Changed by the Dark

Two claws swept out at Dia's neck, and she took a step back, dodging the attack narrowly. Her right arm darted out a moment later, stabbing into the armpit of the huge shadow, eliciting a howl from the monster as black fluid spurted out. The shadow, however, didn't step back, opting to throw itself at her instead.

Dia narrowed her eyes at the incoming wall of shadowy flesh, and time seemed to slow at that moment. The enemy, despite its wispy appearances, actually had mass and strength; getting hit by this was no different from being smashed by a wagon or a carriage.

Darting to the right, Dia brought her sword down low and hacked viciously at the legs of the monster, drawing more black blood from the monster. The sinewy mass of shadows, however, had prevented her from severing off its leg entirely, but that was pretty much par for the course.

As the monster howled once more, Dia slashed out a few more times at the bear's legs, mana lining the edges of her sword this time, but as she had expected, they only served to enhance her damage somewhat.

Farah might not be that experienced of a combatant, but there was probably a reason why she had used half of her mana reserve in executing that wolf.

Those things were tough, even with mana.

Letting out a guttural howl, the bear lowered its stance. Now that it was aware that Dia knew its weak point — the legs — the shadow wasn't going to give her a few more shots at it that easily.

"Sword Sense," Dia muttered. "Sword Dance."

Her vision changed subtly, as a relaxing wave of heat ran through her body. Bursting into motion a moment later, Dia glided into range, twisting her body to dodge the next two frenzied strikes. Making use of the momentum, she turned twice, the edge of her blade tearing out small pieces of sinewy shadow.

Making a mental note to inspect the odd flesh of the bear, Dia abruptly stilled herself, and a claw fell on the area where her right hand would have been had she continued to move. She retaliated a second later, hefting the sword in a reverse grip and drove it backwards and downwards, looking away from the enemy the whole time.

Blue light flooded out of her sword, which had been embedded into one of the bear's knees. The monster fell onto its left side a moment later, howling madly, as the outburst of mana tore away one of its feet. With the tactile sensation of having severed the opponent's leg, Dia whirled around, withdrawing her sword and slashing it through the bear's neck in one smooth motion.

Silence fell as she lopped off the monster's head, ending its deafening howls forever. Sheathing her blade, Dia turned around to look at the decapitated monster, which was emitting black smoke and bleeding black blood.

"She…killed that bear."

"A mana-user!"

The earliest arrivals burst onto the scene, just in time to see Dia pick up her lantern. The group of four guards glanced at each other, and then approached her gingerly.

"Your Excellency."

Dia grunted. "Take this corpse and…well, do whatever you guys are supposed to do with it. Are there any other such monsters out there?"

"Reporting to Your Excellency: no other such monsters have been found so far," the guard replied.

"Okay. You guys do what you need to do. I'll continue to patrol and provide support as necessary," Dia replied. "Go on."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

"Ah, so formal." Dia watched as the four guards picked up the dead monster, head and all, and scurried towards Farah Palace. Ever since she was young, Dia knew that it was commonplace to call mana-users 'Your Excellency', although she didn't quite understand why. Wasn't the difference just the ability to use mana?

Dia thought about it for a moment, as she walked along the path. Her footsteps were once again slow and halting, but that was probably for the best. Unlike the soldiers, who had some measure of protection for the legs, Dia was lightly armoured, so…

Well, it was a decision that would make Claud proud, if nothing else.

She continued her slow patrol, her ears pricked up for any sign of distress. However, she had a hunch that there probably wasn't much to worry about for today, and after walking idly for around an hour or so, Dia decided to turn back.

Her work was done today, and more importantly, she hadn't had the time to sleep yet. Of course, Farah was probably doing her hardest to stay awake too, given the peculiarities behind today's attack, so Dia couldn't really complain here.

Jogging back lightly — her combat instincts had fallen silent — Dia returned to the palace with all due haste. The two monsters that had been slaughtered were laid out in front of the city gate, with lots of people standing around and looking at the corpses curiously.

A bunch of city guards were busy taking the body apart. The city guards — which were trained by the Emperor's own people —weren't all that different from mercenaries; both of them were supposedly trained to take apart monsters and spot anything valuable from their remains.

Other than this foundational information, however, Dia didn't know anything else. Clearly, the owner of those memories and experience that had been used in Dia's Experimental Potion were one of those 'supposedly trained' in taking apart monsters, rather than being actually trained.

"You look quite interested in this," said Farah. "Bodyguard training doesn't include taking apart monsters, then."

"Yeah," Dia replied.

There had to be a limit to how convenient this explanation was, but Dia was getting really tired of even taking note of these things at all. Therefore, she simply craned her neck and watched as the guards continued to pluck out the bones.

"Those organs…"

Farah pointed at the heart of the bear, and Dia squinted. She could tell that there was an underlying layer of actual heart muscle, red and all, under a shadowy film. The same went for the wolf's heart, which had been split into two to reveal a dark red interior.

"…So, these aren't monsters. Just animals that have been changed," Dia muttered. "By the darkness, perhaps?"

"That's a very good question," Farah replied. "In that case…well, this won't affect us that much if we act appropriately. We'll need to cull the large, predatory animals to prevent them from turning into this aberration. The small ones and the useful ones can be brought back and experimented on."

"That sounds doable," Dia replied.

"We'll have to ignore the ones hiding on the outskirts of the territory, though," Farah muttered. "The animals that are close to the farms don't number that much, but this approach isn't possible in dealing with the many animals hiding in the wilderness."

"You'll probably need to wall in the farmlands from now on," Dia replied. "And not using those flimsy fences either. Is money an issue for you right now?"

"Yes and no, I guess." Farah tilted her head. "Well, I can just bill the Istrel Dukedom for the construction fees. I'll tell them that we upgraded our walls to improve security for Ruler Istrel's visit, but since we are a weak territory, they can help in the funding or something."

"That makes sense," Dia replied. "Do you think Ruler Istrel will mind?"

"Please, he can buy fifty counties with his money. A bunch of gold to build up walls around the farmland here is absolutely peanuts to him," Farah replied dismissively. "Right, I forgot, but…"

"But?"

Farah cleared her voice. "People of my county! The person beside me, Dia, is the one who slew that giant bear you see on the ground now! We owe her a debt of gratitude! Therefore, I will confer upon her a decoration of my county tomorrow evening! All are welcome to join in the feasting!"

"She did?"

"I was the one who carried the bear back; I saw her just slice the head off!"

"She was standing at the very back to bait the monster out!"

As all kinds of praises came from the assembled masses, Dia eyed Farah, who grinned in return. For a moment, she wanted to ask the countess the reason behind this proclamation, but knowing her, she probably was trying to kill multiple birds with one stone.

"That's awfully nice of you," Dia eventually forced out.

"Don't look down on me," Farah replied. "A noble's decoration is worth something; you should know that very well."

"But it just feels weird to be conferred a decoration by a friend," Dia replied, her lips twitching. "Like…there's a sudden change in our relative positions or something."

"Ah, don't sweat it," said Farah. "I'll still mock your gluttony every so often, so there's no fear in that regard."

"…Really?" Dia rolled her eyes. "I'm going to mock you when I can too, then. Sheesh."

"Yeah, yeah. Come on. Let's go back to the palace." Farah yawned. "Wash up and go to sleep. I'll wake you up in the morning."

"How about you?" Dia asked.

"Gotta handle some things. You're the guest here, so don't make me feel awesome. Go. Shoo. Get some rest."

"O-Okay."