We looked at each other with bewildered expressions after receiving Elfin’s letter.
Elfin had declared their absence.
“Huh? Why is Elfin…?”
“Does this mean they’re quitting? Just like that?”
There were several possible reasons that came to mind.
One realistic possibility was…
“They got a nice pair of high-performance shoes and decided to run off with them!”
At that, Ravi and Lenis simultaneously punched me in the stomach.
“Ugh!!!”
“Elfin would never do that.”
“Exactly. If it were you, Alvis, maybe. But Elfin? What kind of nonsense is that…”
“I-I was just joking…”
Writhing on the floor, I barely managed to get up and propose a second possibility.
“Then maybe they just didn’t want to travel with me anymore and decided to quit?”
“Hmm… That does seem more likely than the first theory…”
“It’s a reasonable assumption, but you three have been traveling together for months before me, right? Why would they suddenly decide this now?”
“…Shouldn’t you be denying it rather than trying to rationalize it?”
Lenis’s reaction was understandable.
But Ravi—who was crying and professing her love for me just yesterday—was now partially agreeing that Elfin disappeared because they couldn’t stand me? This was betrayal.
Of course, it wasn’t strange for them to react that way.
Among the three traveling with me, Elfin was the one who despised me the most.
From the moment this team was first formed, they had made it very clear how much they disliked me.
But, like Lenis said, we had been traveling together for months now, and after the battle with Vector, I thought their attitude toward me had softened quite a bit.
So why now?
The idea that they left just because they hated me didn’t quite add up.
“Could something have happened in Arbones?”
Ravi and Lenis immediately snapped their heads toward me.
“Arbones?”
“No way. What could possibly happen in that fortress-like elf nation?”
“Does it even matter how fortified it is? The Empire’s goblin camp dungeon ended up in that state, and there was an anomaly in the mountains at the center of the continent. Besides, let’s not forget—the head of a historic noble family in this very country turned out to be a giant underground worm, and not a single one of us knew.”
“W-Well, that’s true, but…”
“Think about it. If Elfin simply didn’t want to travel with me anymore, they’d have just told me to my face, saying something like, ‘I can’t stand you,’ before quitting. They wouldn’t have set a return date and then suddenly bailed. They said they couldn’t come back due to circumstances, but this doesn’t seem like a simple personal matter. Even if something serious happened, Elfin wouldn’t share it easily—they’d act like it was nothing.”
Nod, nod.
Both Ravi and Lenis, who knew Elfin’s personality well, agreed with me.
“If creatures like underground worms can disguise themselves as nobles and live right at the heart of the kingdom, then nothing is surprising anymore. Sure, it could be nothing, but we should at least check if something’s happening in Arbones.”
“That makes sense, but Arbones is a closed-off place. Information doesn’t easily leak out from there.”
“We don’t need to know the exact internal situation. If something has happened that prevents Elfin from returning, then even from the outside, we should be able to see some signs of it.”
“But where would we even ask? Given my position, I can’t make an official inquiry to the kingdom. Alvis, you’re a fallen noble in the Empire, so that’s a dead end too. And the Carat Dutchy is too far away to be of any help.”
“Sometimes, the underworld gathers information faster than official channels.”
“…?”
At Lenis’s words, I smirked and gestured for them to follow me.
“When else would I get to use my current reputation? Come on, this is exactly when we should take advantage of the ‘Mercenary King’ title.”
“Oh.”
I led them to the Iron Wolf Mercenary Corps’ rest stop, where the mercenaries, upon recognizing me, whistled and cheered.
“Hey, look who it is! Our Mercenary King! Here for more work today?”
“Thanks to you, our mercenary corps has been getting nonstop requests! How about a drink? It’s on us!”
“Looks like your party got bigger, huh? No problem! Just say the word—food, drinks, whatever you need!”
I shook my head at their warm welcome.
“Nah, I’m not here to eat. And sorry to say, but my time as the ‘Mercenary King’ is over. I’ve got to move on. From now on, you guys will have to handle things on your own. I’d hate to see your hard-earned reputation go down the drain, so make sure you keep up the good work.”
At my words, the mercenaries let out disappointed sighs.
Seeing them treat me like royalty, Ravi’s eyes practically turned into hearts.
This feels pretty good.
Since there were plenty of mercenaries resting here, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity.
