Chapter 67

The sun climbed high overhead. A long column of guards began moving toward the Guardian Tree's Hill.

Standing at the tail end of the procession, Mikhail followed the gentle slope upward, then glanced back.

Edwin, Julien, and Han and Ul trailed a step behind, their faces an identical shade of sickly gray.

"Uuurgh… my stomach still won't settle. I'm gonna throw up. That pitch-black jam. At this rate it's gonna haunt my drea—urk."

Edwin slapped a hand over his mouth. Julien leaned toward him, worry plain on his face.

"Just hang in there a little longer, Edwin. It'll pass soon. At least it's way better than catching the sleeping sickne—uurp."

"Kang, kak."

Mikhail left the one person and two creatures—all looking equally miserable—behind him and faced forward again.

Truth be told, he wasn't feeling great either.

But he knew the ground olive's effects would settle into his system in about ten minutes.

After that, the nausea would fade.

"Tch."

That was when it happened. A few guards marching ahead turned around and sneered, loud enough to be heard.

"Noisy. So damn noisy. Kids will be kids—can't read a room to save their lives. Do they think this is a field trip?"

"Hey, don't be like that. They're students from some fancy academy, remember? How many times in their lives have they ever had to watch what they say?"

A head with bulging eyes popped out from behind Mikhail.

"What'd you just say? Are you fini—!"

"Edwin."

Mikhail turned his head toward Edwin beside him.

Edwin flinched once, then clamped his mouth shut and met his gaze.

Mikhail spoke as if nothing had happened.

"Remember what I told you to read yesterday?"

"…Huh?"

The sudden change of subject threw Edwin off balance. He blinked, his face blank.

But a moment later, the meaning seemed to click. He bobbed his head and answered.

"Oh, yeah, that hill map and… the legend about the Guardian Tree at the top or whatever? 'Course I read it. Some story about driving off a giant snake that was terrorizing the village, then planting the Guardian Tree right where the big battle happened. The kind of old folktale you hear in every village."

Mikhail shook his head and spoke.

"No. It's not just an empty story. The savage snake that supposedly settled in the village—it actually exists."

"Huh?"

Edwin blinked again.

Mikhail lowered his gaze and tapped the ground with the toe of his boot.

"That's why they used to hold a ritual. A huge group of people would gather under the Guardian Tree, stomp the ground, and shout—sending a warning to the snake. Telling it to behave."

"……."

"Pretty loud way to do it, don't you think?"

Mikhail let out a deflating breath and glanced to the side.

Julien had drawn closer without him noticing, and Edwin kept opening and closing his mouth, clearly lost on what Mikhail was getting at.

Mikhail looked between both their faces, then tilted his head slightly.

"By the way, Edwin. You're scared of wild animals, aren't you? Might want to brace yourself."

Edwin gave a sharp shudder, then shouted back.

"…Wh-what are you talking about all of a sudden? Who's scared of wild animals? Where'd you even hear somethi—"

"A snake's about to show up. Because we've been making too much noise."

Every muscle in Edwin's face locked rigid.

But only for a moment. He shook his head vigorously and forced the corners of his mouth upward in a twitching grin.

"…Ha, th-there's no way! Snakes that live in a place like this are tiny little things—they bolt the second they hear footsteps. Especially with this many people marching around, there's no chance one would—"

"Edwin, look over there."

Julien tapped Edwin's shoulder and pointed toward the ground beside them.

Edwin's gaze drifted along Julien's outstretched finger.

Hssss.

Beneath the base of a grapevine, a snake had raised its head and was staring straight at them.

The snake's beady black eyes and Edwin's olive-green ones met.

"Gkh."

Edwin froze solid on the spot.

After the snake slithered away and vanished, Edwin—face drained white—stumbled backward and let out a shriek.

"Ah, AH! The snake looked me in the eye! It looked right at me! I'm going back down! I'm going back doooown!"

---

Roughly thirty minutes passed.

The guard column halted on a gentle stretch just below the Guardian Tree, where grapevines stood clustered here and there.

Nelia, who'd been leading the unit from the front, turned around and called out to her guards.

"Survey the area carefully! If you find anything suspicious, report it immediately!"

The guards shouted their acknowledgment and scattered in every direction.

Seizing the moment, Mikhail began to move as well.

He told Julien and Edwin to stick together and pretend to search the surroundings, then headed for the edge of the hill alone.

Crunch, crunch.

Mikhail eventually stopped. Directly ahead stood a row of fences, half-collapsed.

Wooden posts and crossbeams, weeds tangled through every gap, old debris piled high—all of it broadcasting that this place had been abandoned for a long time.

But if there's a spot only I can put to good use, it'll be right here.

Without hesitating, Mikhail vaulted over the decrepit fence and crouched to examine the ground.

He sifted through the clutter and scanned the area three or four times over.

