Chapter 12: Turning Point
Chapter 12: Turning Point
AROUND the time Takuto was having his lifestyle choices improved by his newly summoned Hero, Atou and the rest of the dispatched troops were devoting their all to fulfilling their own mission. But the military actions they took at Dragontan on this particular day stepped outside of defense and into the realm of hunting.
“L-Lady Atou! Word has come in from the Scouts! Five separate Goblin hordes are approaching from the southwest!” Two full-size melons jiggled with that high-pitched report.
“M’kay. I’m on it.”
In a temporary tent set up outside of Dragontan, Atou listened to the report given by the town’s mayor, Antelise. How many times had they repeated this same tired exchange? Although she was annoyed being interrupted just as she was about to drink the rare tea she’d discovered in Dragontan, Atou looked beyond the horizon outside of the tent, never expressing her inner ire.
A fraction of a second later, a giant tentacle burst out behind her and plunged into the ground. The ground rippled and groaned as the tentacle silently slipped underneath the soil before erupting from the earth to the sound of flesh and bones being ripped to shreds, and the death cries of Goblins filled the air in the distance.
“A good hunt. All right, I’m finished.”
“Eeeeeeek! Thank you very much, Lady Atou! Really, I mean it. Thank you!”
Trembling, the mayor bowed over and over again while offering up words of gratitude, tears in her eyes. Smelling the fear on her, Atou tried to address the other woman as gently as possible, her expression twitching slightly.
“Mayor Antik.”
“Eeep! Ah! H-How may I help you, Lady Atou?! Oh, right, did I ever mention that I’m really good friends with the Elfuur Sisters?! Er, well, not that this is something I should be talking about right now. But I just thought you would like to know how close we are!”
Sympathizing with the miserable Elf who was trying her darndest to get into Atou’s good graces and secure her own life by mobilizing every connection at her disposal, Atou offered a way out for her before she permanently damaged her stomach lining under all the stress.
“I don’t need anything. I just thought you looked a little tired. Why don’t you take a break? My job is to stay on standby here, so you are welcome to rest as long as you send a messenger to inform me when more Barbarians show up…”
This was Atou’s way of being thoughtful of Antelise, who she felt bad seeing tremble at the slightest movement, her face whiter than a ghost. She knew Antelise couldn’t completely leave them because she was the mayor, but she hoped this suggestion might ease her mind.
“S-Since you were kind enough to offer, I think I might do just that. I need booz— I mean, I need a drink for my parched throat!”
“Go enjoy a good drink.”
“I will! Thank you so much!”
Antelise bounded away like a startled hare.
Impressed by her speediness, Atou thought back on how the people of Dragontan behaved around her people. While everyone seemed frightened, Atou was relieved they weren’t outright avoiding her. The oddly jolly mayor appeared to be maintaining her sanity by viewing this as a part of her duties, but it was incredibly difficult for other races to accept anyone belonging to the forces of evil. As a general rule, Dragontan should’ve had a harder time accepting Mynoghra’s military anywhere near their town…
A silly misunderstanding prevented that from happening.
Funnily enough, the people of Dragontan, outside of the mayor and other top government officials, were afraid but not terrified of Atou because of this little misunderstanding. Though it goes without saying that the reason behind it didn’t sit well with Atou herself…
“I presume Goblins no longer pose any benefit to you, Lady Atou?”
“Hello, Elder Moltar…”
Elder Moltar suddenly appeared beside the simple wood chair she was sitting on. Atou greeted him without looking, her bored gaze trained on the horizon as she sipped her lukewarm tea.
“I still don’t know how to view the people of Dragontan for thinking you are an octopus Demi-human…”
Indeed, this was the silly reason the Humanoids of Dragontan had comfortably accepted Atou into their midst. Aside from the Staff Holder’s direct subordinates, everyone from Dragontan’s Defense Force to the general public believed Atou was an octopus Demi-human.
Word of her being an octopus Demi-human spread like wildfire after Pepe cheerfully declared “You look like an octopus!” when he was startled by her tentacles for the first time. Atou had a hard time accepting the loathsome comparison but understood its usefulness.
“I resent it with all my heart, but…it’s better than being avoided like the plague or sending the public into a panic. Let me be clear that the day you say the same thing will be the day you are baptized in tentacles…octopus tentacles…”
“Hohoho! I wouldn’t dare!”
Elder Moltar sat down on a chair he procured seemingly from air, laughing loudly at the tentacles wriggling in front of him. Phon’kaven’s Scouts were hectically going about their business around them. Some of the subordinates Atou and Elder Moltar brought appeared to be working well with Dragontan’s Defense Force.
