Chapter 48. The Count's Request (1)
According to the information sent by the first search party, Viscount Bailon disappeared after leaving the village beneath the Kazerdan Ridge.
Since contact with the search party had been cut off afterwards, the place for the second search party to head was naturally the village. The plan was to find the necessary clues there, then move swiftly.
Verden rode with one knight.
Since it was a warhorse specially trained by the count's household, its speed was faster than even using flight magic. The jolting was such that even a skilled rider would be thrown off if they lost focus for even a moment.
'But what in the world is with this mage?'
The knight glanced back.
Normally, the rider in the back would hold on to the front rider's waist to keep balance. Yet this mage named Asher wasn't holding on at all—in fact, he was sitting backwards, watching behind them.
With the horse shaking so violently, it was baffling how he didn't fall.
'Well, he's a mage, so he must be using some kind of magic or magic item.'
The knight lost interest and turned his head forward again.
Verden, meanwhile, was gazing around while savoring the effects of the Ring of Rune, Exceed.
'So this is what they classify as a high-grade rune array.'
Enhancement of all senses.
He could identify his surroundings without relying solely on sight, and even while riding like this, he could maintain perfect balance. The world he perceived had changed.
The same was true for magical precision and reflexes.
By inscribing Exceed into his mana circuit, Verden had gained not only magical ability but also a step of growth as a human being itself.
'I'm looking forward to seeing how useful this will be in real combat.'
While entertaining such thoughts, they soon arrived at their destination.
A small village, fenced in with palisades, lying just beneath the mountains. The people glanced sideways and whispered as they saw the knights in armor and the muscular warhorses.
"Spread out and look for clues related to the Viscount and the search party. Three of you stay and guard the horses, the rest move in pairs. If you judge there is danger, fire a signal flare immediately."
"Yes, Captain."
The knights scattered in all directions.
Captain Balkan approached Verden, who remained alone.
"You're coming with me."
"Understood."
Verden nodded.
Since Count Rodenmeyer had asked him to cooperate with the search party, there was no need to move on his own at this moment.
Together with Balkan, he walked through the village, inquiring about the missing men.
And there was progress.
Before long, the knights gathered the information they had heard.
"There's a broken carriage in the forest. From the description, it seems to be the very one Viscount Bailon rode in."
"The first search party apparently left their horses in the village and went that way as well. The locals were too frightened to guide them, but it doesn't sound like the place is complicated to find, so it shouldn't be a problem."
"I see. Then we'll leave our horses in the village and move on foot."
Since the location was in the forest, riding the warhorses would only hinder mobility. No one would dare lay a hand on the count's warhorses, so entrusting them to the villagers would not be an issue.
Just as Verden and the knights were about to leave the village, an old man with a staff blocked their path.
"You would do well not to go."
"…What do you mean by that?"
When Balkan asked, the old man gestured along the village with his staff.
"I've lived here for seventy years. I know these lands around Kazerdan Ridge so well I could walk them with my eyes closed. No dangerous demi-humans or magical beasts—this village where I was born and raised has always been peaceful. But… but lately, the forest has changed."
"The forest?"
"The forest is restless. Birds, deer, boars, goblins—every living thing is moving about day by day. No one in the village notices, but I, I alone can feel it."
The old man shivered, as if terrified.
"The forest is crying, like a child awaiting death. So, if you don't want to be swept away… you'd best turn back. Forget about those who disappeared."
With that, he turned and slowly walked back toward the village, leaning on his staff.
Balkan watched his retreating figure, then spoke.
"…We depart."
He had no intention of abandoning the missing men on the word of an old villager.
Even so, the knights felt a vague sense of unease in their hearts.
***
The knights ran in formation, charging through the forest.
Reinforcing their bodies with aura, their speed was no less than horses. Verden and Clark, being mages, traveled above through flight.
'The forest is crying, he said…'
Verden recalled the old man's words as he looked down at the forest.
The mountains were thick with coniferous trees. The quiet atmosphere seemed no different from any other forest… At least, that would have been his thought if not for Exceed.
The other knights might not have noticed, but Verden's heightened senses caught a strange feeling.
The nape of his neck chilled—it was, precisely, an eerie dread.
'There's something in this forest.'
He was certain of it.
Before long, they arrived at the place where the broken carriage was said to be.
Balkan frowned and drew his sword.
"…Things are worse than we thought."
Half of the carriage was gone, as if torn apart by some attack.
There were traces of scorching, suggesting an explosion or magic. Yet despite searching the surroundings, they found no clue beyond the wreckage.
"To leave so few traces… Asher, His Lordship told me you've tracked down magical beasts and wanted criminals before. Could you show us that tracking skill?"
"Of course."
That was, after all, why he had come.
Verden spread out his magic power.
Clark gave a scoffing laugh, as if he couldn't believe it.
"Ha, so you're tracking with mana detection? Haven't you even learned the basics as a mage? Expanding the range like that, your mana will be drained in no time—what will you do if we're attacked then?"
"Clark, enough."
"But Captain, you know as well as I do! With first-tier mana detection, how could he possibly discover traces even we couldn't find?"
"It's not impossible."
"Captain!"
"His Lordship hired Asher to find the missing men. If his mana is drained by detection, then we'll protect him. If you have complaints, save them until after he finishes."
Balkan dismissed Clark's grumbling.
