CHAPTER 109 (1): MIST, BLACK MOUNTAINS X INSECT PLAGUE, DARK MAGE

Cambrook lay north of Londan, less than a hundred kilometers away. Taking a train from Cathedral Station, one could arrive in an hour—if the train was on time, that was.

Driving from the Western District in Londan to the Church of Nature’s base in Cambrook would take around two hours. In an era without GPS, it would take even longer due to the time spent on finding the right way.

Weighing all those factors, Wayne chose to drive. Aside from worrying about train delays, he also believed it would be wise for him to get to know the area, as he would be making two trips to Cambrook per month.

At eight in the morning, a black sedan left Londan and headed north. Wayne drove at a moderate speed since he had to consult a map. He hadn’t called the base ahead. This was a planned surprise. If he caught anyone slacking off during working hours while taking a salary from the church, well then, sorry, the new manager in town was going to use them to establish his authority.

What’s that? The manager is slacking off, too?

Don’t be ridiculous. When managers do it, it’s not slacking off, but a business trip or absence for continuous learning.

Half an hour later, the car entered a highway marked ‘Route 114’. The air grew heavier, and the gloomy fog began to thicken. He hit the brakes, pulling over to check the map. In the passenger seat, his white dove hopped around, cooing as it sorted corn kernels and wheat grains into two piles like it was taking inventory of its possessions.

“It’s the right direction, but...” Wayne glanced at the rearview mirror. The mist was growing denser, giving him a distinctively uneasy feeling. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something felt off.

“The moment you leave Londan, it’s all abominations and demons. Chosen Land? It’s more like Demon Land,” he mumbled at the mysteriously foggy area, decisively choosing to turn around and head back.

Today wasn’t a good day for travel. Tomorrow, he’d take a train to Cambrook County.

Route 114 wound and twisted as the vehicle tore an opening in the misty veil, causing ripples that quickly settled into stillness. As the mist thickened, the trees lining the road became increasingly obscured. The headlights struggled to penetrate the haze. Everything felt incredibly serene and mysterious.

He had already turned around twice, but the car seemed to have entered some unknown region. He couldn’t tell the front, back, left, or right. The headlights alone carved out a narrow passage through the fog, providing precious little luminance.

He stopped checking the map. This wasn’t about getting lost. This was an urban legend—or the suburban legend, to be more precise, since he wasn’t in the city.

The last time he encountered something like this was... well, the last time. Back then, he at least had a girl, a hunk, and a cat with him, but now, his only company was a silly dove. Wayne looked down at the damn bird. It was using its little claws to move wheat grains around, as if the grains would magically grow in number if it tried a few more times.

When his fourth turn failed to take him out of the mist, he released the white dove, entering its perspective to survey the area from above. He saw an eerie, hazy sea of fog stretching endlessly. No one knew where the edge was.

“This is messed up!” He called the dove back, brows furrowed. “If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve brought Valkyrie with me. She can fit in the trunk.”

He lifted his chin, his eyes flickering with white light. Then his entire head began releasing black smoke as his flesh and skin dissolved away. He logged in as the Death Knight.

Today, the knight wouldn’t ride a horse; he’d drive.

Cramming himself into the cramped driver’s seat in heavy armor was uncomfortable, but the sense of security was off the charts. Let the fog thicken. He had nothing to fear.

“Kekekeke—”

He waved his hand, and the white dove in the passenger seat instantly became a skeletal bird.

Coo, coo, coo!!

Half an hour later, the road became bumpy and abysmally uneven. After passing through a tunnel, the thick fog dispersed somewhat, and some short buildings began appearing in the surrounding area. Their design was old-fashioned, nothing like the contemporary architecture.

Wayne didn’t recklessly pull over, nor did he plan to get out and ask for directions. The fog signified misfortune, and it was hard to say if these inhabitants were even human. It would be bad for his heart if some bizarre creatures came crawling out.

Besides, in the distance lay a continuous mountain range, the black peaks reaching into the clouds. It bore no resemblance whatsoever to the plains that should be north of Londan according to the map.

He was no longer in the Chosen Land!

“Just keep driving, and maybe I’ll get out of here naturally.”

His curiosity could be strong or weak. When studying magic, he wanted nothing but to get to the bottom of everything, but in situations like this, he preferred caution and following his timid little heart. Even if a giant of light appeared outside the window, fighting little monsters, he would not stop the car.

Suddenly, a voice came from the distant black mountains. It carried mysterious and ancient information, booming and reverberating through the air. Wayne had never heard anything like it. The only sound that bore some resemblance to it was a whale’s calls, which told him that whatever creature made the sound had to be enormous.

Ten minutes later, he saw another tunnel ahead. He drove into it. As the car emerged from the tunnel, bright light flooded his vision. He was back on the original Route 114. There was no fog around and no trace of the tunnel in his rearview mirror.

He released his skeletal bird and saw a peaceful scenery from above, even dots of other vehicles traveling in both directions.

“This is getting more and more bizarre!”

He rubbed his skull and called the dove back, reverting both of their forms. This time, when he drove the same way along Route 114, he encountered no fog.

When he was an ordinary man, he didn’t understand the world; now that he had become a mage, he understood it even less.

Mystery always arrived unexpectedly, without warning or concern for those caught in it. He suspected that there was something wrong with his constitution. Otherwise, why would bizarre things and incidents keep happening to him?

