Chapter 47
-Is that for real?
-Yeah. Unless someone deliberately put it there.
-If we had found it just a little later, this entire area would have been devastated.
Chaos Core.
It was not a substance that could occur naturally.
-It's definitely the work of Desmond's followers.
The Chaos Core constantly amplifies the surrounding mana.
The principle behind its amplification is unknown.
Before it's broken to stop the amplification, it contains mana wavelengths so complex that it's impossible to study.
And once it's broken, the wavelengths are lost, making proper research impossible.
However, one thing was clear: if a Chaos Core was left in one place for a long time, the surrounding mana would amplify exponentially, eventually growing uncontrollably.
And in the worst-case scenario, this could lead to a 'mana storm,' turning the surrounding area into ruins.
'The question of who, why, and how they created such a dangerous substance was never fully answered.'
As far as Kain knew, the Chaos Core had only appeared twice on the continent.
This meant there was a severe lack of samples.
Mages merely speculated that Desmond's followers had created the substance to sow chaos across the continent.
'But why is it at the bottom of this swamp now...?'
Kain couldn't have misidentified it.
The mana wavelength of a Chaos Core was not something that could be imitated.
'However, its size is much smaller than I remember.'
At this size, even if the mana amplified, the Chaos Core would likely break down on its own before a mana storm could occur.
'Furthermore, the amplification speed is slow, so before it gains momentum, the surrounding monsters will continue to consume the mana and breed.'
The unexpectedly large number of monsters and an ecosystem that ignored even natural enemies originated from this.
'...For now, I've definitely identified the cause.'
His original plan was to immediately destroy the substance causing this situation, clear out some more of the surrounding monsters, and then return.
But instead of destroying it, Kain spread the water stream thinly and widely, completely enveloping it like a cloth.
Then, the Chaos Core began to amplify the mana of the water surrounding it.
Bubble, bubble.
The mana generated on the inside where it touched the Chaos Core couldn't mix directly with the water and formed bubbles.
'I'll use this.'
Instead of immediately transmuting or dissolving the newly generated mana into water, Kain gathered it to one side.
Then, inside the water stream connected to his palm, in the very center, he created a path leading to the mana bubbles.
'After that, if I melt this mana into the touching surface, expanding the diameter of the water stream and widening the path...'
A tunnel with the exact width for the Chaos Core to pass through would be completed.
'Finally...'
Kain focused his mind.
Enveloping the small, round Chaos Core dozens of meters below the surface with the water cloth.
'I'll crack it very slightly. The energy should be able to escape, but the original shape should be preserved as much as possible.'
Like carefully cracking a raw egg.
Kain applied even and consistent force to the lower part of the Chaos Core, causing it to crack.
Creak, creak.
When the cracked Chaos Core slightly opened.
Whoooooooosh—.
The energy inherent within the Chaos Core burst out through the gap.
And using that energy as a propellant, the Chaos Core, which had been dozens of meters below, shot upwards.
Whooosh.
Launched from the deep bottom of the swamp, the Chaos Core traveled along the water-formed tube and settled in Kain's palm a few seconds later.
Kain observed the Chaos Core, which had lost its power but retained its shape, from various angles, and then finally nodded and rose from his spot.
"This much should be enough to study."
The Chaos Core had appeared twice before, but it had never fallen into Kain's hands in an intact state.
The first time, Kain had discovered it himself, but it was in an unstable state just before a mana storm, so he had no choice but to destroy it on the spot.
The second time, it had been discovered early, but the mages who found it had secretly studied it among themselves to achieve research results and ended up destroying it.
'Stupid fools.'
He had thought that if there was a Chaos Core with even its shape intact, he could somehow analyze and study it by following the path where the energy flowed and was imprinted within.
Since then, the Chaos Core had never shown itself again.
"To think I'd see it again after 200 years."
Kain sighed softly.
What did the appearance of the Chaos Core signify?
Did it mean that Desmond's followers were still active?
'It's not certain.'
The idea that Desmond's followers created the Chaos Core was just speculation back then.
'However, the possibility is quite high.'
He always had to keep his ears open for news related to Desmond.
Kain decided to take the Chaos Core back to study it and placed it in a small cloth pouch.
'Anyway, now that I've eliminated the cause of the monsters' breeding, the ecosystem should gradually return to normal.'
