Chapter 044: Wendigo
‘Ah.’
The moment I stepped in front of the Spatial Transfer Gate, I froze.
The other three had already gone through.
I stopped and looked up at the gate.
‘Will it work on me?’
I’m not sure if that’s the right way to put it.
Regardless, the question suddenly hit me.
They said the Spatial Transfer Gate was a type of magic, but I’m afflicted with the Curse of the Spectral Body, which is antithetical to magic.
Swish.
I cautiously dipped my foot into the gate.
No sensation at all.
‘Is it fine?’
It wouldn’t mess up inside or anything, right? Like getting lost in some other dimension…
‘It’ll be fine.’
When faced with important decisions, I usually follow my gut.
This time was no different.
Wooooong.
My body felt sucked in, then dismantled without a trace.
To be more precise, it wasn’t my physical body but my soul that felt like it was shattering into pieces.
Just when I thought my intuition had failed me this time.
The scene before my eyes had changed to an unfamiliar place.
“Urgh!”
Bill was doubled over, retching, while Janson patted his back. I couldn’t tell if what I was seeing was reality or a dream.
“Bihen, you alright?”
Jayden scrutinized my face.
Thanks to him, my foggy mind cleared up a bit.
“The magistrate mentioned that passing through the Spatial Transfer Gate might cause headaches or dizziness, but I forgot to pass that on. I was too nervous, you see.”
“…Yeah, well. I’m fine.”
I looked around.
It was an ordinary forest clearing, but it was suspiciously quiet in every direction.
“Didn’t you say this was the rendezvous point?”
“Correct. Looks like we arrived early.”
No sooner had Jayden finished speaking than I sensed a presence.
A rustling came from somewhere in the surrounding bushes, and someone emerged.
It was none other than Maren.
“You’re all here. I’ve been waiting.”
“Oh, Maren.”
My mentor called her by a nickname, but the kid herself glanced back over her shoulder.
It wasn’t a casual gesture; it looked deliberate, as if she was consciously checking if someone was behind her.
I seemed to be the only one who found her behavior unnatural.
Maren approached and said.
“I was ordered to escort you. Follow me.”
“Looks like we arrived late, Captain.”
Bill spoke in a nonchalant tone, and Maren, for some reason, humored him.
“Yes. Everyone’s gathered not far from here. Let’s hurry.”
Her response wasn’t directed at Jayden.
She was clearly looking at Bill.
Thud.
I grabbed Jayden’s shoulder as he started to move.
I glared at the back of Maren’s head.
“Hold on.”
Ignoring the gazes of Janson, Bill, and Jayden, who had stopped in their tracks, I kept my eyes fixed on Maren.
I deliberately paused before speaking.
“Who’s gathered?”
“…Lady Adeline, the mercenary band, and the Gunbel Trading Company. They’re on standby.”
“What about Roland and Eugene?”
“They’re with the lady.”
“And you, who am I?”
“Bihen Benkou.”
I was certain now.
Once again, I’d act on intuition.
“Since when did your tongue get so sharp, kid?”
I raised my left thumb, which had been resting under my nose.
With my right hand, I drew my sword.
Shing!
I slashed horizontally across Maren’s neck.
Her head separated cleanly from the body.
“Bihen…!”
“What the hell! B-Bihen! What did you just do!?”
I ignored the uproar.
I was the only one staring at the head that had fallen to the ground.
Maren’s vacant eyes suddenly sharpened, and her eyeballs swiveled toward me.
One corner of her mouth curled up.
“Not bad…”
Thwack!
I kicked it hard.
The head sailed through the air in an arc.
The three others, stunned by the rapid sequence of bizarre events, could only breathe heavily.
That’s when it happened.
“C-C-C-Cap… Captain!”
It was Bill.
He was so frantic that the sound of him tapping Jayden was louder than his voice.
My gaze instinctively shifted to the headless body of whatever had been mimicking Maren.
It was in a sword-drawing stance.
Clang!
It aimed a strike at Janson, who was closest.
I barely managed to block it with my sword.
Janson, with the clashing blades right in front of his face, let out a strange whimper and flinched.
“H-Hiiik!”
“Get it together, Janson. Don’t embarrass yourself.”
“…!”
Thud!
I cleaved the creature’s torso in two, top to bottom.
There was no sign of regeneration.
“Argh! O-Over there…!”
Bill again.
My head whipped around.
A horde of Demonic Beasts had surrounded us.
They looked, well, like dwarfs soaked in sewage.
“T-Trolls!”
As expected, Bill was making a fuss.
Trolls, huh. That’s what they were called.
Compared to the Empire’s Demonic Beasts, cloaked in dark mana, these were almost cute.
“All hands, prepare for combat!”
At Jayden’s shout, I heard Janson and Bill readying their weapons behind me.
Even in the chaos, the shadows cast by the bushes and trees kept shifting.
Their numbers were growing.
The ones in the front row were glaring, waiting for a chance to pounce, their eyes glinting.
“Kieeeek!”
One leaped at us with its whole body, and a few others followed, jumping toward us.
I shouted.
“You three, hold your ground! Don’t scatter!”
These trolls, these Demonic Beasts—I’d never encountered them in my past life.
Did that mean I needed to ask how to deal with them? No.
For Demonic Beasts that move in packs, there’s always a leader.
