Chapter 10 [The Forest of Elves Dwelling]
TL : Cnine
ED/PF : akshaythedon
Part 1
「Goddamn it, for this Raus-sama to meet something like this… And just when I’m about to arrive at Phteah kingdom」I’m running into the forest when I encountered goblins on the highway during my journey toward Phteah kingdom for trading business.
Now, I want to add another complaint.
「What the hell are you doing, Knight of Phteah kingdom?」
Those knights were supposed to be protecting the area outside the castle such as the highway. And those demons appeared since they neglected their duties.
But, there’s no way I can get angry over such matters.
「Though I know that I have run quite a distance from the highway, where am I…」
The forest is the territory of the demons.And I never know when I will be ambushed by another demon like those goblins.
I have to return to the highway right away. Since more demons will appear when night descends.
I must enter the castle rampart by then.
So, I keep walking.
But, I couldn’t go back to the highway.
「My throat is quite parched…」
My throat is parched since I’m running away from the goblins as fast as I can.
「Nevertheless, why did they suddenly stop chasing after me?」
Goblin are nimble thanks to their short legs. So, I didn’t think that my plump self, who is already over his forties, can get away from them.
Well, I think it’s fine that way too. Since my life is spared, now I’m thirsty from all that chase.
「… A song？」
I heard a song when I kept walking.
As I headed toward the direction of the song, there was a huge fountain ahead of me.
And there was a naked girl whose lower half was immersed inside the fountain.
That girl was the one who was singing that song.
She has a beautiful voice. I’m unconsciously fascinated by her voice.
I unintentionally create a noise upon stepping on a wood branch.
「Who is there？」
Maybe because that beauty noticed the crackling sound, she’s looking toward my direction.
「M！ ！ My apologies！ ！ I didn’t have any intention to peep on you！ ！ I just came since I heard your beautiful singing voice…」
I make an excuse in hurry.
「No, it’s my fault for bathing in a place like this. How about you come to take a bath with me？」
That beauty is smiling at me without hiding her bare body.
I lost my ability to think anything as if a mist covered my head upon seeing her smile.
「No way, how can I take a bath with a beauty such as yourself！ ！ But, may I drink the water, I’m quite thirsty…」
So, I approach the fountain.
「I see. This fountain isn’t owned by anyone. Feel free to drink the water in it」
「I see. Well then, I hold back」
It feels nice since a beauty is saying “Go ahead” to me, right.
Moreover, I’m just thirsty. So, I won’t feel guilty from the bottom of my heart if I want to see her after coming even closer. So I say to myself.
She’s showing a friendly smile.
After arriving near the deep fountain, I bend over. But my eyes just won’t leave that beauty.
I’m scooping some of the fountain water with both of my hands. The water feels so nice, could it be it’s because a beauty is pickled in it？
Part 2
When I’m about to scoop water again, but at that instant, I feel something strange in my body.
「My body is…」
My body is paralyzed, I can’t move my hand. At that instant, I finally look into the fountain.
「WHA…！！ 」
There was a face of a huge demon inside of the fountain. That face is looking at me.
The instant I see that face, the mist that was shrouding my mind is cleared up in an instant.
That’s right, why would such a beauty be present in this kind of place. The forest is filled with this kind of demon.
Maybe that’s why I didn’t notice such an abnormal situation.
I forcibly raise my face to look at the beauty.
The beauty is smiling as if enjoying my plight.
That demon’s face is coming out from the fountain. That demon then opens its huge mouth.
「AAAh…」
I couldn’t do anything.
The demon face is already coming for me.
And then, I’m swallowed by the darkness.
「Ha~…. we didn’t make it today」
The fourth day after we left Nargol.
And I didn’t even come to the city from before.
We were in the middle of journey toward Holy Republic Lenaria where Reiji and the others live.
It seems there’s quite a distance from Nargol till Holy Republic Lenaria but, since the me in this world is capable of moving even faster than a horse, I’ve already covered two-thirds of the distance in these four days of journey.
