Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

On the Trail of the Kingdom’s Army 

FROM JADE’S SHOP, I headed straight to the part of the Merchant Sector where I could buy traveling supplies. Once I stocked up on food that would last—jerky, dried fruit, rye bread—I was ready to head out. I didn’t need to bring any burlap sacks with me this time, because I wasn’t hunting much. I would only need to hunt enough to satisfy the cravings of my Gluttony. 

The gates of Babylon faced away from the border, so I had to head north to leave the city, then wrap around south to enter Galia. As I passed through the gates, adventurers passing by stared at me in utter shock. 

“They think you’re heading out for another hunt already,” said Greed, chuckling. “You really are a greedy one, aren’t you?” 

Very funny . 

“I’m not half as bad as you,” I said. “Weren’t you listening to Jade? Who do you think I’m doing all this work for, anyway? That scabbard is over ten times as expensive as my armor.” 

“Of course it is! It’s worthy of my blade. Really, you’re getting a bargain, Fate.” 

I suppose, being a sword, he didn’t have much to be particular about besides his scabbard. The one I used now was worn from countless battles, the leather cracked and the metal bent, making it hard to draw Greed smoothly. In fact, every time I sheathed or unsheathed the black sword, I heard Greed’s voice: “I have absolutely had it with this scabbard, damn it!” 

So, honestly, the new scabbard was my first priority. It would at least shut Greed up for a little while. We’d been together long enough that I understood him; when he was happy and satisfied, he fell silent so that he could truly enjoy the moment. 

“All right! Greed, let’s go gather some crystals!” 

“Finally! The journey for my scabbard begins! Onward!” 

I ran past the gates and stepped over the border into the Galian region. I was immediately hit by the now-familiar, but still awful, smell of blood. The air here surrounded and suffocated, and even having crossed the border many times now, I couldn’t get used to the change to this strange other world. 

“The way Galia reeks of slaughter… I hate it.” 

“Quit your whining. This is for the sake of my beautiful scabbard. Now run, Fate!” 

Greed was in especially high spirits. Perhaps he was excited to be in the spotlight for a change. All the same, the one actually doing the work was, as always, me. 

Wherever I looked, Galia stretched out in desolate ruin all the way to the horizon. It was a land devoid of greenery. The only thing resembling fauna was a strange moss that occasionally dotted the rocky ground. The moss grew as tall—or a bit taller—than me, and sometimes spores burst from it. 

“Hey, Greed,” I said. “What happens if you breathe those in?” 

“Oh, the spores? If I remember correctly, inhaling too many lets the moss take root in your lungs.” 

“Seriously?!” 

“Take a closer look. From certain angles, that moss sure seems to have a human shape, right?” 

“Wait, you’re not saying that moss used to be human, are you?” 

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. So don’t go huffing that crap if you can help it.” 

No way would I do something so disgusting! It was worse now that I knew the growths had once been human. I decided to keep a safe distance and skirt around. I could already imagine the moss creeping into my lungs and growing through me, reducing me into decomposing Moss Fate. 

Greed laughed. “Moss Fate! Ha ha ha!” 

“It’s not funny! Stop laughing! And stop reading my mind!” 

“As if I need to. Your feelings spill out from your whole body. Even with that mask on, you’re an open book!” 

“You don’t have to rub it in!” 

Greed laughed. 

“I said, stop laughing!” 

So, instead, Greed cackled. 

“Now you’re just being creepy!” 

I couldn’t put up with his awful sense of humor any longer, so I took my hand from the sword and let the telepathic cackling fade away. I continued on, passing the mossy human remnants and their deadly spores. A little farther onward, orcs appeared here and there along my path. 

“Seems we’re officially deeper into Galia now,” I said. 

“So, you’ve finally learned to navigate the land based on the orc density. At least we don’t have to fret about being lost anymore.” 

The settlements of orcs—usually known as colonies—were a long way south from our location. According to the available historical records, the orc colonies sat at Galia’s southernmost point. Supposedly, the orc population was so numerous there that they were impossible to count. Fortunately, as you headed north, the orc numbers fell significantly. 

The desecrated, cracked earth spread out in every direction. There was nothing to use as a real landmark, and even compasses were of little use here. The temperamental Galian weather meant that clouds covered the sky with little warning, making navigation by sun, moon, or stars extremely difficult. 

For this reason, local adventurers differentiated north and south by way of orc density. As long as you could orient north from south, you could do the same for east and west. 

It was said that the infamous stampedes originated from the southern orc colonies. Endless turf wars took place there, driving losing hordes out. Ousted orcs then pushed north, looking to establish new colonies. Most of these hordes were what we called squadrons: a hundred orcs, plus the high orc leading them. 

