52 – Cloud City (2)
It may be less flashy than the empire, but it is a sufficiently constructive landscape.
The high wall that surrounded the city. And up until the gate that welcomed us,
There’s no particular reason for the expression ‘cloud’ to be added in front of Cloud City.
It’s simply because clouds tend to gather frequently in Cloud Village.
From the distant coastline, all the clouds seem to be sent this way, so clouds often gather here, and as a result, it rains a lot.
Thanks to that, the size of the waterways is quite large compared to other cities, which is a small detail in the setting.
Another characteristic is that the neighboring village is quite close to the Demon Realm.
“You’ve finally arrived! Welcome!”
As the gate opened and we entered, a man greeted us.
He was wearing rather luxurious clothes, and behind him, several knights were lined up, indicating that he was the lord of this place.
When he welcomed us, the saint stepped forward and began the conversation.
“Nice to meet you. Are you the lord of this place? According to the messenger, the Demon Army attacked the nearby village recently…”
“Yes, that’s right! It’s been a month already. I was living in anxiety, not knowing when the monsters would invade our village, which is just a few kilometers away from my city.”
Was our journey for the past month so burdensome? The lord opened up to the saint for a while.
“You’ve been through a lot. But don’t worry now that we’ve come. Has there been any small-scale demon invasion until now?”
“Fortunately… there hasn’t been anything like that yet. We’ve practically closed off the gate as if the nearby village had been destroyed.”
“You did well. It’s a good choice.”
At times like this, it was actually convenient to have party members. At least, I didn’t have to talk to the lord. If I, who was covered in curses, tried to start a conversation, he would probably recoil first. From a third person’s perspective, it was much easier to just listen.
I approached the saint and quietly whispered my question.
“Is there any survivor in the attacked village? Can you ask what kind of monsters they were…?”
“Yes? Oh, yes…”
Did I startle her by suddenly approaching? She seemed a little bewildered for a moment, but quickly regained her composure and conveyed my words to the lord.
“Yes, we have sent scouts multiple times to confirm. We had to recover the bodies and investigate the monsters. But do you know what strange thing happened?”
He said with fear in his eyes.
“They were all gone! The bodies of the villagers! The appearance of the attacking monsters! It was as if it was a ghost village from the beginning, there was no sign of any living creatures.”
“They were gone?”
The saint was startled and asked back.
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Adel, who was listening to the story, spoke with a serious expression.
“It’s a ghost curse.”
“Hmm… This situation has become a headache.”
Even though I hadn’t mentioned the Four Heavenly Kings yet, everyone seemed to understand.
“Of course. Gwae-ryeosa has been active since long before I became a hero.”
The first time it was recorded in history, it was perhaps the fifteenth hero, right?
A veteran Four Heavenly Kings who had been active for at least a few hundred years.
Unlike the first appearance of Chongwang in the previous generation.
Therefore, there was no shortage of information about him.
“Gwae-ryeosa… Is that so?”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
“Since we’re not sure if it’s really him…”
“It would be a good idea to go to that village in person. Can you open the door for us?”
“Oh, yes! I’ll open it right away!”
When Camilla asked, the lord nodded vigorously.
Even though he was the lord of a city, he couldn’t be compared to the nobility of the empire.
Especially if it was a high-ranking noble like Camilla.
“Oh, before that…”
As they were about to set off, the lord hesitated and spoke.
There was a faint sense of expectation in his eyes. Seeing that, Camilla raised an eyebrow and asked.
“What’s the matter?”
“Well, um… By any chance, did the hero not come this time? I may be getting older, but I really like hero stories. I would love to meet him if I have the chance.”
“Ah.”
Camilla, who heard that, made an awkward expression. Then, she asked with a sidelong glance about what to do.
It seemed that the empire’s reputation hadn’t reached this far.
What to do. I might as well go along with it and make his dream come true.
Taking a few steps forward, she took off the hood she had been wearing. Then she looked at him and said one word.
“Nice to meet you. I’m a hero.”
“…Ah.”
Disappointment crossed the lord’s eyes.
