Ch.402Episode 16 – The Six Million Dollar Man

A monster lives in the village.

This wasn’t a simple metaphor or a humorous expression referring to someone with a difficult temperament.

“Are you saying there’s a monster inhabiting that area?”

“That’s right, Mr. Asud.”

Farid Al Bas nodded.

He explained that there was a monster habitat near the village I wanted to visit. To be more precise,

“There’s a barren swamp to the northeast of the village.”

A monster colony exists nearby.

“What’s a barren swamp?”

Camilla, sitting in the passenger seat, asked me.

I silently stared into space. Not because I didn’t want to answer, but because I was struggling to find an appropriate analogy.

“It’s like a spawning pool.”

“A spawning pool?”

“Yes.”

I added.

“It’s a place that produces monsters.”

Episode 16 – The Six Million Dollar Man

I parked the vehicle on a hill and surveyed the village.

The village was so far away that even through binoculars, there was a noticeable sense of distance.

White smoke rose from each house, suggesting they were preparing meals, and several local men were busy harvesting crops in the fields.

“Hmm…”

Camilla, who had been examining the desert with its sparse brown grass, lowered her binoculars.

“It looks like a normal village to me.”

As she said, the village I had marked was just an ordinary rural community.

There were no buildings made with modern construction materials like steel and concrete, just houses and granaries built with wood and mud.

This peripheral village seemed no different from the numerous settlements we had passed through so far.

The only difference was that there was a ‘barren swamp’ far to the northeast of the village.

Camilla spoke up.

“That must be the barren wetland you mentioned earlier.”

“Swamp.”

“Ah, that. You said it was like a spawning pool, right?”

The barren swamp is a kind of ‘spawning pool.’

A spawning pool where monsters eat other monsters, monsters give birth, offspring grow up to devour their aging parents, and then lay eggs.

“The barren swamp is the region with the highest monster population in the Mauritanian continent. It’s roughly the size of Lake Victoria, and the entire area is essentially a factory that churns out monsters.”

Simply put, it’s a gate. The same gate that appears in web novels, spewing out monsters and requiring hunters to enter and close it.

When I finished my explanation, Camilla’s eyes widened in shock. She was surprised by the notion that monsters emerged as if mass-produced from a factory.

“Is it that serious? If so, maybe we should retreat from here as people are suggesting.”

“No. The distance is far enough that it shouldn’t be a major concern.”

I took back the binoculars and spoke.

“It’s true that the barren swamp is the largest monster habitat in the Mauritanian continent, and the monsters there are dangerous, but there’s actually no significant problem. The barren swamp is at least two days away from here.”

At a distance of two days, the probability of monsters appearing here is slim.

Even when I was operating in the northern part of the Kiyen Empire, cities and villages more than a day away from habitats didn’t suffer monster attacks. The greater the physical distance between the habitat and the village, the more rapidly the probability of monsters visiting the village decreases.

There was an incident where a swarm of corpse spiders and a giant spider attacked the Rift, but that had to be considered an exception. It was a case involving a demon.

“And as far as I know, this region hasn’t been attacked by monsters in the last three months. Correspondents operating in the capital have also testified that they haven’t heard of any villages being attacked by monsters.”

“International reporters?”

Camilla tilted her head with a puzzled expression.

“When did you meet such people? We were together the whole time in the capital.”

“I have a friend who’s the social affairs editor at a magic tower news agency. He’s well-connected in the industry, and that’s where I got this information.”

“I see.”

Anyway, it was abundantly clear that the village I wanted to visit had a significantly low probability of being attacked by monsters.

But the warlord’s people seemed to think differently.

“Shouldn’t we turn back now?”

“Let’s request support from the tribe first…”

“Is there any way to bring in a shaman?”

“It’s best to leave this place quickly…”

They were engaged in serious conversation.

According to Camilla’s assessment, they were divided into two groups: conservatives who insisted that entering the village was absolutely forbidden, and cautious ones who believed it would be fine to enter the village if thoroughly prepared. The ratio was roughly 7:3.

Of course, there were also those with moderate tendencies who did nothing. People like Farid, for example.

While the tribesmen were engaged in heated debate, he sat in the vehicle, staring blankly at the horizon. His attitude suggested that whatever conclusion was reached, it had nothing to do with him.

As time passed, the atmosphere seemed to be tilting toward the conservative faction. This was a natural outcome since they had greater numbers from the start. A middle-aged local who had been talking with the tribesmen came to our SUV to inform us of the result.

“Let’s head back for now, Mr. Reporter.”

“We’re not going to the village?”

“It’s a dangerous place. Wouldn’t it be better to conduct your reporting in a safer environment next time?”

The middle-aged local pleaded with a sincere tone, pressing his hands together.

If I, a guest of Chief Al Bas, were to be injured or killed in their territory, there would certainly be repercussions. Nayan Al Bas, who was responsible for protecting his guest, would be criticized for failing to fulfill his duty as a host. The tribe’s honor would be tarnished, and given the local custom of valuing honor above life, the relationship between Nayan and me would inevitably become strained.

“…I understand.”

I finally relented. Upon hearing my positive response, the warlord’s people hurriedly began preparing to return.

Camilla looked at the village with regretful eyes, but unlike her usual self, she didn’t insist on going there even for a moment. Instead, she offered words of comfort.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. We can visit the government forces’ outpost another time. Taking a detour isn’t going to cause any problems…”

I stopped as I was inserting the key.

“…is it?”

