Chapter 105
Bzzt! Pzzzt-!
Rough wingbeats.
Two pairs of membranous wings flapped wildly.
A body, nearly 70 centimeters long, lifted into the air.
It caught the wind.
It glided.
Then its wings collided with those of a companion flying alongside.
Patzzzt!
It lost balance mid-air.
It crashed. Without resistance. It fell.
It was thrown onto a nameless tree branch.
Thud!
The impact of the crash landing.
The thick branch shook heavily.
The fallen creature, the 86,215th locust of the swarm, shook itself.
As soon as it shook off the impact, it opened its large mandibles wide.
It bit the branch swaying before its eyes.
Crunch!
The branch, as thick and sturdy as an adult’s thigh.
But there was no way to resist the bite of the locust.
With a single bite, both bark and flesh were torn away in one gulp.
And still, the locust kept working its jaws.
Crunch! Snap! Crack!
It bites everything in front of it.
If it can chew it to pieces, it swallows it for now.
It keeps filling its belly, endlessly.
The 86,215th locust devoured the entire branch down to its base in an instant.
Then it kicked off the tree trunk and flew up again.
Leap—! Patzzzt!
It let the wind carry it.
The vast landscape of the eastern mountains rolled by beneath its belly.
Green everywhere.
Gazing at the green scenery, the 86,215th locust suddenly recalled the lands further east it had left behind.
Patzzzt!
Eastern lands.
A region humans called a wasteland.
The 86,215th locust originally lived there.
It hatched from its egg with the arrival of spring.
After several molts, it passed through the larval stage.
At that time, the 86,215th locust’s body was barely 30 centimeters long.
But one day, the environment began to change.
“Advance!”
The sound of a whistle echoing across the wasteland.
A thick cloud of dust swept in at once.
Through the dust, a human army appeared.
They carried torches.
They swung them without hesitation toward the locust.
Its antenna tips were singed by the blaze.
It thrashed in fear.
Driven westward, westward by the humans.
Only to survive, heading for the setting sun.
It traveled for days.
But the humans were relentless.
Their army kept following from behind. They lingered nearby. They brandished their torches.
In the midst of it, some soldiers exchanged words.
“Centurion, will this really have any effect on the orc tribe west of the wasteland?”
“Of course. You still don’t know?”
“What do you mean I don’t know, sir?”
“This is the new strategy General Mamluk devised.”
“What about it?”
“That insignificant locust is going to trigger a massive catastrophe across the entire wasteland.”
“What, like a swarm of locusts?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Then…?”
“The locust swarm is just the beginning. The entire population of monster species in the wasteland will be forcibly displaced by that locust swarm.”
“No way?”
“It’s true. Locusts are voracious. But what is there to eat in the wasteland?”
“The Barrelmilk cactus clusters, you mean, really?”
“Exactly. Barrelmilk cacti are nutritious. The whole ecosystem of the wasteland is supported by the nutrients from those clusters. But if this western locust swarm flies straight into the area where the cacti grow?”
“…All the Barrelmilk cacti will be devoured. Starting with the herbivorous monsters that rely on them as their staple, and then the carnivores that eat them, every monster living in the wasteland will suffer a food shortage. Is that correct?”
“Right. And naturally, every monster will move west in order, since there’s a mountain range there.”
“And at the foot of that mountain range… that’s where the iron sand orc tribe lives, the very target of this operation?”
“Exactly.”
The human centurion nodded.
“According to recent intelligence, that orc tribe finally escaped chronic food shortages. They apparently built some facility called a ‘stone ice cellar’? That’s a problem. Food scarcity was the only thing keeping their numbers down, but if their numbers increase thanks to abundant food…”
“They’ll become a major threat to us.”
“Exactly. So we need to crush them before they grow.”
“But what if the locust swarm or the monsters go even further west, over the mountains?”
“Hm? Toward the Magentano Kingdom?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“Excuse me?”
“That’s for the higher-ups to worry about. It’s not our job as a mere centurion and lieutenant, is it?”
“Well, that’s true…”
“So let’s just do what we’re told. Like this.”
Whoosh!
The centurion laughed and threw a torch.
Patzzzt, the startled 86,215th locust leapt on the spot.
Of course, the 86,215th locust could not understand the meaning of the conversation between the Sultanate’s centurion and his lieutenant.
Nor could it realize that this operation was similar to the punitive campaigns a country called Korea in another world sometimes used against northern nomadic tribes.
The 86,215th locust was only leaping to escape the torches.
It was simply moving west, driven by the human army.
And finally, it found a refuge.
Spiky, spiky.
A paradise full of thorns unfolded.
The Barrelmilk cactus juice was sweet.
It wasn’t the locust’s usual food.
But it tasted better than expected.
There, the 86,215th locust could gorge itself as much as it wanted.
But even so, it was always hungry.
It wanted to keep all the Barrelmilk cactus juice for itself if it could.
But that was impossible.
Before it knew it, too many of its kin had gathered.
Patzzztzzzt!
The sound of its kin’s wings all around.
A density of locusts never seen before.
Amid that swarm, the 86,215th locust’s body began to change.
