Chapter 50. Girl with Wolf Ears (2)
Dawn.
Over the walls of the Elsyde Fortress, chilled overnight, the blue shadow of dawn descended.
Inside those massive walls.
Elsyde-affiliated mages, ready for the Allied Mission, gathered in groups for final checks.
“Boarding in 3 minutes.”
“All personnel, boarding preparations complete.”
The cold pre-dawn air cast a pale blue light over the busily moving mages.
And beyond the moving mages.
Eyes darker than the dawn blue leaned against a wall, quietly watching them.
‘It begins now.’
Enoch briefly recalled the events to come.
- The commencement date of the Allied Mission.
This mission schedule precisely overlapped with the Vendetta experiment date written in Tantalus’s journal.
Then perhaps….
‘In this Allied Mission, I might re-encounter Vendetta Annihilation Officer, Tantalus.’
Just as his thoughts reached that point.
“Ah!”
A familiar voice was heard beside him.
“Lord Enoch Elsyde.”
A mage in his mid-thirties approached, greeting respectfully. It was the man he saw last time in Leopold.
He remembered the name clearly too.
“Askel, was it.”
“Yes. We meet again here!”
During the orphanage kidnapping incident in Leopold last time, he was the family mage dispatched earlier who went missing, and the one rescued by him.
He mentioned being from a Follower Family of the current 3rd Circle direct descendant.
He bowed deeply once more.
“I owe you my life from before, Young Master.”
“What brings you to this mission?”
“This time, I am additionally accompanying as a sort of guide and advisor regarding the Beast-kin.”
Come to think of it, he heard that quite a few additional personnel necessary depending on the situation also accompanied Allied operations.
Well, surely, not only the family’s combat personnel would be needed at the dispatch site.
Adding everyone up, it was a mission accompanied by quite a large number of personnel, numbering in the dozens, more than expected.
“Tough job.”
“Haha, I just know a little from having lived in a village near the southern region in my childhood.”
He shook his head as if it were nothing and added.
“Ah. Besides myself, healer-mages dispatched from the 「Order」 are also said to be accompanying this mission.”
“Healer-mages from the Order too?”
“Yes. The Order also has a cooperation treaty with Elsyde. Anyway, being from the Order, their skills in healing magic are said to be solid.”
Enoch didn't miss the implied meaning in his words.
The fact that outstanding healer-mages dispatched from the Order were accompanying the mission meant the family was anticipating intense combat from the start.
“Considerable wariness towards the Beast-kin village.”
“Yes. After all, this mission involves encountering the notoriously dangerous 「Beast-kin」.”
Just then, someone approached from the side.
It was Teano and three Nemesis Knights, dressed in their usual uniforms and formal caps.
Having approached right in front, she looked intently at Enoch with eyes hidden by the shadow of her formal cap and said.
“Operation vehicles, inspection complete.”
Other mages’ gazes gathered at her words. Teano looked around and gave concise instructions.
“All personnel, prepare to board designated vehicles!”
The hangars built inside the fortress opened, lights inside turned on, revealing the vehicles.
For this Allied Mission, the family had prepared a total of five operation vehicles.
Sleek black gloss reflecting the hangar lights, large and sturdy designs emitting the unique shine of metal.
- The family’s operation vehicles.
Tactical vehicles stylishly painted with the family’s symbolic color, black base with blue accents, indicating official Elsyde family duty.
Meanwhile, the family crest was simply engraved in white on the vehicle body’s side.
Enoch boarded the designated vehicle along with other passengers. The vehicle interior, including seats lining both sides, was quite large and comfortable.
“Then, we shall depart.”
Immediately after the announcement from the driver’s seat side.
From the front of the sleekly designed operation vehicles, bright blue headlights turned on.
Rumble…
Finally, the tires moved, and the convoy of operation vehicles began moving quietly under the dawn sky. Enoch sank into his seat, hugging the cloth bag.
Over the surface of the tactical vehicles crossing the fortress city streets, the lights of the still-dim streets flickered and slid past.
Inside the vehicle rapidly crossing the asphalt road, only the soft noise of the engine was heard. Even vibrations were barely felt.
But naturally, inside the spacious vehicle interior, Enoch wasn't riding alone.
Those sharing the vehicle with Enoch.
The family mages sat silently in their seats, holding their magic gears slanted, maintaining silence.
“…….”
But even so, he felt gazes being sent his way furtively from various seats.
And those silent gazes continued throughout the long journey towards the southern Elsyde domain, without a single break.
