The cluster of Gongha Trees visible in the distance.
After thinking for a moment, Eugene said,
“……Let’s go for now.”
Bella rumbled and blew fire through her nostrils.
“Is that all right? As Stone warned, there will be trouble if a Dragon Knight crosses the border.”
“It’s not like there’s a line drawn somewhere. We can say it was a brief mistake. Let’s go. We need to at least mark the coordinates clearly.”
“Understood.”
Bella beat her wings and changed direction.
If they changed position too suddenly, their comrades would think it strange, so she intended to raise their altitude and pretend to make a wide turn while quietly slipping over the ridge.
“Do you see anything?”
“For now, I don’t see anything moving.”
“Production factories?”
“None. But I cannot be certain. There are creeping vines spread out. There may be something in a place we cannot see.”
A proper Voidnir colony spread creeping vines that covered the ground from Gongha Trees or surface biological buildings.
And the liquid secreted from them dissolved everything from insects crawling along the surface to microorganisms, absorbing them all as nutrients.
Eugene stroked his chin.
The fact that creeping vines had grown there meant something was different from the Gongha Trees and small-scale colonies they had found until now.
It was a characteristic one would practically only see in a full-fledged production factory.
If they went there, they would probably be able to obtain information different from what they had found until now.
‘Should we land and examine it……?’
That was when he was thinking that.
Bella suddenly raised her head with a flinch.
“Something is coming!”
FLAP!
He had only seen it with his eyes, yet he had the illusion that he could hear the sound.
A shadow shot up quickly from beyond the mountain ridge.
BOOM- BOOOOM-
The sound erupting with acceleration magic rang in his ears.
Long-spread wings, red scales glowing like writhing lava.
It was a Red Dragon.
And on its back sat a knight carrying a large saddle and a great spear.
A flag painted with a black flower split into five petals fluttered. The Rafel flower, said to grow in warm regions.
The one that came upon Twinfaker was a Dragon Knight of Zaifun.
“You there! What are you doing?! This is Zaifun’s sky!”
A voice amplified by mana rang loudly.
Judging by the size and depth of the voice, he was a warrior of considerable skill.
Dragon Knights were not the exclusive property of the Dragon Empire.
The first covenant Azren, sage of the dragon race, had made was with the Dragon Empire, but dragons as a race could not take one nation’s side.
Because of that, the Dragon Temple had continued to form covenants with other nations as well.
And now, a thousand years later, the Dragon Knight Order of the Dragon Empire still possessed the most dragons, but other countries also possessed around five to ten dragons each.
“Tsk…….”
Of all things, this had to be a region guarded by a Dragon Knight.
Saying or doing something unnecessary to someone already wary of them would instead have the opposite effect.
Having experienced similar incidents several times in his previous life, Eugene responded skillfully.
He waved his hand, sent a hand signal of apology, and immediately turned their heading toward the Dragon Empire.
<<Twinfaker! What is going on?>>
As Stone’s communication rang in his ear, Eugene threw out a suitable answer and turned his head to look back.
He could see the Dragon Knight of Zaifun still watching them.
But Eugene did not have him in his eyes. His gaze was fixed on the cluster of Gongha Trees visible below the Dragon Knight.
‘There’s definitely something there.’
Etching the canyon’s coordinates into his mind, he urged Bella back into the Dragon Empire’s airspace.
***
Naturally, the two who had crossed the border without permission were scolded terribly.
“Keep your heads on straight!”
Yung Percival rarely became angry, but he rebuked Eugene and Bella harshly.
It was only natural for him to be angry, because the responsibility for this incident would fall on Stone for failing to properly manage the probationaries.
Once this mission ended, Stone would have to submit a report about the matter……
And only after an apology was delivered to Zaifun through a separate route would this incident be settled.
Naturally, for the two who had experienced the destruction of the world, their superior’s scolding could not possibly enter their ears.
In the first place, Yung had become angry to educate the rookies.
Eugene and Bella listened to the lecture with expressions full of remorse, while quietly glancing at each other and exchanging looks.
‘Are we going?’
‘Of course.’
Agreement complete.
Night fell.
When the moon rose to the top of the sky and it became time for everyone to sleep,
Eugene and Bella gathered in front of the city hall quarters they were using instead of lodging.
“What is that?”
Bella asked with a jerk of her chin toward Eugene.
Who knew where he had gotten it, but Eugene was wearing black clothes instead of the Order uniform.
“What do you mean, what? Night-operation clothes. We need to hide our identities. What are we going to do if we get caught after secretly crossing the border?”
“……Mm. I did not think that far.”
Of course she had not.
Bella was the kind of woman who would proudly declare she had nothing to be ashamed of under the heavens.
But Eugene had expected Bella to be like that. He took something out of his backpack and handed it to Bella.
“Here, then put this on at least.”
It was the night-operation clothes Eugene had prepared for Bella.
Holding the clothes, Bella stared silently at Eugene.
“You want me to change here?”
“Are you an idiot? Go change in your room and come back.”
Eugene clicked his tongue.
She was good at fighting, but she took people’s words far too literally.
A short while later, Bella came out after changing.
“Oh.”
Seeing her, Eugene clicked his tongue in admiration.
As expected, if the base material was good, anything looked stylish.
It was merely black clothing made by stitching leather and cloth together without any particular decorations, but when tall, slender Bella wore it, it clung perfectly to her body.
Rather than hiding her identity, it felt like it highlighted her sensual charm instead.
Bella swung her arms and waist around and looked over her body, then asked,
“It fits my body exactly. How did you prepare this in advance?”
“How else? One glance is enough.”
Eugene said that while pointing at his two eyes with his fingers.
Beyond her hood, Bella sent him a contemptuous gaze.
“……That was a lie. I just saw what was written in the Order registry.”
