Chapter 62 - Episode 5: Now, My Insects, Off You Go
Greetings. I am Violia Nico Fortesia.
I am currently about to decide which country to set the monsters upon by throwing a dart.
However, there were no darts. Since it could not be helped, I substituted them with a random knife.
I pinned a map to the wall, threw the knife, and the position where it stuck was...
"Oh, it is the Kingdom of Windry."
Yes. It is decided! The small country across the sea, a day and a half away, is our prey this time!
"The sea breeze feels wonderful."
Setting sail from the port town of Elsemarin, we are heading from our country, the Kingdom of Orchesta, to the neighboring Kingdom of Windry.
Today is clear. A perfect day for an invasion. A sea voyage on a day like this is not bad at all.
"Even so, how did we manage to get such a fine ship?"
And above all, this ship!
It is a small thing since only five of us are on it, but it is a considerably fine vessel.
It has a solid cabin that one wouldn't expect from its small appearance, and it is even fully equipped with a kitchen, yet it is a ship that sails wonderfully well. It is also marvelous that it can be operated by one or two people.
"This ship originally belonged to House Fruitier; I just took it."
"Ah, I see."
I was wondering where he got such a ship, but it seems he swiped a ship from House Fruitier.
Well, there is no point in a fallen house's ship staying in the port forever. I shall take what I can get. Ohohoho.
Half a day was spent enjoying the sea voyage, sunbathing on the deck, gazing at the boundary between the beautiful blue sea and the blue sky, and trying to shoot down sea birds that flew by.
Eventually, the sun rose high, began to tilt... and as evening approached, the scenery of the sea changed its beauty once more.
Vivid apricot-colored clouds trailed across the sky, and the sea sparkled, reflecting the light of the red sun, yet showing a glimpse of black that made one feel the presence of the night... The sinking sun and the darkening sea. On a ship running across the sea, blown by a slightly cold wind. Light and shadow, water and sky, as far as the eye can see. A sight that seems to wash one's soul.
...What a truly luxurious time.
Gripping the steering wheel and looking ahead toward the yet-unseen Kingdom of Windry, I immerse myself in quiet excitement as I traverse the sea.
And so the sun finally vanished into the edge of the sea, and in its place, the moon began to shine silver.
"Young lady. It's about time to switch shifts."
"Oh. Is it that time already?"
In the spreading twilight, Giovan-san, who was taking over, came by carrying a lantern.
"I'll keep the ship running during the night, so you should sleep, young lady. Once we hit land, I'll be the one staying behind while you four do the actual work anyway."
Oh. That offer is appreciated.
But... I am also worried.
"...The sun is already setting, but are you alright by yourself?"
"Hmm? Oh, I've been allowed to take a nap."
"No. Not that. Can you even move a ship at night?"
"Ah, don't you worry. I can tell the direction by looking at the stars. If a monster shows up, I'll obviously have to wake everyone up, though."
"You say 'if a monster is seen'... but can you see them?"
Yes. It is already pitch black. There is no way there would be lights on the sea; the only things bringing light are the moon in the sky and the lantern in hand.
There are monsters in the sea as well. Therefore, one should be cautious during the night when one can hardly see anything, but...
"Ah, did I not mention it? One of my eyes is a fake."
Giovan-san said that and laughed.
"I can see very well in dark places."
"...A fake? A prosthetic eye?"
"Yep. A special-made one. It's designed so I can cheat a little."
Even looking closely at it, I cannot tell it is a prosthetic eye. Though it is dark and I cannot see well to begin with.
"That's why I have better night vision than a werewolf, and I can see the presence of living things to some extent. Since I'm not a combatant, I've gotta have at least enough ability to run away, right?"
To have night vision and see the presence of life... that means... could it be.
"Could it be that it is the 'Heart of the Night Queen'?"
"That's the one."
Oh my... he has quite the thing shoved into his eye socket!
The 'Heart of the Night Queen' is a blue-gray gemstone that can be harvested from the location of the heart of a monster called the Night Queen.
The Night Queen is, should I say, a subspecies of Lich. It has stronger magic power than a normal Lich, yet it is a troublesome monster with no physical substance, like a Ghost. Since she is the queen of the land of the dead, she is very sensitive to the presence of life, and she is a nasty enemy that will attack before you even notice her.
It is a considerably rare monster, and its 'Heart' is, as expected, also considerably rare. The 'Heart of the Night Queen' is a cursed object that has the magic power, night vision, and life-detection abilities of the Night Queen condensed into it.
...Well, those effects are almost like a curse.
After all, being able to see well in dark places means you also see things you do not want to see. If you can sense the presence of life, it might be quite hard to settle down.
Usually, a wealthy army might have one, and that is about it. It is so a scout can grip the 'Heart of the Night Queen' and use its power for nighttime reconnaissance or sentry duty.
...Yes. 'Grip it.' One does not normally 'put it in as a replacement for an eyeball.'
That is how cursed objects derived from monsters are. It is often said that one should not remain in contact with them for long. Monsters can sometimes alter a human's magic power.
Well, if I say that, I am the one who has continued to take monster-derived things into my blood, so I cannot really talk about others. Ohohoho.
However... Giovan-san keeps that in his eye socket at all times. Yes. Is this fellow not actually quite insane...?
"...Um, young lady. You probably can't see well, but I can see you very clearly, okay? Could you not stare so much? It's embarrassing."
"Oh, do forgive me."
While I was thinking about various things, I unintentionally kept staring intently.
But looking closely, I could indeed tell it was a prosthetic eye. Only in the left eye, I could not see the bottom. There was a slight sense of wrongness. A shivering feeling... I suppose it feels 'not human' after all.
"Well, that's how it is. I'm the best fit for night watch. Got it?"
