Chapter 72: Chapter 72

The bone mound deep inside the cave was so massive that the flickering light from a distance could not possibly illuminate it entirely.

The lead soldiers, approaching with lamp magic devices in hand, felt a strangely sour odor wafting from deeper within.

It smelled like the foul stench of undigested vomit flowing from an animal or human stomach, yet it was a more complex and subtle scent.

Before they could even ponder what it was, the ground suddenly reared up before their eyes and slammed into their faces.

Having lost their balance and fallen, their eyes were blurry and out of focus.

“T-This is…!?”

“It’s poison! Everyone, stay back!”

Seeing that from behind, Cheryn shouted in a sharp voice.

Shan, who was likewise at the front, immediately grabbed the fallen soldiers and hurled them to the rear.

“Phew…”

Although Shan was also at the front and inhaled the poison, unlike the others, he merely felt light dizziness and did not collapse.

The soldiers, supported by their comrades as they retreated to a safe area, were immediately treated by the priests and mages who rushed over.

As for Shan, whose symptoms were relatively mild, Cheryn examined him herself.

Pressing down on Shan’s shoulders to meet his gaze, she asked.

“Look straight at me. Does anything look blurry or shaky to you?”

“I’m fine.”

“Good, your focus is fine… How do you feel directly?”

“A bit dizzy.”

“That should be fine then. It seems building up resistance to poison beforehand was helpful.”

Ever since coming to the Palles territory, Shan had steadily built up resistance to poison by regularly taking the medicine Cheryn gave him, just as they had discussed before.

Had it not been for that help, even if he had not collapsed helplessly like the others, he would not have endured it as easily as he did now.

After the commotion settled down to some extent, Cheryn approached the bone mound while receiving a blessing of poison resistance from a priest.

Catching the scent, she frowned and spoke.

“As I thought, this is hydra poison.”

“Do you mean a hydra?”

“Yes. It is my first time smelling it directly as well, but the scent is just like what was described in ancient texts. A sour, sweet, and pungent fragrance mixed together…”

It was a name Shan had also heard a few times before.

A giant lizard-shaped monster with nine heads that mainly appeared in swamps.

Not only did it possess regenerative abilities comparable to a troll, but the poison flowing from its saliva and blood was said to be so potent it could even melt steel armor.

But looking at it now, merely smelling the scent seemed to have the effect of clouding one’s consciousness or impairing one’s sense of balance.

Approaching a bit closer, Cheryn stumbled and quickly stepped back.

Shan supported her and pulled her back.

“Mmm, it seems we will need a proper antidote if we want to examine it closer.”

“I happen to have an antidote effective even against hydra poison.”

The one who said that from behind was an alchemy specialist among the investigation team’s mages.

He took out a medicine vial from inside his robes.

“Of course, since it wasn’t professionally formulated specifically to withstand hydra poison, its efficacy is a bit lower, but as long as it doesn’t make direct contact, it should grant enough resistance to endure it.”

A moment later, several priests bestowed blessings upon Cheryn, Shan (who had to guard her) and the mages.

After that, once they even took the antidote, they were finally able to approach the bone mound where the hydra’s poison remained.

“Heah…”

“My word.”

Those who approached the bone mound expressed their astonishment in different ways.

Judging by their shapes, the owners of the bones were mostly aquatic monsters inhabiting swamps or riverbanks.

The very creatures that had begun crawling into Palles not long ago.

While the outer layer of the mound consisted of intact bones, the half-decayed bone fragments inside had turned translucent purple, shining brilliantly like crystals.

Thanks to that, it almost looked as if enormous clusters of amethysts were gathered together.

“The hydra’s poison melted the bones and clumped together with them. If we neutralize and refine the poison, it can even be used as fertilizer or fuel suitable for growing powerful magic plants. At this rate, it would be more than enough to use across all of Palles for a hundred years…”

The mage who had taken out the hydra antidote muttered softly.

As they rummaged around investigating, traces presumed to belong to humans occasionally came up.

Cheryn gently picked up a small hand bone, set it down, and asked the old fisherman standing behind them.

“Have you ever heard stories of people going missing around here?”

“I am not from around these parts myself, but from what I have heard, the area bordering the mountain range has been considered ominous since ancient times, so people did not live here.”

“Indeed, an ominous place, is it… Perhaps the people of old knew to some extent that something was around here.”