“At any rate, that mouth of yours is the problem.”
“By the way, can’t you do something about those shackles?”
Eugene pointed at the shackles still wrapped around Bella’s wrists and ankles.
Bella firmly shook her head.
“No. Taking them off briefly while changing clothes is one thing, but if I remove them any longer than that, my sense of controlling mana will become disturbed.”
“Can’t be helped, then.”
Eugene searched through his backpack again. Then he took out a small container, shook it, and while chanting a spell, poured the liquid inside over Bella’s shackles.
“It’s magic dye. I can’t make them transparent, but I can change their color so they blend into the surroundings.”
“Hm…….”
It was a technique used by rangers and special forces when camouflaging their bodies.
Just as he had said, when he sprinkled the dye, the shackles turned black as if absorbing the surrounding light and became difficult to see.
He could not have known this would happen, and yet he had even prepared night-operation clothes in advance.
At any rate, he was a man of many talents.
“Then let’s go now. We’re all prepared.”
“You checked the coordinates, yes? How far is it?”
“About thirty kilometers in a straight line. Since it’s mountains and there are no roads, it may be farther than expected.”
“Are there no soldiers guarding the border?”
“No. Even smugglers rarely go in and out of remote places like this. If we hadn’t been flying, we probably wouldn’t have been caught even during the day.”
“We cannot fly conspicuously…… How are we going?”
“Obviously, you’ll carry me on your back.”
Eugene said that, spreading his arms like a baby.
Bella looked at him as if looking at garbage.
“Shut up, luggage.”
And as usual, Eugene became luggage and was carried by Bella.
Bella simply put Eugene on her shoulder and ran.
Not only did his whole body shake every time she ran, but when her shoulder pressed into his stomach, Eugene screamed breathlessly.
“S-stop! Hah, spare me!”
“How fascinating. The luggage speaks.”
“Uuuuugh.”
Naturally, it could not compare to flying, but Bella’s running was faster than a horse.
She was able to reach the target point Eugene had marked in about thirty minutes.
There was an incident where Eugene, once set down on the ground, truly vomited, and the startled Bella soothed him while apologizing, but…….
“This is the place.”
“Yeah.”
The entrance to the canyon had little light and was open like a crack between cliffs, so the inside could not be seen.
“Would it not be better to use lighting magic?”
“No. There may be human-mimicking Voidnir wandering nearby. It’s better to enter as inconspicuously as possible. Help me out.”
Unlike Bella, who had strengthened her entire body and whose vision surpassed that of a human, Eugene could not see anything in the dark.
Bella took the lead and grabbed Eugene’s hand. The two clasped hands tightly and entered the canyon.
They were walking through pitch-black darkness.
Suddenly, Bella stopped, and Eugene asked quietly,
“What is it?”
“……There are traces of something passing through.”
“What?”
“I do not know. The smell is strange. It seems like a beast…… and also like a person.”
Those were the words of Bella, a natural-born hunter.
Eugene first engraved that information to one side of his mind, then urged Bella to hurry inside.
The two soon reached the inside of the canyon.
Inside, the sky opened wide, and moonlight poured in clearly.
Their sight opened up. But it was not a beautiful natural landscape.
Because beneath the cold moonlight, Gongha Trees scattering strange light were growing densely.
The creeping branches covering the ground stuck thickly to their soles, planting an unpleasant sensation there.
Bella looked around the forest of Gongha Trees.
“There are at least more than thirty.”
“Look at that. There are a lot of corpses.”
Eugene had discovered something.
In the middle of the Gongha Trees, a pile of bones stacked high like a mountain rose like a hill.
“I doubt corpses grew legs and gathered together in little groups on their own.”
This was an environment that had been artificially manipulated.
Bella’s eyes changed.
She exhaled and sharpened her senses. After confirming that she could not feel any human presence nearby, she nodded to Eugene.
“…….”
Only then did Eugene relax and begin carefully searching the surrounding objects.
Bella also examined all four directions and stuck close behind Eugene just in case.
“You said you smelled something earlier, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s follow that scent. Try to find where it remains nearby.”
Certainly, if they followed the scent that had gone in and out of the canyon, there might be something.
“Understood.”
Bella wrinkled her nose.
She lowered her body and slowly examined the surroundings, then soon began moving toward one place.
And the two discovered a whitish object outside, not near the Gongha Trees,
but beneath the canyon cliff.
It was a stone block like a large stone monument. Around it, strange patterns had been drawn with red dye.
In the center of the stone block, a skull that seemed to belong to a monster lay alone.
And on the forehead of the skull, an incomprehensible pattern had been carved.
It was an object that somehow gave off an eerie atmosphere.
Bella tilted her head.
“Is this…… a magic circle?”
“No, this is not a magic circle.”
For some reason, Eugene’s voice was grave.
Eugene knelt. On the lower surface of the stone block was a wooden doll of bizarre shape.
A single large eye was attached to the head, and below the twisting body, a bundle of straw had been tied to depict something like the legs of a mollusk.
“……A totem.”
“A totem?”
“Yes.”
As he said that, he clicked the carving of the bizarre creature into place above the skull that had been lying there alone.
The straw legs passed through the eyes and ears, and above them, a round eye rose. It naturally formed the image of a tentacled monster with an eye devouring the skull.
When Bella frowned at the grotesqueness, Eugene brushed off his hands and said,
“Not magic, but shamanic ritual. This is not something made as a technique, but an altar created with religious meaning.”
Then he spat, ptui.
Eugene wore quite a displeased expression.
“Those bastards really seem to be using their heads.”
“What exactly is this for you to react like that?”
Bella asked, puzzled.
Eugene spoke in a growling voice.
“It seems those human-mimicking Voidnir have created some bizarre religion.”