“hahahaha. As expected, it’s because you’re a hero… Your aura is extraordinary… hahahaha.”
In the midst of this, seeing that the atmosphere was being maintained, the nobility was indeed nobility.
“…Desolate.”
“There isn’t even a human shadow here.”
The town we arrived at. We were speechless for a moment.
Even if there were human or monster corpses piled up on the ground, we would at least frown in surprise.
But since it was completely empty, we couldn’t react at all.
There were no splatters of blood on the ground, and there were no signs of houses being destroyed either. If we hadn’t heard the reports first, we would have thought that the people of the town had evacuated together.
“The situation is serious.”
Adel, who was investigating the traces, murmured with a stern face.
The saint, hearing that voice, cautiously asked.
“How did this happen? Is it possible for everyone to disappear like this, even under these circumstances?”
“It is possible. The monsters are very clever and powerful, so they could have been captured without any resistance, or maybe…”
Adel’s blue eyes sank deeply.
“They disappeared by walking somewhere.”
“What?”
The saint asked back.
“Is that possible in this world?”
“It is possible. If it’s a monster, anything is possible.”
This time it was Lily who answered. She was drawing a magic circle with her hands and investigating the surrounding magic traces. Despite her thorough investigation, not much magic trace was found.
It was because supernatural beings were not easily detected even with such investigations.
While surveying the surroundings, she murmured quietly.
“It would have been easier if it was the former…”
I vigorously nodded in agreement.
It would have been much better if it was just a horde of incredibly strong monsters attacking.
At least they would have been less annoying than this guy.
“I hope it’s not the Four Kings personally attacking…”
It’s much faster than in the game. This is also probably due to the effect of the forbidden seal mentioned by the goddess.
Enen’s mistake of staking his entire fortune on the former hero had also worked this time.
“I didn’t even expect it. That damn son of a b*tch, Enen.”
If the saint had heard, she probably would have been extremely angry, and I fell into contemplation.
If the monster personally attacked, it was not a problem that would end with just one town disappearing.
As I mentioned before, that guy can brainwash people.
It is uncertain what kind of mischief he will cause using it.
In reality, I can count on one hand the number of times he has personally fought in a game. Even though his actual strength is not at a weak level, he always starts by using his abilities to intimidate.
So when he appears, other concerns should be considered.
Not the fight between monsters and humans. It should be the fight between people.
For a moment, my consciousness sank deep into my thoughts.
I must understand his intentions. Let’s see… why did he invade such a small village, of all places?
What advantage could he gain from invading something so insignificant?
As I thought about those things, suddenly a feeling of unease arose in my mind. It was a mistake that I hadn’t thought about until now.
Wait…
“Come to think of it, how did the scouts realize that this was an invasion by the Demon King’s army?”
“Huh?”
“What are you saying?”
My party members asked me from all around.
Whether I said it or not, I continued a conversation that was closer to soliloquy.
“No, that’s right. There is nothing here that could be considered a trace of the Demon King’s army. Not even the corpses of monsters, blood splattered on the ground, or even a single broken building. If I had discovered this initially, I would have thought it was just a strange disappearance case rather than an attack by the Demon King’s army. Or maybe just a large-scale migration.”
But still, the scouts concluded it was an invasion by the Demon King’s army.
Why?
Did they also realize that this was the work of the Cult of Monstrosity?
No, at least the lord didn’t even have the word “Cult of Monstrosity” in his thoughts. We mentioned it when we went to see him, and he barely recognized it.
Of course, there is a possibility that the scouts simply forgot to report it… but if they had forgotten about it to that extent, they would be disqualified as scouts.
In other words, even the scouts were not aware of the term “Cult of Monstrosity.”
But still, the scouts concluded it was an invasion by the Demon King’s army.
And they did so too quickly. As if it were obvious.
For a moment, a chilling assumption arose in my mind.
Perhaps it had already become a reality.
“This… maybe…”
I cautiously opened my mouth as I looked at them.
“There might already be someone among the scouts who has been brainwashed.”
The poison spread by the Cult of Monstrosity had already seeped into the human world.