A Dark Fantasy Spy

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A monster lives in the village.

That statement wasn’t just a simple metaphor or a humorous expression referring to a peculiar person.

“Are you saying there’s a monster residing over there?”

“That’s right, Mr. Asud.”

Farid Al Bas nodded.

He explained that there was a monster’s habitat near the village I intended to visit. To elaborate further,

“There’s a dry swamp in the northeast of the village.”

A monster settlement lies nearby.

“What’s a dry swamp?”

Camila, sitting in the passenger seat, shot me a question.

I stared and gazed into the void. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to answer, but I was pondering what analogy would be appropriate.

“It’s like a spawning pool.”

“Spawning pool?”

“Yes.”

I added, “It’s a place where monsters are created.”

—

Episode 16 – The Six-Million Dollar Man

I parked the vehicle on the hill and looked over the village.

Even with binoculars, the distance felt considerable.

I saw white smoke rising from each house, indicating that meals were being prepared, and several middle-aged local men were diligently harvesting crops in the fields.

“Hmm…”

Camila, who was scanning the brown, sparse grass of the desert, lowered the binoculars.

“It looks like just an ordinary village,” she remarked.

As she said, the village I had marked was nothing but a mundane rural town.

There were no modern buildings made of reinforced concrete or steel; only homes made of wood and mud, alongside granaries.

The outskirts of the village didn’t seem much different from the many settlements we had passed by until now.

The only difference was that there was a ‘dry swamp’ far away to the northeast of the village, that’s about it.

Camila spoke up.

“Is that the dry swamp you mentioned earlier?”

“It’s a swamp.”

“Oh, that one. You said it’s like a spawning pool, right?”

The dry swamp is a kind of ‘spawning pool.’

Where monsters eat each other, monsters breed, and the young grow up to eat their dying mother and lay eggs.

“The dry swamp is known as the area with the highest concentration of monsters on the Mauritania Continent. Its area is roughly the size of Lake Victoria, and you can think of the whole region as essentially a factory for producing monsters.”

In simpler terms, it’s a gate. The kind where monsters, a staple of web novels, spew out, and hunters have to enter and close.

As I concluded my analogy, Camila’s eyes widened. She was shocked by the implication that monsters were rolling out like products from a factory.

“Is it really that bad? Then, shouldn’t we retreat from here like the townsfolk said?”

“No. It’s far enough away that it shouldn’t be a big issue.”

I spoke as I received back my binoculars.

“While it’s true that the dry swamp is the largest monster habitat in the Mauritania Continent and that the monsters here are indeed dangerous, the real issue is minimal. The dry swamp is at least a two-day distance from here.”

If it’s a two-day journey away, the chances of a monster appearing here are slim.

Back when I was active in the northern regions of the Kien Empire, cities and villages located more than a day’s distance from habitats were never attacked by monsters. The farther the physical distance from the habitat to the village, the rapidly decreasing probability of a monster visiting the village.

Though there was an incident where a horde of corpse spiders attacked through a rift, that could be considered an exception. It was an incident involving demons.

“And as far as I know, this area hasn’t faced a monster attack in the past three months. Correspondents operating from the capital have also testified they’ve never heard news of any village being attacked by monsters.”

“International correspondents?”

Camila tilted her head, confused.

“When did you meet those people? You were glued to me in the capital.”

“I have a friend who works as the head of the social department at the Magic Tower’s media company. He’s well-connected in the industry, and I heard the news through him.”

“Ah.”

In any case, it was clear that the village I wanted to visit had a significantly low probability of a monster attack.

However, it seemed the warlord’s men thought otherwise.

“What if we turn back now?”

“First, let’s request support from the tribe…”

“Is there no way to bring in a shaman?”

“The best course of action is to quickly get away from here…”

They were having a serious discussion.

From what Camila gathered, there were two factions: the conservatives who said they should absolutely not enter the village, and the cautious ones who believed it was okay to enter if thoroughly prepared. Roughly a 70:30 ratio?

Of course, there were some moderately inclined people who did nothing. For example, someone like Farid.

Despite the heated debate among the tribe members, he sat in the vehicle, staring vacantly at the horizon, as if whatever conclusion was reached would have nothing to do with him.

As time passed, the mood seemed to sway toward the conservatives. It was a natural outcome, considering they had the larger numbers.

While conversing with the tribe members, a middle-aged local man came over to our SUV and delivered the verdict.

“Let’s head back for now, journalist.”

“Aren’t we going to the village?”

“It’s a dangerous place. It’s better to conduct your reporting in a safer environment next time, isn’t it?”

The middle-aged local man clasped his hands and urged sincerely.

If I, a guest of the Al Bas Tribe Chief, were to be injured or killed in their territory, there would undoubtedly be repercussions. Nayan Al Bas, my host, would face backlash for failing to protect a guest. Thus, the honor of the tribe would be buried, and given the local sentiment that values honor over life, the relationship between Nayan and me could become quite strained.

“…Alright.”

In the end, I gave in. When I responded positively, the warlord’s entourage hurriedly began preparing to return.

Camila looked at the village with a disappointed expression, but unlike her usual self, she didn’t insist on making a quick stop. Instead, she merely asked if I was alright, offering me comforting words.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s the government army’s base; we can check that out next time. A little detour shouldn’t cause any issues…”

As I inserted the key, I suddenly halted.

