3
The Northwestern part of the continent.
They traveled by a military transport aircraft to the closest airport to Katalisk. From there, they drove by highway. They plunged forward, deeper and deeper through the endless expanse of gray wasteland.
“Um…” From the passenger seat, Sisbell’s voice rasped. She’d turned pale hours ago, and her lips were verging on blue. “Miss Nene…”
“What is it? Are you still carsick?”
“Yes… I’m actually feeling worse than before. I’m terrible with long-distance travel… At this rate, I’m going to throw up my sandwich from lunch…”
“Don’t worry about it,” Jhin said firmly from the back seat. “You can always swallow it down again.”
“Excuse me?!”
“It’ll be pretty bad if you throw up in the vehicle, though.”
“I’m asking that we do something before it comes to that!” Sisbell turned around, still looking queasy. “Urk! I feel even dizzier after shouting…”
“Tsk. Hey, Boss.” Jhin gestured at the car’s rearview mirror.
They were in the vanguard. He was looking at the other two cars behind them in the mirror.
“Let the Saint Disciple know that we’ve got an invalid in here. We’ve already been going for a few hours. She shouldn’t give us trouble if we ask for a break.”
“Uh, right!”
“I see it! We’re here!”
It happened nearly at the same time.
As Commander Mismis was nodding, Nene pointed out the front window from the driver’s seat.
There was a barbed-wire barrier on the horizon, blocking the expanse of land ahead.
“So we’re here.” Jhin heaved a sigh of resignation. “Then let’s just keep going. No break.”
“I can’t possibly agree to that!”
Even though she was railing against the plan, Sisbell seemed relieved they were almost there.
Their long journey through the air and over land had finally ended.
KATALISK CONTAMINATED LAND: NO ENTRY
The cars passed through the wire barricade that sported a large, antiquated sign.
That instant, they all noticed that the air quality in the vehicle had changed.
“Um? Huh?” Nene scowled. “Do you smell something?”
“Boss, don’t fart in the car.”
“Women don’t pass gas! It’s not me. Maybe Miss Sisbell actually threw up…!”
“I can assure you I haven’t! It’s coming from outside!”
The air had come in through the air-conditioning vents. This was what the climate was like in Katalisk. The air smelled putrid, as though someone had left raw sewage to rot, and was choked with hazy yellow smog.
“Oh, you should be able to see it now.” Risya’s voice came over the comm.
The passengers in the other two vehicles must have been experiencing the same phenomenon.
“Watch out ahead, everyone.”
They didn’t need to be told.
They could all see it on the horizon.
A bright red swamp lay before them, bubbling away.
This was Katalisk.
The vehicle came to a halt. The moment Iska stepped out of the car, he broke out into a full-body sweat.
……This isn’t right. It’s as hot as a desert.
……Being here is unpleasant enough as is, but even the humidity is so high, I can barely breathe!
They were in the northwestern part of the continent. It should have been much colder than the Empire, yet the weather had changed the moment they crossed into Katalisk.
It felt like the air could kill them. With enough time, the atmosphere itself might very well become deadly.
“Ack… Cough! The smell is coming from the gas bubbling up here!” Sisbell sputtered.
She held up a handkerchief to her nose, though it was likely little more than a placebo against the pungent air. Gas masks would have been much more appropriate here.
“Are you all right, Miss Sisbell?”
“Y-yes, Commander Mismis. I’d like to propose something.” The princess pointed at the parked vehicles. “Let’s go back.”
“But we just got here!”
“And it already seems terribly dangerous! Just look around you!” Sisbell flung out her arms.
There was nothing specific to look at. They couldn’t find a single plant in the bright red swamp that was Katalisk. Not even a withered twig or a bit of grass. There were no signs of birds or insects, either.
The area looked downright post-apocalyptic.
“A swamp, huh…? The way these bubbles keep rising up, and with the heat, it feels like magma,” Mei said as she got as close as she could to the edge of the swamp, gazing at the surface of the liquid.
“I’ve seen plenty of swamps teeming with leeches and alligators, but never one that was lifeless. How ’bout you, Risya?”