Though I’ve not measured my movement speed, it might be more than 200 km/hr.
I became a superman in this world.
Since I’m doing a superhuman feat like those in the movies, I might be comparable to a superman for the people of this world.
I’m observing what kind of people live in this world during my journey.
I’m not using the humans of this world living in the surface as the standard.
There were countless cities closely resembling ancient Greece.
And then, outside the city walls where the demon were running rampant isn’t the world of humans.
The humans who live on the outskirts and within the city built a rampart.
And then there are highways which connect one city with another.
Since there’s a city-state resembling a village, a big city-state possessing their own satellite city also exist.
The form of governance also varied between republic and kingdom and such.
In short, the difference in the mayors of the city was in whether they were chosen by voting or by heredity.
There were countries where the nobility, whether the positions of mayor, vice-mayor, or section chief, were inherited, there were countries which only the position of mayor was inherited. Naturally, nobility also exist in republic countries.
The religion was naturally based on the gods of Elios.
According to Nut, even the people who live in the frontiers have faith in the gods of Elios, but it seems they were a savage tribe.
By the way, the population of the city-state called Phteah kingdom, which I’m stopping by for a short visit, is around 20 thousand people.
In the first place, those 20 thousand included only those who have citizenship, the population will increase even further if I have to include the ones who don’t have citizenship.
The ones who have citizenship are the people of this city-state, and the ones who don’t have it are considered foreigners.
That’s why, it won’t be that easy for someone without citizenship to enter the rampart.
Part 3
Well then, it brings us to circulation of the money. Due to the treaty between the countries, those with citizenship can easily enter the countries that have signed it. The human traffic will have more freedom by making several such treaties.
Naturally, a self-sufficient country with closed economic policy and completely isolating themselves without forming any treaty at all does exist.
By the way, for the me who didn’t possess any citizenship, I couldn’t enter any city by official means.
In that case, if one were to ask “Then what about your food and drinks along the journey until now?”
First, food is available in abundance in the forest, I can take things like pomegranate as much as I want.
There’s also a wide variety of fruits. Normal humans couldn’t live in this place, even if demons don’t exist here.
But as expected, I have no choice but to enter the rampart in case I want to eat something cooked with fire.
Entering quietly by flight magic and then stealing one meat skewer while apologizing to the shopkeeper.
Though I don’t need to do that if I have money, Modes didn’t have currency that was circulating in the world of humans.
I received gems to be exchanged for money when I leave Nargol, but since I[including Nut] didn’t know what I have to do with it since I don’t know the method to exchange it, it remained unused.
「Well then, what shall we do for today, Nut？」
So I asked Nut, my fellow traveler.
「How about secretly entering the city by using the shadow mantle？」
Though I can’t enter the city by formal means from the front, I can enter the city as long as I use the shadow mantle I received from Modes.
The mantle [with a hood attached on it] which I called as “this shadow mantle”, can act just like when I’m using invisibility magic and will also hide my face once I wear the hood.
The invisibility magic is a magic to erase one’s presence, the one using this magic will disappear from the perception of others.
But then, the invisibility magic won’t work on someone using detection magic or possessing detection skill; furthermore. once discovered, the invisibility magic will lose its effect.
And that was the same even with shadow mantle.
「No, let’s not touch that topic for now, the information about Reiji and the others was generally same as before」
Since our purpose is to collect information about Reiji and the others, we should go for a short visit to Holy Republic Lenaria where Reiji and the others are.
It was the same for the stories about Reiji and the others.
It seems that many people have been saved by Reiji and the others since they defeated a lot of demons.
Naturally, they received the gratitude of many people, too.
But, it seems there are also the people who feared them.
A fear toward someone who can wield that kind of power unbefitting of a human.
And it seems some amongst them also received damage from Reiji and the others.
Thus, I think that the stories about Reiji and the others won’t be that different even in Phteah kingdom. Since I don’t have money, I can’t enter Phteah kingdom and rest in the inn.
