Level up with swords (192)
This was the story after arriving in Ladoga.
『Uninvited Guest at the Lake』
* Difficulty: Hard
* Scale: ?
* Aptitude Object: Monsters from another dimension, ???, ????
* Person in charge: None
* A monster summoned from an unknown dimension settled down somewhere in Lake Ladoga. If the lake, which is the city’s water source, is polluted, residents will soon feel the effects. Eliminate the monsters that reside in the lake, the foreign magician who controls them, and the accomplices involved in his evil plans.
Leon looked at the contents of the quest once again and tapped the hilt of his sword, and the letters floating in the air immediately disappeared.
This made it clear.
The territory that the three had just arrived at, the Viscounty of Ladoga, was also the site of some kind of trick by the evil church, just like Alzer.
Ellahan put his hands together and prayed quietly.
“Goddess, have mercy on the innocent.”
It was truly a natural reaction.
Lake Ladoga was a source of drinking water for nearby villages and a place that could be considered a source of domestic water. The territory itself was developed along the edge of a wide lake, so there is no need to explain its size further.
Tens of thousands of people, perhaps more, drink the water from that lake, wash their clothes, and mop their clothes.
“… “Seeing that the word ‘pollution’ was used, it seems like he has poison or disease-type powers.”
When Leon raised a guess based on the quest window, Karen also agreed, saying it made sense.
Basically, it is said that an average person can only live three days without water, and only three weeks without food. If you simply calculate that, it means that water is seven times more important than food.
Even in military science, the tactic of targeting the enemy’s drinking water source is the most basic of all, and the evil sect is probably just following that policy.
“Are you saying there’s a monster hiding at the bottom of this lake?”
Leaning against the fence surrounding the edge of the lake, Karen strengthened her eyesight by blowing aura into her eyes.
Eyesight that surpasses that of an eagle, even if only temporarily. The eyes, which even displayed the power of clairvoyance, peered into the water of a lake whose bottom was unknown.
10 meters, 30 meters, 60 meters, 100 meters… .
No matter how many times she waded through the murky water, nothing caught her eye.
“Ugh, that won’t work. “It was much deeper than I thought, so I couldn’t see to the bottom of the lake with my eyes.”
“How deep is the water?”
“At least 500 meters. “If you measure it properly, it can go up to kilometers.”
“It’s much deeper than most coastal waters.”
Leon clicked his tongue and looked beyond.
Sunlight shattered on the undulating surface of the lake, casting a few rays of reflected light.
Even though the scenery was very beautiful, his expression was stiff.
‘No matter how hard I try, I can’t evaporate this lake, and even if I could, it would be a problem. It will be difficult to attack unless you crawl out from the other side first.’
After acquiring the Icarus Wing, I became quite skilled at aerial combat, but underwater combat was a different story.
Above all, due to the nature of Auror Blade, which is accompanied by heat, it would not be able to produce even half of its power under that lake. The conditions were too dangerous to deal with monsters like the ‘Kaleido Spider’ that was defeated in Jugend.
In particular, monsters from another dimension often displayed absurd power depending on the environment, so attacking the base itself was a big penalty for Leon and the others.
“We have no choice but to avoid a preemptive strike.”
Ellahan muttered, coming to the same conclusion.
“Today, let’s gather information from inside this territory. “I think it would be a good idea to test the lake water as well.”
“Okay, let’s walk around for a bit.”
Leon agreed with that opinion and started walking towards the western part of Ladoga. Ellahan and Karen naturally followed him.
Viscounty of Ladoga.
The cityscape, built in a circular shape as if surrounding a lake, was divided into four districts. The east was densely packed with military facilities, the south with a few commercial districts, and the west with residential facilities and bars.
Lastly, the northern area was the garden of the lord, Viscount Rado, so it was difficult to access without permission.
“Is there a possibility that he is staying in the lord’s mansion like he did in Alzer?”
“Oh, that might be possible.”
Even the Margrave, who had more power than most marquis, could not go against Nigel’s will. There was a good possibility that Viscount Rado had been deceived by a man disguised as a different person.
That doesn’t mean you can’t jump over the wall, but there was one person in Leon’s group who was adept at jumping over the wall.
“Karen, would you like to come by tonight? “Avoid fighting as much as possible and focus on gathering information.”
It is said that it worked out unintentionally in Algeria, but there is also a saying that it is an unexpected turn of events.
If you make a fuss for no reason and the darkness hides, the chance to defeat the monster in the lake becomes even more distant.
Karen also smiled bitterly after understanding what he meant.
“Ahaha, don’t worry. I understand. “I’ll do better this time.”
“Don’t worry. Because I believe it.”
“huh!”
While they were talking like that, the three people had already entered the western part of Ladoga.
The number of people walking along the main street is increasing, making it crowded.
Perhaps because of the civil war, the atmosphere was not very good, but it was fortunate that there were many people walking around on the streets. If the situation were truly serious, all residents would lock themselves in their homes and not even dare to come out.
“… … hmm?”
However, Leon felt a strange sense of discomfort in that scene.
People passing by wearing clothes unique to the empire.
A man smoking a cigar in an alley, a woman spreading out a carpet touting trivial goods.
Aside from that, he just looks like he doesn’t deviate from the ‘ordinary’.
“what’s the matter?”
