#101
Northern Mountains (2)
The undead unrest in the four kingdoms of the western continent was slowly settling down.
Of course, it was less because they had handled it well and more because the situation had unfolded in an unexpected direction.
Immediately after the Immortal King openly revealed his presence and sent out a signal, the undead—who had been moving as they pleased according to their commanders’ inclinations, attacking humans or hiding away in remote regions—began to act in unison.
The army of the undying, having grasped one another’s locations through the response, began to avoid battle as much as possible in accordance with the king’s command and join up with nearby groups.
‘Of course, in the midst of that, there were groups that clashed with humans or were outright subjugated.’
The forces that succeeded in gathering to some extent were able to grow large enough that the troops of a single territory would find them burdensome to face.
In response, the kingdoms watched the undead’s movements with heightened vigilance and busied themselves mustering armies, but…
At some point, they vanished without a trace.
The Immortal King Hans had personally visited, gathered them all up, and disappeared.
Thus, even though the human side had escaped the threat of the undead, they could not feel at ease.
They had not subjugated and completely driven them off; rather, the enemy had gathered their scattered forces and retreated.
How could they relax when they had no idea when or where that great army might target them?
‘And in a situation like that, now the monsters have started causing trouble too.’
And not just an ordinary disturbance, but a calamity on a continental scale had been foretold.
Among them, the Tulk Kingdom bordered the Northern Mountains, which were even called a paradise for monsters, so their headache was bound to be all the worse.
They had to do their utmost in defending the north, but they also had no choice but to prepare for a surprise attack from the Immortal King.
That was why Tarak was promising the mercenaries the best rewards possible and trying to borrow their strength.
‘Hans has no particular intention of stabbing them in the back… but there’s no way they’d know that.’
In the midst of all this, Harley, who had been planning to head to the Steel Citadel, received a designated request.
So now he had come to Tarak’s central government office to meet the client.
Of course, the fact that it was in the lord’s name was somewhat burdensome, but it was not as though he had yielded to authority and accepted it against his will.
It was simply that, according to the brief information provided beforehand…
‘The area where the request is to be carried out is still the Northern Mountains.’
There was a high chance he would be taking on a mission more dangerous than simply holding back monsters like the others, but danger was none of his concern.
‘The destination’s the same anyway, and the reward’s much better. There’s no need to go out of my way to get on the bad side of the ruler of this region, so accepting is probably better. I’m also curious what this is about at a time like this.’
After arriving at the office and waiting for a while, Harley was finally able to meet the client.
Naturally, it was not the lord himself.
They had put the lord’s name on it, perhaps to emphasize the importance of the request, but would someone in such a position personally meet a mere mercenary and entrust him with a task?
“…I had heard the stories, but you truly are… huge.”
The client he faced was a knight in his thirties with a blunt impression.
“And above all… remarkably distinctive.”
As expected, after seeing Harley’s appearance, he could not help but make a comment, offering that impression with a somewhat uncomfortable expression.
‘Well, reactions like that are an everyday thing.’
He was a muscular giant over two meters tall, bare-chested, wearing a magical beast’s head over his own, his body covered in tattoos, and one of his eyes was an odd eye that glowed green.
At that unforgettable sight, the knight was briefly at a loss for words, then soon continued with a light clearing of his throat.
“Ahem, right. You are that Harley, then. They say you’re quite a famous mercenary.”
“Ahaha! Well, this is embarrassing! Though it’s true that I’m famous!”
As someone who had come out for a request in this city full of mercenaries, he did not particularly mind Harley’s usual rude manner of speech.
“Let’s move on to the matter at hand. The reason we designated you is that we need someone familiar with the Northern Mountains.”
“Hmm… Finding paths isn’t really my specialty. I can do it if I must, but if you need a guide, I think you’d be better off looking for someone else.”
Rather than carefully examining mountain paths and entering the mountains according to a plan, he was closer to someone who hunted as his feet took him, tearing apart the monsters that blocked his way with his absurd mobility and force before returning.
He could at least orient himself in a forest, but he was not at the level of being hired as a guide through a designated request like this.
“Ah, don’t worry about that. We’ve sent requests not only to you, but to other mercenaries as well. We have already hired a guide said to be among the top handful in Tarak.”