He glanced at the Book of Greed and decided to blame it.

***

In Windsor, a county was the second-level administrative division. Below the regions were the county-level units. Londan was a special case and at the same level as a county-level unit; actually, Londan was even more special in that the counties within were subordinate to the city.

Windsor’s administrative divisions were complex due to historical traditions. Wayne had never quite figured it out. He only knew that Cambrook covered a larger area than Londan and governed five cities, while Londan had a far, far greater population, so far that Cambrook couldn’t catch up even with a nitrous oxide engine.

The Church of Nature’s base was located in Cambrook City in Cambrook County. It was a historic university town that preserved many medieval buildings. Theaters, art galleries, museums, and libraries were everywhere, the cultural content so high that one could taste it in the air.

Wayne had been delayed considerably and arrived at the base at afternoon tea time. Like the library that served as the Londan head office, this base was also housed in a library.

It was two stories tall, surrounded by lush trees and a serene environment, perfect for napping while reading.

There were over a hundred such libraries in Cambrook City. After entering it, Wayne didn’t immediately present his ID, but took a little tour. It was empty except for the few couples snuggling as they read, being such eyesores that he gave up on pretending to be a culture man, heading straight to the second-floor office instead.

Perhaps because it was afternoon tea time, only one female staff member was on duty. She seemed young, around eighteen, wearing a light green dress and glasses as thick as the bottom of wine bottles, head buried in a literary masterpiece.

Noticing someone pushing the door open, she slowly looked up and said, “It’s afternoon tea time, and staff aren’t in. If you have questions, you can inquire at the front desk on the first floor.”

Clearly, she had mistaken him for a citizen here to borrow books since he was unlikely to be a university student. With the outfit Veryl had carefully picked out for him and the same slicked-back hairstyle as Auston, not even the most near-sighted person would mistake him for a student.

Oh? I’ve got such a wonderful subordinate?

He didn’t realize until the girl looked up that she had a clear complexion with bright, serene eyes, radiating an elegant, intellectual beauty—a typical bookish young woman.

He felt like falling in love again.

Since he fell in love all the time, he’d become numb to it. After a brief moment of surprise, he presented his credentials as archdeacon and introduced himself.

The girl was slightly startled. She placed a bookmark in her book and closed it before standing up. Adjusting her glasses, she slowly introduced herself as Ottilia Ferdinand.

She was a disciple of the Goddess of Nature, but not a clergywoman of the church. Because she frequently borrowed books, she had gotten to know the staff at the base and helped watch the office during afternoon tea time.

“Thank you for your help, Miss Ferdinand. Since you’re not a member of the clergy, just call me Wayne. You don’t have to address me with the title,” Wayne said, extending his hand for a polite handshake.

“Of course, Mr. Wayne.” Ottilia smiled and responded equally politely, “Everyone calls me Ottilia. You can call me that, too.”

She sat down after that and resumed reading, lost in her little world like everything around her ceased to matter.

What an odd person! But since she was pretty, he added ‘good-looking’ to his assessment of her, making her a good-looking odd person.

Ottilia called herself a disciple of the Goddess of Nature rather than a follower, so he guessed that she was a mage. Since they weren’t familiar, and she showed no interest in small talk, though, he couldn’t very well press her for an answer.

After afternoon tea time, over ten clergy members returned to the office, all puzzled by the uninvited stranger. Wayne showed them his ID and checked his watch. “Afternoon tea time ends at three o’clock. You’re twenty minutes late. I’m making note of this.”

They groaned inwardly. Their leader just had to come today of all days, when they had arranged a group outing, and after they had put on a good show for so many days at that. Now they had walked straight into him. Their performance was all for nothing.

“Where’s the person in charge? Level 3 Deacon Darcy?” He looked at the staff list on the office wall and raised an eyebrow. “Receiving the salary of a Level 3 Deacon but failing to manage his people well. What kind of leader is that? Might as well guard the front door downstairs.”

“...”

Since the person in charge wasn’t here, they all exchanged glances before one of them stepped forward. “Deacon Darcy was invited to the southern part of the county, accompanied by five colleagues. It’s been rather turbulent there lately. They’re dealing with a bug infestation.”

“Bug infestation?”

“Yes, by the invitation issued by a bishop of the Church of Heavenly Father...”

Wayne had driven past Southern Cambrook County, where villages clustered. Some time ago, a sudden thick fog had descended, followed immediately by a bug infestation. Deacon Darcy, drawing on years of experience, believed the two to be connected. Since the Archdeacon wasn’t around, Darcy decided to investigate in person. If there was a problem, he would submit an investigation report to Londan, letting the surgical strike unit at the head office handle it.

Bishop Keith from the Church of Heavenly Father happened to visit, and the two decided to investigate together. More people meant more power, and if there was a problem, they could help each other. They set off together.

Thick fog? Could it be the same one I encountered?

Wayne pondered for a moment. That was a big problem indeed. He looked at the middle-aged man who had just explained the situation. “What’s your name? Can you drive?”

“Andre, and yes, I have a license.”

“You’ll accompany me to Southern Cambrook. Everyone else, continue working. Remember to follow the working schedule. Don’t let me catch you again.”

Wayne picked up the phone in the office and dialed Vera. He’d be working late tonight and wouldn’t be home.