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TL: ALT
Chapter 171 – Day 2 of Management Life
Several Guardian Spider shells were buried in the ground. Other large magical machines were destroyed and decaying.
“T-the rocks are hollow. Are there monsters that eat metal?”
“They must be bandits. They probably took them somewhere after the collapse.”
Early in the morning, we explored the southwestern part of the demonic land, nibbling on dried meat as we went.
When we tried to catch the rabbit-like monster hiding in the bushes, it flew away using wind magic. It spread its large ears like wings, and Sylvia thought it was flying with its ears.
A short-snouted, crocodile-like monster used water magic to create a puddle and hunt deer-like, herbivorous monsters.
A large, flying bird monster kicked its legs to launch pebbles made of earth magic. Carnivorous plants burned monsters with fire magic before eating them.
“T-there are a lot of monsters that use magic, huh?”
“Maybe this is a land with concentrated magical power.”
I answered Sylvia while searching the ground with my magic.
As expected, the magical power flowing through the land was strong, and the force causing the ground to rise was significant, too. It wouldn’t be possible to pull it up, even with magic.
Along with monster larvae and bones, there were also artificial objects buried in the ground.
“There are piles of stones buried to the south.”
“P-piles of stones?”
“They’re landmarks. Let’s go check them out.”
There were fist-sized, flat stones piled up in the sand.
“I-is this a landmark?”
“There are stones the size of two adults buried underground.”
I gently stroked the hard ground with my palm, which I had imbued with wind magic.
Sand dust swirled up and flew into the desert beyond.
In front of me, several stones the size of a human torso were stacked on top of each other.
“These stones have no corners. There must have been a river nearby.”
“I-if we follow these landmarks, can we trace the ancient trade route?”
“That’s right. It’s faster to revive the original path than to build a new one, isn’t it?”
“I-I see. Hey! Isn’t that the tip of the pile of stones over there?”
Sylvia pointed and headed toward the mountains to the west. When we dug under the stones, more piles appeared.
We avoided the low bushes and climbed the gentle slopes of the mountains. Sand swirled around us, but we couldn’t hear any sounds of fighting. Occasionally, we heard ptarmigan cries, but we couldn’t see them.
Suddenly, flames erupted from a lily at our feet, and a rabbit glided through the air. Still, there was no sound of fighting, and it was quiet.
There was no particular hurry, so we slowly climbed the old mountain path.
“Ugh!”
“W-what’s wrong? You sounded like your brain suddenly went blank.”
“No, nothing. Look.”
A bird had built a nest inside the shell of a Guardian Spider. As we approached, the bird puffed itself up, revealing a pattern that looked like a tiger’s face. The bird was light and fluffy to the touch.
Sylvia hit it to let the air out.
“W-we can’t eat it. The meat is too thin.”
“Then what about that?”
I pointed to the top of the mountain.
A large owl monster was sleeping on the ground with its wings spread out. It was as big as a small hill. Several of these giant owls were motionless, like rocks.
“I-it’ll be a pain to dismantle. Just plucking the feathers will take two days.”
“Let’s sneak past quietly.”
“W-we might not be able to bring Chel with us here…”
Sylvia seems to think Chel is noisy.
“I wonder if Chel can become a demon king?”
“I-I suppose it’s possible. It depends on her willpower, but a personality like that can win people over.”
“You trust her in that regard?”
“Huh? D-don’t you trust her?”
“I don’t know. I trust her as a person, but when it comes to leading others… I’ve never really been in a position of authority, so I don’t know. Do you think I’m suited to be the lord of the demonic land?”
“I don’t think so! B-but there’s no one else but Makyo. There’s no replacement.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! Makyo is the embodiment of the demonic land. A-anyway, can you teach me the technique you used to avoid the bugs?”
“Huh? Oh.”
When I looked back, I saw that small beetles were clinging to Sylvia’s body.
I had been rotating my magic to shoo them away because they were annoying, but apparently, they just came closer.
I gently touched Sylvia’s back and slowly rotated my magic to shoo the beetles away.
“T-that feels strange. It felt like my skin was twisting.”
“That’s probably how it feels. It’s a type of magic manipulation. Because the magic is concentrated here, small insects are probably attracted to it. Look…”
I gathered magic in my index finger, waved it lightly, and a small gray butterfly flew toward me. When I released the magic, the butterfly flew after it.
“M-maybe you have a high magic perception ability…”
“Chel’s not from a family with that ability, is she? I can’t believe there are insects with the same ability as that noisy one in such a quiet place.”
