Chapter 762
Simon’s training results, who had unintentionally spent the entire vacation building houses, revealed themselves here.
“……”
Closing his eyes and raising his concentration, Simon moved his fingertips like a conductor. In tune with his direction, the skeletons repeatedly appeared and disappeared, arranging each task efficiently.
They were made to cut trees and then bundle them together sturdily with ropes.
When strength was needed, multiple arms were attached to a skeleton’s arm, and Bone Armor wandered about supplying tools, everything proceeded smoothly.
How many times had he built houses back in Leshill already? Building a temporary dwelling was now child’s play.
“You, you already built this much?”
Maelyn reacted in surprise. While she had briefly gone to wash ingredients at the river and returned, a floor woven with grass had already been spread out, uniform log pillars laid, forming the shape of a decent-looking house.
“Simon! Let’s attach planks on the side to block wind and rain!”
“Sounds good.”
Dick’s assistance was also crucial. Quickly grasping what Simon intended to build, he fetched the necessary materials without delay.
They plastered clay onto the walls woven from wood, and on the ceiling fixed planks without gaps so that rainwater would slide down the roof’s sides.
“One, two!”
“Heave-ho!”
Soon, raising the assembled roof completed the small house in the grassland.
Maelyn and Kamibarez cheered as they went inside.
Meanwhile, Simon wove wood together to create a new ceiling, and, noticing his intent, Dick dug a pit outside the house to build a campfire, laying firewood.
By connecting the ceiling to the newly built house and setting up coverings, they created a sort of makeshift space.
“Almost finished.”
Exhaling, Simon spoke.
Meanwhile, Dick, who had lit the fire and reinforced the pillars to keep them steady, wiped the sweat streaming down his face.
“It’s tough, but let’s sleep here tonight and climb up tomorrow. Girls, I ask for your understanding.”
“Sorry to make you sleep in a place like this.”
Simon also scratched the back of his head. Inside, where Maelyn sat with her legs pulled in, she smiled brightly.
“No, it’s fine~ sometimes this kind of thing isn’t so bad?”
Kamibarez clapped her hands.
“Simon! Dick! Both of you did great!”
By then, the girls had already finished preparing the food. Though the rain was blocked, the damp air made it hard to keep the campfire burning, so Maelyn spread out a magic circle and, using pure magic instead of Darkness Flames, lit and maintained the fire.
Using fire fueled by mana posed no issue for cooking.
They stuck skewers packed with lamb and vegetables by the campfire, and soon juices dripped down.
Nearby, a makeshift pot was placed, filled with delicious-looking tomato soup.
Though it drizzled outside, the inside was warm with heat.
“This is the best day of vacation.”
Maelyn pulled out a well-cooked skewer and spoke. Simon, laughing with her, sat down with a grunt.
“Today was chaotic from dawn.”
“Ah, seriously. Starting from when the Magical Combat kids picked a fight, it was a mess.”
Dick also added, patting his shoulder. Kamibarez flapped her wings.
“Tomorrow, when we go to Professor Hongpeng’s house, more new things will be waiting, right?”
“Yeah. Hard to believe today is only day one.”
“Come on, come on, even if there’s no alcohol, we should toast! To the rest of vacation, and burning our youth!”
Everyone raised their skewers high and clinked them together.
“Cheers!”
* * *
—You’d take me as your direct disciple? Th-thank you! It’s an honor!
—Professor, I did it! I succeeded in the Dark Robe! Look!
To be honest,
—If I defeat Simon Follentia, will you acknowledge me then?
He thought it was respect and reverence for his teacher, but it was more than that.
“Hoo.”
Kinter shook his head as if to shake away idle thoughts, gripping the pillar tightly.
Why was he so restless, so impatient?
It wasn’t just excitement over finding their boat.
But the past couldn’t be changed. Now was the time to focus on the present.
The situation was this: Kinter’s Magical Combat group had finally swum across the sea and crawled up to the lower plains riverbank.
By the time they came up, night had fallen, and the group, exhausted and dehydrated, collapsed onto the grass, gasping for breath.
For a while, they did nothing but lie there, but soon rain began to fall on their side as well. The consensus formed: they needed to build a shelter.
Thus, the current situation.
“On three, lift it!”
“One, two, three!”
As two Magical Combat students pulled the rope, a pillar of logs and vines rose up.
“Got it!”
But before their cheers even finished, the opposite side of the roof collapsed with a crash.
“Uwaaaagh!”
The students’ faces twisted with fatigue and frustration.
“Why the hell is it collapsing again!”
“You should’ve driven it into solid ground! Which idiot planted the pillar in soft soil!”
The rain showed no sign of letting up, only complaints and blame piling higher.
Kinter, struggling, lifted the pillar again.
“There are four men here, and not one can build a proper house. Ha.”
His body began shivering.
If they didn’t soon get fire and shelter from the rain, hypothermia could set in, putting them in real danger.
