Chapter 204
(Kyle Calendar Year 511: Age 18)
The Demon Land of the West
Translator : PolterGlast
The demon territory,
which from the Principality of Fearalt's perspective was the eastern border,
and from the Kyle Kingdom's perspective was across the western border, we
decided to call the "Western Demon Territory" for convenience. The
demon territory I visited for the first time, and the scenery that unfolded there,
was vastly different from what I had seen before.
The demon territory
within the Demon Territory Count's domain was a dim forest region covered in
dense, deep woods, and the demon territory held by Margrave Hamish was a
slightly drier forest region. But the western demon territory was humid, with
swamps spreading out everywhere.
"Elan, first,
construct the final defensive base! Everyone else, let's set traps while
scouting and remaining vigilant of the surroundings. Christoph, I'll leave the
overall command to you."
We first fell into our
textbook response.
We prepared a final
base to flee to if chased by monsters, and to ultimately make our stand and
subjugate them there. The only mage who could perform this task this time was
Elan, but that one person was extremely capable and outstanding.
In the blink of an
eye, the location for the base, a simple earth wall, and a trench were
prepared. The other men prepared abatis in the trench and quickly set them up.
"Oh? This level
of skill... one cannot make light of it."
Count Flame narrowed
his eyes at their movements.
Many of the mages in
the Principality of Fearalt were of the fire, water, lightning, or ice
attributes. That was precisely why they had good compatibility with the four
leaders of the Restorationist faction.
Conversely, the
attributes of earth, wind, holy, sound, light, and space-time were extremely
rare, and dark and gravity were apparently non-existent. For that reason, the
actions of the Earth Mages, a common sight in the Kyle Kingdom, were something
they had to be wary of.
"We, too, are
always focused on defense. I believe it is clear from our history that we are
dedicated to protecting our homeland. We always set up a final defensive line
in advance because it would be a nuisance to your country if our actions were
to lure in monsters."
I added this, just in
case.
I didn't want them to
be overly conscious of us, but this time, there was a material I definitely
wanted to obtain in the Principality of Fearalt. However, that monster was
considered extremely dangerous, to the point that its subjugation was avoided,
so we had prepared thoroughly.
I consider the fact
that Claire was wounded by an arrow during the last rebellion to be an
extremely serious problem. I never want to let them suffer such a wound again.
But to deal with that,
there was only the option of putting on heavy plate armor, or one other. Of
course, heavy armor was unreasonable for them. Even if they wore it, if they
weren't on horseback, they wouldn't be able to move nimbly, and it would just
get in the way.
For that reason, I
decided to take the other means.
A monster with
extremely hard, light scales, said to be completely impervious to the blades of
arrows or swords. It was a type of giant snake called a Naga, over 10 m in
length and with a girth thicker than a human.
Among them, the one I
was searching for was the aquatic serpent said to be the strongest of the Naga,
a monster feared and called Klimt. But there were no Klimts in the Kyle
Kingdom's demon territory. Even if there were, they would be in the swamps of
the deepest part of the demon territory, normally unreachable.
However, I had heard
that the Principality of Fearalt's demon territory had many aquatic monsters,
and the probability of encountering a Klimt was high, even without going to the
deepest part.
In fact, it seemed
that all of the Klimt scales, which were rumored among craftsmen as a legendary
material, came from the Principality of Fearalt. I, too, had spoken with many craftsmen,
starting with Karl-san, in my search for the strongest armor, and they had all
given me the same answer: if only they had Klimt scales as a material... But
the problem was that the material was not easily obtainable in the Kyle
Kingdom.
Klimt scales were
apparently transparent, thin, and beautiful. If they were layered alternately,
even light armor's defensive power would increase dramatically, becoming the
strongest armor with a defense far surpassing full plate armor. At that time,
if Claire had been wearing that, she would not have received a wound from an
arrow that left her hovering between life and death. That regret and
self-reproach had remained with me ever since.
However, because of
that very hardness, it was extremely difficult to subjugate them by any means
other than burning them with fire, their supposed weakness. Furthermore, scales
that had been burned by fire would become brittle and useless as a material.
For that reason, it
seemed the circulation of the material was extremely low even in the Principality
of Fearalt, and though I had tried to obtain it from the Kyle Kingdom through
merchants, I was told each time that it was simply impossible. Even within the Principality,
a single scale was worth several gold coins, and even then, it was often unobtainable.