“No, something’s a little strange.”
The two people also looked around after hearing his words, but they seemed confused as they could not find anything in particular.
Leon soon changed his mind, wondering if it was because of his mood.
“Okay, maybe I was mistaken. After finding the accommodation, let’s take a walk around the village. “Individual action begins after the sun sets.”
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“As the warrior wishes.”
“Of course.”
The three people walked into the western part of Ladoga. Countless people passed behind them, and a withered leaf fell helplessly from a tree along the main street.
Why?
The wind was particularly cool.
* * *
It was a few hours later.
After Leon and his group finished dinner together, they each began collecting information in their own way.
As mentioned earlier, Karen aimed for the northern area where the lord’s mansion was located, and Ellahan kept knocking down the staff he had picked up somewhere, looking for something that could be a clue as a ‘revelation’.
The three quickly dispersed.
‘It’s a much more prosperous territory than I expected.’
Leon looked around as he walked alone at night.
According to the information he had seen before, the Viscounty of Ladoga would have been a low-ranking territory within the empire, but its area and strength did not seem to be much different compared to the counties of other countries.
Clyde Empire.
It was a part that made one feel the power of a hegemonic country that had reigned as the continent’s most powerful nation for centuries.
“The condition of the lake is not much different from the daytime… .”
Leon turned his eyes and quietly looked at the lake.
In general, almost all monsters were nocturnal.
The two eyes of the goddess.
Among them, the sun, which shines during the daytime, does not tolerate wrong existence in its way of existence.
If the undead were exposed to sunlight for no reason, they would not melt like icicles in the middle of summer. The moon is also a symbol with the power of ‘purity’ and ‘purification’, but it is not as powerful as the sun.
‘I wondered if it would move a little in the middle of the night, but I guess that’s not the case.’
Leon’s eyes sank deeply.
Of the several patterns I had assumed, this was the worst one.
This is a case where they do not leave the lake regardless of day or night, and even clues to find its location are rare.
Rather than targeting the monster buried at the bottom of the lake, it seemed like I should first catch the foreign wizard holding the reins. According to the quest window, it appears that he also has a collaborator.
‘If it’s the guy the yellow mark is referring to, he won’t be an opponent that either side can take lightly.’
The only power that can pose a threat to the trio of Leon, Karen, and Ellahan is at the master level. In that case, the enemy member must have reached the level of a master, whether it be magic or an auror, or possessed abilities equivalent to a master in some way.
『Lode Invaders』.
The Kaleido Spider I encountered on that quest also had special abilities and physical abilities that went beyond common sense.
“Whoa.”
It was then.
The moment Leon sighed involuntarily, cloudy breath flowed out and shattered in the air.
A natural phenomenon that is nothing special.
however.
“what?”
What triggered the feeling of discomfort was the breath. When it’s cold, the breath you exhale through your mouth condenses into water vapor in the dry air.
Immediately after that, Leon realized something.
‘This is the season of the Clyde Empire… ‘I guess it’ll be late summer at most?’
It was a time when it had to be either hot or warm.
It shouldn’t be cold.
But is there cloudy breath coming out of people’s mouths? It was strange and strange again. Leon wondered if he was the only one who was like this, but all the passers-by on the street were also letting out hazy breath.
I wore several layers of thick leather clothing to combat the cold.
‘ah!’
Only then did Leon understand what the sense of discomfort he felt earlier was and why he felt it.
It’s clothes.
Even though it was late summer, everyone was warming up by wearing several layers of fur clothing and even coats made of bear or wolf skin.
As if it were the middle of winter.
“… “I need to check.”
As soon as Leon confirmed his suspicions, he left the road and jumped over the fence surrounding the edge of the lake.
Even with the lights on, there are fewer pedestrians than during the day.
Perhaps thanks to that, no one noticed his waltz.
Leon, who arrived at the lakeside at a quick pace, held out his index finger and stuck it into the lake. The purpose was to find out the exact water temperature of the lake.
‘cold.’
It was so cold that I felt chills all the way to the back of my neck.
All the cold air that had taken over Rado City was flowing from the lake. No, to be exact, it’s a bit different.
Rather than cold air overflowing from inside the lake, it was more accurate to say that the heat of the entire territory was being absorbed by the lake.
Is it the work of a monster or a natural phenomenon?
Leon, who was thinking about that, rubbed his forearm.
‘The three of us are not susceptible to heat or cold, so it was late to notice this.’
People who reached the level of Auror Master were not affected by natural diseases and were invulnerable to cold and cold, so they were neither hot in summer nor cold in winter.
The fact that he was not familiar with the clothes of the Clyde Empire also played a role, but Leon did not use that as an excuse.
It was my own mistake that I did not realize beforehand.
[Leon.]
El Cid said.
[I have a guess that it is a monster that eats up the heat in the area and has a water source like a lake as its habitat.]
‘really!? What?’
[A land where flames cannot be born forever. They are monsters from a dimension where only ice and blizzards swirl.]
To them, heat is both food and enemy.
It swallows the flame and stops life.
Having faced a monster summoned from that dimension once in his life, El Cid knew its name.
[Winter snake (Serpentes hieme).]
It is a monster brought to this land from the dimension of permafrost, becoming stronger in proportion to the scale of the heat it engulfs.
