Multiple proficiency requirents fulfilled. [OklLuthiers Powers Lv. 4] [Terra Magic Lv. 3] [Storm Magic Lv. 2] [Sword Technique Lv. 8] [Whip Technique Lv. 7] [Crushing Technique Lv. 3] [Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 10] gained
Skill requirent fulfilled. [Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 10] evolved into [Detection Sensor Lv. 1]
Ability gained: [Ribcage]
Magic gained: [Rumbling Might] [Sylphids Cloak]
Eshreen Village.
That was the na of our destination. It took us a two days ride with a normal carriage to the east to reach it. Looking out of the carriage, I noticed that, while the village was located close to a large forest, unfortunately Estralias famous river, Gleislane, didnt flow through or close to it. Even our carriage driver inford how isolated it was, located at the end of this road.
If I were to guess, the village probably was so kind of a lumberjack village. There were so fields for cattle and pigs to graze, but without easy access to a large source of water or a talented water mage, they wouldnt be able to maintain large farmlands. That would cripple their inco, so they probably dealt with wood and furniture.
Well, this was just the opinion of a magnoble aristocrat, so it wasnt worth that much.
[You are underselling yourself, Ellaine.] Klea shook her telepathic head in exasperation.
[I am not. Any Greenveil noble, whether a young lord or lady, must learn how to manage their fief even if they arent the primary heir. Once you are married off, your partner will expect you to know fief managent well. I still rember my lessons, but Ive beco too rusty at this point.]
Traveling with Aurora demanded ti investnt in becoming stronger, and since I also worked with Saori and Haruka as our companys treasurers and rchants, I havent been able to keep up with my studies concerning land managent. I could give an educated guess, but anybody who was learned could have given you a similar answer.
Wakey, wakey, you three, its ti to work. As I was gazing at the landscape, Yorshka woke up Tatsuya, Kyouya, and Asaka. I had considered taking a nap as well, since Yorshka offered to keep watch, but I felt too nervous to do so.
After all, Yorshka told I would be leading this party, not her. She was simply our guard today and I had to lead this Quest to success. Nerve-wracking, honestly.
I thought Asaka would have wanted the role as she was Tatsuyas and Kyouyas party leader, but I guess not. Well, the latter two and I have been working together for a while now, so we should be able to do this.
Party Leader
Na: Ellaine Fiero Helvas Level: 67 Job: Terra Arcanist
Na: Tatsuya Nagata Level: 55 Job: Dragoon
Na: Kyouya Ishiigami Level: 55 Job: Bulwark Knight
Na: Asaka Hanazawa Level: 50 Job: Sacred Healer
Na: Yorshka Nordor Level: 132 Job: White-Winged Dragoon
Our party strength, excluding Yorshka, was middle to low C rank according to our average level. With Kleas assimilation and Tatsuyas [Druidification], we probably were a bit stronger, so this Quest should be easy enough to do. Still, arrogance bred complacency, and the tallest equerochs fell the hardest.
After we arrived at the village, we walked up to one of the villagers and asked him about the Quest we accepted, noting we were a hunter company.
Quest? I dont know what you are talking about, but if you adventurers want to talk about it, go to the chief. She probably knows, or sothing. The foxian man then gave us directions to the village chiefs house.
Weird, I thought. Considering how our clients usually made such a fuss about the Quest and how it was tornting their village, I thought the villagers would be more appreciative when we arrived. Or, at the very least, feel disappointed since the Quest had failed multiple tis already. However, we were t with confusion here.
I looked at the others and they shrugged, so we decided to et up with the chief. On our way, we looked around the village, noting how everything seed normal. The adults were working while the children either helped them or were taking a break, frolicking around with others of their age or with the animals. Strangely, the kids helping the adults didnt look related.
If this were Carine village, the people would have greeted and welcod as their young lady. I wondered if this fief belonged to anybody, or if it was sold to a yeoman. Then again, this wasnt Artorias. Estralia was a republic, not a feudal kingdom. The latter situation probably was more likely than the forr.
On our way, I began to notice that all the villagers we saw up until now were beastn. I couldnt see a single human, elf, or dwarf in sight. It was such an oddity for , as it was rare to see a community devoid of any humans in Artorias.
Carine village only had humans since we bordered the Lecartiglio duchy, and any beastman who wanted to immigrate into the Greenveil duchy would usually choose a place further away from the border. It also didnt help that we had so trouble with beastn hunters and rcenaries in the fief once, so the villages werent appreciative of beastn outside of Hestia and Saori.
