Chapter 75 - Camping

“So I need to bring you at least a fragment of an elemental before we can proceed with the work I want?”

[“For now, yes. I’ll need to hear the details from you in person later, but it seems you want rather more than one or two features in this equipment...”]

“Understood. I’ll find a way to get it.”

After telling Ganesha that over the communicator, Aiden sighed and stood up. He was in the mountainous outskirts far beyond the capital, a remote area visited only by a few intrepid adventurers who enjoyed exploring every corner of the Empire. He had only recently explored the Ghost Forest with Noel, but...

‘Elementals...’

They were energy-based life-forms that lived in the wild. They did not wield supernatural powers through allegiance to any particular god; more accurately, they formed from accumulated “residue” of those powers. And befitting beings that wielded supernatural powers without belonging to any god, their cores, when properly finished, made the most versatile finishing material for weapons.

The trouble was that finding where they gathered was difficult, and even if you found them, many were stronger than expected and quite hard to subjugate. Normally, you would first have to hire an expert to search the entire area. Aiden, however, had the cheat code of “original-game knowledge,” an encyclopedia of exactly where such things were hidden away. In his situation, failing to produce results in a single night would actually be embarrassing.

‘... Found them.’

Aiden put away his binoculars. Far in the distance, he could see a colony of elementals resembling wild animals. That was as good as the first hurdle cleared.

As for the second hurdle—being harder to kill than expected...

‘... These really might be hard to kill.’

Spiritual energy rising visibly like that meant these spirits were even stronger than he had thought. The fight could turn out harder than he had planned for.

‘Still, I can’t back down.’

What was at stake here was nothing less than a tool that might prove essential to progressing through Act 3. That was why he had carved time out of a schedule in which every moment was worth more than gold, and dragged those two already-busy people along to subjugate the place. The problem was that doing so looked far harder than he had imagined.

‘Starting with the entrance—’

Perhaps because of that spirit’s influence, even the density of the spirits covering the area was extraordinary. His binoculars revealed a seething mass of every headache-inducing variety of monster, from ordinary spirits to special types that would give even a knight corps trouble. There was no way he could break through alone. Making good use of Noel and Katya might, at least, let him squeeze his way inside.

But that was not his only concern.

‘Two in total...’

Even among all the beings visible through his binoculars, two possessed exceptionally powerful energy. They were probably the elementals’ leaders. Bringing those back should easily secure the “elemental fragments” Ganesha had requested.

‘Normally, bringing back just one would be enough—’

But the equipment he intended to make had left even Ganesha looking troubled, saying he had never seen a “design” like this. No one knew exactly how much material it would take. Having carved out precious time to come all this way, going back with just one would be an awful waste. He might as well take both. But how was he supposed to subjugate and bring back two elementals that powerful...?

“...”

As Aiden sat quietly mulling it over, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind. There might be a way. A way to take them down easily, with barely any effort.

The drawback was...

‘Dame Noel’s going to think I’m insane again.’

... It certainly seemed there was no avoiding that this time, either.

▣

“...”

“...”

Noel and Katya sat across a crackling campfire, silently staring at the ground.

‘Everything really does happen in such a mad rush...’

Noel sighed inwardly at the thought.

They had only just returned from scraping up ectoplasm in the Reverse Realm. Yet that very morning, he had dragged them off here, saying there was more to collect. Apparently, there was something else he needed, so he had brought the whole lot of them along.

“Tents, sleeping bags, preserved combat rations. Wow, this takes me back...”

“... Have you had occasion to use these things, Aiden?”

“We put them to good use when they turned up among the discards in the slums. They were the best.”

“...”

She also felt that it was very hard to know how to respond when he abruptly brought up such a sobering past.

‘What on earth did this man used to do?’

He had a suspicious number of hidden talents. Weren’t these the kinds of things you learned in the military?

‘... Come to think of it.’

She remembered that she had first forced her way into his company because she was curious what sort of person he was. At some point, though, she had begun spending more and more time around him because she thought he was genuinely good, rather than for that original reason. While Noel mulled that over...

‘What are these two to each other?’

Katya had thoughts of her own as she watched Noel poke at the campfire.

At the very least, they were clearly close. She could tell just by watching that each was the first person the other relied on in an emergency. If that was the case, then why had that man so casually said all those things about becoming her friend?