“This is a first for me, too. But we’ve come all this way on Our Excellency’s orders…” Risya pulled off her glasses and wiped her forehead. “If this is what happened to the land the calamity transformed, then we can’t afford to ignore it. Especially if it were to eventually spread across the entire continent.”
“I misjudged my sister…” Alice’s voice was quiet but full of anger. She bit her lip. “So Elletear sought power from something as abhorrent as this… Is this land the future my sister is seeking?”
“What now, Risya?” Mei pointed at the bright red swamp.
It was boiling away, hundreds of yellowish bubbles popping on its surface and emitting a malicious odor.
“So, these Astrals or whatever, their sacred land is somewhere beyond all this, right? Don’t we need gas masks or something? ’Cause it seems like these fumes might kill us on the way there.”
“Right, there’s that.” For once, Risya seemed unsure about what to do. “That’s odd. I think Their Excellency would at least mention needing respirators if they were aware of the poisonous gas. So the fact that they didn’t tell us means…”
“There would be no point.”
With a splish, the Zoa princess dipped a finger into the red, almost-bloodlike swamp.
“This isn’t poison gas. It’s the flow of warped energy.” Kissing’s eyes slowly glittered a brighter and brighter shade of purple. “This land was transformed by the calamity, which means these bubbles were brought to the surface by its power. It seems more warped and less stable than astral energy.”
“Oh? You can see all that, witch girl?” Mei curled her lips as though she was amused. “So if these bubbles are from corrupted energy, not toxic gas, that basically means wearing a gas mask is useless ’cause we’d get poisoned if we touch the swamp?”
“…”
“Hey, don’t ignore me.”
“Iska.” Kissing ignored Mei’s grumbling and turned to Iska. She pointed at the swamp filled with deadly energy. “I will do you a favor, so repay me during the fight against Elletear.”
“What?”
“Come with me.”
The ground splished.
The Zoa princess didn’t hesitate to take a step onto the bright red surface. She didn’t seem to mind that her beautifully tailored garments were being sullied as she took another step.
“Kissing?!” Iska couldn’t help but shout. “Are you okay?”
“It’s about as hot as a bath. And it only reaches to my knees.”
“That’s not what I mean. Isn’t that swamp poisonous?”
If Kissing was to be believed, the gas was the power of the calamity bubbling up from below the planet’s surface.
That was why the land had been contaminated.
……It makes sense that there aren’t any plants or insects around.
……This polluted energy is harmful to all life.
Iska knew that they couldn’t progress any farther unscathed. The toxic swamp would be impossible to cross.
“That’s why you owe me.” Kissing pointed up ahead. “You see where the large gas eruption is? To the left of it is a fifteen-to-forty-centimeter-wide route where the gas is thinnest.”
“You can see that?!”
Now it made sense. This was why the Lord had sent Kissing along with them. Only she could see the density of the gas in the contaminated swamp.
“This way.” The mire squelched as Kissing continued through it.
“A-are we really going through this swamp?!” Sisbell asked.
“You’ll go in after me. Commander Mismis and Nene will be with you, so don’t worry.”
After saying that to the scowling princess, Iska stepped into the swamp.
It spluttered the moment the tip of his shoe touched its bright red surface. White smoke started to emit from the sides of his shoes.
“Iska?!”
“I’m all right, Captain. It’s just my shoe. It doesn’t hurt, and I don’t feel it on my skin. At least not right now.”
He walked behind Kissing.
But he wasn’t simply following along; he was copying her precise route through the swamp. Otherwise, he would risk coming into contact with contaminated energy.
……Based on what Kissing said, the safe route is only a few millimeters wide.
……If I’m off by even a step, I’ll be exposed to the contaminated energy of the swamp.
Kissing hadn’t gone in a straight line.
At times, she zigzagged. At others, she turned sharply to avoid the contaminated energy deposits. Iska was getting exhausted just following her lead.
And it was hot. Yet they continued to trudge through deadly desertlike heat and air as humid as a sauna. Or rather, they couldn’t stop. The swamp would suck them in if they paused to rest.
……This should be fine for soldiers like us. Rin should be able to handle it, too.
