To That Forest ③: The Abandoned Village Church.
Mr. Agaro was a little late due to a hangover, but once assembled, we headed for the forest.
And so, without any particular incident, we arrived at That Forest.
It was a strangely open area, with a small, crude bridge crossing a dried-up river.
“……”
As I crossed the bridge, I looked back. This was where the Black Knight and I had fought.
He turned to ash and vanished, leaving nothing behind. Still, it was definitely here that I…
“Wafu, Lord Wof? Is something wrong?”
Juicy peeked up at my face from below.
“Ah, no, it’s nothing. Let’s go.”
Across the bridge lay the abandoned village.
Though called an abandoned village, the houses were almost completely collapsed.
The only structure still standing was the church.
Right, the sound of the whistle came from that church.
Though it wasn’t a whistle.
Mr. Agaro put the large Gourd Flask to his lips, took a drink, looked around, and muttered.
Come to think of it, Gourd Flasks… exist in this world too.
“Ain’t nothin’ here. Not even a tavern.”
What would he do even if there was one, this guy?
“Hmm hmm, the only thing remaining is that church, I see.”
“Um, um, that, that ruined church. It gives off a strange feeling.”
“That place is…”
“Well then, shall we go check it out?”
With nothing else around, that was the only option.
The church was bronze-colored, and its stained glass had faded.
The door opened with a creaking sound.
Entering led directly into the chapel.
Directly beneath the statue of the Goddess Holy Mother. There was an altar covered in red dust.
Mr. Agaro tilted his Gourd Flask, looking at the faded statue of the Goddess Holy Mother.
“Heard talk ’bout evil god worship.”
“Hoh hoh. My my, this is quite a magnificent Goddess Holy Mother.”
The Goddess Holy Mother. The central figure of the Seihou faith.
I looked at the altar. This was where the Chalice swirling with resentment and screams had been. Now, even the traces of it were gone.
I interpreted it as having been purified by the Elixir.
“Hm?”
A door caught the edge of my vision.
At the right end of the chapel. A plain wooden door, nothing special about it.
It blended in with the surrounding wall, making it a bit hard to notice.
I didn’t spot it last time because I left in a hurry.
“Um, um, Lord Wof. Is something the matter?”
“There’s a door over there.”
“Oh my, oh my, you’re right.”
“Probably storage.”
Mr. Agaro said, taking a swig from his Gourd Flask.
Seriously though, you don’t see many people who suit a Gourd Flask this well.
“Probably. I suppose so.”
I approached the door.
“Right, right. Regarding the investigation, you see. I looked into various things, you see. And it seems that even after it was liberated, well, you know. Seekers still seem to be coming here, you see.”
The Witch suddenly spoke up. That made sense.
If they heard rumors or something that it was liberated, they might think, ‘Maybe I’ll check it out. Maybe there’s some treasure.’
Some folks would come with that sense of security.
“Ah, I heard some chatter at the tavern too, like ‘Maybe I’ll go take a look’.”
“And so, and so, as you can see, there’s nothing here, you see. So they get disappointed or angry and come right back, you see. But some Seekers, actually, haven’t returned, you see.”
I opened the door. It was a small room.
There was an empty shelf in the corner and an empty wooden box.
“Haven’t returned? But it’s been liberated, right?”
“Um, um, wan. What does that mean?”
“Well now, well now. You know.”
“Come to think of it, this case isn’t from the Guild, is it?”
“Yup yup. It’s a case from old man Abramelin, you see.”
“Um, um, isn’t that the former Guild Master? He’s the Grand Guild Master now.”
“Oi oi. This is gettin’ pretty shady, ain’t it?”
They were talking about something.
But there’s nothing in this room.
Really nothing. Just a storage room like Mr. Agaro said?
“…………”
On a whim, I used [Danger Detection].
No reaction.
“……”
Following that train of thought, I used [Wheel of Fortune].
See, nothing— Huh? The wall straight ahead… is green.
“What’s this?”
Is this wall rare? Made of some unusual material?
Or perhaps this wall itself is rare.
“Um, um, Lord Wof? Did you find something?”
“Booze? Was there a cask of booze?”
“Oi oi. Agaro. I doubt you could drink it even if there was, you see.”
Everyone came over.
Mr. Agaro took a gulp of sake from his Gourd Flask.
“Ain’t nothin’ here… but somethin’s fishy.”
“Um, um, this small room. There’s something here.”
“Hmm hmm. That wall, I see.”
