novelraw Chapter 16 : Chapter 16
Chapter 16 : Chapter 16
Chapter 16
“An enemy?”
“It would be difficult to explain the details. It is a sensitive matter…”
“Ah, I understand.”
Nyxle looked disappointed that she could not hear the full story. Still, she likely had a rough idea of the situation.
My habit of not disclosing conversations with clients to third parties came from my previous life, where I strictly observed counseling ethics.
Of course, my former world and this one were different. The races that existed here, the technology, even the environment were all different.
Because of that, it was difficult to uphold counseling ethics in their entirety, but I made an effort to follow them as much as possible.
“You cannot go any farther from here. You will have to walk.”
While we were talking, the carriage came to a stop and the coachman spoke. Nyxle looked flustered.
“W-What do you mean you cannot go in?”
“If I could go in, I would. The road is too narrow. There is no way to get through.”
“How long will it take on foot? To Sauhin.”
When I asked, the coachman thought for a moment before answering.
“It will not take long. Maybe five minutes at most?”
“Five minutes…”
The units of measurement in this world never ceased to feel unfamiliar.
Suspiciously so, because they matched almost exactly with those of the world I had lived in during my previous life…
“Dr. Kain? What are you—?”
“Yes, let us go. Quickly.”
This was not the time to dwell on it.
We got down from the carriage and were about to head straight toward the village when the coachman stopped us.
“Hey, wait a moment.”
“What is the matter?”
“The money! You have to pay before you go!”
“Ah…”
I hurriedly searched the pockets of my coat and froze with an awkward expression.
“It seems I did not bring my wallet. Nyxle, you will have to pay…”
“What? N-No, Doctor…?”
“This is part of an investigation, is it not? Pay for now and bill it to Chief Justin.”
“Ah, th-then that should work.”
Nyxle paid the coachman with a visibly brighter expression.
The coachman had said it would take about five minutes to reach the village, but in reality it took even less than that. Our pace had simply been too fast.
“That is…?”
The moment we reached the village entrance, something felt off.
People were pouring out of the village, as if they were fleeing a disaster or a war.
Everyone looked terrified. Each breath I took carried the overwhelming stench of fear that stabbed at my nose.
I grabbed one of the fleeing villagers.
“Sir, what is going on?”
The man flinched in shock and violently shook my arm off.
“Let go, damn it! What do you think you are doing?”
“Could you at least tell me what happened?”
“A monster crossed the walls! It is huge. You should run too, hurry!”
“What about the people still inside the village…?”
“I-I do not know. They are probably all dead! There is no way anyone could survive against something like that…”
The man’s pupils shook violently.
“M-My wife is still… still inside the v-village… Ugh… Ughhh…!”
After showing symptoms like a panic attack, the man fled.
No one else would answer either. They only cursed, shook my arm away, and continued running.
It was not difficult to tell that something serious had happened. And that Draksan’s life was in grave danger.
Nyxle and I ran into the village.
We did not exchange a single word. This was not the time for conversation.
Corpses were strewn all over the village.
There were not just a few of them.
Compared to my previous life, this world was more barbaric.
It possessed technology and scenery closer to the early modern era than the Middle Ages, yet in the way life was treated as less sacred, it was much the same.
Living in such a place, one inevitably encountered corpses.
Even so, one never truly grew accustomed to the sight.
‘Especially the body of a child…’
I stared at the corpse of a child lying on the ground. Its side had been torn open, as if it had been mauled by something.
Nyxle was seeing the same thing.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
I took a deep breath.
My ordinary sense of smell was not particularly sharp. At best, I could barely tell whether food contained pepper or vinegar.
However, when it came to the scent of emotions, my sense of smell was sensitive enough to detect even the faintest trace.
Especially the thick, powerful scents of emotions such as hatred, rage, or the fear of death—I could smell them from dozens of meters away.
Such an intense odor was rising from somewhere and stabbing at my nose.
“Let us go that way. I can smell the emotions.”
“…Yes.”
Nyxle nodded and followed me. Perhaps because of the child’s corpse, her eyes had taken on a fierce glint.
Chasing the scent of emotion, we ran until we finally came to a halt.
“Ah…”
Nyxle let out a groan at the sight before us.
I, too, released a quiet breath. Or perhaps it was closer to an exclamation.
The monster that had reduced the village to this state stood before us.
Just as the fleeing man had said, it was enormous. It had the body of a giant bear, yet its face disturbingly resembled that of a human.
The monster drooled as it stared at a ranch.