“Oh-ho! If that’s the case… But then, don’t you not really need me? They should be enough on their own.”
“A man who not only goes in and out of the Northern Mountains as if it were his own home, but frequently completes high-rank requests that require entering its depths, and is strong enough to handle high-grade monsters alone that even a party would struggle with.”
At Harley’s probing words, the knight slowly continued speaking, then quietly looked at him.
“Is there anyone more suited than you in all of Tarak?”
“Indeed, I suppose there’s no one but me! Hahaha—!”
Harley laughed good-naturedly, but as though he had already gotten used to that manner of his, the knight continued saying only what he had to say without any change in expression.
“I’ve spoken at length. Here is the main point. The location is within the Northern Mountains, the deadline is as soon as possible, the type is the rescue of a key individual, and the target is Zaonic Steelstone.”
“Zaonic Steelstone?”
‘Who’s that?’
As if his thoughts had been conveyed, the knight paused for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.
“As a special note, he is a blacksmith belonging to the territory. His race is… dwarf.”
***
As it was a request put forth directly by the territory, matters proceeded swiftly.
All the items needed for the mission had already been prepared, and the companions who would go with him began to gather one by one.
The rescue target seemed to be no ordinary person either; they said that as soon as he sensed something was wrong, he dug a burrow and hid, then sent a message with a magic tool requesting rescue.
They said he had enough emergency rations, so it was not an immediately urgent situation, but in such a dangerous region, no one could know what might happen or when.
Thus, as soon as preparations were complete, Harley entered the Northern Mountains together with the six companions who would carry out the mission with him.
About a day passed like that.
“Kah— ptui! Damn it, did that old man really have to climb a mountain even in a situation like this?”
“Well, he probably didn’t know things would get this bad back then. It’s not exactly new for dwarves to like rare minerals.”
Immediately after another battle had ended.
When Mikel, a female mercenary armed with a crossbow, spat on the ground and grumbled, the middle-aged man guiding the group along the mountain path at the front admonished her.
“But it certainly seems like something big is happening. I’ve been coming and going through this place for over ten years, and this is the first time I’ve seen anything like it. All the information I’d gathered on monster territories and habitats has become trash.”
The middle-aged mercenary Marcus, who once again led the group, lamented quietly.
Though it had only been a day since they entered the mountains, they were painfully aware of the abnormalities among the monsters.
Until now, the ecosystem had at least maintained itself according to its own rules, but now not even traces of that could be found.
Also, in order to conceal their scent, they had been smearing some unidentified sap all over their bodies while avoiding battle as much as possible, and when they had no choice, dealing with enemies as stealthily and swiftly as they could, but even that was slowly reaching its limit.
“Wait. More are coming.”
At that moment, at Harley’s low murmur, everyone in the group held their breath.
“How many?”
“…Quite a lot. I think there’ll easily be over thirty… Damn, they’re coming straight this way with intent. Looks like they sensed traces of the previous battle.”
At his words, everyone’s brows furrowed.
Despite how careful they had been, it seemed it had not been enough to fool creatures whose senses had developed even further after the anomaly.
“Can you tell what kind they are?”
“Hmm, their build is roughly similar to orcs.”
Harley’s sensing ability, which everyone had initially doubted, was now something they all trusted.
They could not help it.
It had already happened several times over the course of a single day, and not once had his warnings been wrong.
Srrrng—
“No choice, then. We’ll have to deal with them as quickly as possible and leave.”
Robin, a knight wearing leather armor, slowly drew his sword and spoke with the same blunt expression he had worn when relaying the request.
‘Still, that guy’s impressive too. I thought he was just going to deliver the request, but I didn’t expect him to participate in the operation himself.’
Of course, in addition to him, one veteran ranger from the Steel Citadel had also joined the group, but Harley had not expected someone who was even a knight to wear leather armor and come along.
Especially on such a dangerous operation.
The monsters consumed by madness were extremely aggressive and did not die easily, and this place was the Northern Mountains, no different from their own backyard.
So far, they had been proceeding by dealing with them as quickly as possible and leaving the area, but…
As they went deeper into the mountains and the density of monsters increased, that method was bound to reach its limit.