In the strange atmosphere, the operation vehicle, devoid of any particular chatter, solely marked its long, quiet journey with the soft vibrations of its body.
***
Around the time the scenery outside the vehicle changed.
“We’ve finally arrived.”
Askel looked out the window and said.
“From here on is the southern Elsyde domain. Though it’ll still take a bit longer to reach the Beast-kin village.”
Enoch also turned his head towards the window incidentally.
A desolate landscape unfolded outside the vehicle.
They had long left the city streets lined with tall buildings. Before long, the surroundings had transformed into a region dominated by reddish-brown hues, composed entirely of rocky mountains and sand.
The tactical vehicle, having entered full-scale off-road terrain, felt slightly bumpier than before.
“And from now on, the vehicle speed will increase even further.”
“Increase?”
Askel nodded.
“Yes. Swarms of Magical Beasts frequently attack around here. We need to get through as quickly as possible.”
Askel glanced briefly at the personnel in other seats.
Then, as if fed up with the personnel remaining silent throughout the journey, he continued chatting while looking out the window.
“Isn't it desolate? The southern outskirts of the Elsyde domain, people don’t live here much, now or in the past.”
“Reason?”
“Because swarms of Magical Beasts classified as high-risk by the Empire appear here.”
He looked out the window and said.
“So it’s an extremely dangerous place where ordinary people simply cannot survive. Besides the notoriously barbaric Beast-kin, there are no others who can survive in a place like this.”
“Interesting. If you know anything more about the Beast-kin, could you tell me?”
Enoch asked, feigning ignorance.
“I don’t know much about the Beast-kin. I’d like to hear.”
Of course, he knew very well about the Beast-kin.
But he needed cross-verification of information, just in case. This wasn't a game anymore, but reality.
“Ah, of course. If I can be of help.”
Askel nodded.
“First, the Beast-kin look no different from humans at first glance, but the only difference is that they possess beast ears or tails, or horns.”
He added, looking slightly tense.
“And, above all, the Beast-kin are said to be masters of close-combat magic, possessing innate talent.”
Enoch nodded.
Up to this point, it matched exactly what he knew.
In the original work, Beast-kin were depicted as possessing bodies and motor nerves surpassing human limits from birth, along with the sharp senses of animals.
Naturally, they possessed the perfect conditions for close-combat magic, and just looking at average combat power alone, they would undoubtedly be the strongest force in the Empire.
Enoch glanced out the window briefly and said.
“Meaning all Beast-kin are outstanding combat mages.”
“Correct. Especially, the bloodline of the ‘Chieftain’ family, the head figure who commands all Beast-kin, is said to be extremely outstanding in combat magic.”
“So the Chieftain’s bloodline is much stronger?”
“Yes. Furthermore, the current Chieftain’s heir is said to be a genius who surpassed Rank 10 despite their young age.”
─Genius.
Hearing those words, Enoch’s eyes narrowed slightly.
The words Askel just uttered were the information he had been eagerly waiting for. A title he had seen countless times in the original work flashed through his mind.
「Heir of the Beast-kin Chieftain」
‘……A nostalgically familiar title.’
Enoch smiled quietly to himself.
Perhaps ‘that mage’ he had wanted to meet most intensely since being possessed and dropped here.
But it was too early to be certain yet.
“Is there more information about the Chieftain?”
Askel nodded, saying, ‘I will tell you what I know’.
“The Chieftain’s family has served as leaders of other Beast-kin for generations and is said to possess overwhelming strength compared to other Beast-kin. Perhaps the Beast-kin known as the Chieftain’s daughter also inherited that bloodline.”
“So that’s why she’s a genius.”
“Yes. And said to be very ferocious, as strong as she is.”
Enoch tilted his head slightly.
“……Ferocious?”
“Yes. The custom of the Beast-kin is said to be obeying only the strong. According to common belief, they serve only ‘the one who defeated them’.”
Askel laughed hollowly and said.
“Well. She is the daughter of the Chieftain, the leader who commands all those rough and barbaric Beast-kin. She likely isn't a very refined mage.”
……Huh.
Enoch tilted his head for a moment.
She certainly went off the rails a bit in the original work.
But her personality wasn't exactly ferocious, was it? Enoch muttered unknowingly.
“…Are the rumors about the Beast-kin distorted?”
“Eh? What did you just say?”
“No. It’s nothing.”
Enoch vaguely deflected and asked again.
“But listening since earlier, the image of the Beast-kin seems quite negative?”
“Yes. It goes without saying.”
He shrugged slightly and said.
“Although the Beast-kin are particularly outstanding in combat magic talent, they have been notorious since the past as uncontrollable barbarians.”
