Suspension Barrier
At midnight, Ulrika was still in bed, pondering what to do next.
Would she live with Eltharion?
Or stay in the village?
The two were irreconcilable, as Eltharion would have to leave the place to recover from his wounds. Ulrika had to abandon either Eltharion or the village.
(There's no way I can choose that...)
Ulrika sniffed in despair.
"Hmm?"
The silence of the night sharpens the senses.
Partly because she had been staring out the window in a daze to immerse herself in a sea of thoughts, Ulrika momentarily spotted a Pontus-like figure pass by outside the house.
I could not make peace with Onii-sama――
The kind-hearted blonde girl's words echoed in Ulrika's mind.
(If)
If Eltharion came to check on her after this, Ulrika would probably choose to elope with him. Now she is wondering what to do without him, and if he is in front of her, Ulrika's resolve will come back again.
This would be like a falling out with Pontus.
Considering that Ulrika, Pontus, and Christopher used to play together when they were young, she absolutely did not want such an ending.
Even if it doesn't go as far as reconciling, she wants Pontus to understand her current feelings. To do that, she needs to talk to Pontus again.
From outside, she could hear Pontus and the village chief and the others discussing the situation, and soon there was no sign of anyone around the house. Ulrika got up from her bed, put on her shoes, and ran to the door of the house.
And.
"――Sorry it's so late at night."
"Hyaa"
"Shhh"
As soon as she stood in the doorway, two figures suddenly jumped out from outside the house, and Ulrika almost screamed. Before she could scream, however, a hand blocked her mouth.
The one who blocked her mouth was a hunchbacked man with a strange bent bone in his body.
The other is a big man like a mountain.
Ulrika was familiar with these two.
"You are part of the [Band of the Great Hawk of Salvation]."
"My name is Commander Siegfried. This is Tiger."
"Hello. Sorry to call you so late at night, young lady."
"What do you want?"
"You don't have to be so defensive. We came to help you and [Mighty Star]."
"Help?"
"Your beloved Eltharion is badly wounded, isn't he? A wound that cannot be regenerated."
"...You hurt Eltharion, right?"
Ulrika gives them a wary look.
However, Siegfried shook his head with a gentle smile on his face.
"No, it was Netzel's private army that wounded him. And ruthless adventurers had a hand in it. We are a group of mercenaries, the [Band of the Great Hawk of Salvation], who wish to make peace. We had hoped to talk with Eltharion until the end."
"I-I don't believe it."
"I see... Well, that's fine. By the way, I have an idea about a healer who can heal Eltharion's wounds."
"What!?"
Ulrika took the bait involuntarily.
She had to.
If she could find a healer who could heal Eltharion's wounds, then Eltharion would not have to leave this place. She could live in the village.
It was the best possible outcome.
Ulrika rubbed the dark circles under her eyes with her hands.
"Where's that healer?"
"The city of Baltic. It is a large city in the southeastern part of the frontier. There is an old magic guild there, and an old man who was a member of the guild is the healer. His name is Henrik Almqvist."
"Henrik Almqvist"
"Yes. The Almqvist family was a family of venerable alchemists whose master was the vampire Duke Godfred Salvatori. Henrik, however, was a perverted bastard who repeatedly kidnapped city boys and experimented outrageously with [alchemy] to satisfy his s*xual desires."
"I-I see……?"
Ulrika had never heard of Henrik or any other alchemist, or even the Almqvist family, but now that Siegfried was telling her about his alchemical career as if he were pouring water on a stand, it didn't seem like he was just telling a lie.
"He developed a potion to kill the [Blue Ashes] after illegal human experimentation. If Eltharion uses the drug, the blue particles in his body will be removed and he will be restored to health."
"...Is that Henrik a famous man? Can I ask Christo?"
"Henrik is not famous. He was expelled from the guild a long time ago. I don't think Christopher-dono knows him either."
"Then how do you know him?"
"I recently had the opportunity to meet Henrik's daughter in a castle far away from here. At first, we didn't know Henrik, but she had a strange air about her......”
"Yes, those are the eyes of a serial killer."
Tiger shows his canine teeth and chuckles. [That's no ordinary human being. She's got a beast inside her].
"I did some research on the daughter's background. That's when I came across an alchemist named Henrik."
