Chapter 61
Chapter 61
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Arrival in the Spirit Forest
-----------------------------------------------------------------
As soon as I opened my eyes, a crow flew off beyond the freshly drilled hole in the wall, retching its guts out.
It zigzagged through the sky before smashing headfirst into a distant patch of woods.
'To see something like that right after hopping through the warp gate.'
Not exactly an auspicious beginning, is it?
Has the plague already spread this far? The medicine I had Alkaido prepare isn't in mass production yet, as far as I know.
Shaking off the creepy feeling, I scanned the area. No trace of plague panic on the faces of the passersby.
"Smells like grass..."
"The air itself is fragrant, senpai."
"The mana here's thick."
I nudged my horse forward, clearing the warp gate, and spoke up.
"We got lucky. Who would've thought there'd be a direct gate right to the ancient ruins in the Spirit Forest."
I'd figured we'd warp to a nearby major city like we did in Chabid, then ride for hours. Dodged a bullet there.
Houses carved from massive trees, one-horned folk with long horns jutting from their foreheads. Green elves with matching green hair and eyes, and gnomes that barely came up to a regular person's waist.
Laves, where I'd lived before, belonged to a human empire—humans everywhere. The other demihumans were either slaves or adventurers. Chabid had beastkin as the majority, with humans and other races being rare.
But the Spirit Forest lay in Arinaid, a nation teeming with spirit-affinity demihumans.
"Ancient ruins mean... dangerous, right?"
I quickly schooled my face at Luna's question to hide the faint guilt.
"What, you expecting a dragon to pop out?"
"That's true, yeah."
Luna smiled like a weight had lifted, and I glanced away.
"It's been ages since we ate at a restaurant."
Zero, who'd been handling all the chores and cooking, piped up. I nodded. Zero's meals were pretty tasty, but no need to rough it here.
Hot baths, fluffy beds, good food.
Our party's destined to roam the continent, powering up gradually until the Evil God Cult surfaces—then it's bloodbaths against them.
My job is to let them enjoy the good life while they can.
"We're not heading out right away, so let's snag proper lodging first."
The Spirit Forest drew tons of scholars studying the ancient ruins. Most hunkered down long-term, digging and flipping earth, so inns were plentiful.
Dungeons crawled with monsters and traps everywhere. Ruins had few or none—or were shut down entirely.
'This place gets wiped out later, I bet.'
Someone triggers the ruins here, flipping it into an ancient dungeon.
In the game and original story, it only shows up as rubble.
I eyed the flower- and tree-bedecked building and opened my mouth.
"Scholars flock here, so no inns with training yards or dojos in sight. Wanna just rent a house?"
"Huh? Why?"
Why? Money. Buy time.
Time was the most valuable thing cash could snag. Warp instead of hoofing it. Rent a house with a yard instead of hunting open fields to swing swords in.
The cost? Kruger family caravans raked it in without me stirring. Or hawk a couple artifacts from Valbus for plenty.
I shrugged once and ducked into a shop where a wooden sign painted with a gold coin swung in the breeze.
* * *
After fronting a month's rent, I toured the place.
Second floor: all bedrooms. First floor: kitchen, living room, storage. Spacious yard, solid fence—not too low.
Not the local style of hollowing live trees to fit your body. Built for humans.
Probably some ruin-studying scholar threw it up.
A bit musty from sitting empty, so I lit the fireplace first, then hit the rocking chair with Purify and Clean before sprawling out.
"Just wipe it down with a damp rag. Why waste magic, young master?"
"Oh, yeah."
Too much time on the road—forgot the basics. I chuckled and rocked the chair creakily as I spoke.
"Time for homework, everyone. Got it?"
Luna, sleeves rolled up, and Zero, rag in hand, turned to me.
"Cain, get comfy with the weapon I gave you. Luna, round up local rumors. And Zero..."
"Me?"
"You're coming with me to see an elf elder."
Cain, who'd turned his ring into a sword and was testing its balance fingertip-style, spoke slowly.
"If you want to meet, can we see them right away?"
"Not exactly. But we will."
Cain nodded like he got it and headed to the attached training yard. Luna and Zero tidied up first, then scattered to their tasks.
"Need a hand? This what I should clean?"
"You sitting there is help enough, young master."
Crunch.
I rocked in the chair, watching clouds drift past the window while munching a carrot.
'Am I managing okay so far?'
Whenever my body's comfy, anxiety nips at me.
Lucky for me, the floaty sensation kept it lapping at my toes... but what if another regressor had landed here?
Would they have progressed smoother than me?
'Probably.'
