Chapter 85

Inside the grounds of the Jinvaryl Trading Company.

In a room of a warehouse that neither the apprentices nor the servants ever approached.

There stood the figure of Jurius Jinvaryl, the chairman.

In front of Jurius was a metal pot about the size of a human head.

The lid, which matched the size of the pot's opening, was half-open.

Inside was a semi-transparent red object that trembled.

This was the true form of the Mora-ka.

At first, Jurius was half-suspecting whether it really had any effect.

Now, he no longer had any doubt about its effectiveness.

"Who would have thought it would summon such a monster... Hey, close the lid immediately."

While looking at the pot with disgust, Jurius ordered the middle-aged man in servant's attire.

The servant, obeying the order, approached the pot and hastily placed the lid on it.

That should have been the end of it.

But as Jurius and the other two turned to leave the warehouse, a sound came from behind them.

"What?"

Jurius turned around casually, and the pot of Mora-ka came into view.

The lid, which the servant had firmly closed, was now askew, leaving the pot half-open.

"That's strange. I thought I closed it properly..."

The servant, scratching his head, approached the pot.

However, before he could, the lid made another sound.

"Huh?"

In front of the bewildered servant, the lid fell to the floor with a thud.

Jurius felt his whole body shudder at this unnatural occurrence.

An ominous premonition filled him.

His instincts screamed to run away immediately.

Yet his feet wouldn't move, and he couldn't look away.

While the three of them were transfixed, the Mora-ka began to change.

The semi-transparent object inside the pot, which was not tilting, began to spill out.

Clearly defying gravity, an abnormal scene was unfolding before their eyes.

"What...!?"

Before the flustered Jurius and the others, the gel-like object oozed out of the pot and began to form a red, semi-transparent mass on the floor.

As they watched with tense expressions, it gradually piled up and eventually took on a human-like shape.

The red, semi-transparent form began to resemble a long-haired, naked woman.

"Could it be... a monster...?"

The mercenary let out a word filled with fear.

"A monster? ...No way! If it gets out that a monster appeared in the company's warehouse...!"

Jurius himself felt a considerable amount of fear in the presence of the eerie entity.

However, upon instantly understanding the impact it would have on the company, he began to panic in a different way.

"Get rid of it quickly!"

Ordering the mercenary to eliminate it was a natural course of action for Jurius.

The mercenary, though hesitant about the unknown entity, could not ignore his employer's command.

The fact that the entity seemed harmless and stood still likely pushed him to act.

"Sir, it's dangerous, so please stay in the corner of the room."

After telling Jurius this, the mercenary drew his sword and stood in front of the monster.

"Given how gooey it is, magic would be better than a sword, but..."

Unfortunately, the mercenary lacked the talent for magic and relied solely on his sword.

With his sword at the ready, the mercenary struck the monster with all his might.

At the moment the blade was about to pierce the monster's head, it made an unexpected sound and the mercenary's sword was deflected.

"What is this hardness!?"

The mercenary, surprised, saw the red humanoid form suddenly move.

"Ugh, aahh!"

The monster, which had just tackled him, showed an unexpected flexibility and clung to the mercenary's body.

"Ahh! It's hot! It's so hot!"

As the monster gradually enveloped the mercenary's entire body, his screams echoed throughout the warehouse.

When the monster's face was covered by the red gel, even the screams fell silent.

"What... What is that!?"

Jurius's voice trembled as he shouted, and the monster reacted.

"Don't come any closer!"

This time, the red humanoid form seemed to target Jurius and the servant, who were trembling in the corner, and began to walk towards them, making a squelching sound.

Jurius, enveloped in fear, desperately searched for a way to escape from this situation.

The door, about five meters away, could be reached in just a few seconds if he ran at full speed.

But would that monster let him go so easily? Perhaps he could use the servant as a decoy—such thoughts crossed Jurius's mind.

As Jurius was confirming the position of the door, something unbelievable caught his eye.

