Junta & Wizarding World
#45 Smoke Monster
“Are you sure you don't want to rest first Zonya?”
“In the meantime we will arrive at our destination village Junta, we better rest in that village than outside here”
“But it's already night, are there still any villagers who haven't slept? Aren't we bothering them?”
“If my estimation is correct, based on our current speed, we should be arriving at the village soon, it is already night but I think it is not too late, so I guess there must still be some villagers who haven't slept”
And so the car driven by Zonya still drove fast even though the sky was dark, and, thanks to the clouds that are not present at night that finally make the moon can shine on this world without obstacles, indeed, the moonlight was not too bright but this light was enough for Zonya to light their way.
Right now, Junta and his team are heading to a village to run a request, before embarking on the journey, Junta talks to Maggie to give her some requests that go along with her journey, which is, and Maggie gave some requests to the Junta one of which was this request.
The request that the Junta was running at the moment was actually quite simple, that is, they only needed to defeat the monsters that were plaguing the village, Junta did not know the details because he still could not read the writing of this world smoothly, but that was what Kou told him, this request is categorized as a class 3 request which means that the class recommendation to accept and complete this request is class 3, of course the prize is not too large, but the size of the prize was enough to help the Junta team finance this journey.
Regarding this class 3 request, the Junta was so reminded of their first request, the request of that time was also a request categorized as a class 3 request, it's just that the request has a big reward because there are already several class 4 teams that failed in completing that mission, if you remember again it can be said that Junta and Kou were lucky to be able to accept the request before anyone completed it, in addition to his unusual gift for a class 3 category request class, the request also made Junta and Kou find the black water they now carry.
The train Zonya was driving was still running fast under the moonlight, because it was already night, Aya, Kou and Alicia were already sleeping inside the carriage, this means that only Junta and Zonya are still awake, so that the atmosphere in the night is not quiet Junta decided to have a light conversation with Zonya.
Time passed and the day grew night, after driving the carriage for some time the Junta finally saw something bright, which the Junta believed was the light of the lamp coming from their destination village.
After entering the village area, moon lighting is no longer needed because it has been replaced with lighting in the village, the village used a kind of bright lantern hung on a wooden pole that was stuck in the ground, although the light from the lantern was not very bright, he said, but that light was enough to illuminate the area in that village.
Not only the lanterns attracted the attention of the Junta, the atmosphere in the village was also the attention of the Junta and Zonya, even though it was night but the villagers there still did not seem to sleep, they were still doing their activities like it was still day, The Junta did not know if such a thing was common in this village but based on the Junta's knowledge of this world, most villagers do their activities in the morning or afternoon which according to the Junta is reasonable and seems reasonable, but seeing this village whose residents work at night makes Junta realize that his knowledge of the world may still not be enough.
After stopping his train, Zonya and Junta are approached by a young adult wearing a straw hat.
“Goodnight, what business do you all come to our village in this very cold night?”
“We came to complete the request”
Zonya said that while showing her necklace to the young man.
“Oh! How lucky this village is because class 5 will complete our request, let's follow me”
Junta got off the carriage and Zonya stayed on top, they both followed the young man walking towards a very simple house, after Zonya tied her lizard to a tree, His zone walked towards the Junta and the young man who was standing in front of the entrance was waiting for him.
After going inside, Junta and Zonya were welcome to sit in the place that already existed, after sitting Junta and Zonya were asked to wait for a while before finally the young man returned while carrying 2 cups.
“We are really honored that there is a class 5 willing to take his busy time to solve our small problem”
The young man put down the cup he was carrying while saying that.
“No problem, don't get too thought out”
His zone took the cup in front of him and drank it a little.
“By the way you guys have a unique custom here yes, I didn't know there is nocturnal village here”
The junta said that while taking the cup that was in front of him.
“Ah, actually we also do not want to work at night, we do this because forced”
“As I expected, does this have anything to do with your request?”
Zonya said that seriously while putting her cup on the table.
“I believe you already know that our request is to kill monsters right? The monster comes to this village when the sun rises and disappears when the sun goes down, so only at night does this village feel safe”
“Wait a minute, did you say disappear?”