As Katya brooded gloomily over that thought, she caught a glimpse of Noel seizing her sword on the other side of the fire.

“...!”

Katya’s gaze sharpened as well. If this woman was reacting like that, there must be a threat nearby to warrant it—

“...”

Then Katya saw what Noel was pointing her sword at, and her expression instantly went blank.

“... What are you doing to that bug?”

Noel stared at the ground in disbelief. A creature that seemed almost as large as a human forearm was wriggling there.

“... You call that a bug?”

“There are elementals around here. Their energy makes bugs grow that big. Never seen one before?”

“...”

She had seen all sorts of insects while camping on battlefields, but surely something this large was less a bug than a bug-shaped magical beast. What kind of hellish place was an elemental habitat, anyway? She had never seen anything of such monstrous size even on the battlefield.

While those thoughts crossed Noel’s mind, Katya ambled over and casually picked it up. It was a beetle, and an exceptionally large one at that.

“Oh, I haven’t seen one of these in ages.”

“... In ages?”

“There were lots near the imperial palace. I used to play with them like this.”

Beaming, Katya handled it expertly. The bug crawled over her hand and up her arm, wriggling all the way.

“...”

Noel staggered backward at the sight.

It even scuttled up onto Katya’s face, but she merely giggled as though it tickled. After playing with it for quite a while, she finally let it go, giving it a little circular wave with an amused expression.

“Live a long, healthy life— ... Lionhearted? What are you doing?”

Katya had spotted Noel crouching a good distance away, apparently rejecting reality itself. With her head clutched in her hands and bowed low as she trembled, she looked as though she had seen a ghost.

“Stay away from me, you monster...!”

“...”

When they had gone all out against each other, divinity and all, this woman had tried to kill her without so much as blinking. Given the opportunity, she would cut people down without a change of expression. What was this ridiculous behavior now?

‘Was this woman afraid of bugs?’

Pondering that, Katya plopped back down in front of the fire.

Still, this was a rare sight. To see the Lionhearted herself like this! Far from being afraid of anything, she seemed the sort to personally behead an evil spirit if one popped up.

“... Hmm.”

Katya snorted as she watched her.

The truth was, she had felt jealous of this woman for various reasons. For one, Aiden had a particular soft spot for her, as if he owed her something. Meanwhile, Katya somehow felt like a little kid who only ever caused trouble. Surely a little payback was fair?

“Hmm.”

“... Your Highness?”

“...”

“... Your Highness? What are you—”

Noel’s face darkened as she watched Katya snatch up two bugs crawling on the ground. Holding a grasshopper big enough to cover an entire palm in each hand, she looked to Noel like a demon crawled straight out of the underworld—

“Come on, come on. They’re actually pretty cute up close, you know?”

“Y-Your Highness, d-don’t come any closer.”

“Oh, don’t be like that. Hm? Want to touch one? I’ll show you how to handle—”

“E-e-eeeeek—!”

Noel reached for her scabbard as though on the verge of a fit. Fortunately, matters did not escalate to the unprecedented spectacle of her drawing on supernatural power to swing a sword at bugs. Aiden had returned to camp in the meantime and rapped Erger on the head.

“... Why are you tormenting Dame Noel like that, Your Highness?”

“... Taking her side again, are you?”

“Would it help if I said I consider both Dame Noel and Your Highness to be on my side?”

With that, Aiden sighed and pointed behind him. They had made camp on fairly high ground, which gave them a rough view of the terrain he had just scouted.

“Tomorrow, we’re going to subjugate both elemental colonies. Starting with that one.”

As he spoke, he pointed at a lava field whose red glow was clearly visible even from here. Its leader was a fire giant that looked exceedingly dangerous at first glance.

“... That looks like an exceptionally powerful elemental. Wouldn’t it be better to call for reinforcements?”

“No. There’s no need to go that far.”

Aiden ran a hand down his face and looked at Katya. ... He seemed deeply disgusted with himself for even saying this, but he continued anyway.

“... Um, Princess Katya.”

“Hm?”

“Would you mind dying a little?”

“...”

The question itself was absurd. Noel stared at Aiden in appalled disbelief.

“Of course not! I wouldn’t mind dying some more, either!”

... But the answer managed to outdo it.