Book 17 Chapter 5
She died as a human,
Beyond hazy love and separation (1)
“It’s certain. The Cheonggeon-jeok are digging up cemeteries all over the continent and moving them somewhere, and when we tracked their destination, it was <Simila>.”
That evening, the hero’s party obtained such information from a witch of the Witch Police Association (警務魔女會).
The Witch Police Association was not a group established by an individual but a police organization directly under the Witch Association, responsible for various duties such as policing, inspection, and auditing.
As they delved deeper into the Republic’s territory, they often received more help from the Witch Police Association than from the Magic Alliance or the Children of Gold.
“So that fox princess’s words were true… I thought she was trying to lure Lynn to a strange place.”
At Leesta’s murmur, Friede smirked, holding a long pipe in her mouth.
“Still, she’s a platinum-ranked mercenary, so she must have a lot of connections in the underworld. She’ll definitely be good at getting this kind of information.”
“Wasn’t Kyes also platinum-ranked?”
“What do you expect from that alcoholic burn victim?”
[(ㅠㅅㅜ)…]
At that moment, Lynn slammed her grimoire shut, then glared towards the southern grasslands… the <Simila> direction, scowling with irritation.
“I smell something….”
The [Reading Grimoire to a Cow’s Ear] mode was invincible to hearing and sight, but its training was still insufficient for smell.
What a smell of manure!
Since the <Simila> area was an agricultural region, the smell of cow dung and horse dung was horribly strong.
“……!”
“……!”
“……!”
However, at that one word, a current that sharpened their senses coursed through the minds of all members of the hero’s party.
‘Yes, if even the Witch Police Association knows about it, let alone the underworld…!’
‘Are they deliberately leaking information… to lure someone in?’
‘To express it as a smell, as expected of Lynn! Every single expression is so sophisticated!’
They were the hero’s party.
If evil was setting a trap to shed the blood of the innocent, then they had a calling to overcome that danger.
“Alright, then let’s head to <Simila>, where they’re collecting bones and grave soil.”
Leesta clenched her fist and looked back at her companions.
“But why on earth are they collecting dead people’s bones or grave soil?”
Lynn asked.
Since the [Reading Grimoire to a Cow’s Ear] mode had just ended, she was completely unaware of the current situation.
“Are you an idiot~ You don’t know that and you ask? Curious? This isn’t something we can talk about carelessly, so come here.”
As Lynn approached, Friede seemed about to whisper something in her ear… but suddenly yelled “Woah!” and startled Lynn.
“?!!!!!!!!!!!???????”
Lynn retreated at least 13 steps in bewilderment. A master!
“Hahahaha! They’re trying to summon ghosts! Vengeful spirits easily turn into ghosts, you see. So you be careful too. You have a constitution that easily attracts grudges, so it wouldn’t be strange if a ghost suddenly appeared and attacked you.”
Of course, there are no such things as ghosts. And that vengeful spirits turn into ghosts is all a lie!
It was just a normal prank, but Lynn’s reaction was somewhat strange.
Her eyes were trembling, and her teeth were chattering.
“D-don’t lie. Where are there such things as ghosts? Ghosts don’t exist. For a ghost to exist, it would have to constantly move at the same speed to maintain its phase coordinates within the speed of our planet, which constantly rotates and revolves, and that kind of thing is impossible.”
“Kyoo, Kyukyu, Kyukyukyukyukyut!”
As Lynn rattled off her words like a machine gun, even Sval trembled with fear and hid in Lynn’s arms!
What a bunch of cowards!
Seeing that reaction, an evil smile formed on Friede’s and Pipi’s lips.
“Oh? Oh, oh, oh, oh? You dream of being the [Strongest Mage], but you’re afraid of ghosts? The kind of coward who calls themselves [Strongest] but can’t even go to the bathroom alone at night?”
“Coward, coward, coward.”
“S-shut up! I won’t believe it unless you prove that ghosts move at the same speed as rotation and revolution to maintain constant coordinates.”
“Both of you, stop it now!”
Leesta yelled.
“We need to focus on what we have to do now. How long are we going to talk about ghosts? Are we still the hero’s party acting like this? Do you even have the will to stop the tragedies of this world?!”