The villages and towns we visited on our way to Gleisvale werent so racially homogenous either. There were plenty of humans and beastn there. It made wonder if the owner of this village was a beastn, too. Creating a community for your own people might be the reason for this villages creation.
Jeez, why are they all staring at us like this Tatsuya mumbled under his breath, but all four of us could hear him.
He was right. All the adults were glaring at us, making us feel unwelcod here. It was uncomfortable and I felt a desire to leave here, but I endured and pressed on.
Eventually, we made it to the house in question. And, going by the guards placed in front of it, there was no doubt that we were at the correct place.
Hmm? Asaka suddenly stopped moving for a second, drawing my attention. When I asked about it, Asaka simply stroked her hair. I dunno. Those guards and their armor look a bit similar to the ones I saw at that potion shop. You know which one.
The only store she could be talking about was the one Saori and Tasianna were investigating, the one we presud was related to the criminal syndicate nad The Resurrection. If Asakas intuition was correct, then why were those people here?
Welco, Lady Priestess! Please, co in with your companions.
Regardless of what Asaka said, we still went and t up with the chief of the village. And, as expected, the person was a beastn a female foxian to be exact. When we explained to her who we were and why we were here, the chief tilted her head and looked at us in confusion.
I am sorry, but I am not sure of what you are talking about. We never requested aid from the hunters guild for anything concerning a ghost, nor did we send an envoy to ask for more support. Who sent you here?
It was a great shock to everybody.
Uhm. I pulled out the commission paper and handed it over to her. Two older won. They called themselves Vivian and Phinea.
We dont have anybody with those nas, she stated without even looking at us, concentrating fully on the piece of parchnt. Were those two people beastn?
They had hoods on when they ca to us, but from what I saw and could sll, I dont think they were, no, Tatsuya answered for .
Then, you were lied to. Our village only allows beastn to live here. Humans are not allowed here outside for either trading or business; so, from the looks of it, I must ask you to leave, right now. And just like that, the chief handed us the paper back and imdiately wanted us to leave.
W-Wait, hold on, please! Kyouya protested. We were sure this Quest was legitimate. They even paid the reward money in advance for us, so this cannot be false. Please, we are only here to help.
As I said, you were tricked. There is nothing going on inside our forest outside of our lumberjacks and gatherers working for our monthly paynt to our landowner.
May I ask who they are? Asaka interjected.
Of course! Without any warning, the chiefs personality shifted around completely, changing from mildly hostile to friendly and bright. With a wide smile like a zealots, she began glorifying her fief owner. Lady Reajaen Resclave! Oh, our wonderful benefactor has been our guardian angel! No, she is the hero of us beastn! Yes, she will soon rise up in the senate and beco its president! And for that, we must work harder! To repay her kindness, Eshreen village must dedicate our bodies and minds to her!
W-Woah?! Resclave? Wasnt that the senator Hestia talked about and who invited her to their mansion?
O-Oh, I apologize She settled down, clearing her throat in embarrassnt for her outburst. That is all. I would like to ask you to leave since our community doesnt feel very comfortable around humans, so please dont take this too personally. Even if you were lied to, you still made your way to us to help, so at the very least, we could offer you so supplies for the way ho.
Oh no, dont worry about that. You dont have obligations. Asaka waved her hand. Uhm, before we leave, do you have anybody who needs healing? Ill do it for free if you cant pay back.
Oh, thank you for your offer, Lady Priestess, but I am sure none of our villagers are in need of a white grace. The alchemist manning the potion store next to my house provides us with enough potions. Recently, we also received a large supply of high-quality potions from our benefactor, so we are all healthy.
Hmm? Potions? Didnt we just sell a box full of Belzac herbs to the Resclaves? Did she just spend that much davi just to keep her villagers healthy? I-Impressive.
Belzac herbs werent cheap since they were the best dicinal herbs you could acquire from the western part of Altrust. Even if you diluted the finished product into a minor potion, it still would go for a good price amongst the nobility just because of its effectiveness.
Nobles would usually treat their serfs in case they were hurt or beca ill, since the peasantry technically belonged to the fief they were born in. They were our workers and turned our land into inco, while we nobles were honor-bound to protect them from anything short of a war. After all, we nobles had a duty to protect our land and peasants.
