Chapter 177
Chapter 177
The more a mage used magic, the mana existing in the atmosphere became contaminated little by little.
Monsters lived by consuming this contaminated mana, so they could be considered to be in a certain symbiotic relationship. However, they caused great damage, such as harming people without reason or intelligence.
In the end, the fact that monsters had to be eliminated did not change.
But.
“That definitely wasn’t a monster.”
I recalled the enormous ‘Guardian Deity of Kirhen’ from just moments ago.
Cloudy violet eyes, and on the other side, a clear eye.
It was clearly an ‘animal’ that possessed reason. It had not yet completely turned into a monster.
It felt as if the monsterization had only progressed halfway.
I judged that it might be possible to save the Guardian Deity, but—
“…Boy.”
Polia’s eyes trembled.
She closed her eyes, then let out a sigh with a faint smile.
“So what changes even if you know that?”
“It looked like it needed treatment, so I thought it might be better to help.”
“…Haha. Treatment, huh.”
Polia laughed bitterly.
“I thought you were a rational person, boy. But you’re more of a dreamer than I expected.”
That smile somehow looked sad.
“Just now, we almost died by the Guardian Deity’s hand. If you value your life, don’t turn that thought into action.”
Srrng—!
Polia picked up the sword that had fallen to the ground and slid it back into her waist.
“Boy, I’ll admit it. You’re an elite from a prestigious academy. As a student of Finders, you can legally enter restricted zones. Your cooking skills, your ability to judge situations, and even the magic you used to find Moonlight Herb are outstanding. The drive you showed by coming all the way to Kirhen out of love for your younger sibling, for your family—that’s admirable too. You have a dazzling future ahead of you.”
The smile on her face gradually faded.
“But… don’t forget.”
Those black eyes were already staring at me with a hardened expression.
“Right now, you’re nothing more than an academy student.”
Those words felt as cold as the blizzard on the snowy mountains.
“What do you think you’ll gain, what kind of fulfillment do you expect, to risk your life just to pity a Guardian Deity? On what basis are you trying to treat it?”
“……”
I closed my mouth. Polia continued in a restrained voice.
“Boy, don’t look down on adults. Do you think the Empire simply stood by after designating the mountains of Kirhen as a restricted zone?”
At some point, Polia’s hand had clenched into a fist.
“Anything. Whatever it took. Everything that could be done. To restore the Guardian Deity, the Empire tried it all!”
She shouted in a hollow voice.
“Even renowned professors and great mages couldn’t lift that curse. It’s been ten years since it was designated a restricted zone. In all that time, no other method was found. This isn’t something a mere student can solve.”
Only then did Polia show a smile, but I could tell.
At the very least, that she had been suppressing her anger toward me.
“My perspective was shallow. I’m sorry.”
“…No, boy. I think I said something unnecessary. I’ll apologize instead.”
Polia looked around as she spoke.
“Anyway, did you find the Moonlight Herb?”
“I already collected it. Thanks to you, Polia.”
“You’re a strange one, boy. To think you’d really find Moonlight Herb. Then, let’s gather the spoils and head down the mountain.”
The meat obtained after defeating the King of West Mountain, the Wild Boar, was stored in subspace.
I followed Polia as she led the way down the mountain.
Suddenly, without turning her face toward me, she spoke.
“Boy, I’ll say it again—sorry. I didn’t need to vent my anger on you.”
“There’s no need for you to apologize further, Polia.”
“……”
I still couldn’t see what kind of expression she was making.
I threw a question at her.
“Didn’t see Bedervel again this time. We should be able to see it on the next mountain, right?”
“We’ll have to hope so. There’s a reward of a hundred thousand gold on it.”
“Yes. If we don’t catch Bedervel, then there’d be no meaning in you helping me, Polia.”
Polia didn’t answer for a while.
Then, after some time, she looked at me and asked.
“…Boy, how’s your body? Are you tired?”
“No. We’re heading down comfortably, so I don’t really feel that tired.”
“Then how about this?”
Polia briefly looked up at the clear sky as she spoke.
“The sun’s still high. As soon as we finish descending, let’s climb North Mountain right away.”
“Not tomorrow, but today?”
At my question, Polia nodded.
Some might think it was a bit hasty, but it wasn’t a bad suggestion for me.
There was only one mountain left anyway, and if I climbed with Polia, we could take a shortcut, making the strategy easier. Besides, I wanted to resolve everything as quickly as possible.
“I don’t mind, but isn’t that a bit rushed? You took the lead while climbing, and you also fought monsters. You must’ve used a lot of stamina.”
“Don’t worry about me.”
“If you’re fine with it, Polia, then let’s do that.”
However, with Rapin’s stamina, it was impossible to climb mountains all day long.
So, we decided to leave Rapin at the lodging.
After safely descending and before heading to North Mountain, we stopped by the lodging first.
I spoke to Rapin, who was sitting on the bed in my room.
“Rapin, I’ll be back soon. Well, not exactly soon—I’ll probably be back at night. Rest comfortably here.”
“……”
Rapin’s eyebrows formed the shape of the number eight. He was probably worried about me. I needed to ease his concern.
“It’s fine. Polia is with me. Nothing will happen.”
“…Yeah, Sister Polia is a good person.”
Rapin didn’t show how tired he was on his face, but exhaustion could be heard in his voice.
It really would be better not to take Rapin to North Mountain.
Just as I was about to leave the room with Polia—
“Sister Polia.”
