“……gone.”

 

From Titan’s casual comment, I remembered that I had forgotten to erase the『Zero Field』that I had activated, and I rushed to the site at the time.

 

When I arrived at the scene, I found that the icy ground that had been created by the magic had completely disappeared, and the golems that had turned into ice statues had also disappeared.

 

On the way, I encountered a pair of young adventurers desperately running away from a pack of greyhounds.

 

They set up a【Press】, a taboo act of pushing an attacking demon, but I broke through it without any problem.

 

Most of the greyhounds were eradicated by me and Titan, and the rest were wiped out by Demiurge’s substandard magic called Elementary.

 

Normally, those two guys who forced the demon on us should get what they deserve… As we passed each other, I could see the sadness on their faces and understood that there was no other way to help them.

 

And, according to Yggdrasil, they were fully remorseful for their actions.

 

It wasn’t like they had done any damage to us, and I decided to let it go unpunished for the time being.

 

If it becomes a habit, they will be punished accordingly, but it seems that they were in a desperate situation at the time, and if you interpret it as them coming to us for help, well, I’m not angry.

 

Demiurge and Titan didn’t seem to be particularly angry, or even interested in the two of them in the first place, so there was no need to bring it up again.

 

Besides, while Yggdrasil was taking care of those adventurers, I was able to unexpectedly recover the Anima Crystal. If that’s the case, then there was no loss from this incident, in fact, I would even say there was a gain.

 

The problem was that the Zero Field had completely disappeared, even though I had rushed there in a hurry.

 

For a moment, I wondered if I had been in the wrong place, but then I saw that there were a few traces of where Titans and I had fought.

 

There are familiar traces of destruction here and there. In other words, the location is right. And yet, the magic was gone.

 

“Did someone erase it?”

 

That was the most likely explanation, but if it was… then who?

 

Zero Field is not something that can be erased by someone without knowledge.

 

In addition, if you go into the area of effect of the magic, your body will be covered in ice.

 

In other words, someone familiar with magic… and a very high-ranking magician or mage… interfered with the Zero Field magic circle and stopped the magic.

 

“Who the hell is…”

 

Could it be someone from the town’s adventurer’s guild?

 

It was very possible, but just getting to the magic circle that served as the foundation would have been a life-threatening experience. If no action had been taken, they would have been frozen to death in seconds.

 

In any case, I can’t help but feel grateful to whoever made it go away.

 

Because if it continued to leave it like that for a long time, a large amount of life would have died in this place, trapped in an ice cage.

 

However, there was one thing that bothered me a little.

 

“I don’t see any Anima Crystals.”

 

Yes. There was not a single Anima Crystal that should have come out of the golem’s body.

 

Don’t tell me, did someone collect it?

 

“Fumu… nothing… Husband, are you sure this is the right place?”

 

“I’m sure.”

 

“I see… you should be pleased to know that your main concerns have been addressed.”

 

“That’s true, but…”

 

The main concern has indeed been resolved, but the question remains.

 

Who erased the magic in the first place? And where did the golem and the anima crystal go?

 

I can’t help but feel a bit nervous.

 

“Well, the Anima Crystal is something that will return to nature if left alone. It’s a useless thing that has no use to anyone but us… Even if the humans got their hands on it, there’s nothing they could do about it, so don’t worry.”

 

“……Oh.”

 

“Umu. Well, I guess we’ll do what we came for and head for Cid.”

 

“That’s right~ Using our brains on something we don’t understand will only make us hungry, so let’s get to town!”

 

“All right, let’s go.”

 

Maybe there’s someone who knows something about this place.

 

While we’re shopping, let’s see if anyone knows anything about this place, along with gathering information about demons.

 

◆◇◆◇◆

 

This was a few days before Ares and the others visited the site where the Zero Field was activated.

 

Specifically, when Dragon God and Behemoth were fighting Cheap Garuda… Sofia and two members of the Knights and adventurers were surveying the area at the battlefield where Ares and Titan had fought.

 

◆◇◆◇◆

 

“―――?!”

 

Just now, for a moment, I felt a very large reaction of mana.

 

However, the reaction quickly faded and there was not enough time to find the source.

 

I looked around, but I still couldn’t figure it out.

 

Occasionally, I would feel a big reaction like the one I just felt, but no matter how many times I looked around, I could not identify the source of the mana.

 

“A-Again… what is this, really…”

 

There was a hint of incredibly powerful mana.

 

It’s a reaction so powerful that even if you added up the mana of everyone in the room, it still wouldn’t be enough…

 

This is something that I’ve sensed frequently since visiting Leengard.

 

“C-Could it be, phantom beast…?”

 

The possibility is high. The reason why we came here in the first place to investigate is that there have been many sightings of phantoms here.

 

However, there was no sign of it. The powerful presence I felt earlier was no longer there.

 

There was aftermath, but it was too small.

 

“Th-There are no more signs…”

 

Perhaps, when the phantom beast approaches us, I can sense a large presence.

 

The other party is the strongest demon in this world, a phantom beast.

 

It would not be surprising if they could sense a powerful presence from this position.

 

“Well, I guess I’m sensitive to the presence of mana.”

 

“I-It seems that the number of strong mana has increased… or is it just my imagination…?”

 

There were two signs of strong mana that I had felt before.

 

But the mana I just felt was different from either of those, it seemed to have a different feel to it…

 

N-No way, this is, all the confirmed phantom beast gathered in one place…

 

“What’s wrong, Sofia-sama?”

 

“Eh?! Ah, no! I-It’s nothing!”

 

“Oh, really? If you are not feeling well, please tell me immediately.”

 

“Ah, yes. I’m fine. Th-Thank you for your concern…”

 

I was startled by the male knight who called out to me and hurriedly replied.

 

There is no proof that the phantoms have been completely gathered. If that’s the case, then I probably shouldn’t reveal too much information that might cause anxiety to the people around me.

 

I took a deep breath, calmed my mind, and resumed the purpose for which I had come to this place.

 

The reason we came here was to investigate this place with the town’s adventurers and knights.

 

I reported to the town’s guild that there was a Zero Field spell in this place, and asked if any of the adventurers belonging to the guild had set up a spell here.

 

As I suspected, none of them knew about Zero Field’s magic or the fact that a group of golems had appeared here.

 

If that was the case, then who had set up the magic here and activated it?

 

While I could see the shadow of a certain person behind this magic, I decided to investigate this place with the knights and adventurers to eliminate all possibilities.

 

Of course, the purpose of this investigation was to see if there was any connection to the phantoms.

 

However, the Adventurer’s Guild was not just investigating the place.

 

Some of the adventurers were crushing the golems and carrying them away, apparently to recover materials from the ice statues they were turning into.

 

Some adventurers have been crushing them and carrying them away. Golem bodies are excellent materials for armor.

 

They must have decided that there was no way to avoid collecting them.

 

Well, as far as we’re concerned, it’s one of the clues to find out what’s going on in the area, so if they take all the golems, we’ll be in trouble. So, I’m going to have the knights take some of them back.

 

Moreover, there was one material that could be harvested from the golem that I was curious about, so I needed to collect the golem as well.

 

“This, what is this?”

 

It was a blue crystalline object that shone like a jewel.