However, even Father and Mother, who were altruistic unlike other nobles, wouldnt think of spending Belzac herb potions on our people. It was overkill and a waste of money. It was more efficient to purchase more common Health potions or commission a bishop in case of an ergency like a plague.
Still, to see this in the country ruled through rchants, this Reajaen Resclave must be quite the person. A rchant would never invest this much if she didnt care about the community she created.
After the discussion with the chief, we left the village pretty quickly to avoid the villagers constant glares. I really didnt know what we humans did to make the whole village hate us so much, but it wasnt as if I could imagine it clearly. Would this happen all the ti in the Lecartiglio duchy?
So, what are we doing now? Kyouya asked after we had moved far away from the village and stopped at a nearby boulder to rest.
Not like we can do anything. Asaka shrugged. Jeez, I cant believe we just got kicked out like that, and after coming all the way to help. What the fuck is wrong with those people who tricked us to co all the way over here?
I had to agree, sighing at the prospect of explaining this to the others. Two days were wasted because sobody thought it would be funny to prank us like this. I was pretty sure the two won werent even called Vivian and Phinea! We wouldnt be able to track them down at this point anymore either.
Should we just leave through the portal? Tatsuya suggested, a grimace on his face. We wasted two days of travel since we couldnt use the nexus to teleport here, nor do we have good ways to fly over here. I was really itching for a cool ghost mission, but noooooo
I guess thats Da Yorshka?
As I was about to agree with Tatsuyas suggestion, I noticed Yorshka looking back at the village. She hadnt done a single thing since we arrived here, so I didnt give her presence much thought, but now I found her behavior a bit weird.
When I asked her what she was doing, she humd for a second before answering it with a What do you think expression. The village certainly is interesting, right? Not the beastn thing, but the fact they didnt have a sawmill or anything.
Huh? All four of us blurted out.
No sawmill? Kyouya looked at us with a brow raised. Wait, shes right. I didnt see a sawmill around at all, nor are there large amounts of felled trees inside the village.
Didnt she say they were a lumberjack village? Then shouldnt they be storing their logs sowhere close to a water source? I heard people stored their unworked lumber in water to prevent insects or fungus damaging them, Asaka noted.
Ive been to an actual lumber village before, I ntioned. They usually sll a mix of charcoal and old wood. These villages not only produce wood for their lords, but also charcoal to be used during winter. Large amounts of lumber have to be stored, since it was hard to make good charcoal or burn wood during the winter since they were usually moist.
I didnt sll that much charcoal or old wood, no more than most villages have, Tatsuya added, using his impressive sll by human standards to good use. If what youre saying is correct, then is it possible that their lumberyard is just deeper into the forest? That doesnt make it that strange, no?
Tatsuya gave a good point, cooling down our theory crafting, but apparently it didnt change Yorshkas expression at all. Was that not the correct answer?
When I questioned her about it, she simply shrugged. Youre the leader of this party, Ellaine. You should be the one to make the decision. We dont need to do anything here, if you think its better to go back. We dont have any obligations to stay here anymore, since the people we wanted to help dont need it.
She definitely knows sothing we missed. Or, had a feeling about it.
I turned around to Tatsuya and Kyouya. Both of them seed to share my thoughts, so we then looked over to Asaka. We asked her if she could send her onnikai to scout for us, and she obliged with a deep sigh, complaining how she wanted to take a dip into our hot spring already.
After a few clouds passed us, the onnikais ca back and inford Asaka of what happened. But, to her surprise, what they told her made her grimace.
Great She spat that out. The four detected so death auras deeper into the forest. They presud they were onnikais and ca back.
Change of plans.
We decided we would investigate this situation further, just to quench our own curiosity. Did those two won send us here for a reason or was it all just a joke? After all, they did pay in advance.
However, as we didnt want the villagers to find us out, as they were already quite hostile with us, we decided to go exploring during the night. We returned to the [Room] nexus by using my runes, where I was planning on updating Hestia and the others about the situation. However, the only people inside it were only Josine and Svena.
Lady Hestia went sightseeing with the empress and the wyverns while Miss Saori went to the port, Svena answered. Our hunter group is currently out working and Miss Tamae ntioned taking the chefs and waiters out to buy produce. I believe we are the only ones around now, Lady Ellaine.
I see then please inform Hestia and the others as soon as possible. Josine, could you fetch us sothing to eat and prepare the hotspring?
Without a question, My Lady.