It was the sort of place where cattle, pigs, or sheep would be kept, yet there was no livestock inside. Instead, villagers were gathered there like livestock.
And guarding the entrance to the ranch stood a single man.
He was well over two meters tall at a glance, with a massive build that made him look like a giant from afar.
A man with long, wild hair hanging down like a barbarian’s, holding axes in both hands. Blood and sweat streamed down his forehead, and his wet hair clung to his face, leaving it a mess, yet I recognized him.
“Draksan.”
There was no response when I called his name. The distance was too great for my voice to reach him, and even if it had, he would not have answered.
Having lost his reason, he stared only at the monster, drool dripping from his mouth, his appearance that of a madman.
Even without an explanation, I understood the situation. And I knew what had to be done.
“Doctor.”
Nyxle called out to me.
When I turned, I saw a flask in her hand.
The sloshing violet liquid was familiar.
It was the medicine Nyxle had once taken from me.
She had said that her sleep habits had changed due to night shifts and that she had developed insomnia, so I had given it to her.
“Please explain the situation well to Feral Wolf.”
It seemed she had taken it with this moment in mind from the start.
Nyxle opened the flask and drank the medicine.
THUD!
Her body collapsed, then gradually began to swell. Muscles bulged, and silvery fur sprouted from her skin.
When scars that had not been there before appeared around her eyes, Nyxle, who had been asleep, rose again.
No, saying that Nyxle rose was incorrect.
“Hmm… What is this, Dr. Kain? What is going on here?”
“Feral Wolf.”
Feral Wolf had awakened.
Compared to the first time I had seen her, Feral Wolf looked far gentler.
However, the beastly ferocity in her gaze and the overwhelming pressure radiating from her massive frame were unchanged. Her fur remained sharp like blades.
I was about to explain the situation to Feral Wolf as Nyxle had asked, but there was no need.
After looking at the monster and Draksan, Feral Wolf nodded as if she understood.
“So I just need to take care of that monster, right? Any introductions can wait until after that thing is dealt with.”
“That is correct.”
“Are you fighting too, Doctor?”
“Of course.”
I took out two pills from my pocket.
They were capsules encased in soft shells.
CRUNCH.
I tossed them into my mouth and bit down.
As the soft outer shells broke, the concentrated liquid inside flowed out.
The raw extracts of Clear Mind Elixir and Dawn’s Call.
I had used the extract of Dawn’s Call before. It accelerated reflexes and cognitive processing.
Under ordinary circumstances, that alone would have been more than enough, but not this time.
We were facing a monster that even Draksan had struggled against.
That was why I swallowed the extract of Clear Mind Elixir as well. When diluted, it was used like an antidepressant, but when consumed in its raw form, it drastically accelerated the flow of mana within the body…
‘Enhancing physical abilities, including strength.’
My body was not particularly weak to begin with, but after taking these two pills, I could obtain physical capabilities close to those of a superhuman.
‘Of course, there are limits and side effects.’
It could not be used consecutively, and I would have to endure days of horrific fatigue and muscle pain afterward, but that was fine.
This was not the time to worry about such things.
“I will not get in the way.”
“I certainly hope so.”
Feral Wolf extended her claws. Each one was long and sharp enough to rival a dagger.
Whether treatment came first or capture came first was not a question for now.
We had to defeat the monster and secure Draksan first.
With the same objective in mind, we charged at the monster.
***
Ian was born in Sauhin.
Under a father who was the captain of the Demonic Border Guard and a kind yet sometimes strict mother, he reached the age of thirteen without major incident.
Sauhin bordered the Demonic Border, and monsters occasionally crossed over. Because of that, population inflow was low, but Ian did not dislike Sauhin.
The monsters that crossed the border were usually no more than slightly larger, stronger wolves.
The uncles of the Demonic Border Guard could handle those, and even if a troublesome monster appeared, his father would resolve it quickly.
There were monsters even his father could not deal with. In such cases, powerful hunters from outside would step in, and that would be the end of it.
Low population inflow was not a problem. No, it was rather a good thing. With fewer newcomers, the existing villagers could grow closer.
Living well with his father and mother, his younger sister Eri, the neighbor Uncle Sigmund, and Sigmund’s daughter Karin was enough.
Ian wanted nothing more.
Next year, Ian planned to join the Demonic Border Guard and become a soldier who protected the village like his father.
When he became an adult, he planned to marry Karin. And then, like his parents, have two children…
That was when it appeared.
CRACK.
His father died by the creature’s swinging claws. His mother too…
Everything was chaotic.
