Chapter 26 – Hiiieek!

Hiiieek!

——–

The house of Galles, the village chief of Helen Village.
‘All the children have returned.. What a relief.’
Although the Magician had rescued the children, some of them were in poor condition and were receiving treatment in the capital.

With Ruden’s son, brought by a member of the Green Guard who visited the village today, all the missing children have now returned to Helen Village.
“To think we’ve been treating such a benefactor badly, calling her a witch until now…. It’s truly shameful.”
I owe a debt of gratitude. One that can’t be repaid even over a lifetime.
Not just me, but all the people in our village.

‘I should gather the villagers and offer a formal apology.’
While complex emotions were filling my chest, I heard someone knocking on the front door.
Knock knock.
“Chief! It’s Smith.”

A familiar voice. It was Smith, who raises pigs in the village.
We’re usually on good terms and frequently visit each other, but it’s a bit unusual for him to come at such an early hour.
“Come in.”
As I gave permission to enter, Smith opened the door and came in.
…His expression was quite serious, suggesting this wasn’t just a casual visit.

“What brings you here? Sit down first.”
Despite Smith’s robust build, he seemed somewhat shrunk from before entering the house.
Considering Smith’s usually cheerful and straightforward personality, this felt a bit strange.

“Alright.”
Thump. Smith sat down silently at my invitation.
He soon began to explain the reason for his visit.
“Chief. Something’s strange… There seems to be… so-something around our village..”

Something?
Smith spoke to me with a trembling voice. Looking at him now, he seems scared… I wonder what could have happened.
To calm him down as he was visibly frightened, I first interrupted his words.
“Calm down a bit, and tell me slowly. What happened to make someone like you so scared?”

“Yes.. Thank you. It’s something I can’t understand with my common sense.. so I came to you, Chief.”
Sseup. After taking a deep breath, he seemed to calm down a bit and started speaking in a more composed voice than before.
“Starting two weeks ago, the pigs we were raising at our house began disappearing one by one. I think that’s when the strange things started..”

“…Couldn’t it be the work of wild animals? We’ve had such incidents before.”
About a year ago, a pack of wolves came down from the mountains and entered the village.
They kept preying on the livestock in the village, so we eventually requested the Adventurers’ Guild to drive away the wolf pack.

Thinking this might be a similar case, I cautiously suggested this to Smith, but he firmly shook his head.
“I thought so at first too…”
“You’re saying it’s not?”
“…Yes. As you know, Chief, if it were wolves, they wouldn’t just take one pig at a time, and even if they came, we wouldn’t fail to notice.”

“That’s true…”
Then could it be monsters? But it’s the same with monsters.
Our village is surrounded by a fence, and the villagers take turns keeping watch on a rotation.
It’s because monsters and beasts occasionally come down from the mountains, but as Smith said, if it were the work of monsters or beasts, it’s fair to say we would almost certainly know about it.

“Could it be… that you’re mistaken? Maybe you miscounted the pigs you’ve already sold or slaughtered…”
“No! Ah… I’m sorry for raising my voice. But, it’s really not that. We keep records of the number of pigs in a ledger.”
Smith raised his voice as if feeling wronged when I suggested he might be mistaken.
He immediately apologized to me, but judging from his reaction, it doesn’t seem like he’s mistaken.

If what Smith says is true, it’s certainly a strange occurrence.
Is that why he’s so scared?
Smith sitting in front of me still looks pale, seemingly frightened even as he speaks.

There must be another reason. As expected, Smith told me the reason he was terrified in a trembling voice.
“But… there’s another reason why I said there’s something in the village, Chief.”
“What is it..?”
“This morning, I discovered that another pig had disappeared. But this time, there were bloodstains left behind. My friend and I decided to follow these bloodstains.”

As he continued speaking, his complexion gradually became paler.
“The bloodstains led intermittently to the forest. My friend and I carefully moved forward. But…”
“But?”
“…When we came to our senses, we were at the entrance of the forest. No matter how many times we repeated it, when we opened our eyes, we were always at the entrance of the forest.”

——-

“…I’m sorry to say this, but at first, I thought Smith was mistaken. However, after other villagers, including myself, had the same experience, I couldn’t help but believe it.”
The village chief said this with a serious expression devoid of any humor.
According to him, even if you walk into the forest, when you come to your senses, you find yourself back at the entrance.

“Chief. When was the last time you entered the forest?”
“It was just about three days ago. Since then, livestock in the village have continued to disappear suddenly…”
I’ve grasped the general situation.

