Chapter 75. Because I Got an Invitation
While he was hovering at death’s door,
Plen had a vicious nightmare.
No—was it a nightmare?
He was alone, left stranded in the middle of the Hamelin Great Forest, heading somewhere.
He pushed through the underbrush, his face scraped by twigs, and he kept falling over again and again.
‘But…… where was I going?’
A question close to unconscious reflex.
The answer surfaced without much difficulty.
‘……Right. Base Camp No. 1. The place with those dumb mercenaries who aren’t even like mercenaries.’
But why was he heading there?
Usually, when it came to Base Camp No. 1, he didn’t have good feelings.
No—was it only “not good”?
It was negative.
‘If they’ve been doing it for two hundred years, isn’t it about time they stopped?’
A petty jealousy. To be honest, it was envy.
But then why was he going to Base Camp No. 1?
Why had he been running with such desperate urgency just to meet Fixer—that old, stubborn fossil?
He couldn’t remember.
Only, he was desperate.
- Kieeek…!
- Keo!
Monsters of the great forest blocking his path with every step.
Even as he narrowly escaped death again and again—by their grasp, by their teeth, by their claws—there was only one thought in his head.
‘I have to meet Fixer. I have to meet Fixer.’
He had to meet the Chief of Base Camp No. 1.
Meet that Chief who wasn’t like a mercenary at all, and……
‘Meet the Chief…… and what was I going to do?’
Wait.
‘Chief? Chief…… ah. Chief.’
That was when a scene that had sunk into darkness shot up to the surface all at once.
Chief.
Leader.
Why had he tried to meet another camp’s Chief, not his own?
- Live.
With his chest pierced through, those eyes were losing their light.
Like turning back time on a cup steeped in ink, the black energy drained away in a rush.
Eyes turning gray.
- You’re the Chief.
‘The Chief…… died.’
The owner of Victima had taken his last breath.
There had been no warning signs.
Just a pale hand that had come out of nowhere, piercing straight through his chest.
And then……
- Slide.
Beyond the collapsing body, one shape became visible.
A black robe wrapped around the entire body, pitch-black as if it held every kind of foulness, yet beneath the hood, the gleaming eyes were innocent.
Like a child watching insects out of sheer curiosity.
‘……A demon.’
If there were demons that existed only in myth, would they look like that?
As instinctive fear rose, wildfire-like rage flooded his chest.
‘That bastard…….’
No—he had to avenge the Chief.
That was when light returned to Plen’s retinas.
“Huk!”
A deep breath that had sunk far into his lungs, then burst through his throat all at once!
In that moment, someone’s voice stabbed into his ear.
“No, Mage-nim. Even so, if you hit someone who’s unconscious like that…… huh? He really got up?”
It was a voice that felt oddly familiar.
This frivolous voice was…… yeah, the Pathfinder who ran in and out of the great forest constantly yet somehow always managed to protect his own life.
‘Raileigh…… was it?’
But why did his cheek hurt this much?
He reflexively brought a hand to his cheek, and as his retinas adjusted to the light, a clear image formed.
It formed—and……
“……Huk!”
If the breath before had been the act of exhaling, this was the opposite.
When you face unexpected fear, you lose control of your breathing and suck air in.
“……Wh-who?”
Plen calmed his pounding chest and looked at the one grabbing him by the collar.
The appearance was quite peculiar.
Deep gray hair, and a black mask.
And those eyes……
Gulp.
As Plen swallowed under pressure he couldn’t put into words, a voice rang by his ear.
“Let me ask you something.”
“W-what…….”
“What happened here? If you answer obediently, I’ll at least spare your life— ah, is that not it? Anyway.”
“If you mean here…….”
Plen looked around with dazed eyes.
But something felt familiar.
From the wooden barricade visible behind the masked man, to the watch posts set up at regular intervals.
And even the tents beneath them.
“Don’t tell me… Base Camp No. 2……?”
Why was he here?
‘I was definitely…… heading to Base Camp No. 1.’
But Aster’s party didn’t wait for Plen to fully grasp the situation.
“I understand you’re confused. But I’ll explain in time. More importantly, I think it’d be best if you answer that mage’s question.”
“What is everyone even— ah, no. For now…… understood.”