“Kinter!”
Just then, one of the students who had gone scouting returned.
“A cave! I found a cave!”
“…A cave?”
“Ha ha! See, I told you we didn’t need to build a house!”
The four lit up and ran. Their bodies were heavy, their clothes and hair drenched, but in that moment, adrenaline surged.
“Here!”
The scout brushed aside the bushes, pointing. At the base of a cliff, a large cave appeared.
“Hey, you.”
Kinter rubbed his forehead.
“…Did you check if it’s empty?”
“Weren’t we going to check together?”
“F***…”
There was no need to check.
From the darkness, two gleaming eyes appeared.
—Grrrrrrr!
Boom! Boom!
With earth-shaking steps, a huge monster bear with horrible scars burst from the cave. The students’ faces went pale.
“It’s a level 6 danger, a Giant Bear!”
“There’s more than one! Run!”
Normally, they might have at least considered fighting, but in their utterly exhausted state, facing monsters was suicide.
They ran, chased by the monster bears, for a long while.
“Ughhh.”
“Hahh! Huff!”
Only after forcing their way across a river did the bears glare with fierce eyes and finally turn back. The students collapsed on the ground, gasping.
“Wh-what kind of riches am I suffering like this for?”
“I miss my mom.”
Morale was at rock bottom.
Condition worsening, rain unending.
Symptoms of hypothermia were setting in, with no proper food or water.
At this rate, it was truly dangerous. If they were ordinary people, they’d have died long ago.
“Kinter! Look there!”
The same student who had found the cave pointed again. Kinter, sprawled on the ground, frowned.
“You, shut your damn mouth for the rest of this trip, you bastard.”
“No, no! Look! There’s a light!”
The others shot upright.
“A light?”
“Here?”
They hurried to check, but Kinter shook his head.
“Idiots. Starting to hallucinate already?”
“No, it’s real! A real light!”
At that, Kinter jumped up too.
And indeed, it was true.
Faintly, through the mist, they could see a light.
“A village!”
“W-we’re saved! Must be one of the minority tribes living on the lower plains!”
Kinter’s group squeezed out their last strength and staggered toward the light. Their faces brightened as they chattered.
“But will they know the continental language?”
“Someone there must.”
“If not, just mention the professor’s name, Hongpeng Tun Sokum Marlat! They’ll bow down and treat us well.”
“No, maybe that village belongs to Professor Hongpeng’s clan?”
“Wow, if that’s true, amazing! We’ll win the bet and smack Simon Follentia down!”
Cheerful and hopeful, they arrived before the village.
“……”
“……”
Kinter’s group fell silent as if struck mute.
On the rainy night, the mist-covered village entrance looked extremely eerie. Wooden fences were draped with cobwebs, animal skulls hung here and there. Even in the rain, a strange stench lingered.
An indescribable sense of wrongness and dread. Every cell in their bodies recoiled. Beyond reason or experience, their instincts screamed not to enter.
“M-maybe we should just go back and build a shelter?”
As soon as someone said that, Kinter shoved his shoulder forward and walked ahead.
“Anyone who wants to run, leave. I’m going in.”
“K-Kinter!”
“Wait!”
The group had no choice but to follow him inside.
“……”
It didn’t seem like an ordinary village.
Strange, unidentifiable structures stood here and there.
Though overgrown with vines and bushes as if unused for a long time, an eerie atmosphere flowed around them. One of the buildings was stacked neatly with bricks, as if piling up steps into a tower, but what it was for could not be guessed.
“……I didn’t want to kill the mood, so I didn’t say this earlier.”
One of the party spoke quietly.
“No one lives in the lower plains. Professor’s family and the minority tribes all live in the upper plains.”
At those words, the other two showed terrified expressions.
“Hey you bastard! That’s something you should’ve said earlier…!”
“Shut it.”
Kinter cut him off with a scowl.
“Then what are these structures, did aliens come down and build them?”
“No, it’s just… it was in the guidebook. An ancient civilization once thrived in the lower plains. We didn’t come to a village, but…”
“Shut your mouth and walk.”
Kinter jerked his chin.
“Don’t think the scraps of knowledge from a book are the whole world. I’m going to see with my own eyes what that light is.”
Certainly.
The light deep in the village still shone brightly.
And now that they had come this far, they couldn’t turn back. Even if no people lived here, at least they had to find a place to shelter from the rain. With grim faces, they leaned on each other and walked forward.
Step, step.
Only the sound of footsteps echoed. The deeper they went in, the less it looked like a simple village and the more magnificent it became. No longer were they walking on mud, but on stone floors.
An ancient city so old, its age could not be measured. Unfathomable stone structures towered on every side.
At the same time, the light they were aiming for grew closer.
“Excuse me!”
Kinter shouted.
“We came from Keyzen! We’re disciples of Hongpeng Tun Sokum Marlat!”
But no reply came.
