Volume 2 Chapter 12 Vs Aberrant Chimera
We marched through the eastern forest to reach the underground garden.
The number of soldiers gathered was over a hundred, and it was the first time I had seen such a large army. With this many people, we shouldn't have trouble dealing with monsters.
I walked in the center of the formation, protected by the soldiers. Right in front of me was an older knight called Barton-kyo, who was staying alert.
After a while, we arrived at the creepy marked spot I had seen before.
"There don't seem to be any beastmen patrols."
"Let's move forward like this. Don't let your guard down."
A soldier came up and reported to Barton-kyo.
It seemed that the markings were made by beastmen.
Maybe it was a warning to not go any further.
"Are you scared?"
Barton-kyo asked me.
"A little. But I've been here once before, and this time we have knights with us."
"That's true. I heard you found Rita's diary in the entrance area."
On the way here, I had heard various stories from the diary.
The owner of the diary, Rita Elrahage, was the daughter of the head of the Alchemist Guild and had once lived in the royal capital, Salem. She was of noble rank and attended a school where wealthy children gathered.
It was unclear why she had died in the underground garden, but... there was no point in thinking about it now.
According to the diary, the underground garden is divided into 3 sections.
The square with the hidden room is called the entrance area, below that is the plant research area, and even further down is the worship street area. It is said that no one, including adventurers, has stepped into the worship street area.
"Can you read the writing?"
Barton-kyo handed me a rolled-up bundle of paper.
"Yes, I can do it."
"I brought some parts that seem related to the underground garden. They might be clues to find a hidden path."
"Thank you. I hope we have good luck again next time."
It's not wise to raise expectations too high.
There's no guarantee that Leanne will be able to help out so many times, and even she doesn't understand how it all works.
"But the investigation, which has been making no progress, suddenly moved forward. I think it's natural to feel hopeful."
"Well, that's true."
"We need to quickly investigate the cause of the increase in monsters. The lives of the people are at stake. I feel bad about involving young ones, but this time, I'm counting on you."
"I'll do my best."
The atmosphere made it hard to respond in any other way.
I hadn't even conveyed half of what I wanted to say.
Reluctantly, I started reading the stack of papers I received, and Leanne peeked over, curious.
It seemed to be a copy of some parts decoded by Wallace.
'During the next break, we're going to Evrall's Underground Garden. The garden is a temple recently built by the wise Evrall, one of the [Seven Sages], and it's a popular topic at the academy. At first, it was just me, Shadiya, and Rias going, but Shadiya invited a boy named Rodi. Rodi-kun is a student from [F] class, a commoner who is a candidate to be a magician. His black hair is messy, and his black-rimmed glasses are not stylish at all. Plus, he seems a bit shallow. But it's really nice that he treats Shadiya, who is a homunculus, just like anyone else. I hope he continues to get along with my sister.'
It feels like a waste to read this text.
The story about the underground garden comes up a little, but most of it is unrelated.
"Looks happy."
"When you have enough food, clothing, and shelter, it seems you can afford to write things like this."
I tried to read on, but Leanne almost tripped over a tree root, so I stopped. I'll read the rest after we go inside and the investigation starts.
After moving forward a bit, we arrived at the underground garden.
"...?"
I felt an unknown presence from the darkness ahead.
Every time I felt the warm wind blowing from the cave, I shivered. I had felt fear when I came here before, but this time it was even worse.
Is it really okay for us to go further...?
While I was thinking this, Barton-kyo and the knights gathered and talked about something for a bit, then the march started again.
Since we didn't really have a choice, I just went along with the flow.
I stepped into the still dark passage.
There were enough torches and lanterns prepared, so it was much brighter than when I came before.
Just as I was feeling relieved, the soldiers suddenly stopped moving. I thought I heard a monster's roar from the front, then it went quiet.
With this many people, we should be able to handle a monster right away.
As we continued fighting like this, the passage ahead started to get brighter. We reached the entrance area.
I heard that monsters don't come into this area. It seems to be true since adventurers had rested here before.
