[V1C10] That Which Runs, Blended With the Night
Translated by Jodas 1: The Wedge TowerThe path down the cliffs was more tiring than the way up. Feeling his thighs becoming sore and locking up, Wren quietly moved his feet.
Both Tia and Sevil were also silent.
Even though they were on their way back, having secured the Wedge Medals that would allow them to pass, everyone was making stern faces. Probably because they couldn’t get that strange serpent or Director Linke’s words out of their heads.
—Monsters do exist. Even now, they still do.
—The purpose of this exam is to get you to understand that fact.
(What the hell is that supposed to mean….)
Monsters. An existence that was said to have become extinct during the ancient era.
Things that took forms similar to humans to draw close to people, that stole your souls, that manipulated your mind; or things that sucked your lifeblood, or ate your flesh. Those sorts of entities were referred to by names such as Demons or Devils.
There were also things known as Magic Beasts, that took forms akin to beasts. All of the above were considered to be types of Monsters.
When Wren was young, his mother read him many stories where monsters made an appearance.
All of those sorts of books had unnerving depictions that made him afraid to go to the bathroom at night. When that happened, his mother laughed and comforted him.
—It’s okay, Wren. Because there aren’t any monsters any more.
Humans were far scarier. Wren had tasted the weight of his mothers words countless times.
In the modern era, the term Magical Creatures usually referred only to dragons and spirits. And even then, high-ranking dragons were a rare sight, and the number of spirits has been dwindling over the years. The world was simply losing its magic.
(In the modern era, when even spirits are dwindling, could there really be monsters? Even if there were, unless you were somewhere with really high mana density….)
“Wren, it’s dangerous there, you might fall.”
Wren jolted back to reality, taken by surprise when someone called out to him.
Tia, who was walking in front of Wren, came to a stop and gazed at him. Sevil, at the front, also stopped and cast the lantern she held in their direction.
“It’s become quite dark. Perfect timing; let us rest for tonight around here.”
Wren and the others were currently roughly halfway down the slope. They hadn’t been able to descend all the way, but they had done well to proceed down even half of the incline. From here, as long as they set out early tomorrow morning, they may be able to reach the starting point by noon.
At a somewhat open area, Wren stretched his legs at took a seat.
”Ahh….. I’m beat…. Can I just fall asleep right now?”
“You should get something in your stomach first, even if just a little bit. I’ll heat up some water now.”
Among the three of them, the one who was most prepared for camping in the wild was Sevil. Even now she was assembling sticks she had picked up along the way and preparing a fire.
Tia watched her movements with curiosity.
(What strange people, these two.)
Sevil was probably a knight or something. Her conduct was refined, so there was a chance her family might hold some sort of noble title. The name Sevil didn’t sound central, so she probably come from the south.
Tia was a total mystery. She looked like an ordinary girl at first glance, but something felt off.
(She has no common sense, and her emotions are unique….)
That girl with unique emotions was humming a song without a care in the world and chirping “Piyo! Piyo!” but then her eyes suddenly shot wide open and made a low whistle. Her voice sounded like a wild animal trying to intimidate its opponent.
“Something’s there….It’s coming closer…..From below.”
Then, an unnerving scent wafted up along with the breeze.
It was the smell of a beast. Along with it, the smell of blood.
Sevil reached her hand to the hilt of her sword. Wren, whose legs had given out from exhaustion. immediately pulled his legs in and prepared to stand up.
—RRROOOAAAAAAARRRRRR!
It sounded like the howl of a wolf. Not the call one would make to link up with their pack, but a howl of intimidation, meant to terrify their prey.
In the dark of the night, something with black fur approached them. Sevil illuminated the silhouette with her lantern to tee a creature with ratty fur twice the size of an adult man.
Its ears were sharply pointed like those of a wolf.
A wolf that walked on two legs. Wren had seen such a thing in a book before.
(A werewolf…..)
The werewolves that appeared in those stories were unusually vicious and cruel, and derived the utmost enjoyment from slaughtering human knights with their claws and fangs—that’s what he had been told.
It was said that their sharp claws would rend human flesh, and their thick fangs would easily bite even bones to pieces.
(Is this also a test set up by the Wedge Tower…..?)
Could this werewolf be a test, just like the monster sealed in the book that Director Linke had sent after them? …..Somehow, he felt that it wasn’t.
