kscans

Chapter 295 - The Fortress and a Farewell

Ten days had passed since we met the man from the Crimson Brigade.

The same sort of mountain scenery continued, but I had grown quite used to navigating the pathless terrain.

The giant would appear and disappear repeatedly, but it spent more time vanished than visible. While it had no direct impact, like starting a battle, its appearance caused intense tremors that triggered landslides. At most, it just created impassable areas and earned our curses.

I had been prepared to encounter mercenaries from the Crimson Brigade, but that never happened either. In the end, we hadn't gained any information. According to Hyattsu and the others accompanying us, they felt the frequency of monster encounters had increased, but not enough to be truly noticeable.

Up until now, we had been weaving our way along the foothills, but now we were climbing a steep slope.

"Almost there," Hyattsu said between ragged breaths. Not just him; everyone was breathing heavily.

The steep climb ended, and the slope became gentler. The trees overhead thinned out, and sunlight pierced through, creating a pattern of dots. Hyattsu stopped and pointed through a gap in the trees.

As I tried to get a view from there, a hand pressed my head down.

"Don't stick your head out too much. Look at the summit of the mountain across from us." Following his instructions, I kept my body hidden and looked. It was still several kilometers away. It looked small, like a diorama with a matchbox-sized object.

The summit of the green-covered mountain was a flat pedestal, on which stood a collection of gray stone buildings. It was surrounded by a wall, but I could see the structures beyond. Its solitary presence in the isolated mountain range made it look like a secluded monastery. I couldn't tell if there were people there. The walls seemed to be maintained, but the buildings were weathered, and signs of collapse were noticeable. I couldn't tell if it was due to age, the giant's destruction, or the overflowing monsters the Crimson Brigade man had mentioned.

"Is that the fortress…?" Mizuki asked from beside me, squinting as she peered out.

"Can you make out the details?"

"I think I can see better than you, Mash." She didn't sound confident, but her words still had a subtle sting.

"When you get older, you can't see things up close, but you can see things far away, you know."

"Are you farsighted, Mash?"

"I'm not that old yet! I can see just fine, and my memory is solid. If I had something to write with, I'm confident I could draw your private parts exactly as they are!"

"Hmph… Don't say such creepy things. I feel like my eyesight has gotten better since I came to this world." I could see her point. My vision did seem to have improved since coming here. I didn't know if it was because I strained my eyes less or if Laciel had done something.

"So, what do we do from here…" Mizuki turned her gaze to me, so I turned mine to Hyattsu.

"This is as far as we go. We're heading back."

"What?"

"We only came this far to guide you." He clapped Famu on the back forcefully. "We're entrusting the hopes of us dog-eared folk to Famu." Hyattsu and Hattsu laughed boisterously, but they kept their voices down, wary of making too much noise.

"Wait, wait, we can't just be abandoned here."

Hattsu's arm came around my shoulder.

"Listen, there's a river flowing between this mountain and the fortress. A road connecting Miglutt and the old imperial capital used to run along that river. It's been abandoned for a long time, but faint traces of it remain. Head west, and you'll reach Miglutt; head east, and you'll reach the Demon Kingdom."

"No way. I'm not falling for that. This mountain range is the continental divide, right? One of those routes is probably cut off upstream."

"Famu will be fine." I looked at Famu's expression. It was the face she made when she was clutching a map and uncertainly pointing the way. If she did that in these mountains, we would definitely get lost.

Ignoring my anxiety, Hattsu removed his arm. Then, he and Hyattsu stood side by side and shouldered their large backpacks. I wanted to keep them with us. But they might get hurt in a battle with the giant or the Crimson Brigade. They had their village lives.

They had brought us this far. I should thank them and say goodbye. But the words wouldn't come out.

Hyattsu and Hattsu's gazes fell on Famu.

"We can't say it like our big brother would, but we think it was decided a long, long time ago that you would meet the otherworld hero. It was a bit of a rough way to do it, though…" Hyattsu grinned and held out his fist.

"We're entrusting our hopes to you. Fulfill your duty properly. But," he paused and sniffed, "if you're ever in trouble, come back to the village anytime. We think of you as family." Famu bumped her small fist against Hyattsu's, and then Hattsu's. She had her back to me, so I couldn't see her expression. Hyattsu and Hattsu raised their clubs and started back the way they came.

I watched their backs, and Famu's back as she waved to them, for a long time.

"Alright, what now?" I was still watching their retreating figures when Mizuki came to stand beside me and murmured. But my mind was a complete mess. I hadn't come up with any plan at all.

"Honestly. Are you deeply affectionate or just shallow…" Mizuki crossed her arms and sighed.

"What are you talking about?"

"You had the same look on your face at Aidan's workshop when we were leaving Richel."

"Did you overhear me talking to Aidan?" I instinctively looked at Mizuki's face, and she gave an awkward smile and nodded. I remembered trying to invite him on our journey when he was sharpening my katana, and he had gently refused. I thought I had said it after confirming she had moved away, but she had seen everything.

"You think I'm pathetic, don't you?" She shook her head at my words and took my hand.

"Actually, I kind of like that side of you, Mash…" Before Mizuki could finish, Myra squeezed between us and pulled us apart.

"Mash, if we head to that fortress now, it will be night by the time we get there, you know?"

"R-Right. But wouldn't it be difficult to make camp around here? I feel like we'd be spotted by smoke or something. I want to do some reconnaissance, too." But we probably couldn't go any further than this and make camp.

