Life in Another World as a Maid Mage

Alec led the adventurer to the cattle barn in question, convincing villagers who were unhappy that they needed to go to look for the victim earlier than the investigation of the cattle barn that had been damaged by the beast.

If it was a demonic beast that differed from the sighting, it would endanger the party that sent it. In fact, Alec himself had experience. We must investigate as much as we can about these cases, and review the search policy depending on the results of the investigation.

The villagers did not hide their disgruntled expressions all the time, but Alec's judgment turned out to be correct.

--As soon as I saw the cowshed in question, everyone was breathless about the tragedy. Some of the old wooden doors and walls were wrecked, and there were tremendous traces of blood in the surrounding snow. At the same time, I noticed that something like a piece of meat of livestock that had been sacrificed was splashed, and I held up my eyebrows in unpleasantness.

"This is terrible." It's more than I imagined. "

"... you know..."

Nadia covered her mouth and covered her face.

Although I am used to such things in my work, I am never accustomed to seeing the ordinary and peaceful everyday scenery turned into a tragic scene of murder.

It seemed to be the same for everyone, and some of them had faded completely. Most of them were Class C holders. Although promotion was quick due to the high level of basic abilities, this rank is characterized by the fact that there are no fewer people who have less than two years of activity. It is not surprising that I am not used to a miserable scene.

(Maybe you should leave it behind in some cases...)

Searching for a possible vicious mutant species can be quite dangerous. I'm afraid at this stage, and I may not be able to stand around as usual.

As he turned around, Vivi's figure entered his sight. At that time, he did not have any doubts, but the moment he returned to the cabin, he suddenly remembered, and Alec exclaimed, "No."

"Vivi, by the way, you were class D. Sorry."

I should have instructed him to work in the village below grade D, but since he was there as normal when the search party split up, Alec was also inadvertently disappointed.

For a moment, she had a strange look, and she immediately noticed it and looked at her awkwardly.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I'm late... I forgot"

Sure enough, Vivi was once in class C for a while. However, it should now be a D-grade status due to "scandal".

However, I didn't know that she was disappointed that she left the union (guild) soon after.

"Well, I didn't even notice."

Alec smiled bitterly.

"I know you have C-level abilities, but I don't care if you come back. What do I do?"

Vivi gave a somewhat troubling gesture. "But no, it's okay. I've been in the vigilante since I was a kid,” he shook his head.

"I'm used to seeing things like this. Since I lived in the mountains, it's not so uncommon for animals to be attacked by demon beasts."

In a sparsely populated village, it is not uncommon for children to join the vigilante as long as they have the ability to do so, she said. It is said that he did not participate in the search for the victims of the nearby villages once or twice.

"I see, I see." But, well, don't push yourself. "

Yes, I understand.

Vivi was on Nadia's team. A good looking after girlfriend would do well.

It's a wide-ranging search. To be honest, I wanted as many people as possible.

"... well..."

As he walked up to his colleagues who were starting to look into the shed, Kai raised his face as he squatted down and twisted his neck to the scar on the low wall. The expression is confusing.

"Take a look." What do you think? "

Alec, who was pointed at by his chin, peered in as he was told.

The scar running from the wall to the door is something hard and sharp, and it can be seen that it was deeply scored. It seemed that the cross-section was not so constant as to be scraped off with a "murder weapon" many times. The "murder weapon" is about thirty centimeters in diameter. If you open a large mouth and wrap it around your fangs, it should look like this.

But...

"--Not too big."

When I muttered, "Don't you?” Kai nods. Bloo, who was quietly standing beside her, was also leaning his body like "that's weird."

Even if it's a mutant species, I feel a little worried about it.

That's right. He wasn't strong enough to chop logs.

The bite marks on the walls resembled snails. However, even considering that it is a mutant species, it still feels uncomfortable.

"Is this really Snorm?" Was there some kind of similar demon beast? "

"No... I don't know." What about Nadia? "

Nadia shook her head in disgust, hoping she might have some idea of how to get across the neighboring countries.

"I see..."

Just in case, I asked the others, but it seems that no demonic beast comes to mind.

