IBDFSML Chapter 47

 47

'What is this?’

I stared intently at the man.

'My instincts are telling me something.'

Then suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.

"Ah."

With a sliver of hope, I asked.

"Um, by any chance… is your name Hans?"

Hans was the son of the most recently missing village chief, Paula.

At my question, the man quickly turned to look at me. Then, he began slowly walking toward me.

"Wh-what the…"

The castaway, who I presumed to be Hans, stared at me with a curious look, then brought his grimy finger toward me.

"…Little person."

"…?"

"Sparkly. Pretty."

"…??"

Just before the man's finger touched me, Sion blocked him with his hand.

A beat late, I flinched.

"Ugh! How dare you try to touch me with those filthy hands!"

Startled by my sharp reaction, the man flinched and stepped back, looking sullen.

Seeing this, Garen spoke with a troubled expression.

"…It seems communication will be difficult. Even if we tell him to return to the village, in his current state, there's a high chance he'll get lost again."

"…I see."

Everyone's eyes turned to the problematic castaway.

After my outburst, the man who had looked downcast was now crouched down where he stood, drawing something in the snow with his finger.

"…What should we do, Young Lord?"

"……"

Sion said nothing as he stared at the man, seemingly out of options.

Then, Sion narrowed his eyes.

"…What's that?"

Following his gaze, I looked down at the drawings in the snow.

Dozens of circles were drawn in the snowy field.

"…These are monsters."

"…!"

"…!!"

"…!?"

At the man's words, Sion, Garen, and Diene quickly gathered around him.

"As expected, he must've encountered demonic beasts. But from the drawings alone, I can't tell what kind they were…"

"…Seeing that there are more than twenty circles, they're likely not a single entity but a swarm-type species."

"Diene. Do you have any idea what type it might be?"

At Sion's question, Diene shook her head.

"No, not with the clues we have now."

"I see…"

Just then, the man muttered.

"Monsters… scary. They took the people away."

"…So it wasn't just a mindless slaughter. Seems like they were hunting for food."

"…Which means, there might still be other survivors."

"Yes, possibly."

A chill ran down my spine, and I clung even closer to Sion.

'Wait, what's going on? Is this turning into a full-on creature horror story?'

After a moment, Sion issued instructions.

"Garen, Diene, and I will continue tracking the monsters. Priestess Genevia, you stay here with the castaway."

"Ah, understood!"

Genevia replied, barely hiding her excitement.

I nervously spoke up.

"Still… wouldn't it be better to bring Genevia with us? I mean, what if someone gets hurt while fighting…"

"No. We don't know what kind of monster we'll be facing. In a situation like this, bringing a non-combatant would only be a burden."

"…Ugh. I guess that's true."

I was still uneasy, wondering if Genevia might abandon us and run, but Sion looked down at me and said.

"Lin, if you'd prefer, you can stay here too. It might turn out to be a dangerous battle."

"Ew, no! I'm going with you. I'm going to fight by your side!"

"You seemed pretty scared of monsters earlier."

"Me? Pfft, not at all."

Puffing out my chest, I flapped my wings confidently.

"Trust me, Sion! I'll protect you!"

"…Well, thanks for that."

Sion replied in his usual flat tone, but for the briefest second, the corners of his mouth curled upward.

***

Following the monster's trail, we arrived at a canyon nestled between snow-covered cliffs.

The trees at the canyon's entrance were twisted into eerie shapes, and everything around us was strangely silent.

The atmosphere was so chilling and foreboding that cold sweat beaded on my forehead.

'…I've got a really bad feeling about this.'

A shiver ran down my spine, and I trembled slightly. Sion commented bluntly,

"You're shaking."

"What? No way! It's just… cold."

I pressed up close against Sion's neck.

A short while later, we stepped into the dim canyon.

Past the snowy entrance lay a deep, dark passage.

Then, Garen, who was leading the way, pointed ahead.

"Look over there."

His finger was aimed at what looked like a white curtain stretched between the two canyon walls.

Sion stepped forward to examine it.

"…This is…"

It was a wall made of dozens of fine white threads, intricately tangled together.

My face went pale as I stared at it and muttered.

"That… that's a spiderweb, isn't it?"

Though we called it a spiderweb, each strand was thicker than my finger, with frost settled on it, glinting sharply and ominously.

