To Moonsbow Forest – Part 02
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Translator: Kell
“Wait, wait, wait, hold up. You just went from zero to a hundred real quick there.”
“No, I didn’t!”
“You clearly did! Just drop the nonsense and go back to bed.” I shooed her away.
Lily picked up a rock and threw it at me. “I wrote a farewell letter. I said I’m going on a trip. That they don’t need to worry. I’ll come back one day.”
“Rip it up and toss it away.”
“I won’t! I’ve decided that I’m going with you!”
“Listen. If you come with us, I’m not going to treat you as well as your parents do. If I think you’re in my way, I’ll leave you behind. If the situation calls for it, I’ll even let you die.”
“That’s okay.”
“Moreover, we’re traveling with a real witch and a priest who despises Beastfallen. We’re up against people who see humans as nothing but tools. Hell, I’m surprised I’m still alive right now. It’s that dangerous.”
“Well, I’m still going! Even if you say no, I’ll follow you on my own!”
“Quit being unreasonable.”
“You can’t run away from me. I have lots of friends. I can find you wherever you go!”
Ah, shit. That’s the face of stubbornness. She’ll follow us no matter what I say.
I was at my wits’ end. Now what? Should I scare her away? Or maybe verbally abuse her?
She’d probably go crying back to her parents.
“I’m used to people not liking me,” she said. “So I don’t mind if you say bad things about me.”
Damn it. Is everyone a mindreader now?
“It’s real dangerous out there, you know,” I said. “You might die.”
“It’s dangerous now too.”
“No, it’s not!”
“It is. Our house was set on fire before because people wanted the rat gone. This time too. If I wasn’t here, mom and dad wouldn’t have been hurt. So I will become strong. I will be strong enough to protect mom and dad. But for now, they’re safe without me around.”
Her voice was firm. It was a perfect declaration of her resolve. No matter what I said, Lily was going to follow me.
I had only one thing to say at this point. “Knock yourself out. I’m not gonna take care of you, though.”
Lily jumped to her feet and pulled out a linen bag filled with her belongings from the shed.
Thoroughly prepared, I must say.
I didn’t feel like saying anything else, so we headed back to the house, where I found Zero standing out front. The priest was beside her, ready to leave.
“What’s going on here?” I asked.
“‘When we woke up, they were already gone.’ Does that not sound very fitting for our party?” Zero replied.
I looked over at the priest, expecting a serious answer.
“I can move easier at night,” he said.
Self-centered ass.
“What’s with the rat?” he asked.
“Oh, uh…”
“I’m coming with you!” she exclaimed.
Zero and the priest were taken aback.
“Wh-What? You must be joking!” the priest said. “I would never travel with a rat!”
Saw that one coming. There was no way the guy who hated Beastfallen would ever welcome another one to the party.
“I see no problem with it,” Zero said. “The more, the merrier.”
“How is having more Beastfallen not a problem?!”
“I think she can be an asset,” I said.
“Asset?” The priest regarded Lily as though he was looking at vermin.
He had no idea that Lily could summon a swarm of rats and sick them at enemies.
“She’s free to go wherever she wants,” I said. “We can’t really stop her from tagging along, and as long as she doesn’t hinder us, we just have to let her be.”
“Her very existence is a hindrance,” the priest said firmly.
Lily puffed up her cheeks, but she didn’t throw a stone this time.
She actually chooses who to attack. Smart, despite appearances. Hmm… If the priest doesn’t want her around, then I guess there’s a benefit to bringing her.
I suddenly felt great about having Lily along for the trip.
“I quite like how simple-minded you are,” Zero said, a gentle smile on her face.
I ignored her comments. The priest was still grumbling, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of taking drastic measures to get rid of Lily, so I decided to leave him alone.
“All right, then,” I said. “Let’s go to Moonsbow Forest.”
Sanare said that He gave orders to Cestum, and “He” was what people called Thirteenth back in Wenias.
I had no idea if Sanare was referring to Thirteenth, but one thing was certain: they could use forced summoning, a technique that only he could use.
We needed to extract information out of Thirteenth. If we couldn’t, then so be it. I wanted to make sure that Thirteenth wasn’t an enemy.
Moonsbow Forest was a forest of witches located in a land with no ruler, where no human dared to tread.
Countless surveys had been attempted by the Church, but once they entered, they got lost, never to leave again.
