Hammond expressed doubt at the mention of low pollution levels.
"Huh? Isn't it good if it's low? We came here worried that it might be too high."
"It's not something we can dismiss so easily."
Adela's expression became quite serious.
"The pollution levels in purification tanks meant to stabilize contaminated areas typically trend upward. After all, the amount of polluted water flowing in from Tirna only increases, never decreases."
Such heightened contaminated areas need to be cleaned periodically.
If not, the contaminated area expands and becomes unmanageable.
This purification tank inspection had been postponed several times from its original schedule due to the rainy season.
Inevitably, the tank's pollution levels should have been higher than the average observed levels.
No, they should have been."But for the levels to be this low. I'm wondering if the measuring device might be broken, having gone full circle from being too high."
"A lot of sewage came in because of the rainy season. Isn't it possible that the contaminated area was washed away by the water?"
Mist offered his opinion. Even he thought it sounded quite plausible after saying it.
The idea was that since this rainy season had brought unusually heavy rainfall, the contaminated area might have been naturally purified by the overflow of water.
The listeners also thought it made sense.
Otherwise, such low pollution levels wouldn't make any sense.
"It's not that simple. If we could clean up contaminated areas that easily, we would have just released large amounts of water and been done with it."
"How do you usually purify the contaminated areas?"
That's what Osian was curious about.
He couldn't think of anything besides removing contaminated materials, given that they said they clean the contaminated areas periodically.
"We use plants."
Adela's answer was unexpected.
In this era, when thinking about removing contaminants, one would expect methods using science or magic, but plants?
"Of course, they're not just any plants. We use special plants grown by elves. They purify water quality, grow well with just soil, and can reproduce quickly."
Osian recalled similar plants. Even water hyacinth was used for water purification, wasn't it?
If elves enhanced such plants with their power, it didn't seem entirely impossible.
'Even as times change, many elves maintain their fundamentals.'
Come to think of it, Eldin was an abnormal case; elves generally hadn't changed much.
"Then if you just grow these plants underground, wouldn't that automatically stop the contaminated areas?"
"Yes. However, even plants created by elf druids can't completely purify contaminated areas. The plants can't withstand it and wither away."
If they were specially modified for purification, their vitality and reproduction ability must be tremendous. The fact that they still couldn't withstand it meant the contaminated areas were that toxic.
"So even elven plants aren't all-powerful."
"Still, we use them periodically since they can partially purify and contain contaminated areas, but..."
Adela's voice trailed off.
This situation seemed unexpected, making her earlier tension seem unnecessary.
"Whatever the case, low pollution levels are a good thing."
When Mist chimed in, Adela nodded with a slightly doubtful expression.
"Yes. Though it's giving me a headache. I doubt the higher-ups will believe this report as is."
That seemed to be what was worrying Adela.
If they could barely believe their own eyes seeing the pollution levels, someone reading this report would certainly question its validity.
They'd probably think Adela was too scared to check the measuring device and made arbitrary decisions.
"Even if we choose to return for now, I think they'll likely organize another investigation team. We need to verify why the pollution levels are so low."
Whatever the case, since the worrying situation hadn't materialized, people felt relieved.
"Well, if it's good, it's good."
"Phew. It's fortunate that this ends without any major issues. I thought something really serious had happened."
"Hey hey. Did you forget about encountering the ethereal being? We almost died."
The people chattering among themselves gave grateful looks to Osian and Mist.
While Mist basked in those looks as if they were applause, Osian felt differently.
'Hmm.'
Why did the mention of excessively low pollution levels give him an odd feeling?
'No matter how I look at it, this doesn't seem like a good sign at all.'
As he'd adapted to this city, he was starting to get a sense for these things.
Like how the night before a typhoon is quiet, the low pollution concentration in the contaminated area felt like a precursor to something.
Adela was probably worried for similar reasons.
However, going to the contaminated area to find the cause of this unease would be foolish.
It wasn't specified in the contract, and there was no need to take unnecessary risks.
They left the site, pushing aside their unease.
As they moved away from the contaminated area, reaching what seemed like a safe distance, it happened.
The guard at the front spotted something and stopped.
"Wait. There's a shadow ahead."
Everyone stopped at the words of the guard wearing brass goggles.
"What is it? Don't tell me it's a mutant?"
"No, it's not a mutant. It looks human-like..."
"A person? This isn't a residential area. Could it be a vagrant who wandered into the underground?"
"Probably came in because they heard we were cleaning up the underground."
It seemed similar incidents had happened several times before.
"This is why these vagrant bastards are trouble. How many times do we have to tell them to get out of here?"
"Leave it. They won't last long staying here anyway."
"Ah, what a mood killer. Hey, you there! Get out of the way!"
One guard approached the vagrant standing motionless.
If they wouldn't listen to words, he was prepared to chase them away with his riot baton if necessary.
While everyone watched this scene, Osian felt a strange sense of dissonance.
'What is it?'
Before he could express his suspicion about this sensation, a radio transmission came through the guards' communication devices.
[Static. Static.]
"What's this? An emergency transmission on an external channel?"
When one guard turned on his communicator, an urgent voice came through amid the static.
[Everyone get away from there immediately!]
"What? Who are you? How did you interfere with our channel?"
[This isn't the time for that! There's a dangerous one...!]
The transmission cut off before finishing but the urgency conveyed in that brief moment was enough for everyone present to understand.
'This voice? Krua?'