"Follow-up troops, keep going! Clear them out all at once!"
Suddenly, the surroundings became hectic. I looked to see what was happening, and there were monsters running around in the supposedly safe square. There were monsters that looked like giants, not just goblins.
Fighting started everywhere, and the entrance area quickly turned into a battlefield.
"Stay close to me."
Barton-kyo drew his sword and led us.
Like a true soldier, he showed no signs of panic, even in this unexpected situation.
A little ahead, Gaston and Sofia were fighting monsters alongside their soldiers. They moved without hesitation, cutting down their enemies with a single strike, probably thanks to their regular training.
Hidden in the forest, we could only huddle together and watch the scene unfold. Meanwhile, the soldiers were defeating the monsters with surprisingly fast and coordinated movements. It felt like it was only a matter of time before it was all over.
"This is quite a large scale. There must be a leader of the pack somewhere... Huh!?"
Just after it seemed we had the upper hand, I saw something big and black moving in the back of the square.
It jumped high and landed right near us.
The ground shook violently, and Leanne clung to my arm even tighter.
"Is that the leader!?"
A strange beast appeared in front of us, with Barton-kyo in between.
It was completely black. It had a wolf's head, a body, a goat's head on its back, and a snake for a tail. But what was most terrifying was its face.
All 3 heads had long tongues hanging out, and their eyes bulged out as if they were sewn onto its face. It looked like a failed experiment of some kind.
'Grrrgh...'
'Raaagh...'
'Hisss...'
The 3 heads constantly drooled from their open mouths while making creepy sounds.
"A chimera... but what a bizarre one."
"Ark! Be careful!"
Gaston rushed in and thrust his sword at the chimera's side. But the chimera, surprisingly light on its feet for such a massive body, danced away to avoid the attack.
"Ugh!"
Next, Barton-kyo approached and swung his sword down. However, the snake tail moved like a whip, easily deflecting the blow. It was harder than any living creature should be.
"Barton-sama!"
Another knight joined the fight with some soldiers.
They seemed to be planning to surround the chimera and take it down all at once.
"Don't let it escape! Attack all at once!"
"Wait! Don't rush in!"
Noticing something, Barton-kyo called out to stop them, but the soldiers ignored him and charged forward.
'Blaaaaargh!!'
The goat-headed creature let out a scream that echoed throughout the square, and a complex, pale blue pattern appeared above its head. All the eyes of the heads glowed red.
"Watch out!"
Feeling a bad omen, I hugged Leanne tightly.
For just a moment, I felt warm air flowing out from the chimera. But that was all. There was no noticeable change with Barton-kyo and the others.
"You monster!!"
The knight moved again and swung his sword down.
It was aimed at a soldier right next to him.
"Ahhh!"
The soldier who got slashed fell to the ground, and the knight ran toward another soldier.
"W-What are you doing!?"
Barton-kyo exclaimed in shock as he watched. For some reason, the soldiers were fighting each other instead of the monster. The only cause for this could be the chimera.
"Hey! Get a hold of yourselves!"
As Gaston shouted, the chimera lunged at him. Gaston managed to block the wolf head's bite with his shield, but he was still knocked down.
"Damn it! Get off me!!"
"Gaston!"
Just as Barton-kyo was about to run, an unexpected person jumped in between them.
"I can't let you go any further."
The worst possible timing, Fatina had appeared.
Despite the chaotic situation, she faced Barton-kyo with a calm demeanor.
"The beastman swordsman of Beolus... Could it be that this commotion is your doing?"
"Not really, but think what you want. I warned you not to step into this place."
"You have no right to say that."
"You'll just end up wiped out here. No one will gain anything."
Fatina glanced at Gaston.
He was desperately pushing away the fangs of the wolf-headed beast with his shield. He couldn't hold out much longer. If they left him like this, he would die.
"This isn't the time to argue! Hurry and help that person!"
"If I help, what will you do for me?"
"What──."
"If you promise to become my sl*ve and serve me for life, I might consider it. What will you do?"
"Ark, it's useless to say anything to this woman. She's crazy."
