Chapter 235
Chapter 235
The Kingdom of Triban made no move against them.
They simply stationed knights at every juncture, dividing the roads we could use from those we couldn't.
"You may not proceed further in this direction."
"There's a shop over there, though?"
"The crown has prohibited outside parties from using this area's shops. The territory has a large resident population and limited stockpiles. However, a village with a mid-sized merchant guild is a three-day walk from here, and resupply there has been authorized."
Triban's response was more reasonable than expected.
The knights treated us objectively.
"Impressive."
"They're scared."
They were overreacting to the tiniest possibility of giving us a pretext.
"We gave them a firm warning."
"Even so...... this is remarkable."
"That's all thanks to Cassian's reputation! And the name of our Akarind!"
Rozalin crowed at Dwayne.
She wasn't wrong.
The Triban royal house had experienced our strength, however indirectly.
"The question is how long this lasts."
"You mean it needs to hold when we're coming back from Aislard too?"
"That's actually the more important part."
There was no telling what would happen in Aislard.
We might rescue many people, or we might be drawn into countless battles.
Triban was deferential while our position was strong, but if our situation deteriorated, they could turn on a dime.
"I'd like it to stay this way."
I said that, watching the knights as we passed.
***
After roughly another week of marching, the border appeared.
"Incredibly fast. A journey that would normally take over a month."
"Yuria kept restoring us with Holy Power the whole way."
"......I think I understand why the horses looked so miserable."
I shared the sentiment.
The Holy Power certainly kept fatigue at bay and our legs moving.
But walking all day, every day, wore the mind raw.
For a full week.
Outside of eating and sleeping, we walked nonstop.
If someone fell behind for a bathroom break, they simply ran to catch up.
We slept only four hours a night.
Once the mind was sufficiently rested, Holy Power handled the body's recovery.
Yuria, receiving our gazes, offered a pious prayer as if flattered.
"If you require it, I can forcibly elevate your mental acuity so that three hours of sleep will suffice."
"No, that's fine......"
I stopped Yuria and turned my gaze forward.
"Our minds are sharp enough as it is."
A cold wind swept across my body.
Aislard.
"Incredible. It's supposed to be summer......"
The air here was markedly cooler than the interior.
The ground had certainly thawed, but snow still clung to the upper slopes.
White frost dotted the shaded patches of earth.
But this temperature was only a small part of Aislard.
What caught our eyes far more was—
"This, right at the border."
A pack of Dire Wolves staring us down from the distance.
A rough count put them at over thirty.
At their center stood a leader roughly 1.5 times larger than the rest.
A leader-class individual, like a Harpy Queen.
AWOOOOOO—!
The leader loosed a long howl, then turned away.
A cry that seemed to warn: beyond this point is our territory—do not enter.
"Normally they'd have run."
Hati folded his arms.
"Dire Wolves have about the intelligence of a seven-year-old human. They don't attack people lightly."
"At seven-year-old intelligence...... they would've seen our weapons and numbers. So you're saying they should've fled?"
"That's right. You notice any pups earlier?"
I hadn't.
They were all adults.
"Then there's a nest nearby. Females, elders, pups—all in there."
"A family-unit pack."
"A leader protecting that kind of group would bolt the moment it saw this many armed people. But it howled just now. That's a warning. Come closer and we'll fight to the death."
"Meaning they've got nowhere to run?"
"Right. The surrounding area must be packed with threats so dense they can't relocate."
"Could be people, too."
Rozalin cut in.
"In terms of territorial power, humans are the strongest."
"Agreed. So mapping out spheres of influence in concentric circles is key."
Hati spread out a map and picked up a pen.
"We encountered the Dire Wolves at this point. Since they issued a territorial warning here, their power center should be a day or two's travel from this spot."
He sketched rapidly.
"Using that as a baseline, we'll reverse-engineer the territories of the dangerous monsters and any survivors."
Reassuring.
In domains like this, experienced mercenaries were far more capable than a straight-ahead fighter like me.
I pulled aside the mercenaries and freelance knights from the two thousand and formed an advance party.
Half the Firestorm Mercenary Guild attached to it.
"Please serve as the advance party. Want me to assign students?"
"Can we pick the sharp ones ourselves?"
They'd spent weeks alongside the students.
They'd clearly already identified the talented ones.
Once I gave the go-ahead, about a hundred students were selected.
Most were lean with keen, observant eyes.
"We'll fan out in all directions. Three days. The objective is to build a territorial map. Neutralize any manageable threats. Retreat from strong ones. If civilians are found, rescue takes priority."
At Hati's orders, the mercenaries nodded and dispersed.
As for us.
"The students will set up camp here and hold position."
"'The students will'—so what about you, Teacher?"
