Lord of Disease (JP-GL) 197

197: Barghest Tracking

The master of the Dark Forest was the beastman.

The forest was teeming with magical beasts, many of which were capable of preying on the beastmen. And some of them, like the Black Hound Barghests, moved in packs.

And yet, the title of ‘master of the Dark Forest’ belonged to none other than the beastman warriors.

Because they, too, were a ‘pack.’

They trained as individual warriors, and then they coordinated. A coordination born not of instinct, but of training.

And their leader was probably the strongest individual in this forest.

“Lathus-sama, I’ve found a track. So light… it must be a Black Hound Barghest. The same pack we’ve been tracking.”

Catral-san, who had been crawling on the ground, still covered in patches of snow and mud, sat up and looked up at the leader of the pack. She was in a tight-fitting, hunter-style outfit, not her military uniform, and was lightly armed.

“From the looks of it, they’re close. Within two hours.”

“Alright, good work. You all heard that? We’re following the tracks. No matter what happens, protect Catral and the Lord of Disease. The rest of you, fend for yourselves.”

The one who had given the short, gruff command was Lathus, the Broken Fang. It was rumored that the only one in the Demon King’s army who could defeat him in a one-on-one duel was his fellow supreme commander, Bringit Finis, the Blood Knight, the commander of the Dark Knights.

I would love to see a dream match between the two, but with their reputations on the line, and the fact that they would be clashing with their physically enhanced bodies and top-quality magic items… a no-holds-barred, real battle was unlikely.

More accurately, it shouldn’t happen.

I was truly glad they were on our side.

I didn’t know if the enemy had any warriors of their caliber. There were many renowned knights and warriors, but the supreme commanders of the Listrea Demon Kingdom were the apex of the ‘demons,’ who were, on average, physically superior to humans, though fewer in number.

While the selection criteria for a supreme commander were contribution and leadership, the beastmen had a tradition of only recognizing the strongest warrior as their leader, so it was safe to say that Lathus was currently the strongest beastman. Bridget, too, had long been called the strongest in the Dark Knights.

And since combat ability, personality, and conduct were not part of the selection criteria, as long as I had the contribution and leadership, even I, a human, was allowed to become a supreme commander.

I still wasn’t sure if I had any leadership ability, but despite my ruthless operations and unreasonable demands, my subordinates had never tried to kill me, so perhaps I did.

“Master, be careful. Keep the Barghests ready.”

“Alright, Liz.” I nodded to Liz, who was beside me.

Rebecca was on my other side, Samarkand was behind me, and Harken was in front of me, all four of them protecting me.

Catral-san, who was focusing on tracking, was being guarded by three others, including Lathus, who were careful not to block her path or erase the tracks.

And, though I couldn’t see them, as they were moving through the trees, there were four pairs of scouts, a total of eight, on high alert.

Seventeen in total, from the Third and Sixth Armies. A rather impressive lineup.

The fact that our target was a pack of Black Hound Barghests was a problem, but since the leader himself was participating in the hunt, there had been many volunteers from the beastmen. And I’d heard that some of them were there for Catral-san.

According to Lathus, he hadn’t chosen them based on strength, but also to give them some experience, but I had no complaints. After all, a supreme commander and a division commander were lending a hand.

Though Catral-san had volunteered, using her position, authority, and logic.

But I hadn’t known she was a first-rate tracker, with the ability to follow an opponent from faint tracks and traces.

When it had been decided that using our own Barghests to track them would likely alert them and allow them to escape, Catral-san had seized the opportunity and offered her services.

At first, it had been surprisingly smooth. After all, it was still winter, and the dog-like tracks were clearly visible in the snow. But halfway through, they must have realized they were being followed, and the tracks had disappeared.

They had started to move on the roots of trees and on stones, to avoid leaving a clear trail, and she had tracked them down, not even minding the mud.

Like Liz, in a world with the convenient and powerful tool of magic, those with skills that didn’t rely on magic were just as important as mages.

Catral-san’s movements stopped. She had been going back and forth for a while, but now she was still. She looked up from her crawling position.

“…The tracks have disappeared… they’re probably hiding.”

“Hiding?”

“Black Hound Barghests are fast, but intense movement reveals their presence, increasing their magical signature. …They’ve sensed our strength, realized they can’t win, and are holding their breath…”

“I see… so they’re hiding.” Black Hound Barghests had the ability to hide in the shadows.

…Which was, in fact, a fact revealed by my own Barghests. If we’d known that, and if their magical signature had suddenly disappeared, we would have assumed they were hiding and searched every nook and cranny. But without that knowledge, we wouldn’t have even realized they were hiding.

