Madman in a Fantasy World

123. prepare

The body looked like it had been stabbed with a sharp object. Not to mention the wounds all over the body, one empty eye, fingers and toes scattered around. It can’t be that it’s pretty brutal. I don’t know who the culprit was, but as long as I like gore tags, I thought it was clear that he was sexually inclined.

The corpse that is about to be caught in the deliberations right now is probably an elf guarding the seal in the evening. Gideon, who joined later while checking the seal, looked at the corpse and looked at it.

“I don’t have a lot of hobbies.”

“Iknow, right.”

Ah, that’s not how the dwarves handle it. It’s not that the ignorant dwarfs are killed right away like this, but all their pride should be trampled on like I did. In that sense, the culprit was not good at being a good mortician.

“But you guys look surprisingly calm? It’s rare to see a corpse like this while doing adventure activities.”

If you’re an adventurer, you can see a human corpse, but you can’t see a corpse that has been brutally cut into pieces.

“Not really? Rather too common?”

“Is this what you mean…?”

“Oddly enough, I’m good at arguing with people.”

To be honest, I fought more people than I fought monsters after crossing this world. I don’t know why, but strangely, I got into trouble. Do I look so complacent?

“Anyway, it looks like I’ll have to go back as soon as I get there.”

“It’s annoying…”

We had no choice but to return to Alfheim even though we grumbled that it was annoying. It was useless to go back and forth to tell the World Tree that there were traces of the attack on the tombstone. Alfheim arrived back like that. But the incident was not alone.

The elf, Evangeline, who was our guide, was waiting at the entrance and approached us as soon as she saw us.

“Ah. I was just there.”

She seemed to be in a hurry as she spoke as if she had saved herself the trouble of finding it.

“Yggdrasil has called you.”

“It just went well. We had something to do, too.”

“And Mr. Luke behind him…”

I had to go anyway, and I just found it. I don’t know what’s going on, but I quietly followed him. In my head, while accumulating the rewards I will receive later, one by one. When we arrived at the throne room, Evangeline immediately stepped back and the World Tree greeted us.

[Thank you for coming.]

The voice of the world tree echoed in my head was not the gentle voice of the first meeting. Her voice, as if submerged in water, spoke for her mood.

“I heard the old woman called us. What’s up?”

[Can you look at this first?]

The world tree is pointing at the wooden coffin on the table. Looking down to see if it contained any treasure, there was an elf’s corpse. Well, a coffin is a place to put a corpse, so what do you want? I thought I had seen too many animes. The corpse was missing an arm, and organs oozing from the elongated lacerations gave it a grotesque appearance.

[This morning. A corpse found by a child who was out on patrol outside the village. He was lying in the middle of the forest.]

“Isn’t there just one dead…?”

Gideon swallowed. Well, does it make sense to be alone in the evening with a bomb guard who doesn’t know what’s going to happen. Even if it couldn’t be done, more than two troops would have to be attached, but it was questionable that there was only one corpse near the seal. The World Tree expressed doubts about Gideon’s meaningful lines.

[What are you talking about?]

“Actually, we originally tried to find the old hag. Luke, can you bring it out?”

“Ah~ Is that housewarming gift?”

“…it’s not like that.”

I took a housewarming gift from my inventory and placed it on top of the coffin.

[·······.]

“We’re just on our way from the seal. There are signs of an attack on the seal.”

[okay···.]

“Your favorite child must be dead, but you’re pretty calm.”

[I’m currently in the position of commander… you can’t act emotionally.]

But the world tree was silent. To control the rising anger. As we talked, the incident grew out of control. The death of two elves gave rise to many problems and provided a lot of information at the same time.

The first piece of information is that the culprit is a very talented person. Even the lowest elf has the abilities of a B-class adventurer, but killing two of them means that there are more than one raider or that they have at least A-class skills. Second, the criminal’s purpose is to break the seal. The killing of the elves was only an afterthought.

And the first problem is related to raid. I was planning to do a raid soon, but the death of an elf meant a loss of power. Since the population was small from the beginning, each and every Elf is a valuable force. Second is the issue of raids. Troops should be deployed to the seal in the future, but an attack like today might happen. Not only that, but the hidden culprit might attack from behind during the raid.

In a fairly heavy atmosphere, Yui said in a small voice, as if she had any questions.

“By the way. How did the person called the culprit enter the barrier?”

“Well.”

I’m curious too, but I’ve already been in, so I didn’t pay much attention. Then, suddenly, a voice rang in my head.

[The elf’s arm was cut off. When you entered Alfheim, didn’t you hold the hand of the elf who accompanied you?]

The World Tree looked at the elf whose arm had been cut off with a sad look and said. True to the word, we entered holding the hand of the elf when we entered. I don’t know the principle, but I said that it was necessary to enter.