A woman with a red sword in hand broke through the closed door and entered the warehouse.

"What now!?"

The woman, who had entered the warehouse without permission, was a middle-aged woman in a black cloak.

She had long, reddish hair flowing down her back and was a stunning beauty.

Holding a red sword, she glanced at Jurius and the others with eyes of the same color, then looked at the humanoid monster with a pitying gaze.

The woman in black approached the monster silently, as if gliding on ice, without making any sound.

She held the red sword with both hands and swung it horizontally at the monster's neck.

"What...?"

Jurius, unable to process the series of events, could only ask a question to which no one would answer.

The woman, still in the same stance after swinging her sword, did not move.

The monster, too, remained motionless, as if paralyzed.

Silence fell over the warehouse for a moment.

The one to break the tense silence was the monster.

But it was not by the monster's will—if it had any.

A crack appeared in its neck, and soon the head began to slide off.

The monster's head, which the mercenary could not even scratch, fell to the floor with a thud, like a ripe fruit falling from a tree.

A moment later, the monster's body collapsed to the floor, making a sound like water being spilled from a bucket.

After witnessing this, the woman in black turned and left the warehouse without even glancing at Jurius and the others.

Jurius stood there, feeling as if he were in a bad dream, unable to question or even react.

It took a while for Jurius and the others to regain their composure, about two minutes by the clock's second hand.

"We... were saved...?"

"It... seems so..."

Finally, sound returned to the silent warehouse.

Jurius recalled the scene that had just unfolded before his eyes.

"This wasn't a daydream..."

The monster was silent, and so was the woman in black who had defeated it.

Jurius, doubting his own eyes, realized it was real when he saw what was left on the warehouse floor.

The body of the mercenary, whose skin was burned and charred.

The floor, wet with red liquid.

And the monster's neck, which looked like a red crystal.

"What should we do...?"

The middle-aged servant asked Jurius for a decision.

Jurius, hearing the servant's voice, switched his thoughts and desperately tried to figure out what to do.

"This is bad..."

The mercenary's death could be covered up in any way.

However, the fact that the Mora-ka's existence was known was a significant problem.

Of course, it wasn't known that the Mora-ka was the cause of the monster attack.

But at least the woman in black knew that there was an unknown monster in the Jinvaryl Trading Company's warehouse.

The woman in black, who had saved Jurius, could also become his accuser and lead to his downfall.

"This is bad. Very bad."

What Jurius had done was a clear felony.

Even if it was a planned and controlled event with the intention of repelling the monsters, the fact remained that he had lured monsters and beasts, putting Retin in danger.

Many soldiers and militiamen who fought to defend the city walls and defeat the beasts must have been injured or killed.

Additionally, the economic loss would be enormous.

A large amount of resources were used to form the extermination force, and a significant amount of money was spent on the mercenaries' rewards.

Most importantly, the impact of closing the gates and cutting off all external trade for a short period would be significant.

Laymen might think it was just a couple of days, but if they knew how much damage those two days caused, they would surely turn pale.

Furthermore, the reputation of the city-state of Retin was also at stake.

Even if the attack was repelled, the rumor of a city-state being attacked by a group of monsters and beasts would follow it for a while.

If malicious rumors spread that the city was besieged and had to fortify itself, the military's reputation would be ruined, and the city would lose its vitality as merchants and travelers stayed away, considering it a dangerous place.

Jurius had planned and manipulated the situation to ensure that the Jinvaryl Trading Company would benefit, taking into account all these disadvantages.

But what if the plan leaked out?

He had caused such significant damage to the country.

Worse still, the city could have been overrun by monsters. In that case, the charge of treason could be applied.

According to Retin's laws, he would not escape the death penalty.

"To a safe place..."

Passing by the servant, who looked worried, Jurius hurriedly left the warehouse.

2019/05/03 Typo correction: 張りつめたな時間 → 張りつめた時間

*Thank you for reporting the typo.

2019/07/30 Typo correction: 例え → たとえ