Usually, customs of that sort began for a reason, though the reason was often forgotten while the tradition persisted.

The people around here had likely come to avoid entering, deeming it an ominous place simply because those who rummaged around this area kept disappearing.

“Then where on earth did the creature that left these traces disappear to?”

Everyone nodded at the words of a certain mage.

Circumstantially, this mess had occurred because the hydra, which used to devour the monsters coming upstream, had disappeared.

If it had vanished, there was a high possibility it had headed toward the swamps beyond.

At this, Cheryn and the other mages put forward various hypotheses.

“First of all, it is certain it didn’t move to avoid pollutants. Hydras originally reside mainly in filthy swamps, and they also have high resistance to all kinds of toxic substances.”

“That is correct. There are even stories that they prefer rotten, festering swamps. The filth coming down from upstream was likely its favorite prey.”

“Scaly monsters usually grow larger and stronger as they age, so wouldn’t it need a lot of food to maintain a body of that size…?”

As the mages began their typical routine of muttering within their own world, the others moderately guarded the surroundings and waited for their discussion to end.

They were engrossed in their investigation through various methods, occasionally bringing over bone fragments that hadn’t been eaten too long ago and placing them into strange magical instruments.

Fortunately, a conclusion was reached quickly.

“Combining the investigated data and hypotheses for now, it seems the creature has lived in this cave since very long ago.”

Cheryn said, pointing to the bone mound piled up behind them.

“Hydras dislike sunlit places and favor humid ones, but they must breathe outside the water. There aren’t many hideouts as ideal as this. Furthermore, since monsters flocked here smelling human scents from afar, it could procure food just by crouching quietly in place.”

Devouring monsters crossing over mainly from the east, and sometimes devouring humans crossing over from the west, the creature spent at least several centuries or more.

Rummaging through all the bone dust would make it clear, but it was a creature that had lived here at least since the era of the empire, or perhaps even before the Arman Empire was founded.

For even in those times, there must have been people living in Palles.

The reason a creature that had lived for so long suddenly vacated its spot was that the Palles territory had recently begun pouring out massive amounts of pollutants in earnest, along with various alchemy wastes generated during the production of magic devices.

“It seems the waste produced while manufacturing magic devices suited its palate perfectly.”

“If it suited its palate, shouldn’t it stay here and keep eating instead of leaving?”

“Since it was poured out in such massive quantities all at once, it seems quite a bit wasn’t eaten here in time and got washed past the mountains. It left because it wanted to search for those and eat them up as well.”

Realizing what those words implied, everyone shuddered.

“Then, don’t tell me…”

“If we continue to pour out alchemy waste, it will wander the swamps following those traces, but once it finds and devours them all, it will return. Perhaps it might even rush all the way west out of curiosity about where such delicious food is coming from.”

It was common sense that the longer scaly monsters like dragons or snakes lived, the larger and more powerful they became.

Similarly, high vampires were also stronger the longer they lived and the more human blood they sucked.

How large and how powerful would the hydra be, having lived here for an endlessly long period of time impossible to guess?

While everyone’s faces turned gloomy, Cheryn clapped her hands together to lighten the mood.

“Anyway, for now, we will return! We aren’t prepared to fight a hydra right away.”

*

Emerging from the cave, the exploration party camped in front of it for the night as it was late, then returned directly toward Palles Castle.

Of course, those who returned were non-combatants along with Shan and his squires guarding them, while all remaining combatants were left at the passage.

For as long as they blocked this place, they could defeat most monsters crossing over on foot.

Separate measures would be required to block those swimming over through the water, but that was not a problem that could be solved immediately.

“If you feel the hydra has returned, retreat unconditionally and report it. Do not attempt to fight it needlessly.”

“Understood!”

Although it went without saying, only when the commander stated it in advance like this could they retreat without hesitation.

The path that had taken only a day to speed down by boat took nearly three days to travel back.

Even with sails catching the wind and oars rowing, going up the river was tough work, so they had to walk along the riverbank.

When they reported the story after returning, Palles Castle was thrown into a complete uproar.

“A-A hydra!?”

“To think such a monster was lurking on one side of the territory since ancient times…”

“The time has finally come to put the skills we’ve honed to use.”

“Why didn’t you use them during the last war then? You barely cut down two archers.”

“Shut up.”

The bureaucrat class was terrified by the appearance of a centuries-old hydra, but the knights’ eyes sparkled with anticipation.

