Going against the flow of people evacuating, I headed toward Sara’s mansion. First, I needed to confirm with Darga what exactly this "Calamity" was.

“Lord Masayoshi!”

“Mr. Darga, what on earth is happening?”

Today, there were noticeably fewer guards at the gates. Perhaps they were busy with evacuation preparations.

“I deeply apologize for telling you everything would be fine the other day. I never imagined the Calamity would change its course…”

“No, it’s okay. But what exactly is this Calamity?”

“Ah, right. Since Lord Masayoshi comes from a distant place, it makes sense you wouldn’t know about it. Here in this country, it’s something everyone is familiar with. Lord Masayoshi, are you aware of creatures called Mutated Beings?”

“Ah, yes.”

Not long ago, I had defeated a wolf-like Mutated Being in Bradley’s Forest. Wait, so this Calamity is just another Mutated Being? In that case, couldn’t it be defeated by gathering adventurers or knights?

“You are aware, then. The Calamity, however, is a very special type of Mutated Being—one could even call it a Mutation of Mutations...

Records indicate that this Mutated Being has existed for around 300 years, yet not a single person has ever successfully defeated it.”

Three hundred years?! What? Do Mutated Beings not have lifespans or something? Wait… three hundred years, you said? Could it be…

“Yes, not even the great Grand Mage Hardy was able to slay the Calamity.”

...Ah, this is a no-win scenario.

We moved to a different location so Darga could explain the situation in more detail.

Apparently, the Calamity first appeared roughly 300 years ago. Back then, there was a place similar to Bradley’s Forest in another country, where magic overflowed, and it was there that this Mutated Being emerged.

The country quickly organized a subjugation force to deal with it, but they failed to defeat the creature. They tried repeatedly, but every attempt ended in failure.

Strangely, however, there were zero casualties during these subjugation efforts. Normally, Mutated Beings have the trait of turning nearby monsters feral and becoming extremely aggressive themselves, but this particular one lacked those characteristics.

Instead, it would ignore the adventurers and knights attacking it and simply focus on eating leaves from the magical forest’s trees. Once it had consumed all the foliage, the Mutated Being slowly began to move, wandering freely across the continent ever since. It did not stop for villages or towns in its path; all that remained in its wake was rubble and devastation.

And so, it earned the name “Calamity.” Unable to stop its progress, everything in its path was inevitably destroyed. The only thing living beings could do was flee from its route.

“Still, it’s hard to believe even the Grand Mage couldn’t defeat it…”

The magic, skills, and levels I inherited from the Grand Mage have never failed me before. Even dragons and monsters from the Forest of Destruction were one-shots with advanced magic. But could there really exist a creature immune to such power?

“This Calamity has a unique ability that made it a particularly bad match for the Grand Mage.”

“A unique ability?”

The wolf-like Mutated Being I defeated had the unique ability to split into multiple bodies. Maybe every Mutated Being has some kind of unique skill?

“Its ability is the nullification of magic. No matter how powerful the spell, it is completely ineffective against the Calamity.”

...That’s rough. Even an Grand Mage would struggle against something immune to magic. Sure, it might still be possible to use physical enhancement magic, but even that apparently wasn’t enough.

“In that case, was there anyone skilled with swords—like a Sword Saint—who could handle it?”

“Many Sword Saints and skilled fighters challenged it, but the Calamity’s body is so massive and durable that all they could manage was to scratch its surface.”

Even Sword Saints could only scratch it? I’m just someone who inherited the Grand Mage’s power, and I can’t even fully utilize all of it. There’s no way I could defeat something the Grand Mage himself couldn’t handle.

“That said, it doesn’t attack people, so you can evacuate temporarily and return once it has passed. All we can do now is pray that it changes direction.

We’ll be evacuating with Lady Sara to the neighboring town for the time being. If you need anything, I’d ask you to visit us there.”

“Hmm, is there really nothing we can do? Like building a huge defensive wall in front of the town?”

“We’ve tried building walls several times, but for some reason, the Calamity doesn’t alter its course and just breaks through them.”

...What an annoying creature.

“What about setting a huge fire to burn it alive?”

“There are records of an entire mountain being set ablaze, but it wasn’t even slightly harmed.”

What are we supposed to do, then? Oh, wait… nothing can be done, which is why it’s been left alone for 300 years.

“In this country, we’ve resigned ourselves to treating it as a natural disaster. There are still those who take on the challenge of defeating it, even knowing it’s impossible. Since it doesn’t retaliate, perhaps you might want to give it a try as well.”

...Well, if it doesn’t fight back, maybe I’ll give it a shot.