Chapter 68: The World of Fog

With our backs against the Erekthion mountain that dominated the north, we walked towards the world of fog, the "field", that we could see from afar.

The size of a field is different per case. It can be as big as a city square, or it can be as big as a noble's territory. I don't know if this is true, but I heard that the so-called great land of fog that's located in the northern part of the Elluo continent has a field that is as big as a small country.

The field south of the city of Nyuneri where we're heading to this time is one of the larger fields inside the Levios Kingdom. I was told that it would take about one full day to go from the northernmost part of the field to the southernmost part of the field on horseback.

I never rode on a horse before, but I could tell that means the field is pretty big.

By the time the scenery in the direction we're walking in became all foggy, it was a bit after noon.

「Over there」

Lupetta made a small comment.

There is an overwhelming presence coming from the white fog that was greatly expanding before us.

The fog of the field moves its boundary line like the tide of an ocean, but the field itself does not move anywhere.

I have never seen an ocean myself, but my grandfather back in my hometown called the fields the white oceans.

I think when the fog is in full tide, that place would be just right outside of the field. There are a number of simple cabins and tents that are surrounded by fences set up there with a banner raised. It's a military base.

There was only a simplified pattern of their official crest on the banner, but it was easy to tell which army that banner belonged to.

The pattern was a snake entangled around a pair of crossed lances, with a splash of water that makes me think of a big river's torrent. I have seen that symbol many times when I was in the interrogation room. It was the crest of the house of Qualdense.

Lupetta raised her index finger and pointed at the banner. I don't know where she got her information from, but it seems that other than acting as a lookout for magic beasts, that base is providing support to adventurers who'll enter the field as well.

「Lupetta. Are you sure this'll be alright? We're not going to be arrested again, right?」

After I said that, our other companions opened their mouths as well as if I baited them to do so.

「Although it's information you obtained, Lupetta, it's scary to be so close to the military…Mergin, it must have been awful for you too, right?」

「Yeahhh. We don't know what'll happen if we get arrested again. Mergin, when you got arrested, it was terrible for you too, wasn't it?」

「They didn't let you out at all when they were investigating you, right?」

「Yeah」

Since we were arrested right as we entered the city of Nyuneri, we were very wary of the Qualdense army. No one knows if we'll be released the next time we get arrested. To be honest, I didn't want to have anything to do with them.

I feel like if a group of 6 adventurers with magic power like us suddenly approaches their base, they will misunderstand it as an attack and arrest us.

「I got that intel from a reliable source. It'll be alright」

…I wonder just who she heard it from. When I thought about it again, I started to feel quite suspicious.

Lupetta could not be called sociable at all and she's the type who's shy of strangers. I can't imagine her being able to obtain such information when she doesn't know anybody in Nyuneri.

「…And who would that be? Is that person really trustworthy?」

I unintentionally let my real feelings out. I was so jealous that I scared even myself.

Just imaging Lupetta getting close to someone- a man, without me knowing is making my heart throb.

I instantly regretted it deeply after I threw out those words that sounded like I didn't trust her.

「...Someone from the military. He told me about that stuff when I was on my way to pick you up」

「Yeah I'm not sure about that…」

Without even looking at me, Lupetta answered me in a voice that was filled with unhappiness.

I've been together with her for a long time, so I can at least somewhat understand her emotions. It wasn't a voice of anger, it was a voice that hated everything.

Ah, I did it again.

Even though I trust her more than anybody else in this world, why did I respond to her like that?

「Are you worried? I'll go alone then. Wait for me here」

「Huh? Ah...!」

Lupetta turned around and started to walk towards the base without even waiting for my reply.

She did not care about the five of us who couldn't keep up with her sudden action as she walked into the distance.

「Um, Mergin? I don't want to go. If Lupetta says that she'll go then can't we just let her take care of it?」

Diana said as she shrugged.

I have been grouped with Lupetta since the dawn of time.

We started out as adventurers in Duke Spiazeikes's territory, then when we started to notice that people were starting to get drafted for the army, we relocated to the royal capital, tempted by the preferential policies they have for adventurers there.

But the royal capital that we went through so much trouble to get to was packed with adventurers, so our income wasn't very good.