Somehow Junta felt that he should leave this conversation to Zonya, so Junta just sat quietly beside Zonya while drinking his drink.
“Yes.. The monster suddenly appeared and suddenly disappeared, it was not a monster that had a real form”
“So yes, can you explain in more detail to me what it looks like?”
“Uh.. The monster had no form that could be described in detail, what I saw was that it looked like a cluster of black smoke, like a black smoke, he has no hands and feet so he moves by floating in the air, nor do I see any signs of him having eyes or ears”
His zone folded his hands and leaned against the chair he was sitting in.
“So far I understand, thanks for explaining it”
“You seem to think of something, what do you think of Zonya?”
“Junta, this is a class 3 category request right?
“Ya, why?”
“Hmm, I can already estimate what monsters are attacking this village, but I still have doubts, so I will check it myself later”
“Good if you can already guess what monsters we will fight, as expected from the knowledge of class 5, because the monsters appear in the morning, as well, I guess tonight we don't have any activities, then I'll wake Kou and the others”
“Ah, you guys can sleep here, my house has many empty rooms”
“Thank you”
And so Junta walked out of the house to wake Kou and the others to tell them to sleep inside the house.
The night felt colder than usual, but fortunately in Junta and Kou's room was provided with a fairly warm blanket, the bed was honestly not too big and felt a little cramped for 2 people, but Junta felt that he could not complain against the young man who had provided a bed for them.
After getting enough sleep, the sun began to reveal itself and the cold air slowly became warm, and, The junta who was inside the blanket felt a bit heated so he woke up and moved his body to sit on his bed.
Seeing Kou who was still sleeping soundly, Junta decided to go out on his own, it was still very early but somehow Junta got a hunch that Zonya was ready to fight.
After exiting his room and heading towards the living room, Junta was able to see Zonya and the young man who were staring towards the window beside the door.
“Oh Junta, it's not usual for you to wake up early like this”
“And you're also Zonya, what do you do in the morning like this? Waiting for parade?”
“Of course wait for the monster to appear”
“Ah, there it is the monster”
After the young man spoke softly, Junta looked out the window and there appeared a cluster of black smoke coming out of nowhere, the black smoke gathered in one place and formed something like an oblong fluffy ball, at least that was the opinion of the Junta towards the smoke monster, the number of smoke monsters slowly increased and continued to grow, at least, the monsters roam the village like they were the villagers, they floated in the fields, the streets of the village, or even some were seen on the trees.
“I guess”
Zonya said that in a soft tone.
“Looks like you know this monster Zonya, then you must know how to defeat it right?”
“Sure I know, and also I think we're lucky”
“Lucky?”
“Fuck association, they should have placed this request in the class 4 category, the monsters that are out there cannot be defeated in the usual way, he said, the monsters are not effective against physical attacks and certain magic”
“Sounds very troublesome, then how do we defeat that monster?”
“The purification magic is an effective magic to fight against that monster, and luckily I brought something that can cast that magic on our train”
“So, so far I understand the situation”
Kou who had come out of nowhere suddenly said that, behind Kou was also Alicia and Aya who looked like she had just woken up.
“Alicia stay here to keep Aya, Kou and Junta come with me out to clean this village”
“A-I understand!”
“Please beware Zonya”
After Aya said that, Zonya replied with a nod and the three of them came out of the house.
After getting out of the house, Zonya went to his train to open one of the large wooden boxes that he brought, and after opening it turned out to be a kind of small white balls.
“So this is what you said something that could defeat those monsters? It looks like a pearl to me”
“All you need to do is throw this little ball to the ground that is under that monster, after this ball is broken, the magic will automatically work, of course flow your Mana first to this ball before throwing it”
Zonya said that while giving the small pouch that had been filled with several white balls to Junta and Kou.
“Although this monster sounds troublesome, but it turns out the solution is quite easy”
“Hey, the solution is easy because I brought this item, to be honest I brought this item because I want to sell it, not to wear it”
“You want to sell it? Then why don't we defeat this monster using our own magic?”
“If I can do that I will do Kou, the problem is that I can't use that magic and I believe you guys can't use purification magic either right?”