On occasion, traveling hordes met and mixed. The resulting larger horde drew more monsters, even crowned beasts, until their numbers grew truly frightening. This was what the citizens of Babylon referred to as a death parade. Against this class of stampede, even a sizable party of twenty or thirty adventurers was useless. They’d be swept under and crushed in the blink of an eye. 

Death parades had to be dealt with by holy knights and the armies under their command. Fighting alongside tens of thousands of tough, well-trained soldiers, holy knights met these stampedes head-on, held them back, and even fended them off. I could only imagine what it felt like to see an incoming wave of seemingly infinite monsters. Facing such a wave was an act of incredible courage. 

This savage reality was why the adventurers of Galia were rarely as boastful or arrogant as those in Seifort. 

*** 

I had attracted the orcs’ attention, and they clutched their handmade weapons at the ready. I unsheathed Greed and continued toward them without slowing my approach. 

“If you waste your time playing with weaklings, we’ll never get where we’re going,” said Greed. 

“I know. That’s why we’ll use this.” 

I transformed the black sword into the black shield and prepared to break through the orcs’ ranks. 

“Ah, the Shield Bash,” said Greed. “Classic. Now you’re getting it!” 

“It’s perfect for forcing our way through a crowd!” 

I pumped my legs and picked up speed. The orcs launched arrows and fire magic, but against the impervious black shield, their attacks meant nothing. Anything that stood in my path was smashed skyward. 

There was just something fun about using the shield in battle. I listened to the rhythmic whacks as the orcs’ bodies hit the shield and messily flew to their dooms. 

All the while, the metallic voice echoed in a corner of my mind. 

Gluttony Skill activated. Stats increased: Vitality +156,800, Strength +153,600, Magic +121,600, Spirit +128,000, Agility +121,600. 

Hm, that’s thirty-two. The metallic voice had some interesting side benefits. I could calculate the orc kill numbers from the totals it reported. 

“You’re on a roll, Fate!” Greed cackled. 

“Launching and lunching! The perfect snack for an empty stomach!” I crowed. You’re all in my way! But not for long! 

It’d been a while since I’d fought so freely, and for a time, Greed and I were lost in the joy of unfettered violence. 

“Fate, two orcs sighted! Dead ahead!” 

“And soon to be actually dead!” This time, Greed’s sense of humor meshed with mine perfectly. 

The last two orcs between me and the way ahead soared into the sky and out of sight. I’d made a mess of their formation, and before the survivors had a chance to surround me, I pushed through their back line and past the squadron entirely. Fireballs and arrows followed me from behind, but I’d gained too much ground for the missiles to find their mark. I had crystals to harvest, after all; I couldn’t stay to finish off these small fry. 

Since arriving in Babylon, I’d wrecked the local orc population so thoroughly that their numbers had noticeably thinned. If this group continued their journey north, they’d find other adventurers with whom to do battle. 

The squadron of orcs shrank to a tiny dot behind me, then disappeared from sight. I continued onward until I spotted a great flag flapping in the wind. It belonged to the kingdom’s army. They were still too far away for me to make out the expedition clearly, but it looked to be a single squadron. That was strange. It was more common to send three squadrons for any expedition this far from Babylon. That meant that, whatever this squadron was up to, it was in a hurry. 

“Hey, Greed,” I said through my Telepathy. “What do you think?” 

“Looks to me like they’re heading in the same direction as we are.” 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought… Let’s try getting a little closer.” 

I moved quickly and quietly across the rugged landscape and took cover behind the shade of a large boulder. 

This squadron proceeded on foot. Horses weren’t practical in Galia, the land being too rugged for them to keep a steady pace, and what’s more, there was no greenery for them to feed on. For holy knights and high-level adventurers, it was therefore much faster to travel the wastes on foot. In any case, holy knights mostly rode horses as an ostentatious display of rank. 

Peering over the rock, I saw that the squadron was traveling at significant speed. Among them was one shining warrior clad in a holy knight’s white armor. 

Wait, is that…? 

“Greed, that’s Lady Roxy!” I exclaimed. “What is she doing here?!” 

“Keep your voice down, idiot! They’ll hear you!” 

Damn it, he’s right! I ducked back behind the rock. I’d spoken out of pure disbelief and surprise. My heart pounded. What a clumsy slip-up… They didn’t hear anything, did they? 

After a short time, I peeked back out from behind the rock. The squadron still headed in the same direction, and with an unyielding urgency. Every soldier sprinted into the distance. I heaved a sigh of relief. If they discovered me, I’d once more be stuck trying to dodge Lady Roxy’s inevitable barrage of questions. She’d probably run over to ask them herself! 

I knew I had the skull mask, and that its minor enchantment concealed my identity, but still…the closer she got to me, the more concerned I grew that she would find out who I really was, about my Gluttony, and that I’d come to Galia to follow her. 

