episode_0058

Meanwhile, outside the carriage, the coachmen were physically experiencing their entry into the cloud zone. As the Hildisvini kicked off the ground, the thick moss, which had settled instead of grass, was kicked and torn by their hooves, flying into the air.

“Ugh, disgusting.”

His colleague beside him was horrified when one of the moss clumps stuck to his armor, and he flung it away. Moss isn’t a very pleasant feeling. Understandable.

“You’ll miss that moss soon enough.”

“Even so, I find that huge moss growing under the cloud zone creepy.”

But you can only see those kinds of moss growing on the outskirts where there is some sunlight; if you go a little deeper, you can’t even see that kind of moss. All you can see is moisture-laden earth and unpleasant creatures living there. Already, the salty smell of damp salt air was wafting around.

“Prepared to light the torches, right?”

“Yeah, the smell is a bit awful, though.”

“Like it’s something new.”

Lighting torches wouldn’t help much, but it was much better than nothing, so they had no choice but to prepare them. The torches weren’t ordinary torches that were just soaked in oil and burned. They were made by cutting the fat of dead Hildisvini into appropriate sizes and wrapping them in cloth soaked in oil used for braziers. Once lit, they were torches that wouldn’t easily go out even in the rain. If you were to ask how they got the fat of the creatures pulling their carriages, all they could say was that the journey hadn’t been smooth.

“Dragonfire doesn’t go out even when you put it in water!”

“Yeah, but if you try to get what they spit out, we’ll all burn to death!”

As they felt their voices naturally rising with tension in the increasingly darkening surroundings, they shared jokes that weren’t really jokes. Many people had tried to obtain the dragons’ flames because of orders from above, only to have their bones uncollected. They somehow figured out a similar principle and were using it like this, but it still didn’t burn as strongly as the dragons’ flames. Those flames showed an incomprehensible sight of burning even more fiercely when put in water. This one could withstand getting wet, but it would go out if it got too much water on it.

“Light it!”

Eventually, even the faint light that had been seeping in disappeared, and the newly lit torch barely illuminated the surroundings.

-Peeeeeep!

He blew his whistle to check on the carriages that would be following behind him, and they whistled back in response. Judging by the intervals of the sounds, it didn’t seem like anyone had left the procession or had anything happen to them yet. Since the torches were made the way they were, they wouldn’t go out easily, but they didn’t know what kind of unexpected situation might cause them to go out, and even if they waved flags, they wouldn’t be easily seen, so exchanging signals with whistles was the safest option. Now, thanks to the torches, that was less likely to happen, but the one leading the group had to handle all the direction-finding alone. Driving a carriage in the darkness where nothing could be seen gave an even greater sense of tension than expected.

“If we just go straight, there won’t be any problems, but.”

That wasn’t as easy as it sounded. There was no paved road here, and the surroundings were surrounded by impenetrable walls of darkness. There were no landmarks to get their bearings. Hildisvini had good night vision, so they could avoid obstacles on their own, but the presence of dangerous creatures was important. No matter how tough the Hildisvini were, it was difficult for them to survive here with the territorial lords living under the cloud zone.

A pale streak of lightning silently crossed the sky in the clouds, briefly illuminating the bottom of the cloud zone. The land in the darkness that was briefly revealed was a plain made of slimy mud. It was the complete opposite of the dry wasteland they had been running through until now. Rumble! The sound of thunder came a beat later, and a colleague complained.

“Why is the environment so extreme here!”

Since it was impossible to deny, he didn’t add any particular objection to his irritated complaint. As if words had power, hail began to fall, so there was no time to add anything.

“Argh! Crazy!”

The voice of a colleague cursing that an ice lump had gotten stuck between his helmet and the sound of the Hildisvini kicking off the ground began to be buried by the sound of the falling hail hitting the shields on the coachman’s seat, their armor, and the carriage indiscriminately.

“Protect the torches! If we lose the torches, we’re doomed!”

Then, once again, a streak of lightning crossed the sky, and Donar shouted as if screaming.

