"Flee?" Velin shot back. "And where would we flee to?"
"If it can drive out a Gray Swamp Giant Crocodile, it can crush us! There aren't enough of us to even get stuck in its teeth!"
Barrett sighed helplessly. "No one has ever seen… no one has ever seen something that can hunt a Gray Swamp Giant Crocodile like it's a wild rabbit!"
Velin was noncommittal.
"Barrett, you just swore your allegiance, and now you want to turn tail and run with me?" he asked, his slightly teasing tone cutting through the suffocating tension.
"Protecting your lord and his fief is your duty, Barrett. Forget your Mercenary ways."
The guard captain's face flushed bright red, but he couldn't manage a single word in rebuttal.
Velin looked away from him and turned to the other man.
"Tumo," Velin said, patting his shoulder, "the floods during the Month of Crying—were they especially severe this year?"
"Yes… yes, milord," Tumo replied. "In all my thirty-plus years, it's the worst flooding I've ever seen."
"That explains it," Velin said with a nod.
"What explains what?" Barrett couldn't help but ask.
"This monster either migrated here recently, or it's been here all along. Right?"
Velin analyzed the situation calmly.
"The migration of a Level 5 Magical Beast would never go unnoticed. The Gray Sea is the Hidi Duchy's busiest trade route, and the southern kingdom's Sea Patrol Fleet would never allow such a threatening Magical Beast to enter its waters. Therefore, it has most likely been trapped in some corner of the marsh all this time."
As Velin laid out his well-reasoned analysis, the two men's breathing began to even out.
"This year's floods either woke it up or, one might say, set it free."
"The excessive rainfall expanded its habitat, causing it to encroach on the territory of the Gray Swamp Giant Crocodiles and drive them out. Now that the rainy season is over and the floodwaters are receding, its range of activity will shrink, and it will retreat back into the depths of the marsh."
Velin looked at the two men.
"For now, we are safe."
Barrett was still worried. "But milord, the Month of Crying will come again next year!"
"Then we will make our preparations before next year's floods arrive," Velin's voice was firm and resolute.
After a long moment, Barrett struck his breastplate, producing a dull thud.
"Yes, milord!"
He no longer spoke of fleeing, his mindset shifting to a war footing.
"Milord, we should have a plan. I recommend we immediately reinforce the side of the wall facing the marsh depths. We also need to plan an emergency evacuation route to ensure the civilians can be withdrawn first in a worst-case scenario."
"Agreed." Velin nodded. "You have full authority over these matters. Tumo, you will monitor the public's morale. What happened today remains between the three of us."
"As you command!"
"As… as you command."
Velin turned and left the warehouse, leaving the two men behind.
'Of course I'm not going to run.'
'Abandon this Gray Sea Marsh? Abandon this promised land that only I know of?'
'The fiefs of other pioneer nobles are either barren mountains or woodlands already carved up and exhausted. Only this place, this vast, untouched land submerged in a shallow sea, is enough to support the kingdom for unrestricted research I intend to build.'
'As for that Level 5 Magical Beast…'
'Danger also means opportunity.'
'The corpse of a Level 5 Magical Beast—its flesh, bones, Demon Core… any of its materials would be enough to make a fortune. It would be a treasure trove sufficient to fund the initial accumulation of capital for my domain.'
'A treasure sleeping in a corner of the world, and a fierce beast guarding it.'
'Seems fair.'
...
「That evening, Velin sat in his office.」
Candlelight illuminated the desktop, and his face.
He took out the notebook he always carried with him.
Flipping it open revealed pages filled with dense, block-like characters.
He picked up a quill and wrote a new line on the paper.
[First Year of the Advent Era, May 13th, Sunny]
[I can't believe Barrett, that thick-browed, earnest-looking guy, was the first to suggest running away. Damn. The mere shadow of a Level 5 Magical Beast nearly broke apart the team I worked so hard to build. Being a leader is exhausting. You have to calm everyone down at the slightest sign of trouble.]
He started a new line and began his formal entry.
[Team Building: I've finally managed to get the Gray Mist Villagers and the pioneers to stick together. I reckon if I don't relocate the village, they'll remain at each other's throats. I didn't expect leading a group of uncultured people to be so frustrating—it's as annoying as herding college students. I need to set up a night school for them, for some ideological education, so they don't just fall apart at the first sign of trouble.]
[The Gray Wolf Mercenaries have some decent judgment, at least; they recognized my imperial bearing. But their loyalty has yet to be tested. I need to figure out some benefits for them to improve cohesion. Hmm, the bloodline purification experiments can be moved up the schedule.]
[Research Direction: This world is fascinating. "Aether" gives living things Extraordinary traits. It's not aerodynamics that lets you fly, but Magic! But the natives' methods for utilizing them are so primitive. They just use what they find. Why don't they think about how to modify these Extraordinary creatures to better suit the needs of production and daily life? For example—an "Extraordinary Cycle"! If the producers, consumers, and decomposers were all artificially raised Extraordinary creatures, what an interesting sight that would be?]
[Risks: The mysterious Magical Beast in the swamp. All I know is it might have a spear-like attack. I still need to find a way to look up some information. Besides, I can't just stubbornly try to fight a monster way above my level. Hmm, I need to find some outside help.]
Velin underlined the words "outside help" twice and pondered for a moment.
Then, he put away his notebook and spread out a fresh sheet of fine parchment.
It was time to write a letter to the Count of Dawn.
He dipped his quill in ink, the nib gliding across the paper, forming beautiful Hidi script.
Velin had already meticulously designed the letter's contents.
He began by thanking her for her generous support and stating that he had already established a firm foothold. Then, in the tone of someone sharing a secret, he casually inserted a passage.
[...Regarding your current predicament, it reminds me of an interesting piece of unofficial history. Legend tells of a nation hidden in the long river of time, ruled by an empress named 'Catherine.' She was a master of political maneuvering and did not always mobilize vast armies to suppress potential threats.]
[Sometimes, at a court banquet amidst the clinking glasses of nobles, she would, in the casual tone of discussing a hunt, mention offhandedly that a pack of fierce wolves occupied a certain part of the vast forest. And so, those 'sheepdogs'—those ambitious noble lords with private armies, eager to prove their loyalty before Her Majesty and win her favor and privilege—would tear each other apart, vying relentlessly for the 'right to hunt the wolves,' which symbolized glory and imperial grace...]
A letter that seemed to be discussing a historical anecdote was, in fact, a dragon-slaying technique tailor-made for the young countess trapped in a political vortex.
Only at the end of the letter did he add, as if in passing:
[...To my shame, the development here has not been entirely smooth sailing. The creatures in the marsh are far more complex than the records in the Adventurer's Guild suggest. This can't help but remind me of your earlier warning. I was wondering if Your Excellency the Count would find it convenient to consult the Royal Capital Library, or perhaps your family's ancient archives, on my behalf? To see if there are any historical records concerning this 'Gray Sea Marsh.' For instance, regarding certain powerful Magical Beasts.]
After that, he wrote another, shorter letter.
Velin blew the ink dry, carefully folded both letters, and sealed them with wax.
He handed the letters to Barrett, whom he had summoned.
"Find the fastest messenger."
"Tell him these letters are more important than his life."
The candlelight danced in Velin's wine-red pupils, making his eyes appear an even deeper red, as if they might drip blood.
And coalesced within them was a certain scientist's soul, filled with an endless greed for the unknown.