“If the purification magic you are referring to is the purification magic that I used to purify the river water in the first request that we used to run, then I can use it”
“No Kou, the purification magic I mean is different from the magic you used back then”
Because Junta and Kou did not understand what kind of magic Zonya wanted, so they chose to follow the way that Zonya offered.
“This is also a bit of a surprise for me, I guess you as a class 5 can do any”
“So yes, covering your own weaknesses is indeed the basis of every fight”
“Wait, you said that this request was at least class 4 category right Zonya? Does this mean every 4th class can use this magic?”
“No, not every class 4 can use this magic, but usually class 4 is the one who can use this magic, we should save this conversation later, then, if we continue to let the monster here for too long, then there will be a very troublesome thing, we must hurry”
After saying that Zonya gave a small bag of white balls to Kou.
“Seeing from the number of those monsters, this should be enough, alright, you guys already know how to wear this item, let's split up for this cleaning to be faster, now let's hurry”
And so Zonya, Kou and Junta go to split up to defeat the monster, the monster turns out to be unexpected Junta has a fast enough speed, which is, is it possible that they could be that fast because they were floating in the air? After throwing one of those little pearl-like balls, Junta finally figured out how the balls worked.
After the ball broke from hitting the ground, a light suddenly emerged from where it broke and aimed straight up, the monster that was exposed to the light seemed to tremble and finally slowly disappeared out of nowhere, now Junta knows why Zonya told him to throw the white ball he was carrying in the direction just below this smoke monster.
After defeating a few smoke monsters, Junta looked at the circumstances around him, he saw Kou who was extremely fast and agile in defeating those monsters, several times Junta saw Kou jump and throw about 3 or 4 balls at once and not infrequently also the lights appeared alternately in a short time where Kou was.
Turning to where Zonya was, it could be said that everything was under control, Zonya could defeat those monsters quickly and efficiently, indeed not as fast as Junta or Kou, but with speed and effectiveness it is enough to prove that he is a class 5 who is very experienced in combat.
After about 15 minutes of throwing the balls, finally all the monsters in the village had disappeared, to be honest Junta felt that the fight today could not be called a fight, this is more like a ball throwing game for Junta.
“Good work, if I alone defeat all the monsters here then it can't possibly be as short as this”
Zonya said that while walking towards the Junta.
“Good work you two! You guys look so cool!”
Suddenly Alicia came out of nowhere and said that, she came with Aya and the straw hat youth.
“That was quite fun, felt like playing throw ball”
And the last one to come suddenly was Kou.
“Thank you very much! Thanks to you this village is back to calm!”
“No, still not”
His zone suddenly said that which made Alicia and Aya look confused.
“Bu-Didn't the monster have disappeared Zonya?”
“It's true Alicia, but the source of the problem is not finished, Aya, you better get back with this young man, the rest come with me”
“I understand, be careful lah”
After listening to Aya's response, Zonya went with Junta, Kou and Alicia to a nearby forest not too far from the village.
It didn't take long for Zonya and the others to reach the forest because it was very close, after going inside, Alicia who was walking behind Kou started to speed up her steps in order to be able to walk beside Zonya who was in front, not only Alicia, Kou also accelerated his steps so that he could walk beside her Brother.
“Sister, do you feel it?”
“Sure, I thought this heavy nuance was because of the monsters that roamed the village, but even after the monster lost this nuance it was still there, and it seemed like Zonya knew something about this”
The more they went into the forest, the more dense the tree, to the point that the sunlight of trouble to penetrate the forest, in addition to the darker impression, also appeared a thin fog that came out of nowhere, The junta felt that today was not that early to the point that the fog appeared, the fog usually appeared in the early hours and would disappear when the sun had begun to reveal its entire form, and the sun has now revealed its entire being which means there should be no more fog left.
“Uh.. Ki-Where are we going?”
Alicia said that with a frightened tone.
“We'll be right up to”
Although the sunlight could not fully illuminate the forest, but at least the light that managed to pierce through the dense trees here was enough for Junta and the others to be able to look around, after walking for about 10 minutes, eventually Zonya got to where she wanted to go.
Alicia who was not strong looking and withstanding the pungent smell here started to run to a nearby tree and vomit there, on the other side Junta and Kou who had been behind Zonya started walking to get close to Zonya.