「Nut, Let’s camp in this area for today」
「Well then, shall I look for food and meal?」
「That’s right」
We should get some rest since the day will turn dark soon.
Fortunately, the forest around this vicinity is rich in natural resources, so there’s no way we’ll be troubled for food.
The demons also won’t approach me as long as I use barrier magic.
I keep walking into the forest, looking for food and water.
It was a while after I walked away from the camping ground.
I can hear a song coming from the deep forest.
「………… A song」
I tilt my head in confusion.
This place is inside of the forest where the demons are running rampant, so it was considered an abnormal situation when someone was singing in this kind of place.
「It’s a nice voice, isn’t it…」
Part 4
Nut is saying so with an entranced voice. He couldn’t think of anything.
「Don’t you want to go there, Diehart-sama？」
Nut is saying so while heading toward the direction of the voice.
Nut’s condition seems to be strange judging by his voice.
Somehow, he became like this after hearing this song.
「Understood, let’s go」
I wanted to see the owner of this voice too.
After walking for a while, we arrived at a vacant plot of land with a huge fountain.
There was a naked woman immersing herself in the fountain with her lower half inside the fountain; it seems this woman-like thing is the one singing this song.
「Who’s there？」
Maybe because she noticed our presence, the woman is looking at our direction.
「Ah, no… My apologies for disturbing your singing session. We were wondering who was singing with this wonderful voice」
I apologize. In fact, I am thinking, “Thank god my curiosity won over me, I got to see a rare thing.”
「It’s nothing, please don’t worry about it. How about you come to take a bath too？ 」
「No, we’ll refuse that offer. Well, we’ll excuse ourself then. Please continue your singing session」
When I’m about to leave.
「Diehart-sama. The water is so pretty. How about spending our night here？ 」
Nut, who remained on his place, is saying so.
「Nut, you can’t drink this water, you know. There’s poison mixed in the water」
「EEH, POISON！！ 」
Nut shouts with a surprised expression.
There’s poison, made of magic, mixed in the water of this fountain. It seems to be the type that will paralyze your body.
「Why that kind of poison is… Let’s rest for a while」
The woman’s saying so.
I could feel a bit of agitation in her words.
This woman is looking at myself like some kind of predator.
I became sensitive toward the gaze that neither had malice or hostile ever since I came to this world.
Even if, for example, we were separated by dozens metres, I can feel the malice as long as it’s being directed at me. According to Ruugas, it’s seems like enemy perception ability, but I don’t feel good at all on being exposed to such an unpleasant gaze.
Moreover, this woman is using charm magic upon us since a while ago.
That’s also the cause of such unpleasant feeling. Maybe, Nut becoming strange is also thanks to the song a while ago.
This woman might be a demon as I can’t feel anything on seeing her body[naked].
She was a demon that preyed on the charmed living beings that approached her because of her female-like human body and her song.
Naturally, I have no intention to be eaten by her.
But, I couldn’t get into the mood to fight this demon.
So, I’m thinking of leaving it alone. That’s why I want to leave this place immediately.
For that reason, I activate my intimidation so that she won’t be hostile toward us. Though we were frequently become targets for demons along with our journey, most of the demons will run away as long as I send my intimidation toward them.
But my prediction is way off, this woman shaped demon has turned even more hostile toward me.
「You bastard！！ 」
The woman’s expression twists into anger and a gigantic head of a beast suddenly comes out from the fountain. There are six beast heads that are rushing to attack me by stretching their long necks.
My prediction is way off, that beast didn’t have any intention to let me go. Moreover, its agility didn’t match its appearance.
「HA！！ 」
I’m avoiding one of the heads that come to attack me first and then kill it while drawing my sword.
「GUUUUUUUUUUUUU！ ！ HOW DARE A MERE HUMAN！ ！ ！ 」
The woman is showing an anguished expression. That face already lost all of its grace from a while back.
「YOU WRETCHED FOOOOOOD！！ ！ 」
~To Be Continue on Part 2~
