leeway!"
"L-leeway? I see. Leeway, huh..."
Come to think of it, Melvina is the sister of that Setanta, only she cannot use the holy arts.
It may have been due to her own efforts, but it was an astonishing endurance.
When Christo mentioned the center of the circle, Melvina's mouth dropped open.
"I'll have to record it when I get back. It's an innovative alternative to the Gwendolyn-style!"
"I think it's a method that can only be used in a limited number of situations, given the preparation and other factors involved. In an encounter, Gwendolyn-style is probably the most practical."
Or rather, the practicality of the other two is too low.
(Looking at it this way, Foglin is a very troublesome enemy. I hear that there are many more troublesome ones in the [Frozen Plains] than these. In the future, if I can capture and train strong-looking monsters in the [Frozen Plains], they will be a powerful asset.)
After thinking about it, it suddenly occurred to him.
What Christo could come up with on the spot, someone else must have thought of long ago.
For example, this Foglin.
It is said that it is extremely difficult for the light race to train monsters.
On the other hand, several races among the demon race have been using demonic beasts since ancient times.
If the Foglins, who were clearly out of their habitat, were trained――
Christo shook his head.
(No way. Even though it's a hundred kilometers away, this is an area around the royal capital.)
× × ×
"ᛉ"
In the milky, dense fog, a Foglin, who had struck from behind with a club, crashes into a rainbow-colored wall and falls to the ground.
As it crashed and was unable to move, Christo's [Arrows of light] accurately hit its vital points.
Brain, heart, both shoulders, and both legs, in that order.
Even if he had missed the brain and heart by mistake, it would have bled to death without being able to do anything if its limbs were severed.
Christo's magic attacks are neither careless nor lax.
He simply repeats certain actions with precision.
"ᛉ"
Around Christo and Melvina, who walks next to him, another rainbow-colored wall is generated.
The next moment, a number of small arrows fly out of the fog, but of course, they are blocked by the rune magic and cannot hit them.
"ᛇ ᛏ ᚺ. Shoot through it, [Arrow of Light]."
Based on the direction and power of the arrow's flight, the position of the enemy archer is determined, and the [Arrow of Light] is shot back. One individual seemed to be trying to instantly change position at that moment and it obliterated its arm.
It screamed in pain, so he identified its position again.
He carefully shoots [Arrow of Light] at the head, heart, stomach, hands and feet, and even if it stops moving, he shoots more [Arrow of Light] and turns it into pieces of meat.
"This, was this necessary...?"
Melvina, who was just walking while being protected by Christo, asked quietly. Melvina is going to grow into a strong warrior from now on, so he doesn't expect any results at this point. For the time being, he thinks that it would be good if she observes the magic being used and gets a general sense of the atmosphere.
"It's difficult to know what's going to happen next. It's a tough fight."
He shot a Foglin in the ankle as it ran away in fear.
While it was screaming in agony, he turned it into pieces of meat one by one, starting from its wrist.
If it wants to fight fair, he aims only at the vital points.
If it escapes, he will kill it brutally.
He is showing the Foglins around him what the wisest course of action is based on the results.
Then the number of Foglins running and hiding suddenly decreased, and more of them rushed in with clubs in their hands.
"Tough fight?"
Melvina said in a trembling voice. "Peerlessly overwhelming..."
"I'm a peerless guy, am I cool?"
"Yes."
"Then let's be more peerless. ――Golem, kill them. Don't let a single one escape. Embed the ones you kill in a clay body and collect them. I'll check later to make sure the count is correct. ――It'll protect you. I may be strong, but the golem is strong. Even if I die, it'll protect you. Like a guardian angel."
“Thank you. But, um, don't talk nonsense, please concentrate properly. It may seem strange for me, who is being protected by you, to say this, but....... If Christo-san gets hurt because you let your guard down, I will cry."
“Thank you, you are a kind child. ――Ah. We're here."