We began to relocate again to Marquis Qualdense's territory after we worked for a while and got our names out there, but on our journey here, we met Diana's party of 4 newbie adventurers.

The female leader and the oldest of the 4, Diana.

Tonitol, the young man with a violent atmosphere.

Faucon, the guy with a frivolous attitude.

Semuks, the young man who doesn't really stand up for himself.

Diana and Lupetta are the same age, me and Faucon are the same age, and Semuks and Tonitol are younger.

Diana approached us and asked if they could join us after she heard that we were going to the field of the city of Nyuneri.

Surprisingly, all four of them possessed magic power.

「*Haa*...」

I let out a small sigh without letting Diana and the others notice.

I now regret letting her and the other three join our party at that time.

Lupetta wasn't good at dealing with people she didn't know in the first place. She didn't really want her number of companions to suddenly increase by 4.

I forcefully persuaded her by telling her that having 4 more people with mana joining us would make us even more successful and stuff, but my real goal was something else.

My real goal- I wanted Lupetta to look back at me.

「You guys wait here. I can't let Lupetta go alone」

After the 4 of them nodded at me, I ran after Lupetta.

When I left my home village because I hated it, I was still 7 years old.

I was able to do that because I possess magic power, but I surprised even myself when I made it to the territory of Duke Spiazeikes that was located far away from my hometown in that same year.

Although I did it with my own power, I was immediately in financial trouble without a family supporting me. I was only 8 years old when I arrived at the territory of Duke Spiazeikes after all. Normally, that's the age one would start helping out with their family's business and learn how society functions.

It was Lupetta, who's 2 years older than me, who guided me and took care of me when I ran into her by chance while I was trying to take advantage of the fact that I possessed magic power to make a living as an adventurer.

The way to fight magic beasts, the way to navigate in a "field", the way to handle weapons, the way to properly use magic, how to sell the magic stones, how to avoid military checks, how to read, and how to deal with taxes...She had taught me countless things.

She was taller than me back then, so her back seemed big and reliable.

I wonder when I started to see Lupetta, who was like an older sister to me, as a woman. I could only remember that seeing her smile made me flustered and I have been like that ever since.

As my love for her grew, I began to develop complicated feelings about her treating me like her younger brother.

On one hand, our unchanging relationship was a relief to me, but on the other hand, the fact that she didn't see me as a man was making me impatient.

I wanted her to see me as a man just like how I see her as a woman.

Even though I love Lupetta so much, it's like the words that come out of my mouth are always contrasting what I actually want to say.

I remember when I was young, I had once destroyed our furniture with magic just to get my mother's attention. I didn't grow up at all.

The addition of Diana's party of 4 was a selfish act. I thought that If I accomplish more achievements as an adventurer then maybe Lupetta will notice me and see me as a reliable man…

But as a result of that, she started to smile less; everything went the exact opposite of how I wanted it to go.

I ran up in small steps as I caught up to Lupetta.

I could tell from being behind her, Lupetta is very small. I passed her in height long ago.

But I don't think I have become a man who's big enough for her to rely on yet.

「Lupetta」

「…Mergin?」

I could see a little bit of tears in her eyes when she turned around.

My chest felt like it was being tightened by a rope. I felt sick and nauseous.

「Ah…Lupetta…Um…」

I have to apologize to her…But that thought disappeared in an instant.

Her fragile, slightly shivering figure robbed me of all my thoughts…She was that beautiful.

I was glad that it made my mind go blank. I would have probably said something else that I don't mean and hurt her even more if I wasn't careful.

It's shocking how much I've gone out of control lately. I've been especially awful to her ever since I was released from being investigated by the Qualdense army.

Lupetta doesn't really like taking baths, and she doesn't wear makeup at all. Even if I gave her a wet towel to clean herself, she would only wipe her face with it. Because of that, not many people notice her, but she is actually really pretty.

When the usually expressionless Lupetta shows her blooming smile to only me, she is so attractive that it makes me want to hug her and push her down.

Her beauty that only I know, her best smile that is only directed at me, those things have been pleasantly satisfying the desire to monopolize her that's in my heart.

But at the time I was released, Lupetta had become unbelievably beautiful.

Her clothes that were dirtied with soil had been cleaned carefully and they looked like they were new. Her skin had been polished, and her dark blue hair that is usually clumped together with oil was flowing beautifully strand by strand with complete elegance.