I had always thought
that I wanted to give this armor to my five wives, to the Wind Mages who often
deployed to the front of the enemy lines to put up wind walls, to the Holy
Mages who were not directly involved in combat but conducted rescue operations
on the front lines, and to the female mages with weaker physical strength, to
protect them.
In truth, one of the
major reasons I had accepted the mission of special envoy was to search for
this material. I cannot deny that I had accepted for this secret purpose of my
own.
"This time, I'm
hoping to secure a Klimt if possible. The magic stones are important, but I
really want to get the scales, so I've been preparing to enter this demon
territory."
"Wh-what! A
K-Klimt... you say? Lord Demon Territory Count, I can't help but think that you
are unaware of its danger... Even in our country, many lose their lives to it
every year. For that reason, it is even said that whoever subjugates one is
personally commended by His Majesty the King and will never want for food for
life, I tell you! It is far too dangerous! Please, couldn't you
reconsider?"
Well, of course. If it
weren't for the incident with Claire, I might not have been this desperate
either.
"Count Flame, I
am aware. That is why we have been preparing thoroughly since before our
departure. We have no intention of overreaching and causing you trouble. As
soon as the base is secured, we will proceed toward the swamps a little deeper
in."
I told him this, and
after a short while, once the base was complete, we advanced into the depths of
the demon territory, accompanied by the suspicious counts. We left Rosa, 100
soldiers with prepared arrows, and the horses we had ridden this far at the
base.
"Lord Takuhir,
right front, it's coming!"
"All troops,
halt! It's coming from the right front!"
Moving through the
demon territory had become drastically easier since Shannon had joined us.
Her ears, using sound
magic, acted just like a radar. She could detect the faint footsteps of
approaching people or monsters and give us a warning in advance.
For that reason, we
could face the approaching monsters after having fully prepared our
interception.
"Do not, under
any circumstances, touch the frogs (Lycia)! Some of them have poison in their
mucus. Some also spit poison mist from a distance, so never go downwind!"
At Christoph's
command, crossbow bolts flew accurately toward the frogs. We had also brought
Estol Bows this time, but our standard equipment was the limited-edition,
not-for-sale, enhanced crossbow.
Of course, we had
exhausted every means to investigate the monsters inhabiting this demon
territory before coming here. Their characteristics, dangers, and weaknesses.
"Once they're
down, abandon the arrows! Don't retrieve them! Leave all disposal to the Fire
Mages and advance!"
In the Kyle Kingdom's
demon territory, black wolves would usually attack as the vanguard, but in this
place, it was a horde of frogs. And they were huge!
If they stretched out
their limbs, they were as big as a human, and their legs were longer than a
person's. If you carelessly let them get close, they would use their jumping
power to suddenly attack from directly above. And at that point, it was already
checkmate. There was no way to escape the lethal poison at close range.
We advanced through
the demon territory, having already been attacked by about 50 frogs. According
to what we had heard beforehand, they each had their own territory and would
attack any intruders.
After advancing
through the demon territory for about two hours of my perceived time, we came
out into an area with a remarkably large swamp and surrounding wetlands. This
was the place that Count Flame had warned us about in the meeting before
entering the demon territory, saying, 『It's a dangerous zone where Klimts appear, so please be sure to avoid it』.
The Count was quite
displeased that we had deliberately come here, but for me, such a place was a
valuable hunting ground that I couldn't possibly overlook.
"Everyone, form a
perimeter! Stay away from the water's edge! You'll be dragged into the
water!"
While Christoph was
commanding the soldiers, Elan silently dug a channel about 4 m wide from the
swamp, extending it for about 50 m, and at the end, he made a place with a
gentle slope where something could crawl up out of the water.
This was the『Monster Lure』 we had devised beforehand.
At the top of the
slope, the still-dripping entrails of livestock, which Bart had purchased in
the town of Salaam and transported, were placed. On top of that, he poured
blood from a jar.
"Wh-what... what
are you doing..."
Count Flame turned
pale, but we paid him no mind and silently proceeded with our preparations.
The livestock blood
slowly flowed down the slope and reached the water's surface. At that moment,
the surface of the swamp began to ripple, and the surrounding air was enveloped
in a tension, as if it had changed in an instant.
We could feel the
presence of something moving quietly through the water in the narrow channel.
And then suddenly,
with a loud noise and a magnificent splash, a giant object burst forth from the
water.