The Witch pointed at the rare wall, looking amused.
Amazing. They can all tell?
“Well then, shall we burn it?”
Mr. Agaro’s left hand ignited in crimson flames.
He reared back and punched the wall. The wall dented, burst into flames, and then vanished.
“Oh my, oh my, a hidden wall, I see.”
“It’s stairs.”
Where the wall disappeared, stairs appeared. They led underground.
“It’s dark.”
“Ah, I have something I got from Liv-san.”
I took a Light Orb from my pouch. Flipping the switch, it floated up and glowed.
Instantly, Juicy’s eyes sparkled, and her tail started wagging furiously like a windshield wiper.
“Um, um, um, um, umm!”
“Juicy-san. No.”
It’s obvious you were about to pounce.
Looking dejected won’t work either. The Witch stared intently at the Light Orb.
“Hoh hoh. My my, this is very interesting, you see.”
“Oh. Handy, ain’t it?”
After that exchange, we descended the stairs and found a similar white room.
There was nothing here either.
“Um, um, there’s something on the floor.”
“The floor?”
Just then, the floor glowed pale blue. Ah, this is a Teleportation Array.
My body felt some kind of throb.
[Offering of Death: Leaving the Grave of Death makes one an Offering of Death. Become an Offering of Death again after 4 days.]
Eh?
The next moment, the place we teleported to was pitch black. The Light Orb immediately floated up, illuminating the area.
“Where are we?”
From the range of the light, I could tell it was a very large space.
And in the distance, countless red, blue, and yellow orbs floated. They wavered like faint ghost lights.
Their number… was easily over a hundred. You’ve got to be kidding.
I didn’t even need to use [Danger Detection] to know, but I used it anyway. Red. Bright red. Enemies.
Mr. Agaro, standing next to me, tilted his Gourd Flask, took a drink, and said.
How can this guy drink even at a time like this?
“Hm. Those’re Globo, huh.”
“Monsters?”
“Yeah, Undead-type ghosts, I think. The different colors are attribute Relics.”
So that means Fire, Water, and Lightning Globo. And nearly several hundred of them.
“Um, um, so does this mean this is a Dungeon?”
“Yup yup. That’s right, you see. It seems some Seekers ended up in here, you see.”
And didn’t return, huh.
“Still, that’s a lot of Globo.”
The Witch produced something from the void. A bottle. Ah, right.
“Here you go, here you go. Kon’s specially made Holy Water, you see. It’ll exhibit the effect of light for a while, you see.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
“Um, um, um, thank you very much.”
“Ah, I’m fine.”
I drew the pure white knife. The strongest anti-Undead, yet uncuttable knife.
The Elixir Knife.
Mr. Agaro looked at my knife and said.
“Come to think of it. This’s the first time I’m seein’ you fight, Wof.”
“Now that you mention i-”
“Wan! Wawan! Wan wan! Wa-oooooohn!!”
Juicy let out a war cry and sent a swarm of blue Globo flying with her punches.
Thanks to the Holy Water effect, the water Globo vanished one after another.
It seems she couldn’t hold back.
Triggered by Juicy’s surprise attack, the Globo swarmed towards us.
Floating unsteadily, they launched fire, launched water, and released lightning strikes.
Individually, they wouldn’t be much, but with so many, it was way too troublesome.
No, actually, it wasn’t. It wasn’t troublesome at all.
First, Mr. Agaro. While drinking sake, he carelessly annihilated anything that attacked him.
The annihilation completely incinerated the Undead.
He didn’t use the Holy Water he got from The Witch.
Then why did he accept it?
Next, Juicy-san. She punched them one after another.
Lithe and swift, the Globo couldn’t keep up. Her fists, coated in Holy Water, shone white.
And The Witch. With a loud snap of her fingers, several dozen Globo vanished.
I couldn’t tell what she did. They disappeared as if by magic.
She repeated this about three times, rapidly reducing the number of Globo.
After that, she held about three Holy Water bottles upside down between her fingers and casually tossed them.
Finally, me. I cut down the approaching Globo with the Elixir Knife.
With a single strike, the Globo dissipated into mist. They just shoot attribute Relics; they aren’t that strong.
The annihilation ended without any particular incident, and nothing remained.
There was only a strange silence.
Mr. Agaro chugged the contents of his Gourd Flask and said.
This guy really drinks a lot.
“Thought there wouldn’t be anythin’ here.”
I thought so too.