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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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They say there are remote villages where the population dwindles until the remaining residents finally abandon their homes.
People call such villages “dead.”
I was beginning to understand the sentiment behind that expression intimately.
“Wow.”
A sizable number of houses suggested this had been a fairly populated village not long ago.
The well in the square and the notices on the bulletin board further confirmed this.
Yet, the village was devoid of life.
Not a single resident, not even an animal, remained.
Only the traces of human activity lingered, a stark reminder of the vibrancy that was now gone.
‘This is what a dead village truly means.’
“I suppose you can sense it, even without seeing.”
“Huh? I can see it perfectly… Ah, yes. Of course. There’s no life in this village.”
“Indeed. The village before us is precisely that.”
I almost blurted out, “I can see it just fine.”
Recovering quickly, I gave a more appropriate response, and Lady Nikolai nodded.
“An entire village of this size, vanished…”
Lady Nikolai stood silently, her index finger pressed to her lips, gazing at the village.
After a moment, she turned to me.
“What are your thoughts, expert? Do you know of any monster capable of such a feat?”
“Well… I’ve noticed a few peculiarities.”
“Tell me.”
“The report from Begalo Vegas listed the cause of the villagers’ disappearance as ‘abduction,’ correct?”
“That’s what they claimed.”
“I’ve been checking since we entered the village outskirts, but I haven’t detected any trace of monsters. Usually, any creature moving through a forest like this leaves some kind of mark. Scratches on trees, dug-up earth, something.”
I had been scouting the surrounding forest as we approached the village, checking meticulously.
Yet, I found no sign of large-scale monster activity.
“Sir Müller reported no signs of struggle in the village. That suggests either an incredibly powerful monster, or a large number of monsters, overwhelmed the villagers and the local militia without a fight. But strangely, there’s no evidence of that either.”
“So, it wasn’t a large group of monsters.”
“Unless ghosts are involved, that seems to be the case.”
“Then, could it truly be…?”
Lady Nikolai fell into deep thought. Could she be thinking about demons? Until recently, I would have dismissed the idea as absurd, but…
A magic-wielding race, demons.
If the unexplained phenomenon before us was indeed caused by magic, then nothing explained it better.
“…”
I discreetly raised my hand and touched my eyes, feeling the strange presence beneath the black cloth.
“Is something wrong, Iyerpol?”
“No, nothing. Just lost in thought.”
I forced a smile and waved my hand dismissively, walking ahead of Lady Nikolai.
“I’ve never heard of a single monster, let alone a small group, capable of abducting an entire village. If such a monster existed, the kingdom would have taken measures to eliminate it. They wouldn’t just let something capable of wiping out entire villages roam free.”
“I agree. They would have acted long ago. It’s reassuring to hear it from an expert, though.”
So, how did the villagers disappear?
I had a theory, but I needed more evidence to confirm it.
As I continued to search the village for clues, Zeta quietly approached.
“Master.”
“Zeta. What is it?”
Her gaze seemed unsettled, fixed on some distant point.
Her hands fidgeted nervously.
What was wrong with the usually confident girl?
Zeta hesitantly asked.
“Master, don’t you feel anything?”
“Feel what?”
I didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary.
Zeta seemed to sense my confusion and bit her lip slightly.
Was she… frustrated?
“This village… it feels very wrong.”
“Wrong?”
“It’s… eerily silent.”
Zeta gently stroked her arm as she spoke.
Well, it was quiet, certainly.
The villagers were gone, after all.
But Zeta seemed to be referring to something more than the absence of human activity.
“It’s not just the villagers. There are no other sounds either.”
“…”
“You must have noticed it too, Master. The absence of insects chirping, the lack of birdsong.”
…I hadn’t noticed that.
My apologies.
Zeta, due to her blindness, was incredibly sensitive to sound.
She perceived sound on a different level than most people.
She must have sensed it the moment we entered the village.
The absence of not just human activity, but all signs of animal and insect life.
“I’ve never encountered a place so… sterile. It’s as if it’s cut off from the rest of the world.”
“I agree.”
“…”
I subtly agreed with her, and Zeta nodded.
She was right.
Now that she mentioned it, I realized there wasn’t even a single bird in the sky.
‘…This can’t be the work of monsters.’
I knelt down and carefully examined the ground.
The footprints the soldiers had found, belonging to the villagers.
A large number of people had walked this way, their tracks leading towards the nearby forest.
The trail became difficult to follow once it entered the forest, but… that wasn’t the issue.
I pulled a piece of string from my bag and measured one of the footprints, comparing it to the next.
They matched.
The same person had made these prints.
And the footprints continued in a straight line towards the forest, with the same stride.
“…”
Judging by the tracks, the person who made them had walked at a steady pace, without deviating, straight into the forest.
The other footprints showed the same pattern.
Would abducted villagers… walk so uniformly, without hesitation, into a forest?
Without a single sign of struggle?
‘…What is going on?’
Only one scenario kept playing in my mind.
One that seemed utterly impossible.
“…The villagers walked into the forest willingly.”
“Master?”
No footprints of enemies entering the village, only those of the villagers leaving.
No signs of struggle.
Uniform footprints suggesting a calm, steady pace.
All the evidence pointed to one conclusion: the villagers had left of their own accord.
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A dark figure strode through a dimly lit corridor.
Torches flickered wildly as the figure passed, as if sensing a malevolent presence.
The figure entered a large chamber through an open stone doorway.
The flickering torches revealed its form.
Towering over an adult man, with three-fingered hands and long, spindly legs.
A black, amorphous body, like a mass of writhing tentacles.
And in place of a head, more tentacles squirmed.
A large eye opened in the center of the creature’s chest.
A deep voice resonated, not from a mouth, but directly in the mind.
The monstrous figure gazed towards a man seated halfway up a long flight of stairs, as if on a throne.
Long, wavy white hair framed a pale face.
Humanoid, yet distinctly inhuman.
His eyes, with black irises and white sclera, were like a reversed image of a human’s.
“Good work. No mistakes, I trust.”
Diego held a sharp, bone-like object in his hand, twirling it like a dagger.
A sinister smile spread across his face.
“Now, finally, everything is ready to welcome ‘Him’…”
“Shut up. How was I supposed to know that slime would regain its senses?”
Diego scoffed.
The mysterious disappearances that had plagued Tillasden.
The slime that had led the villagers away.
The mastermind behind it all… was this man, Diego.
He was the one who had captured the Grass Slime from the plains and placed it in the cave.
“Don’t worry. This time, everything is perfect. I’ve made sure of it.”
The large eye in the creature’s chest stared at Diego. He scoffed again and casually tossed the dagger over his shoulder.
Thwack!
The dagger embedded itself deep in the creature’s shoulder.
“And don’t get any ideas. Just because I tolerate your abilities doesn’t mean you can disobey me. You’re nameless.”
“Just follow my orders. Then even someone like you might earn ‘His’ favor.”
The creature’s submissive response elicited another scoff from Diego.
He extended his hand towards the creature, and the dagger flew back, returning to his grasp.
He twirled the dagger between his fingers.
“Let’s give ‘Him’ a little entertainment.”
A sinister smile twisted Diego’s lips.
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[THIS GUY WAS THE ONE WHO STUCK THE SLINME IN THE CAVE???? he must pay.]