It flew several meters
high from the water's surface, and I think it covered a distance of about 5 m,
before it lunged at the entrails. At that moment, Bart, who was waiting in a
large tree to the side, dropped a giant boulder from his spatial storage.
With an eerie sound of
shattering bone, the head of a giant, crocodile-like monster, about 10 m in
length, was crushed, and the monster died instantly.
In the world I had
lived in my first time, I had seen a 10-meter-long saltwater crocodile in the
northern part of Australia, but compared to that, this one looked far more
ferocious and dangerous. Its snout was long, and its wide-open mouth was lined
with fangs reminiscent of knives without any gaps. Its tail was very thick and
covered in sharp spines, and it was easy to imagine that a single swing of that
thick tail could tear a person's body apart.
Honestly, I wouldn't
want to fight a monster like this, even on land.
Bart immediately
descended from the tree, collected the boulder and the monster, and then
immediately climbed the large tree again. The Monster Lure, having absorbed the
blood of the monster just defeated, would have its efficacy further enhanced and
would lure in the next prey.
After repeating this
process about three times, I looked to my side and saw Count Flame,
dumbfounded, his mouth agape. His subordinate soldiers had also turned pale and
were staring in a daze.
"No... that's...
This is, just too..."
"I apologize for
surprising you. We don't want to fight the monsters head-on either, so we've
been thinking of a safe and easy way. Was it 'Granchi'? That monster is one of
the strongest in our demon territory, if you fight it head-on."
However, after that,
only the crocodiles (Granchi) were caught in the Monster Lure. Was there no
Klimt here? Just as I thought that, Shannon, who was keeping watch on the
surroundings, let out a particularly loud cry.
"Something huge
is coming from the forest behind us! Distance, 100 m!"
"Tch! From
behind! Fire Mages, deploy to both flanks and protect our allies with a wall of
fire!"
It was at almost the
exact same time that I had frantically given the order. A giant snake, covered
in vivid, iridescent scales and with a girth easily exceeding 1 m, came
charging into view.
Danke and Isaac
instantly threw up a wall of fire, but they couldn't cover the main camp, which
was deployed near the trap.
"It's a Klimt!
We're done for!"
The Count's soldiers
screamed. Despite its giant size, its movements were fast, and it was
impossible to escape.
In that instant, an
intense wall of fire rose up from beside me, and the Klimt lost its escape
route in all but one direction. And above the exit of that wall of fire, Bart,
who had moved through the branches, was waiting.
Yes, because at my
side was Claire, a powerhouse who had overcome the Commander's rigorous
training as a Fire Mage, and whose ability was second to none.
After a violent
tremor, silence fell. The tail, which had been standing toward the heavens,
slowly toppled over and struck the earth. And there, its head crushed by
several giant boulders, lay the massive serpent, Klimt.
The soldiers' great
cheers enveloped the area, and after quickly recovering the monster, we
hurriedly withdrew from the spot.
After that, we
returned to the final defensive base and field-dressed the monsters we had
hunted that day. This, too, was one of our standard procedures.
Normally, field
dressing is done promptly on the spot where the monster was hunted, but this is
the most dangerous time, as more monsters are lured by the blood and flesh.
But if you have a
Space-Time Mage, that process can be skipped.
Furthermore, when
retreating from the demon territory, there are always a fair number of monsters
that follow us from behind. We ambush and intercept all of them at the final
base.
The reason we
field-dress some of the monsters at the final base is to lure in and defeat all
of them.
And so, we also
carried out subjugations at the final base, and as a result, we were able to
obtain a harvest that exceeded our expectations. Besides the Klimt, the
Granchi's hide, fangs, tail spines, and bones were also extremely valuable as
materials. And from the fire-attribute monsters, monsters of the complete
opposite nature of water, which had followed us as we retreated, we also
obtained magic stones and valuable materials.
"Wow, the Principality
of Fearalt's demon territory is truly bountiful. I was surprised."
"..."
It's just that there's
no one reckless enough to do such a thing. Count Flame's face seemed to want to
say that.
We, with one of our
major objectives achieved, were brimming with joy as we set off on our return
to the city of Salaam.
(Results from the Western
Demon Territory)
◇ Water-Attribute Monsters
Giant Water Serpent
(Klimt): 1
Giant Crocodile
(Granchi): 6
Giant Poison Frog
(Lycia): 80+ (All discarded)
◇ Other Attribute Monsters
Lizard-type: 6
Cassowary (Bird-type):
3
Many others
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