Chapter 57: The Free City, Bernhard (4)

Whether it was because of the vastness of the Mülhen Granary Zone, in the end, we failed to find the chieftain demonic beast even after the sun was high in the sky.

To be precise, we hadn’t seen even a shadow of a demonic beast since the sun rose.

It was as if all the demonic beasts that had attacked the Mülhen Granary Zone had withdrawn all at once.

“Let’s return for today.”

Only after coming up empty for half a day did Edric order a retreat.

It was finally time to return.

“But…… are we walking back?”

At the question from Conlan, who was exhausted from walking and running the whole time, Edric spoke as if it were obvious.

“Is there any other way?”

“Well…… there isn’t, sir. Yes.”

Unfortunately, the horses we had ridden to the Mülhen Granary Zone had all fled during the battle with the Demon head hound pack earlier.

If they had been horses we had originally tamed, we might have been able to call them back, but we couldn’t expect that much from borrowed horses.

No matter how many tricks Edric had up his sleeve, he probably didn’t have the trick of literally flying through the sky.

“We’ll be able to rest comfortably when we get back.”

“……If we get back, that is.”

“Haha, listen to you whining. I haven’t trained you all to be that weak. You know that, don’t you?”

“That’s…… true, too. Yes.”

Conlan nodded his head as if he reluctantly understood.

If he had denied it now, the intensity of the ‘training’ Edric spoke of would change from what it had been, so it could be said it was an unavoidable answer.

It was a relief amidst the misfortune that he hadn’t, at least, declared a footrace back.

“Stop whining with that big body. Just walk. Ah, or has this place become quite cozy since you’re lying down? Then just keep lying down.”

“Shut up.”

“Why don’t you try and make me?”

“Oh yeah? I was planning to do just that anyway.”

Conlan and Albino bickered as always.

It wasn’t easy to return on foot a distance we had traveled for a long time by horse, but running was something we had always done.

While returning, we were able to properly see the scenery of the Mülhen Granary Zone, which we hadn’t been able to see at dawn.

The traces of battle between mercenaries and demonic beasts, scattered everywhere, as well.

‘An attack of this scale happened, and yet they all returned cleanly as soon as the day broke……. ’

As expected, the massive attack by demonic beasts happening in the Mülhen Granary Zone was not a simple attack.

No, in the first place, sustained demonic beast attacks of this scale rarely happened anywhere outside of Winter Castle.

“What do you think?”

“About what?”

“Do you think there’s a chieftain demonic beast leading this attack, as Councilman Garrett Mason said?”

Edric was also pinpointing the exact question I held.

There was something strange about this mission.

Even in the Demon head hound pack we just faced, the presence of a chieftain leading the Demon head hounds was not seen at all.

Meaning, they had come to the Mülhen Granary Zone on their own, without a chieftain to lead them, and considering that other demonic beasts had also moved together, it wasn’t a normal occurrence.

‘No matter how I look at it, this isn’t the movement of demonic beasts in a normal ecosystem.’

In cases like this, it was largely one of two things.

Either a demonic beast, strong and frightening enough to make the movements of those demonic beasts unnatural, had coiled up nearby.

Or, there existed some other kind of reason that was influencing those demonic beasts.

The latter was more likely than the former, but there was still not enough evidence to be certain.

“I think we’ll have to watch a little longer for now.”

“Is that so? You’re being cautious, for you.”

“There’s something I need to check.”

“Hmm…… alright. I don’t know what it is, but let me know when you find out.”

Edric spoke like that, as if he trusted me as always.

I didn’t know where the source of that incomprehensible trust came from, but it wasn’t bad for me either.

“Understood.”

“Then let’s hurry. We have to get back within today if we’re to sleep in beds, right?”

Edric laughed heartily.

The way back was definitely not easy.

It was a relief, if anything, that my physical abilities had clearly improved compared to before, thanks to the Orb of Water and the demonic energy.

“Ugh…….”

“Just when does this dog-like plain end!”

In fact, Conlan and Albino staggered like corpses and screamed.

“Are you okay?”

Even Alicia, who had the strongest physical ability in the 4th Special Task Force, was wiping the sweat flowing down her forehead and struggling, but I was holding up reasonably well.

This was because the Orb of Water, Haima’s Pendant, and the demonic energy I had recently obtained had granted my body abnormal vitality and stamina.

“I’m fine.”

“You were originally a weakling, weren’t you.”

“I was never that.”

“You were the first one to collapse every day.”

“……”

I felt like Alicia’s personality was getting stranger as the days went by, but it was true that people were bound to change when they were in an environment like this.

“Just a little more strength! We’re almost there.”

Just as Edric said, at some point, the east gate of the Free City, Bernhard, began to be seen clearly beyond the plain.

Finally, the long, long journey of the first day was showing its end.

***

We, who had returned to Bernhard, went straight back to the lodging without meeting Garrett Mason.

After the forced march from Winter Castle to Bernhard, we hadn’t been able to rest properly and had subsequently even run a marathon, so we had no choice.

As if Edric had also considered those circumstances, the time we gathered after waking up the next day was after the sun was high in the sky.

“Did you all rest well?”

“……I don’t think I rested enough.”

Conlan, with a gaunt face and dark circles down to his cheekbones, made a weak protest, but as always, there was no way it would work on Edric.

“Haha, seeing as you’re talking, it seems you all rested well enough.”

“I’m saying I didn’t rest.”

“Then will you be walking? You don’t look like you have the energy to ride a horse right now.”