Zero strolled onward with easy steps. The moment she entered the forest, she took off her shoes, removed her hood, and stepped on the soft mulch with the imposing stride of a king.
Lily was on my shoulder, or rather, almost on my head. With her small size, she walked slowly, so when there was room, I carried her and Zero.
Lily insisted on walking on her own, but it was uncomfortable watching her constantly scuttling to catch up to us.
“Why does it look like someone bombed the place?” I asked. “Feels like there was a war here.”
The forest was calm and quiet, and the air felt mystic, but trees had snapped in places, as if destroyed by an explosion.
“I did it,” Zero said without a hint of shame. “Thirteenth set up layers of wards to keep me in the forest. In order to get out, I had to blow them up along with the place. That is why there are traces of destruction.”
“Your sibling quarrel always happens in a grand scale.”
“Sibling? Does Zero have a brother?” Lily asked.
“That’s news to me,” the priest added.
Frowning, I looked at the priest. “Lily I can understand, but didn’t we tell you about it already?”
“You told me we were going to see a sorcerer named Thirteenth.”
“So Thirteenth is… Oh, right. You’ve never met Thirteenth. Ah, you make me jealous.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, he’s not the kind of guy you want to meet.”
We’d informed the priest about how Thirteenth brought Magic to Wenias and started a war, and that he might be involved in the saint’s case and what happened in Black Dragon Island.
But I didn’t tell him about Zero’s relationship with him, or any other details for that matter, because I didn’t think it was necessary.
“Are you curious about a witch’s family matters?”
“I wouldn’t say curious… It’s just that I didn’t think witches were “humans” too until recently. I’m just a little surprised.”
Nothing wrong with his reaction. I used to hate witches before I met Zero, and I never imagined witches eating food or taking a bath.
And I never, ever thought they had families.
Zero smiled. “Human, huh? I feel somewhat embarrassed hearing that from a churchman. I hope your impression remains the same when you met Thirteenth.”
“He’s quite inhuman,” I added. “In more ways than one.”
I didn’t want him as an enemy, but I didn’t want to be friends with him either. In other words, I didn’t want to have anything to do with the guy. I could not stand Thirteenth at all.
After walking through the forest for a while, we came to a particularly neglected area. There were snapped trees all around, and the ground had been hollowed. It was a mess.
In front of us stood a tall cliff, part of which had collapsed, and there was a hole in the collapsed part.
“Is that it?” I asked.
“Yes,” Zero replied.
I could not believe what I was seeing. “You should put a little more effort in hiding it.”
“Normal humans cannot come all the way here to begin with. Not even a strong beast warrior or a Church adjudicator. Welcome to the cellar. It has been centuries since the Murky Darkness school was established in this land, and you are the first non-witch guests to visit these woods.”
All four of us stepped into the cave through the gaping hole. As we proceeded deeper, the ceiling of the cave became higher, and the path wider. Eventually the path ended, and we came to a huge open space.
Too vast to be called a cellar, it was an awe-inspiring limestone cavern. Countless caves stretched out in all directions. It was bright too. I looked up to see shining moss stuck to the ceiling.
“Wow!” Lily exclaimed. “So pretty!”
“You call this a cellar? You sure it’s not an underground empire?”
“In the past, when there were still many witches here, it certainly looked like a whole nation. Now there is only Thirteenth and his disciples. Strange, though. There is no sign of them.”
“They’re not here?”
“Hmm… Thirteenth! It is me! Where are you hiding?”
An eye opened. We turned our heads to the ceiling. An eyeball was staring at us.
The eeriness and horror of it made my fur stand on end, from my ears to the tip of my tail.
“Shit. For a second there, I felt a little nostalgic,” I said.
“That reminds me. You first met Thirteenth like this,” Zero added.
“What a big eye!” Lily squealed.
“How can you all be so calm?!” the priest said. “I’m using all my willpower to hold myself back from screaming!”
“I’m actually more surprised that you can withstand this situation with only willpower,” I said. “And Lily, you’re really tougher than you look. Now both of you, grab Zero’s hand! We’re gonna fall!”
I could see what was going to happen next.
The floor lit. The world collapsed. The ground vanished, and I was thrown into the darkness. It felt like I was falling forever.
A forced summoning—Thirteenth’s signature move, where he forcefully summoned someone to an unknown place.
I hope we’re not being summoned in the middle of enemy territory.
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