“M-maybe people are doing things they’re not suited for in places they’re not suited for.”
We continued climbing the mountain while making small talk.
The low bushes disappeared, leaving only grass.
Looking up, I saw that the mountain was split straight down as if cut with a knife, revealing the sky beyond.
The pile of stones continued along the split path.
“Phew! It looks like a shortcut.”
“D-do you think a gap like this could have been naturally formed in a mountain like this?”
“It must have been made by ancient people.”
As we approached, we saw that the path was wide enough for three carriages to pass.
“It’s wide enough for carriages to pass. There’s a lot of graffiti.”
The walls on both sides were covered in illegible graffiti.
The wind blowing through was strong and pushed against our backs. In some places, the walls were gouged out, perhaps from accidents or monster attacks. Sand had accumulated at the edge, and it looked like a good place to rest.
Caw!
We heard the sound of crows cawing from above, but they didn’t seem to be coming after us.
We took a short break to rehydrate, then headed for the other side of the mountain.
As we passed through the passageway, half of the sky was bright blue. The other half was…
“T-the clouds…”
“Is that black cloud moving?”
“I-it might not be moving…”
Black rain clouds are spreading toward the western sea.
Boom, boom, boom, boom…
Thunder can be heard.
The scent of the shore mingles with a sour smell like pickles.
Whoosh!
Accompanied by the sound of wind cutting through the air, a black, crow-like monster dives down from the sky.
It gripped its beak tightly, twisted its neck once, and died without a sound.
“Dinner, then?”
“N-not bad.”
Sylvia plucked the feathers, drained the blood, easily butchered it, and stored it in a leather bag.
If we’re going to eat it, this should be enough.
As we descend the mountain path, black flowers simultaneously bloom from the grass around us, creating a field of flowers. We throw stones and let the nearby two-headed black wolves sniff the pollen, but there seems to be no immediate effect.
“What do you think it is?”
“I-it’s not a flower that has any effect, is it?”
“Even though it’s a flower from the demonic land?”
The two-headed wolf we caught sticks out its tongue and looks at Sylvia and me.
As a test, we threw the wolf into the middle of the flower field. Halfway toward us, it lost its footing and fell.
“I guess it does have some kind of effect after all.”
“I-it’s magic power depletion. These black flowers absorb magic power.”
“I see. That makes sense.”
We picked some black flowers, put them in a bottle, poured the magic power into the two-headed wolf, and released it into the wild. The wolf stood up, seemed confused, but soon regained its senses and ran away.
As we continued down the mountain path, shrubs with brown leaves became more numerous, and armored skeletons and bats the size of humans began to walk around.
“A-aren’t you afraid of the skeletons?”
“They’re not scary if they have substance. It’s the lack of substance that’s scary.”
“T-then what about that?”
Sylvia pointed to a pale, green, ghostly light floating in the distance. Not only were there ghostly lights, but there was also a black mist that drifted around like monsters.
“I don’t like this.”
Before I knew it, I had imbued my fist with wind magic and thrust it forward.
Boom!
A whirlwind blew the lights away.
With the path cleared, we hurriedly passed through.
I realized that the shapeless monsters couldn’t detect me if I moved while concentrating magic in my legs.
The mountain path ended and we reached a flat road.
A thick fog had descended, and I saw the Guardian Spider standing in the middle of the road a moment too late. Although it was missing its legs, it recognized us as enemies and attacked with its glowing red eyes.
Swoosh!
It fired a heat beam.
“W-we’re not even holding a weapon!”
As if that shot were a signal, countless Guardian Spider eyes began to glow in the thick fog.
“It’s too much trouble to fight them all. Let’s run!”
I grabbed Sylvia, channeled magic into my legs, and sprinted forward. I knocked aside any obstacles in my path with backfists. I continued running, creating more holes in the ground where there were already some left by the carriage.
As the sound of the waves grew louder and the smell of salt became stronger, we arrived at a port town where buildings had collapsed.
Wooooooooo!
In the distance, a large monster screamed.
“T-this place might not be suitable for Makyo,”
Sylvia said, looking around.
I agree.
Skulls floated in the air. Robes were walking for some reason.
“…Behind us! Look!”
In the square, behind the fountain, will-o’-the-wisps swirl around while singing.
“Indeed. Maybe people are doing things they shouldn’t be doing in places they shouldn’t.”
My knees trembled as I slowly infused my fists with wind magic.
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Makyo and his fear of ghosts is crazy.
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