It would be difficult in the short term because the mana had seeped deeply into the soil and throughout the swamp over a long period, but eventually, since it wasn't originally a mana-rich area, it would gradually normalize without the Chaos Core.
Since they had also hunted a significant number of the existing monsters, they wouldn't need to go through this hardship again when returning after completing the mission.
'And this way, we can send trade wagons towards the swamp in the future.'
A route they could use without being extorted for tolls and fees by the Bederman clan had been opened.
The finance office would surely be pleased to hear this news.
'Everyone has been through a lot, but the finance minister must have suffered especially.'
The finance minister's somewhat eccentric personality was likely formed by being continuously exposed to such harsh conditions.
'It couldn't have been like that from the start... How much they must have suffered. Tsk.'
Kain felt pity for the finance minister and made a bitter face.
"Fire."
Kain cleanly burned the corpses of the surrounding monsters that had lunged at him and been pierced by ice magic, then returned to the wagon.
As expected, the battle had already ended.
"Young Masterrrrrrrrrr!!"
A familiar silhouette appeared through the gradually thinning fog, welcoming Kain first.
"Young Masterrrrrr... Keck."
Alice tripped and fell face-first into the mud while rushing over, but she didn't care, quickly getting up and running towards Kain with her face covered in mud.
Kain gently advised the careless Alice.
"Be careful, Alice. Even if it's soft mud, you can get seriously hurt if you fall wrong."
"That's what I want to say, Young Master! How surprised I was when I heard you suddenly disappeared...!"
Only after confirming that Kain's body was unharmed did Alice breathe in a sigh of relief.
"Where did you go all by yourself when monsters were attacking from all directions?"
"I went towards the Fog Mermen's habitat and eliminated the cause of this situation."
"The cause, you say?"
It was the mercenary leader who asked, having followed behind.
He had been curious.
They had been busy fending off the ceaselessly pouring monsters, and then suddenly, Kain had told them to just hold out a little longer and had disappeared without returning.
'At first, I wondered what he was thinking, suddenly leaving when things were already tough...'
Surprisingly, from that point on, the Mermen's offensive noticeably decreased.
'It seems he tried to lure them in after attracting their attention and then do a sort of herding hunt.'
The plan itself was reasonable.
Due to the nature of fire-elemental magic, it was more efficient to burn a group of them at once rather than targeting one or two that popped out here and there.
'But what kind of crazy person jumps into the fog alone to do that? Does he really have no sense of self-preservation?'
Even the mercenary leader himself wouldn't have done such a thing, valuing his life too much.
'Well, he was a crazy guy from the start, so I guess that's that...'
He hadn't returned even by the time the battle ended, so they were wondering if something had happened, but then he appeared saying he had even eliminated the cause, leaving them dumbfounded.
On the other hand, Kain, with the same calm expression as if he had just gone for a stroll, opened his mouth.
"Yes. In the largest swamp..."
"Kain! I heard you suddenly disappeared!"
Just as Kain was about to explain, Edward's voice was heard this time.
The disciples, the other mercenaries, and even the merchants were gathering as soon as they heard Kain had returned.
"W-where did you go?"
"When the magic support stopped, I thought you went to help the other side, but you charged in alone! Seriously, this is driving me crazy."
"Master Kain...! You're safe!"
"Thank goodness!"
Kain paused, looking at everyone who had gathered and was waiting for him to speak.
Then he explained to everyone.
"The reason monsters were rampant in this swamp was a Black Luster Stone. It was inside the belly of the leader Merman that emerged from the largest swamp."
"Black Luster Stone...!"
"If it's that, then it's no wonder monsters were flocking here."
The mercenaries and merchants who had heard of Black Luster Stones quietly told the person next to them about it.
"...I see. So monsters were gathering because of one of those stone fragments. That's amazing."
"Luster Stone, you say! That's a rare stone that fetches a high price even if you sell it to a magic tower or process it into jewelry..."
"Is that true? Master Kain! By any chance, do you still have that Black Luster Stone? If you entrust it to us, we can sell it for a high price...!"
One of the merchants asked, his eyes gleaming at the mention of its value.
But Kain shook his head with a slightly sad expression.
"Didn't I say I eliminated it? The moment that thing jumped out of the swamp, I burned it, so the Black Luster Stone was destroyed along with it. By the time the magic reached it and I sensed the stone's energy, it was already too late."
"Oh no...! But even a fragment..."
