Ch.111The Anomaly of the Marshlands

“GRUAAAAA-!!”

*BOOM!*

After departing from the Cat-folk village and traveling west for about 4 hours, we found ourselves in a fierce battle with a massive monster. Its powerful visual impact—standing 5 meters tall with a bulbous head, severe baldness, and an ugly face—was definitely something I remembered.

“It looks like the one we met in the ruins.”

“It’s a Swamp Troll. Other than having resistance to poison, it’s not much different from a Mountain Troll.”

“Swamp? But we’re in a forest… Anyway, that means we can easily take it down with fire attacks.”

Despite saying that, we were fighting in a dense forest. If Phyllis’s Fireball or my enchanted bullets with fire attributes went astray, they could cause a major forest fire. In other words, Seti was the only one who could safely use fire attacks in close combat.

“Hiyaaah!”

*SLASH!*

“GARRRRRR!”

*THUD*

As Seti’s glowing red spear cut through the Swamp Troll’s ankle, its 5-meter-tall body crashed heavily to the ground. Already slow and hindered by the forest trees, the Swamp Troll couldn’t even swing its bone club effectively, making it no match for Seti.

“Great, now it’s a stationary target!”

“Flame Lance!”

“Lightning Bolt!”

Magic and enchanted bullets rained down on the massive heap of flesh rolling on the ground. Having left its home territory, the Swamp Troll didn’t even get a chance to use its specialty—brute strength and regeneration—before meeting its pitiful end.

“Phew, it’s frustrating knowing fire is effective but not being able to use it freely.”

“I apologize for not fulfilling my role properly. Next time we encounter one near a swamp, I’ll make up for it.”

“Don’t apologize. Don’t think like that. There are different tactics for different situations, right?”

“I agree with Jessica. If anyone should apologize, it’s the one who mistook me for a swamp troll.”

“Eh? Phyllis said that to you, Will?”

“W-Will! About that day…!”

Caught off guard by this unexpected revelation, Phyllis was visibly flustered. She tried to cover my mouth, but realizing it was too late, she desperately began explaining herself to Jessica and Seti.

“Please don’t misunderstand, Jessica! Seti! I never meant to insult Will!”

“Well… I know Phyllis isn’t the type to casually insult others, but Will, what on earth did you do to make her say something like that?”

“Oh? You believe Phyllis over me?”

“With that sly grin on your face, anyone would think you’re the guilty one. Was it something so bad you can’t tell me about it?”

“N-No, that’s not it! I swear to the heavens I never did anything improper with Will behind your backs!”

“Sure, sure. Since there was nothing improper, let’s take this opportunity to tell everyone about it.”

“Ah, aah…”

Phyllis was in a complete panic, unable to decide what to do. If she admitted that I had seen her bare legs, her elven female dignity would be compromised, but if she tried to brush it off, Jessica and Seti would only grow more suspicious. The recent adultery misunderstanding at the Cat-folk village only added to her confusion.

“Alright, calm down. If it’s difficult to talk about, I won’t pry.”

“R-Really? But I don’t feel right letting Jessica suspect Will…”

“I’m not opposed to Will having Phyllis as a lover, and if they’d done something naughty, Will would have told me already. I’m guessing Will accidentally discovered some secret of yours that’s hard to share with others? If that’s the case, you can tell us whenever you’re ready.”

“Umm… thank you for understanding.”

As Phyllis finally regained her composure after hearing Jessica’s words, Mina suddenly threw out a comment:

“You know what? I think Phyllis might actually be a klutz.”

“Wha!?”

“You seem strict, but you have quite a few weak points. Even that girl Roberta at the Willow Sanctuary mentioned it—how you oversleep and aren’t always proper…”

“Th-That’s a misunderstanding. Anyone might sleep defensively when exhausted or after intense battle. Roberta must have seen me in such a state.”

Phyllis’s desperate attempts to maintain her cool leader image were almost pitiful to watch. What surprised me was that she had shared rooms with Seti and Jessica in Riverside, yet they hadn’t discovered her true nature yet.

“Anyway, now that we’ve defeated the troll, let’s collect the magic stone and get moving.”

