Carb Sears (R) 441

Chapter 441 – The End of Suffering.

“Why does this place smell so bad?”

After reaching Ragado, Sulsien covered her nose and talked with Usher entering the wagon for a rest.

She knew it was a luxury to complain like this with her help, but the rotting smell from outside was not common.

“Ragado is originally like this. Rather, it doesn’t smell well because of the cold.”
“Wow, is this less?”

Sulsien couldn’t believe his words. The cold wasn’t a problem. However, this terrible rotten smell that came along with the salty smell made me feel nauseous even if I just brushed my nose.

“How are you going to do your future research?”
“That.”

But Usher seemed to mind none of that, and she asked about her investigation. Xue Xian pondered for a moment and looked out of her window. Even the scenery seen through the carriage window of Ragado was unparalleled.

At least in the wilderness, the color changes little by little and it feels quite bright. This place called Ragado had a continuous appearance of dark gray mud under dull and cloudy clouds.

“We need more diverse samples.”
“Sample. What is an example?”
“Well, there are no cities or forests here, right?”

Sulshien hesitated at his words, but she talked. No matter how desolate the wilderness was, there were quite a lot of creatures living there. However, in this place called Ragado, the sky is always covered with clouds, and it is difficult to find even a trace of life because of the vibrating mud of rotten me.

It was a place where people who lived in tribal units questioned whether they would live in a city, and couldn’t even imagine that there was such a thing as a forest.

“It’s not like there aren’t places like that in Lagado.”

While he was troubled by the thought that the investigation could be difficult, he was delighted with Usher’s words, but soon after, he stood in a daze at the sight he faced.

“…What is this place?”
“Didn’t you find the forest?”

Certainly, if it were a forest, it could be called a forest, but the problem was that the composition of the forest was not familiar things such as trees and blades of grass.

Looking up, I saw a huge black pillar rising in the shape of a sword as if to pierce the clouds that covered Ragado. At first, Sulsien thought it was a man-made structure. It was so strange to be considered a creature.

However, when I touched it just in case, I realized that I had felt a similar touch somewhere before.

“Could this be a fungus? No, is it a mushroom?”
“Prototecite, I know it’s quite widespread in Lagado.”
“Are there so many of these?”

Sulsien checked the texture of her fingertips and observed the appearance of numerous molds around it. The heterogeneous forest, which varied in size, color, and shape, was not the forest she knew.

“Aren’t there any stories about Ragado in Paciphenia?”
“It’s not like there aren’t any. But the records are so old and there are cases where they have been lost, so everyone thinks it’s an absurd story.”

Especially since the forest made up of these giant fungi was such that she couldn’t believe it until she saw it herself. She pressed the smooth surface of the protothexite, making sure it wasn’t too hard, and pulled out her small knife.

“I’m trying to harvest the tissue of this fungus, is it okay?”
“If you need it, take care of it.”

Even as she spoke calmly, she smiled slightly at Usher, who drew his sword beforehand and looked around her, approaching her when she was about to become defenseless. The gas mask that now covers her nose and her mouth was also handed over from him.

– Crunchy square

I was in the middle of putting the tissue that I had painstakingly cut into a container that I could hold in my hand.

-Kagagagak!!
“Kyaaak?!”

Surprised by something protruding from the cut-out, Sulsien hurriedly backed away, and Usher swung his rapier right away.

-Chaeeng!

What follows is a noise like swords clashing against each other. The sound was all the more difficult to understand because there was no iron there. In the end, if you forcibly forget what you just threatened and go to check it out.

“Is this a monster too…?”

A beetle the size of a man’s face, glowing turquoise, protruded from the inside of the protothexite she had carved out, clutching her rapier with its blade-sharp jaws. I wondered if it was a monster because of that unbelievable appearance, but Usher denied it.

“Karambisque, it’s not a monster. I thought everyone died because it was getting cold. It seems they were hiding in a place like this to avoid the cold.”

Originally, I got goosebumps at the word that they were the ones who lived by eating the corpses in the valley they passed through, but it was clear that it was a good sample.

