Chapter 56
"Allen. Come here."
From deep in the forest, Father's voice sounded again.
But there was no way Father could be here.
"As I thought, this voice is fake."
"Was it someone you know?"
Elliot asked.
"It was my father. He's in the Kingdom of Alsrein right now, so there's no way he could be here."
"Then there's no doubt."
Elliot looked deeper into the forest.
"Something here is making us hear the voices of people we know."
Silvery-white powder drifted slowly between the trees.
We continued farther in, our mouths and noses still covered with damp cloths.
◇
After walking for a while, Noel, at the front, suddenly stopped.
"Wait."
"What is it?"
Elliot asked.
Noel was looking ahead to the right.
"...Someone's there."
I looked in that direction, too.
Trees.
Grass.
Nothing else.
"Where?"
"There. A woman is standing beside that tree."
"I can't see anyone."
Dario said.
"Neither can I."
Felicia shook her head, too.
Only Noel kept staring at an empty spot.
"Noel."
Elliot grabbed her shoulder.
"Look at me."
"But she's over there..."
"None of us can see anyone."
Noel's expression changed.
"...Really?"
"Yeah."
Noel looked into the forest again.
"She used to be in my party. She was supposed to have left the royal capital two years ago..."
It wasn't just the voice.
She could see the figure, too.
"So the cloth isn't enough."
Dario covered his mouth.
"Maybe it's affecting us because we've already breathed some of it in."
Felicia said.
"That may be so."
I focused on Mana Detection.
The more silvery-white powder drifted in an area, the denser that strange mana became.
"As I thought, this powder is the cause."
"The voices and the illusions, too?"
"Probably. I think the mana in this powder is affecting people somehow."
Elliot looked around.
"We've narrowed down the cause quite a bit."
After thinking for a moment, he looked at us.
"We could turn back for now."
"Turn back?"
"Yeah. Our mission includes figuring out the cause.
We don't know everything, but we've confirmed enough to know this place is dangerous."
I thought that was the right call.
Just because this was an A-Rank assessment didn't mean we had to press on recklessly.
But the B-Rank adventurers' footprints still continued along the ground.
"The investigation team might still be alive."
Elliot looked at me.
"That's true."
"Since we've come this far, I'd like to search a little longer."
After thinking for a while, Elliot nodded.
"All right. But on one condition."
"What condition?"
"If anyone becomes unable to question what they're seeing, we retreat."
"Understood."
"No matter what you hear, don't go off alone. Always check with someone else."
Everyone nodded.
"Let's go."
◇
The farther we went, the more the silvery-white powder increased.
Leaves.
Tree trunks.
The ground.
It lay in a thin layer everywhere.
Even with Mana Detection, the mana of whatever was mixed in with the forest was growing stronger.
"I feel like we're getting closer."
"Closer to what?"
"Whatever is giving off this mana."
Elliot rested his hand on his sword hilt.
"Everyone, stay alert."
Noel followed the footprints.
"This way."
We pushed through the grass and continued farther.
Eventually, a small clearing opened between the trees.
"...What is that?"
Dario muttered.
There was something white.
Not just one.
Several large, cocoon-like objects hung between the branches and trunks.
"Cocoons?"
Felicia started to approach.
"Wait."
I moved forward cautiously, too.
They were a little larger than a person.
Something like white thread had been wrapped around them again and again.
One of them had a small gap.
"...Huh?"
I could see a face inside.
"There's a person inside!"
I rushed over.
There was a man inside the white threads.
His eyes were closed, and he wasn't moving.
"Is he alive?"
Felicia came closer, reached into the cocoon, and felt his neck.
"He has a pulse."
"He's alive!"
Dario exclaimed.
"There's one over here, too!"
Noel looked at another cocoon.
There was a person inside that one, too.
And farther in.
One.
Two.
Three.
There were more than ten.
"Are these the people from the caravan?"
"Not just them."
Elliot was looking at one of the cocoons.
The man inside was wearing armor.
The Adventurers' Guild emblem was on his chest.
"It's the investigation team."
"The B-Ranks?"
"Yeah."
Four of them.
They were all here.
Felicia checked them one by one.
"They're all alive."
Elliot let out a quiet breath.
"Thank goodness."
People who looked like merchants.
Travelers.
The investigation team.
Some of them had to be the people who'd disappeared a month ago.
"Why are they still alive?"
I used Mana Detection on the cocoon.
"There's mana in these threads, too."
"The same as the powder?"
"It's a little different."
Felicia looked at the man inside the cocoon.
"His breathing and pulse are very slow."
"Are they being put to sleep?"
Noel asked.
"Maybe it's keeping them alive like this instead of killing them right away."
At Elliot's words, everyone looked at the cocoons.