“I’ll spread a concealing barrier around us. Once they come fully inside, please deal with them as quickly as possible.”
As if the frequent use of magic was beginning to burden her mana, the mercenary mage Fabiella frowned.
Though she was a mage, she had trained her body to a considerable degree and was fairly famous in Tarak. Befitting that reputation, she was keeping up quite well with the rough mountain march.
“…They’re here!”
Harley’s warning came again.
But this time, everyone could tell even without his words.
Thud thud thud thud—!
“Kuwaaak—!”
“Keeek!”
Because along with vibrations shaking the ground without any attempt to hide their noise, the cries of monsters that had lost their reason rang out.
And when the madness-stricken orcs entered the area of the concealing barrier, the battle immediately began.
Swish— thwack!
It started with bolts and arrows flying from the rear.
And Harley, who stood in the front line alongside the knight Robin and the taciturn swordswoman Flora, as usual…
“Hoo-haha—! Let’s have some fun!”
Kwaaang!
Bursting into the laughter he had been holding back all this time, he kicked off the ground and charged head-on at them with his bare hands.
The explosive force gushing from his glowing engravings and his constantly writhing muscles brought his body before the madness-stricken orcs in an instant, and…
Crack!
Snap!
That monstrous strength was enough to break their necks one after another.
Dodging the weapons of the orcs charging in madly as he continued hand-to-hand combat, then carefully twisting their heads one by one—his figure almost seemed like a scene of sacred labor… as if that could be.
“Khahahaha!”
The act carried out by a savage barbarian laughing fiercely was nothing more than a scene of one-sided violence.
“…I can’t tell who the monster is. Is that even possible?”
“I’ve seen it several times now, and I still can’t get used to it.”
Even his comrades fighting alongside him looked sickened at the sight.
Harley was showing with his entire body why he was considered an existence that “must never be touched” in Tarak’s mercenary world.
At first, it had been a fighting method he started in order to avoid spreading the smell of blood as much as possible, but when combined with Harley’s monstrous body, it was no less effective than fighting with a weapon.
Every orc that charged at him was struck down, the range of motion of their neck joints forced beyond its limits.
But he was not simply fighting without thinking either.
‘It’s strange. For a while now, whenever I fight monsters, I’ve been feeling something ticklish.’
Even after enhancing his senses with bio-aura and engravings, and even with the wildness etched into his instincts, the feeling of something he could not detect gently scratching at him was quite bothersome.
Thwack—!
“Kkeeek!”
Even as he continued thinking, Harley kept striking orcs in the head, kicking them in the abdomen, and turning their jaws aside with his elbows.
Then at some point.
Perhaps the problem was that he had become too absorbed.
Puk—!
His fingertips, which had sharpened in an instant, pierced into an orc’s heart.
“Ah.”
He had been fighting bare-handed on purpose to avoid splattering blood, but perhaps because 「Wildness」 had activated unconsciously, he instinctively delivered the most lethal attack.
Fortunately, perhaps because a minimal amount of reason remained, only the tips of his nails had sharpened slightly, so those around him did not notice 「Body Mutation」. Still, rendering his efforts so far meaningless, blood splattered all over his arm.
“Tsk—.”
Harley clicked his tongue lightly and pulled out his hand.
In his hand, he was now holding a magic stone that had been embedded in the orc’s heart.
‘What’s done is done. Blood can be wiped off.’
More importantly, his energy had just been slowly running low.
Since he had obtained it anyway, he might as well use it well.
Harley casually tossed the magic stone into his mouth.
Crunch!
At that moment.
Thump—!
His heart pulsed violently.
The blood flow throughout his body began to course fiercely.
The energy he had been feeling as a tickle until now became much clearer the instant he consumed the orc’s magic stone.
‘What is this all of a sudden?’
As his senses expanded like that, he came to understand what he had not known until now.
‘…No way. This is…’
The thing that spread across the world and covered the sky, the thing dissolved into the air and wrapped around them, the thing dwelling in the orcs that charged with crimson eyes.
And… the thing that was now beginning to sprout inside Harley’s body.
Yes, that was.
‘Madness.’