“Before I go, I’ve got a question for you all. Has anyone been to Arbones in the past two weeks? One of my companions went there and hasn’t been heard from in two weeks. If anyone knows anything about what’s going on there, I’d appreciate the info.”
“Arbones?”
“That place is completely sealed off. You can’t get inside.”
“Now that you mention it, didn’t Richard come from that direction about a week ago? Hey, Richard! If you saw anything, let us know.”
At those words, a mercenary named Richard raised his hand and spoke up.
“Oh yeah, I was near the Sacred Tree there until about a week ago. Couldn’t go inside, though.”
“Did you notice anything unusual?”
Richard answered immediately.
“Yeah, now that I think about it, something was off. The weather there is always clear, with great visibility. But starting about ten days before I left, it got weirdly foggy, like a constant mist. I remember thinking it was strange—Arbones never gets foggy.”
“Was that all?”
“I was traveling with a priest and a mage, and they both said the mist carried some kind of ominous energy. They thought something bad might happen and insisted we stay away, so we didn’t investigate further. That’s all I know.”
“Got it. That was really helpful. Thanks.”
Just knowing that something unusual was happening in Arbones was enough.
I ignored the mercenaries’ attempts to make me stay and left the rest stop.
Looking at Ravi and Lenis, both of whom had now pulled their hoods down over their faces, I spoke.
“Looks like we have our destination. What do you think?”
“Of course, we have to go. If something happened to Elfin, we can’t just sit around.”
“Stop wasting time with pointless questions. If Vector or someone like him is involved, we’ll crush them.”
And with that, our journey took an unexpected turn—Arbones was now our next destination.
It would take approximately 5 to 6 days to reach Arbones by carriage.
Hoping that nothing had happened to Elfin, I boarded the carriage.
On the night of the fifth day, we finally arrived at Arbones.
Just as the mercenary named Richard had described, a thick, hazy fog blanketed the sacred tree, Yggdral, at the heart of Arbones.
“A fog… Arbones is famous for having clear skies all year round, whether it’s day or night, even when it rains. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“I visited Arbones once when my father had some business here. He always said the weather here was always clear, and I saw it for myself…”
“The fog is so dense that we can’t see anything except for the sacred tree. I just hope we don’t get mistaken for intruders and end up as target practice.”
Preparing for any potential danger, we drew our weapons and cautiously approached the center of Arbones.
As we moved closer, we suddenly heard someone groaning from the grass.
“Ugh… Urgh…”
“Who’s there!?”
“Alvis, over there!”
Ravi, with her sharp hearing, immediately pinpointed the source of the sound and gestured toward it.
We moved in the direction she indicated and found an elf collapsed on the ground, struggling to breathe.
The problem was his condition.
The male elf’s entire body was rotting black, his skin oozing pus, blood, and other fluids.
The sight alone made me nauseous, but I fought back the urge to vomit and shouted to my companions.
“Don’t come any closer!”
“Huh? Alvis? What’s wrong?”
“Didn’t we hear a person? Who is it!?”
Ignoring their questions, I focused on the elf in front of me.
One of his eyes had already rotted away, and from his remaining eye, blood streamed down as he barely managed to shift his gaze toward me.
“H-Help… me…”
“Hey, what happened to you!? What’s going on here!? Is the inside of the village safe? Was there an enemy attack!?”
“Our… people… cough… inside… the Elder’s… granddaughter… the c-curse…”
“Speak clearly! Are you saying Arbones has been cursed!?”
“Help… help… …”
With those final words, the male elf stopped moving entirely.
Immediately, I activated my Eyes of Truth and examined his body.
▶ Corpse of a young border guard from the elven land of Arbones. He succumbed to a powerful curse that has engulfed Arbones, causing his entire body to rot and his wounds to bleed endlessly. Even the ancient knowledge of the elves could not break this curse. Remaining uses: 3/4 ◀
“!!!”
The worst-case scenario had come true—something terrible had happened to Arbones.
As I took another step forward, another message appeared before my eyes.
▶ Level ??? Field Dungeon: Arbones, Tainted by Blood and Curses, has been detected. ◀
▶ This field dungeon is afflicted by a powerful curse that drains the life force of all living beings within it. Unless freed from the curse, the elves here will all perish. “One Who Defies Fate” can take actions to break the curse. The more elves saved, the greater the rewards, but if a certain number of elves cannot be rescued, an immediate Stage 5 Recoil penalty will be incurred. ◀