Alec looked around. However, the villagers trampled on the surrounding area, and there was no trace of the demonic beast. The inside of the shed seems to be cleaned up already, and unfortunately nothing stands out except for the red and black stains.

"Hey, was it really Snorm?" Anyone who sees someone in person? "

Speaking to the villagers, he said that although he had not seen them, the movement marks left in the snow were indeed of Snorm.

"Maybe there's still some left outside the barrier. It's over here."

Fortunately, the intrusion path of the demon beast was not damaged by the avalanche, and except for the barrier fence, which had been unscrupulously cut off, which was blocked by first aid, it remained almost intact. There were no traces of the beast moving in the snow field outside the fence, but there were still traces of the Crusaders in the small trees beyond.

"This is..."

No matter how you look at it, it's Snorm.

The mysterious wave-like movement marks on the snow are indeed familiar to Snorms. The pale blue hairs that fell off and scattered are also characteristic, showing that everyone's eyes are clearly his demon beasts.

But Alec's gaze captured another point. Beyond the trees, a small snow hole just past the point where the movement marks disappeared.

The snow hole, about a dozen centimeters in diameter, opens a few steps away from the movement marks and looks completely unrelated to Snorm. Without any prior knowledge, you would think that the small animal is a trace of sneaking in or something.

However, Alec, struck by a strong sense of vision, slowly walked up to it.

Around the snow hole, scales like thin pieces of glass glistened mixed with pale blue hair. However, Snorm has no habit of diving in the snow and no scales.

(... I've seen something similar before somewhere)

Not so long ago, in the last few years.

(I don't know where it was....)

Alec closed his eyes.

The memories of the past few years have been accumulated in the Dorgast Empire. For Alec, who spent most of his time in the Imperial City, the time spent outdoors during periods of snow was quite limited.

- The trail around the cabin. Ridiculous bloodstains and meat lumps. Large wave pattern movement marks. And snow holes and scales.

The memories that were carried over to the associative style suddenly formed a statue at a point.

The overall view resembles that of Snorm. However, its head was shaped like a small dragon.

"... Yurmungand...!?"

A small screaming murmur echoed around her.

"Eh, Yurm... what?"

I don't know what that is.

Most of them blink in their eyes because they are not used to hearing the name in the kingdom. But it struck those who knew its name.

Yurmungand, it is one of the abominable legacies of the Dorgast Empire. A synthetic demonic beast (chimera) born from crossing a nearby species of Old Lake (small serpent dragon) with a superior individual created by repeatedly crossing and selecting mutants of Snorm. It is a military demonic beast with the ferocity and cold resistance of Snorm, as well as the bite and maneuverability of Old Lake.

However, I heard that many of the villains who forced their hands to their lives could only live in the mountainous areas of the south of the Empire below twenty degrees in summer, and many of them died before they were put into actual combat. Therefore there are not many that know their existence, and many that do not even know their names in the neighbouring countries.

However, some surviving individuals settled in the southern region of the empire, causing damage such as attacking rural areas along the mountains once or twice a year. In the impoverished villages of the Empire, the equipment for exterminating beasts is not satisfactory, and small villages have been eaten up overnight.

It is a kind of trouble for the lords of the region that is the habitat, and Alek himself is the leader of the civil unrest that was dealing with Uranov the Emperor who ruled the southern tip of the Empire - Stridia, and the man who prepared Alek's identity as "the son of a small lord with a distant relationship" - and I have fought this off at the request of Alek. I didn't want to stand out very much, but I had to stop. One of the key strongholds was close to the village that was damaged in Jormungando.

― ― And this synthetic beast rarely crosses the border in the mountains. In Trisval territory, as far as Alec knows, there have been several sightings over the last few decades in Esterval territory, which is also bordered by parts of the southern Empire. Not all of them, but they must have been subdued several times.

However, there are not so many records that information is shared between the unions (guilds), but only the names known as demon beasts known to those who know them.

”Yurmungando... I see, so this avalanche could be his fault?”

Kai chanted as if the point of convergence had been reached.

Probably.

Perhaps the properties of the interlaced Ordlakes have become more colourful, and Yurmungand has a tendency to move in the snow. It moves to peel off the surface layer of snow, thus triggering an avalanche.