Since they weren’t the kind of magical beast to attack a stronger opponent, there weren’t many cases of encounters or subjugations. A few had been captured and used as guard dogs, but with the recent advances in detection spells, their popularity was on the decline. They had been given to the Sixth Army, a somewhat troublesome unit, for that very reason.

And now, they had become an indispensable part of my unit, both in terms of combat strength and in terms of… comfort. Life was strange.

Lathus asked Catral-san, “Any ideas?”

“Two. One is to burn the surrounding area with offensive magic. If they’re hiding in the shadows, then we’ll just eliminate all the shadows.”

“Rejected. I’m not blowing up the forest.”

“Then we’ll have to ask the Lord of Disease’s Barghests—”

A black shadow shot up from beneath her feet.

A Black Hound Barghest, not from my pack.

Its eyes glowed, leaving a crimson trail as it lunged, its fangs bared, aiming for her throat.

Everyone reacted almost simultaneously. Catral-san took a defensive stance, Lathus drew his rapier, and everyone else prepared for battle—

—Only I couldn’t react.

And then, a Black Hound Barghest lunged at the throat of a Black Hound Barghest.

The Barghest I had been hiding had shot out from the shadows of my hood, a straight line, and had knocked the other Barghest, which was about to sink its fangs into Catral-san’s throat, to the ground.

Two more slithered out from the hem of my robe and surrounded it, and the other Black Hound Barghest stopped struggling. The crimson, will-o’-the-wisp-like glow in its eyes faded.

“Good job, you guys.” I wasn’t sure if their tails were wagging because they were happy with my praise, or because of the excitement of the battle.

“One captured? That was fast.”

“It takes a snake to know a snake, as they say. …Right?”

“Why do you sound so unsure?”

“Just some… personal reasons.” Japanese proverbs worked quite well in this world, but I hadn’t tested all of them yet.

“I’ve given my Barghests the freedom to act independently. It’s only natural that they would be the first to sense their own kind.”

“…Hey. You’ve given them… that much freedom?”

“If anything happens, you can have my head, Lathus.”

“Why would I want that?” Lathus said, his voice flat, as he looked at the restrained Barghest.

“Everyone, stay on your guard. That was so fast, I’m not sure we could have reacted in time.”

It was true. That kind of movement was difficult to deal with. I had a feeling Lathus might have been able to react in time, but he probably wouldn’t have had the option of not killing it.

“So, what do we do with this one?”

“Actually, I have no plan.”

“Hey, wait.”

“No, that’s not right. I was just hoping these guys could handle it.”

“Isn’t that the same as having no plan?”

“I have a plan. To leave it to my Barghests.”

“I see, a plan of wishful thinking…”

“That’s the basic of a commander.” I smiled.

Of course, there were leaders like Lathus, who led by showing their own strength. But I was not that kind of leader. At least, not in terms of combat strength.

One of the reasons I was feared was because my reputation with the Sixth Army with my subordinates was good.

I was, if I do say so myself, ‘kind’ to my subordinates. And that was why I was feared in this country. Because a being who could be so kind to her subordinates could also be so ruthless to her enemies.

“I leave it to ‘you guys.’ If ‘they’ are willing, convey my, and your, intentions. If they refuse… then devour them.”

It wasn’t even persuasion. But the Black Hound Barghests were… our ‘enemies.’

Those who were not our allies were our enemies.

There was a world where such logic was commonplace. And the army, the nation, was a product of such a world.

—I did not know what kind of a dialogue had taken place between the Barghests.

But I did know that my pack had grown by four.

The Barghests that had been restraining the other one moved away.

And from the shadows of a tree, where there had been nothing before, three more Barghests emerged and walked towards me.

“Don’t attack. —It’s a success.”

“Are you… sure?” Liz looked at me, her voice filled with a mixture of hope and anxiety.

“Of course. I’d bet my life on it.”

“That just means you’d get bitten to death.”

“It’s fine. I can’t lie to them. They’re not that kind of creature.” They were not that kind of creature. Aside from the characteristics that made them Black Hound Barghests, they were just like dogs.

They formed a pack, they coordinated, they hunted. That was all they were. They did not possess the cunning to lie to the master of their pack.

The Barghest that had been restrained, the one that had lunged at Catral-san’s throat, walked towards me.

“…These guys are just… black dogs.” I held out my hand, as if I had done it a thousand times before, and gently stroked the creature’s chin.