Plen forced down the chaos inside him with superhuman composure.
Because whoever he was, the masked man’s gaze was downright chilling.
“But before that…… what happened to our Chief?”
“He’s dead.”
“…….”
At Fixer’s answer, Plen clamped his mouth shut.
But only for a moment.
“As expected. But what happened here, you ask…….”
From the nuance, it seemed it wasn’t only Chief Hallig who had suffered misfortune.
Probably something had happened to everyone in Base Camp No. 2.
“First, I’ll tell you only as far as I remember.”
Plen wanted to shake off the hands on him right away and check on the other members, but he answered the masked man’s question first.
And when his explanation ended—
“Hm. So that’s what happened?”
That was when the masked man released his collar.
The masked man shuffled off somewhere.
Plen blankly followed him with a haunted expression, then turned his gaze away.
“……I want to look over Base Camp No. 2. Is that all right?”
“It’d be better not to look, but…….”
“……?”
Fixer’s answer made no sense to him.
Plen frowned slightly, then pushed himself up.
“I don’t know what you mean, but I have a duty to confirm.”
- You’re the Chief.
Now Victima’s Chief was him.
Even if he’d been left alone, the responsibility his Chief had placed on his shoulders hadn’t vanished.
The name Victima hadn’t faded.
Seeing that resolve, Fixer jerked his chin.
“Then…… go to the central plaza.”
“……Yes. Then.”
Plen bowed his head slightly as he looked into Fixer’s eyes, which carried an odd worry.
And not long after—
……!
A scream rang out across Base Camp No. 2.
……! ……! …………!
It was the echo of a beast that had lost language—something that didn’t look human at all.
As the screams echoed through Base Camp No. 2 like that—
“……So you were here.”
Fixer found Aster up on the rear gate watch post and walked over.
Aster’s gaze was fixed on the Hamelin Great Forest. Fixer watched him for a moment, then spoke.
“You’re…… quite cruel.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Can’t you hear that? Was there some reason you insisted on showing that scene to Plen?”
Originally, the moment Aviot’s mercenaries discovered the disaster, they tried to collect the dead right away.
But—
- For now, let’s just leave it.
Aster stepped forward and blocked them.
The mercenaries tilted their heads, not understanding.
A few even showed faint resistance to Aster’s instruction.
And yet Aster’s will was stubborn.
- Leave it. We’ll handle it within today.
At first, Fixer thought it was to find traces of the culprit……
‘But it wasn’t even that.’
Because Aster only swept his eyes over the scene once—at that first moment—and never again.
“You have to see your comrades’ end with your own eyes.”
“……I don’t think that’s a good choice.”
“Not right now, sure. But isn’t it better than keeping it in your heart for a long, long time?”
“That, to some extent…… mm. No. No.”
Fixer cut off his own words.
For some reason, Aster’s back as he looked at the great forest felt hollow.
‘Like…… someone who’s lost countless comrades.’
In truth, who hasn’t ever lost comrades?
But the mage in front of him felt a little different.
Like someone who had lost countless comrades, and yet not only hadn’t seen their end—he hadn’t even heard of it.
But that aside—
“I think you should tell me now.”
From the day they picked up Plen to today, when they arrived at Base Camp No. 2,
Fixer finally spoke the question he’d been holding.
“That day, what did you see? What is this ‘rat bastard’ you mentioned? Is it connected to that man in the black robe Plen talked about earlier?”
The man in the black robe Plen had described.
The one who had suddenly appeared without any sign or presence and pierced Hallig’s heart.
That was who he meant.
That was when Aster turned his gaze away from the great forest.
“You can think of him as one of that bunch.”
“A bunch?”
“Not just one or two.”
“Mm…… that makes sense.”
Fixer nodded like he understood.
The disaster in Base Camp No. 2.
No one escaped—everyone’s breath stopped in the central plaza.
A complete massacre.
Even someone who’d reached an unfathomable realm couldn’t butcher every mercenary in one place like that.
So it had to be a group.
“Then, what did you find out that day?”
“What did I find out…….”
Aster, arms crossed, looked down at the ground.
To be perfectly honest, he hadn’t found much of anything.
- Heh, hehehe. I-it’s the Precursor’s command. That guy is just bait to guide us to a place with more sacrifices.