The source of the light was positioned at the center of a temple-like building. Just as Kinter was about to enter inside—
Whoosh—
Like a candle snuffed out, the light vanished.
Only darkness remained in the city.
The group let out startled screams and spun around frantically.
“C-come out!”
“Let’s talk this out!”
While everyone hurriedly scanned their surroundings—
“Heuuuuuuugh!”
A student beside them let out a scream as if he’d lost his breath. All eyes turned to him, and he pointed upward.
“T-there!”
At the top of a tall tower structure.
Four people stood, faces blank.
Wearing clothes woven of leaves and vines, eyes rolled back to expose the whites, heads bent at unnatural angles.
“Wh-what the hell is that!”
“Are those… really living people?”
Kinter’s group staggered back in terror. Kinter too was shocked, but he slowly began gathering Darkness into his hand.
Just then.
Tap.
Something touched his back. Jolted, Kinter spun around.
Every hair on his body stood on end.
A man, who looked to be one of the inhabitants of this place, had appeared behind him without a sound. From every direction, startled cries burst out: “H-heek!”, “Ugh!”
‘Bunch of cowards.’
Forcing his pounding heart to calm, Kinter stepped forward.
“Good to meet you. We’re disciples of Professor Hongpeng. Hongpeng Tun Sokum Marlat. You know the name, right?”
Here, where the continental language might not work, the only thing they could desperately rely on was Hongpeng’s name.
But when the man heard it, his expression shifted.
It was hard to tell in the dark, but he seemed to be smiling.
“See, I told you, somehow we’d get through to them.”
Kinter shrugged at his companions, then stretched out his hand for a handshake.
“Nice to meet you. We were shipwrecked here, could you let us stay just one night?”
“……”
The man stared fixedly at Kinter’s hand. Tilting his head side to side, he suddenly grabbed Kinter’s wrist.
Kinter almost yanked it back in shock, but forced himself to remain calm in front of his friends.
‘No need to panic. Maybe this is just their way of shaking hands.’
But then the man slowly began to run his hand from Kinter’s wrist up to his forearm.
His motions, his gaze, his touch.
No matter how one thought about it, it felt far removed from a friendly greeting.
Yes, it was more like…
As if appraising merchandise…
“!”
Then the man laughed.
Grinning wide, baring gums glowing crimson red. A chill shot down Kinter’s spine and his shoulders twitched.
“K-Kinter!”
One companion spoke, face twisted as if foaming at the mouth.
“Blood…!”
At some point—
A vivid handprint drawn in blood was revealed on his forearm.
“You son of a b***h!”
Kinter yanked his arm away, stumbling back. At that moment, the surroundings were instantly drenched in red.
“!!”
In the darkness, the scene around them became visible.
Blood flowed.
Human heads were displayed on the tall towers, blood cascading down stairways to the ground like a river.
Corpses filled every corner of the city.
“U-uwaaaaaaaaagh!”
The screams of Kinter’s group rang far and wide.
* * *
“Simon, Simon. Please wake up.”
At the gentle voice rousing him, Simon rubbed his sleepy eyes open.
Shaaahhh—
The sound of rain pouring refreshingly down filled the air. Around him it was still dark, and beside him Maelyn and Dick slept soundly. Dick’s loud snoring echoed, a sign of deep fatigue.
“Ah, Kami.”
“Sorry for waking you, you were sleeping well.”
Kamibarez, sitting quietly by his side, fluttered her wings. Realizing it was his turn to stand watch, Simon stretched wide.
“No need to apologize for that. Thanks for the effort, Kami.”
“Yes!”
“Nothing unusual, right?”
“Sometimes it sounded like branches shaking, but I think it was just monkeys passing by.”
“Got it.”
Simon sluggishly rose to his feet, still half-asleep.
Maybe because it was midnight, but once awake, he felt quite cold. Throwing on his outer coat, he walked over to the campfire.
Crackle, crackle—
Sitting before the fire, watching the flames for a while, Kamibarez softly followed and sat down beside him.
“Aren’t you tired? You should go in and sleep.”
Kamibarez smiled.
“Ahaha, I can’t sleep. I’ll stay with you just a bit and then rest.”
“Mm. Okay.”
It was likely a lie that she couldn’t sleep.
It would be stranger not to feel tired after such a day.
After about ten minutes of staring into the fire, Simon felt a weight rest gently against his shoulder.
Breathing softly—
Kamibarez, lavender hair bobbing, had fallen asleep. In the end, she hadn’t lasted even a few minutes.
As if he had expected it, Simon smiled and carefully stood.
He scooped her up in his arms, laid her down beside Maelyn, and pulled the blanket up to her neck.
Stretching again, he returned to the campfire.
“……”
As he tossed more wood into the flames, his still-drowsy face suddenly froze with a chill down his spine.
At first, he thought he was mistaken.
But after looking twice, he was certain.
‘Someone.’
Someone was watching them.
Quietly, Simon drew Darkness up to his hidden fingertips.
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