I Don’t Want To Be the Main Character

96. Verification (5)

1.

Even the current leadership of the empire, including the Crown Princess and Elena, and the knights under their command, insisted on following along, so even Eileen followed under the pretext of escort.

At least this verification process was expected to be a long-term schedule of at least two weeks.

The Nord Mountains were a place that had been largely untouched by human footsteps, and the Empire had been unable to properly understand the situation, save for the occasional visit by highly skilled rangers or scouts. To be more precise, it was not that they had not tried to understand it, but that they had been unable to do so.

In any case, everyone agreed that the number of monsters in the Nord Mountains was far greater than imagined, and if Ludrick could reduce that number by just one third, it would be considered a great success.

Within the empire’s territory, it would be difficult to find high-level species such as trolls and ogres unless you went deep into the mountains, and taking care of them all would have been an impossible task from the start.

But Ludrick’s actions exceeded all expectations.

“How about we put some poison in here?”

“……poison?”

“Yes, poison.”

As they entered deeper into the mountains, the number of monsters that were not easily seen below the mountains increased rapidly. After the ogres were initially wiped out by a single spell from Ludrick, there were also higher-ranking monsters such as trolls with great resilience, as well as lower-ranking monsters such as goblins and kobolds at the bottom of the food chain.

The number of monsters that Ludrick had encountered and dealt with so far was already approaching three digits.

And the frozen lake that appeared when we reached the middle of the mountain.

There were marks of broken ice here and there, and it was Ludrick’s suggestion that he immediately roasted a goblin with a spear after it stuck its face between the marks and tried to choke him.

Eileen asked with a bewildered expression at the sudden suggestion, but Ludrick calmly confirmed her words.

“It seems like other monsters are drinking the water here too. Wouldn’t it be easier to deal with them if we just released the poison and didn’t have to go looking for them?”

“That may be true. But it’s not a small puddle or a well, and it’s not like they could poison the entire lake to the point where the monsters would die if they drank from it….”

“It doesn’t matter. There’s magic.”

Ludrick responded as if it was nothing and looked around.

Even while climbing up the mountain range to this point, it was difficult to find any animals even if you looked hard. The ecosystem of this mountain range was divided into lower-species omnivorous monsters that mainly ate fruits and small insects, and higher-species monsters that preyed on lower-species monsters or on savages that came to gather firewood or herbs.

There was no need to worry about other animals being harmed, other than the monsters targeted by the blinding poison.

Poisoning the entire lake was a bit of an extreme method, but Ludrick was still capable of discernment to that extent. The method was not sophisticated, but it was effective and simple.

As if to support this conjecture, around the lake, there were only footprints of creatures resembling humans engraved in the snow, but it was difficult to find footprints of animals that used the lake as a water source.

“Is magic capable of something like that?”

“Just think of it simply.”

In response to Eileen’s cautious question, Ludrick reached out his hand toward the broken ice hole and answered.

“The essence of magic is to change one thing, magic, into another, sorcery.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a magic circle carved in the air began to pour a green, glowing poison through the hole in the ice. It would be diluted throughout the lake, but he couldn’t even guess how much poison would be needed to poison an entire lake this size.

A method that would have been difficult to even attempt if it weren’t for magic.

In reality, there was no difference in the end between dealing with the monsters with magic as soon as they were seen, or poisoning the entire lake that they used as drinking water.

However, the way Rudrick looked right now, as if he was thinking of something else, as if he had no soul, was what really bothered Eileen.

Maybe it was because all my attention was focused on Ludrick.

Eileen didn’t even have time to feel the eyes watching them from afar.

2.

“For a human, you’re quite clever. I didn’t know that the human empire would be so careful as to dispatch a wizard of that caliber.”

The luminous stones embedded in various parts of the cave walls began to emit a faint light, which soon began to flicker like lights.

And just a moment ago, the blue-haired beauty who had been watching the scene with the Dragon’s Eye’s vision synchronized with magic let out an exclamation of admiration.