He could feel a far more palpable sense of malice from this monster than when they encountered the winged serpent.
Sevil grasped her sword’s hilt.
“Halt. Should you step any closer, I shall cut you down.”
The werewolf stopped—the moment they thought that, it charged forwards with the force of a black cannonball.
Without letting up on its charging momentum, it brought its claws down onto Sevil.
Sevil parried them with her sword, but the momentum was enough to blow her away. Sevil wasn’t small by any means, yet her body was easily sent flying, tumbling into Wren behind her.
When Sevil was blown towards him, Wren suddenly had a thought.
If he stood in the way, Sevil could avoid being slammed into the rock face. It would absolutely hurt, but it was better than Sevil, who was their only combat asset, getting knocked out of action.
However, reality far exceeded Wren’s imagination.
Wren was crushed between Sevil, who was blown with more force than imagined, and the rock face. His consciousness was blown away in an instant.
“Sevil! Wren!”
Tia immediately raised her voice, but there was no response.
Both Sevil, who was slammed against the rock wall, and Wren, who had been caught in between, fell limp and motionless.
She could see the red of blood in Wren’s golden hair.
Sevil’s wrist, still holding to her sword, was stained dark red.
“GRRRAAAAHHH……”
The ink-black Werewolf opened its mouth wide. The thick fangs visible inside that mouth were coated in saliva that shone in the moonlight.
If it bit down, it could easily tear through human flesh.
Before the werewolf could make a move, Tia stood in front of Sevil and Wren.
The werewolf opened its massive mouth and tried to engulf Tia.
(This werewolf……. It’s missing its upper left fang.)
Then how about I…. Tia shoved her own right hand into the werewolf’s mouth. right were the missing left fang should have been.
“Hmph!”
She had wanted to go all the way to its throat, but Tia’s hand was too short to reach that far.
The werewolf aimed for Tia’s throat with its thick claws. Then I’ll just… Tia dug her claws into the werewolf’s tongue with all her might.
Whether it was caught off guard by that or not, the werewolf jumped backwards.
(…..Werewolves want to win against strong humans.)
That’s why, even though it could just deal the finishing blow to a collapsed and defeated opponent, so long as there is a fighter still moving, it would prioritize them instead.
Tia pulled the curved sword from the unconscious Sevil’s hand, and raised it with both hands.
It was heavy. Even though Sevil could swing it around one-handed like it was nothing, the curved sword was much heavier than it looked.
She had to use more of her wrist strength than she expected to bring it to bear. Tia’s arms were strong, she didn’t have much strength from her wrists forward.
Tia directed the shaking tip of the blade at the werewolf and screamed.
“I’m a warrior!! Umm… Come and get me!”
The werewolf made a voice like it was snorting from the bottom of its throat. As if it were laughing. Those grey eyes said she was not even worth fighting.
(Then I’ll have to……)
Tia swung the bag hanging off her shoulder in front of her stomach. It wasn’t much, but perhaps it might be able to act as armor to protect her stomach just a little bit.
Then, with pattering feet, she slowly moved while singing a song.
A simple nursery rhyme, often heard throughout the Empire.
“The good-for-nothing Daniel lost his shoes. Boohoo he cried, how pitiful.”
The werewolf didn’t even spare her a glance.
With a rolling, lighthearted melody, Tia changed the lyrics for the second verse.
“The good-for-nothing wolf lost his fang. Awoo he howled, how pitiful!”
At that point, its murderous aura intensified.
To a werewolf that has lost one of its fangs, Tia’s song was an unforgivable insult.
The werewolf closed the distance to Tia with fearsome speed, and swung its sharp claws at her.
Tia caught the claws with Sevil’s curved sword. Her wrist gave out under the immense force. The curved sword dropped out of Tia’s hands, and fall to the bottom of the cliff.
“Ngh.”
Pushed by the impact, Tia was blown backwards and rolled down the slope—she had moved in such a way, intending that to happen.
(I’ve opened the distance!)
At the end of her fall, her whole body slammed into a huge boulder, but it didn’t bother her. Tia was tough, after all.
“Hmph.”
Tia forced herself upright, and shoved her hand into the bag, pulling out a small glass bottle.
Inside the bottle, pale red candies made a clinking noise.