A totem made of deer bones and old tree branches suddenly appeared in their blank field of vision.
The deer bones seemed to have been made by combining several of them and were quite large in volume and shaped like Foglins.
At the top of the combined bones was a deer head bone.
(I have never seen this shape before. Is this something that Foglin contracted with a native god? I suppose it is not a god of the wilderness, but of the [Frozen Plains].)
Foglin's unique thoughts and beliefs can be found throughout the totem.
He would like to keep the form intact and preserve it somewhere for research purposes, but, for now―― he has no choice but to give up.
"ᚺ"
Haglaz.
Meaning [Collapse].
When Christo threw the rune stone at the totem, it collapsed flat as if it had sunk into the ground.
A strong wind blew into the mist, cleaving the wilderness from east to west.
Losing its totem, the misty realm cannot stand against the forces of nature.
The milky haze faded quickly, finally returning to a mere wilderness with the carcasses of countless Foglins left behind.
"――――! This is terrible...!"
Melvina looks beyond the totem into the wilderness.
The ground peeked out a little, and in a place that looked like a small hill, fainted male students and knights who had lost their necks were lined up together. It looks like all the knights have been killed and their flesh gnawed. The male student is believed to be alive, although there are signs of assault.
As for the female students, some of them―― those with relatively similar physiques to Foglin's were stripped of their clothes and sat there in a dazed state. Even those who were clothed had been severely beaten on the face and feet, and had been left in a state of near-cripplement.
"We have to help them."
The girl ran out.
Christo ordered the golem he had sent toward the encampment to return.
The golem came running toward him.
As he ordered earlier, it seemed that the golem had hunted the Foglin that was hiding in the tents.
Christo counted the number of Foglin heads embedded in the golem's body and realized that one was missing.
"――Ah, there you are."
He finds an individual that had been hiding behind a small rock diagonally to his right.
It seems it is good at hiding.
Moreover, it understood that it would be killed.
Among the Foglins, it seems to be an individual with high intelligence.
"――――"
Christo looks down at the Foglin, who comes out from behind a rock and kneeled down with its hands clasped together. It had tears spilling from both eyes.
The golem's hand with countless Foglin heads embedded stretches out.
"P-Pigyi..."
"Wait"
Christo stopped it.
This Foglin might be useful.
He always wanted a familiar that can be used conveniently.
(However, what about the food cost? I don't have time to raise it. I can't keep it in the sewers of the royal capital, so it doesn't have a place to live... No, but, it is a rare item that can only be obtained in the [Frozen Plains]...)
"Christo-san."
He turned at the quiet voice and saw Melvina standing there with her saber drawn.
She looks at Christo with a stern expression.
"It's a pity, but don't let it live. Goblin species will multiply endlessly. If you let it live, there will be a lot of sacrifices."
"Well, I guess I don't need it then."
So he smashed the last of the Foglins as well.
He had confirmed the numbers, so there was no need to collect any more corpses, but the golem carefully embedded the last head in its body.
“Christo-san, can you make hot water for me? There are a lot of wounded people here. Some of them have been badly raped, and if we don't clean their bodies, they could get sick."
"I understand. I can heal them using runes, so I will take care of the wounded."
"I'm going to get medical supplies and clothes from the camp."
"Yeah. I think we've wiped out the Foglins, so there shouldn't be any danger left. Take the golem with you just in case."
"Thank you very much. ――Please golem-san."
Melvina runs towards the camp.
Behind her, the golem, which was a fusion of Foglin and earth, chased after her.
It was a great scene.
(Even so, with such a devastating situation, it is no wonder that the Academy has some liability issues. I don't think they would close the Academy, but......)
Once closed, he will quietly wander around.
Even if he made a mistake, he will never go to Count Netzel.
(If the academy closed, it would be nice to go sightseeing in the Hero Territory or the [Frozen Plains].)
With these thoughts in mind, Christo ran toward the hill where his classmates had fainted.
Tftc
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