The density of the swarm in one place increased.
There was an abnormal amount of contact between members of the swarm.
That environment triggered the same hormonal changes in the 86,215th locust as those experienced by locust swarms on Earth.
Tzzzzt-!
Within a few days, its wings had noticeably grown longer.
Its hind legs became comparatively shorter.
As the density increased, the risk of being eaten by predators decreased.
Instead, the need to outcompete its kin for food increased.
So the legs needed for leaping to escape became shorter, while the wings needed for long-distance movement to find food grew longer.
At the same time, its body became more than twice as large.
It was to survive the law of the jungle among its own kind.
Tzzzt! Patzzzt!
Before long, its body turned ashen yellow.
Its body length soon surpassed 70 centimeters.
With this distinctly changed appearance, the 86,215th locust crossed the sky.
It flew with the swarm over the eastern mountains.
In the midst of it, it trembled its antennae.
Its compound eyes took in the sight of a land of abundance.
Below the western side of the mountain range.
Human territory stretched out below.
Unlike the dense forests of the eastern mountains, there was no sign of powerful or threatening monsters here.
There was no reason to hesitate any longer.
Today, there.
Bzztzzztzzzt-!
The 86,215th locust rode the downdraft.
It dived rapidly on the wind.
The scenery of human territory rushed up in an instant.
It shot past the shouts of orc miners.
It zipped straight across the paved road.
Then, it charged toward the largest building in sight.
Crash!
It shattered the window.
It crash-landed onto a table, creating chaos inside.
Even then, it hungrily opened its mandibles wide.
It bit into anything that fit in its mouth.
Crunch!
A chunk of the solid wood tabletop was torn away in an instant.
At that, a shrill scream rang out from a maid.
“Kyaaaah!”
Emily, the Baroness Frontera’s maid, was a girl who loved peace.
She just wondered where she’d accompany the Baroness today.
Or what tomorrow’s lunch menu would be.
Sometimes she’d take pride in her new embroidery.
She was that kind of ordinary girl.
So Emily could only be shocked to the point of fainting at the sight of the giant locust that suddenly leapt onto the breakfast table this morning.
“Kyaaah! A-aaah!”
Could this be the work of a demon?
Or perhaps a wicked fiend cast down to earth?
That’s how enormous, grotesque, and horrifying the locust was as it crashed through the window and landed on the table.
But Emily’s terror didn’t last long.
Crash!
A wooden chair swung down.
From above, straight down.
Without hesitation or mercy, it smashed the end of the locust’s abdomen.
Crunch!
The giant locust’s chitinous shell cracked.
Half a span of the abdomen was crushed by the chair.
Screeeeeee!
The 86,215th locust let out a sharp sound and thrashed violently.
It smeared fragments of its spilled guts across the table as it rubbed its whole body furiously.
But at that moment, the 86,215th locust sensed a fiercer shout than any human sound it had ever heard.
“Emily! Help me! Hurry!”
The Baroness Frontera shouted.
She lifted the chair she had just swung again.
She smashed it down with all her strength.
Crash!
This time, it was the chest.
Part of the wings and chest shell broke.
The 86,215th locust opened its mandibles wide at the baroness.
At that moment, Emily flipped the table.
Clatter!
Is it true that people show superhuman strength in emergencies?
For a slender sixteen-year-old girl, it was astonishing strength.
In any case, thanks to that, the 86,215th locust couldn’t bite the baroness. It lost its balance and flailed on the floor for a moment.
And that flailing became its final movement in life.
Crunch!
The chair smashed down once more, crushing the 86,215th locust’s head.
Body fluids splattered everywhere.
They stained the Baroness’s pure white dress in several places.
But the Baroness didn’t care about such trivial matters.
“Emily, are you all right?”
“Y-yes, ma’am.”
“Take my hand and come with me.”
The calm and routine breakfast was already ruined.
Beyond the window, shattered to pieces—
The Baroness trembled at the sight of the sky blackened by the approaching locust swarm. Clutching Emily’s hand tightly, she rushed down the hallway of the mansion.
Just then, Baron Frontera was running toward them as well.
Seeing the locust fluids staining his wife’s dress, the baron’s face turned pale.
“My dear! Are you hurt? Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m all right. And you?”
“I’m fine too.”
“But you…”
The baroness’s gaze shifted to her husband’s shirt.
His white shirt was also stained with locust fluids.
He was even holding a sword in one hand.
He must have gone through something similar.
“Let’s move for now. This way.”
The baron led the way.
They hurried down the corridor.
Even as they ran, the sound of glass shattering came again and again from behind closed doors along the hallway.
Each time, the baron, baroness, and Emily flinched.
They all knew exactly what those sounds meant.
‘What on earth…’
The baron’s face turned pale.
A locust swarm on a morning like this?
He had never imagined such a thing.
He couldn’t have anticipated a disaster like this.
‘I need to gather the guards right away.’
As he reached the end of the hallway and hurried down the stairs, the baron thought.
He tried to come up with a plan.
‘I’ll establish a defensive line with Sir Bayern. Thankfully, locusts aren’t as tough as wild ants. Our well-trained soldiers can easily take down five or six each. So if we keep our formation and fight properly…’
Bang!