A strange sound was coming from somewhere. A sharp metallic noise, like machine parts grinding against each other.

At first, I thought there was something wrong with the engine. But the key in the vehicle hadn’t been turned yet. The SUV’s engine was still quietly dormant.

I poked my head out the window.

Outside, the warlord’s people were about to start their engines, with their car doors open and bodies half out of their vehicles, surveying the surroundings.

“Where is that sound coming from?”

“We don’t know either.”

That’s when it happened.

Camilla, sitting in the passenger seat, slapped my shoulder repeatedly and shouted for me to look outside.

“Where? Where am I supposed to look?”

“There! The field over there!”

“The field?”

I quickly took out my binoculars to examine the field. I stretched my neck and slightly furrowed my brow to get a better look.

Like black ink spreading on a white canvas, black dots were gradually spreading across the golden field. It wasn’t particularly fast or slow, but there was something unsettling about the scene that kept me from looking away.

After observing the black dots coloring the field for a while, I suddenly muttered.

“…Insects?”

They were insects.

*

The alarm was raised by a wooden watchtower standing at the boundary between the village and the fields.

An old man watching the horizon announced the attack by vigorously beating an iron cauldron.

“Monsters! The monsters are coming!”

They were locusts.

Locusts larger than an adult man’s palm were swarming toward them.

When thousands of locusts rubbed their bodies and wings together, it created a scratching sound like metal being scraped. When the enormous swarm took flight together, it created the illusion of flames rising.

A farmer stood dumbfounded at the sight of the locusts rising as if carried by the wind. With a blank stare, he watched as the locusts descended upon him, and soon he disappeared into the yellow torrent. It wasn’t just the farmer’s form that vanished. The sound of flesh being devoured and terrible screams disappeared as well.

“Run!”

“Bring the oil! Oil!”

When the alarm sounded, farmers working in the fields began to sprint ahead of one another. Strong men who had remained in the village also ran out and started running in the same direction. Each of them carried oil containers in their hands.

The farmers who arrived at the scene first began to grab armfuls of hay and throw them on the ground. As they laid down dried hay and branches in a line, the strong men poured oil over them.

“Hurry! Hurry!”

The men shouted toward some farmers who were running toward them. These were farmers who had heard the alarm late because they were working far away, or who hadn’t managed to keep up.

When one farmer at the front fell, the swarm of locusts engulfed him. But the other farmers didn’t see this. They tried not to see it.

The swarm of locusts, having completely stripped away discarded farming tools and human flesh, was advancing while devouring crops that weren’t even ripe yet. The swarm, moving at 80 km/h, only slowed down after devouring a few farmers who had fallen behind.

The men who had been waiting anxiously for the farmers to arrive quickly threw torches onto the hay piles only after the last person had crossed over.

-Whoosh!

A red line began to form on the ground where hay and branches were entangled. The flame, emitting black smoke, flowed along the oil, forming a barrier of fire.

It wasn’t particularly large in scale, but it was enough to halt the advance of the killer locusts.

-Hissssss!!

The black wave covering the golden field met the red river. The swarm of killer locusts, which had been charging forward with fierce momentum, was thrown into confusion by the sudden heat of the flames.

The eerie sound of them colliding and crushing each other filled the field. People with wet cloths covering their mouths finally smiled as if the tension had been released.

Just then, a farmer on the left screamed in a shrill voice.

“The-the fire won’t catch!”

“What?”

A man pushed through the crowd and grabbed the panicked farmer, questioning him.

“What do you mean the fire won’t catch?”

“Exactly what I said. The fire won’t spread! I don’t know if the oil is wrong or if the hay is wet…”

The man’s eyes turned toward the strong men. They were pouring fresh oil onto the branches and hay, and trying to ignite it with the torches they were holding.

Whether by good fortune or not, the swarm of locusts didn’t seem to have noticed that there was a section where the fire hadn’t caught yet. The man quickly ordered them to bring hay and oil from other areas.

But it was too late.

The black swarm of locusts facing the red river began to retreat. Like water flowing down a wall, the black wave colored the golden field as it moved downward.

Many people backed away as the killer locusts pushed through the narrow gap.

That’s when it happened.

-Whoooosh!!

A massive wave of fire filled the remaining gap in the red river. The swarm of locusts that had been digging into the gaps along the flames were engulfed and burned to ashes.

That wasn’t the end.

The shot of flame approached the killer locust swarm in a curve. The red pillar collided with the black wave, swallowing the swarm of locusts and extending into the golden field like a predator’s claws, leaving black scars.

The flames danced across the field, carried by the wind. When a gentle breeze pushed the flames slightly, the locusts jumped up and fled northward, and the wave of fire swallowed the locusts that had leaped into the sky, then covered the black swarm crawling across the field once more.

*

The overwhelming dance of flames captivated everyone’s minds.

Farmers, strong men, warlords.

No one dared to speak, nor dared to look away.

“……”

“……”

Black smoke covering the blue sky and heat that seemed to be faintly felt despite the distance. With the flames covering the golden field as a backdrop, Camilla gave a thumbs up and smiled brightly.

“How about that? Isn’t it amazing?”

I silently looked at her.

It’s been about five months since I last saw her.

Camilla had grown remarkably.

“…Ah!”

Camilla, who had been smiling cheerfully, suddenly became serious and widened her eyes.

She exclaimed while pulling at her hair.

“We shouldn’t burn the fields too!”

“……”

I let out a deep sigh.

While her skills had grown, her mindset was still the Camilla I knew.