TMBIPYMEN Chapter 27

"Lord Yustar, preparations for transport are complete."

Barens, standing before the mechanical apparatus, announced. Yustar immediately took Laila's hand and stepped onto the circular platform that resembled a dais.

"Coordinates set. Point of departure: Sercita. Destination: Havasuka headquarters. Initiating transport."

The moment he pulled the small lever, Laila involuntarily drew a deep breath. She'd anticipated experiencing again that sensation of water filling her—throat to lungs to belly. But this time was different.

She felt her body grow cold to its very limits. As if she stood naked in fog made of ice and parched glass shards.

Her skin cracked and shattered piece by piece, crumbling like a sand castle... The last thing she saw before succumbing to violent nausea was her fingers dissolving, drifting downward like smoke.

"Urk...!"

Was this motion sickness too? It seemed so. Similar to her first portal journey. Dizzy, stomach churning, vision receding into vast distance. And those familiar fingers prying her lips open...

"Don't bite, Laila."

For a moment, she couldn't tell whether "don't bite" referred to Yustar's fingers or the horrifically bitter anti-nausea medicine. The taste from just one suck was vile enough to make her shudder. Laila squeezed her eyes shut.

"What's that? What did you bring?"

Startled by the clear, ringing voice, Laila's head snapped up. She had no time to check whether her fingers had reattached themselves.

A woman stood before her... No, should she be called a girl? A small girl with long hair the ambiguous shade of unripe lemons glared down at Laila with a hostile expression.

"A witch. So you finally tracked one down. Your tenacity makes me sick."

The girl said. Undoubtedly an accusation aimed at Yustar. In appearance she might be his niece or perhaps his youngest sister, yet her manner of speech held no restraint whatsoever.

"What are you doing? If you didn't come here to become mold stuck to the floor, stand up quickly. Time is critical."

The girl who'd snapped at her whirled around. Yustar helped Laila to her feet. Fortunately, the 'orange' on her tongue had fully dissolved, so Laila could more or less collect herself.

"Are you all right?"

Laila immediately shook her head.

"Not at all. That medicine tastes absolutely dreadful."

"I'll admit that. Someday I'm trying to improve it into something fit for human consumption, but it's not easy."

While the two conversed, the girl who'd gone ahead turned sharply and shouted shrilly.

"Can't you hurry up?"

Her arrogant, rude attitude startled even Laila, but Yustar's only response was a shrug. Laila followed him, lowering her voice to a whisper.

"That child... how old is she?"

"She's not a child. Hmm, well. In human years, perhaps a hundred? She might be even older."

Laila's eyes went wide.

"What do you mean? Don't tell me she's a mage?"

Yustar tilted his head with an ambiguous expression. As if to say, 'Perhaps she is...'

"She is a mage. But... mm. There's no time to explain now. For the moment, she's not a child, and she's the branch chief of Tentinella's Second Branch—this Havasuka. Olga Muuge. But don't call her Muuge. Better to just call her Olga."

Laila wanted to ask why, but as Yustar said, there was no time.

The atmosphere at Havasuka branch differed from the Rommel branch she'd first visited.

This place had several times more mechanical devices than Rommel, but to Laila's mind, they were easily a hundred to several hundred years old. Some looked so decrepit she doubted they even functioned.

Muuge entered a space used as both conference room and lounge, then brought her small hand down on the table twice. Bang! Bang! Then she bowed her head and ground her teeth audibly.

"Lost seven. A full seven! Three trainee knights and four veteran knights! Damn it all, do you know how much effort it takes to raise that many? How backbreaking to forge these weak human bodies into warriors?"

Muuge vented her rage at empty air, then turned her head toward Yustar and Laila with that same expression. Laila privately thought it curious how the girl's pupils sparkled like glass.

"That's why I called you, Yustar. Now would you care to explain why you brought a witch along? Don't tell me she's specialized in combat?"

Yustar said, "Nothing like that. Miss Laila won't be participating in battle, Olga."

"Then why bring her? To show off her dress?"

"Don't take your anger out on us. She's only just begun learning about Tentinella. She's exorcised a few ghosts but this is her first time seeing a demon. She needs to understand how we fight. If she's paired with me, there's no way to avoid encountering demons."