“Y-Yes, indeed. The trees are dense here and the terrain is uneven. We should reach the forest outskirts before sunset to find a suitable camping spot.”

With my supporting fire helping her escape Mina’s interrogation, Phyllis gave me a subtle grateful nod before taking the initiative to extract the Swamp Troll’s magic stone. Watching her from behind, Mina’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. I had a feeling Phyllis’s true self would be exposed in the not-too-distant future.

After collecting the Swamp Troll’s magic stone and resuming our march, we left the dense forest and encountered a horrifying enemy while preparing to camp. With a buzzing sound of wings, giant mosquitoes appeared, each 30-40 centimeters long. Their stick-like bodies and limbs made them incredibly difficult targets to hit with guns, but—

“Diamond Dust!”

Jessica, who had been gathering magical power until the mosquitoes approached, unleashed an ice spell that instantly froze them mid-air before they shattered upon hitting the ground.

“Wow. Wiped them all out in one shot.”

“Swamp Mosquitoes are among the weakest wild insects. They have no notable attack abilities other than sucking blood from animals and humans, so they’re not dangerous unless they bite you while you’re sleeping.”

“Swamp Mosquitoes, huh? So these insects also live in swamplands?”

“That’s right. They have a wider range than Swamp Trolls, but we should still be at least 20 kilometers from any swamp… that’s strange…”

Swamp Trolls and Swamp Mosquitoes. Despite the difference between monster and wild insect, both have “swamp” in their names, indicating their firmly established habitats. The fact that these creatures had traveled so far from their natural habitats into the forest was undoubtedly an ominous sign.

“If creatures are leaving their natural habitats, it could be due to the appearance of a powerful predator or some natural disaster. We should remain vigilant for now.”

“I can handle powerful monsters, but I’d rather pass on natural disasters…”

“Let’s continue setting up camp. Even if there are more monsters that have left their habitats, we’ll be safe once we deploy the Repellation Field.”

We suppressed our unease and hurriedly prepared our camp according to Jessica’s instructions. The clouds heavily shrouding the western sky where the sun had set seemed to be hiding something ominous happening beyond them.

~ ~ ~ Near the 5th Western City Swamplands ~ ~ ~

The toxic swamplands near the 5th Western City “Atelier” were both a barren land inhospitable to human traffic and a treasure trove of resources, offering rare medicinal herbs and materials from mutant monsters. However, the creatures living there—from giant toads to plant monsters and birds—were all formidable. Returning from these toxic swamps with valuable materials was beyond the dreams of all but the most skilled adventurers.

Conversely, adventurers with sufficient skill and preparation could expect stable income here instead of competing in the crowded western frontier. The C-rank guild-certified party “Trinity,” consisting of two humans and one elf, was one such group of adventurers who had settled in Atelier for stable profits.

That is, until today, before sunset.

“Cough… hack…”

Three adventurers lay fallen in the toxic swamp west of Atelier. Or more precisely, two corpses and one adventurer who would soon become a corpse. The elven male who was still breathing had a thin, long dagger piercing his chest and was coughing up dark red blood, while his two human companions had already been decapitated, their heads and bodies rolling in the muddy swamp.

“There’s no need to fear. Experiencing death is but a moment, and soon you’ll shed all your shackles and be reborn.”

A man with black skin, pointed ears, and dark purple hair looked down at the blood-spitting elven male as he spoke. Ominous black magical energy was rising from the dagger embedded in the elf’s chest.

“…Save… me…”

*THUD*

The elven male, begging for his life from an attacker who looked identical to him except for skin and hair color, collapsed and died. But then something strange happened. The fallen elf’s snow-white skin and light blonde hair darkened, and his stopped heart began beating again. Watching this transformation, the attacker pulled the weapon from the victim’s chest and smiled with satisfaction as he offered words of congratulation.

“Congratulations on your birth, new member of the great Dark Elf family.”

As if those words were a magical incantation, the wound on the victim’s chest vanished without a trace. Soon after, the elf—no, the entirely different being he had become—opened his eyes and slowly rose above the toxic swamp.

It was the moment another Dark Elf was born into the world.