“What.. What does this mean”
Kou said that while looking up.
“I guess”
Zonya said that with a serious tone.
Right in front of them, there were countless corpses hanging on top of the trees, some of them looking like mummies, some of whom were still wearing ordinary clothes, too, and some of them look to wear something similar like the one Aya wears.
“It looks like you know something about this Zonya”
Junta said that while looking at Alicia who was still vomiting on a nearby tree.
“Monster we fought earlier was not a monster that usually appeared on the surface, those monsters usually appeared inside the ruins or buildings that were underground, people here used to call it Dungeon”
“Then, what does the usual monsters that appear underground have to do with these corpses?”
Zonya looked at Alicia who was still trying to hold back her vomit and walked towards her while saying.
“Do you know the people called Junta Explorers? They were members of the Association who were very fond of exploring dungeons, of course not all of them could return to the surface after getting into the dungeon, just as much as running a request, was, death is a risk that cannot be separated”
While gently stroking Alicia's back, Zonya continued.
“Those monsters are formed from a person's negative emotions before they die, the more and stronger those negative emotions are then the more likely they are to appear, and the dungeon is a place that usually contains these emotions”
“Wait, can't the battlefield also be where these monsters appear? In the battlefield there are many soldiers who died, right?”
“Yes, it can indeed happen Kou, but on the battlefield not all soldiers have negative emotions before they fall, if their commander or leader can change their fighting spirit, he said, then most of the soldiers will not die while carrying negative emotions”
“So yes, the fighting spirit to defend their land and the willingness to sacrifice themselves for the land they love does not include negative emotions”
“Zo-Zonya, can we get out of here? I-I don't want to be here.”
Alicia said that with a weak and frightened tone.
“So, how do we get rid of these negative emotions Zonya?”
“Seeing from the sheer number of corpses here and the weight of the nuances around, it doesn't seem like we have much time to dispel the negative emotions in the area here”
“Why do you look rushed Zonya?”
“A too many and strong negative emotions will not only form monsters like before, but will also form other monsters that are stronger and more troublesome, I've read some reports that say that too many negative emotions and strong will bring up a 6” class monster
“Alright, now it sounds very troublesome”
“A-What?! Class 6?! Bu-Don't we need at least 2 people of class 5 to kill a monster of that level?!”
Alicia said that before finally vomiting again.
“That's why I said we don't have time anymore, we can't use the normal way, it's too long plus the bodies that are here too much, too much, so what we're going to do is burn these bodies”
“Are you sure Zonya? We are now in the forest, burning this area will cause forest fires”
“There is no other way, these corpses are the source of his negative emotions, the quickest way right now is to destroy the source of his negative emotions and I will try to get those emotions into the trees that are here and then after that I will flow into the ground, in other words I will try to temper these negative emotions with my magic”
“Then I will help”
Kou says that while walking towards Zonya who is still with Alicia.
“I will lock the area around here with ice so that the fire does not spread, can you Brother?”
"Of course"
“Thank you Kou”
In an instant after Kou said that, the area around them was frozen with Kou power, after finding what he was looking for from within his robe, His zone threw a few small bullet-like objects at the trees around, the bullet-like object was the lighters that Zonya used to light the bonfire, he said, after the small object touched the tree, flames started to appear and quickly spread to the surrounding trees.
While looking at the trees and the corpses burning, Zonya placed her hands on the ground and her body started to emit a faint purple glow.
“Why do you think the bodies could be here Zonya?”
Junta said that while walking towards Zonya who was slightly in front of him.
“I don't know, but clothes it..”
His Zonya directed her gaze towards the corpse who was wearing clothes similar to Aya's.
“It was similar to the clothes that Aya was wearing when we first met her in the old tower”
“You're right Junta, Aya's still wearing the same clothes since we found her, so I remember very well how her clothes were”
“Could The Fingers be the culprit?”
“That is a possibility, really, if indeed the culprit is The Fingers, what exactly are they planning? Kill this many people and hang them here.”
His zone paused for a moment while looking at the other corpses that were starting to burn.
“If indeed The Fingers is the culprit, then if we say we did not find Aya at that time, maybe he will end up here like the bodies of the others”