His eyes soon locked onto one corner of the ground. A stake radiating dark energy jutted from the dirt.

〈Item: Stake of Calamity's Aid〉

[A magic tool planted by a member of ■■■, one of the main storyline's primary antagonists, to intensify the disaster. Destroying the enchantment weakens the disaster's power, but triggers an annoying tracking spell that latches onto the destroyer. Best left alone.]

Crack.

Mikhail reached out and wrenched the stake free.

The instant it hit open air, reddish-orange enchantment scripts began etching themselves across its surface.

Just as the item description said—a spell designed to track whoever damaged the artifact.

Mikhail watched the process in silence, then channeled mana through his hand.

The mana he drew on now wasn't what he normally used. This was his Abyss trait—unrestrained and uncontrolled.

Fsshk.

The black stake crumbled to ash in an instant. The red enchantment vanished without a trace alongside it.

Neither had managed so much as a death rattle.

Mikhail clenched and unclenched his empty hand, let the corner of his mouth curl upward, and rose to his feet.

With that, he'd weakened the enemy's power—making the battle ahead considerably easier.

And no troublesome eyes would be following him, either.

Now then. Time to head back.

Mikhail turned and surveyed the scene before him. Guards bustled back and forth across the hillside.

Dozens of boots stamped the ground again and again, and a clamor of voices rang out one after another.

Just like that ancient ritual—the one where the people had stomped and shouted their warning to the great snake.

Under normal circumstances it wouldn't matter, but with the snake in an unstable state right now, that's more than enough provocation. It'll wake up soon.

Mikhail drew a short breath and started walking.

While everyone moved about in a frenzy, his destination was the right side of the Guardian Tree.

He needed to regroup with Nelia—and with his teammates.

---

She'd just reached the edge of the hill. Nelia sighed and straightened from her hunched position.

For close to thirty minutes she'd been combing the area, but nothing looked any different from usual.

The rows of grapevines, the weeds carpeting the ground, the Guardian Tree to the right with its dense canopy swaying in the breeze…

Everything was exactly as it had been during the previous patrol.

But Captain Bant insisted we carry out this patrol. There has to be a good reason.

The Bant she knew would have fought to help everyone around him right up to the very end.

If he'd left a message while consciousness was slipping away, he must have been certain about something.

So she had to find it. What Bant had truly left behind.

"……."

Nelia clenched her hand tight and closed her eyes.

She retraced anything that might serve as a turning point. Whether she'd overlooked something. Whether there were things that hadn't yet come to light. And—

"—Nelia."

That was when it happened. A voice calling her name jolted her around.

Mikhail was walking toward her, unhurried.

Nelia watched him approach, then spoke with a slightly sheepish expression.

"Things are pretty chaotic, aren't they? I'm sorry we haven't been looking after you properly. With what happened to Captain Bant, everything's been…"

Mikhail waved it off with an easy smile and shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. Honestly, I'm just grateful you let us join the patrol, given everything that's going on."

Something in the boy's warm, forthright reply softened a corner of her chest.

Nelia returned his smile and asked.

"By the way, did you find what you were looking for? All that's left now is the route back to the village. We'll probably start moving again in about an hour."

Mikhail didn't answer right away.

Instead, he turned his head slowly toward the Guardian Tree beside them and let out a long, contemplative hum.

Nelia was about to repeat the question when Mikhail's lips parted.

"Probably… in a little while. The cause of the sleeping sickness is about to reveal itself."

"What?"

"I made Captain Bant a promise. That in exchange for joining this patrol, I'd solve the sleeping sickness."

Nelia sucked in a sharp breath, eyes flying wide.

The moment she heard Mikhail's words, the message Bant had left behind surfaced in her mind.

[Carry out the pat rol as sche duled. No mat ter wh at.]

Was it possible? Had Bant, in those final seconds before losing consciousness, been certain that Mikhail would solve the sleeping sickness?

Fwooosh.

That was when it happened. A fierce gust of wind swept across the hilltop.

The Guardian Tree shook its canopy, and countless teal fragments scattered in every direction.

In the same instant, Nelia felt a tremor rising through the soles of her feet.

CRACK-CRACK!

The ground beneath them split apart in a heartbeat.

Nelia's blood turned to ice. As her body pitched sideways, a terrible premonition slammed through her mind.

This was bad. At this rate, she'd tumble straight off the hill—!

Snap.

That was when Mikhail seized her wrist and wrenched her toward the interior of the hill.

"!"

Nelia lost her balance for an instant and staggered, but recovered just as fast.

She braced herself against Mikhail's arm, pulled her weight inward, and caught her tilting body, planting both feet firmly beneath her.

The two of them stood facing each other.

While Nelia hauled in ragged breaths, Mikhail cast a glance at the Guardian Tree, then extended his hand toward her.

"Here, take my hand. We need to run—back to where the others are, through a safe path."