"Where are we going?"
Following Freya into the interior of the room, the military fortress was primarily built underground, so everywhere was actually connected. The general's room led down below, and the basement connected to the entire fortress... This setup was either convenient for hiding people or for making a quick escape. Freya bringing him to a place like this was probably to make it easier to talk!
"What exactly is going on in this area? The night the mercenaries and I arrived, we were attacked by goatmen," Sean asked.
"Indeed... Actually, the same thing happened to us. On the very night we entered the Tacoma region, we were attacked by goatmen. The soldier that day was right—this area really does have these monsters."
In the basement, Freya recounted to Sean the situation of the team's arrival in the southeast. It was essentially the same as what the mercenaries had experienced, except the regular army was larger, and many mercenary groups followed behind them. So that night, instead of the goatmen slaughtering the Black Feather Knights, it was the other way around—the goatmen were nearly wiped out by the knights, and even the largest demon goatman was eliminated by the wizards.
"Killed?"
Seeing Freya nod, Sean noted that in this misty environment, her skin looked a bit dry, not as fresh and lively as in Rietis, and she seemed a bit off... But he had never doubted her strength. She was the highest-level person he had ever encountered, and probably the only one who would dare face the Eye of Chaos head-on.
"Of course."
Sean didn't seem surprised that the Black Feather Knights could take down the largest demon goatman. But if the knights had won that night, why hadn't he found any trace of the battlefield when he arrived? After all, the knight order and the wizards numbered over four thousand—surely either side would have left some evidence!
"But when I came, I didn't find any signs of battle..."
"That's exactly what I need to tell you."
Freya seemed to know Sean would ask this. Their time together had allowed them to understand each other's personalities. Freya was truly worldly, and her way of thinking often aligned with Sean's observations based on his abilities.
"I feel like someone is deliberately letting outsiders into this area. You've probably heard that everyone in Tacoma is now in the city..."
"I heard from that knight just now. They seem to be a group of people who are out of their minds."
"Out of their minds is putting it mildly... Because we specifically instructed that no one should know, they only told you that much. Now I'm going to take you to see someone we captured—or rather, something that's temporarily considered a person." Freya glanced at Sean, her expression serious.
The basement connected to a passageway, guarded by soldiers.
"Guard the outside. Don't let anyone in. And you saw nothing!" After dismissing the guards on both sides, she led Sean further inside.
It looked like a prison structure...
"Do we need to be this secretive? Didn't you say the city is full of them? Others will see them eventually."
"That's true, but..."
Freya hesitated to say more, but Sean understood. It was probably to avoid too much speculation about their relationship. She was the core strength of the entire team, and now on the front lines, if rumors about the leader spread, it could affect the whole army—even he would be implicated, like last time at the prince's mansion. If the grand duke's granddaughter hadn't taken him away, he would have been surrounded and interrogated by a crowd of nobles, and then he ran into that strange count afterward. So it was best not to make his relationship with Freya public in the camp.
The captured person was imprisoned underground...
As they approached, an indescribable pungent smell hit them, like the stench of seafood. Up close, it emitted a hoarse, sharp throaty sound. Strange—he had never heard anything like it.
"Those wandering in the city seem completely unconscious, but I noticed they still follow some kind of command. I observed some of them, like walking corpses, heading to the southern swamp. And this thing is what we found there." Freya said as she opened the prison door.
The fishy smell grew stronger!
Lighting a torch, in the center of the narrow, circular room, a figure was bound tightly with iron chains. It had gray-green skin, a white belly, a mostly smooth and slippery body, but a high, scaly ridge on its back; a humanoid body with a fish's head, large, bulging eyes that never closed, and constantly quivering gills on both sides of its neck. It looked like a fish-man...
When it saw them appear, it struggled and lunged forward, but the chains held it back. The bound parts of its arms showed obvious wounds, likely from repeated struggles!
"What kind of creature is this?"
This period had probably shown Sean more non-human creatures than ever before...
[HP 2000/2000, Deep One] Hostility: [Hostile]...
"Deep One."
"What? You know this creature?" Freya looked at Sean in surprise.
Even the agitated fish-man suddenly quieted down, staring at him with an expression of disbelief!
"No, I don't. I've just heard a similar name in a bard's tale." Sean gave a casual excuse, equally astonished as he looked at the thing before him. He had seen its attributes and race again—Deep One likely referred to its species, similar to the demon from yesterday.
"Is this what you found in the swamp?"
"Yes. I suspect it's what those controlled humans turn into... There seems to be some force in this area guiding all of this," Freya said.
The fish-man suddenly let out a sharp, throaty roar at her.
"No."
Sean abruptly interrupted Freya.
"What's wrong?"
"He's not from the city... Or rather, he's not human."
How could something of a different race be human? Even if magic could transform one's form, changing one's race wasn't that easy! And the language it spoke wasn't gibberish or anything else—he could see its attributes, just with a different race displayed.
"He's another race. If I'm not mistaken, he was summoned here by someone. As for you... Deep Ones... what is your purpose?" Sean asked directly.
Under Freya's astonished gaze, the two seemed to be conversing.
Because the creature's status showed [Listening!] and [Mocking!], Sean believed it could understand them.
"Come on, you can fool everyone else, but not me. You can understand what we're saying, can't you?" He smiled at it.
After a moment, the terrifying fish-man's mouth actually curled into a grin.
"Fate cannot be changed... The stars will align, and you will all look up at his coming!"