"…No way…"

Diene inspected the web closely and muttered with a serious expression.

"But something like this… here…?"

That's when I noticed something dangling between the webs, something that looked like a cocoon.

"Huh? What's that?"

Cautiously approaching the cocoon, I gently poked it a few times.

A groan came from inside, and the cocoon squirmed.

"…!"

Flapping my wings in shock, I shouted.

"There's someone inside!"

Sure enough, right after I shouted, a faint voice came from within.

"S-someone… save me…"

"…!"

Sion threw a dagger and sliced the cocoon down.

When the cocoon was cut open, there was a man inside, barely clinging to life. With a faint voice, he whispered,

"Please… save me…"

"Are you a resident of Ritten Village?"

The man nodded weakly.

"Are there any other survivors?"

This time, he shook his head.

"…I see. Garen."

"Yes, Young Lord."

Without hesitation, Garen hoisted the man onto his back and began heading toward the entrance of the canyon.

"I'll be back shortly."

And just like that, only Sion, Diene, and I remained.

"Diene. Any ideas?"

Sion asked, and Diene replied with a serious expression.

"…Yes. I wasn't sure at first, but I think it really is that thing."

"That thing?"

Just as Diene was about to explain...

Rustle—

"…Hm?"

Something dropped onto my head.

I instinctively looked up.

And then...

"…Oh."

I came face to face with dozens of circles.

More accurately, dozens of round eyes.

Frozen in place, I called out to Sion.

"Uh… Sion?"

He and Diene followed my gaze upward.

A beat of silence passed.

"…It's that one."

Diene murmured quietly.

"A mid-tier spider-type beast… Tagas."

"……"

Dozens of eyes blinked all at once as they stared down at us.

The sight sent chills racing down my spine.

Then, Sion slowly drew the sword from his back.

Srrk—

And spoke to me softly.

"Lin. Over here."

Instead of flapping my wings, I silently dropped and landed lightly on Sion's shoulder.

Diene, baffled, muttered.

"…Why would a Tagas show up in a place like this?"

She also unsheathed her sword.

"…This might be harder than we thought, Young Lord. If it gets dangerous, we should retreat."

It was clear that this monster called Tagas wasn't going to be easy to handle.

Sion, still holding his sword, gently pushed me into the folds of his inner collar as I sat in a daze on his shoulder.

Fixing his gaze on Tagas, he spoke firmly.

"No. That thing dies here."

"…Are you sure? Spider-type beasts can be real nightmares to deal with."

"We have to. If we don't take it down, we won't survive, and neither will the people of Ritten Village."

Just then, Garen came running back to the scene.

"I've returned. Unfortunately… the survivor didn't make it…"

All of Tagas's eyes turned toward Garen at once.

His face turned pale.

"…So it's a spider-type demonic beast."

"Perfect timing, Garen. Lend us a hand." 

Diene said, drawing her sword as Garen moved to Sion's right side.

And then...

Screeech.

The standoff ended.

"It's coming."

Thud. Thud.

Tagas skittered down the canyon wall, all eight legs moving with frightening speed.

Then it charged directly at us.

'S-so fast!'

"Dodge it!"

Sion, Garen, and Diene quickly scattered in different directions, reacting swiftly.

And in the blink of an eye, they counterattacked from multiple sides.

Crash!

Screeeech!!

One of Tagas's legs was severed, and its outer shell cracked. It let out a screech and thrashed violently.

Boom. Thud.

Its massive body slammed into the canyon walls, causing rocks to fall from above.

Sion's expression hardened.

"This location isn't ideal."

Diene shouted.

"There's no armor under its neck! That's its weak spot. I'll finish it off!"

With her eyes sharp and determined, she leapt toward Tagas.

"Wait, Diene!"

Garen shouted after her in alarm.

But moving with the grace of a seasoned knight, Diene slid across the ground and dove under the beast's massive body.

She was just about to drive her sword into the unarmored spot beneath its neck when...

Sssk—POP!

"Ugh!?"

From beneath Tagas, a cluster of baby spiders shot webbing directly at her.

Caught like a fly in a net, Diene was bound tightly to the ground.

"Damn it…!"

Her face filled with shock and panic.

At the same time, the enraged Tagas raised a massive foreleg above her.

Garen cried out in desperation.

"NO!!!"