It was as if she had become a noble's daughter.

Up until that point, only I knew about her good points. But after she became pretty, the men we walk by would often turn around to look at her. The feeling of her no longer being only mine and the feeling of impatience that comes from my worries about losing her were gradually burning my heart.

Because of my feeling of not wanting her to show other guys that side of her, I told her terrible things like it's pointless even if she tries to be pretty, it wasn't like her, or some even meaner things and made her sad.

It's pathetic how I could only handle things that way because of how weak my heart is, and on top of that, I never apologized to her.

Lupetta did not care about the horrible comments I made about her and continued to make herself pretty since then.

I don't know what she was doing since we lived in different inns, but she always smells good as if she had been taking baths regularly. Before I realized it, I was always looking at her as the days of me becoming nervous when our eyes met continued.

I don't understand why she had suddenly become conscious about being clean, but if it was because of a man, a man other than me…I, I might end up going crazy.

To be honest, ever since she changed her appearance, I feel like I have been overwhelmed with love. I would unintentionally release my magic power in rage just from imagining some guy that isn't really there.

「You're coming with me too, Mergin?」

Lupetta said as she wiped her face with her sleeve. I feel like her face is telling me that she doesn't want me to ask her about the reason she's crying.

I just nodded in silence since I didn't want to say something unnecessary and be hated.

「U-unn」

I accidentally gave a short reply to her like how a child would respond, but it made Lupetta smile.

「It's been a long time since I've seen you being so docile. That makes me happy」

「Lupetta...」

She could smile so brightly just from me being honest like that.

That made me happy. I'm truly happy that she did not get fed up with me yet.

After we walked side by side for a while, the soldiers of the base probably took notice of us so they turned their attention to us.

As we went up the entrance of the base that was surrounded by fences all around, we managed to get close normally without having any spears pointed at us.

「Are you adventurers? Sure don't remember your faces…」

「Yeah. It's our first time here. We heard that adventurers could receive some assistance here. Would you kindly tell us where to go? We're thinking of going into the field here from now on」

The soldier looked at us with a convinced expression. Remembering the faces of adventurers might be one of their jobs, but I feel like he stared at Lupetta for so long.

I knew it. Good thing I didn't let Lupetta go alone.

「You'll understand if you go over there. Go ahead」

「Got it, thank you」

I thanked the soldier quickly and got a move on. After we went to the place the soldier told us to go to, we found an open air market there.

It seems that after paying a venue fee to the army, merchants had opened up a market here. There were a lot of peddlers present as well.

Since the purchasing of magic stones in this base is a right exclusively for the merchants who the army officially approved, there seems to be a punishment of a fine if we sell magic stones to any other merchants here. A middle-aged merchant had kindly taught us that. He probably guessed that we're new here from our unfamiliar faces.

There are also some tents that were set up by the army here, and inside those tents, it appears that we could copy the map of the field for free and learn about the ecology of magic beasts that were often encountered inside the field.

「Magic stones are sold for less here compared to the city」

「Ah, you're right」

The magic stones that we obtain by defeating the magic beasts and dismantling their corpses is an adventurer's main source of income. Adventurers would need to look around for merchants who would buy those magic stones at a price that's as high as possible. Merchants would come to you if you're famous, but back when we were nobodies, Lupetta and I had to search everywhere together for trading companies that would buy our magic stones even if it would be at just a slightly higher price.

The purchase price for the magic stones at this base was a bit lower than the city of Nyuneri. Since the purchasing of magic stones is a monopoly here, it's probably unnegotiable as well. However, considering the time and effort we have to put in to bring the magic stones back to the city, it might be better to sell the stones here. It's a price that I can't tell clearly if it's good or bad.

The open-air market is also selling food, but it's only slightly more expensive here compared to the city.

「We don't need any food, right…?」

「Ye…yeah. We don't」

Diana and the other three had been buying food to the level of it being weird.

They said it was their first time going into a field, so they ended up buying a lot of food. We had a lack of communication due to the fact that we couldn't move as a group together in the city of Nyuneri, so each of them had bought a large quantity of food. Thanks to that, our luggage was full of food.