Take it down, and you’re done.
‘With these lowlife creatures, the leader’s usually hiding, which makes finding it a chore.’
I kicked off the ground hard and slashed one in midair.
Its soft body felt like slicing through a chunk of meat.
I had plenty of time to scan my surroundings.
“Yaaaah!”
“Argh! Janson! C-Careful…!”
…Janson, that guy’s eyes look a bit crazed.
I’m no expert in spearwork, but even at a glance, he was just wildly thrusting in a frenzy.
It’s a type you see a lot in war—what I call a rookie’s trance state.
Usually, they die as soon as the battle starts, but luckily, Janson had Jayden by his side.
“Janson! Don’t get carried away! Maintain your spacing!”
“Y-Yes, sir…!”
Maybe because it was my first time seeing the Easton Guard fight formally, my focus was pretty scattered.
Still, against these things, I could probably fight with my head and body on autopilot.
Thwack!
I cut down every one I saw, pushing deeper into the horde.
There were more than I expected.
‘What happened to the lady’s group?’
Even in the chaos, my eyes were darting around, searching for the leader.
Busy as hell.
While swinging my sword relentlessly, something caught my eye.
My lips curled into a smirk before freezing.
‘That’s…’
Its body wasn’t much bigger than the others, but the issue was the accessories it wore.
A gnarled wooden staff, a necklace and bracelets made of animal teeth and bones, and feathers tucked into various spots.
‘A shaman?’
A Demonic Beast clumsily mimicking an Imperial shaman’s attire was acting as the leader.
“Kitkitkitkit.”
The swarming grunts around it were no longer on my radar.
It bared its rusty, jagged teeth in a grin, pointing its staff at me.
Pew!
Something shot toward me at high speed.
From the tip of the staff.
My body moved on reflex, deflecting it as if it were a magical projectile.
“Kie!?”
Since I hadn’t taken my eyes off it while swinging my sword, I caught its surprised expression clearly.
Two things became clear.
One, this thing definitely had intelligence.
Two, thankfully, it wasn’t casting actual spells.
“You’re annoying for a pathetic creature.”
I hacked through the surrounding troll grunts like trimming branches and strode toward the leader.
“Kiyaaat! Kiyat!”
It used its minions as shields while slowly backing away.
‘This is getting tedious. Let’s end it.’
Just as I prepared to use my clone technique.
KABOOM!
A deafening roar rang out, and a flash lit up the scene.
Luckily, I’d been watching the leader the whole time and didn’t miss it.
So, uh… lightning struck.
Right on the leader.
Fssssss—
Smoke rose from the charred lump.
The troll grunts, seeing their leader burnt to a crisp, let out a collective wail.
“Kiyaaaaa!”
“Kyak! Kyak! Kyak!”
The grunts started scattering in all directions, each fleeing their own way.
‘That’s absurd.’
I stood still, staring at their retreating backs, when I noticed two figures standing among the dispersing trolls.
“Ohohot! Honey, did you see that? How’s that? My skills are still top-notch, right?”
“Uh, yeah. I-I guess so.”
“…Your reaction.”
“W-Wow…! Amazing! You’re so cool, honey!”
“Ohohohohot!”
A woman with a robust figure and intense, almost intimidating makeup and a man, scrawny to the point of being half her size, with a frail demeanor that made you feel drained just looking at him.
…It’s rare to see a couple so mismatched.
“Are you Jayden Stein? Younger than I heard.”
She was asking me.
Before answering, I glanced around, and the trolls had vanished like a lie.
“Not me. Over there.”
I pointed toward my group as I spoke.
The three of them were heading our way.
The woman snorted.
“Too bad. I was hoping for a handsome guy to liven things up. Right, honey?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Honey.”
Smack!
Out of nowhere, she slapped the man’s lower back with her palm, like a backhand.
“Chest out, shoulders back. You trying to embarrass me?”
“N-No! Sorry, honey!”
“That’s better.”
Since they knew Jayden, they probably weren’t enemies… so why was I feeling such animosity?
Just then, Jayden approached.
“Are you with the Barrow Mercenary Band…?”
“Ohohohot! That’s us! You recognized us. You’re Jayden Stein?”
“Yes, that’s me. We were attacked by Demonic Beasts the moment we arrived. What in the world is going on…?”
“Same here. There were too many, so we were waiting for an opening. Thanks to this handsome guy drawing their attention, we managed to escape the crisis. Ohohot!”
Once I confirmed they were allies, I took another look at the two.
The woman wore a plain robe, but the man’s outfit was a bit peculiar.
He was dressed in the formal attire favored by Kingdom nobles.
A sword hung at his waist.
Perhaps sensing my gaze, the man subtly averted his eyes just as they were about to meet.
The woman let out her signature laugh and said loudly.
“Looks like we’re all stragglers. What do we do? Ohohohot!”
“Let’s find Lady Adeline together.”
“Sounds good. But first, introductions.”
The woman extended her hand toward me.
Her plump hand, adorned with extravagantly decorated nails, felt oddly menacing.
“I’m Bonnie, and this is Clyde. What’s our handsome guy’s name?”
“Bihen Benkou. Eldest son of the Benkou family. By the way, I’m seventeen.”
The woman’s eyes widened.
Why’s she surprised?