“Shields up!!!”

Because in that brief moment when the lightning lit up the surroundings, he could see hail the size of a human head approaching them, which he couldn’t have detected with the brightness of the torches. Thump! A dull sound echoed. Fortunately, the coachman next to him raised his shield and managed to prevent a direct hit from the large hail, but their worries grew even greater.

“Damn it! This is too heavy.”

Judging from the small cracking sound he heard, the shield seemed to be badly damaged as well. Seeing hail falling at this size, they couldn’t even hope that there would be no casualties. All the more so since they could hear small screams from behind, although they were hard to hear amidst the sound of the hail. Perhaps he noticed it too, as his voice didn’t sound good either. Although there were fewer large hailstones compared to smaller ones, they were still mixed in quite often.

“We were unlucky.”

Being hit by hail under the cloud zone was a common occurrence, but encountering hail that large was relatively rare. But for such hail to fall of all things.

“What are you going to do? If we’re going back, we have to go back now. If we go any deeper, there’s no turning back.”

The one holding the shield next to Donar said that and looked at him. As if telling him to decide. And it was also something he had to decide. He was leading this carriage now. This procession had to follow his judgment entirely.

“I…”

The faces of people flashed through his mind. There were many people he had met for the first time since joining the merchant group, but they had become close while going through thick and thin together for nearly a year. There were many people he couldn’t bring himself to care about no matter how much he wanted to, but it was an unavoidable amount of time. He even made friends like Shalvina Truus. These were relationships that could be lost even if they managed to pass through this place safely. And then Cif’s face came to mind. A lover he had promised to marry if he got through this place. He gripped the reins tightly. He didn’t want to lose them here now. Donar tried to say they should go back, but he couldn’t open his mouth.

The moment he was about to open his mouth. Because he caught sight of his colleague watching him. The image of the knight holding a shield, silently blocking and deflecting hailstones the size of their heads as he looked at him. There was a version of himself in that place blaming himself. It was an illusion. It was simply because his colleague was wearing the same armor and the same helmet, so his own image was overlapping with his appearance. Suddenly, the conversation he had with the girl last night came to mind.

“All I can do for you is this.”

“Wait, what’s this?”

“The rest you can only get by moving forward on your own.”

After that, the girl’s figure, which had disappeared without a trace as the brazier went out, made their meeting feel like a dream from one night, but the cross was still attached to the left chest of his armor, which had been plain after the symbol of his hometown had fallen off.

“We keep going.”

Donar stopped himself from saying they should turn back and said they should keep going as they were. If they turned back now, what were the chances that the next time wouldn’t be the worst? Even if they turned back in a situation where they had already suffered damage, would there be a way to recover that damage or a way to pass through this place again?

“It’s not the best situation, but it’s not the worst either.”

The weather wasn’t good, and the hail wasn’t just any hail, but large hail was falling with it, but it really wasn’t the worst. If it were really the worst, the hail would be the size of a human head as a baseline, and it could even be the size of a carriage at worst. The torches they had already lit were also still thankfully lighting up their vicinity without being broken by the hail. His colleague nodded. He nodded himself. All that was left was to pass through the cloud zone like this and pray that it really wasn’t the worst. Fortunately, the further they ran through the cloud zone, the weaker the hail falling from the sky became, and it stopped before long.

“Alright!”

He cheered and put the whistle to his mouth.

-Peeeeeep!

The whistle sounds of the carriages chasing after him from behind also returned to normal. If they kept going like this, they could pass through the cloud zone safely enough. When lightning spread across the sky once again, illuminating the world. If he hadn’t seen that figure for a moment.

“A crayfish…?”

Even when compared to the Hildisvini pulling the carriage, it had a huge build. Its carapace, which could be called natural armor, was made up of multiple layers, and its long whiskers and large, sharp claws reflected the pale lightning with a glint. It was the traveler’s nemesis, which, if encountered under the cloud zone, meant the end in that instant. There was no time to be happy that the hail had stopped. He had discovered the figure of what should never be encountered under the cloud zone.

