## Chapter 116 – Soul Ascension Battle
It was a Death March in the truest sense of the word.
Roel whimpered, Serka was terrified, and Kusto began muttering something ominous. The march continued in that dreamlike, fairytale village atmosphere.
This reminded me of my time in the army. The rain-soaked night marches back then had the same vibe. The only difference was that I didn’t have any trustworthy comrades here.
“The atmosphere has gotten really bad.”
At this rate, it might seriously hinder our quest. We’d only just managed to get the party back on track, so that wouldn’t do.
“Hey, Serka.”
“…What is it?”
When I quietly called out to Serka, she turned to me with a completely horrified expression. At the same time, the party’s march came to a halt. Kusto and Roel also trembled as they slowly turned to face me.
“Why are you guys making those faces?”
“…”
Did I kill someone or something?
I feel so wronged.
“Well, whatever. Looks like you’ve all come to your senses. From now on, I hope you won’t dismiss people you’ve just met with stereotypes like ‘barbarian’ or ‘swordsman.’ Got it? Because of that, the atmosphere went to shit and we’re running really late.”
Instead of answering, they swallowed hard and nodded. It wasn’t a very satisfying response, but I didn’t really need a verbal apology anyway. Now that we were doing the quest, I wasn’t planning on squeezing them for money.
Just getting it done is enough.
“Anyway, we need to lighten the mood.”
“Li-lighten…the mood…?”
“Yeah, things won’t go well if the atmosphere stays like this.”
Kusto started to get anxious. He seemed to have a big misunderstanding about me, but I didn’t really want to cause any trouble. I had to reap what I sowed.
Since I’d lowered the party’s morale, I needed to raise it again.
“Hey, Serka. Sing a song or something, anything is fine.”
“S-sing a song?”
“Yeah.”
The solution was to sing a song.
I sing songs when I’m having a hard time, when I’m happy, and when I’m sad. Usually Mr. Seol Woon-do’s “Compass.”
Singing when I’m happy makes me even happier, and singing when I’m sad comforts me. When I’m tired, it gives me strength. That’s why I like singing. Because when I sing, I can forget the hard life in this other world.
“I, I don’t know any songs…”
“You must know at least one.”
No one who says that actually doesn’t know any songs.
I wanted to call her out for lying, but I decided to let it slide for the sake of the atmosphere.
“I really don’t. Besides, I’m a terrible singer. It wouldn’t be fun to listen to…”
“Ugh, seriously.”
“I-I’ll sing! I’ll sing, so calm down!”
Serka flailed and cleared her throat, getting ready.
Let’s try to calm our minds and bodies while listening to her song. Come to think of it, this was the first time I’d asked someone to sing since I was in the army.
“…Alright, I’ll start.”
“Good. Go ahead and start. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Ah, ah. Serka, having cleared her throat, began to sing.
“ㅡWavering, wavering, lured by the wisp’s light, who goes?
When a child enters the forest, the harvest festival begins.
Let us hide our sibling with a mask, and take the neighbor’s child instead.
Wavering, wavering, the wisp’s lightㅡ.”
The song, which started with a trembling voice, soon found a steady rhythm with a calm and low tone. Her voice was quite good, befitting her appearance, but the lyrics were incomprehensible. I was horrified by the lyrics, which seemed to imply human sacrifice.
“What the hell is this fucked up song? What happens to the kid who goes into the forest?”
If a child is led into the forest by the wisp’s light, the harvest festival begins? Do they sacrifice the child to summon a good harvest? Serka avoided my gaze and answered.
“…I don’t know. It’s just a folk song passed down in my hometown.”
“Damn, that’s creepy as hell. Don’t sing anymore. Hey! Let’s go!”
“…”
And so, we started marching again.
It felt a little better since we sang a song before starting. Roel sat down again, seemingly exhausted. I told Serka to carry her, but Kusto stepped forward to support her instead.
We could have taken a break if they were tired.
In the end, we didn’t reach our destination until well past noon because of Roel.
The scenery at our destination was a bit strange.
“What kind of plants are these?”
Long, winding plants grew instead of trees, making this place feel like it truly contained otherworldly mysteries. The plants were so alien.
There are places like this a little further out.
“Roel. Is this where the Konpeito trees grow?”
“…Yes. I don’t know for sure, but we’ll probably find them if we explore around here.”
“I see. Then let’s go in. Serka, lead the way.”
“Understood.”
Serka, at the head, pushed aside the plants and advanced.
We followed the path she made. I instructed Roel, the most knowledgeable person here, to guide us. There wasn’t much conversation as we walked. Of course, it was very smooth since these crazy bastards kept their mouths shut. It was a good thing I kept the atmosphere in check. A club is the best medicine for mad dogs.
Even if I’m going to carry them, I need to make them human first.
ㅡRustle, rustle.
ㅡRustle, rustle.
“Stop.”
“Wh-what is that…?”
After walking for a while, we heard something other than ourselves rustling through the bushes. This was supposed to be a monster-infested area, and sure enough, they were appearing right from the start. We immediately stopped and prepared for battle.
ㅡRustle, rustle.
We focused on the sound, maintaining silence.
Even if the enemies’ identities were completely revealed in a wide-open area like before, we couldn’t let our guard down in this kind of terrain with lots of bushes. The sound was getting closer and closer. It seemed to be coming towards us.
I looked around, but I couldn’t see anything. Was it a small monster? Goblin? Gnoll? Kobold? Finally, the sound that had gotten closer revealed itself. It was.
“Mushroom heads.”