Was it not their way to rise in the world by cutting down enemies on the battlefield and hunting powerful monsters?

A hydra was an achievement so grand it was more than worthy to be etched into their family histories, or even added to their coats of arms.

Especially for those from Palles, who lagged behind other regions in fame for monster hunting, their longing was bound to be intense.

Count of Palles, who had been sitting quietly listening to the story, raised his hand and asked.

“Princess, there is one thing I would like to ask.”

“Speak, Uncle.”

“Must we hunt that hydra? That is to say, if we tame it well so it remains in that place…”

“That is impossible, Kladek.”

The one who impudently interrupted by calling the count by his given name was Court Count Tenon, Orum.

He spoke with a pretentious face.

“From the era of the ancient Arman Empire until now, there has never been a case of successfully taming a monster. Even control using magic can only make them quiet for a moment or force a few actions. Naturally, such a method is out of the question for a giant monster like a hydra.”

Just because the hydra had stayed quiet for the past several centuries, or perhaps over a thousand years, there was no guarantee it would remain so in the future.

His opinion was that it was equivalent to sleeping with a beast at one’s pillow, never knowing when it might explode.

Cheryn and the other mages also agreed with this.

“If the hydra pops out while most of our military force has left Palles for future war, a literal disaster will strike. We must find and eliminate it, then seal off that cave.”

Sealing off the cave was not even that difficult.

They only needed to divert the river’s flow through construction and block off the area around the cave with soil and rocks.

Of course, it would be a major construction project requiring at least several hundred workers mobilized for a few months, but compared to the cost of maintaining this paradise, it was absurdly cheap.

The problem was that massive damage would occur if the hydra returned during the construction.

Therefore, for safe work, they had to march beyond the mountain range directly into the swamps to hunt the hydra wandering out there.

“I shall entrust the selection of personnel for this hunt to the Lord Protector. As well as the right to mobilize all materials required for the hunt.”

At the statement granting authority virtually equivalent to a lord, everyone groaned yet nodded their heads.

For at least no one doubted that Shan was the greatest monster hunter in this territory.

After the meeting ended, Shan immediately entered discussions with Roden.

“What should we do?”

“First of all, we don’t need a large-scale force.”

As verified earlier, it was difficult to even approach the creature without the priests’ blessings and antidotes.

It meant that even if hundreds of soldiers flocked over, the vast majority would inevitably collapse just from smelling the odor.

In truth, it wasn’t like an ogre herd lord leading hundreds of monsters around, so a force of that size wasn’t necessary either.

Strictly speaking, it was enough to defeat miscellaneous creatures lurking around to prevent the knights from draining their stamina.

“The total number of knighted knights in Palles is twenty-six. About ten of them should remain in the territory just in case. Counting sixteen knights, if each brings two or three squires along, that comes out to about fifty people. Add to this plenty of priests, say fifteen, to bless the knights, and about thirty elite soldiers to guard them…”

Writing things down smoothly as they came to mind, Roden then decided which knights to select while consulting with Shan.

It was a difficult task requiring consideration of individual skill, political standing within Palles, relationships with other knights, and participation in the previous expedition.

“Huh? Was Sir Kibain not included in the last expedition?”

“Right. If we leave him out again this time, complaints will surely arise.”

“Mmm, I had completely forgotten.”

“Isn’t that why I’m here?”

Chuckling as he wrote down the name, Roden said casually.

“Still, fortunately, I can fight alongside you this time.”

In the last war he had to take on only a commander’s role, but this time was different.

Because sharp spears and swords did not sprout from the hydra’s body.

Inwardly, Shan worried about Roden.

“Mmm, still, a hydra that has lived for several centuries seems a bit dangerous…”

Generally, a hydra was considered a monster not much different from a cockatrice, but this one was presumed to have accumulated tremendous strength over its long life.

Indeed, had the mages themselves not said that its poison was far more powerful than that of an ordinary hydra?

To Shan’s concern, Roden grinned and said:

“Didn’t you tell me before that since I was training hard, things would turn out well? As a knight, I must prove my capability as a fighter. What am I supposed to do if I refuse to fight a dangerous opponent out of fear?”

Shan could not refute his words that if he fled without fighting even an opponent he could fight, he would truly have to stay in the back forever.

