Another World Reincarnation Chronicle

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That dawn, after a rough investigation was completed, I returned to my assigned personal tent with Simon.

It was a bleak space, with nothing but a simple bed and a makeshift table for my belongings, but I liked the fact that it was for my sole use.

Given that most nobles and the upper echelons of the Mage Tower had been assigned shared tents, receiving such a personal space was a significant privilege. It indicated how much the Mage Tower was expecting from me.

Splash—!

“Ugh! Hey! Get this beast off me!”

I turned my head at the sudden scream. Apparently, the Nightmare had taken a liking to Simon. It was gnawing on an artifact, shaking its head back and forth while gripping it tightly. Simon, trapped inside, was helplessly swaying with the Nightmare’s movements.

It was like a child who found a fun toy. I hoisted the little Nightmare, about the size of a small puppy, into the air.

Flap-flap—

Its ears flapped, its tail wagged happily. It was so pleased that it was panting with its nostrils flared. In contrast, Simon was frowning, clearly displeased.

I didn’t intend to cater to Simon’s demands, but it seemed essential to separate this creature from the Nightmare to hold a normal conversation.

I gently stroked the Nightmare’s neck and retrieved the artifact it had been chewing on.

“Ugh…”

Just like before, the artifact was sticky from the Nightmare’s saliva. The slimy texture caused me to furrow my brow.

“Thanks…”

As I cleaned the artifact and placed it on the table, Simon expressed his gratitude. He lay there, looking up at me, shaped like a four-legged beast, resembling a wolf or dog.

“I have something to ask. You’ll answer honestly, right?”

“I won’t promise to answer without lies.”

Simon hesitated briefly at my question, then seemed to shudder in remembrance of something dreadful before answering.

“Alright, here’s the first question. You mentioned earlier that the demons with Magic Books knew we would arrive here beforehand.”

“They didn’t know the exact location. They only provided estimated points and times.”

“How many demons acted upon hearing that news?”

“You humans seem to know when and where other humans move and how many of them. Is that right?”

Simon replied with a frown, sounding rather annoyed. Essentially, he was saying he didn’t know, and his tone was quite cocky.

I lightly raised my hand and swatted the artifact he was in.

Boom—!

“Ugh!”

Even though I might appear to be a notably small and cute girl, the strength I possessed surpassed that of an ordinary human. Just like the Vice Tower Master of Twilight, crushing him and the artifact together was no challenge at all.

That said, even this simple motion required some delicate control. I had to adjust my strength so that he wouldn’t be crushed in one blow.

Simon, now limp like a wet pancake, quivered with his limbs sticking out. I placed my hand on him and used healing magic, and he quickly returned to his original form. I balled my little fist and asked Simon.

“Are you going to answer like that again?”

“I-I messed up!”

At last, it seemed he was ready to talk. I grabbed a chair from a distance and sat across from Simon.

“Alright, you may not know exactly, but you can at least have a rough estimate, right? What do you think?”

“Well, that’s…”

“It doesn’t have to be precise. Just give me a ballpark number.”

“Perhaps all the ones without Magic Books didn’t move at all… That would be about two hundred… Of course, the more Magic Books, the better, so there probably were demons with Magic Books who moved as well. Altogether, it might be around three hundred.”

“Was Skasha among the demons that moved?”

“As far as I know, Skasha didn’t leave his territory…”

I frowned at Simon’s response. From what he said, it was clear that Skasha was quite a well-known figure among demons. Wasn’t he supposedly born from the oldest death? I wasn’t entirely sure what that implied.

How could such a being not move? Knowing we were coming, why didn’t he take action?

The more I pondered, the deeper my questions became. But what could I do? Even Simon, the only one capable of giving answers about demons, seemed to lack a deeper understanding of Skasha.

I frowned and asked a new question.

“The demons. They’ll start flocking here soon, right?”

“Of course… They didn’t know the precise location, but they were all busy moving. Except for one who lucked out and ran to the opposite direction, many demons will soon head this way.”

“Hmmm…”

“So, I propose something. If you let me go now, I won’t kill you and will stay by your side…”

Boom—!

I smashed Simon again for his audacity to speak such nonsense. He stammered in weakness, barely able to make a sound.

“Do you want to get squashed again?”

“I-I messed up…”

Once returned to his original form using healing magic, Simon curled up in a corner.

As I quietly watched him, I tossed out my final question.

“Simon.”

“What is it…?”

“What’s the reason for the life force overflowing on this island?”

This had always been on my mind since we arrived. Why did the Grimshade Kingdom, a place called the island of death, present such a beautiful aspect?

Being the source of the dark magic that contaminates the land only intensified my curiosity.

“I don’t really know… It’s always been like this. Even before I was born.”

That was all I could get from Simon. Once I stopped asking questions, he seemed to close his eyes, trying to sleep. Of course, that didn’t mean he could actually sleep.

Flap—

“Ugh!”

Now that my turn was over, the Nightmare bounded over as if it was its turn, grabbing Simon in its mouth and joyfully bouncing around.

*

Unlike the worries of Haiven the previous dawn, no demons attacked the Base Camp. As the day brightened, Haiven busily moved about, beginning preparations for the advance.

Wizards checked their artifacts and meditated, while the knights, soldiers, and adventurers completed some training and checked their gear.

It was a massive army formed from the Mage Tower and adventurers, Greenfall and the Holy Kingdom, the Empire and Burning Road, and even Raoum. The amount of food we needed to carry was astonishing.

Transportation of this food proved to be a task, which I took on. I modified my airship, the Gold Return Ship, to create several large carts, solving the issue of food transportation.

However, even with all this preparation, we couldn’t depart immediately. Simon had promised to guide us to where Skasha was, but who could easily trust a demon’s word?

It involved moving a tremendous army. If we rashly trusted a single demon and ended up in a trap, that would be disastrous.

Eventually, the upper echelons of the Mage Tower had to convene to tackle this problem.

“This is a big issue…”

“After all, it’s a demon’s word. We should be wary of it.”

“What if what he said is true? We don’t have much time. Our food is dwindling, and the demons will continue to arrive.”

“That’s still problematic. Who would be willing to go? The Vice Tower Master of Twilight went out to scout and returned with a hole in his chest.”

“Isn’t the issue due to the low numbers? We could select more people…”

“Fifty? Or a hundred? How many people will you assign? If many humans move, the demons are sure to notice. If they are ambushed and wiped out, what then?”

“Then if we reduce the numbers…”

“If we reduce the numbers, how will we endure the demon’s ambush?”

“You’re just nitpicking at every word… Do you have a solution or something?”

“Well, yes. What if we use that airship of Haiven’s student? We could travel back and forth very quickly…”

Everyone’s gaze turned to me at the Vice Tower Master’s question. Haiven looked at me as well, seeming to await my answer. I frowned and shook my head.

“That’s a poor choice. Even with the airship, I was forcibly teleported down when Skasha descended using the Dragon’s Skull.”

When Skasha descended, using the Dragon’s Skull, I had been forcefully teleported from inside the airship to the ground. If we traveled there aboard the airship, it was highly likely we would be dragged down along with it.

This was where his main body resided. It would either be stronger than before or not weakened.

“Rather, it would be better for me to move without the airship.”

“You would go yourself…?”

I nodded at Haiven’s question and began to channel my mana. While I couldn’t hide a massive airship, going alone would be different.

Thinking of a snake’s movement, I wanted to emulate it. That little breeze quickly turned into magic, and as it started to alter my body, my presence shrank infinitely, and the mana flowing outside my form completely vanished.

Moving alone would be the fastest and safest method. If needed, I could simply use the World Tree’s bow to escape.