“By the way, what skills have you taken so far, Lady Atou?”
As Atou was absently thinking real battle made for excellent training, Elder Moltar broke her wandering thoughts with his quiet question, his hands relaxed around his staff.
“Outdoor Survival from the Goblins, Enhanced Stamina from the Orcs, and Enhanced Strength and Regeneration from the Hill Giants. A Stone Golem was spotted the other day, so I would love to add Stone Skin to the list next.”
Their joint defense operations with Dragontan had already given them excellent results so far. These Barbarians had little Strength and could easily be dealt with by slightly stronger units. They required as little attention as any squishy regular Soldier unit, but that didn’t mean their skills weren’t useful. Rather, their skills were disproportionately stronger than the units themselves, strengthening Atou more than any of them had expected.
Elder Moltar recalled the properties of each of those skills just by hearing their titles and rejoiced to learn Atou had grown into an even mightier being with their addition.
“Voids, that’s a bigger catch than expected. Our king must be pleased.”
“Yes! You know it! King Takuto lavished me with praise! I’m going to see to it that I get so much praise when I get home that it gives me cavities!”
“A most auspicious beginning to our mission— Oh?” Elder Moltar directed his sharp gaze toward the hill in front of them, his hand stopping in the middle of stroking his long beard.
Atou lazily followed his gaze to where she spotted a small shadow suddenly appear on top of the hill.
“Another Hill Giant. Hmm. More are attacking than usual today.”
No matter how many times they saw the Barbarians randomly appear, they still didn’t know what was behind this strange phenomenon. They continued to rack their brains over what could be causing something so out of the ordinary to keep happening.
At first, they assumed Teleportation Magic was at play until Elder Moltar ruled it out with his thorough investigation. He couldn’t sense any spells or Magic Power activating. If the most experienced and knowledgeable man when it came to magic said it wasn’t Teleportation Magic, then it was unlikely he was wrong.
And if it wasn’t that, then they really were appearing out of thin air, but…adopting that theory ignored the laws of physics and ran contrary to logical thought. Then again, the laws of physics didn’t have as much bearing on a world of magic.
Their objective to exterminate the Barbarians to protect Dragontan and procure their skills to strengthen Atou was going well, but their investigation into the Barbarians’ random appearances had all but come to a standstill. Allowing this problem to persist meant delaying Atou’s long-awaited reunion with Takuto, which was unbearable for her.
“What a bother. Who knows when I’ll get back to King Takuto if this keeps up…”
“L-Lady Atou! Sorry to bother you! There’s a Hill Giant! The Archers are getting into position! I’m really sorry!”
Antelise tumbled into the tent, looking like she’d just seen a ghost. The faint smell of alcohol wafting from her breath suggested she’d been enjoying her break, but her withdrawn expression was dead serious. Of course, this was a serious situation. The Barbarians called Hill Giants were strong units with a base Strength of 4 and several physical enhancement skills, such as Enhanced Strength and Enhanced Stamina.
A normal army would inevitably struggle and sustain losses against one. Worse yet, one wrong move could lead to the entire army being wiped out in a single skirmish. Hill Giants were too powerful of an opponent for a rural town’s Defense Force to take on.
“Yes, I know. The Archers will only get in my way, so please tell them to stand down. I will go personally.”
“I can’t let you do that! If I ask you to go alone, I’ll be in for an earful— Hey! Please wait!”
Atou slowly rose from her chair and stood at the entrance to her tent before she exploded into a full run that left cracks in the hard soil beneath her feet. She did all of this before Antelise could even get close to her. She ran faster than the fastest horse and had already arrived within viewing distance of the Hill Giant’s ugly mug.
And so began the pest extermination done in the name of battle.
“GRUOOOOH?!”
“Hi. Now die.”
Atou launched herself up to eyelevel with the Giant and slashed its face with the Paladin’s Holy Sword with a superhuman jump. The Giant threw up its hands to protect its vital spots, but the slashes released by Atou’s reinforced, slender arms easily sliced through its stone-hard skin.
“GUGYAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
With one arm severed at the bone, the Hill Giant furiously swung its huge club around, blinded by its pain. Every time it slammed the ground with a loud bang, Atou dodged the flying debris like an acrobat, spinning her sword in the unique Holy Sword Arte style.
The number of Hill Giants Atou had cut down thus far had already exceeded what could be counted on one hand, not to mention the countless small and medium-sized Barbarians such as Orcs and Goblins that she’d slaughtered as well. They didn’t even make for a good training dummy anymore—there was nothing left to gain from eradicating them.
