I had a nagging premonition, so I decided to test the water.
I pulled out the simple inspection kit I kept in my backpack. It was even capable of detecting Ghouls. I tested the river that flowed near the village, and sure enough, it came back positive.
Wild Ghouls.
I see. That explained why they were so obsessive about their food preparation—salting the trout, freezing it, drying it, and then grilling it with such relentless heat. It was a decontamination process. Apparently, they melted snow for water in the winter and used spring water from the snowmelt in the summer. Even then, they made a point of boiling it first. They simply didn't have a culture of drinking cold water.
Melissa had become my official watcher. Eddy had essentially dumped the job on her, claiming I was "uncontrollable" for him.
Honestly, I had intended for this to be a relaxing winter mountain resort trip. I really did. Though my snowboard had ended up being used as fuel for a fire. In the end, it turned out this planet was just crawling with Ghouls.
And you know what? Ever since Tatiana started setting up barriers everywhere, the child mortality rate had dropped to an staggering degree. I honestly suspected that Tatiana was the one whose name would be remembered by history.
Regardless, Melissa began the process of evacuating the residents using the ship she had arrived in. While she was at it, reinforcements and humanoid fighters arrived. After handing over those idiots we’d captured, it was time to go camping.
It was our usual snowy mountain march. Eddy and I were in high spirits, singing as we climbed in our new combat suits. Watching us, Helga-san let out a laugh.
"You two are certainly energetic."
"Well, Eddy was born in a snowy country, after all," I replied.
Eddy just looked at me with an exasperated expression. "I’m the one who doesn't understand why you're so energetic."
Well, it’s actually easier to be active when it’s moderately cold.
After proceeding for a while, we encountered a sheer precipice.
"We have to climb this," Helga-san said. "I'll go fir—"
"Oh, hup, there we go."
I started scaling the vertical wall. As Kawagon, I was quite an expert at bouldering.
"Helga-san, is it alright if I drive in some anchors?"
"Y-Yeah, go ahead!"
I hammered in anchors and ran the ropes as I went. Once I reached the summit, I secured the final lead, and that was that.
"Man, that was fun!"
My face was glowing with the exertion. A bit of moderate activity really is great for the mind and body. For some reason, the Imperial Guard Knights who climbed up after me were completely speechless.
Eddy let out a heavy sigh. "Give them a break, will you?"
"Gotcha."
While everyone was resting, I pulled Rikochi up with a winch. With the equipment Rikochi was carrying, a vertical climb was impossible. Once she was at the top, we extended the break.
"Alright everyone, eat your nutrition bars and set your nanomachines to rest and recovery mode."
"He's... he's too much of a monster..."
"He's gotten even worse since he took that Space Raiders training..."
"Who was it?! Who turned a monster into an even bigger monster?!"
For some reason, everyone seemed to have a grievance with me. It felt like the labor environment had soured a bit. I’d have to reflect on that later.
While they were resting, I went to scout the area—which was really just an excuse for a stroll. I spotted a temple path, complete with stairs. Why would anyone install stairs at the top of a vertical wall?
"Ah, those," Helga-san said as she joined me. I hadn't been able to issue her a combat suit, obviously, but I’d had her change into a combat engineer suit with a life support system. "I’ve heard that in the ancient past, the stairs went all the way to the base, but the lower section was destroyed in an earthquake."
So that’s why it was a precipice now.
"Couldn't we have climbed up from the opposite side?" I asked.
"The other side is a vast wilderness filled with depressions. It’s incredibly dangerous. Especially after a blizzard, the holes get buried under the snow, and even I can't tell them apart. If you fall in, you'll break a bone and be unable to move. Even I’m too terrified to go near there during this season."
Yikes. Nature is terrifying.
"If there's a tree growing in one of those holes, you might just end up skewered," she added.
"Way too scary!"
"That's why I warned them. I told them the winter mountains are death for anyone but a hunter. They didn't seem to grasp the meaning, though."
Come to think of it, there had been no sign of anyone entering from the cliff side. Hahaha, if they’d run into the enemy on the other side, they probably would have lost half their number before even making contact. No way... surely not.
Our break ended, and we set out for the ancient temple. We trudged along the temple path that stretched on for kilometers. It was low-key exhausting; the altitude was becoming quite significant. Once we cleared the mountain path, we found a temple carved directly out of the solid rock.
"The people of old... how did they even build this?"
Even with modern technology, a structure like this would be a nightmare to justify economically.
"I can't even begin to fathom it," Helga admitted.
This felt like a job for Berger-san. I decided to try and make sure we didn't break anything.
We moved inside, only to find footprints. Actually, there were bloodstains. From the look of things, it didn't seem like they had been attacked by something.
"Did they come in from the back and get wiped out by the terrain?" I mused.
"Spare me... if that happened, it’ll just lead to an increase in the bear population," Helga grumbled. "They'd be perfectly frozen and turned into convenient winter rations."
Poor souls; it seemed the former Parcion pirates had become nothing more than bear food. But then, they had brought it on themselves. They should have just swallowed their pride and asked the village for help.
We reached the inner sanctum. Several priests were inside, gathered around a device in the center of the room with a truly sinister design. The priests were clinging to life by a thread. They were covered in blood and looked to be at death's door.
"As... as expected... King of Chronos..." one wheezed. "To lure us into a trap and annihilate our forces..."
"Actually, you guys just took the dangerous route on your own and got yourself killed..."
"Silence! You tyrannical king!"
"Oh, come on..."
I was used to being called an idiot or a moron, but "tyrannical" was a new one. Honestly, oppressing people through tyranny sounds like way too much work. If I was going to deal with that much stress, I'd rather just turn myself into free materialization so people could vent their frustrations on me. It’s not like I have a thirst for glory, anyway.
"Even if we must perish, we will protect the Parcion religion! We shall release the monster that our faith sealed within this temple!"
"Wait, your religion sealed it? Then isn't releasing it an act of heresy or a violation of your vows?"
"...Ah, uh."
"Wait... was that a critical hit?"
"Shut up and die!"
With those final words, the priest slammed his hand onto the device in the center of the room.
"Feast upon my blood and my life! O Demon! Lay waste to the world!"
The device hummed to life. He was a fool, certainly, but I suppose it was a step above the usual "W-Why me?! Gwaaaaah!" cliché. He had put his own life on the line. I’d give him that much credit.
An earthquake suddenly rocked the structure. An analog transmission crackled in from the unit standing guard at the base of the mountain.
"Bzzz... the mountain has exploded! Something is emerging... it's a giant creature!"
I knew it. I’d had a feeling, in that cliché-hating way of mine, that it would turn out like this!
"Gyaooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!"
the roar of a giant creature reverberated through the air. The temple groaned and shook. The ceiling began to crack, and stones started falling.
"Personal shields, activate! Everyone, evacuate! Or rather, once the shaking stops, run for your lives!"
"By your command!"
Everything was going exactly as I’d feared. The battle with the giant kaiju had begun. I moved to shield Helga-san, who didn't have a personal shield of her own.
What on earth are we supposed to do about this?!