“From what I’ve seen,” said Greed, “when that girl is curious about something, and it tries to escape, she chases it down without mercy. Fate, if you keep getting all flustered and flighty whenever you see her, you’ll lose.” 

“I don’t get flustered! And what do you mean, flighty?” 

“You know exactly what I mean.” 

“Just let it go, would you?” I muttered. 

Still, I did know what Greed meant. When Lady Roxy wanted something, she pursued it with stubborn determination. On the surface, she was the daughter of a dignified family, and a refined and respectable holy knight. Having worked as one of her servants, though, I knew she was also the kind of girl who would drag me around to get or do what she wanted. Normally I wouldn’t have minded, but it was troublesome at the moment, and I had no hope of changing her mind. 

That same insistence had led Lady Roxy to bring me to Hart Manor, then the Hart family estate. She’d introduced me to all sorts of people I never would have met otherwise. Because of her, my world broadened. We’d laughed and smiled together, and those times comprised most of my few happy memories. I stared at Lady Roxy as she hurried into the dusty distance. 

“However you slice it,” I said, “we’re heading in the same direction. I wonder if their journey has something to do with what Jade mentioned? How the duskstone supply diminished?” 

“It’s possible something happened in the canyon where they’re gathered. So, what are you going to do about it?” 

“You already know what I’m going to do.” 

If our destinations were the same, the answer was clear: we’d follow them. We just had to make sure we didn’t get spotted. 

Lady Roxy’s squadron sprinted onward for several hours. I trailed behind, making sure to keep a set distance. They were a well-trained group, and strong. Still, even with their stats, they’d soon have to stop to rest. The sun began to set, and the surrounding crags grew dim. I looked up at the sky to see stars shining where, earlier, thick gray cloud cover had loomed. 

“Good. We’ll be able to orient ourselves more accurately than with some weird orc-compass,” I said. “Do you know how to read the stars, Greed?” 

“Of course I do. Who do you think you’re talking to? I’m the mighty black sword Greed. I can deduce our direction based on the positions of those three red stars and the blue star on the left!” 

Everyone who lived in this world knew that much. It was common sense. Only Greed was bigheaded enough to boast about it. 

“Hey, actually—over there in the western sky. What’s that star called?” I asked. “The golden one that shines so much brighter than the others?” 

That star had appeared quite suddenly a few years ago. I often wondered whether it was my imagination, but over the years, it had almost seemed to grow bigger. 

“That,” said Greed, “is Laplace.” 

“Laplace?” 

Laplace was a god, one worshipped in churches like the old shrine that had been converted into Babylon’s trading post. In the past, Laplace had enjoyed a large following. Since those days, however, the kingdom had torn down and built over many of Laplace’s churches. The number of their followers had only continued to drop. This was all to say that the kingdom hadn’t exactly banned worship of Laplace, but they seemed intent on suppressing the faith. They slowly washed away the deity’s name over the years, months, and days. 

“Greed, do you believe in the existence of the gods?” 

“The only thing I believe in is myself. But I’ll tell you what—as a token of my generosity, I’ll believe in you too.” 

“A token of your generosity? Is that how much I mean to you?” 

I wasn’t sure whether I should be flattered or insulted. Either way, it was just like Greed to say something like that. He’d lived longer than I could possibly imagine. Probably, the only way to stay sane over that amount of time was to be as entirely stubborn and self-confident as he was. 

Laplace … The golden star shone in the night sky among the others, a color entirely of its own. That light seemed to send a message to all the creatures of this world: “I am here.” 

“I occasionally look up at that star, and sometimes…” I said, putting a hand to my heart, “it scares me.” 

Gluttony shivered inside me. It felt the same now too. As I looked up at that star, the bottomless hunger writhed in excitement. 

“How funny,” said Greed. “It’s the same for me. Wherever we go, wherever we run, it is something we cannot escape.” 

“What do you mean?” 

Greed chuckled. “Don’t mind me.” 

With that mysterious little remark, Greed dropped into silence. I placed the black sword on the ground and stared up at Laplace glimmering alone in the sky. My Gluttony buzzed within me, making my heart race painfully. It was nostalgia, a feeling I first encountered upon losing the village I once called home. A place I wanted to return to that I never could, and a place where important memories remained… A place my feelings were continually drawn toward. 

“Do you have someplace you want to go back to?” I asked. 

The question was for my Gluttony, but of course it didn’t answer. What was I even doing, talking to my skill? I was being silly. Sentimental. Foolish, Greed would say. 

I looked back toward the path ahead and saw that Lady Roxy’s troops had stopped to set up tents. They were finally ready to rest for the evening.