In the past, he could have said without hesitation, ‘I’m worried you’ll die because you lack skill,’ but now he had come to feel that such words would insult his friend.

In a sense, it could be seen as having grown one step further as a human.

“Alright, let’s decide on this for now. We’ll request the necessary equipment from the Magic Society.”

After debating for quite a while longer like that, the selection of personnel was finally complete.

Roden put down the documents with a thud.

*

Thanks to Shan personally selecting the knights to join the hydra hunt (though in truth it was closer to Roden making the decision) Cheryn was able to greatly relieve her political burden.

For originally, whenever such things occurred, dealing with knights grumbling, ‘Why must I stay behind to guard the territory?’ was a troublesome chore for nobles and even kings.

While those selected gathered, the Magic Society prepared the antidotes for the hydra subjugation force’s knights while earnestly mass-producing combat magic devices for the soldiers to use.

First, magic devices suitable for fifty soldiers were distributed to the squires and soldiers.

“This is a magic device?”

“Woah…”

The soldiers marveled at the combat magic devices they were touching for the first time in their lives.

It was natural, given that these were items renowned knights, let alone lords, could hardly dare touch under normal circumstances.

Of course, compared to real, genuine magic devices, they were far lacking, but what did they know?

Roden softly warned those who kept letting out gasps of admiration.

“As I warned before, intentionally distributing equipment outside will unconditionally result in execution, and even your families can be punished! Remember that even if equipment is broken or in a situation hard to recover, you must retrieve at least the embedded mana stone!”

“Understood!”

The soldiers swallowed hard with tense faces.

Heavy punishment if lost; not only losing one’s life if caught smuggling, but even families would be punished.

Because of this condition, the soldiers selected to handle magic devices for the first time were all men with families.

After all, those with nothing to lose were that much more likely not to follow control.

After producing the first mass-produced batch like that, they moved on to modifying the weapons and armor of the knights joining the subjugation force into magic devices.

Unlike the soldiers’ magic devices, each consuming a small fraction of a mana stone, their items consumed nearly half a mana stone each.

“Princess, at this rate, even the newly secured mana stones will soon run out.”

“We’ll just have to resolve that by obtaining the hydra’s mana stone. Since it’s a creature whose strength became bloated over long years compared to its rank as a monster, it will be perfect to divide and use into hundreds of pieces.”

Cheryn brushed off Orum’s complaint, as he wanted to use the remaining mana stones for his own experiments.

With nothing left to say, the old man nodded with a sullen expression.

Before long, enhancement and regeneration reduction magic were applied to the knights’ weapons one after another, and corrosion resistance magic was placed on their armor.

In particular, the former was easy since they had already accumulated a degree of know-how back when crafting Shan’s ‘Heart Breaker’.

“Ohhh…”

“Finally, our family has a magic device worth passing down!”

The knights, rejoicing as they watched permanent magic being placed on their weapons and armor, were not much different from the soldiers.

Roden also obtained a fine weapon to use in this battle.

Namely, a flail made by processing the ogre bone brought back previously, converted into a magic device.

Not to mention enhancement magic, magic to strengthen impact power was applied using an entire troll mana stone.

“Woah.”

Thump! Striking the ground with the flail, Roden let out an exclamation as he looked at the deeply gouged ground.

Was it roughly one-fifth of the mark created when the ogre herd lord slammed the ground with all its strength in the past?

Stated like this, it felt like pitiful power, but even this was not power that could dare come from a human hand.

If Roden charged on horseback and swung the flail with full force combined with Fighting Spirit, he might be able to destroy an unspelled castle gate in a single blow.

For he was someone with exceptional raw strength to begin with.

“With this, I could really land a blow even on a dragon.”

At Shan’s words, Roden forcibly suppressed the corners of his mouth to refrain from showing his excitement.

Shortly after, pointing his finger at the armor Shan was wearing, he said:

“Still, it can’t match yours. How does it feel?”

Shan shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, it’s fantastic.”

The full-body armor he wore was repaired from the armor taken from Kamad in the past, which had been tattered in the previous battle.

As the skill of Palles’s blacksmiths was somewhat lacking, defects could be seen here and there in the armor itself.

If there was a redeeming aspect, as his body gradually matched Kamad’s size, the feeling of forcibly wearing someone else’s armor had lessened.

But more important than that were the five gems embedded where the heart should be.

The divided and refined ogre mana stones channeled immense power throughout the entire armor.