‘If what the chief says is true… It could be a barrier that distorts space.. or maybe, it’s a maze magic..’
Is some eccentric magician holed up in the forest doing research? But then, why the pigs?
‘I guess I’ll have to go see for myself……’

If it’s related to black magic, the situation could become very troublesome. Those kinds of beings harm their surroundings just by existing.
“Chief. For now, guide me to that forest.”
“Ri-right now?”
As the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot, it’s best to resolve such matters quickly.

“…Alright.”
The chief, who seemed a bit flustered for a moment, eventually got up and headed outside.
Before following him, I went to my room where Saya and Puel were.
“Mmm…. Sister?”
Puel greeted me, rubbing her eyes as if she had been sleeping until I came in.

“Puel. I’m going out for a bit, if I’m late, could you and Saya eat dinner first?”
“…I’ll make lunch and wait for you.”
Hmm. I should finish the job quickly before Puel makes lunch.
“Take care, Sister Ariel.”

After receiving Puel’s send-off, I headed towards the forest where the strange phenomenon was occurring, guided by the chief.

“Magician. This is the forest.”
The place the chief led me to was a forest located not far from the village. From the village center, it was located exactly opposite to my house.
“…There are bloodstains left.”
“Yes.. They weren’t there yesterday, so they must have appeared today…”

‘This… isn’t the work of a magician.’
I had my doubts even before arriving at the forest, but now I’m certain. The strange phenomenon in the forest is not the work of a magician─no, not human doing.
“Chief. You should go back to the village for now. It might be a bit dangerous.”
“Ye-yes? Understood.”

The barrier surrounding the forest might look like a normal magic barrier at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it’s not a barrier made up of normal magic patterns. The structure is complex, intertwined like a tangled ball of thread.
And there’s even a faint trace of demonic energy.
‘…Are they remnants of the Demon King’s army?’

I’m not sure how a demon race ended up flowing into this place, but at least the space distortion barrier stretched out in front of me was undoubtedly the work of the demon race.
After confirming that the chief had returned to the village, I moved my steps into the forest.

—–

A space distortion barrier is literally a barrier that distorts the space within it.
To give an easy-to-understand example, it’s like a barrier that makes the bathroom appear when you open the front door inside a house, and makes you go outside when you open the bathroom door.

‘To be able to cast a space distortion barrier of this scale, their level must be quite high…’
But the actual demonic energy felt is negligible. Unless they’re deliberately hiding their power, they might be a demon race specialized in this area.
“I’m back at the entrance again..”

As a result of heading into the forest without any countermeasures, I was back at the forest entrance as the chief had said.
Step step.
I slowly moved my steps again towards the depths of the forest.
The tall trees block the sunlight, making it quite dark despite being daytime.

With similarly looking trees and plants growing all around, it’s hard to distinguish the surroundings.
“…This tree should do.”
Finding a tree growing in a slightly unique shape, I magically saved the tree’s position coordinates.
Using those coordinates as a reference point, I was able to advance deep into the forest this time without returning to the entrance.

‘Is that… a house?’
After advancing for a while, a house began to appear in front of my eyes.
A crude house made by patching together planks.
Around it were scattered what looked like animal bones, and crucially, there were clear bloodstains on the ground, similar to those seen at the forest entrance.

‘Looks like I’ve arrived at the right place.’
Creak. Carefully opening the door, what I saw was an interior that couldn’t be called clean even as a polite lie.
Furniture placed randomly without any uniformity. And dirty dolls of unknown taste.

I briefly thought it might just be an abandoned house─but there were traces left all over indicating that someone had stayed here relatively recently.

‘There are definitely traces of demonic energy, but…’
While I was puzzled by the appearance that could be seen as just a house where people live, apart from being old and dirty… I felt the presence of a demon race behind me.
I hurriedly turned around to confirm its appearance.

“You…you?! How did you come here?!”
What I saw was the figure of a woman with light purple hair. A slightly familiar face.
‘…I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before..’
Ignoring the woman who looked flustered upon seeing me, I coolly observed the opponent.

The horns on the woman in front of me are similar to Saya’s horns but slightly different in appearance, and crucially, the demonic energy emanating from her.
All elements point to the woman in front of me being a demon race.
“You.. what are you?! That immense magic power…! Wa-wait!!!”

As soon as I was certain that the woman in front of me was a demon race and prepared to cast a spell, she hurriedly raised both hands.
“Hiiieek!!!! I-I surrender! Please spare me!”
The demon race begging me while kneeling down completely. Seeing her even taking the so-called dogeza posture, I’m at a loss for words.
‘What is this…..’