Truth be told, my fixation on the original crew—plus that half-joking harem ending talk—meant I just wanted them happy.
If it was pure efficiency to avert continental doom and smash the cult, I'd have ditched almost everyone but Cain.
Luna had rank-climbing potential if raised right, but plenty of ready-made powerhouses existed.
One popular alt-party setup shoved Cain through the main story grind, with generic NPCs handling cleanup.
Cain claws through dungeons and cult fights via grit, barely surviving—or dying.
Save-scum your way to victory, then bench Cain in an inn while the NPC squad claims quests from baffled villagers. Fame piles up on them.
Run Cain like that, and he stops even dialoguing later—just a combat and gold piñata while the chatty generics "enjoy" the story.
But an otaku sunk enough to crowdfund? No way they'd min-max like that.
Dragging in continent-famous names sans Cain for a safe run?
'Fanfic second-choice tier.'
Snagging them was one thing—keeping them without defections? Fingers could count those odds.
Sure, another Adelian starter might spam divine contracts like me. But how? Spill I'm possessed? Ninety percent chance my head rolls before they notice.
'Adelian was my cheat sheet too.'
Even starting as him, reeling them in cuts both ways. Divine contracts have loopholes.
'Most wouldn't know.'
Don't lose sight. I didn't come for the game's ending. For a real happy one.
Not just pulverizing the cult and demon king.
'Cain and Luna. Rachel and Gadia.'
The original main party. Their happiness—that's my goal.
And right here in the Spirit Forest: the original creator, one of the main party—mossback, no... Leaf.
'Soon. Real soon.'
I glanced at the towering mountain beyond the woods and crunched my carrot.
* * *
"Luna, drop this letter at the Spirit Forest Elder Council on your way out."
"Got it. What's for dinner?"
"Something indulgent."
Luna laughed, roped Zero into porter duty, and headed out. I rocked the chair and tossed casually at Cain.
"Coming along?"
"Not sure. This weapon drains mental energy, not aura."
Nothing big till the elf elder meet, so I sidled up to give Cain pointers and stuck out my hand.
"If it's mental energy, I can give it a shot too. Hand it over."
I wiggled my fingers like gimme-gimme, and Cain slipped the ring off, dropping it into my palm.
I gripped it and pictured the kitchen knife I'd used back with Kang Su-ho.
"Not working?"
"Focus."
"How?"
Dude's glare is murder...
I dropped my eyes, refocused on the knife, and the ring in my palm went all gooey before morphing into some lumpy mess.
Way harder than expected. Felt like a gentle mana suck, and I had to nail the texture, weight, everything in my head crystal-clear to budge it even a little.
So how'd this guy transform it the second he got it? Protagonist perk covers that?
Spite flared; I clutched it two-handed, muttering "kitchen knife" while visualizing. It half-assed into knife shape.
Holding the form took focus too. Let my mind wander or exhale? Back to ring pronto.
Explains why units without unique weapons burned mana fast when stuck with these...
"Good enough. Here."
I flicked the ring off my finger; Cain snatched it midair and eyed me.
"One thing."
"Shoot."
"Why?"
I knew exactly what he meant, blunt as it was.
"Wanna know?"
"Yeah."
I met his golden eyes and curled my lip.
Arrogant. Smug as hell.
"Curious? Earn equal footing first. Business partner, right?"
His eyes narrowed a hair.
"Got it. Still short."
Heh, still got a mouth on him. Everything you got, you owe me, punk.
"Keep the good behavior to your big bro."
I lobbed the words; don't hit me with that "what bullshit" stare.
Cain turned the ring to sword, swung it lightly, and looked away from me.
A bit more. For now... no need for the full "world ends without you" or "grow strong, kill hordes" spiel.
Doesn't matter if swords trump laws, or blood flows freer than booze some places.
"Young master..."
"Hm? Market run done already?"
Door creaked open with Luna's meek voice. I turned to see her flustered, darting behind me, Zero wearing pure confusion.
And there: long platinum hair, green eyes. Hair swaying, with ears poking out a good half-foot.
'High Elf.'
Luna, face all teary, huddled behind me fast. I just smiled easy and spoke.
"Luna, we've got company. Tea, please."
She nodded and vanished. Zero glanced around, then tailed her.
Cain shifted slow, posting up diagonal to block the high elf's line of sight on me.
"Not here to fight, boy. I'm here to talk. Invited, even."
I shrugged at her words.
"Didn't invite you."
"Who wouldn't see a letter like this as an invite? A traitor among the high elf elders. Tell me you're not curious."
Her voice was level, but those green eyes bored into me thick and heavy.