When I tried to tell them to throw some away since they bought too much, Diana said "But to throw away food that can be eaten…! We'll incur the divine wrath of Mozzawiene, you know? Just what do you think Goukokfojio's blessing is…?" and so on as she preached to me with names of spirits.

And so, we ended up carrying a mountain of food here.

Anyway, I copied the map of the field onto a wooden board inside of one of the army's tents. I'm really thankful for this since when we were at the royal capital, they did not provide us with any maps, so we had to either make our own or buy one from other adventurers.

There were ex-adventurers who were employed by the army stationed inside the tent, so we were able to ask them for information about the field. On top of that, it was all free.

The adventurer who answered our inquiries was an adventurer who specialized in Nyuneri's field for a long time. But one day, he got careless and got his left arm bitten off by a magic beast and retired. Right when he was worrying about how to make a living, the Qualdense army was buying information about the field so he changed his occupation just like that.

His main task seemed to be to provide information about the field to the active adventurers and collect the most updated information from any adventurers in return on any strong magic beasts that spawned and make periodic reports on the growth of magic beasts inside the field.

Since he was hired as a field specialist, he receives better treatment than a normal soldier in the army, and he will not get drafted for war. It's an envious job.

While the royal capital has policies to give preferential treatment to gather skilled adventurers, Marquis Qualdense seems to have reverse policies that develop the next generation of adventurers while giving preferential treatment to ex-adventurers.

Due to adventurers from everywhere aiming for the royal capital, rumor has it that there's a shortage of adventurers in every region. Marquis Qualdense might have such policies set in place to try to stop the adventurers from leaving his territory.

「Hey, Mergin」

*Tug*, my sleeve was pulled on. Lupetta was looking at me.

My heart naturally started pounding just a little faster from that.

「W-what is it?」

「How long do you plan on staying in Nyuneri? Those four came to Nyuneri for the field, so if we leave, our party will disband, right?」

She looked up at me with her big round silver eyes. I felt like they were sucking me in.

「Y-yeah…」

I'm sure that Lupetta doesn't want to be in the same party with Diana and the others any longer.

The despicable me had unintentionally said something to Lupetta that compared her to Diana and hurt her. Lupetta has been avoiding Diana because of that.

Diana and the others said that their goal was to work in Nyuneri's field, so I don't think they are going to follow us if we go somewhere else.

Once we leave Nyuneri, our joint party will be disbanded.

…Then the adventurer life with just me and Lupetta will begin again. That sounds way too alluring.

Diana aside, Tonitol, Faucon and Semuks have all been gawking at Lupetta since she became pretty and started to try to talk to her. I want to pull her away from them soon.

「It might be good to disband our party with Diana and the others for good this time. I think a group of 4 people who possess magic power would be able to take care of themselves after learning the basics. You said that in the past as well. People can't just have everything taught to them. That's why once we teach them how to navigate inside a field, I think we can return to being a party with just us two like we originally were」

I tried to provide an appropriate sophistry. I made the party on my own accord and I'm now trying to disband it on my own accord. What a selfish man I am. But I don't care about such small pride. Us returning to a two-person party is much more important to me.

「Yeahh」

「And also, as I thought…um…going on adventures with just us two…is…yeah. It makes me happier…too…」

I couldn't look at Lupetta's face during the second half of my sentence.

It wasn't a confession of love, it's just that I didn't think it feels that embarrassing just from telling her how I'm truly happy inside my heart when I'm with her.

But even so, I'm glad I said it properly.

「Mergin…Thank goodness. Mergin, I…I thought you hated me…」

「I would never…」

As I replied, I noticed that tears were running down Lupetta's face.

When I thought of how much I've hurt her, I started to feel disgusted about myself.

「I would never hate you.You're…」

You're much more important than anyone else in this world to me.

…But I couldn't say it outloud.

Even though I wanted to hug her, my hands were frozen in mid air.

I'm such a loser.

「Mergin?」

「Ah, it's-it's nothing…Say, Lupetta. The biggest field around here is Nyuneri's right? Even after we disband our team with Diana and the others, can't we just stay around here for a while?」

「Ehh...?」

「We've come all the way here. We can't do much even if we go back to the royal capital, and the dukedom of Spiazeikes is unstable, so I thought it'd be good to stay in Nyuneri and work here for a while. Since it'll be just us two, we will be able to move together in the city as well」

「Erm...」

「I haven't even walked around in the city yet. If we forget the fact that we were arrested at the beginning, I don't think it's a bad city at all…There's something I want from there too」

The city of Nyuneri has become famous in the last several years. Perhaps it's thanks to that, the city is filled with people and it's very lively.