"I-I see...?"
Siegfried continued.
"Eltharion is wary of us. He will not believe us. He may not believe you even if you tell him. In the meantime, he may die."
"Can't we call this Henrik guy here? The city of Baltic is far enough away. If he lives in the city, we cannot see him without a pass."
"He's old. It'll be hard for him to cross the mountains. He'll need to be picked up. ――So here's a suggestion. Why don't you pick Henrik up at the foot of the mountain? Eltharion cannot move from this place because of the peace that will be made soon. While he is stuck, you can move in and save Eltharion."
"…………"
She doesn't know if what Siegfried is saying is true.
But she doesn't think it would hurt to at least pick up a healer who might be able to help Ulrika save him while Eltharion is stuck.
Whether or not that healer can heal Eltharion is something she'll know when she picks him up, and if he can heal him, they'll have a happy ending, even if he's a charlatan or a liar.
It would have been better to take some action that would benefit her, rather than holding her knees and worrying about it.
"It's not much, but here."
Siegfried takes out a small bag from his pocket.
Inside were a few silver coins.
"This much!? You're giving it to me?"
"No, I will lend it to you."
"Ah, that's right."
"It's obvious. It's not all sweet talk in this world. ――Ulrika-san. This is my investment as one who desires peace. Demons and humans can understand each other―― please prove that with you and Eltharion. I support you wholeheartedly!"
"I'll even give you an escort. If you don't trust us, go to the Adventurers' Guild and hire an escort there. With that kind of money, you can hire a good one in no time."
"If you want to leave, please leave quickly. Right now Pontus-san is attracting the village chief and the others. We'll buy you some time, too."
"Um"
What should I do.
Young Ulrika freezes, unable to make a quick decision.
However, when she stays here, she will only be imprisoned by the village chief and the others.
Rather than that, it's better to go see the healer.
"I understand. I will leave the village immediately."
"You have made a good decision. ――Now go!"
"U-um....Thank you for lending me the travel money."
When Ulrika said that while picking up her jacket, Siegfried smiled.
"You don't have to thank me. I just lent you that money. Please come back safely and return it to me!"
"Yes."
"Hey young girl, wait. Are you going in that outfit?"
"Is it no good?"
She tilted her head at Tiger's words.
"A woman traveling alone will get her ass handed to her. Even at the Adventurers' Guild, you will be ridiculed. You should look more masculine. At the very least, you should be wearing trousers, not a skirt."
"And your hair. If you cut your hair, you will look like a man from a distance."
"What? I beg your pardon! Calling a woman a man!”
"No, I didn't mean to mock you. But seriously, you should cut your hair."
"……Mu."
Certainly, even with an escort, she will cross the mountain.
She should refrain from looking like a woman, even from the outside.
Her hair has grown recently and it's just right.
If she's going on a trip with Eltharion, it's better to keep her hair short.
Ulrika nodded and cut her hair with a nearby knife.
Then she quickly changed into manly clothes.
When all was done, Ulrika made sure no one was around the house and then ran off alone toward the east exit of the village.
× × ×
Christo is going to meet the god of the swamp in person.
He would have an encounter with an old god who has yet to be seen, and would learn the earth magic to cultivate the fields of the pioneer village.
That was the mission imposed on the Swamp Expedition, including Christo.
As the peach-colored morning sun slowly warmed the village's arable land, Christo sat on a stump at the entrance to the forest and watched as Netzel's soldiers and adventurers checked their bags.
Humans can suffer from necrosis or hypothermia and become unable to move properly after immersing their feet in the cold water of the swamp for a long time.
They cannot operate at full capacity after four days without eating or drinking, and if they do not sleep, they lose concentration and make a series of minor mistakes.
They were eagerly packing their backpacks with equipment to compensate for these weaknesses of the human race.
"Soderholm-kun, are you sure you haven't forgotten anything?"
A woman with pink hair and brown skin―― Laranoa walks over.
She had even bigger milk sacks than Patricia's, but she was wearing thick, heavy clothing that obscured the fullness of her breasts. The trousers, however, showed a lot of the shape of her buttocks. Netzel's private soldiers had been glancing at Laranoa's buttocks since a while ago. Of course, Christo was looking, too.