“Barbarians……?”
“Yes. Since those innately powerful beings run wild, they are even more dangerous…… Besides, recently they’ve even been attacking nearby villages, so good rumors certainly wouldn't circulate.”
Of course, that made sense. It did, but.
Enoch asked back somewhat wryly.
“But listening since earlier, it seems everything about the Beast-kin is just rumors? Has there been no proper interaction with the Beast-kin?”
“That is correct. The southern Elsyde domain, since the very old days of the Empire, has been an area everyone hesitates to enter due to teeming swarms of Magical Beasts.”
Askel explained cautiously.
“Few possess the ability to survive the swarms of Magical Beasts here… and crucially, the Beast-kin themselves rarely leave the southern region where they live.”
So that's why there's no interaction.
There was something suspicious about his words.
Enoch opened his mouth.
“Strange. If the southern Elsyde domain is truly an area everyone avoids due to teeming swarms of Magical Beasts, then even the Beast-kin, skilled in combat magic as they are, wouldn't willingly enter such a place?”
“That’s likely true. However, why they specifically chose such a place as their home hasn't been revealed.”
He added, however.
“In the distant past, it's said the Beast-kin also lived peacefully throughout the Empire.”
Enoch tilted his head slightly.
“Then putting aside current interactions. Are there no records or the like about the Beast-kin from the past?”
“Unfortunately, there aren't many records about the Beast-kin either. What I’ve told you is mostly just what I saw and heard growing up in a village near here.”
Enoch slowly nodded.
The moment suspicion turned into certainty.
‘As expected.’
It seemed much of the information about the Beast-kin was currently distorted.
‘No records about the Beast-kin, and no interaction.’
At this rate, it would be natural for fear towards the Beast-kin, who had been unknown beings for a long time, to arise.
He didn't know from where to where it was distorted, but he clearly understood that people's animosity towards the current Beast-kin was greater than expected.
Enoch thought quietly.
‘Indeed…. 「The tragedy that occurs in this mission」 likely stems from such misunderstandings.’
-One of the tragedies occurring in the past timeline of the original work.
In the official history, that happens none other than ‘during this Allied Mission dispatched by Elsyde’.
That very tragedy was also one of the reasons why Enoch absolutely wanted to come on this mission.
“Anyway, if interaction itself was cut off, the number of Magical Beasts in the southern Elsyde domain must be quite significant.”
“Yes. Not only that, but as seen around here… the barren environment likely plays a part too.”
Enoch looked out the car window again.
Indeed, as he said, perhaps due to the terrain, the scenery visible outside the vehicle window consisted only of rocky mountains and cliffs.
Looking around at such surrounding terrain, Enoch suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.
‘Something’s strange. These rocky cliffs here, they look familiar somewhere?’
Déjà vu in the southern region, of all places.
It was quite strange.
Because this was a place even he, a seasoned player, had ‘never visited even once’.
‘The southern Elsyde domain wasn't an implemented location in the original work. There’s no way I would know a place like this?’
Literally, this region mostly wasn't implemented as a place players could directly visit.
Therefore, no matter how seasoned a player of the original work he was, there was no reason anywhere to feel such déjà vu.
‘But it’s definitely not a mistake.’
Nevertheless, the geography and atmosphere around here felt strangely familiar.
‘This scenery of spreading rocky cliffs. I’ve definitely seen it somewhere.’
A sensation as if a non-existent memory was whispering that it was a sight he saw long ago.
And he could only think of one possible reason for feeling such an incongruous sensation.
‘Could it be…’
Enoch’s eyes reflected in the window narrowed slightly.
He thought he might roughly guess where he had seen such scenery covered in rocky cliffs.
‘If my thought is correct, those rocky cliffs are…’
Instantly, a memory seen in the World of Impermanence flashed by.
During the inheritance of Form 2, Fire Wheel.
The Beast-kin bound and kneeling on a rocky cliff late at night, powerful mages, and the Empire's Last Sword Saint standing between those two groups.
The terrain was identical to the cliffs there.
‘Seriously, then the southern Elsyde domain… If this is real, such a coincidence would be impossible?’
But without giving Enoch time to be lost in thought, Askel casually asked.
“By the way… Young Master.”
He looked around, as if asking while he was at it.
“Um, excuse me. I’ve been curious since earlier…”
Then he asked cautiously in a small voice.
“For this mission, why exactly the maid…?”
Lien.
The beautiful maid girl with flowing silver hair, sitting neatly in the seat next to Enoch.