To her, that level of magic was something she could easily perform in a half-asleep state after waking up from sleep just a moment ago, but in her eyes, Ludrick’s abilities as a magician were admirable. It was thanks to her quickly realizing that he was a talent that only comes once every few centuries among humans.

She lifted the spell and looked at the glowstone emitting a faint light, muttering to herself.

“Five hundred years is a long time to use. The luminous stone is about to be replaced… So what should I do now? I didn’t expect there to be such interference.”

Dragon’s Rare.

The scenery and cave scenery that Ludrick had seen when he visited Sylphia’s Lair one day were similar. Most of the dragon race seemed to share the same aesthetic sense, and the designs that would have made a human architect click his tongue and say that they were low-quality were identical.

And the blue dragon Abel, who had made his home in this vast Norse Mountains for thousands of years, even before the founding of the Esgeland Empire, was in a difficult situation.

“I was just trying to enjoy a fun game… but it’s inconvenient if something like this comes in.”

Abel continued to talk to himself in a cold voice and made a sour expression.

The plan was to have the Dragon Tooth Soldiers, creatures created with magic, drive out the monsters in the mountain range and down the mountain. They were going to drive out the monsters in the mountain range to the plains and threaten the barbarians.

Then, naturally, the barbarians whose survival was threatened would have tried to escape the monsters coming from behind and try to survive by crossing the wall and heading into the empire’s territory.

However, it would be difficult for the barbarians, who were not even equipped with proper weapons, to overcome the heavily armed wall, and it was inevitable that they would fall into despair.

“……Now that I’ve appeared at that timing, I was planning to proceed with this game with the concept of a leader leading the barbarians.”

Abel let out a loud noise.

In oral history, there is a tale of a chieftain who united barbarians, overcame the cursed Great Wall, and founded a nation of barbarians.

And for Abel, who lived in the Nord Mountains in the distant past that was not recorded in history, it was a past that she had witnessed with her own eyes.

It was a story that had already been going on for over a thousand years, but for Abel, who had lived quietly for hundreds of years without engaging in any play, it was a type of play that had its own appeal. So, he had been making plans step by step for ten years, and was slowly thinking about reaping the fruits of his labor.

Yeah, that must have been the case.

“……I suddenly feel bad. Should I kill him?”

Abel’s pupils, which had been polymorphed into a humanoid form, slowly dilated. An unmistakable murderous intent was surging through the vertically slit pupils, reminiscent of reptilian eyes.

The people of the empire weren’t fools either. Judging from the fact that they dispatched a wizard of that caliber to find out the cause of the situation and solve it, the response itself was standard and clean. And, in Abel’s opinion, the method that Ludrick used to deal with the monsters was a good idea.

If Ludrick were to poison the entire lake that the monsters used as a water source, it would have a long-term, steady effect that would reduce the number of monsters, whether he intended it or not.

Any intelligent being would be able to figure out what was wrong with the lake water, but the poison created by magic would most certainly be more powerful than any of the Archmage’s offensive spells.

Of course, this did not go well with Abel’s plan.

The critical interruption that came just as the fruit was about to come to fruition was enough to test Abel’s patience.

‘If I kill him here… … the culprit wouldn’t know… … right?’

The Nord Mountains are so remote that you can’t find a single human being no matter how hard you look.

Even if Abel, who has manifested as a real body, suddenly barges in and kills Ludrick, it will be difficult to find the culprit.

A disruption that was enough to break the string of patience. Abel was contemplating whether or not to take action, tempted by the easy option of just eliminating Ludrick here rather than turning in a different direction and starting a new game.

“……They’re still plotting such things in a sinister manner.”

“Huh? Who are you?”

Abel turned his head in puzzlement at the voice coming from outside the cave.

And outside the cave, Sylphia, wearing the hooded hat that human wizards often wear, was walking with slow steps and opening her mouth.

“Let’s cancel this plan. If we try to force it, things will get a lot worse.”