“Come to think of it, I think I rested well.”

“I thought you’d say that.”

Edric laughed heartily.

“Then let’s depart.”

There was no disagreement.

This was because we already knew well that saying such things would be of no use.

This time, we each packed a single stake next to our saddles.

It was a stake to drive into the ground to keep the horses from running away during combat with demonic beasts.

It could be seen as wisdom gained from keenly feeling what happened when you lost a horse in a wide plain like the Mülhen Granary Zone.

“Did you rest well?”

“I guess.”

I answered Alicia’s question like that.

Last night, before I laid my body, which had reached its limit, to rest, I had searched the Anonymous Bulletin Board.

It was to find out about the abnormal demonic beast attacks happening in the Mülhen Granary Zone.

And, thanks to investing quite a lot of time, I, who had been digging through the Anonymous Bulletin Board, was finally able to discover one post.

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Anonymous9545 : By the way, where do the demonic beasts in the Bernhard dispute region keep coming from?

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I mean, it’s good for me since I’m making money, but no matter how many I catch, there’s no end. It’s getting boring. Where the hell are these demonic beasts coming from?

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That post pierced through the exact question I had been feeling.

Where were the demonic beasts that continuously showed themselves in the Mülhen Granary Zone appearing from?

I wasn’t the only one who held questions about that, and the answer to it could be found, surprisingly, in the comments.

-Magician114 : It won’t end ㅇㅇ

└Anonymous9545 : ? Why?

└Magician114 : Think about why that place is a dispute region.

└Anonymous9545 : I really don’t know, so can’t you just tell me?

└Magician114 : …Looks like you’re a newbie. No one doesn’t know that Hanover keeps sending demonic beasts because it’s a dispute region between Bernhard and Hanover ㅇㅇ So don’t get bit for no reason, just make a decent score and get out.

└Anonymous9545 : Huh… fr?

The comment from Magician114 could be seen as quite shocking in a way.

Of course, I couldn’t know if the comment Magician114 left was true or not, but at least, it was clear that it was quite convincing.

In fact, in this world, there were countless ways to artificially move demonic beasts.

‘Hanover…….’

Hanover was a military city to the east of the Free City, Bernhard, with the vast plain of the Mülhen Granary Zone as its border.

At least as far as I knew, the relationship between Bernhard and Hanover hadn’t been that bad until now, but the appearance of the Destruction Dragon had the destructive power to overturn even such international relations, so it wasn’t that strange.

In fact, leaving politics aside and looking at it purely arithmetically, it wasn’t that strange for Hanover to covet the Mülhen Granary Zone.

And why not, Hanover had historically always wanted a border buffer zone, and in addition to that, the Mülhen Granary Zone was a territory with very great value, capable of enormous food production, surpassing a simple buffer zone.

‘Anyway…… I can check for myself today.’

Whether Magician114’s words were the truth or not.

It was time to go confirm it.

***

The surrounding scenery changed rapidly.

It seemed that Councilman Garrett Mason’s side had lent us pretty good horses this time, perhaps because there was the precedent of the horses fleeing before the demonic beasts just yesterday.

“Come to think of it, Councilman Garrett Mason said he was deeply ashamed. He said he didn’t know the horses would run away like that.”

At Edric’s words, Conlan spoke in a complaining voice.

“Isn’t it a situation where it wouldn’t be enough for him to come and bow his head personally?”

“It was an unavoidable incident, so don’t be like that. Didn’t we come thoroughly prepared today?”

Edric laughed heartily, tapping the stake hanging on his saddle.

As we galloped through the Mülhen Granary Zone like that, a horde of demonic beasts was seen in the distance.

“All personnel, prepare for battle.”

Because there was the past record of having lost the horses once, Edric ordered battle preparations a little faster.

This was because there was a possibility that the horses, which were fixed by stakes and couldn’t run away, could be swept up in the battle with the demonic beasts.

The 4th Special Task Force members immediately got off their horses, then drove the stakes from their saddles into the ground and fixed the horses.

“Stay put.”

Conlan spoke to his horse as if warning it, and then faced the horde of demonic beasts, holding his main armament, the axe.

【Lv.2】

【Greed Cat】

-Kkigik, kkigigigit!

-Kiii!

The battle with the Greed Cat, a demonic beast in the form of a giant cat, was not that difficult.

In the first place, it was only a level 2 demonic beast, and as assumed, it wasn’t like there was a chieftain demonic beast, so it was strange if we, with Edric, couldn’t handle it.

“It’s nothing special!”

“Getting all excited about catching a demonic beast of just this level……. Well, that does suit you perfectly, though.”

“Are you trying to pick a fight with me?”

“Anytime.”

The very moment Conlan and Albino were growling at each other as always.

Koong!

Kuuuuung──!!

An unusual vibration echoed, and a small earthquake occurred.

“……What?”

At that, not only Conlan and Albino, who had been bickering, but also Edric’s and Alicia’s gazes turned to one side.

“Quiet.”

Edric’s expression, sensing something unusual, hardened.

“Over there.”

An abnormal phenomenon began to appear from beyond the horizon, at Alicia’s fingertip.

It looked like a black wave, or perhaps a disaster trying to destroy the world.

“That’s……”

“Dammit…… what is that.”

Conlan and Albino, forgetting their fight for a moment, stared at the surging black wave.

‘……Wave.’

A large-scale demonic beast offensive, of the kind one would only expect to see at Winter Castle, revealed its form toward Bernhard.

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