Long before the vehicle departed, he had seen other fellow passengers glancing furtively this way.
He understood why they were doing that.
To anyone looking, the combination was certainly striking.
Not only sharing a seat with the direct descendant causing a stir everywhere, but the silver-haired servant girl accompanying him, sitting calmly right beside him as if nothing were wrong.
‘At this rate, it’s impossible not to attract aggro wherever we go.’
Enoch glanced sideways slightly.
Beside him in the seat, Lien, dressed in her usual maid uniform, sat still without any agitation, caught his eye.
Just like on the train last time, she seemed completely unconcerned with the surrounding gazes this time too.
Beside him, Askel quietly advised Enoch.
“Young Master. In the Beast-kin village, the destination of this mission, a civilian maid like that will be in danger.”
“…Civilian?”
Enoch chuckled slightly.
But Askel, knowing nothing, continued speaking in a worried tone.
“As I've repeatedly mentioned, the Beast-kin are all strong mages and known to be ferocious. If by chance she gets into trouble with the Beast-kin during the mission, who knows what crisis might ensue.”
Enoch replied nonchalantly to his concern.
“The Beast-kin might be dangerous, but I think we should worry about something else first?”
“Something else?”
To Askel, who asked back with a slightly puzzled tone, Enoch nodded and replied.
“Didn't you say earlier? ‘Magical Beasts frequently attack in this vicinity’.”
It was about time.
Enoch was certain.
“Yes. That’s true, but why suddenly…”
Askel asked back blankly. But Enoch knew what would happen next.
‘Although I don't know the geography of the south because it wasn't implemented in the original work, what happens in this Allied Mission is roughly stated.’
Therefore, he also knew the incident occurring around this time.
“Better hold onto something.”
Enoch grabbed the handle near the vehicle seat and suggested nonchalantly.
Askel looked at him for a moment with a puzzled expression at Enoch’s out-of-place words.
But Enoch ignored him and gestured with his eyes towards Lien beside him.
Swish.
She looked this way for a moment, then silently grabbed the handle beside her.
And the next moment.
-Screeeeeech!
Suddenly, with a tremendous roar, the operation vehicle braked hard, skidding sideways sharply.
“Ugh!”
Other mages in the vehicle lurched forward violently, losing balance and falling from their seats.
Along with the intense friction sound of tires on the ground, the unexpected rotation continued several more times.
Due to the strong centrifugal force, objects and people inside the vehicle were swept sideways forcefully.
But Enoch, Lien, and Askel, having grabbed the handles beforehand, avoided the mishap.
“Wh-What suddenly happened…”
Askel looked around, trying to grasp the situation with a slightly bewildered expression.
Simultaneously, the sharp driver’s voice echoing inside the vehicle struck the passengers’ ears.
“Lead Car 1 hit! All personnel, prepare for combat!”
Tension instantly filled everyone’s expressions.
Amidst the rapidly unfolding situation.
Enoch alone calmly sensed it.
‘…It finally begins.’
The ‘prologue’ of the Allied Mission depicted even in the original work.
Right now was the turning point, moving from that prologue to the main story.
Before he knew it, the script depicted in the original work was passing through Enoch’s mind.
「Several years ago. Those who first arrived at the Beast-kin village, isolated from Imperial society, were the participants of Elsyde's Allied Mission.」
「Dispatched to investigate signs of the Beast-kin rebellion, they were attacked by Magical Beasts en route to the village, leading to combat.」
Now was 5 years before the original work's timeline.
But <Magic Empire Atlas> already contained descriptions of past events.
That was the only way to read the future, including the development of this mission.
‘And in this original work, precisely as the conclusion of this Allied Mission…’
At the beginning of the story about to unfold, Enoch briefly recalled the future of this Allied Mission.
「A cruel tragedy where numerous people die.」
「A terrible ending brought about by societal discrimination and misunderstanding.」
「Victims amidst predetermined doom and meaningless resistance.」
「And a single girl, ultimately unredeemed.」
Enoch muttered slowly.
“……Everything must be changed.”
According to the official history, a cruel ‘tragedy’ where numerous people die occurs during this Allied Mission.
And judging by the clues obtained so far.
Enoch’s fate of being killed by Magical Beasts 5 years later in the original work was likely deeply related to the ‘tragedy’ occurring in this Allied Mission.
Therefore, what he had to do was also clear.
Grip.
Force entered Enoch’s grip.
‘Ultimately, I must change all the predetermined histories in this Allied Mission.’
Because changing fate precisely like that…
Would be the way to survive as Enoch Elsyde.