Leesta’s outburst, a sight rarely seen from her, brought a fresh shock to Friede and Lynn. Friede gave an awkward cough.
“Sorry… The atmosphere suddenly got too heavy, so I just played a little prank to lighten it up.”
Then Leesta, who had been staring intensely, sighed in relief, sweeping her hand over her chest. The impatience that had been in her expression just moments before vanished instantly.
“It was a prank, right? Thank goodness! So ghosts really don’t exist, do they? Since it was a prank?”
“???”
“Can you tell me for sure? If the greatest priestess says so, then I won’t have to wake Lynn up every time I want to go to the bathroom at night!”
Lynn narrowed her eyes.
“Wait, you weren’t waking me up because you were afraid of being attacked while relieving yourself?”
“An attack from a ghost is still an attack! That’s the moment a lady is most vulnerable! And ‘relieving yourself’? Lynn! To become a true [Strongest], you have to choose every single word you use for a lady very carefully!”
What an absurd reversal of roles!
However, Lynn respected Leesta as the [Strongest], so this remark was taken very seriously by the boy.
“Then what should I say?”
“Leesta’s Happy Time? Or… Leesta’s Secret Time?”
“Then, to make it easy to distinguish, how about Yellow Time for small ones, and Brown Time for big ones?”
“That’s great! To think of distinguishing by color! Lynn really is a genius!”
“Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!”
“Ahahaha!”
“Kyukyukyukyut!”
Friede, who had been an audience member to the beginning and end of that absurd conversation, exchanged glances with Pipi and let out a hollow laugh.
“If I’m with these idiots, I feel like I could laugh even if it were right before the end of the world.”
At that moment, Kyes, who had been surveying the surroundings, suddenly gripped the bow of Cerwebon tightly.
‘No, was the smell Lynn mentioned from this direction?’
A strong smell of blood first pierced Kyes’s sense of smell, thoroughly trained as a hunter.
And soon, a child with an arrow through their back stumbled forward.
Friede screamed and ran over.
The child was about to collapse and die, looking as if all strength had left them, but Friede immediately began chanting a healing spell.
“What on earth… What bastard… would do this to an ordinary child not even ten years old…”
It was then that Friede was gritting her teeth, tears streaming down her face.
‘Huh?’
Kyes’s eyes, looking down at the child, narrowed, then suddenly opened wide, and his pupils trembled as if they might shatter at any moment.
‘These arrow fletchings… no, it couldn’t be.’
First-rate hunters personally fletch the arrows they will use, and their individuality is clearly evident primarily in the arrowheads and fletchings.
What animal’s feathers they use, and what length they are.
The way goose feathers are attached like this, no, surely not…?
“Kyes, where are you going! Hey, Kyes!”
Kyes ran at full speed, leaving his companions’ shouts behind.
Bloodstains, scent of blood.
All those traces supplemented the tracking information, so finding the village the child had fled from was not difficult.
‘This is….’
The village was a mess, with both humans and animals having their vital points pierced by arrows.
‘Broad-headed arrowheads… used for hunting fierce beasts, for this kind of massacre?’
Without some personal hatred or grudge backing it, such a brutal massacre seemed impossible.
Fwip…!
In the next instant, Kyes suddenly notched an arrow to Cerwebon and fired it, and no sooner had he done so than two arrows clashed in mid-air, exploding into particles of magic.
“……?”
With just this one moment of offense and defense, Kyes was able to pinpoint the opponent’s sniper position through the traces of magic.
Therefore, a new arrow was already notched to the bowstring of the White Spear Bow.
If he had just fired it, he could have overwhelmed his opponent as usual, but Kyes couldn’t release the string. He felt the strength drain from the hand holding the bow.
[How does it feel to see your dead lover return to life?]
The overgrown wild grass around the village swayed nervously in a sudden gust of wind. Gray clouds slowly drifted, seemingly about to cover the sun.
- Kyes!
The greatest blessing that had come into Kyes’s life.
Because it was a dazzling light that couldn’t even be described as the greatest.
Now was the moment the worst shadow cast over Kyes’s life appeared before his eyes.
‘Aena…?’