Rapin called out to Polia belatedly.
“I’ll be waiting for the meat party together.”
“……”
Polia turned back to look at Rapin and silently nodded.
The last remaining North Mountain exceeded an altitude of 1,000 meters with ease.
Even using a shortcut, unlike the other mountains, it was particularly treacherous.
‘The monsters here were quite threatening too.’
At lower altitudes, most of them had been relatively weak slimes, but the higher I climbed the mountain, the stronger the monsters became. Once I passed the midpoint, even ‘ghost-type monsters’ that could hinder the攻略 started appearing.
‘Even in the game, North Mountain had the highest攻略 difficulty among the four mountains. It wasn’t for nothing that a party of four people who had finished up to the first semester of second year was required.’
Of course, since Polia was by my side, we were able to pass through the difficult sections with ease.
It felt like using a cheat.
There had been similar situations in the game too.
It felt like a high-level user helping a low-level user.
Anyway, thanks to that, the攻略 time was greatly shortened.
If Polia hadn’t been there, it would have been inevitable to be significantly delayed in reaching the summit.
I didn’t say it out loud, but I always felt grateful.
The sky that had been clear with a blue hue gradually turned into a red sunset. Only after night fell, with deep violet shades spreading in all directions, were we able to draw close to the summit.
Just before reaching the summit, Polia spoke to me.
“Once you find the Moonlight Herb here, this group will be disbanded immediately. Boy, you’re to leave Kirhen right away.”
“That’s sudden.”
When I replied, Polia turned her head toward me and met my gaze.
Her eyes were serious.
“Once you leave this place, cleanly forget everything that happened in Kirhen, the fact that you saw the Guardian Deity with your own eyes, and even anything about me.”
“……”
I closed my mouth.
“The only thing you need to risk your life to protect is your younger sibling. That alone is your role.”
At her words, all I could do was nod.
……And so, with even the conclusion of the expedition already decided, I climbed to the summit together with Polia.
The summit area of North Mountain was a wide, hollowed-out circular basin.
Beneath my feet, layers upon layers of solidly frozen bedrock and ice overlapped, and atop them lingered a faint blue glow.
Each time I exhaled, white breath scattered long into the air. The cold felt sharp enough to cut the skin.
The surrounding rocks and ice crystals were arranged radially toward the center. It looked as if they were aligned to declare that this place was someone’s domain.
……Who the owner of that domain was could be easily guessed.
Phaa……!
Ice Rishi Salamander
The King of North Mountain.
A massive blue-hued lizard. It looked to be roughly three meters tall.
An outer hide that looked as though it were clad in iron armor. Here and there along its tail, gem-like ice was embedded.
From its mouth flowed a chilling cold air.
‘Even in the game, this was a troublesome opponent.’
It could freely fire cold air. Not only that—if one got close, frostbite would set in, or one would enter a chilled state, drastically reducing movement speed.
It was a terrifying boss whose攻略 difficulty skyrocketed without cold resistance.
……But.
The one facing it wasn’t me.
“I’ll trust you again this time, Polia.”
“Leave it to me.”
Polia once again put on her wolf helmet and walked toward the salamander.
While she did that, I searched for Moonlight Herb, and Polia focused on defeating the King of North Mountain.
Given her overwhelming combat ability, the subjugation ended quickly.
As I picked up the Moonlight Herb I had found, Polia approached from behind.
She removed her helmet and spoke to me.
“I took it down. With this, it’s all over, boy.”
After checking the vitality of the Moonlight Herb, I put it into subspace.
……The reason Polia had cooperated with me.
It was to meet Bedervel, who was said to be searching for Moonlight Herb.
But.
“Until we found all the Moonlight Herb, we didn’t even catch a glimpse of Bedervel. I thought we’d at least find a small clue, even if we couldn’t catch it.”
“Yeah. That’s unfortunate, boy.”
Polia replied while looking around, as if she still had regrets.
“Then, just as you said, Polia, once we go down the mountain…… we’ll part ways right away. I’ll vaguely brush it off with Rapin too.”
“…….”
Polia stared into the far distance, as if deep in thought, and didn’t speak for a while.
“……No, that won’t do.”
She muttered softly to herself, then looked at me.
“Boy. I told you, didn’t I? Bedervel is searching for Moonlight Herb.”
“Yes, well. You did say that.”
“Moonlight Herb is the only means to lure Bedervel.”
“…….”
Hearing that, I shifted my gaze to Polia’s eyes.
The atmosphere around Polia changed.
“If you take away the bait meant to hook Bedervel…… I’ll be in trouble.”
I see.
So that’s how it was.
We looked at each other.
Her eyes were fixed solely on me.
At a glance, she looked relaxed, yet she neither let her guard down nor allowed any openings.
They were the eyes of a noble wolf, aiming for its prey.
Looking at those eyes, I could understand, at least a little, the position of the monsters that had died by her hand.
……I couldn’t even think there was an escape route.
“If Bedervel learns that Moonlight Herb no longer exists in Kirhen, there’ll be no reason for that being to stay here. It would leave at any time. And then I’d never be able to catch Bedervel.”
Polia’s hand moved toward her thigh.
“I didn’t want things to turn out this way. It’s truly regrettable that it came to this.”
Srrng—!
Polia slowly drew the sword from her waist.
The blade, dazzling as it reflected the moonlight, was pointed straight at me.
“You’ve worked hard until now, boy.”