"It's all right. I had Patricia and Melvina check it for me."
"You didn't do it yourself?"
"I did, but I was told that they were worried and had it checked."
"It sound like a mother checking her child's backpack on a field trip..."
Regardless of what other people think, it is better to double-check.
There is no way that Christo, who is a devil, has forgotten something.
"Laranoa-sensei――, Excuse me, Laranoa-san is."
"Fufu. Sensei is fine. I was your homeroom teacher."
"Then, Sensei. I prefer to be called what I'm used to being called."
"I wouldn't feel comfortable with Soderholm-kun calling me Laranoa-san either."
"Sensei, are you ready to leave?"
"Yeah"
"I'm looking forward to working with you for the next four days."
"Yes, thank you. I will take good care of the [Hero of the North]."
Laranoa says so and smiles, but in Christo's mind, there is nothing but an image of her running at full speed in front of a Foglin's barrier. To be honest, he didn't count on her fighting ability at all.
As for him, it would have been fine if she had given Netzel's peace letter to the god of the swamp on behalf of Christo. He doesn't want her to do anything unnecessary out of concern for him.
(I don't think there are any, but if there were an enemy of Eltharion's caliber in a healthy state, the human form would not be able to protect them. The same would be true if the god of the swamp was ready to antagonize them. I would be abandoning most of them.)
Melvina speaks highly of Christo, but when Christo is faced with the choice between his own exposure and the lives of the adventurers, he will not hesitate to choose not to expose himself.
If they resent Christo for not helping them when they were on the verge of death, he hopes they resent their own decision to join the expedition.
(Well, I'll save at least one, Laranoa.)
"Ah, that's right. The Adventurers' Guild has offered to add one more person to the expedition team. ――Look, over there, it's Laira Almqvist."
Laranoa points to the pioneer village.
While the peach-colored morning sun is beating down on the pit houses, a beautiful, dark-haired girl suddenly appears from the darkness of the passageway.
A mage with a round face and side tails―― Laira came to Christo's side with her hands behind her back, holding a strange cane, and smiled only at the corners of her mouth.
"Good morning, handsome-kun"
"――――. Good morning"
"What's with that face? Ah, Laranoa-san, I'm looking forward to working with you for the next four days.
"Same here, Laira-san."
(When the two face each other like this, Laira's slenderness stands out. Laranoa is plump, but Laira is very slender.)
In addition, Laira was as lightly dressed as Christo.
She was wearing black underwear tights under her black shorts so as not to show any skin.
On top, she was dressed in a white shirt and leather gloves for mages.
The adventurers leading the way were using machetes to clear the way for them, so it was not entirely inappropriate for them to wear comfortable clothing. However, he knew that she would be cold if she did not wear more clothes when they went out into the cold swamp.
Christo traced the line of Laira's buttocks with his gaze―― and felt his lower body react. Laranoa was by far the more graceful of the two, but for some reason, Laira's body resonated between Christo's legs.
Her breasts are so-so.
Her hips are rather small.
Her legs are slender.
It was a wonder that he was able to ejaculate as much as when he was with Patricia.
Suddenly, Christo imagined a future in which he would conquer Laira with his semen.
He would take her as his third wife after Melvina and Patricia.
She's quite a unique woman, but not bad considering the range of play.
The problem is that Christo's pride is regularly hurt and there is a danger that Melvina and Patricia will find out that Christo is a pervert. He also didn't want Melvina to see him being ass-fucked.
(As expected, it's no good. It's fine if it's just an acquaintance who I will have s*x with, but not much more than that.)
To begin with, Christo doesn't know much about Laira.
He has a general idea of her personality and abilities, but there are many things he doesn't grasp, such as her past and the secrets she is currently hiding.
Laira also treats Christo as a friend, and maybe it would be better to say [goodbye] to the relationship as it is now.
(However, my body wants to train this woman as a bitch. It must have been the effect of being teased a lot...)
"Handsome-kun?"
Laira gently peers into Christo, who suddenly falls silent.
In front of Christo, who was sitting on a stump, she cut in with her face sideways.
Her side tails drooped, giving off a refreshing juniper scent.
It makes him horny.
"No, it's nothing."
In front of Laranoa, Christo pretends to be a gentlemanly and calm young man.