[The barrier I spread in the forest is a double barrier of suppression of perception and alteration of consciousness. It prevents people who are trying to enter Alfheim from recognizing Alfheim, and makes them unconsciously judge that they should not approach this place, forcing them to avoid it.]

A double barrier, something that seemed amazing just by hearing it appeared.

[The effect of the barrier gets stronger the closer you get to Alfheim, but that doesn’t mean there’s no way to get in. The easiest way is with the help of elves. That way, like you, holding hands or having body parts.]

body part. I think I know how I got in just by listening to it. Yesterday, the elf said that the place where the Volcanic Ceratopsian was sealed was outside the barrier of the World Tree. Since there was no barrier, he could have gone to places with seals. That’s why the elves were also built near the seal.

The criminal killed the southern elf guarding the seal and took parts of his body. With that, he was able to roam freely inside the barrier. Isn’t the corpse also missing an arm? Maybe the culprit has it. I thought that no one would be able to come in, but after listening to this and that, there are surprisingly many loopholes.

“Then the criminal still has one arm?”

[Probably so.]

“But we went to the seal today without the help of the elves?”

[That’s thanks to the tea I gave you on the first day. It’s kind of a mark. A mark that allows the barrier to remember the passerby.]

When I dig things that I thought there was no reason for, something comes out one by one.

“Rather than that, why didn’t you put a barrier on the seal?”

[Because I don’t know what will happen if my barrier and seal are combined. Sealing is also a type of barrier. When barriers and barriers are combined, one or the other cannot exert its effectiveness. If it was a barrier I made alone, I would have tried it, but unfortunately, it was a human being, not me, who created the seal. That person does not currently exist in the world.]

tsk. It’s full of possibilities. Thanks to that, things are getting annoying.

“Rather than that. Is there anything catchy in the future poetry of the old woman?”

[…Unfortunately. I tried several times, but I could only see a dark figure in my eyes.]

Haven’t you ever played a prank on a friend like that? It’s a prank to look at the screen of a cell phone that is turned off and say “Oh, this is your future.” that’s what really happened

‘This is why these ambiguous abilities…’

Things like time-related and future vision are very good in terms of ability, but if it’s ambiguous, it’s also one of the representative of ambiguous abilities. For example, the key to stopping time is how long it can be stopped. Even if time could be stopped, what use would it be if it was 0.1 second? Or what if you used the ability to turn back time, but on the contrary, it cuts off the user’s lifespan? It’s not like you don’t have that ability.

The future poem that the World Tree writes now is also like that. If you look at the future and see only darkness and elves screaming in the darkness, there is no point in looking at it. That’s why the culprit seems to be hiding in the morning and act only in the evening. Evenings in the forest are perfect for hiding in the trees as even the moonlight is blocked.

In addition, the fact that you cannot only see the future you want plays a part. Maybe you only see the future when you need it. So even if something like this happened, I wasn’t prepared for it. Hey, if you only look at the future all the time, it’s as if the person who uses that ability doesn’t have a present.

“Then, what are you going to do with the security in the future? Since you know that the opponent is aiming for a seal, you should strengthen the security.”

[There may be a few things to try, but right now I don’t think there’s anything other than increasing the number of people.]

The World Tree and Gideon began to decide their next course of action one by one. Next to him, Luna asked a question as if she had remembered something.

“Luke-sama. I’m asking just in case. Is this also the work of the demons?”

“It’s not as far as I know, but if you look at it, it must be a demon or a demon.”

Who else would do something like this other than demons and demons? If a beastman or a human did that, it would be a war with the elves, but there was no way they would do such a thing. In response to my answer, Luna made an expression that she knew that.

“If it’s going to come out anyway, I’d rather be a demon than a demon.”

If Mine is weak, it doesn’t give much experience. And don’t demons give you skills? The more skills, the better.

“Then what are you going to do when it really comes out…”

“Let’s sell our worries.”

You can kill them all when they come out. my valuable experiences.

***

Since then, I have tried several different methods. I tried to entice them by setting up the elves in the morning and setting up Gideon in the evening, but unfortunately it failed. No, not only Gideon in the first place, but after the first murder, no trace of the culprit could be found.

After attacking the seal, he must have decided that he couldn’t break it with his own power, or he may have changed his method to wait until the raid starts. However, the raid could not be stopped. Even if the seal is left alone, it will eventually be released. Stopping the raid here means throwing away the opportunity to attack first with your own hands. So I went ahead with the raid, and when the culprit came out in the middle, I decided to confront Byun.

Time passed like that, and it was the fourth day since we came to Alfheim. I also moved to prepare for the raid. First, I went to Evangeline, who was the guide.

“Yes? Carriage…?”

“Uh. I have something to prepare.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have a wagon or something.”

“make.”

“···Yes?”

“Make it.”