Verden ignored them and widened the scope of mana detection further. Thanks to his enhanced senses, he could read most of the incoming information without letting it slip away.
'…This?'
It wasn't traces of the missing people he had found.
What Verden focused on was the forest itself. From some of the trees, he felt an abnormally strong vitality. A response no ordinary plant should have given.
"Did you find something?"
"There's no way you could have found them..."
"I haven't found them, but I discovered something else. This way."
Staff in hand, Verden took the lead.
Using flight magic, he slipped swiftly between the trees, his movements so sharp that even Balkan could see they were no ordinary skill.
'Excellent reflexes and magical control, at least in flight magic, he's superior to Clark.'
The search party followed after Verden.
Before long, Verden stopped. Only then did Balkan sense the strangeness hanging thick in the forest. As he stepped toward a nearby tree he had been eyeing, the roots writhed, then surged to envelop him.
"So, it really was a treant."
Slash!
A flash of steel split the tree's roots and trunk in two. As expected of the captain of the Count's knight order, it was a lightning-quick strike.
Balkan clicked his tongue after felling the treant.
"A treant in broad daylight, that makes no sense. I understood that treants, tree-formed abnormal species, shunned the sun and only appeared in dark, damp places. Did it drift here from somewhere nearby?"
Verden asked,
"Somewhere nearby?"
"Don't you know? It's quite famous in the principality. The 'Forest of Demons,' legally off-limits by order of both the Adventurer Guild and the principality, a forest said to be so dark even at midday that treants can thrive naturally."
'Forest of Demons?'
He had heard of it before.
From a Listener who came from the Ark, the one he met in Briente.
"But to think treants were the cause of the Viscount and the first search party's disappearance, that's a weak explanation. The state of the broken carriage doesn't fit either. There must be another cause..."
Just then, they sensed a presence nearby.
Verden and Balkan reacted almost simultaneously, Clark and the knights following suit with their nerves on edge.
"Come out."
Balkan released a fierce aura.
The sound of footsteps drew nearer from within the woods. Soon, someone hiding revealed themselves.
"…Brennan?"
It was one of the knights from the missing first search party.
***
'That's the missing knight?'
Verden stared at Brennan, who stood silently.
His armor was scratched all over, his skin pale and bloodless, his eyes clouded over in a dull white. His weapon was gone, only the scabbard remained.
'And more than anything…'
Verden felt almost no life from Brennan. That man—or rather, that thing—was closer to an undead than a human. He had never heard of such a type of undead, so he could not judge recklessly, but it was certain he was not in a normal state.
"Brennan, what in the world happened here?"
"..."
"Answer me, Brennan!"
Even at his superior's command, Brennan gave no reply.
Finally, when Balkan stepped toward him, he responded.
"Brennan, tell us the situ—"
Whoosh!
Brennan swung a fist at Balkan.
But Balkan had anticipated it. Catching the fist with one hand, he yanked Brennan forward.
Boom!
His elbow smashed into Brennan's jaw, then he grabbed his neck and drove a knee up into his gut. With a dull crash, the armor crumpled, and Brennan was slammed into the ground.
Subduing him, Balkan pressed his hand to Brennan's neck.
"…He has a pulse, so he's not undead, but is he under some kind of spell? Clark, do you know anything?"
"I'm not sure either. We should contact the Count's house first..."
"Sir Balkan."
Verden turned his gaze around them.
Rustle, rustle. The sound of grass being brushed came from all sides. Not one, but a group, was gathering.
Demi-humans, magical beasts, animals, humans—all with the same white eyes as Brennan—slowly closed in.
Balkan considered his options.
To settle the situation here, or to retreat for now.
He chose the latter.
If the missing ones were in the same condition as Brennan, finding a way to save them was priority. Swiftly binding Brennan's arms and legs, Balkan slung him over his shoulder.
"Everyone, retreat! Avoid combat, securing the escape route is first priority!"
"I'll clear the way!"
Clark's spell swept aside the foes blocking the front.
The knights cut down every non-human enemy in their path, while Verden held the rear, blocking pursuers with magic.
But it did not last long.
Thwung!
"Kh...!"
An arrow came flying from afar. Balkan barely blocked it with his blade, but the impact forced him back. Soon after, the assailant appeared.
An archer, a Platinum Rank adventurer, with a filthy plate hanging on his neck.
"Even an adventurer was taken...!"
"Captain! Up ahead!"
Thud, thud, thud.
A massive ogre emerged from between the trees. On its shoulder sat a human mage holding a staff—it was one of Viscount Bailon's attendants.
'The escape route is blocked.'
To break through would cost them casualties. And if they could not shake pursuit, the nearby village would be destroyed.
As Balkan hesitated for a few seconds, weighing his choice—
House-sized, jagged rocks surged forward, crashing into the ogre.
The attendant tried to block with an ice orb, but it was, of course, futile.
[Grrraaaaghhh!]
────Boom!
The ogre was smashed to pieces, its tough hide useless, most of its body blasted away. It toppled, crashing to the ground.
The attendant was flung aside by the shockwave.
The Platinum Rank adventurer drew his bow at Verden.
But before he could release it, a massive wall rose from the earth, blocking his sight completely.
"Magic…?"
Not Clark. Instinctively, the search party turned their eyes back.
Verden, resting his staff casually on his shoulder, said,
"Let's go."