At first, his father’s death did not feel real. Could someone as strong as his father really die so easily? The same was true of his mother. It felt as if she might stand up at any moment, holding her severed neck, and say, “It is all right, Ian,” in a warm voice.
But no such miracle occurred. His father died a gruesome death, and.
Where had that monster come from in the first place? Looking closely, it seemed familiar. A bear-like body, a human-like face.
In the village, it had been called the “bear monster.” It was strong and intelligent, troublesome enough that a notice had been posted to recruit hunters to deal with it.
‘But a hunter named Draksan dealt with the bear monster just yesterday.’
Wait. The monster before him now looked several times larger than the one from before.
Which meant the original monster had been a cub, and this one was likely the mother.
It seemed the enraged mother had appeared after her cub was killed.
Ian looked around. If there was any small mercy, Eri was alive.
The monster was busy devouring his father.
Monsters replenished mana by eating humans. Because strong humans had a greater flow of mana in their bodies, it was well known in regions bordering the Demonic Border that monsters especially coveted strong humans.
Ian grabbed Eri by the wrist.
“Come on. Let us go…”
“D-Dad… M-Mom… Mom…”
“Hurry… Hurry!”
Keeping his voice low so as not to draw the monster’s attention, he urged his sister and climbed out through the window. With his small frame, it was not difficult.
He met Karin. She was limping.
“What about Uncle Sigmund?”
There was no answer. He must have been dead.
“Let us go.”
“Where…?”
“I do not know. Anywhere… We just need to survive first, do we not?”
Survive first. That was something Ian had heard his father say until he was sick of it.
They had to run. Where to? They had to leave the village. After that…
There was no time to think that far.
GROWL.
A low rumbling sound reached his ears.
The hair on his entire body stood on end. A dreadful sense of terror wrapped around him. His muscles stiffened, and his feet would not lift from the ground.
Ian slowly turned his head.
The bear monster was right in front of him.
Drip, drip. Foul, stinking saliva gathered on its sharp teeth and fell onto the crown of Ian’s head.
The monster’s hot breath washed over his face.
Sensing death, Ian closed his eyes.
SPLIT!
He opened them when the sound rang out. It sounded like a woodcutter splitting firewood.
The monster that had been right before him was now pushed far back, and a large man stood in front of Ian as if shielding him.
Ian knew that man’s name.
‘Draksan.’
The hunter who had dealt with the bear monster yesterday… a powerful man whose name was known throughout the kingdom.
Draksan had likely already clashed with the bear monster once and been injured. His face was drenched in blood, and he was limping on one leg.
Yet without showing any sign of exhaustion, he grinned as he looked toward Ian and the other children.
“Go to the ranch. I will buy time, so look for an opening and run.”
“R-Run…?”
“…If you want to save Lena and Marien… you have to make a firm decision… understood?”
Lena… Marien?
Ian did not understand Draksan’s words. They were names he had never heard before.
But at that moment, both the bear monster and Draksan were terrifying.
“Did you understand, kid…?”
“Yes, yes!”
Ian nodded frantically and led his sister and Karin to the ranch.
The villagers were there.
There were adults among them, even elders renowned for their wisdom, but all were gripped by fear.
No one seemed to have the presence of mind to look after Ian, and Ian did not feel like relying on them either.
There was only one person he could rely on now. Draksan.
The bear monster and Draksan stared at each other, breathing heavily. Neither seemed able to approach the other easily. As the tense standoff dragged on, a thread of anxiety rose in Ian’s chest.
‘If Draksan dies here…’
What would happen then? Would everyone die? Just like that? As meaninglessly as his father and Uncle Sigmund?
As fear drained the strength from his legs, his gaze began to fall to the ground.
That was when he heard the villagers murmur, “H-Huh.”
Wondering what was happening, Ian looked up. A similar sound escaped his own lips.
“A wolf.”
A silver wolf, large enough to rival Draksan in sheer size and monstrous enough in appearance to be mistaken for a monster, was charging at the bear monster.
And behind that wolf ran a man.
“…A doctor?”
He was wearing a white coat. He did not look like he would be much help. He was not small, but compared to the wolf or Draksan, he looked slender.
That doctor looked like he would die if he were grazed by the bear monster’s claws. And yet… the doctor was charging at the monster with astonishing courage.
The moment the monster’s head turned toward the charging wolf and doctor.
The hunter who had been waiting for an opening roared and rushed in.
SPLIT!
Draksan buried his axe into the monster’s leg.
The battle began.