Rising from the stump, he slipped past Laira and stood in front of the adventurers.
"It's time to go. Is everyone ready?"
Christo's words drew nods from the others.
The swamp expedition was about to begin.
× × ×
At first, the expedition team was making good progress.
The middle layer of the forest had been cleared to a certain extent through the daily logging operations, and even after entering the deeper layer, they were able to proceed along the animal trail, relying on the map that Patricia had prepared.
Fortunately, many of the beasts living in the northern forests are large, and the path was wide enough for a human being to proceed. Red strings attached by Patricia hung from the branches of the trees at regular intervals, making it easy to determine whether or not they were on the right path, even for those adventurers who were not leading the way.
Just as they entered the depths of the forest―― around the pond where Christo had talked with Eltharion yesterday, they took a lunch break.
After that, they continued on, taking frequent breaks, but it was just before 16:00 when they reached the forest square where Patricia was supposed to have fought with Eltharion.
It was fortunate that the adventurers were very experienced in walking in the forest, that Netzel's soldiers had excellent physical enhancement techniques, and that Laira was able to keep up with them without any problems.
Three kilometers an hour through the forest.
It was about ten hours after that.
The suspicion arose that Patricia, who made this round trip in one night, might be a gorilla of the forest, but Christo tried not to think about it for the sake of his mental health, since he was going to have his penis in her hands when he returned to the royal capital.
"Everyone, stop!"
An adventurer shouts loudly as he steps into a forest clearing that still bears the scars of fresh destruction.
"What's wrong?"
Laranoa asks on behalf of Netzel's private army.
She was walking in front of Christo.
Laira is right behind Christo.
Behind her were the two adventurers who had been sent to protect them.
"Laranoa-san, look at this. There are battle scars."
"So this is the site of the battle that Soderholm-kun was talking about."
"Yes, it seems so. However, I only received the report from the messenger, a female monster with honey-colored hair, so I don't actually know if this is the site she was talking about."
"Your familiar who made the map was here."
Looking at Christo who appeared in front of the formation, the leading adventurer said.
"There's a red rope over there. There's another red rope over there. She passed through here. I'm pretty sure."
"Whoa, what is this wreckage? A werewolf?"
"There are traces of blood here and there. ――A wolf was crushed here."
Netzel's private army crouches and frowns on the corpses of a werewolf and wolves.
Laranoa stared down at the wreckage of the werewolf with a stern look on his face.
It's a special individual with white fur that's close to three meters long.
If all of them here without Christo were to encounter it, they would probably be annihilated if they were not careful.
Such a monster had its limbs cut off, and on top of that, it was split in half from the top of its head to its crotch as if it were a piece of bamboo.
"It's being torn apart by a tremendous amount of strength."
"The one who did this has more ridiculous strength than a troll."
"The wolves, I don't know if it's claws or tails, but they annihilate them with a single swing. That's not good."
"And there's no trace of anyone but the victims. They've been cleverly erased. That's pretty clever."
"A smart gorilla with super strength..."
"Idiot. Gorillas have short tails."
"But they do have claws."
"Just the thought of it scares the shit out of me."
Laranoa looked around and said, [Whatever].
"Anyway, it is dangerous to camp here. If they come back, we could be attacked in our sleep and wiped out."
"It's about sixteen o'clock now"
Laira took out her pocket watch.
She continues.
"Sunset in the old Soderholm territory is at twenty-one o'clock. The sun sets earlier in the forest, so we should secure a place to sleep by twenty o'clock."
"We should go on a little further. If we push on, we should be able to get as far as just before we enter the swamp. We can make a fire and camp there."
A number of people voiced their agreement with Laranoa's suggestion.
It seemed to be decided that they would go on a little further.
As for Christo, it didn't matter where he slept.
Sleep is not necessary in the first place.
All he had to do was rest his multiple brains in turn.
"Soderholm-kun, is that all right with you?"
"Yes, sensei."
When Christo nodded, the group started walking again.
After a while, a faint smell of rusty iron began to mingle with the air.
Although it was mixed in with the smell of decaying leaves, Christo's sensitive nose could not miss it.
Just as Christo was about to alert the others, the lead adventurer suddenly stopped.
"――――?"