"I understand. In that case, I shall leave it to you."
Well, setting aside the pros and cons of the prosthetic eye, for now, it seems I can leave the night watch to him. I understand.
...By the way, I also realized that even if I used illusion magic on Giovan-san, it probably would not work. It seems it would be difficult to deceive his eyes. Not that I have any plans to do so at the moment.
"Alright. Then, leave the rest to me and you go have dinner, young lady. ...Oh, and young lady. Before you sleep, could you check on Doran? Since the moon is beautiful tonight, he might have his tail out."
"If it is out, should I just pet it?!"
"Please don't. That guy has a sense of touch in his tail too. ...I mean, if the tail seems to be bothering him, lend him a Sun Stone or something."
Ah, since werewolves change their bodies with the moon, it means he can return to normal by bathing in sunlight, the opposite? I see, I understand. I have a fragment of a Sun Stone for when it is cold, so I shall lend him that.
When I returned to the cabin after parting with Giovan-san, the other three were having dinner. That said, since no one has the skill to cook on a ship, they were just eating the food we prepared. Even so, eating really does settle one down.
After the meal, while drinking from a bottle I opened, I glanced behind Doran-san and...
"Oh. It is just as I heard!"
"What is it?"
It was there! The tail is out!
"...Ah, the tail."
"Yes! Giovan-san said it might be out! Hey, may I touch it?"
"...Just a little."
Permission granted! I shall touch it! Haa—! It is so fluffy! I want to tear this off and make it into a muffler! (T/N: 'Muffler' is a common Japanese term for a scarf.)
"Giovan-san said that if the tail seemed to be bothering you, I should lend you a Sun Stone. How about it? Will you use it?"
"No, it's not that bad this time. I'm fine."
Oh, is that so? Well, that is fine then.
...By the way.
"You and Giovan-san are good friends, are you not?"
"Good friends? ...Well, we've known each other the longest."
It seems he wants to deny being 'good friends'... Well, certainly, if these two were smiling and being all buddy-buddy, that would be scary in its own way.
"...When I drifted to 'this side,' he happened to have drifted to 'this side' as well. It's just that kind of connection, but... well, it's an inseparable bond."
Hmm? So it means they started hanging out because the timing of when they started doing bad things was roughly the same.
Doran-san likely came to the underworld after being hunted as a werewolf... but I wonder what happened to Giovan-san. Did he just turn delinquent?
Well, whatever. I shall ask him when I am bored.
Right now, I should sleep quickly! And prepare my vitality for tomorrow... Tomorrow is finally the release of the gathered monsters! Ah, I am so looking forward to it that I am worried I might not be able to sleep tonight!
I was able to sleep. It seems I can do it if I try.
Now, when I woke up feeling refreshed, it was already morning. The steering had been handed over to Keeb-san.
"Greetings. It is a pleasant morning, is it not?"
A morning on the sea is also very refreshing. I can start the day in a good mood.
"Morning. It's coming into view. Look."
And... when I looked in the direction Keeb-san was pointing, I could indeed see the shadow of land!
"Ah, that is the country that shall perish!"
"You don't have to destroy it, you know. It's better to go easy on them so we can squeeze more out of them."
"Well, I know that, but if they get appropriately weakened, I am sure the royal family of Orchesta will go and pick a fight..."
In fact, it is strange that the royal family is not moving before us this time. Surely, if there were an easy target nearby that was weakened just right, they would aim for it...
...Well, that is none of our business!
Morning came, afternoon came, and as the hint of evening began to creep in.
"We have finally arrived! The Kingdom of Windry!"
We have finally reached our destination!
Since we cannot enter the port, we look for a deserted inlet and stop the ship there.
Just in case, leaving Giovan-san and Keeb-san to watch the ship, once I, Doran-san, and Chesta-san land, we move from there.
"First, we should crush one town."
"Right. Unless there's a certain amount of actual damage, it won't lead to large-scale countermeasures."
"Which one should we crush? Just somewhere we find?"
"Let me see. Unexpectedly, Windry's royal capital is close. Therefore, somewhere in the outskirts, yet a position where the capital won't be targeted immediately...?"
While we were consulting the map, saying this and that... we decided!
"It is a bother, so I shall decide with darts!"
And so, we arrived at the town that was hit by the knife I threw at the map. It took two hours of riding the horses we brought in the Spatial Bags. Before our eyes, the figure of a bustling town was visible.
There, we enjoyed a bit of sightseeing (well, it was not a town with much to see anyway), scattered herbs with a scent that monsters like (it feels odorless to humans) all over the town, moving as we scattered them... and then.
"Now, here we go."
We stood on a tree on a small hill near the town, held the Spatial Bags... turned them upside down, and shook them!
"It was the right choice to leave Keeb behind."
"Oh, you thought so too? I thought so as well. Looking at this sight before my eyes now, it has turned into a conviction."
It was the right choice not to bring Keeb-san.
Because right now, under the tree we climbed... insect monsters are swarming and wriggling everywhere...
...As expected, it is a little bit disgusting.
"Now then, off you go—"
Eventually, the massive swarm of insect monsters began to move, lured by the illusion magic and the scent of the herbs. Once the movement began, we just watched the monsters move toward the town.
"...Now then, let us release the other monsters as well and head back."
"Right."
"Can I release the ones that aren't insects? Honestly, I'm already sick of seeing nothing but bugs..."
"What are you saying? Insects are the top priority! At the very least, we must release a certain amount from the bag, or they will overflow inside and cause a disaster!"
"Ugh... I'd hate that too..."
After that, we continued to dump the contents of the bags appropriately, and once we finished dumping the required amount, we decided to return to the ship.
By then, flames were already rising from the town we had been sightseeing in earlier. It seems to be going well, which is better than anything!