Keeping them alive to eat later.
That would explain why people who'd disappeared a month ago were still alive.
"Let's rescue them first."
I reached for the Flame Fang Sword.
"Wait."
Elliot stopped me.
"Don't cut the person inside."
"I know."
"Noel, find a place where the threads are thin. Felicia, check where the person inside is."
"Got it."
"All right."
Noel examined the cocoon.
"It's thinner over here."
"And it's away from his body."
Felicia said.
"Then I'll cut it."
I drew the Flame Fang Sword.
I didn't use its flames.
I carefully cut only the white threads.
After a few cuts, the cocoon opened.
The man inside started to fall.
"Whoa."
Dario caught him.
"Is he conscious?"
"Not yet. But his breathing is steady."
Felicia answered.
"Can we take everyone back?"
Dario looked around.
There were more than ten people.
My Storage couldn't hold living things.
"That many would be difficult."
"Let's check them one by one first."
Elliot said.
"If we let them all out at once, we won't be able to protect them if something comes."
That's when it happened.
Flap.
A loud sound rang out.
Everyone froze.
"What was that...?"
Flap.
This time, it was closer.
The beating of wings.
"Above us!"
Noel shouted.
We looked up.
A large shadow moved high above the trees.
The next moment,
a huge amount of silvery-white powder came raining down.
"Get away!"
Elliot shouted.
Everyone moved away from the cocoons.
I used Mana Detection.
"...This is it."
It was exactly the same mana as what had been faintly spread throughout the forest until now.
I could feel it strongly from overhead.
"It's above us!"
The branches swayed violently.
Flap!
Enormous wings spread open.
"What is that...?"
Dario looked up.
It was a giant moth.
Its wingspan was nearly five meters.
Powder constantly drifted down from its silvery-white wings.
Red-black compound eyes stared down at us.
"...A Phantom Moth."
Elliot muttered.
"You know what it is?"
"Yeah. It's a monster that scatters hallucinogenic powder."
"Then that powder really is...?"
"No doubt about it."
Elliot readied his sword.
But his expression soon turned grim.
"This is bad."
"What's wrong?"
"A Phantom Moth is a monster that normally requires an A-Rank party to subjugate."
"A-Rank..."
"You have to fight while under its illusions. And this one is clearly bigger than the individual I'm familiar with."
Elliot looked around.
The man we'd rescued.
The more than ten people still wrapped in cocoons.
And the Phantom Moth above us.
"We're retreating."
"What?"
"This is no time for an assessment. We're all B-Ranks.
We'll take the one person we've rescued back and call in an A-Rank subjugation party."
No one objected.
It was the right call.
I thought so, too.
But...
The Phantom Moth beat its wings overhead.
Silvery-white powder spread all at once.
Seeing it, an idea suddenly came to me.
"Felicia-san."
"Yes?"
"Could you fire one Magic Bullet into an area where the powder is dense?"
"Not at the Phantom Moth?"
"That's right. Make it pass through the powder."
"Understood."
Felicia pointed her staff.
"Magic Bullet!"
A pale blue light shot forward.
It pierced the silvery-white powder.
"...Ah."
The spot where the Magic Bullet had passed through.
The powder there had been scattered widely.
For an instant, the silvery-white powder dispersed to either side.
"Allen?"
Elliot looked at me.
"This might work."
"What are you planning?"
"The reason this monster is so strong is because its powder causes hallucinations, right?"
"That's not the only reason, but it's a major one."
I looked at Felicia.
"Felicia-san, you can fire five at once like before, right?"
"I can."
"You don't have to hit the enemy. Just fire several Magic Bullets around us and through the space between us and the Phantom Moth."
"To scatter the powder?"
"Yes."
We didn't need to clear the whole forest.
Just the area where we'd fight.
If we could thin out the powder between me and the Phantom Moth while I approached it, that would be enough.
"But it'll scatter more right away."
Elliot said.
"Then I'll defeat it before that happens."
"...Don't make it sound so easy."
"I can't do it alone."
I looked at Elliot.
"So, why don't we do it together?"
Elliot looked at me.
Then Felicia.
Dario.
Noel.
Finally, he looked up at the Phantom Moth.
"...Do you really think we can pull this off?"
"I think it's worth trying."
After a brief silence,
Elliot tightened his grip on his sword.
"All right."
"You're okay with this?"
"But if it seems impossible after one try, we retreat immediately."
"Yes."
"It'd be pretty embarrassing to die during an A-Rank assessment."
Elliot laughed.
"Tell me the plan."
The Phantom Moth beat its wings again overhead.
Silvery-white powder drifted through the air.
I drew the Flame Fang Sword.
Total P Acquired: 93,145P