"If you say anything else, I'll really kill you. You're only alive because of my whim."
"I don't have time to deal with you! Get out of the way!"
"I'll let you choose: retreat or total annihilation."
"Then I'll push through!"
"Go ahead and try."
Barton-kyo fiercely attacked Fatina, but she dodged with minimal movement, not even blocking with her sword. It was as if she could predict all of his moves from the start; it wasn't even a fight. If she unleashed her invisible slashes, Barton-kyo would surely be killed.
It seemed words wouldn't be enough to convince her.
Is there anything we can do?
──Can you read the text? I brought some parts that seem related to the underground garden.
I remember Barton-kyo's words and stare at the stack of papers.
Rita's diary is our last hope. I can only hope it contains something that can change this situation. That's all we can do since we don't have the power to fight.
"Leanne. I'll give you half of the papers, so let me know right away if you find any information about this area."
"Shouldn't we escape while we can?"
"That's a last resort."
I split the stack of papers with Leanne and focus on reading them all at once. Since I can only use one hand, I drop the ones I finish reading on the ground.
'I heard a rumor that the shrine maiden was seen in the chapel at night──'
No, that's not it.
'My father is involved in the plan that the cult is advancing simultaneously──'
This is wrong too.
'Today is a very sad day──'
None of these are the information we need.
Everyone will die in this situation.
Please, let there be something!
As I wish strongly for that, I continue reading.
'The underground garden controlled the functions of each area through a complex central arithmetic formula. In emergencies, it has mechanisms to eliminate external threats and can also be used as a shelter. It's interesting that the control part is located in the large tree at the center of the entrance area. It's designed with a self-repair function, so as long as magic power is supplied from the outside, the facility can be maintained no matter how much time passes. Besides Evral-sama, only Astal and the shrine maiden are specially allowed to operate it.'
"I found it!"
The reason monsters didn't enter the entrance area was that this facility had a system to eliminate outside threats. However, that function had stopped for some reason.
If we could activate the self-repair function, we might be able to deal with the monsters.
I looked around, searching for a particularly large tree. There was a big tree not too far away if I ran. That was probably the control part.
"Leanne, I want to try something. Can you run?"
"What do you mean?"
"That big tree over there was blocking the monsters' entry, but now it's stopped. If you touch it, it might start working again."
"Just touch it?"
"It might not be that simple, but we have to try."
"Got it. Let's go."
I took Leanne's hand and started running.
As we passed by, Fatina looked at us with a surprised expression, but I ran through while praying not to get slashed.
We got close enough to the thick trunk of the big tree that I could reach out and touch it.
"Now!"
When Leanne touched the tree with both hands, a light green pattern appeared right in front of us.
"Please──."
Countless lines emerged from the pattern, flowing down through the branches and onto the ground of the plaza.
The sun-like object above us shone even brighter, making the area as bright as morning. At the same time, a soft light spread outwards.
'Raaaah!!!'
The chimera that had been on top of Gaston barked briefly and jumped back. It tried to attack again, but when it hit the spreading light, there was a crackling sound, and it was pushed back again.
Eventually, realizing it couldn't win, the chimera let out a creepy cry and ran away down the path at the end of the plaza.
"Hah, hah..."
Gaston is lying there, breathing heavily without getting up. He seems really tired, but he doesn't look hurt.
The monsters that were left in the square disappear like they were just an illusion, turning into particles of light. The soldiers stop fighting and look around in shock.
A soldier who was just slashed by a knight suddenly gets up, checking his body in confusion. His wounds are healed. Is this because the underground garden has regained its original function?
"You really did something unnecessary."
Fatina says, looking at the collapsed Gaston with a dissatisfied expression.
"Gaston-san, I know you're a kind person. But if you keep going like this, you will definitely lose your life."
After saying that, she quickly runs down the path where the chimera escaped.
Once all the enemies have completely vanished, I finally feel the end of the battle and my tension eases.
My hands won't stop shaking.
Even after going through such a terrifying experience, do I really have to keep moving forward?
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