Atou came out to play around with the Holy Sword Artes she’d obtained from Qualia’s High Paladin, but the Hill Giant didn’t seem like it’d last long enough to make for good practice.
Maybe I should just put a quick end to this with my tentacles.
As Atou debated how she’d like to finish it off while agilely sidestepping its attacks, she noticed Ruin suddenly filling the air around her.
“Oh?”
“Gugyah? GruooooOOH…”
The air grew stagnant and miasma permeated the surrounding area. The ground changed color, and the rugged plants capable of growing in the wastelands rapidly wilted. The neutral-aligned Hill Giant visibly slowed down, its expression distorting with pain. Meanwhile, the evil-aligned Atou felt invigorated.
“Ah, Elder Moltar, I like the touch of flair you added there.”
Atou glanced over her shoulder to see Elder Moltar had activated a spell all the way back at their tent in front of Dragontan. He’d likely used the Military Magic spell Land of Ruin. This particular spell, which transformed terrain within a certain distance into Cursed Terrain, was extremely useful for the forces of evil.
Using this spell during battle with any empire that wasn’t evil-aligned would strengthen Mynoghra’s forces while weakening enemy forces. Moreover, they could also use it near their border during peacetime to expand their territory, and it was very easy-to-use magic with a low cost.
This spell was made available by the Ruin Mana supplied by Mynoghra’s Palace, but they hadn’t had an opportunity to use it in battle before now. Elder Moltar probably wanted to test its effectiveness during these riskless skirmishes.
Once Atou regained her motivation that had hit rock bottom, she promptly tested out her strengthened physical abilities.
“Grah? GUGYAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
Atou had been dodging its attacks like she was putting on a bewitching ballet performance at a theater until she abruptly came to a stop. The Hill Giant seemed to view that as a chance to strike and swung down its massive club.
Triumph gleamed in the Giant’s demented eyes as an explosive bam shook the ground.
“Hehehe. Light as a feather.”
“GRAH?!”
Atou stopped the Hill Giant’s powerful attack with one dainty hand. With the buffs granted by the Cursed Terrain, their strength was now as far apart as heaven and earth. Shock and despair contorted the Giant’s face. It was forced to face the miserable reality that it was being played with from the start.
“…I love the look on your face. Farewell.”
The Hill Giant couldn’t get over the shock of its strongest attack being stopped by a tiny, little creature. Atou unleashed a complete Holy Sword Arte right in its face. Sliced from its forehead down to its chest in one straight line, the Hill Giant slowly fell backward, eventually hitting the ground with a loud THWUMP that shook the hill.
Exhaling, Atou stared at the large, fleshy mass making up the Hill Giant’s corpse. Wild animals would eat it up over the next few days, but it still wasn’t a pretty sight. It was awfully close to town, so she thought it’d be best to bury it. The cleanup job that came after every Barbarian encounter tended to be more backbreaking work than actually felling the creatures.
As Atou was thinking about that, the corpse suddenly started to vanish. Eyes widening with shock, Atou hopped back several feet.
“…What the? It…vanished?”
The corpse continued to fade until it entirely disappeared like a magician’s assistant. Atou had never seen that happen before. Alarmed there was a new threat, Atou brought forth all her tentacles and kept her eyes peeled.
But…nothing happened.
Actually, she spotted something small and shiny reflecting the sunlight right beneath where the Hill Giant’s corpse had been. Atou moved her tentacle to cautiously pick the object up.
“…A gold coin?”
It was a gold coin unlike any she had ever seen before.
◇◇◇
“HILL Giants can no longer even put up a struggle against you… Nay, they never so much as posed a threat to you from day one, Lady Atou.”
Elder Moltar merrily welcomed Atou back from battle. Not only was he thrilled to see the Hero he admired growing visibly stronger before his very eyes, but he was also pleased his spell worked in real combat.
“I wouldn’t be able to call myself a Hero if I struggled against creatures of their level. This is also proof that I’ve been doing a good job plundering their skills, too… How are things going on your end, Elder Moltar?”
Atou waved away his flattery as she sat back on her chair and asked about the real mission he’d been sent to accomplish. Takuto had tasked him with investigating and further developing the Dragon Vein Mine. One look at the elderly sage suggested he wasn’t having any trouble getting his work done.
“Fortunately, research has also been going smoothly on my end. I must say, I was surprised such a mystical land truly exists. I feel like a boy in a candy shop.”
At first glance, the Dragon Vein Mine looked almost bowl-shaped, not dissimilar from a mortar for grinding herbs. Crystals of solidified Magic Power formed from years of dense Mana erupting from its center covered the area, climbing the walls and spreading outward. Dragontan’s mine had been filled and then blanketed with dirt from nearby in order to conceal it, but due to its sheer size, it couldn’t be completely concealed.