Although mixed with static, the voice over the radio was still recognizable.
The voice of Krua, one of the Slithering Sisters. Before the question of why she was here could arise, her warning came to mind first.
"Hey!"
Osian called out to the guard who had approached the vagrant. Unfortunately, he didn't have a communicator and was too far away to hear the warning transmission.
"Huh?"
Having approached the vagrant, he turned around when his colleagues called.
He briefly sensed something was wrong as he saw them shouting urgently.
-Thrust!
"Kuhek!"
The vagrant who had been standing motionless stabbed the guard's abdomen with a blade in their hand.
The guard who was suddenly ambushed widened his eyes. Choking breaths escaped from inside his brass mask.
At that moment, Mist moved.
Mist stretched out his left arm. The mist flowing between his bandages extended and pulled the guard's body.
After bringing the guard from 20 meters away, Mist released mist from his right arm, preparing to throw a punch at the vagrant.
"Be careful!"
At that moment, Osian shouted from the side while drawing his sword.
'What is it?'
Mist didn't understand why Osian was acting this way. Mist's eyes turned to the guard he had saved.
The guard stabbed by the blade was trembling as if having a seizure.
Looking closely at what was stuck in his abdomen, it wasn't an ordinary blade.
'A wooden fragment?'
The guard's condition was also strange.
Even if it was a surprise attack, would someone tremble like this from being stabbed by something like this? Tirna's guards should have been trained to withstand this much?
-Crack!
At that moment, sharp branches burst through the guard's flesh.
"What the..."
Before Mist could react, Osian's sword swung.
The branches targeting Mist were all cut off. But the number of branches bursting from the guard's body kept increasing.
Osian's sword swung horizontally.
A pure white sword light cut the guard's neck. But from the severed surface of the guard's fallen head, more plant stems writhed and burst forth.
"Throw it!"
Mist immediately responded to Osian's words. He used his mist hand to throw the guard's body far away with all his might.
The guard's body that flew through the air and rolled on the ground exploded into countless plant stems.
The guard's clothes, weapons, and flesh fragments scattered everywhere.
The vagrant who had ambushed and stabbed the guard was the same. Their bodies twisted strangely before plants grew through their skin.
"This is insane! What the hell is that!"
"Damn it, they got infected!"
The guards aimed their guns at this horrific sight.
No warning was needed. When high-powered bullets were fired, the writhing stems burst apart.
"Shoot! Keep shooting!"
"Damn it! It keeps regenerating!"
But whatever the plant was made of, the speed at which the stems regenerated was faster than they could be destroyed by bullets.
Moreover, some stems twisted together like rope, becoming more solid, and then extended toward them.
That's when Mist stepped forward. His mist arm collided with the approaching plant stems.
After a brief power struggle, Mist's arm slowly got pushed back.
'What!'
Mist's eyes widened, seemingly shocked that he was being overpowered.
Wasn't this the same Mist that had blocked an ethereal snake with one hand? Even though he wasn't completely overwhelmed, the fact that he was being pushed back was surprising.
Mist gritted his teeth and increased his output.
The mist wrapped around his arm spurted more forcefully and grew larger.
-Crunch!
The massive stem was crushed to pieces by the mist hand. Through the gap, plant stems that had been wavering like heat haze shot out like tentacles.
"Raise shields!"
The guards at the front reflexively raised their shields. They thought they could block it, but the result was the opposite.
-Bang!
A guard's body hit by the whip-like stem was sent flying. Given the weight of their armor and shield, it was an impossible level of force.
The guard who was hit by the swung stem was actually lucky.
For another guard, the sharply honed wooden stem pierced through their shield far too easily.
The stem that penetrated the shield stabbed the guard's chest.
"Aaaaaargh!"
The screaming was so horrific it could be heard clearly through the mask worn over the mouth.
The guard twisted their body. They dropped their shield and pulled all the pins from the grenades on their waist.
"Uh, uhh? What are you doing!"
While everyone was watching in confusion, someone moved before anyone else.
It was Osian.
Moonlight Double Blade.
The blade wrapped in blue moonlight bared its teeth. Thick frost settled on the guard who had pulled the pins, freezing their body.
The grenades that were about to explode were also rendered useless by the cold.
"Y-you, what exactly!"
"Can't you see? They're being controlled."
Pulling the pins wasn't the guard's will. It was the work of the plants that had invaded their body.
The plants controlling the guard's body couldn't withstand the cold and froze.
"Everyone, don't let those plants touch you! Skin contact is dangerous!"
This revealed some facts.
These plants possessed tremendous reproduction and growth abilities. They seemed capable of parasitizing living bodies, sprouting from the inside at an incredible speed.
"Prepare grenades! Throw!"
The grenades flew in an arc and exploded.
The plant stems burned as flames arose.
"The fire works! Burn them!"
Then one particularly thick stem writhed and spewed water.
The flames were extinguished instantly. The expressions of those who saw this changed.
Drawing water through roots from the waterway to extinguish fires?
This was not behavior a plant could show.
The plants burned by the fire turned to ash and disappeared, but even more stems arose. Their appearance filling the passage brought a sense of revulsion.
"Everyone fall back."
Osian stood at the front holding his Moonlight Blade.
As the cold air touched the waterway floor, frost bloomed like flowers.
"..."
Mist, who had drawn out more mist, glanced at Osian's Moonlight Blade with sidelong looks.
His pupils were trembling more than ever before.