"It fell into the swamp in pieces. How would you recover it? You're welcome to go into the swamp and retrieve it yourself if you can. I won't stop you."
"By any chance, how deep was it...?"
"It looked like it was dozens of meters deep."
"......"
The merchant lowered his head as his last hope vanished.
"Then there's nothing we can do..."
"It was unavoidable."
Kain nodded.
He had ended up lying to everyone, but this was an unavoidable choice.
'I can't leak information about the Chaos Core.'
Being a dangerous substance, he intended to keep the information and any research about it secret and proceed alone for now.
'There are other reasons too... Anyway.'
With the conclusion reached, the merchants patted their dejected companion on the back.
"Hehe. Don't be too disheartened. Still, thanks to our Young Master Kain, we were able to safely pass through the center of the swamp, weren't we!"
"That's right. If it weren't for Young Master Kain, it would have been difficult to even get this far."
"We've come all this way with the wagons and goods completely undamaged. That alone is amazing!"
"...Y-yeah, that's true."
The dejected merchant nodded his head at his companions' words.
When fighting against monsters that attacked unexpectedly, damage to the wagons, and even the loss of some of the goods meant for sale, could occur at any time.
However, the trade wagon was currently without a single scratch, not only on the goods but also on the wagon itself.
That was all thanks to Kain, who had wiped out all the monsters before they could even approach the wagon.
"Whew, honestly, I was worried this time about what might happen. I'm so glad you protected us well."
"And since you coolly destroyed the Black Luster Stone, we won't have to worry about monsters in the future either."
"You said it perfectly. To think we won't have to pay those ridiculous fees to the Bederman clan anymore, it's so refreshing!"
"That's right, that's right. Thank you so much, Master Kain."
"Thank you!"
As the merchants bowed their heads, Kain paused for a moment before quickly turning his head and saying,
"Since it's our clan's trade wagon, it's also to my benefit that it remains as intact as possible. I simply did what was natural."
Then, glancing at the disciples, he said,
"If you're going to thank someone, thank these individuals who risked their lives and did their best to the very end even without me."
"Ah, I understand. Thank you, disciples!"
"Actually, we're already grateful that the disciples volunteered to come as extra guards."
As the merchants bowed deeply, Edward and Fohn were embarrassed but pleased.
"Hehe. I wondered why we needed separate thanks, but it feels good to hear it."
"Y-yeah, that's right."
Bolio, also feeling awkward, scratched his head and said to Kain,
"Hey, but if you're going to say that, didn't you risk your life going out alone to catch those monsters? Why are you so insistent on deflecting the praise?"
Then Kain looked at Bolio.
And answered with a genuinely puzzled expression.
"Me? I never risked my life."
"......"
As soon as Kain finished speaking, he slipped back into the guard compartment.
Watching Kain's retreating figure, Anias, with her arms crossed, said,
"There's someone even more infuriating than me here."
"Tell me about it."
"Huh?"
"Oh, come on! I get yelled at even when I agree!"
* * *
The wagon departed soon after the repairs were completed.
Thanks to the fog caused by the Fog Mermen dissipating, the wagon moved smoothly.
Fortunately, there were no monster attacks until the next rest stop.
"It's nice going straight without the fog."
"Yeah, yeah. We've completely passed through the central region now; we should consider the crisis over!"
"But didn't someone say there were bandits too, not just monsters?"
"Hey, stop with the ominous talk already."
"I'm hungry. Let's have a good meal and then go. Hehe."
As the merchants stretched and got off the wagon, the topic of bandits came up, and the disciples also got off the guard compartment, saying,
"Come to think of it, if bandits appear, we'll have to fight to kill, not just spar."
"I-it sounds a little scary..."
"What are you so scared about? Just deal with them the same way you deal with monsters. Right, Kain?"
At those words, Kain got off last and replied,
"Complacency is dangerous. Human behavior patterns have countless variables, and each individual's specialized abilities are different. In the initial engagement, it's important to keep as many possibilities open as possible, but during combat, you need to quickly identify the enemy and find appropriate countermeasures."
Then Alice, who was next to Kain, exclaimed in admiration.
"As expected, Young Master! I thought you were different from when you sparred... Ah, Young Master. It looks like you have something on you here?"
Alice tilted her head towards Kain to take a closer look.
And at that moment.
"I'll wipe it off right away..."
Screeeeeee!
An arrow flew towards Alice's head.
