"Is it over there?"
"Yes—right there."
The truck had stopped atop a small grassy knoll. As they disembarked, Idri stared at the familiar village below, a flicker of unease in his eyes.
About five hundred meters away, a modest village sat beside a small stream at the foot of the hill. Most houses looked like simple wooden structures with thatched roofs; only the village church had been built from roughly hewn dressed stone. Even so, every building had been painted blue and white—the same style Hielaina had seen in the town where they'd been invited to the banquet—only…
"This… I don't see anything wrong."
Otto, Nordhausen, and Edwin stood spaced along the knoll's edge, each holding a field glass and scanning the village below. According to Idri's report, a creature the size of a house had attacked this village, but from their vantage point the roofs were intact and the roads showed no obvious traces of havoc. There were no clear signs that a monster had rampaged through.
"Are you sure this is the place?"
Edwin was the first to turn and ask Idri, puzzled. The question left Idri confused for a moment—he didn't know what the others were getting at.
"Look for yourself."
Edwin stepped closer and handed Idri one of the binoculars. Flustered, Idri mimicked them and raised the glass to his eyes. The village filled the lens—every detail magnified.
"This… this can't be!"
Now he understood what Edwin meant. Idri spun to face them, wanting to explain, but he didn't know where to begin. He raised the binoculars again, desperately searching the magnified scene for the evidence of an attack.
"I remember clearly! The hunter's house at the village entrance was smashed over by that thing—it knocked it flat in one go. I was on the road beside his yard at the time. And there were so many corpses on the square in front of the church—yet this…"
Idri looked from the village to Edwin and back again. He simply could not reconcile what he had seen with what lay before them.
"What do people in your village usually be doing at this time?"
Otto lowered his binoculars and asked, turning his head.
"At this hour…"
Idri glanced at the sun sinking westward.
"In a little while the people working out in the fields will be returning. It's harvest season—the summer crops have just been gathered and winter crops are being sown. Many are in the fields; not many stay in the village."
He answered honestly, not daring to hide anything.
"But not only in the village—there isn't a single person nearby either."
Hearing Otto, Edwin also recalled the empty village he'd seen. Indeed, there were no people in sight.
"When I escaped, everyone hid in the church cellar. We agreed they wouldn't come out until I returned, unless something changed. The church stores the grain collected this month, so they shouldn't starve."
At the last, his gaze clouded. In ordinary times, stealing grain the church had requisitioned would be punishable by hanging, but these were not ordinary times—and the priest was dead. If the church investigated later… Idri forced himself not to think ahead. The urgent problem now was the creature.
"Shall I go check the church?"
Edwin adjusted the submachine gun slung across his chest; he looked ready.
"I'll go. You and Her Highn… Sennia, wait here. I'll come back and consult with you if anything happens."
Nordhausen spoke up.
"All right. Take a squad and look around the village. We'll support you immediately if you run into trouble."
Otto considered briefly and nodded. They had fought together a hundred times; no one complained about who went first. So Edwin didn't argue—besides, Nordhausen was the most senior.
"About that monster…"
After Nordhausen left, Otto turned back to Idri. The question felt odd, but Otto went on anyway:
"Is there anything else we should pay attention to?"
"Anything to note…"
Idri frowned and let his gaze drop as he thought.
"Sorry… I honestly don't know what else to say…"
After a moment he raised his head and answered again.
"Never mind. Leave it to us now."
Whether from the journey or from anxiety, Idri looked shaken. Otto stopped pressing; his questions had been partly a test.
In the rear of the group, Hielaina was watching closely as well. From where she sat she could make out the village, though without having taken the Compound Three injection her vision was not as sharp as the others'.
"Do any of you feel anything different?" she asked.
"Different how?"
"Like… that magical fluctuation you sensed that night in the Holy Guard camp. Only the two of you can use magic here."
"Only the two of us?"
Inaya didn't understand the last remark—only Shatiel was beside her.
"Oh—don't you know?"
"Know what?"
"Shatiel picked up some of your spells."
"Oh? Really."