In the Empire, avalanches occurred on an unprecedented scale, to the extent that Yurmungando's involvement was said to be suspected.

But are you sure?

Nadia's doubts were plausible. Therefore, Alec blurred some of the facts and revealed, "If there is a movement mark, I have seen the (...) workmanship (...) in the (...) place (...)."

All that's left is knowledge from the literature.

"I see, but I have all the conditions." It would be better to move assuming that there is somebody who is ridiculous. "

― ― Nadia has never confessed about herself or "long-term requests from superior people." However, it seems that Alec's deceased half-brother's fiancé and "a close friend of the man who was his half-brother (Blazak)" used to be the circumstances, so she seemed to understand our approximate circumstances, and she let out a rescue boat.

I am only grateful for the care of my sister-in-law who has helped me in the same way many times.

“The situation has changed. At the same time, the Yolmungands were to be crushed. It is dangerous for everyone to enter the mountain. Let's change the policy."

The search party's face didn't seem to disagree with this opinion either.

It would be reasonable to go directly into the mountains with a B grade or higher.

"Well, let's start by searching the lower reaches of the avalanche." This was done with the demonic user... and then quickly with the exploration magic. If there are no survivors here, the class B or higher is divided into search and standby teams and action is started. The standby team responded to the avalanche again. If it were really Jormungand, there would be a higher chance of another collapse and a reattack on the village. I have to go through this with the Frontier House and the Knights. "

When I turned my gaze to the knight who was accompanying me as a liaison, he contacted me to let me know when Alec and the others were ready.

"Hey, I'm sorry to interrupt."

That was the young man named Yoel, the mage who had raised his hand in the middle of the lecture.

"Leave the exploration magic of the lower reaches to us C-class." If you think about the rest... especially Ms. Sioli, you'd better save it as much as possible. Instead, we'll do our best to find it without sparing any magic power. "

For the Kingdom Man, it was almost an unknown demonic beast, and it might not be very effective against an opponent who moved inside the snow. But with all our strength, we should be able to find the survivors. Otherwise, he says, there is no point in taking part in this course.

"...... That person is right. If we can be of immediate help, we will have to deal with exploration magic and avalanches."

Vivi has been involved in the search for people in distress several times in her hometown, and she also tends to refrain from knowing how to deal with secondary disasters.

Although it was a "creek lizard (frog in the well)", it was only because of its strength and comparable experience at the age of twenty that I was made to realize that it was that arrogant attitude.

But thinking of her six months ago, I was even emotionally surprised that this step-by-step attitude showed a lot of growth.

"Alright, I'll leave the searching of the lower reaches to you." The commander of the scene is.... "

Looking around, the adventurer from the other branch raised his name. If it meant opposing a dangerous unknown demonic beast, it would be better for people with a good heart to turn to each other than for the rest of us to interact with each other.

Now the formation was decided in an instant. Alec, Sioli, Nadia, Kai, and other Tris Division elites enter the mountains as a search and crusade team.

Lurie had a track record of transporting rescuers on her journey to Sylveria. Bloo and I are sure you will find it useful. Kai's demon Sigurd must also be able to utilize the snow cat's excellent vision and hearing.

Theoli, who was acting differently, was lucky enough to rush us. It was only about thirty minutes since we split up and rendezvoused, but it was said that the victims had already been rescued.

Everyone is amazed at the tact, but there is no time for relaxation.

"Siori, my schedule has changed. We're going to have a demon beast crusade in parallel with the search."

Giorgi, slightly pale when he heard of the synthetic beast from the Empire, tightened his expression and nodded, "I understand."

"I'm in charge of vigilance and exploration." It may be very tiring on a wide area... so can you ask for support? "

Alec opened his eyes slightly, as it was quite rare for a hesitant Theoli to ask for help. However, I was glad to be able to rely on it honestly, and smiled, "Of course," and slightly pulled up the edge of my lip.

"Alright, first of all, can you explain the exploration magic?" I decided to leave the search of the lower reaches to the C-class people. "

Their expressions, including Vivi and Joan, are serious.

There is no time, there is only one explanation, and now that time has passed, it is very unlikely that there will be any survivors, but still.

― ― A massive search for the hopes of the people has now begun.