……But are Alice, Sisbell, and Kissing going to be all right?
Iska was especially worried about Kissing.
Under normal circumstances, she would freeze if she were asked to lead a group through such an eerie swamp. On top of that, she had to bear the responsibility of scouting the corrupted energy deposits ahead.
She must have been far more exhausted than he was.
Should I say something to her?
Or would that distract her?
Iska hesitated for only a few seconds. The black-haired girl in front of him staggered.
“…”
She was like a marionette whose strings had been cut. Her knees buckled, and she slowly fell to the side and into the mire. The moment Iska saw that, he cried out and caught her.
“Kissing!”
“…Ugh!”
He yanked her by the arm and cradled her.
If he had been a moment later, she would have fallen face-first into the swamp.
“…I’m all right,” she rasped. “I was a bit dizzy, but I can still walk… Promise…”
Kissing tried to start walking again, but Iska pulled her onto his back, not giving her a moment to argue.
“……Huh? Wh-what do you think you’re doing?!”
“I’ll carry you on my back. Just focus on the corrupted energy and point the way.”
“…”
Kissing squeezed tighter and leaned into him.
“I’m touching an Imperial soldier…”
“I’ll make it up to you later.”
“All right. Go two meters ahead in a straight line. Then go diagonally to the left.”
“Got it.”
They started moving forward again. Iska followed Kissing’s directions as from his back she pointed out the way.
“……I see,” Sisbell murmured from behind him. “Ah! I’m at my limit now! If no one catches me, I might just fall right into the swamp! Oh, Jhin—”
“Looks like you have enough strength to shout, at least.”
“I do not!”
“C’mon, just walk. If you stop, you’ll hold everyone up.”
“Have you no compassion?!”
Everyone behind them seemed to be doing fine. Iska was distracted for a moment by their conversation. He heard water droplets splatter in front of him.
“…Oh.” Kissing lifted her head off his back.
She pointed to a group of small figures approaching them from up ahead.
“Astrals?”
“ ”
Three small beings in tattered clothing watched them. These were the demihumans called the Astrals.
They stood atop a small stretch of land, much like one would on a small island in a vast ocean.
“Is that the Astrals’ sacred land? It looks very small.”
“This way.”
One of the Astrals beckoned them. Or so Iska thought. Instead, the Astral and their two compatriots began skipping across the surface of the swamp.
They made their way farther and farther in.
“Are we still walking?! What is the problem with this place?!”
“Come now, Princess Sisbell. We plan on camping here tonight.”
As Risya pulled herself up, she sighed and wiped the sweat off her forehead.
“According to Their Excellency, the Astrals are a cowardly group and will be frightened if we all approach them. Only a few of us should enter the sacred land, and the rest of us should stay behind here.”
“Who should go?”
“Anyone with deep ties to Elletear. In other words, her sisters, Aliceliese and Sisbell. And Princess Kissing, who wants revenge.”
Risya looked at the three princesses.
Rin seemed somewhat dissatisfied with the arrangement, but sighed in resignation.
“I’ll be going as Their Excellency’s messenger, and Iska will also come, because he has the astral swords.”
“All right…”
Risya winked at him, and Iska nodded discreetly.
The astral swords. They already knew the blades worked against Elletear. That was why he needed to learn more. He needed to know why Crossweil had bequeathed them to him.
“Do not let them go. Those swords are the only hope for the rebirth of the world.”
Iska had always thought Crossweil had entrusted the swords to him to fight the Sovereignty. He was convinced that peace negotiations between the Empire and the Sovereignty could only begin if the Empire had weapons that could work against astral mages.
But he had been wrong.
Since when had he started to reassess his assumptions? If the astral swords really were just mere tools to fight the astral mages, then he wouldn’t have been able to use them to save the world, as his teacher had said.
“Please keep watch here, Mei.”
“I got it, I got it. You won’t catch us going after you. We’ll set up camp and hunker down to wait.” Mei nodded and yawned. “Lets us know if anything happens, Risya.”
“I will. All right, let’s go, Isk.” Risya tied her hair up. Once she cooled down a bit, she pointed at the red swamp.
“To the astral power’s sacred ground!”
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