Inaya's reaction was far more blasé than Hielaina expected. Wouldn't she be angry that someone had learned spells she'd been keeping to herself?
"It's nothing. Lightning is almost always the first lesson for casters—everyone learns it, at least that's how it is where I'm from."
Having answered Hielaina's question, Inaya flashed a mischievous smile at Shatiel.
"Come on, show the master what you've learned."
"…"
Shatiel only glanced at her, then returned her eyes to the distance.
"Tsk—you…"
Seeing Inaya rolling up her sleeves as if to start a fight, Hielaina had to step between them.
"She's asking for it."
"What? You're the one who's annoying!"
Hielaina's intervention did little. Inaya flailed tiny fists and tried to push past Hielaina. Shatiel, usually unmoved, stirred when she saw Hielaina shoved.
"Stop—stop—"
Caught between a friend and a lover, Hielaina was exhausted. Even analyzing Dazilet's diplomatic situation hadn't made her this weary.
"What's going on?"
Otto walked over at the sound of the commotion but didn't quite know how to handle the scene.
"It's nothing. They're just playing."
Hielaina offered an embarrassed smile, and the two calmed when they took one arm of each girl —enough to prevent the ruckus from escalating.
"Hmph—"
Although forcibly separated, Inaya still looked sulky; the contrast between her stormy expression and Shatiel's unreadable calm was striking.
"Nordhausen's back—"
Edwin's timely shout came from the front.
"That was quick."
Seeing Inaya settle down, Otto gave Hielaina a nod and gently set her down, then walked toward the others.
"Don't look at me like that—this isn't the time for games."
Inaya strode forward to get a look without turning back, leaving Hielaina half amused and half exasperated.
"Let's go over too."
Hielaina released Shatiel and sighed; holding Shatiel again had felt oddly comforting. She always kept watch outside the tent at night, only nodding off in the small hours—by then Hielaina would already be asleep.
"What did you find?"
They gathered: the three officers to one side, the three young ladies to the other, with Idri still standing by Edwin. Everyone awaited Nordhausen's words. Idri was especially tense, staring hard at Nordhausen for any hint—though Otto himself rarely read Nordhausen's expression.
"We examined the houses in the village and found nothing amiss. In the few houses I inspected personally, the signs of daily life were clear—there were no traces of a struggle. It does, however, appear the houses have been uninhabited for a while—probably not long, roughly a week. As for the church…"
"What about the church? The church—what about it?!"
Nordhausen's pause detonated Idri's long-suppressed anxiety. He took a step forward, as if to lunge at Nordhausen, but his legs trembled and failed him; he was clearly fighting to hold his composure.
"We found the cellar Idri mentioned," Nordhausen said. "But calling it a cellar is misleading—it's more like a pit. There's nothing down there. Just a deep, bottomless hole."
"Wha—what?"
Confusion pushed aside panic for a moment. The string of inexplicable facts had nearly shattered Idri's ability to think. First the intact village, now a pit… where was that house-sized beast? Where were the bodies he'd swore he'd seen? Had the horrors been illusions?
Idri stared at his own hands; the blood scab that had not yet fully healed was a stubborn reminder that what he'd gone through had been real—the wound came from his stumble while running away.
"For the record, I didn't feel any abnormal magical fluctuations," Idri added quietly.
He fell silent after that. Otto and Edwin absorbed Nordhausen's report in silence, and Inaya seized the pause to speak up.
"Then we should go inspect the site ourselves. Is there anything in that hole?"
"Not sure. The shaft is very deep and drops vertically from the cellar opening. We didn't scout its interior."
"I understand."
Having grasped the situation, Otto finally looked to Hielaina. She understood what he was asking and replied:
"If that's the case, I agree. We'll only find out what happened to this village by going down into that pit."
"All right."
Otto's acceptance was brisk, but he hesitated a touch. Was it appropriate to have Hielaina join them? There was no obvious danger right now, and she had expressed the wish to go—so they would take things step by step. After all, impulsive, on-the-ground decisions were the way they usually operated.