Not only is their soap the most high class soap in the continent, their silk is also something that every rich girl wants.

Since we came all the way here, I want to buy some clothes in Nyuneri. Of course, it isn't for me, but for Lupetta.

When I walked around in the city by myself before, I entered a clothing store that had clothes made with Nyuneri's silk. I checked some stuff out in there with the thought of giving Lupetta some new clothes.

She has become pretty lately, but the clothes she is wearing are still some cheap unisex clothes.

The only female clothing she has is a two piece dress that she rarely wears, but the dress was made of hemp and it feels worn out since she's had it for so long.

Since I have some money saved up, I thought it'd be nice to invite her to go to the clothing store together and pick out a nice two piece dress for her.

Then, if I tell her how I feel at that time…

「Something you want?」

I can't tell her yet.

It's embarrassing and I want it to be a surprise at that time.

「Yeah. That's why I want us to stay in Nyuneri for a bit. What do you say, Lupetta?」

I cracked a smile as I imagined the scene of her happily wearing the clothes I picked out for her. "It's my first time wearing something like this. It's like I'm some rich girl…Mergin, how do I look?" …Her shy expression as she says that will be the cutest thing ever.

Then I will reply "You look good, Lupetta", and hug her just like that.

Oh no, I can't stop myself from smiling.

Maybe she thought that my attitude had turned weird, Lupetta had a slightly confused look on her face, but she immediately responded with a smile.

「Unn. That's fine with me as well」

There isn't a clear entrance to a field. Since it's a place where fog just spreads endlessly, one can just enter from wherever they like.

However, places that people usually enter from would have a more stable ground surface that would be easier to walk on. And if something unexpected happens, it would be easier to be discovered.

We waited in front of the fog and watched people enter as we thought about where we should go in from.

Sometimes groups would enter while pushing their carts, and sometimes people would come back out with carts full of rock-like objects.

According to Lupetta, those are the people who are harvesting rock salt. A part of this field is an area filled with rock salt.

We decided to enter at one of the spots that a group of those people exited from.

After we advanced in the fog for a while, we could no longer see the path we came from behind us. There was only a space of pure whiteness. The world outside of the fog was no longer visible.

We had completely entered the world of fog that's called a "field".

「The fog here feels thicker than the field of the royal capital」

「Yeah」

Due to the white fog, we could not see very far.

If I were to throw a rock out without using any magic power, the fog is so thick that I'm sure we won't even be able to see where it lands.

「So this is a field…」

The four who entered a field for the first time were looking around everywhere, but all one could see was nothing but white fog.

The terrain will probably change once we go in a bit deeper. Other than our field of vision being extremely limited, the current situation is not much different than how it normally goes.

Due to Diana's gaze wandering everywhere, we were walking at a slow pace.

Since there's a higher rate of encountering magic beasts deeper into the field, there's no point in staying so close to the entrance.

「We're going to go on a full trip around the field this time. Let's hurry up guys, we don't have all day」

It wasn't just me or Lupetta, this is the first time any of us have entered this field. Because of that, I decided to explore the map thoroughly and see what this field is like.

And after we teach these four about this field, I'm going to take the chance to disband our adventurer party.

Some time after we began walking, the ground that was full of short grass changed into a reddish-black ground surface with small cracks that look like a grandma's chapped hands. The terrain was being changed by the influence of the fog.

As we proceeded on this eerie looking land, we encountered the first magic beast.

It was a magic beast that resembled a snail. It was about the size of 3 Lupettas, and it had a creepy appearance with its shell dyed in a blood-like red.

We learned about this beast before in the army base. Since the monster is slow like a snail as well, we could defeat it easily by attacking with magic from afar.

In the case of people who can't use magic, it seems that they can just weaken it by throwing rocks at it from afar until it's weak enough to be finished off. The magic beast is very dangerous if you approach it while it still has a lot of life because of the corrosive liquid it vigorously releases from the tip of its antennas.