Not to mention the un-mined Mana crystals continued to expand and creep out across the land, all but ignoring any attempts to conceal it. Anyone with knowledge of raw Mana could easily recognize its characteristics at a glance. Even mundane peasants were beginning to notice the effects on the nearby land as the incident with the drug dealers had proven.
Atou was enraptured by the magical sight when she saw it with her own eyes. It was no wonder Elder Moltar was electrified by it. Of course, its actual value was by no means confined to its value as a visual marvel.
“Hehehe, that is most fortunate. Large-scale Terrain Enhancements will become possible once we can use the pure Mana from the Dragon Vein Mine, too. Mynoghra will develop even further once we can use the magic that allows you to instantly transform even a barren Wasteland into a fertile one.”
“All of the spells that can be used thanks to Military Magic have such terrifyingly amazing effects. I must admit, I’m eagerly looking forward to the day when we can use magic specialized in Terrain Enhancements.”
Elder Moltar and Atou gushed about what the future held. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Mynoghra had obtained an incredibly powerful card. Sure, it was still under development, but they looked forward to the day when it bore fruit and brought immeasurable prosperity to Mynoghra.
“I bet it will knock the robe right off of you. The visual effects are ridiculously elaborate— Oops, I forgot I wanted to ask you about something, Elder Moltar.”
“Oh? What might that be?”
Noticing the nearby Phon’kaven guards had walked away during their conversation, Atou decided to see if Elder Moltar could shed any light on the strange phenomenon she had witnessed earlier. It was a difficult phenomenon to wrap her head around, but that was no reason to ignore it or share it with everyone at this stage.
Only fools leave concerns to fester. She needed to report back to Takuto about it too, but it shouldn’t hurt for her to do a little investigating on her end first. Thus, she chose Elder Moltar as her soundboard.
“Do you recognize this?” she asked.
Atou handed him the gold coin she got from the Hill Giant.
“Hrm… Let me take a look. Looks like some sort of coinage…and a gold coin at that. Where did you get this?”
“It dropped from the Hill Giant.”
“Huh? Draaaped? Hmm? The Hill Giant had this on it?”
“Yes. Is it from any of the nations you know of?”
Items didn’t normally drop from enemies in this world. Anything a defeated enemy had on their person would inevitably be up for grabs after they were defeated, but it was implausible for their corpse to vanish and leave something behind.
While Eternal Nations did have an item drop system, it only applied to legendary equipment and items that would drastically influence an entire game session. This coin didn’t seem to fit that description.
Atou observed Elder Moltar as he closely examined the coin. By the looks of it, he didn’t have a good feeling about it either.
“Hrmm. Nay, I’ve neither seen nor heard of anything like it,” he eventually said after a long pause. “Moreover, the technology used to manufacture such a coin…leads me to believe it isn’t from this continent. If you don’t mind, I will run it by Dragontan’s scholars, but I believe they will give the same answer.”
“Really? Then that means it came from somewhere else… That’s more than a little troubling given the fact that the Hill Giant’s…corpse suddenly vanished. That never happened before.”
“Barbarians who appear out of thin air, coinage from beyond the continent, and vanishing corpses…this is more than a little disturbing.”
Atou tightened her jaw, her brows furrowing.
At first, she thought the Hill Giant had obtained the coin from some poor soul, but that didn’t appear to be the case, which meant she could no longer be optimistic about the situation. She was starting to see the hidden thread. If some unknown entity was behind everything, then their empire needed to be put on high alert.
Then there was the Hill Giant corpse that had disappeared.
They appear out of thin air and vanish into thin air when defeated, leaving only money in their wake.
It suddenly dawned on Atou what that sounded an awful lot like.
“Indeed. It’s almost like what happens in an RP—”
Shock flashed across her face.
“Lady Atou?”
“No way. It can’t be possible…”
Atou rose from her chair and hastily held her hand to her ear, and closed her eyes. Just as Elder Moltar realized that was the gesture she made whenever she was getting in touch with King Takuto, a panicked Dragontan Scout tumbled into the tent.
“It’s an emergency! A massive Barbarian horde has appeared! Wh-What the Spirits is going on?! There isn’t a patch of land without them!”
Elder Moltar sprinted outside the tent with a nimbleness that belied his age and set his sights beyond the horizon.
“Voids… Eternal darkness have mercy!”
Even his slightly diminished eyesight could clearly make out the massive horde blanketing the field.