"Rozalin, Bridget, Eleveth. Freizia and...... Spear God. Will you help?"
"Heh heh. We're going to fight, aren't we?"
The Spear God chuckled at my call.
"Yes. I can feel eyes on us from over there."
"Good, good. Hope it's something worth fighting."
I entrusted the camp's defense to those remaining.
"Sir. I'm counting on you and Pan to hold this position."
"Don't you worry, son. Iron Wall Kantaros."
The old man Kantaros flexed his bicep and grinned.
Was that armor really designed to leave his arms exposed in this cold?
Pan, beside him, looked sour at being left behind.
"There needs to be at least one Sword Master-level fighter here. You've got good eyes and good judgment, so I'm trusting you. If anything happens, consult Zelta."
"So what you're saying is, among your Top Disciples, I'm the one you trust enough to watch your back?"
"What are you talking about? You're the Top Disciple too hopeless to bring along!"
When had Pan and Rozalin's dynamic become this?
I pried the snarling pair apart once more and set off.
Step by step.
Our destination was slightly off from the direction the wolves had gone.
I'd chosen this direction for a very simple reason.
'Demonic Energy.'
The grass on the ground was dead.
Not merely wilted or failing to grow—something different.
It had been alive, and then forced to die.
Something vile had recently invaded this soil and smothered the life out of it by force.
'The air.'
The deeper we walked, the warmer the air became.
In the interior of Aislard, that made no sense.
A phenomenon that defied the natural order.
And at the end of it.
"There it is."
A demon.
It looked less like an ordinary monster and more like a blazing fire spirit.
Its entire body was flame.
It flickered ceaselessly, holding no fixed shape.
It appeared only about the size of a human head—small—but its heat was ferocious.
The flame burned close to blue, and the surrounding earth had melted into a liquid shimmer.
The demon hadn't moved, yet within roughly a ten-meter radius, the ground had liquefied and sunk.
"Tch. That kind is a pain."
The Spear God scratched his chin in frustration.
Among us, his attack range was the longest.
Yet even his spear could only reach about three meters.
"Damn. Thought I'd get some real action, but I'm just the dog chasing chickens."
"Don't worry too much."
I drew a vertical line through the air with my sword.
With a hiss, the demon's body split in two.
The blue blaze extinguished instantly, and two chunks of iron-like stone fell, halved, into the bottomless pit below.
My Aura had no such thing as a maximum range to begin with.
And since forging the new sword, its cutting power at distance was exceptional.
I watched the Fantasy gem plummet into the depths.
"This land has more than one or two demons, it seems."
Despite having destroyed one demon, the surrounding Demonic Energy hadn't dissipated.
Which meant—
There were far more demons across this continent than just one.
And if Demonic Energy was this pervasive, there might be a colossal demon commanding all of Aislard.
'I hope it's not too strong.'
This world had too many enemies stronger than me.
Perdius, for example.
Even as a Sword Master, it would be difficult to seize the advantage against Perdius.
Behemoth.
Even Pan at Grand Sword Master level couldn't properly contend with it.
I couldn't handle something like that alone.
I could only hope nothing of that caliber was here.
Just as I was about to move on—
"Teacher."
Rozalin called out.
I'd already noticed it myself.
The sword in my hand was trembling, vibrating.
'Why?'
And then—the Fantasy that had fallen deep into the earth shot back up into the air.
A Fantasy that had plunged into an abyss of pitch darkness.
Given that a scorching demon had just occupied the space above, I'd decided against going in—better to leave it.
Individual Fantasies weren't strictly necessary.
The Fantasy drifted slowly toward my sword.
The sword, in turn, responded—its blade squirming.
Then, like a slime stretching outward, the blade opened wide and swallowed the Fantasy whole.
GULP.
"This thing......"
It hadn't merely swallowed it.
This was absorption.
The mana inside my body surged once, and a flicker of flame rippled along the blade.
"Yow, hot."
The heat was enough to make everyone step back.
Only I, gripping the sword, felt no temperature at all.
"Are you all right, Teacher?"
"Mm."
Physically, I was fine.
But this clearly wasn't something that could be dismissed as just a physical matter.
"......Once this expedition is over, I need to look into this sword more carefully."
Left unchecked, this sword was dangerous.
We'd be dealing with countless demons going forward, collecting countless Fantasies each time.
And a sword that had consumed Fantasies past a certain threshold......
'It didn't eat the Fantasy from the demon Ban summoned last time. Are there conditions?'
Once this expedition ended, I'd need to speak with Ulf.
She'd said this had been Pan's weapon in the previous timeline......
I had a feeling there were secrets I hadn't yet uncovered.
"Let's keep moving."
I gathered my companions and continued onward.