We took a long break inside the nexus as we hid the runes in a safe spot, but, despite staying there until the afternoon, none of the others had returned. Without Hestia around, we couldnt teleport back to Gleisvale, so this was a predicant we couldnt solve.
Therefore, we decided to leave the rest to Josine and Svena. We returned back to the outskirts of the village and scouted around until it was pitch-black. Since neither Hestia nor Saori ca to talk to us, it ant they still werent ho yet. As such, it was ti for us to leave.
Everybody, here. I handed everybody a black robe for them to wear. We shouldnt get caught tonight, so staying inconspicuous was for the best.
Asaka changed from her white robes and Kyouya had to take off so of his plate armor to not let the tal rattle too much. Yorshka was the only one who took off her armor completely, since it was made of silver scales. To further avoid detection, she also went back to her complete human state with [Humanize]. I then cast [Air Shield] around us and moved towards the opening the onnikais found for us.
With the night sky so dark and without a source of light, Yorshka led us forward with her [Night Vision]. It was peaceful, to say the least. I couldnt detect anything larger than a rabbit or fox with my [Detection Sensor]. Maybe the forest was empty and there were only lingering onnikai auras around?
But, after a long trek, Yorshka halted us and told us to sense what was in front of us. I sneaked up closer, as I couldnt sense anything, until Tatsuya and I stopped together. We opened our eyes wide.
Multiple large signals. All placed together. I pointed at the three large groups.
Tatsuya nodded. Yeah, so of the signals were moving around the different groups, while others were standing still completely. Sleeping, maybe?
Kyouya and Asaka nodded in confirmation. While moving from one tree to the other, using the darkness as our veil, the sight of fire eventually beca clear to us. The more we approached the location, the more it beca obvious this was a small village.
There were guards holding torches moving from the three houses in the area, revealing how tall they were in size. Around three floors with a large enough area for a dium-sized store. Curiosity began to fill my chest as the mystery of this place proved harder to resist.
[Ellaine, go and take a look. Im pretty curious with whats going on there!] Klea suggested to in an excited tone of voice. Since Klea was an extre hedonist, when her interest was piqued, she wouldnt stop annoying until I did what she wanted.
She didnt need to tell to do sothing I wanted to do myself.
Inside the [Air Shield], we talked it over and decided that Tatsuya and I would go and check if this really was a village or not. anwhile, Yorshka would use her own [Air Shield] to keep Kyouya and Asaka safe. The latter also wanted to send her onnikais out to scout ahead, as they ntioned that death aura from before was close by.
Tatsuya and I separated from each other to inspect different houses. Since his armor was less clunky, he would make fewer noises than mine. With the sound of my footsteps and armor dulled by the wind barrier, I managed to avoid the sights of the guards and remained undetected until I was right underneath an opened window on the second floor.
Musclemass.
I surrounded my arms in black fleshy tendrils. Without assimilating with Klea, I couldnt cover my whole body in it like armor. Still, it was enough for what I wanted to do.
Using the claws on my gauntlets, I slowly climbed up the wooden building, hoping the guards didnt suddenly turn around the corner. Once I was at the window, I slowly peeked my eyes through it. There, I saw multiple beastn in patchwork clothing sleeping in three extrely large, multi-n beds.
Children, adolescents, n, and won all shared the room together. Not only were there katzunes, wolfkins, aegosas, arvisians, foxians, and so many others here, most of them didnt look related in the slightest.
Through my [Air Shield], I couldnt hear anything, but by squinting my eyes and using [Night Vision], I could see into the room; it seems that they were all quite soundly asleep.. However, this glance inside only lasted for only a few more seconds since I noticed the light of a torch slowly appearing.
With my increased strength with [Musclemass], I quickly scaled up to the roof, hiding there from a guards eyes. Breathing a sigh in relief, I looked over the other buildings as I turned my head. From up here, I could see an opened window at the building next to . Seeing as I was safe here for now, I disabled my wind barrier, wanting to hear what was going on around .
Uuuuuuurghhhh!
And that was the first thing I heard a pained cry coming from behind that window.
Shuffling around, I angled my eyes where I could look through it. A small candle was lighting up the room, where a beastman in a black tal armor or suit was doing sothing to another beastn lying on a bed.
The forr was holding sothing close to the latters body, pulling my attention to the bright blue tattoo plastered there. While not always true, usually seeing such a blue runic tattoo could only an one thing.
A slave.
Uuurrrrrrrrrghhhh! The latter beastman groaned and struggled.