At the end of his thoughts, the baron opened the mansion door.
And froze.
‘What…’
A hardened expression.
Within that scene, only the baron’s eyes moved.
From the far left to the far right of his field of view.
They rolled slowly, taking everything in.
He absorbed the sight.
His optic nerves transmitted it to his brain.
He analyzed what he saw. Realized it. Understood it.
‘Even if it’s a locust swarm… is it even possible for there to be this many?’
Beyond the wide-open door.
There were locusts in every part of the mansion’s courtyard.
The flowers the baroness cherished and tended so dearly.
The various trees the baron himself had carefully cultivated.
All of it was being devoured by the locusts.
There were easily several hundred locusts, each over 70 centimeters long, just in the courtyard alone!
And they all turned to look this way at once!
Crash—!
The baron reflexively slammed the door shut.
Cold sweat streamed down like rain.
A tremor swept through his entire body like a jolt of electricity.
His breathing grew uncontrollably rapid.
‘What am I supposed to do about this?’
Gathering the soldiers, whatever.
Forming up a defensive line with Sir Bayern, whatever.
All the plans and strategies he’d been thinking up just moments ago melted away like bubbles.
The instant he saw the courtyard completely overrun by locusts.
The moment he met the gaze of hundreds of locusts all turning this way.
Every plan and strategy in his head shattered.
‘There’s… no way.’
His mind was bleached blank, not a single thought coming to him.
The only possible response he could think of was to keep the door tightly barred. That was it.
“Honey? What’s it like out there?”
His wife asked.
Should he count it as luck that she hadn’t seen the horrific sight outside? Or should he just say they ought to hide here and act like nothing was wrong?
It was as he hesitated.
Creak! Crack!
The tightly shut door shook violently.
As if struck by a giant hammer.
Or as if a ravenous beast had started gnawing at the door.
“Kyaaaaaah!”
Emily, who’d been watching nervously, let out a shrill scream.
Then, the baron and baroness saw it.
Ten gaping mandibles pierced through the door in various places.
They clamped down mercilessly, punching fist-sized holes through the wood.
“Gah.”
The baron recoiled in shock.
He realized what was happening.
‘These locusts… they’re actually eating the door.’
No, to be precise, they were gnawing at the entire mansion itself!
“Damn you all!”
He swung his sword.
The locusts, stuffing their heads through the door as they hungrily gnawed.
He jabbed his sword at their heads.
Splurt—body fluids sprayed out.
But for every locust he took down, two more lunged for the door.
If he felled two, three more would go wild, tearing at the door.
The hole in the door kept growing.
The baron swung his sword with an ever-paler face.
The baroness gripped a vase with both hands.
Emily, sobbing, grabbed a candlestick.
Finally, the door was utterly destroyed.
Crunch!
The whole door was being devoured from all sides.
Over twenty locusts clung to it.
There was no way a tattered door could bear their weight.
The door collapsed completely.
Crash! Crack!
Through the ruined door, the locust swarm poured in.
They glared this way, their compound eyes full of hunger.
“Get out, you monsters! Uaaaaagh!”
The baron swung his sword.
But it was no use.
There were simply too many locusts pouring in.
There was no way for a single man’s sword to block their wave-like onslaught.
“Back! Hurry!”
They rushed back the way they’d come.
Retreating up the stairs.
But that retreat only got them as far as the landing on the second floor.
Crash! Clatter!
Doors all along the hallway burst and shattered and fell.
The locust swarm poured into the corridor, trampling over fallen doors.
Just like that, the baron, the baroness, and Emily found themselves surrounded at the top of the stairs.
“Th-this can’t be…”
The baron bit his lip.
Behind him, his wife raised the vase.
Emily clung to the candlestick, crying.
He wanted desperately to protect them, but couldn’t think of a way.
No, all he could think was that this must be the end for him too.
“My dear…”
He reached out his hand, the one not holding his sword.
He gripped his wife’s slender hand.
All the while, the locust swarm closed in from both sides. They pressed in, now only steps away.
Was it at least some consolation to spend his last moments with the one he loved?
In that despairing romance, the couple squeezed their eyes shut.
The swarm bared their mandibles at the couple.
To pounce on their prey, they crouched on their hind legs.
But at that moment—
Daaaang… Daang…!
From somewhere, suddenly, a clear, beautiful sound echoed across the world.
Like a bell being struck with all its might.
Or a huge pot lid being pounded.
A heavy sound that vibrated through the air.
At that sound, the locust swarm froze all at once.
Then, a somehow familiar voice rang out, reaching the baron and baroness.
“You monsters! The sound of the pot lid gets your whole body twitching, doesn’t it? Catches your attention, right? Huh?!”
Daaang—!
The clear sound rang out, even closer than before.
It was now unmistakably clear and recognizable.
“Over here! If you’re drawn in, come and catch me! Today, I’m Captain Frontera, you bastards!”
Daaaaang—!
An even grander ringing resonance.
In that moment, the baron and baroness murmured without even realizing it.
‘…Lloyd?’
