Ch.7979. Settlement (1)

After defeating the demon-possessed person, I moved with effort, ignoring the exhaustion I felt throughout my body after my soul resonance with Corin had been released.

‘Astra, Robo. Please.’

After placing the corpses of the demon-possessed person and the “queen specimen” into the demon essence storage, I mounted my two animal companions who were still in decent condition and returned to the expedition camp at the entrance of the dimensional tunnel, the nest of cave worms.

The expedition members around us cheered loudly when they saw the queen’s corpse we had brought back… but Sofia, I, and our temporary party members were so exhausted that we just holed up in the tents at the camp.

And the next day.

Immediately after returning to the free city of Lien, Sofia and I naturally attended the city council meeting, which could be considered the client for this request…

“How could a demon contractor appear during an extermination mission?! What is the meaning of this?!”

“…Excuse me?”

I presented the corpse of the demon-possessed person that we had brought back in the demon essence storage to the center of the council and expressed my protest to all thirteen council members.

A powerful enemy that appeared during the extermination mission could have potentially wiped out the entire expedition team. The appearance of a demon contractor was sufficient grounds to lodge a complaint with the client.

In fact, when enemies unrelated to the original request appear, responsibility is typically determined according to the details of the request. Usually, after going through complicated procedures to prove there was an issue with the request, additional compensation is provided.

It’s like advertising a request worth 10 gold coins but actually having a difficulty level worth 15. The Adventurers’ Guild is quite proactive in these matters to protect their human resources.

Of course, in normal cases, they would just settle for a reasonable amount of additional “compensation,” and even if there were casualties, unless the deceased were of silver rank or higher, the matter would be quietly buried…

But this request wasn’t a simple one—it was an extermination operation led by the city council with various factions participating. Therefore, it was only natural that the council bore responsibility for the near-annihilation crisis we faced.

Moreover, the enemy that appeared was none other than a demon contractor, a member of the cult that is also called the enemy of the world.

With a slightly broader interpretation, this could even be politicized as the free city collaborating with cultists to reduce the Adventurers’ Guild’s influence.

“Our Temple of the Golden Hand protests this incident!”

“…The Magic Tower also agrees with the Temple’s position.”

Even the Jeptal Temple, which belongs to the Pantheon and considers hatred and extermination of cultists a virtue and duty, and the Magic Tower, which nearly lost its precious stud—er, disciples, intervened to support my protest.

The followers of the Pantheon, especially those who worship Jeptal, the supreme deity of light and justice, are usually very gentle… but when it comes to matters involving cultists, they can become more violent and fanatical than anyone else.

The same was true for the Magic Tower branch, which nearly lost disciples of its senior members, particularly those with excellent combat abilities. The Magic Tower, representing the pinnacle of academic connections, rarely participates so actively in protests.

“…The City Council expresses its sincere apologies to all of you who faced mortal danger due to our inadequate request details.”

Therefore, no matter how haughty the free city’s council might be, they had no choice but to adopt a humble attitude in this matter.

Anyway, after several tedious days of discussing responsibility and compensation…

“…Sofia. You know it too, right?”

“Yes, the Prophet also realized something was strange.”

Having rested and recovered our original condition, the two of us sat in the living area of our high-class two-person inn room and began discussing Sofia’s “foresight.”

※ ※ ※

The power of “foresight,” which peeks at and observes fate to predict the future, is actually second to none in terms of instability.

Ordinary foresight is merely a vague ability to glimpse one of countless future possibilities, and Sofia’s “observational” foresight also has many issues.

Foresight cast deliberately puts more strain on the soul and body than I had imagined, while automatic foresight that activates like intuition has the drawback of not activating as often as one might expect…

“Normally with an enemy of that caliber, it should have activated, right?”

“…Yes. Gregory is correct.”

Even considering that, it was strange that Sofia’s foresight didn’t activate before our encounter with the demon contractor.

‘An overwhelming enemy against our entire party’ and ‘a surprise encounter’—considering that foresight tends to activate more easily in crisis situations, under these conditions, the fact that it didn’t activate suggests there was some issue.

At first, I thought the demon contractor had used some method to evade foresight, but this assumption was flawed from the beginning.

Given that the guaranteed hit effect from fate observation, a secondary effect of the celestial magic secret technique “Celestial Meteor,” was applied, it appears that demon worshippers don’t have any special resistance to prophecy or fate.

This led me to wonder if there was something wrong with Sofia… but that hypothesis also doesn’t hold up since the guaranteed hit effect of “Celestial Meteor” was activated.

“What could it really be?”

“I wonder too…”

As we continued to rack our brains together…

[…Fellow friend and compatriot.]

“Minerva?”

Sofia’s animal companion Minerva, who hadn’t spoken much with me since she usually accompanied Sofia, suddenly appeared beside Sofia and addressed me.

[Despite my appearance, I am a member of the Forest Guardian clan.]

“…?”

[You’re wondering what I mean? Well, let me explain. Before forming an animal companion contract, I received various knowledge from the elders of my clan, including knowledge related to prophecy.]

“That means…”

[Yes. You could have simply asked me instead of worrying needlessly, fellow compatriot.]

Minerva raised her wing like a hand to gently cover her mouth, displaying the elegance of a noblewoman as she spoke.

I found Minerva’s behavior strange, given that we had barely spoken due to our relationship as “friend of a friend”… but that wasn’t the important thing right now.

“Then, can you tell us?”

[Yes. Of course.]

At my request, Minerva struck a dignified pose and agreed, then after a moment of contemplation, she slowly began to explain.

[It’s like growing pains.]

“…Growing pains?”

“Is that what happened to the Prophet?”

[Yes. It’s when the foresight ability temporarily stops working as it grows. To put it simply, it’s like a caterpillar in its chrysalis stage before becoming a butterfly.]

“A chrysalis… I see.”

Perhaps something in Minerva’s brief but clear explanation resonated with Sofia. She repeated the word “chrysalis” thoughtfully before falling into a trance-like silence.

She was probably trying to confirm these changes through meditation.

Meanwhile, as Sofia fell silent, Minerva and I awkwardly looked at each other in silence, perhaps due to our lack of previous interaction…

[M-Master?!]

The awkward atmosphere was broken by Robo’s voice suddenly coming from my room.

“What’s happening..?!!”

Unable to contain my bewilderment, I moved quickly, even using mana circulation to enhance my body as I tried to rush into my room…

-Hisssss…

‘…Cold air?’

As the cold air began to seep through from beyond the door, accompanied by intense mystical energy and mana residue, I had a bad feeling and hastily opened the door to rush inside.

“…!”

What I saw was a frozen room. Not only was the surface covered with frost-like ice, but even the moisture in the air had frozen, creating a desolate scene with ice fragments floating in the air.

And in the center of the room stood Robo, with icicles protruding from his body as if to announce that he was responsible for this situation, staring at me with a dumbfounded expression.

What on earth happened? As I was confused, unable to predict the situation, I suddenly recalled what I had read about Fenrir in an ancient text.

Fenrir is a divine beast originating from the snow-covered northern world, said to possess the power of frost and an absolute zero heart that freezes everything.

I had thought it was just flowery language at the time, but seeing it with my own eyes, I realized that the description was actually literal truth.

[M-Master… you see… I used my power like when I used electricity before, and this happened.]

Meanwhile, perhaps interpreting my silence as a sign of anger, Robo stammered out something like an excuse, looking slightly frightened…

“It’s okay, Robo. Everyone makes mistakes.”

I was more pleased with Robo’s growth than concerned about the “minor” damage caused in the process.

…Though that didn’t stop me from paying the inn for repairs.