Hold on, are they trying to forcefully break a slave mark?! Thats insane! Youll destroy his mana paths!
Slave tattoos had a cruel failsafe in case as slave attempted to break their bond without destroying the slave contract holding control over it. The destruction of your mana paths and also a surge of pain so intense you wished you would die. This was what I was taught in the Royal Academy, and it was later confird when I talked with Gael about it.
And now, I was watching sobody trying to destroy this slave mark despite all of that.
Hmm?
The door inside the room suddenly opened, where I saw a woman enter. A woman I recognize imdiately as Eshreen villages chief!
Hold on, is she involved in this? Wait, is the village itself just a front for all of this?! What?!
As I was panicking at what I just found out, I heard Tatsuyas voice enter my head through [Telepathy]. I turned my head around until I saw him waving his hand at inside the forest. I recast [Air Shield] around and jumped down the building, using [Featherfall] to nullify any fall damage.
Rolling on the ground, I pounced right into the forest and imdiately hid behind a tree. When I was safe, I took a mont to look around, making sure I was safe before I moved over to Tatsuya. We then rejoined the others, where we told them what we found.
In my building, there were a quite a few people with slaves marks on them. They were sleeping with other beastn in a huge bed, but that was about it, Tatsuya started.
Really? Similar to mine then, although I didnt see anybody with a slave mark, I added before telling everybody about the last building.
Hold on, the village chief was here? Kyouyas eyes widened, jaw agape. Then, we were right! The first village really was a front to hide all the slaves here!
But Ellaine said they were breaking the slave marks on that one man. Asaka cald Kyouya down for a mont. If this were a slavers den, then all those beastn should have had a runic tattoo or two on them, but most of them didnt, right? Or, did you not see them through their clothes? Depending on what you two actually saw, then the situation changes dramatically.
Dont forget, guys, this village is supposedly owned by the Resclaves, Yorshka interjected. I dont know exactly what is going on, but sothing is. The onnikais just ca back before you two did. Tatsuya. Ellaine. They pointed out how the death aura was far stronger the deeper you go into this place and that they believed they saw one or two there. Also, check this out.
Yorshka pointed at a plant below her feet, which I recognized as a macula plant. Yorska then instructed to plant one of my macula seeds in the ground to check the mana levels. Obeying her, I did so, only to see the plant quickly mature with a full sac of mana water.
Macula plants were the primary way for mages to check on the mana accumulation in the ground and to extract it before it accidentally spawns a strong monster. If the plant matured this fast, it could only an that the area had enough mana to spawn a C rank monster! In other words, it was dangerous here.
And they still havent removed it. This situation is so similar to Shatureins. What are they doing here for so much mana to accumulate?
Without Saori or her shadow pack around, intruding into the buildings to find docunts was too risky. We needed a dark mage to do this properly. As such, we had to give up on that idea for now and move deeper, towards the place the onnkai wanted us to go to.
Shit! Catch her! We suddenly heard as we approached. It was a mans voice.
Should we hurry? Tatsuya asked, unsheathing his spear, but I told him not to.
Our goal was to stay inconspicuous for now, since if the people recognized us, they could inform the Resclavse about it and get Hestia in trouble. If the Resurrection was also involved in all of this, then we needed to stay silent even more! We couldnt sabotage what Saori and Tasianna had been working on.
How ironic that we ca here to investigate ghosts, only to act like those invisible faefolk ourselves. But, it was for the best to find out the truth behind all of this.
Bariiing!
The loud sound of tal bending and breaking echoed through the forest, followed by multiple loud Gruooooooooohk roars. Large signals suddenly entered the edge of my [Detection Sensor], all running towards four targets.
Monsters!
All of you, to the sides, Yorshka commanded and drew us away from the chased group.
Although it pained to leave them like that, I still obeyed, having to convince myself to stay unseen and undetected. As we moved away, we noticed three large bears with stone skin running over a guard before throwing him away like a doll. The three remaining ones unsheathed their weapons and charged at the one closest to them, swinging ther blades at it before realizing their weapons couldnt do any damage.
Avoiding the bears counters, the guards quickly went over to the injured one. One guard grabbed him and all three ran away as fast as they could, while the bears were in hot pursuit.
Still confused at what just happened, we shook it off and ignored them, venturing closer to where all those things originated from. But, once we ca close to a large tal wall, my [Danger Perception] warned of an incoming attack.