Olga crossed her arms and looked up at Laila. Such a merciless gaze—compared to her, Marchioness Hymierd seemed like an affectionate mother.

"You brought her, you handle her. My knights and members will support you, but we can't protect a witch on top of everything. That aside, is she really the witch you've been searching for? Can she perform overlay without any restrictions?"

At the familiar term, Laila's shoulders twitched involuntarily. But when Yustar nodded, Olga pressed no further complaints. Clearly she judged resolving this crisis took priority over quibbling.

She spread maps on the table. One showed the entire Sierrow Kingdom, another depicted nearby terrain in finer detail.

Olga pointed to the upper reaches of the Kizel River.

"The sink first manifested at the river's headwaters. Close to the Kizel's source, near a gorge. Know the creature called dingonek from old tales of mages who lived in damp forests? It looks remarkably similar. But it's larger, more cunning. And faster."

Both Yustar and Laila knew what creature dingonek was.

A being with a sleek, solid body, angular face, massive tusks reaching nearly to its forepaws, and menacing spines. It was a tale often invoked to frighten children living near forests.

Olga's explanation continued.

"It's far faster when moving through water. Since the sink manifested in the river, its nature is probably similar. But that doesn't mean it stays only in water. It leaps through the gorge's steep valleys like a winged mountain goat."

Yustar frowned.

"A troublesome beast. Even more so if it's cunning. We'll need to set traps rather than face it directly."

"We tried that approach. But it noticed first and ambushed us. Attempted twice, failed twice. Some returned alive, but all suffered major injuries. They might have to return to their hometowns."

"Its weakness?"

Olga tapped the table. Thunk.

"Can't see ahead. Or rather, presumed blind. No pupils. But judging by how uncannily it locates things, nine times out of ten it has sensory organs replacing eyes. Dense spines along its spine—maybe those substitute for vision."

"Like a cat's whiskers. Then cutting those spines should be priority."

A reasonable suggestion. Olga agreed with Yustar's words but shook her head.

"We tried. Lost two veteran knights attempting it. This demon is too fast. Running speed, attack speed, even detection speed—all happen in the blink of an eye. Got any good ideas?"

Yustar fell into brief contemplation. Laila watched him with a worried expression. He'd said this wasn't something she could help with, but actually sitting silent brought agonizing helplessness.

An unknown creature of uncertain identity. A monster appearing in no tales—how could anyone possibly kill such a thing? Laila thought it over repeatedly.

It couldn't see ahead, they said. Olga said the dense spines rising from its backbone functioned as sensory organs replacing eyes... Then what could blind those spines?

"What if... this is purely hypothetical."

When Laila spoke, both Olga and Yustar looked at her with startled expressions. Olga especially so. As if she'd thought Laila an inanimate doll incapable of speech.

"Speak, Laila. Say whatever you're comfortable saying."

At Yustar's words, Laila's face reddened slightly. She feared how absurd what she was about to say would sound to these people. But still...

"That creature, the demon. If it senses its surroundings through spines on its back... what if we could paralyze those spines? Then it couldn't sense anything, or at least would struggle greatly. We could strike then."

Olga snorted.

"Fire tranquilizer darts? We tried that. Useless. Couldn't pierce its scales. Did it turn its body to stone, the damned bastard?"

Vulgar language erupted from lips as pretty as a mischievous angel's. But Laila didn't flinch, speaking again.

"Not approaching with weapons. From as far away as possible, waiting for the demon to appear... and then. As you can see, I'm a witch. I can make all sorts of tinctures. Among them, ones that make hearts beat while appearing completely dead. I'll make that... and spray it where the demon appears. Like fog."

Laila spoke while recalling the sensation during transport to Havasuka—glass shards and ice fog scraping against her body. That tingling feeling. That fear of crumbling soundlessly...

As that sensation revived, she suddenly thought—what if the demon experienced the same?

Yustar and Olga contemplated Laila's proposed method with quite serious, earnest attitudes. Olga reached a decision first.

"Fine, witch. Let's try it your way. But creating new machinery capable of defeating that monster is impossible. So we'll have to use what we've got. Follow me for now. Make that tincture. It'll need to be large-scale."