“It doesn’t seem to have seen us yet.”

He thought that this could be the end of them, but fortunately or unfortunately, the crayfish was discovered far away from them. Judging by its still appearance, it might not have detected them. Nevertheless, Donar couldn’t stop his tension. Crayfish were less dangerous creatures compared to dragons. Well, crayfish didn’t fly, didn’t use magic, and even their habitat was limited. But that was only if you compared them.

There was a reason why crayfish were called the nemesis of travelers. The crayfish’s large claws were strong enough to grab and tear apart even sturdy carriages. The crayfish’s hard shell made it difficult to even scratch with spears and swords. You had to swing a mace or shoot a gun to break it. The problem was that it was impossible to swing a mace while driving a carriage, and guns were things that were installed on the ramparts to deal with dragons. It was impossible to load such heavy things onto a carriage.

There were small ballistae, but the carapace of an adult crayfish was no match for a small ballista. The biggest problem was that they had the habit of forming groups. Even if they somehow dealt with a few, they would be annihilated by the rest. At least when dragons attacked cities, they were given weapons to fight back, but when they encountered crayfish, they had to struggle in a state where they didn’t even have weapons to fight back with.

-Peeeeeep!

He first sent a signal with a whistle, and then urged the Hildisvini to increase their speed while watching out for the movement of the crayfish and the surroundings. But in this darkness, it was impossible to examine. All he could do was wait for lightning to strike one more time. They were moving at top speed to avoid the crayfish, but they might have already discovered them and be approaching in the darkness.

‘I wish lightning would strike quickly.’

The occasional lightning was, of all times, quiet at this moment. Just as he was about to put the whistle to his mouth, wondering if he should throw a torch to find the location of the crayfish. Lightning crossed the sky just in time. Unfortunately, his uneasy thoughts were confirmed. The crayfish, which had been seen quite far away, was seen approaching them. It seemed to be predicting their path and running quickly. But there was a happy miscalculation.

“Just one?”

-Rumble crash!

The sound of thunder echoed after the lightning flashed and darkened the world. In the moment when the lightning cleared away the darkness, the sight of the giant crayfish swimming through the muddy ground and rushing towards them was terrifying, but he could see for sure that there was only one. Could he have been mistaken? He pondered for himself, but he definitely saw the figure of only one crayfish.

“Could it be.”

Perhaps they could pass under the cloud zone more smoothly than he thought.

“Gitt!”

With hope, he called out his colleague’s name.

“Can you drive the carriage for me instead?!”

“Is there a plan?”

“If my hunch is right!”

He reached out his hand, and Donar handed him the whistle and the reins. Then, he lit a spare torch and held it in reverse, like throwing a spear, as he climbed onto the roof of the carriage, which was higher than the driver’s seat. It was a dangerous action on a moving carriage, but it couldn’t be helped. That’s because a ladder was installed for this purpose in the first place. After climbing onto the roof, he crouched down as much as possible to prevent himself from falling off due to the headwind and groped around the roof of the carriage.

“It should be around here…!”

Before long, he grabbed a handle and pushed it open, revealing a door. If you asked why there was a door on the roof of the carriage, you could tell by looking at what was underneath it. When he shone the torch, the hidden weapon was revealed. It was a ballista. It was a small-sized ballista, and it was unimpressive because it was un assembled, but it was the largest weapon that could be installed on this carriage. As he raised the support that had been lying down for storage, he discovered that the crayfish had already approached nearby when the world flashed again. Thinking that they would collide before he could even finish assembling it, he blew his whistle.

-Booooooo!

But it wasn’t the whistle used to move the carriage. He had already handed that whistle over to his colleague. And Donar lit the remaining torches with the torch in his hand and held them in reverse, like throwing a spear. Since they were iron torches, there was no problem. The problem was whether or not he could stick this into the crayfish. If his prediction was correct, the torch would definitely be stuck in its body. If he was wrong, he would have to prepare for annihilation, but at that moment, the crayfish approached within range, and the figure of the crayfish was slightly revealed in the carriage’s torchlight.