It was not only the lead adventurer who stopped.
The ones behind him and the ones behind Christo stopped as well.
Or rather, they were standing still.
Laranoa, who was walking in front of Christo, also stopped, and when he looked behind him, Laira was also frozen in a pose with her right leg forward.
The two adventurers behind them stood still, facing downward as if they were concerned about their feet.
"Hey, guys?"
He raised an eyebrow.
Christo glanced around the vertical formation.
"Hey! Guys!"
Christo looks at Laira, who blinks regularly.
Even when he looks at Laranoa, she continues to blink and breathe without any problems.
"――――"
But everyone except Cristo had stopped moving, as if time had been stopped.
(Yare, yare.)
He had experienced this phenomenon many times before.
Christo looked around with his inhuman eyes.
"It's not because of the poison that did this―― Then."
One person leaves the line that was stopped in a meandering state on the forest trail.
The right side of the path was an uphill slope, so he climbed up that side to get a view of the area.
(I knew it.)
Christo recognized a white haze behind the two adventurers.
The haze was quite thick.
It was so thick that he could not see what was behind it.
(But, back in the formation.)
Christo slides down the slope.
Looking from Laira's side toward the two behind, he saw a normal forest scene.
It's probably a barrier of some kind―― he concluded.
It lures the subject into the area, traps it, and prevents it from getting out.
In addition to the basic effects of such a barrier.
(Slows down the perceived speed of humans caught in the barrier)
In short, it was Eltharion's Authority.
Christo's golden eyes saw a golden wave spreading out from the direction of the haze. Perhaps when one is affected by those waves, one's sensory speed slows down and one cannot move as if one were frozen in time.
"Ah, Handsome-kun, you've moved instantly."
Christo looked at Laira with interest, and her eyes widened a little as she began to move again.
She wasn't the only one who resumed movements, but everyone else.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, sensei."
"Laranoa-san, Christopher teleported. ――You two from behind, you both saw it, right?"
The two of them, who had been listening to Laira's words, were looking at each other as if they were confused.
"Actually, I was able to use the technique of teleportation."
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Laira lowers her eyebrows in amazement.
The lead adventurer asked what was going on, and Christo shook his head, [Nothing], and returned to the formation.
After that, after walking for a few minutes, they stopped again.
"I see, so the alteration of the perceived speed is interrupted at regular intervals."
If one slows down the perceived speed the moment one enters the barrier, one can't lure it deeper.
Therefore, the timing of the speed decrease is sparsely timed to prevent the prey from going out of the area in case it does.
(Normal humans do not notice the strangeness. For a while, they alternately experience a state of reduced speed and a normal state, and suddenly notice that the time of sunset is absurdly early.)
However, by the time they realized something was wrong with the surrounding area, they were deep inside the barrier.
Since the speed of the body has been slowed down so much, it is difficult to even reach the edge of the barrier.
The victims in the barrier are reduced in speed and go hungry at a rate several times faster than they feel―― and finally, starve to death in the area.
"Did Eltharion put it up, or was it the god of the swamp? I'm guessing it was Eltharion, judging by these golden waves. It's an interesting barrier. Doesn't work on me at all, though."
Christo reaches for Laranoa's buttocks, which are frozen in place when she puts her foot on a fallen tree.
The buttocks, visible even through the top of her trousers, were wriggling slightly, as if the auxiliary muscles were being properly used. The brain was unaware of the passage of time, but the body seemed to instinctively keep its balance.
Time sometimes passes more quickly when one is in a daze, but it is similar to that.
Unless one runs or flies through the air like Siegfried, it seems unlikely that one will fall to the ground.
Christo raised Laranoa's right leg from the fallen leaf, unbuckled the belt of her trousers, and then, with a sudden movement, slid her undergarment down to her ankles. Her white panties were revealed, and his eyes burned at the contrast between them and the brown thighs beneath.
He pressed his face against her panty.
He breathed in heavily, and he smelled the smell of muffled sweat from the valley of her buttocks. He inserts his hand through the panties and strokes the buttocks and groin.
She was hairless, apparently taking good care of her pubic hair.
Christo walked around to Laranoa's front and inserted a finger into her crotch.
I feel like the girl is dumb. Love makes you dumb, ig.
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