“…No.”

I heard a strange noise from somewhere. It was a sharp metallic sound, like mechanical parts scraping.

At first, I thought there was something wrong with the engine. However, the key still hadn’t turned in the ignition. The SUV’s engine was quietly asleep, as it had not yet started.

I peered outside the window.

Outside, the warlord’s men, just about to start the engine, had opened the car doors and were half-leaning out, scanning the surroundings.

“Where’s that sound coming from?”

“We don’t know either.”

Just then, Camila, who was seated next to me, slapped my shoulder and shouted, “Look outside!”

“Where? Where should I look?”

“Over there! The field!”

“The field?”

I quickly pulled out my binoculars and surveyed the field. To take a closer look, I craned my neck and even furrowed my brow slightly.

It looked as if black paint had been spread on a canvas, black dots were slowly dispersing across the golden field. They weren’t moving too quickly or too slowly, but the unsettling sight was hard to tear my eyes away from.

After a while of watching the black dots staining the field, I muttered, “…Bugs?”

It was indeed bugs.

—

The alarm was raised by the wooden steeple standing at the boundary of the village and the fields.

An old man, on the lookout along the horizon, drummed his iron pot loudly to signal the impending attack.

“Monsters! Monsters are coming!”

It was a horde of locusts.

Locusts larger than an adult male’s palm were arriving in droves.

Thousands of locusts crunched as they flapped their bodies and wings, producing a sound reminiscent of metal scraping. When such a massive swarm took flight, it almost felt like flames were rising.

A farmer, mesmerized by the sight of the locusts soaring like the wind, soon got swept away by the golden torrent. The farmer, now with a blank stare, looked up at the swarm, only to vanish ominously. It wasn’t just the farmer’s form that disappeared; the sound of flesh being gnawed on and agonized screams vanished too.

“Run!”

“Bring the oil! The oil!”

As the alarm blared, the farmers working in the fields began to dash in a panic. The remaining men in the village also rushed out, running in the same direction. Each one of them carried oil cans.

Farmers who reached the scene first began throwing bales of hay on the ground. Those dried-out hay bales and twigs were laid out in a line, with the men pouring oil over them.

“Hurry up! Hurry!”

They shouted at several farmers who were running behind them. These were the ones who had been far away, delayed in realizing the alarm, or struggling to make it in time.

Panting and racing, a farmer stumbled and fell, and the horde of locusts swarmed him. However, the other farmers chose not to witness that grisly scene.

The horde of locusts, having devoured scattered farm tools and human remains, continued to advance while feasting on the immature crops at high speeds of around 80 km/h, as they swallowed a few straggling farmers.

The men awaiting the arriving farmers finally hurled torches onto the bales of hay once the last one made it back.

– Whoosh!

Red lines began to form on the dirt where the hay and twigs had been scattered. The black clouds spewing fire flowed along the oil to form a wall of flames.

It wasn’t a huge scale, but it was enough to halt the advance of the murderous locust horde.

– Sizzles!!

The black tide that had been engulfing the golden fields met the crimson river. The swarm of locusts, rushing forward voraciously, was suddenly startled by the heat of flames and fell into chaos.

The eerie screams of collision and crushing filled the fields as the quarreling humans, who had covered their mouths with wet cloths, began to smile as the tension lifted.

But just then, from the left, a farmer let out a shrill scream.

“The fire… it won’t catch!”

“What?”

A man darted through the crowd, grabbing the panicked farmer as he asked.

“What do you mean the fire won’t catch?”

“Exactly that! It won’t spread! I don’t know if it’s the oil or the hay that’s wet…!”

The man’s gaze shifted toward the warriors. They were pouring more oil onto the branches and hay and were igniting them with their torches.

Whether by sheer luck or not, it seemed the swarm of locusts had not noticed there was still an area where the fire wouldn’t catch. The man hurriedly ordered others to bring more hay and oil from a different section.

But it was too late.

The black swarm meeting the red river began to retreat. The black tide flowed down the golden field, the narrow gaps getting invaded by the locusts.

Then it happened.

– Whoosh!!

A gigantic wave of fire rushed in to fill the void left by the crimson river. The locust swarm, creeping in through the flames, was engulfed and turned to ash.

But that was only the beginning.

The summoned flames began to swirl, approaching the horde of locusts. The red pillars colliding with the black tide devoured the locusts and extended out like the claws of a beast, leaving behind dark traces on the golden fields.

The flames danced in the fields, carried by the wind. A gentle breeze pushed the flames slightly, causing the locusts to leap away and flee north, while the wave of fire once again struck down the swarm scurrying across the fields.

—

The overwhelming display of flames captivated everyone.

Farmers, sturdy men, and warlords—all of them stood in awe, unable to open their mouths or divert their gaze.

“…….”

“…….”

The black smoke overshadowed the blue sky, and even from a distance, the warmth could be felt. Against the backdrop of flames engulfing the golden fields, Camila gave a thumbs up with a bright smile.

“How about that? Isn’t it amazing?”

I stared at her in silence.

It felt like I hadn’t seen her in around five months.

Camila had grown unrecognizably.

“…Ah!”

Suddenly, Camila’s smile vanished, and her eyes widened.

She tugged at her hair and exclaimed, “We can’t burn the field!”

“…….”

I sighed deeply.

Even though her skills had grown, the common sense I knew of Camila was still very much intact.