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Chapter 439: Without Any Explanation

Hmm, what to do~

I didn’t enter the house right away, but stayed under the eaves and stared at the garden while deep in thought. For some reason, the snowflakes that gently and quietly fell seemed warm.

Alright, let’s do the stuff that I don’t want to get caught doing first before calling Hauron. I’ll request the spirits in the fortress city’s temple to cut corners when they’re purifying the black 『Particles』. That will do for now.

The black spirits set off to harass the true culprits who purposely led the fief lord’s daughter and Ash’s team, who had been protecting her, deeper into the woods and spurred the monsters to attack them.

Dean and the other guys seemed to have dealt with some of those culprits, but there were still some of them left. The spy didn’t have any recollection of the adventurers being annihilated. On the contrary, the leader seemed healthy and all.

And so, I gave the greenlight for the black spirits to harass the remaining ones. I’m pretty sure there must be one or two more folks involved, although all I could see in the memories of the spy guy was the face of the person who handed him some powder that could attract the monsters.

Spy Guy kept his distance from that other guy once they were in the forest, plus everyone was wearing similar cloaks, so it’s hard to figure out their faces.

I didn’t specify a target, so the black spirits will also go after the adventurers who only ran away. They might not get possessed, but they’ll definitely feel the effects, and that’s fine! Since they only thought about running away, the black 『Particles』 will probably fade naturally once they’re back in the city anyway.

I’m not gonna let the 『Particles』fade that easily, though. Let them stew in those dark feelings for a while. Those black 『Particles』 don’t just make you aggressive; they also push you to hate yourself.

I 【Teleport】while harboring those evil thoughts. I’ve already been to the temple in the fortress city before, so I went directly to an empty room.

Ordinary folks are usually asleep at this time since it’s late, but it’s different here in the fortress city that’s full of bustling adventurers. Lights are still on in the rooms where they treat injuries and perform purifications.

『Good evening~ I have a small favor to ask. You can take a bit of mana from me, so can you go easy on purifying the black particles, please~ 』
Although spirits tend to favor rhythmic sounds so it’s usually better to speak out loud to increase the chances of getting their help, I still called out to them in my mind.

『What’s up~? 』
『Ah, it’s the person from five days ago! Goodeve ~ 』
『Fifth day person~! Good eve~ 』

The spirits began to swarm around me. I’m in the temple right now, so there must be someone around who has the Sight and I can’t stay for long anyway. It doesn’t have to be perfect, I just want to annoy them after all.

I gave mana to the spirits who agreed to my request, then I【Teleport】to get Hauron. It’s also night at Canum, so very few lights are still on.

「Knock knock. Hauron, you still up? 」
「Why do you have to say knock while you knock? Yeah, I’m still awake. 」
Hauron is usually still up at this time.

He takes short breaks during his waking hours so he only needs a bit of sleep, or so he says. I almost want to tell him how luxurious and pleasurable sleeping is.

「Are you free right now? Retze told me to take you with me. 」
「…Sounds so fishy already. Must I? 」
Hauron looked like he’s about to sigh!

「Want me to brief you about it first? 」
「No thanks. I’ll hear it from Noth or Retze. 」
Hauron looked dispirited with his half-lidded eyes staring at me as he rejected me right away.

Don’t you think you’re being too harsh on me?

「Huhu, I want to grab Wolf King and drag him into whatever mess this is, but I can’t just barge into a family guy’s house at this hour, can I… Alright, just get it on already. 」
Hauron squeezed his eyes shut.

Grand Sage, you can 【Teleport】yourself, so why are you afraid of 【Teleport】? I 【Teleport】while feeling perplexed.

「Okay, we’re here now. 」
We arrived at the second floor of the forest house.

「You really can teleport anywhere you want, huh ーit’s fine, it’s okay, I’m already used to it. I thought this skill is a secret skill of our clan, but yes, there’s no use clinging to the past. Yes, that’s it. 」
Hauron seemed to be having a breakdown already ーis he gonna be okay?

「No, wait, this bed frame ー that nightstand, that chest, that chair! 」
Hauron sounded slightly deflated at first, but he was so shocked by the end that you can almost see the exclamation marks in his tone.

「Wait, wait, wait, aren’t these the handiwork of the Earthkin…? And it’s relatively newly carved. 」
He was hunched so closely over the nightstand that he was almost pressing his nose on it.

「Yup, I had them made. 」
I told them how I wanted it made and they did it for me. Even the bathtub on the first floor is made by the Earthkins!

「… This is your house, isn’t it? 」
「Yup. 」
Hey, even I won’t abruptly break into somebody else’s house, you know. Well, temples and public buildings don’t count.

「Uwuwuwu, let’s regroup right away, right away. 」
He seemed to be groaning, but he immediately raised his head and then he faced me with determination.

But aren’t you the reason why we’re dilly-dallying here, Hauron? ー was what I thought as we descended the white stone stairs coated with plaster.

Hauron is huge, so it’s cramped, not that we can do anything about it. I built the forest house with the concept of tiny homes, after all.

「Oh dear, they’re asleep. 」
Hauron stopped on his tracks.

The shadow of the flickering fire in the hearth danced across the floor where everyone was sleeping.

「An unfamiliar face, huh. Okay, let’s wait until everyone is awake and we’ve had a chance to talk before waking this child up. 」
Hauron chanted a spell.

It goes like ー O may your slumber deepen, and until I utter the words of awakening, remain in slumber until the evening of the morrow ー I think.