ㅡWhoosh, whoosh. Whoosh.
The monsters were four-legged creatures that looked like large mushrooms. They were slowly walking towards us. Seeing them, Serka strode forward, seemingly intending to punch them.
“Wait.”
“What is it?”
“If you hit them, we’re screwed. Those guys release spores when they take damage.”
I’d seen those monsters before.
I didn’t know their exact name, but when you hit them, spores burst out of their large caps. If they get in your eyes, I’m not kidding, it hurts like hell. And while you’re rolling around in pain, other monsters come. The spores have the effect of attracting other monsters.
It’s just giant bats or other weaklings that come, but we don’t know what kind of monsters are here. A distant memory came to mind.
“Then what should we do?”
“Grab them and slowly lift them up.”
“You want me to grab these?”
“Yeah.”
They’re not very threatening monsters if you avoid the spores.
I’ve caught them before, after all.
Hearing my words, Serka cautiously hugged the mushroom monster’s stalk and slowly lifted it up. It was like hugging a large doll.
ㅡWhoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Then the mushroom monster’s strangely shaped four legs began to flail. They looked like the legs of a mushroom and a spider combined. I aimed my sword at the base of the monster. If I stabbed the bottom and slowly cut it, I could kill it easily.
“They’re not very ferocious monsters, so don’t worry. As long as you don’t give them a big shock with an impact, the spores won’t burst out easily. Hey, Kusto, Roel. You guys keep the other ones busy.”
“Ugh…”
“O-okay…”
“Why am I doing this…”
ㅡWhoosh! Whoosh!
I stabbed the base with my sword.
The monster started flailing wildly, but as expected, the spores didn’t burst out. I calmly moved the sword I had stabbed in and cut the flesh inside. Gush, liquid flowed out. Having thoroughly stabbed the inside, I pulled out the sword.
“Now slowly put it down. Calmly.”
“…Okay.”
Serka slowly lowered the flailing monster.
The monster, lowered while lying down, couldn’t get up and continued to flail, spilling its internal organs from the hole in its base. Then the trembling began to subside, and soon it stopped completely.
“See? Don’t touch things like that if you can help it.”
“Understood.”
We dealt with the remaining two mushroom monsters in the same way.
It’s so much better when you listen.
If it had been like this from the beginning, this quest would probably have been a fun and happy dreamland picnic with the legendary Teletubbies.
“Serka. Let’s move on.”
After that, we just searched around for places where Konpeito might be. No wonder the quest reward was so high. Finding something is quite a difficult task.
Especially magical ingredients like Konpeito.
“Katt… Katt-nim… Can we… can we take a break… for a moment?”
After some time, Kusto said. I nodded. I had them find a suitable place to rest. I was also getting a little tired from the continuous search.
“Hmm.”
I thought they might be plotting something if they were all together, so I brought Serka over to my side. Kusto and Roel were one thing, but if she was with them, they might do something evil.
“Serka, come here.”
Above all, this bastard was the easiest to deal with in my opinion.
“…Is there a reason?”
“Just come when I tell you to, you little shit.”
Since it was a break time anyway, we could just chat and pass the time.
I sat down on a suitable rock, and told Serka to sit a little distance away. We still had to maintain a minimum distance.
When I tried to make eye contact, Serka fidgeted and tried to avoid my gaze. I asked her.
“Hey, Serka. I’m curious about something.”
“…What is it?”
“Why do you hate swordsmen so much? Did a swordsman stab your mom to death or something?”
It wasn’t a personal attack, I was genuinely curious. Even though racial and occupational discrimination were rampant in this primitive world (Earth is the same), I couldn’t understand why she would so openly spew discriminatory remarks in front of me.
It’s only natural to get angry at something you can’t understand.
“It’s not like that… My mother is alive.”
“As a prostitute?”
“No, that’s…”
“What?”
“…Yes.”
“Okay, let’s skip that. Anyway, what’s the reason?”
I hadn’t had the chance to ask anyone like her before, but now I finally had one. I decided to resolve my long-standing question through Serka. I should talk to Roel later too.
“…Swordsm, no. Swordsmen use swords.”
“Convenient, isn’t it?”
She trembled as if trying to organize her thoughts, then continued in a soft tone. Judging by her tone, she seemed to have received some education, but the way she spoke was just awful.
“It’s a very cowardly and immoral thing, I’ve been taught and experienced. In reality, the guys who use swords are just pathetic and despicable thugs that I can’t stand to look at. They form gangs and commit robberies, thinking that the sword they have, which is nothing compared to their own strength, is their power. That’s why I hate swordsmen.”
How could my head not explode when she said something like that so confidently? I blurted out what came to mind.
“Why are you suddenly talking about yourself?”
“…Talking about myself?”
“Your thinking is so amazing. Well, whatever. Tell me more. It’s actually fascinating. Are you doing it on purpose?”
To put it simply, she was saying that it’s only natural to hate swordsmen because most of them are terrible people.
She seemed to be speaking rationally, but in reality, she was conveniently leaving out her own bullshit, which was a typical example of hypocrisy. It was an undeniably otherworldly way of thinking.
“True strength only means the strength of one’s own body, without any weapons. If you’re a person, you should naturally train your body and cultivate your mind at the same time. But swordsmen don’t have that…”
“Is that why someone who cultivates their mind starts cursing at me, someone they’ve just met? With that kind of prejudice, even though you don’t know anything about each other?”
“That’s because you…”
I cut off Serka’s words, who seemed to want to say something.
It was meaningless to think, “I’m glad I did that,” after seeing my actions.