"The things we need to confirm are whether the giant has already attacked the fortress, whether the Crimson Brigade is hiding there, if so, how many are left, and whether it's infested with monsters, right?" I nodded at Myra's words. The fortress didn't look heavily damaged. So, either the giant hadn't reached it yet, or the Crimson Brigade had repelled it. Just then, Nephi raised her hand.

"Shall I go and check things out?" I stared at her face.

"I have acquaintances in the Crimson Brigade. And they don't know that I've joined Levante. Even if I'm found, I can make up any excuse." She had her usual faint smile on her face. That was when she was trying to hide her true feelings. Even I was starting to understand that. Marmi was staring at her intently.

"…After all that fighting in Miglutt, I couldn't understand how you could act as if nothing had happened. To begin with, is there a possibility that you joined Levante as a spy for the Crimson Brigade?"

"I told Mash I would offer him my body. I want you to believe me."

"…But Mash hasn't laid a hand on you." Nephi tilted her head.

"That's true. Well then, shall I have Mash hold me right now?" She turned her gaze to me. Myra stepped in between us. For some reason, she was the one blocking today. It seemed difficult to get past her two mountains.

"Wait. Just because you have that kind of relationship with Mash doesn't mean the suspicion on you will be cleared. And I don't want you getting close to Mash for that kind of proof." Myra looked at Famu as if for help. But Famu, who would usually be the first to get angry about this kind of thing, was quiet now. Come to think of it, she had been rather quiet since leaving Lily's village.

"I'm not sending Nephi on a reconnaissance mission. It would be a problem if she were attacked by the giant while we were separated, and it would be a problem if she were captured by the Crimson Brigade." We had already been traveling with her for several days. It was true that she had been with the Saviors longer than she had been with us. But if you were going to say that, none of the members here had known each other for more than four months. I didn't feel like doubting her now, and I didn't feel like sending her on a reconnaissance mission alone. When I looked at Mizuki, she was pouting slightly.

"I don't want to doubt Nephi either…"

For now, we decided to make camp in a hollow on the opposite side of the fortress.

We set up a tarp to keep off the night dew, but we couldn't light a fire. I had prepared warm food in my storage for times like this.

The night air was getting colder by the day. I wanted to warm up by a fire.

There was still time before the sun set, but we couldn't eat in the dark. I distributed the food, and we had an early dinner. I gave Famu her favorite, grilled corn, but her mind was elsewhere. She ate it, but she was dazed. It seemed to have gotten worse since she parted with Hyattsu and the others.

"Famu… if something's bothering you, please tell me." She looked up and glanced at me.

"I felt relieved when the Crimson Brigade mercenary we met on the way here died. I don't know what to do about the people of the Crimson Brigade anymore. I know it's something I have to decide. But what do you think, Master?" I was at a loss for words at her question. Her village was attacked, her parents were killed, and she was sold as a slave. And she wasn't the only one. Many others had been sold as slaves, like the dog-eared girl we met in Heilon. And Sameim, who we left behind in Miglutt, was the same. I couldn't forgive the Crimson Brigade. At first, I had wanted to kill them all.

That anger hadn't changed. I had the chance in Miglutt. What I could do was summon a goddess. That was to entrust the judgment we had to carry out to Laciel. Both Famu and I had hesitated. And we had stopped it.

Killing them wouldn't bring any comfort, and the wounds Famu and the others had suffered would never heal. But there were those who couldn't move forward without starting from there.

"I still have several options left."

"And every option includes both right and wrong." Famu's eyes widened at my words.

"You're right, Master. I can't overlook it. But no matter which result I choose, the aftertaste will be bad." Famu took a bite of her grilled corn. I took a bite, too. The kernels came off easily. The sweet and savory sauce and the sweetness of the kernels spread in my mouth.

"It would be best if we could capture them all and have them judged in Miglutt…" Marmi looked up at my words.

"…What are you hoping for with that, Mash?"

"Wouldn't giving them the legitimate judgment of this world be the fairest?"

"…Right now, there are a hundred… at most two hundred members of the Crimson Brigade left? Even if we capture them and take them back to Miglutt, it will be a choice between execution and slavery."

"No, it's a fair judgment. There must be those who were forced to do it. We could lighten their sentences, couldn't we?"

"…Let them off with a fine? How would people who have lost their backing pay that fine?" I was stuck at Marmi's words. Even if we let them go, they would just continue to be bandits. I had been thinking of imprisonment, but I realized I hadn't seen any large-scale facilities like prisons since coming to this world. There was no system or余裕 (leeway/capacity) in this society to imprison criminals and rehabilitate them in the first place.

Reed was a noble of the Western Kingdom. That's why he could be ransomed for money. And because I didn't want him executed. That's why he's still imprisoned. What about Yuki? Maryanne, who had become the de facto ruler of Miglutt, also knew that Mizuki and I didn't want him executed. That's why he's being kept alive. What about Mii and Kei from Men in Black? They had lured monsters into the city of Nieren. I had a dark feeling that they might have already been executed.

"Mo, I understand what you're trying to say. This is something we have to decide, isn't it?" Marmi nodded slightly at my words. She knew the power dynamics of the city far better than we did.

"…They might have already been killed by the giant or monsters, though." Just as she answered, the ground shook violently. It was a quake so strong we couldn't stand.

"Mash!" Mizuki pointed at the sky. What had been a blue sky just moments ago was now covered by a black shadow.

"The giant! When did it get here?!" The black shadow, large enough to cover the entire sky, raised its fist. And brought it down on the fortress.