In the next second, a loud explosion ruptured the tal wall, sending shards flying at us. Yorshka quickly built a barrier made with her silver scales to protect us, but another explosion shook the ground again, creating a large smokescreen around us.
However, this wasnt all, for nothing was stopping this catastrophic situation.
Grrruuuuuuuugk! For there were more bears incoming.
Dammit! Move! I heard Yorshkas voice followed by Tatsuyas, only for him to crash against . Your four! Find a safe space and open up the portal! I think we just hit the jackpot here, so get more support or get the hell out!
Da Yorshka, we can help! I heard Kyouya protesting while a sword was unsheathed.
Gruuuuoh! Grruooooooeeeek!
How many [Stone-Skinned Grizzly]s are around?!
The loud roars of bears erupted around us, only for so of it to get drowned out by the sound of flesh and bone tearing along with the death cries of these monsters. However, we couldn't afford to listen to it as another bomb exploded again.
Arck! Grab onto sobody!
With the bears roaring out in pain, I told myself What is all of this?! before grabbing whoever I could and dragging them away from the smoke with [Musclemass]. Yorshka could defend herself, but with all this noise around, I couldnt concentrate on creating a defensive wall. I need ti to collect my thoughts.
[Hey, Ellaine, stop!]
With the adrenaline motivating to run, I ran and ran without stopping until Klea told to stop. With heavy breath, I turned around, noticing Kyouya and Tatsuya were the ones I had grabbed onto; however, I couldnt see Asaka anywhere.
Shit!
I turned to my party bracelet, bringing up the party nu to check on Yorshka and Asaka.
Na: Asaka Hanazawa Level: 50 Job: Sacred Healer
Na: Yorshka Nordor Level: 132 Job: White-Winged Dragoon
Oh, thank goodness!
Both were unhard, having received no Health damage at all. In other words, Asaka probably stayed behind with Yorshka since neither Tatsuya nor Kyouya grabbed her in ti.
What the hell is wrong with you?! Tatsuya shouted at as he recovered his breath. We told you to stop! Why didnt you?! Arck, my back!
Apparently, I had dragged both of them against the ground, and, on the way, Tatsuya crashed against a tree root, hurting his back. Understanding what I did, I quickly apologized to both of them, telling them I was too focused on running away to hear them.
Argh, dammit, we need to go back, Kyouya told us before taking out his [Room] runes. Lets get so support for now and then get Asaka-san and Da Yorshka before they get hurt. Lets g
Halt!
Our bodies froze up by that imposing voice. Despite wanting to turn my head around, I couldnt. It was as if I had lost complete control over my body.
[You] I could hear Kleas words right now, sensing the rising excitent and anxiousness in the demon.
Turn around, young mortals. This trial will start now.
Without resisting it, our bodies turned, facing a tall, gray-skinned elven woman with a giant hamr. And I wasnt exaggerating when I called it giant, as not only was the handle as tall as she was, but the hamr head was around half its size again. It was truly humongous.
Here, wear this now. The woman threw three necklaces to each of us, and as just like before, our bodies against our consent to grab them. Each amulet has ten protective charms against my attacks. If all 30 charges are used up, you will fail this trail. On the other hand, to defeat , you must land at least one hit on .
What?! Trial?! 30 hits?! What is going one?!
If you succeed in defeating , I shall grant each of you with a certain blessing or prize; however, if you were to fail or if the girl loses control of that damn demon, then I will forever end lusts endless desires right here, right now!
WHAT?!
[Hiehiehie How sly of you to lead us into this trap. Now I get it, it was you three, huh? The three daughters of the night! You led us here! Right, Kronnaz?!]
The woman let go of her hamr, shaking the whole ground with a mighty earthquake before assuming a fighting stance with her bare hands. Let this divine trial begin! I, the Goddess of Vengeance and Grudges, will now test you three mortals! Overco and earn my favor!
Trial of the Goddess of Vengeance and Grudges has begun. Fulfill the requirents to succeed!
Once that system ssage appeared, we regained full control of our bodies.
WHAT?!
Urgh
I looked around myself. The dust and dirt clouds were nowhere to be seen, but I could still hear the sounds of bears rampaging around in the rain of explosions farther away. I wasnt inside the cloud anymore, but I did notice that the four fenrir onnikais had erected a barrier around .
When was I knocked unconscious?
[You four? Where are the others?] I asked those spirits.
[You are awake, Asaka. We protected you.] One of them spoke but I didnt answer back, prompting another to reply properly.