“Mr. Usher, can I take this karambisque with me too?”
“I can’t take you alive.”
“You said it wasn’t a monster?”
“There is a problem with food, but he has a habit of calling his own people.”
“…I’ll have no choice but to kill him and take him back.”

After securing Karambisque, Sulsien followed Usher.

“Ugh, I think I know why mold grows like this.”

It was nice to be able to write a lot of samples and survey reports, but the feeling of the mud so thick that you could feel it even through your shoes and the terrible smell that even a gas mask couldn’t get rid of was terrible enough that what was inside would sometimes come up.

“Something this huge might fall over.”

Even so, this place was uncharted territory to the extent that I wanted to continue my investigation even while enduring the rising disgusting smell. There were also traces of the gigantic protothexite, which might have reached the edge of the sky, as if it had been cut or broken by something sharp.

“It looks like it’s been down for a while since it’s being eaten by other fungi…”

How long has it been since I felt both curiosity and fear at the thought that there might be an animal or monster huge enough to do this in this forest?

“I’d better go somewhere else now.”
“But yet.”

Sulsien still wanted to investigate more, but he refused.

“If we go further than this, we cannot guarantee safety.”

He said that it was difficult to escape because he did not know how wide this place was, but that there were overflowing dangerous fungi and mushrooms that even the natives of Lagado did not know about.

“Isn’t it mold, though?”

Sulsien asked again, wondering if it would be enough if he didn’t eat molds and mushrooms that were simply large in size. Then Usher took something out of his pocket, picked it up, and threw it forward.

“Hick!?”

And the ensuing scene gave Shien Shien goosebumps. That’s because the object he threw forward touched the ground and at the same time the tentacle that stretched out from somewhere picked it up and snatched it up, dragged it somewhere and disappeared.

“What, what? That.”
“It’s a monster here.”

She shuddered as she remembered that Usher’s throw was a necklace made of human skin she had obtained from one of her former tribesmen. In the end, Sulsien followed his words and got out of the forest made of fungi.

“Okay, I think this should be enough.”

It was not possible to go into the depths of the forest, but Sulsien was satisfied with recording the creatures here, drawing pictures if necessary. Even this much was enough to submit it as a survey report. The rest was for her to fill in.

“Then is the investigation over now?”

However, that story was only possible because Usher was there, who knew what this place looked like in the past. The reason why she originally wanted to hire a local was also for safety, but the subject was to find out how the past and environment changed due to the arrival of the dragon king.

“Lastly, I think we just need to check the situation at the Holy Land.”
“…”
“Mr. Usher?”

But when she called him back to his seldom returning answer, Usher shook his head.

“The Holy Land would be impossible.”
“Why? No matter how many years the Dragon King descended, I know it’s been a few years.”
“You’ve already seen the place where Regin descended, didn’t you? Even the thunderstorms you’ve been through are just the beginning.”

It is possible to enter the place where Regin descended even if death is confirmed, but even that is not possible in the place where Otter descended.

“Are you saying you can’t go in at all?”
“Icebergs have long since blocked the way.”

At that, Shien was worried. She said that if his words were true, going to the Holy Land would have been impossible even to attempt.

“Then, can’t we just go to the place where the road leads?”

But even so, Seol Shien could not give up easily.

“…Do you really have to do that?”

Since Usher was nervous watching her, N laughed bitterly when she heard her question.

“Because this is my job.”

She thought that no matter how impossible it was, an investigation would mean nothing unless you saw and recorded it yourself.

Even though it was an apprenticeship, it was the tenacity and principle of Sulsien as an alchemist. Also, shouldn’t this investigation be completed perfectly for the sake of the two knights who were sacrificed because of their stubbornness?

But haven’t you already lost two knights because of that stubbornness? So I couldn’t force it.

“I beg you. Please take me to the nearest place to the Holy Land.”

How long had it been since she had her head down? Usher sighed.

“Ha, I see.”
“Thank you!”