Chapter 42

“What the heck, is this…?”

Cid, on a nearby street.

A month ago, the Knights left the royal capital for a preliminary investigation team.

There are about five of them.

The members were two men in armor and two women. There was also a small woman wearing a robe who rode in a loaded carriage.

They were visiting Leengard on a mission from Martina, the current Knight Commander of the Royal Capital.

The purpose of their visit was to investigate the phantom beasts that had disappeared from the area, and to check on the current situation around the town.

A few months ago, three phantoms had been spotted in the Glaive Wilderness and Kamui, a small country to the east.

What’s more, when they tracked down each of the three, they all disappeared and disappeared in this area, a situation that made us doubt our eyes.

In the first place, it was quite extraordinary that three phantoms, which had not even been seen for decades, appeared at once.

Therefore, a joint team was formed between the Royal Capital and Kamui Province to investigate the whereabouts of the phantoms.

However, they can’t just say, “Let’s do a joint investigation,” and have the Kamui Kingdom cross the border.

There is a wide range of tedious procedures that must be followed when two countries want to do something jointly… including first of all, discussions and other written documents.

In short, just because you say, “Let’s do a joint investigation,” doesn’t mean you can immediately put it into action.

However, there is no guarantee that the phantoms won’t start moving in the meantime, and we need to find out what’s going on in the local towns ahead of time.

That’s why the four knights and one other person were dispatched.

However… 5 took the road to Cid, a rural town in Leengard, and discovered something strange on the way.

On the way, they found something strange: countless golems on the ice-covered ground, frozen in place.

To put it bluntly, it was an unusual sight.

Golems, which generally act alone and rarely flock together, were crowded together in one place, and the sight of them turned into ice statues was quite eerie.

Suddenly, a male knight tried to approach the icy ground.

But a voice stopped him.

“…W-Wait, please. It’s dangerous to approach that place now.”

A young voice with a high key.

However, the knights obeyed the voice and stopped moving.

Then one of the female knights, Leia Flaver, turned to the hooded figure and asked a question.

“Sofia-sama, what do you mean by danger? What the hell is that?”

A girl of eighteen years old, with long red-colored hair like a sunset, and eyes like blue sapphires, with an innocence that has not yet fully matured.

She is Martina’s aide and the representative of the members of this team who have been assigned to this preliminary investigation… in other words, the captain.

In response to Leia’s question, the petite figure took off her hood.

The girl who appeared from underneath it had hair that was parted tightly in the middle of the vertical center into black and white, and her eyes were hidden by her overgrown bangs.

Her name is Sophia Ark.

She is one of the members who saved the world two years ago, and has the class of a Sage.

Currently, she was the head librarian of the Library of Magic in the royal capital.

At first glance, she may look like a little girl, but she is still a 20-year-old lady.

“…Th-That’s probably the Zero Field. Any living thing that enters that space will be put on ice without question. And so, it’s best to stay away from it.”

“Zero Field… was, as I recall, a rather large installation of grand magic, wasn’t it?”

“…Y-Yes, it is. It is mainly used to stop invasion when a stampede occurs. The only problem is that it takes a lot of mana to set up a magic circle, so you need more than one person to prepare for it.”

“I see… By the way, can Sofia-sama set up the magic circle by herself?　That.”

“Y-Yes. I can do that, at least.”

“I see…”

Leia is in awe of one of the people who defeated Demiurge, the threat of the world… who is out of the ordinary

She moved her gaze to the icy land and observed the unusual scene.

“But why are there so many golems in a place like this? …I don’t think there were many records of golems swarming in the records of the royal capital or the adventurer’s guild…”

“T-Technically, there have been four such incidents in the past… but none of them were described as occurring naturally, and a certain entity was reported to be involved.”

“An entity?”

“Y-Yes,” said Sophia, shaking her head vertically, and then the knights, including Leia, tensed at her words.

“Th-This is the worst existence in this world after Demiurge… a phantom beast known as Titan… a Titan of God.”

“““―――?!”””

“I-It seems that we need to investigate this area in earnest. You can see the town of Cid a short walk from here, so I think we should gather information from the townspeople as well… What do you think, captain?”

Sofia expressed her opinion to Leia, the captain.

Leia immediately nodded her head and accepted Sofia’s suggestion right away.

“Yes. If that’s what Sofia-sama says, then there’s no problem. Now, I’ll divide the team into two groups, one to investigate the town and the other to investigate the area around this place.【 Kiriha 】and I investigate in the town, and【 Jane 】and【 Theo 】check to see if there are any other areas where abnormalities have occurred.”

“I-I’m going to check this zero field. Also, I need to erase the magic circle and make the magic disappear.”

“By yourself, Sofia-sama? If you want, I can send Kiriha to the town and I’ll escort Sofia-sama…”

“No, it’s okay. I know that you are a very kind person. But, yes, that’s are right. As a Sage, Sofia-sama should be able to handle herself alone. But if you need anything else, please use this.”

Then, Leia took out a stone from the pouch on her waist.

“This is a【 Transfer Stone 】that tracks my location information. When the time comes, please use it to come to my side.”

“I-I understand. Thank you for your concern.”

“No. Now, everyone! I think you’ve heard what I’ve been saying. The survey ends at sundown. Jane and Theo are to leave the survey early and join us in the town of Cid. We’ll meet at the town’s Knight’s Quarters. Then, start the operation immediately!”

“““Ha!”””

Following Leia’s instructions, the two male knights ran off.

The remaining female knights, Leia and Kiriha, also set off again towards the town of Cid.

“Well then, Sofia-sama, we will be heading to the town of Cid first. The carriage will be left unattended, so please join Jane and Theo in town as soon as the investigation is complete.”

“Y-Yes. Leia and Kiriha. Take care and have a good day.”

““Ha!””

The two female knights straightened their posture, saluted, and began to walk towards the town.