The first thing that was revealed was a large claw. Upon discovering it, he predicted where its head would be and threw it with all his might. If there was even the slightest error in his judgment, and if there was even the slightest mistake, everyone could die. The torch that left his hand became a wedge, slowly clearing away the darkness around it as it cut through the air. Soon, the crayfish’s hideous face, which looked as if it had been made by weaving several lines together, was revealed.

-Screeeeeech!

Thwack! When the torch pole was stuck into its face, the crayfish shrieked grotesquely, as if in pain. But that was enough. All of his thoughts had come true.

“So it hadn’t been long since it molted!”

Originally, its shell wasn’t something that could be pierced by a sharp iron stake thrown by a person. He had a hunch that it was strange that the crayfish, which usually traveled in groups, was running alone without any other members, and as he expected, it was as he predicted. Crayfish were quite strange creatures. They traveled in groups, were voracious eaters that ate anything they could get their hands on, whether it was grass or other creatures, and were also fierce, relentlessly chasing away or killing creatures that invaded their territory. But the crayfish’s ferocity was excessive.

When crayfish grew, they molted, shedding their shells. In that state, crayfish had to be in a weakened state for at least a day. But if other members of the group saw it in that state, that crayfish would be eaten by its own kind. When they saw weakened members, they would cause infighting instead of protecting them. That’s why when crayfish molted, they quietly left the group alone, finished molting, and rejoined their own kind when their shells hardened again. The reason why it was alone must have been that reason. It was truly good luck.

-Swish! Thwack!

The crayfish moved its relatively small claws to pull out the torch that was stuck in its face, but a hailstone that suddenly flew in struck the crayfish. It wasn’t that hail was falling again. Looking at the carriage that was following right behind them, there was Oduur, who was in the driver’s seat, swinging a sling and throwing the hail that had fallen earlier instead of bullets. As expected, that alone wasn’t enough, but it worked well enough on the crayfish that hadn’t been long since it finished molting, stopping its movements. Thanks to that, the crayfish fell behind the carriage, and he used that gap to assemble the ballista completely.

The carriage that Gitt was driving was still running at top speed, and there was no way that the crayfish, which had fallen behind once, could catch up, but it was something that he couldn’t rule out, just in case. Gripping the controls of the ballista, he watched the rear where the crayfish had disappeared. Fortunately, there were no signals from the rear indicating an emergency, as if the crayfish wasn’t chasing them anymore. Just as he was relieved for a moment. Hailstones fell and struck his armor.

“Ugh! More hail!”

He had to leave the assembled ballista and go back down to the driver’s seat again.

“Cough!?”

“Gitt!”

When he hurriedly went down to the driver’s seat at the scream, he saw his colleague collapsed after being hit by hail.

“Ugh, I’m fine, so keep driving the carriage!”

Fortunately, he seemed to be fine, talking normally, so he grabbed the reins while holding the whistle that he seemed to have dropped. Just how long did they cut through the falling hail without slowing down the carriage’s speed?

“Light! It’s light!”

Gitt shouted excitedly as he saw light at the end of the endless darkness.

“We’re still far from getting through. Just block the hail properly!”

“I know that!”

He had pushed the Hildisvini quite hard to avoid the crayfish, but as if to say that it wasn’t meaningless, the dazzling light soon obscured their vision. By the time their eyes had adjusted to the light, Donar saw a vast meadow and the ramparts of a city that was presumed to be Lantua, slightly further away. They had finally escaped from under the cloud zone. He wanted to ride the carriage all the way to Lantua with this momentum, but considering the mental state of the coachmen who had endured half a day under the cloud zone and the stamina of the Hildisvini, who had overexerted themselves to maintain full speed, they had to rest near the cloud zone.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm his pounding heart due to the still-unrelieved tension, and blew the whistle.

-Peeeeeeeeeeep!!