Chapter 73
Confirming Survival
Martin slowly brushed his hand across the letters.
Even when he touched them, they didn’t vanish.
At the very least, this wasn’t an illusion or a dream.
Alive.
Repeating that one word silently to himself, he let out a long sigh.
Then, he calmly read through the contents of the letter.
Yulia hadn’t written the truth. It was as if she wanted to protect him, thinking Karl was still alive.
Even though Karl had attacked her, she hadn’t mentioned it at all—only that she had been harmed by a monster.
“……”
If she finds out he’s already dead, it will break her.
Martin muttered inwardly as the corners of his eyes creased slightly.
Yulia cherished Karl enough to cover up a grave crime for him.
So if she were to learn that the Karl she treasured had already died, the wound to her heart would be devastating.
And yet, he did not regret it.
Even if he could go back to the past, Martin would still have driven Karl to his death—or perhaps swung the weapon himself to finish it.
He had no intention of forgiving the man who had stolen from him the one being who first taught him what it felt like to yearn, back when he had grown weary of the emptiness of life.
At that moment, his eyes, scanning down the letter, came to a sudden stop at the final lines.
—In any case, please don’t worry too much. I’ll be back soon.
—I keep recalling and recalling the moments we shared. I won’t allow those precious memories to wear away with the passage of time.
The tone was calm, yet filled with sincerity—Yulia’s longing came through.
Martin could almost picture her blushing as she wrote those words, embarrassed yet earnest.
A faint smile touched his lips as he carefully tucked the letter close to his chest.
Then he summoned his attendant, Simon.
“You called, Your Excellency?”
“Release this man, and tell the entire knight order to prepare for departure.”
“Huh? Where are we going? I wasn’t aware of any such plan…”
Looking puzzled, Simon asked the question. Martin answered briefly, but with absolute clarity.
“The Grand Temple.”
“…To the Grand Temple, suddenly?”
“Yes. Because that’s where she’ll be waiting.”
Simon could not make sense of his lord’s words.
But there was one thing he was sure of.
Martin was happy—happier than when he first awakened to his powers, happier even than when he hunted his first monster.
This time, the territory struck by the rift—where a flood of refugees had come from—was called Ketrenburg.
It was managed by Baron Ketrenburg.
Currently hiding from Ernandt’s eyes, I carefully made my way to the barony, keeping my identity concealed as much as possible. I was able to arrive sooner than expected.
Crossing the land and heading toward the baron’s manor, I whispered quietly to Frit.
“It’s worse than I thought. Now I understand why so many refugees poured out.”
The barony was already badly corroded.
The poisonous miasma spilling from the rift had long since ruined the farmland.
Occasionally, the distant cries of monsters echoed through the air.
Frit, seated beside me in the carriage, looked grim as he peered out at the bleak landscape.
“I didn’t realize the corrosion had advanced this much…”
“Didn’t Baron Ketrenburg request support from the Grand Temple?”
“Not at all. Perhaps something happened to the baron himself. He may have been in no condition to look after his domain.”
With heavy hearts, we soon arrived at the manor—and Frit’s guess proved correct.
Baron Ketrenburg lay bedridden.
His wife had already passed away, and his only daughter was far too young. The servants, banding together, were barely managing to maintain the household.
Instead of the baron, an elderly butler who had long served the family greeted us.
“My lord is presently unwell, so I shall receive Your Excellency in his place. Please, rest comfortably here, and bestow upon us the blessing of the Divine.”
Bowing deeply, the butler spoke politely to Frit in the reception room.
I asked him a simple question.
“When did the corrosion begin in earnest?”
“There were faint signs about three years ago, but everyone dismissed it as nothing serious. The situation only grew dire about six months back.”
“Six months ago?”
“Yes, from then on, the corrosion advanced suddenly and rapidly… leaving us no chance to act. My lord himself collapsed from an unexplained illness around that time, so we were even less able to respond.”
As I listened, Frit leaned in to whisper.
“As an expert on rifts, what’s your judgment? Have you discovered anything?”
I sifted through the clues in my mind.
—Corrosion suddenly worsening six months ago.
—The monster cries I had faintly heard on the way here.
—The baron’s sudden decline into an unknown sickness.
Piecing them together, the answer became clear.
After wetting my throat with the tea the butler had poured, I set down the cup and spoke to Frit, who was waiting expectantly.
“I think I know how to close this rift.”
The butler’s wrinkled eyes widened at once.
“Truly? You know a way to seal it?”
I nodded.
“To be precise—I know how to close it quickly, with minimal effort.”
I glanced between Frit and the butler as I continued.
“Normally, a rift closes if the mana stone beyond it is destroyed. This one is no different. Enter the rift, destroy the stone—it will shut. But—”
“But?”
Frit leaned forward, eager for the rest. I explained in a calm voice.
“This rift that is corroding the barony is… somewhat unusual. The mana stone must be destroyed in a slightly different way. Unlike the typical rift where all you need to do is kill a single Queen monster, the foe beyond this one is a colony.”
“A colony?”
Frit tilted his head in curiosity. I revealed the secret behind this rift.
“What lies beyond this rift… are mushrooms.”
My words left a silence hanging in the air.
Both the butler and Frit stared at me, bewildered.
To speak so gravely and then bring up mushrooms seemed absurd.
So I clarified.
“Of course, not ordinary mushrooms. These are poisonous mushroom monsters—creatures that wail with strange sounds, scatter clouds of toxic spores, and swarm in staggering numbers. They will have formed a colony.”
Then I explained the reasoning step by step.
“You said faint signs of corrosion appeared three years ago, and then things suddenly worsened six months ago?”
The butler replied immediately.
“Yes, from six months back the decay sped up so fast it became unmanageable.”
I spoke with conviction as I turned to Frit.
“From first appearance to rapid spread—that’s a span of two years and six months. That is exactly how long it takes for the mushroom monsters I know to establish a colony. Once the colony is complete, they begin releasing toxic spores into the air. Those spores seep out through the rift, corroding our world at a frightening pace.”
Frit frowned thoughtfully, then asked,
“But isn’t it risky to identify the monster based only on that?”
“I had more than one reason. On the way here, I heard a sound—very strange, like something bubbling underwater. ‘Gorrrr-ruk…’ That noise. It could be mistaken for a bird cry, but I’ve fought mushroom-type monsters before. I recognized it immediately.”
I looked at both of them.
“That sound wasn’t a cry, not exactly. It was the noise they make while releasing spores. And one more thing.”
I turned to the butler.
“You said the baron collapsed for no apparent reason. Tell me—does he enjoy eating truffles?”
Truffles—fungi that grow on oak roots, a delicacy loved by nobles.
At my question, the butler’s eyes went wide with shock.
“H-how did you know? Yes, that’s true. In fact, now that I recall, the very night before he collapsed, he ate a dish prepared with truffles.”