[The others are separated. Three to the east. The strong one is fighting like a monster-possessed against the bears. You missed when you gained a level.]
I did? Oh, yeah, I just leveled up to 51. Wow, Yorshka can fight all those bears despite all the explosions? Urgh, no, wait, where are they coming from.
I stood up, dusting myself clean before trying to grab sothing from my satchel, only to rember I had forgotten to ask Hestia to give a pair of [Room] runes. I facepald. The other four had a copy since we were traveling so far away from the others, but I couldnt believe I procrastinate so long to ask the little princess about getting my own.
Dammit. Laziness isnt an excuse for this shit
I shook my head. What happened, happened. It would be better to find Ellaine and the boys and retreat back into the subspace instead of complaining about things right now. I could do that later on in my dairy.
I brought up my party bracelet and activated the party mber location function, receiving information where the three were. As I made my way over there, fully trusting Yorshkas ability to defend herself, I noticed sobody was standing a bit further away from .
Now sneaking, I went closer to the target, preparing my onnikai to protect , but, for so reason, they told to go closer to the stranger instead. That there was threat at all. I couldnt understand what they were going on about, but from my ti with them, I knew they couldnt allow to get hurt until Segawa visited her gramps.
Dammit.
I reluctantly trusted them and revealed myself from a bush, only to see a young girl in front of , having her back turned to . Wondering what the hell she was doing here, I frowned and moved closer. I had to tell her to get away now otherwise she might get hurt.
Hey, little girl, you need to go now! Dont you hear all that action, itll get bad, so lets move! I tapped on her shoulder, not wanting to scare her too much by grabbing her arm.
Hmm? Oh, sorry! The girl sounded excited for no reason, before jolting her body ar
Oh shi Mhmmk!
Without any warning, I shrieked only to stop myself before going too shrill. I didnt do it for no reason, though. No, not at all. The girl When the girl turned around, she showed her true appearance.
A bitten-off eyeball hanging loosely from her socket, while a section of her jaw was rotten and had worms feasting on it like a decaying piece of at. White and green mold could be seen covering her other eye. Outside of that, she looked mostly normal, albeit her clothing was in complete tatters, showing so of her red skin.
Improper! What is this crap?! Where are her parents and why didnt they give her sothing better to wear!
Miss? The girls initial smile turned into an agape mouth as she tilted her head. Are you scared of like our capturers?
C-Capturers? I managed to eked out, but the girl completely ignored as her eyes, or whatever remained of them, stared at the four onnikais I had.
Wow! You must be a faemancer! You are a friend of onnikais! You must be a friend of us and Goddess Ilsaphone then! Are you the one her holiness sent to et us, Miss?
Wha Still confused about everything, I couldnt answer what she was trying to say, but before I could sort out my thoughts, she suddenly pushed .
You need to go! The bad people are coming back! Hide! Hide!
She pushed and pushed, and my body just complied since my mind was on autopilot. As I hid in a bush, she told she would be waiting for . As she ran back to the spot, two of the guards from before appeared from the trees, complaining how long it took to find her after all the attacks.
Dammit, you little runt! Did all of you really have to increase the mana level around here to spawn those things?! So of us died from all of that! One of them shouted. Our leader had to waste all those bombs to kill those bears! Honestly, I had enough of you damn zombies!
Hold on, isnt that the sa armor those Resurrec
Kaslashed!
Mhmmk!
With one quick swipe, the guard used his sword to slash off the small girls legs before digging the blade deep into her head. Black sli suddenly oozed out from her legs and the two guards clicked their tongues before dragging the now lifeless body away while still attached to the weapon.
What is wrong with those people! Oh my god, she was still just a kid! How could they! Fucking monsters! Fuck them!
And without listening to the calming words of the onnikai fenrirs, I jumped right onto my feet and imbued my mace with holy powers.
[Asaka! That girl was an onnikai inhabiting a body like the successors garms!]
You bastard are about to learn what it ans to wake up with a cracked skull!
A note from AbyssRaven
This is very much like a horror story, huh? Well, at least Asaka's side of the story.
If you guys want to support , Hestia and "A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale" (or just read up to 20 advance chapters any Patreon-only chapters) please check out my Patreon: Rawr!
For two dollars, for the cost of a coffee, you can read up to four chapters for the whole month! You will have my eternal gratitude for any support you can give ! Please.
Thank you for reading this chapter.
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