- Bait?
- Tremble in fear, you insignificant mage. He has marked you. A death without rest awaits you.
He hadn’t even started any real interrogation,
and the bastard ended it there and went “kweh” and died.
He’d taken his own life.
Of course, calling it “kweh” was just a figure of speech—it was nothing like an ordinary suicide.
- Pasaseu—
As if all moisture had drained out.
That body crumbled into sand.
All that remained was ominously dark ash and clothing.
Even that ash scattered and fluttered on the wind.
In the end, the only proof the bastard had existed was the blood on Aster’s hand and those shabby clothes.
But.
‘It’s not like I found out nothing.’
The concealment magic he used.
It wasn’t on the same track as ordinary concealment magic.
He wasn’t hiding in shadows—he was literally seeped into the shadows.
‘It didn’t seem very stable, though…….’
When Collision Style interfered with magic power, the fusion with the shadow was easily undone.
That was why Aster could pull him out.
Anyway, there was another clue.
The ominous energy the bastard emitted as he killed himself.
‘It was definitely…… Demonic Energy.’
No—since it was refined, should it be called Black Magic Power?
Aster relayed those facts to Fixer as they were.
Except he left out everything related to “Demonic Energy.”
“Hmm…… unidentified mages.”
After hearing the circumstances, Fixer slightly crumpled his face.
“Of all times…… why now? What in the world is their goal?”
“……Who knows.”
Aster shrugged.
Of course, it wasn’t as if he had no suspicions.
‘The only ones who accumulate Demonic Energy are black mages. Then…….’
Forbidden Magic Society, Salvatium.
A sinister tie from a previous life. Ominous beings lurking in the shadows—ones he’d become entangled with after dealing with Friegen.
They were the most likely.
Aster recalled the information about Salvatium he’d heard from Professor Felina several times.
- Not all black mages belong to Salvatium. But regardless of affiliation, Salvatium is above all black mages. And the reason is……
‘Because of the existence of those Geumma-sa, was it?’
Beings who learned forbidden magic like black mages did, but walked a different track.
‘Then…….’
One existence surfaced in Aster’s mind.
The man in the black robe Plen had described.
‘Is he a Geumma-sa?’
He could have been just one of the many black mages, but Aster had a strong feeling that wasn’t it.
If all of these guesses were true—
‘Then their goal is probably…….’
Destrow.
That had to be it.
From what he’d heard from Professor Felina, Salvatium moved with ugly things like the Demon Realm as its objective.
‘No, does it even matter.’
Aster gathered up his thoughts and lifted his head again.
In front of the watch post.
Thick underbrush could be seen below, while giant trees stood packed together, blocking the view.
And in between—
Chirrrk, chirrk.
Crickets crying at regular intervals, spaced apart.
Whatever their objective, it was faster to confirm with his own eyes than to brood a thousand times.
Especially when……
‘They’re sending such an obvious invitation.’
Aster gave a bitter smile at the familiars lined up in a neat trail as if guiding the way.
“For now, let’s put the complicated thoughts aside and stay here tonight.”
“……Mm, yes. We probably have to, if we’re going to collect Victima’s mercenaries. But—”
Fixer trailed off and lowered his gaze.
Because the Aster beside him was already beneath the watch post, beyond the barricade.
“Where are you going?”
At that question, Aster answered without turning back.
“Because I got an invitation.”
“An invitation?”
Fixer tilted his head in confusion, then seemed to realize something—“Don’t tell me…….”
“Those…… unidentified mages? Then I should go with you too— mm.”
Fixer couldn’t finish his sentence.
Because Aster had already disappeared.
Only—
[If I’m not back by tomorrow morning, depart first. I’ll follow without being late.]
—message magic flickered by his ear.
“What the hell…….”
Fixer stared blankly in the direction he assumed Aster had gone.
‘A guy with a lot of secrets.’
He mostly spills information, but he hides the most crucial parts tight.
A guy you can’t figure out at all.
“Tsk.”
Fixer turned sharply and jumped down from the watch post.
‘It’s not something I need to be curious about.’
He just had to escort and guide the party to Base Camp No. 4, and that was it.
But why was it?
“…….”
Fixer kept looking back again and again.
In his eyes was a faint worry he didn’t even notice himself.