After we dismantled the magic beast, we obtained a magic stone that's about the size of an adult's fist. This is about right since the magic beast wasn't a full grown adult yet.

While we were taking a break after the dismantling, Tonitol suddenly yelled out,

「Uwahhh?! W-what is this?!」

「What's wrong?!」

After I ran over to him, he flipped his sleeve and showed me his arm.

A dozen white worms were on it. It was as if his arm was covered in white scales.

「Oh, it's just some leeches」

「Leeches?! G-get them off me! Why are there leeches when there aren't any mountains or forests around?!」

「Oi, don't force it! You'll get all bloody!」

I grabbed Tonitol's arm and stopped him when he was trying to get them off in a panic.

「Leeches get on to you when you walk inside a field. It just kind of happens」

It's said that the leeches might also be a type of magic beast that's created by the fog.

They will attach to you before you know it as you walk inside a field. Then, they will start sucking your blood.

Since there is no pain, your entire body will be full of them if you're not aware of it.

I've also heard of a story before about an adventurer who got bound by ropes and left in the field. He was found dead the next morning from blood loss.

Since those leeches can get onto people through their clothes, people who enter a field for the first time will be surprised and disgusted by them.

「You've been carrying your stuff in the same position the whole time, right? The leeches have an easier time getting onto your body parts that you don't move a lot. You have to stay aware and keep moving your bodies here and there to prevent them from sticking onto you」

「Shit, how do I get them off then…?!」

「Try to release just a little bit of your magic power. They'll come off right away」

Leeches are the most annoying things inside a field, but you can deal with them easily if you possess magic power like us.

Since they are weak against magic power, you could easily remove them by releasing some magic power since that'll make them release their bite.

「Ah. They came off」

Because Tonitol is also a human who possesses magic power, naturally, he is able to release magic power. He just had to brush the leeches off with his hand after that and they easily fell off.

「You can easily deal with leeches just by doing that. It's not something ordinary people can do though. Also, remember that the leeches will melt and disappear once you exit the field」

Mysteriously, the leeches cannot stay alive outside of the fields.

After I turned around and said that to Diana and the others, Faucon and Semuks rolled up their sleeves to check for any leeches.

As expected, both of them seemed to have leeches on them, so they released their magic power and I helped them brush their leeches off.

This scene felt so nostalgic. I also freaked out about leeches like them when I first entered a field. The scene of Lupetta helping me get the leeches off my back with a slightly troubled expression on her face surfaced in my mind.

Nowadays I just constantly release a thin layer of magic power so leeches don't get onto me. Lupetta also does the same thing. Being able to do this is essential for adventurers who are active in the fields.

It's because of this that adventurers with magic power could stay inside a field for a long time. Humans without magic power would have to leave the field regularly to deal with those leeches.

「Lupetta. I'm sorry, but can you help Diana out with any leeches she might have? I can't be looking at a woman's bare skin」

「Nn, got it」

Lupetta walked to where Diana is.

I took out the wooden board that I recorded the map on and checked our current location.

The Qualdense army has buried iron stakes at certain locations inside the field. Those iron stakes have different symbols written on them.

By matching the symbol on the stakes to the symbols on the map that one copies from the base, you could get a rough idea of where they are on the map.

Our first objective is the rock salt zone. It was because Lupetta said she wants to have rock salt with her food, but it's also deep inside the field so it's convenient at the same time to check out the magic beasts that are located deep inside as well.

After I confirmed our spot with the map and a compass, it seems that we still had a long way to go. It's going to be night time before we get there, so let's prepare to camp out after going a bit further.

Since I wanted to talk to Lupetta about the plan to set up the camp, I decided to wait until she's done helping Diana out, but it didn't take long before she finished.

「There weren't that many leeches on her so it only took a second. Are you thinking about camping out, Mergin?」

「Yeah, what do you think, Lupetta?」

「Mm…It's our first time here, so I think it would be better to get our base ready earlier than usual」

「That's what I thought too」

Lupetta is the cautious type, so she would want to prepare for a base early since it's our first time here.

Even during our first time in the field of the royal capital or other small fields, we always set up our camps early as well.

She probably wants to do it while it's still daytime. I also agree with that.

Due to the fog that's covering the sky, we couldn't really tell the position of the sun.

I told the four others that we're going to set up our camp early.